+++ Alfon’s Perspective +++

I wished to apologize in the utmost haste. I am internally aware that a simple ‘sorry’ does not make up for the emotional harm I inflicted upon master Rafine, but I shall think about what ways I can make it up to her later.

For now I needed to apologize.

Unfortunately, mother had other plans for me.

“And where do you think you’re scurrying off to?” She caught me as I made my way to the door, lifted me up, and sat me back down, “You can’t see Rafine right now since she’s out with Nina and Prisilla. And besides, mommy made an appointment with some of your aunts and uncles today. Whatever you need to say to Rafine needs to wait until we’re done, they’re very... busy people.”

I let mother dress me up in some rather fine clothes I didn’t even know I had.

Woe is me.

++

We took about three separate carriages to the noble’s quarter of the city, each becoming progressing more and more elaborate with the roads underneath being better and better maintained.

It was a rather unexpectedly long journey, but during which mother was gracious enough to fill in the silence with a story about my grandfather.

--

“Alfy, you must remember to be on your best behavior when meeting your auntie okay?” Mother gently laid her hand on my hair while whispering to me, her voice barely audible over the sounds of the carriage wheels. “She came all this way to meet us so we must be very polite okay?”

I nodded.

“You know...” she continued, “Your grandfather was always a free spirit. Born into a poor farming family, he left as soon as he reached adulthood and became a merchant, an adventurer, a soldier, a thief, and everything in between. His wild journeys eventually took him into the Fairy Woods, where he was saved by the most extraordinary lady.”

I noticed the hand on my head paused.

“She was otherworldly; a sylvan woman of magnificence so profound that a mere human could never hope to approach her. Your grandfather, with nothing but his clothes to his name, and your grandmother, who had the whole forest at her fingertips spent a summer together. They were two worlds apart, and it was a miracle they even met. There should have been nothing more to the story, the tale of his trip to the Fairy Woods should have ended as soon as he was healed.”

She picked me up and stared into my eyes with a thoughtful gaze. There was pride, sadness, and a mixture of longing that made me feel something strange.

“And yet... Love found a way. As it always does.”

Mother gave me a sad smile.

“The wild tales of his adventures subdued even her noble heart, and slowly but surely the flower of love bloomed where none thought it could grow. Though the forest tore it apart as soon as it noticed and your grandfather was banished from the woods for the rest of his life.”

She plopped me back down, though I hardly noticed as her story had my full attention.

“He never did stop searching for a way back, even when I was dropped upon his doorstep nine months later. The Fairy Woods don’t exist in a physical space like most locations, it shows itself only to those chosen. And he would have given up his life to simply be chosen again, but life wasn’t so kind to him. You see, he had amassed both a sizable fortune, a treasure of assets, and an astounding reputation from his journeys and his various ventures, but he would spend his money on any method that would show even a hint of promise, and would sell both his pride and his name to the highest bidder.”

Mother looked out the window, an expression of dread on her face. “The noble house of Telderane coveted what he had to give, and so he married as the fifth husband of Aladrin Telderane. She took everything away from him, and, in return, lended him her name, her laboratories, and her archives.”

Upon turning to look at my questioning glance she expanded a little: “You must have heard about how girls are generally better at magic from Rafine, yes?”

I nodded.

“Well you see, magical ability is paramount in any voyage upon the seas. And so the Republic of Darinford has historically been ruled by a collection of matriarchies. Ah! Those words weren’t too complicated for you were they?”

“No. I got it.” I gave her a thumbs up when she looked at me worried, which prompted a soft chuckle from mother.

She really was pretty when she had a smile on.

“What a smart son I have!” She ruffled my hair a little before resuming her wistful gaze, “Your grandfather, Carlos, left when I was twelve. I remembered the weeks before his departure where he would stay up multiple nights, and sleep standing up, maps and charts still in his grasp by the time he woke up. I never could stop him, never could fill the void that my mother left behind. Nobody could. Yet for all his faults, he was a good father. No matter how obsessed he was, he always gave his precious time to me when I asked for it. I hope... I hope he has found her, wherever he might be.”

The next words mother spoke to me felt like a charm of some sorts. A talisman of good omen, but also a curse of inevitability.

“Love always finds a way.”

While mother’s fingers kept brushing my hair she didn’t say a word for the rest of the ride.

