Mom has been taking a break from adventuring ever since we arrived 4 years ago. She hired a tutor both for helping me control my magic better and someone for general education. I had a lot to catch up on since I was imprisoned for such a long time. We decided to make the day she rescued me my birthday and we found out that my body started ageing normally again. I wonder when or if I will stop ageing. I know for someone with the Young skill it stops at around 20 but they also age normally until then, while my body only aged 2 years over an almost 100 year period. I’ve learned to control my magic very well now and I’m planning to ask mom to do some requests with me so I can learn how they work and maybe even increase my rank a bit. I also think actual fighting experience would help me control my magic better, even the magic tutor said she can’t teach me anything more after just 2 years of learning. As I’m thinking when and how I should bring this up with mom there is a knock on the door. Mom said she is busy so she is in her office on the second floor so I get up from the kitchen table and go to open the door.
I open the door and there stands a man, he is wearing a full plate armour with the image of a dragon, this kingdom's coat of arms, on the chest and his helmet in one of his hands. He looks shocked when he sees me but gets his composure back quickly, I guess he was expecting mom to open the door.
“Hey there young lady, could I talk to Lady Stallard, please?”
“Sure, give me a minute.” I close the door in his face as I say that and walk towards the stairs. “MOM, SOMEONE IS AT THE DOOR FOR YOU.” After screaming that loud enough for the man outside to hear I sit down on the table again and pretend to read a book.
Mom comes downstairs, “Who is asking for me?”
“I don’t know, from the looks of it, some knight from the kingdom.”
“And where is he now?”
“In front of the door, unless he changed his mind and left.” I shrug, she was the one who told me not to let strange people into the house.
She lets out a sigh, walks over to the door and opens it.
“Greetings my Lady Stallard, I am here to-”
She slams the door.
I look at her questioningly, she looks part shocked and part panicked. She takes a bit to calm down again and then shakes her head and lets out a sigh, “I guess now is as good a time as any,” she looks at me, “I can’t avoid talking to him or I will make things worse, I want you to be around for the conversation and there are probably going to be a few things you won’t understand but I can explain them, just please wait with that until after he left again, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Then could you prepare some tea?”
I head into the kitchen and start preparing the tea. It's pretty easy since I started to experiment with making my own magical tools and this tea pot was one of the first things I made myself. It’s an imitation of what is sold in stores, a teapot that heats up water by itself and I only need to add water and the herbs I want to use for the tea. I learned that lavender has a calming effect so that is my choice for the tea, I think mom could use it. At the same time mom opens the door again, gives a small apology and invites the man in.
They walk over to the table and mom starts, “Let’s start with introductions,” she gestures to me, “this is Lucina, she is my daughter.” She then looks at me and gestures to the man, “And this is Sir Elias Duncan, head of the royal guards under direct order of the Queen.”
Elias gives me a bow, “It’s a pleasure to meet you young Lady Lucina.”
He’s awfully polite for someone who had a door closed in his face twice.
He turns back to mom, “Did you inform your mother about having a daughter?”
“Of course not! You being here is already enough of a hassle!”
They both take a seat on the table and the tea finishes at the same time so I grab three cups, fill them and bring them over to the table and sit down as well.
Mom lets out another sigh, “So what does my mother want from me that is so important she sends you?”
“As you know, your Mother decided to step down which means your sister is going to take over and she is expecting you to attend.”
“And there is no way of avoiding it, is there?”
“Of course there isn’t! And you know I’m obligated to inform your mother about you having a daughter as well so it’s for the best, for all of us, if you just accompany me back.” They both let out a deep sigh.
Grandma seems to be a bit eccentric but then again so is mom.
“Fine, but wait until tomorrow, I have to explain things to Lucina first.”
He nods, finishes his tea and then gets up, “Good, but just so you know, we are setting up camp outside so don’t get any ideas of running away.”
Mom averts her gaze with a pained and annoyed expression while Elias turns to the door and walks out.
