Ezekiel opened the door before saying "We're here."

Tibaut entered with Lily still on his back and looked around the place.

"Huh, how cosy looking."

As soon as he entered he noticed a fireplace and a huge carpet laid out. He walked over to a nearby couch and gently placed Lily down. After putting her down he noticed two other figures in the room sitting on chairs. Both were women.

("Huh, living in a cabin in the woods with three women, honestly I'm not that surprised.")

Ezekiel glared at him and said "They're like little sisters to me, so I'm going to have to ask you to change that expression."

"(How'd he know?) Come on, I wouldn't assume anything like that. You're a respectable guy."

One of the girls sitting nearby giggled when he said that last sentence.

"By the way, older brother?" he asked.

By his estimates, one of the women there at least looked like she was in her mid-twenties. He was certain Ezekiel was older than him but he was certain he couldn't be more than 25.

"Aw, you're gonna make me blush." He said in a dreadful (for Tibaut anyway) voice. "Sorry sweetie, but I'm 31 and by the way, Tina might look old but she's the youngest one here. She's about the same age as Elizabeth."

Before he could notice her a woman a few inches taller than him tapped him on his back. He turned around and saw her staring at him with her face pouting. Her hair was pink and almost reached below her torso. Not red nor orange, an almost bubblegum pink. In terms of skin tone, she was noticeably tan but nowhere near as dark as Vanessa. She had blue eyes that were quite pretty looking if she wasn't glaring at Tibaut. She was wearing a shirt and pants combo that was quite drab in colour. The chest area of the shirt seemed to be especially tight.

"Did you call me old?" She asked with a hint of animosity in her voice.

"No?" he responded confused.

Thanks to his everyday encounters with Elizabeth, he could deal with the hostility of most people who weren't her quite easily.

She stared at him down but Tibaut stood there puzzled as to why she was looking at him for so long.

"What, is there something in my teeth?" He said before feeling around in his mouth using his tongue.

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He turned around back to Ezekiel and could hear someone click their tongue. She continued glaring at him (to his ignorance) before eventually going back to her seat. He heard a snick then a yelp of pain.

"Well, uh, you seem to have some characters here (I wonder if she was a kuudere type of girl). Anyway, you're 31?" Tibaut asked.

"I know first-hand how much of a struggle these girls are, so you're not wrong." He felt two gazes turn his way but continued "But is it really that surprising I'm 31?"

"I suppose, you just don't carry yourself like someone that old I guess." He responded.

"What does that mean?"

"You're immature."

"You're immature."

"You're immature." responded each of the three girls present.

Ezekiel ignored them and brought over two chairs.

"Anyway, let's talk."

"About what?"

"You know…"

They had a conversation that spanned over an hour before Tibaut asked about a specific topic.

"Man, that sounded crazy. Your parents let you do that?"

"Well, the old man always said as long as I came back alive without a bounty on my head it was alright."

"Oh, old man," said Tibaut, looking as if he had just walked into a wake.

Ezekiel tapped him on his shoulders and reassured him. "Don't worry about it, my birth parents have been dead for so long I can barely remember their faces."

"Huh? Is that really a good thing?" He asked while looking offended. "Do you really want to forget about them!?" Tibaut asked while raising his voice.

The mood shifted and two of the girls sensed it as they looked at him. He sensed their gazes and turned to them while awkwardly waving. He turned back to Ezekiel and wimpily muttered "sorry about that.

"No, I suppose for someone with normal parents it'd be unthinkable to causally say you'd forget your parents. Though I heard my dad was the bastard that caused their deaths in the first place so I'd be lying if I felt any sympathy for him."

Tibaut's face looked disgruntled but he let him continue.

"Anyway I guess that would be a story for another time but at the end of it Mr.Bentley came by after the aftermath and decided to take care of me."

"I mean I have time," Tibaut responded.

"Look at you, you must be the studious type."

"(I wish) Nah, I'm just interested in what happened." Was it morbid curiosity or was he curious to see if this situation was similar to his own?

"Well, I'm not sure the details are super accurate since's based on what I saw and heard plus what the old man saw at the time when he was surveying the aftermath but here goes."

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A young boy with brown hair was playing with his mother in his bedroom. It was quite large as they came from a family of nobles. The family they came from had enough power, where an audience with the king, was a simple matter. Yet that didn't matter in this room. It was just a simple mother and son playing together.

"Huff, huff, Ezekiel you're getting quite energetic lately."

The young boy looked at his out-breath mother and asked "what's energetic?"

"Ask one of the maids to define it for you when you go to the library." She told him as she approached and then laid down on her bed.

"Okay." the carefree boy responded. He immediately went onto the bed himself and landed on his mother. She didn't seem to mind as she started stroking his hair.

The door soon opened and a man came inside.

"Now isn't this a picturesque scene, hold on dear I'll get one of the maids to capture this scene."

"Shut up and play with your son. He is becoming too much of a handful for me."

"I'd much rather play with you dear♡."

"Mommy, do you two play together?"

"Ugh, this isn't the time dear." She said while stretching her son's little cheeks in an attempt to distract him.

Suddenly they heard various footsteps approaching and then almost frantic-sounding calls were heard.

"My lord are you there!?"