Chapter 141 Not Many Other Choices

"Do you have permission to use the Astral Coatings of my master, Leo?" Skylar asked, and my hair suddenly lifted up, floating above my head.

"Yes, little one. This is an old friend of mine, so there is no need to run from Galio. You are quite the pretty child, and it is a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance, Skylar. You have sent many prayers to me, and they have been nice over the years," Leo said from what I could only assume to be his face shaped from my hair.

Skylar bowed to me, or my hair, and then looked up at it again once she stood back up straight.

"I will try to do as you say, but I am worried that he will not like me, master. What am I to do then?" Skylar asked like I wasn't standing right in front of her.

"My child, you do not have to worry about that! Galio risked his life just so he could catch you. If he did not care, he would not be chasing you so much. I know that you have a mind that wars with you, child, but you are going to have to trust someone someday. If there is a man to trust, even if he is ill-mannered, Galio is the one you want. Not like there are many other choices in your world," Leo laughed, and Skylar nodded and then put her hand to her chin to think.

I was sure that even if I tried to grab her at this range, I might not get her, and my time was running out. I could already feel the Astral Coating fading from my body, so I had to hope that Leo would get through to her.

"I will stay with Galio if that is the case. Does that mean I will get to talk to you again?" Skylar asked finally.

"I am sure that Galio will bring you to visit me if you would like," Leo laughed, and I snorted, making Skylar flinch.

"I won't be bringing her if you don't wear some pants. This poor girl doesn't need to be flashed!" I laughed.

"I don't treat everyone the same way I have to treat you. Be good to my child, or I will give you a real ass whooping the next time you visit!" Leo said, but his voice and my Astral Coating faded entirely now, leaving me as I was.

That left Skylar and me staring at each other. It was pretty awkward, so I slowly reached my hand to her.

"Will you come home with me now?" I asked, stopping my hand halfway between us.

"That is your home? That big house? Isn't that Countess Eliza home where she lives with that brute, Senna?" Skylar asked me curiously, still not taking my hand.

"Home to me is not a place; it is a feeling. Eliza, Senna, Breya, and all the rest make it my home. When I am at Listenia's, I feel at home. It is less about the place, and more about the people that make a home to me, if you can understand that," I explained, and Skylar nodded slowly.

"So that means that as long as you have those people, anywhere can be your home?" Skylar asked, and I nodded.

"That is the way that I feel. You girls make this world home for me. Doesn't matter where we are, as long as we are all having fun together or surviving together," I said, and Skylar nodded again.

"Then, does that mean you are now my home? I have a place that I call home, but it is just somewhere I sleep. Can you teach me about your kind of home? My old home was far from here, but everyone expected me to do things and to become things I had no interest in. I just want to sing, but I have to come and do it in front of people to make money to pay for my home. That doesn't feel right. If you are my home, can I just sing for fun?" Skylar asked with a hopeful look, and I nodded.

"I want nothing more than for everyone to be able to do what they love, but is it just the money? What if you could sing for people for fun?" I asked, still holding my hand out, starting to feel silly about it at this point, but I persisted.

"Sing for people? But what if they try to come and talk to me?" Skylar asked. "I can only talk to you like this because my master told me it was okay."

That might be a bit of a problem, but there was always a solution to every problem if you looked hard enough.

"We can figure that out in time; for now, you can stay with me and the girls. I am sure that everyone would love to hear you sing, but it is getting pretty late. Are you ready to come home?" I asked, and Skylar nodded slowly, placing her hand in mine.

"And that is a catch! Coming in at one hour and fifteen minutes! Everyone is to see Goldy if you have gained any earnings from this event!" Eliza boomed in a much louder than normal voice, and I heard cheers and Boos coming from all over the city.

"What happened?" Skylar asked in confusion, and I shrugged.

"Just the women being crazy women. They were betting on how long it would take me to get ahold of you," I said as I gestured forward for us to start walking back.

We were all the way over by the barracks, so the trip back wasn't that long. The problem was that there were women standing on almost every doorstep looking at us. Some of them were cheering while others were giving me dirty looks.

I suppose that most of the women got in on the betting, but from all the frowns, there seemed to be a large portion of losers. That was their own fault for betting. Any time you gambled, you should always be looking at it in what your odds of losing were, not winning.