We sit in silence for a bit before mom starts talking. “I still owe you an explanation, so let’s start with my full name and title. I’m Eliza Reanna Stallard, first princess of the Gairyn Kingdom, the kingdom we live in. I gave up on my claim to the throne because I wasn’t, and still am not, interested in having a partner and because of that I wouldn’t be having an heir. My mother, the current queen, wasn’t too happy with my decision but gave in after thinking it over until I was of age and still didn’t have any interest in finding a partner. I left the castle and became an adventurer, I stopped using my middle and last name because I didn’t want people to treat me differently just because of who my mother is. Because of my choice to not become the next ruler that hassle, I mean burden, fell on my younger sister, Emelia Rhonda Stallard, and since my mother is stepping down there is going to be a coronation for her and my mother expects me to be there. I didn’t want to tell her about you because I didn’t want to give her the idea that I could come back and become queen instead of my sister because since I have a daughter now I do have an heir and my initial argument doesn’t work anymore.”
This certainly explains mom’s skewed sense of money. “But shouldn’t it be fine now? I don’t think grandma would cancel the coronation this late and change who would become the next queen, would she?”
“No, she wouldn’t, but she’s going to scold me for not telling her about you earlier and trying to hide it. If you have any questions for something I haven’t answered yet feel free to ask, otherwise you should start packing, and pack for a longer stay, I don’t think my mother will let us leave quickly.”
“What is grandma like?”
“Well, she is strict but fair, you’re going to meet her soon enough so you will be able to see for yourself then but you should have nothing to worry about.”
I nod and then get up to go to my room in order to pack my things, “Thanks mom.” Before going up the stairs I turn around, walk back to my mom and give her a hug.
Now, what am I supposed to pack for a trip like this? I grab my backpack and put it on my bed so I can easily fill it up. I put one set of clothes aside to wear tomorrow and put the rest into my backpack. This red dress should be appropriate to wear when meeting the queen, right? I should probably ask mom just to be sure. I wonder what she’s going to wear but knowing her it’s probably going to be her armour, she almost never goes out without it. I pack a few of my favourite books as well, they are all about how to create magic tools and magic theory. That should probably be enough.
I walk back downstairs to grab the book I left at the table and mom is still sitting there, lost in thought. “Hey mom, is my red dress appropriate to wear for meeting grandma?”
She flinches, probably not expecting me, “She’s used to me wearing armour all the time so it should be fine.”
I chuckle a bit, so she was always obsessed with wearing her armour.
She gets up from the table and grabs something from the side, “Now that you’re here again there is something I want to give you, it’s slightly earlier than planned but now is as good a time as any.” She walks up to me and then gives me a plain looking metal box. I put the box down on the table and open it, revealing a big sword, very similar to the one mom has. “I know how disappointed you were when we found out you aren’t compatible with this type of sword but that doesn’t mean you can’t have one and I think it could be good training as well.”
I put the sword back and hug mom.
Right, compatibility, it’s a term first used by people who have a weapon type Talent. Someone with a weapon type Talent, like mom’s Sword Talent, has an easy time learning the weapons that are in their Talents category but there is also going to be a specific sub weapon type that they are going to be even better at using. At first it was thought to be exclusive to people with a weapon type Talent because they say they feel drawn to the weapon when they first see it but about 20 years ago it was discovered that it’s a general thing everyone has but the difference is that people without a weapon type Talent won’t feel drawn to the weapon. It’s still possible for a regular person to find the weapon they are compatible with but it involves a lot of trial and error, essentially you have to try different weapons until you find one that feels natural to use. We have tried a lot of different weapons and weapon types over the past 4 years but so far we didn’t find anything. The wide broadsword mom uses is the weapon she is compatible with and I always liked her weapon so I’m still trying to learn how to use it properly but for me it’s just brute force, I could probably do the same with a stick provided it was sturdy enough.
“Oh mom, I also got something for you.” I rush up to my room and grab my latest project, go back downstairs and give it to mom.
“This is a really nice scabbard but I don’t think my sword will fit.”
The scabbard I gave her is actually a magic tool, it’s still a prototype but it should be fine. “It’s a magic tool I’ve been working on for awhile now, it works similar to the backpack you got me. Try it!” I look at her expectantly.
“Fine, fine.” She walks over to her sword which she keeps at the side of the stairs and puts it in the scabbard. She looks very surprised and a bit shocked when she sees the sword disappearing into the scabbard and only the hilt still looking out. She looks back and forth between me and the scabbard in her hand while I just look at her with a proud smile.