--

With my mother's story still front and center in my mind, the mansion before me felt a little less intimidating. Though it was still rather big and scary. I heard my mother take a deep breath in before knocking on the gates.

In the silence that followed I properly appreciated the architecture of the place. Compared to the castles in Avenstron and the Cathedrals of the Theocracy, this place was much more down to earth. It sported a vaulted roof, a large garden, and a gothic fence. In contrast to the architecture from the Theocracy, it had no towering spires, or massive stone arches, and took much more liberal use of wood. Though that didn’t make it any less impressive looking; it just had a more natural feel to it. As though it wasn’t trying to fight the environment like the other two.

It wasn’t long before a woman appeared and opened the gate to greet us. She was tall with long hair and wore pants instead of a dress.

“Lady Sylvestra, we’ve been expecting you.” She gives mother a light bow before beckoning us to follow.

Instead of leading us to the main house like I expected, she led us to a veranda within the garden, unable to be spotted from the outside view.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A middle aged woman in some sort of military attire sat in the middle, attended to by a multitude of servants. It seemed quite strange to have a woman of the army sitting in a flower garden if I’m being quite honest.

“Sister, you’re early.” She turned her head towards us and, upon spotting me walking alongside mother, gave a raised eyebrow, “And you’ve brought along the brat you’ve sired.”

I could feel mother’s hand tighten a little bit as she did a short bow. “My greetings to Rear-Admiral Leadarin Hilar Telderane, The Lady Serpent, The Scourge of the Deep, The Hero of Vehnhiler, Th-”

“Enough, rank and titles mean nothing during times of peace. Why not call me sister Lily like you did when you were younger?” Lady Leadarin cut off my mother with a dismissive wave.

“I cannot do that, Madam Lady Hilar. Your rank and achievements deserve recognition.” My mother kept her head bowed. So I clumsily did the same.

“Oh ho? Is this really the same Sylvie who ran away all those years ago? I never thought you’d take the etiquette lessons seriously.” I heard boots meet marble as Leadarin stood up, “Raise your head and sit down, we cannot possibly initiate a conversation like this.”

“As you wish.” Mother replied and we made our way to the veranda.

Taking a seat on the cushioned benches, we were perfectly still as Leadarin uttered a few orders to a few of the servants and sent the others off.

“So? What brings you back to Darinford? I thought you hated this place.” She asked mother while reading something in her hand.

“I... I find myself in dire straits and request the aid of my family.” Mother said. I could hear her apprehension in every word.

“The same family you left behind?”

Mother said nothing.

Leadarin took a deep sigh before waving the papers in her hand at mother, “I was wondering why you’d willingly come back to this place but what you’ve written down here... Looks like you didn’t quite read the fine print before you married did you?”

“I understand that my mistakes are my own to bear, but I hope that our family will show their mercy upon my child.”

Mistakes? For once I had no clue what this whole conversation was about.

“Come here.” Leadarin beckoned mother over with a gloved hand. Once mother was a step away from her, she spoke with a dark undertone: “You understand what responsibilities fell upon me when you left, I presume?”

Mother nodded.

“Then you’ve probably seen this coming.”

SMACK.

She took her palm and stuck mother across the cheek, her hand moving so fast I nearly missed it.

It hit mother hard and she fell to the floor. I was stunned before I got out of my seat and rushed to her. “MOM!”, as I came closer I noticed that the strike hit so hard it drew blood.

“Believe it or not, Sylvie, I don’t hate you for it. In fact, I should probably thank you. If it wasn’t for you and the duties you gave me, I wouldn’t be standing where I am today.” She stood up, and tied up her long hair, “I shall speak to mother on your behalf. Your room in Halyis has been left as is, feel free to take residence there until further notice. Would you like me to arrange a carriage?”

Despite her bleeding from her lips she kept kneeling and lowered her head onto the marble floor. “Thank you very much for your generosity. We have arranged transport so you need not trouble yourself.”

“Hmph, so you’re capable of that at least.” Leadarin took out an object and lit it ablaze with her fingers before putting it into her mouth, it almost seemed like a cigarette of some sort, “Welcome back Sylvestra.”

And with those words she left, waving the servants to take over.