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“Try taking it out again and tell me how it feels to use, it’s still technically a prototype but it’s safe to use.”
She pulls the sword out of the scabbard and gives it a test swing and then puts it back into the scabbard.
“This is amazing, how did you manage to make something like this!”
“Well, you go everywhere wearing your armour and sword so I figured something like this would help with that. At first the whole weapon disappeared into the scabbard and it was hard to get out again so I tried making the space shorter but then the longer weapons wouldn’t fit anymore and part of the blade would still be out which made it look very weird-” I stop my rambing because mom is looking at me with a very angry smile.
“So that’s where the spare swords disappeared to?”
“A-ah, I-I only broke 2 and another 2 are still stuck in a prototype scabbard and the rest should still be floating around in one of the scabbards."
I turn quiet and we stand there in silence for a moment before mom lets out a sigh, “I guess it’s fine but if you’re doing something like this again please just tell me about it."
“Okay”
“I think it would also be a good idea to build a workshop once we get back so you have a proper workspace.”
The rest of the way went by uneventfully.
By the time I went downstairs the next morning mom was already at the table and prepared breakfast. And I thought I’m up early. “Good morning.” I sit down at the table and start eating, still half asleep.
“Good morning. You can take your time eating, I doubt our escort is ready to leave already anyways.”
I finish eating and then go and grab my backpack and sword, which is now in its own scabbard. It’s the reason I’m so tired currently, I stayed up late to finish one for my new sword as well.
“I’m ready.”
“Okay, let’s go meet Elias then.”
As we step outside I see a lot of tents, completely surrounding our house. “Mom, what did you do that they think this is necessary?”
Before mom can answer Elias walks over to us. “Well, the first time she ran in the middle of the night, the second time she drugged our food under the guise of cooking for us resulting in everyone falling asleep and her running away again, and then the third time-”
“Stop telling her about this!” Mom looks very embarrassed about her past runaways.
“Anyways, we should be ready to leave in a bit but tell me, where is your sword? I was sure you would never leave anywhere without it.”
Moms expression turns very smug as she draws her sword from the scabbard. I’m not sure if she’s trying to show off the scabbard or her sword but either way Elias looks very shocked.
“Where the hell did you get something absurd like this?!”
“My genius daughter made it for me.”
I start blushing a bit while Elias looks even more shocked and then notices my own scabbard.
“Don’t tell me-” I draw my sword as well showing off the sword mom got me. “Of course it is.”
I probably look just as smug as mom right now. He seems to have given up and is back to his stoic self. He shakes his head, “You really are mother and daughter.”
I whisper to mom, “Why was he so shocked about the scabbard?”
“I have no idea.”
“I assumed you still prefer not to ride in a carriage and we prepared a horse for you,” he looks at me, “but we didn’t know about the young miss until yesterday so we don’t have a horse for her. We still have a carriage with us which she could ride in but since you’re the mother you figure it out.”
Mom turns to me, “Well, what do you think? Do you want to ride on a horse with me or in the carriage?”
“I think I prefer the carriage, that way I might be able to tinker a bit.”
“Okay, I’m going to take the carriage as well then!”
Preparations were soon completed and mom and I got into the carriage. The carriage was shaking so much the whole time it was impossible to do anything! The carriage suddenly comes to a stop but we definitely haven’t arrived yet because it looks like we are in a forest. Mom and I both step out of the carriage to see what’s going on. We get to the front of the escort where Elias is with a few of his subordinates.
“What’s the situation?”
“An iron golem, it shouldn’t really be a problem but it might take awhile to get rid of it.”
I tap mom on the shoulder and give her my best puppy dog eyes. She tries to fight against my persuasiveness but then lets out a sigh, “Fine, but please be careful.”
My eyes start sparkling, “I will, thank you!” I draw my sword and walk towards the iron golem, behind me I can hear Elias arguing with mom but I don’t pay attention to it. This is going to be my first real fight so I will try to just use my strength and no magic first. I sprint to cover the remaining distance to the iron golem, swing my sword and land on the other side and… As I turn around the iron golem collapses into a big pile of rubble. I walk back over to where mom and Elias are standing, “I think the monster guide we have at home is outdated. It said iron golems are strong monsters so I only held back a bit yet it still died in a single hit. Like isn’t it supposed to have regeneration powers and build itself up again unless you hit the core? And I avoided hitting the core on purpose!”
“This is why I didn’t want you to have actual fights, your sense of strength is totally screwed. I know, I know, it’s partially my fault but still.”
Oops, I forgot again.
Elias snapped out of his shock again, “Okay then, why don’t the two of you rest in the carriage while we move this out of the way.”
“Sure, I wanted to fix the carriage. Anyways, let’s go mom.”
We walk back to the carriage and I start tinkering with the wheels. It doesn’t take long and I finish my work, now I just have to figure out if it worked once we continue the journey.
“Do I even want to know what you did to that carriage?”
“I just stopped the shaking because it was bothering me.”
He looks at mom questioningly.
“Don’t ask me, you know I have no idea about how magic tools are made.”
He lets out a deep sigh, “You know what, I give up. We are ready to leave so please get back into the carriage.”
The remaining journey went relatively smooth, my modifications to the carriage worked perfectly. We stopped every now and then, probably because of more monsters, but we didn’t get out for those. Mom didn’t allow me to fight anymore.
It took us 4 days but we are now finally arriving at the capital. We are going straight to the castle and our carriage stops right in front of the gate. Mom and I step out of the carriage and I see that there is a line of soldiers on either side of us up until the castle entrance. We are walking towards the door and I’m holding moms hand, it feels pretty intimidating being here. After about half the way a young woman who looks similar to mom is walking towards us.
“Mother, is all of this really necessary?”Mom looks a bit terrified while saying that.
So this is the queen and my grandma?
The queen looks at mom, clearly angry. “Of course it is necessary! Do you need me to remind you what you did last time!” She then turns to me, her expression softening. “You must be Lucina, I hope my idiot daughter didn’t cause you any trouble.”
I give a courteous bow, “Yes your highness, I’m Lucina Stallard. Mom has been taking good care of me, thank you for your concern.”
“Oh my, what a polite young lady,” she looks at mom, “unlike her mother.”
Mom clearly wants to say something but is holding her tongue.
“This isn’t the right place for talks so let’s get inside and tell me all about how my daughter, who insisted she isn’t going to have children suddenly appears with a child.”
“I never said anything about not having children, just about not having a partner.”
I don’t think the queen was able to hear moms mumbling or she decided to ignore it. She is leading the way inside and we arrive in a room with two very comfortable looking couches, a small table in between them and a few bookshelves on the walls. The queen sits down on one couch and points at the other one, so mom sits down and I sit down next to her.
“Okay then. Eliza, start explaining and you better not leave out any detail.”
Mom starts explaining our story, she didn’t get far before a maid brought in some tea. I got distracted thinking about magical tools after that because they seemed to have a normal teapot and didn’t use a magical tool and I was wondering why but I can’t interrupt them right now.
“I see. This certainly sounds like something you would do and it’s good to hear you are finally learning at least a bit of responsibility.”
Oh looks like they finished.
I put down the empty teapot I was tinkering with and start paying attention again.
“Lucina, what have you been doing with that teapot?”
“Oh, nothing much. I noticed that this teapot doesn’t heat up by itself so I fixed it.”
“You fixed it?”
“Yes, it should heat up the water inside automatically now if you add a little bit of mana to the teapot, isn’t that normal?”
“You said you made the scabbards yourself as well, right? Could you tell me what material you used for it?”
“Whenever we went to town I stopped by the blacksmith and I asked if I could have the scrap metal they didn’t use anymore so I used that.”
The queen lets out a sigh. “Well, one problem after the other,” she looks at me again, “from now on you are going to be officially a part of the royal family and I will give you the middle name Renata, so from now on your full name will be Lucina Renata Stallard. And I have to insist that you attend the academy here in the capital.”
“But Lucina already finished everything you’d learn in school with her private tutor, she wouldn’t actually be able to learn anything there.”
“Common sense. I want her to go to school to maybe learn some common sense. Also meeting people her age will be good for her, making friends is important.”
“I don’t mind going to school if I can learn about magic tools there.”
“It’s settled then, there is a student dorm at the school so you can stay there and Eliza can stay here and catch up with Emelia at the same time. It will take until after the coronation until school starts again so it’s the perfect timing as well.”