Immediately we were swarmed by a multitude of personnel. Most of them saw to my mother, healing her face from the looks of things, but some of them came over to me and started carrying me away.

“Be brave Alfy.” I heard my mother say while being carried away, “you’ll be okay.”

That doesn’t make me any less scared, mom.

+

It turns out it wasn’t as frightening as I first thought it to be. They just sat me in a room and gave me some papers. At first I didn’t know what to make of it, but one of the ladies told me to ‘solve as much as I could’ so I just followed her instructions.

Oh it's just a test.

It was honestly really easy.

Like... simple arithmetic easy.

The history and geography parts were a bit tricky but master Rafine taught me very well so I don’t think I got any wrong.

But all in all, the tests were so easy it was honestly a breath of fresh air from the difficult exams that master Rafine gave. It felt good to know that you knew everything.

Though I get the feeling that my ability was rather strange since the servants that were assigned to oversee me grew more and more surprised with every answer sheet I handed back.

It must have been on the 30th or so paper that I heard the first maid whisper: “S-sir... we’re out of tests. That was the last one.”

“What do you mean we’re out? It’s been less than an hour.” The man who looked like he was in charge of the thing asked back, “Didn’t we have until Academy level?”

“Yes... that was it. He’s completed all of them. A perfect score on every single one.” I got to say, the way she said it made me feel quite good about myself.

Though, the guilt came hurtling back when I started thinking about master Rafine again. I have to apologize at the earliest opportunity.

“Send him back for the day then. We need to inform the house.”

+

“Alfy, you’re back already?” Mother was still sitting in the veranda, and seemed quite surprised to see me out this quickly. “I thought they took you for an examination.”

The servant behind me answered her: “We did Lady Sylvestra, he has completed the items we have prepared for the day. You are free to leave.”

“H-he... has?” She gave me a big smile despite the bandage on her left cheek, “Rafine wasn’t exaggerating then, my Alfy really is a genius.”

+

On our way back to the inn mother held me tight, “I’m sorry for frightening you my dear, I didn’t know they already had the exam prepared. But you really are a smart cookie aren’t you?” She bopped me on the nose while humming a familiar tune.

She sang this as a lullaby once.

Despite the wound on her face she seemed rather pleased at the outcome of today's meeting. Personally I thought the Leadarin lady was really rude and should apologize, but I’m nowhere near brave enough to actually say that to her face.

Regardless, we enjoyed a rather nice ride home.

+++ Rafine’s Perspective +++

“That being said, Ninamoritis, these are only the basics to that spell. There should be additional ways to expand on it if you’re under heavy scrutiny.” I continued explaining the different parts of the illusion spell to Nina. She had managed to successfully perfect her masking of her horns, but she was still yet unable to hide her tail.

Fortunately her tail was not all that large so it wasn’t too much of an issue, though her mana consumption could prove to be a problem in maintaining the spell.

Regardless, I'd call today a success, and the smile on Nina’s face seems to agree with me.

Though since she is always smiling I can’t be too sure.

I open the door to our room at the inn only to find...

Alfon.

Sitting there waiting for me.

We stare at each other for a little while, and it appears like he was going to say something.

“Mast-”

...

Slam.

But I closed the door on him before he had a chance to speak.

It may be childish of me, but I wasn’t exactly prepared to face him right now. He must hate me, and I’m not ready to hear that being put into words at the moment.

As I turned to leave, however, a small pair of hands pulled on my robe.

“Stay. Listen. Alfy no dangerous now.” Nina appeared to want me to hear him out.

Before I could protest the young boy burst out of the room and into the hallway, tripping over himself as he did so.

Before I realized what I was doing I was helping him up, but it was too late to run now. He had grabbed onto my sleeve and wouldn’t let go.

“Master Rafine.. I.. err... your breakfast tasted bad...”

Ah, of course, he wanted to complain. I should have known better than to-

“BUT!” he yelled suddenly, “I... really appreciate you making it for me. I-I’m sorry for what I said, I didn’t mean it. I duly acknowledge what I did wrong and hop- no...”

He looked up at me as he continued: “Master Rafine you mean a lot to me. I hope you can forgive me.”

...

So he chose the clumsy, but sincere words of his heart over the refined, cold apology he would utter on a dime.

I let out a big sigh, already knowing what I was going to say in response.