When the Misty Gate disappeared, Cecil, Lucia, and Fina were no longer there. Ariel, Friedrich, and the rest of the foxkin group could only stare ahead incredulously.
"What kind of magic spell was that?!" A foxkin asked in excitement.
They were all there to see the princess and many were stunned seeing her. Now they were more amazed when they saw the high-leveled magic spell that the girl just so casually conjured. Ariel now had an even firmer resolve to make the girl his.
"...a space gate... what the hell," Friedrich mumbled with conflicted amazement.
"What's that, Friedrich?" Ariel asked.
"Nothing..."
'Damn that Cecil... just a small spell repelled all of us...'
While everyone else was amazed at Lucia's Misty Gate, only Friedrich was concerned about the repulsing mana wave that Cecil had 'directed' at the group.
"Is this okay Ariel? Didn't you hear what they said earlier? They're going back to the princess' private residence."
"So what?"
"Didn't you see that Cecil also walked through that magic spell and disappearing?"
"..." Friedrich's words caused him to frown in displeasure. He scoffed and turned around. He was first going to report to his father about this before taking any further action.
While only Ariel seemed to have an ulterior motive, the rest of the foxkin group was purely there to just meet and greet the new princess. They had heard all about the chieftain's respected elder brother, and how he along with his family would return to the clan. The children of the clan that couldn't get admitted to the Arks Magic Academy had heard news about how their new princess had actually become one of the Queens of the Academy. Such a feat was unheard of considering her age and how it's only been a couple of months since she had enrolled.
She was directly walking on the path that her mother had treaded before, and even more spectacularly at that. No one wanted to offend such a character and they all wanted to befriend her, since technically, they were now family.
******
Back at the private residence, as Lucia walked out of the Misty Gate, she stopped in surprise at the scene in front of her. Cecil and Fina walked out from the gate and almost collided into her. Cecil quickly sensed the presence of others inside the living room and quickly scanned the area with his eyes. To his surprise he found a familiar couple sitting down on the couch in the room staring back at them with a warm smile.
"Papa! Mama!" Lucia exclaimed and lunged right at her parents. She dived straight into her father's embrace. Zaqi gently caught her and began rubbing her little head.
"Haha, how's my daughter?"
"Hihihi~ I'm great! Why didn't mama and papa find me earlier today?" Lucia asked with a slight pout.
"We were going to, but we didn't want to ruin your fun!"
As Lucia was being spoilt by her father, Cecil walked forward and said lightly, "Mother, Father."
"HAH???!!!"
This caused Fina to exclaim in surprise. They were actually siblings?! How could they be so intimate then?!
"Ahahaha~ it's not what you think, little one," Anna said gently, when she saw Fina's shocked and pale face.
"Cecil here is just our foster son~"
"O-Ohhh...phew..." Fina sighed in relief. It would have been bad if they were blood related. She would have had to lecture her dear friend about...many, many things.
Zaqi turned towards Cecil and smiled, "How are you, Cecil? Doing great as well?"
"Yes. Academy life is...interesting." Cecil smiled.
"Ahaha! That's good!"
"So... what brings mother and father here?"
Anna was the one who replied.
"Well, isn't it obvious~? We're here to cheer on our two children and bear witness to the moment when they take the top 2 spots in the tournament~" she said a matter-of-factly.
Fina wryly smiled when she heard this. Even their parents knew about how powerful the two were. They were just on a whole other level compared to anyone in their generation. In fact, the people 1-2 generations above them might not even be able to compare with their present strength. This was how they were at their current adolescent age. Just imagine how strong they would become when they finally turned into proper adults.
Fina felt a little bit of pride swell up within her since she too was also categorized as one of them. Although she wasn't as powerful, but she knew that she could most definitely win against people much older than her.
"Uhm... Fina, yes?" Anna gently asked.
"Y-Yes ma'am!"
"Uhm... would you mind if our family can talk with each other privately?"
"Oh! Y-Yes, of course! I'll just... head to the study!" Fina said, completely flustered.
She quickly stood up and went to residence's study room. Lucia's mother, Anna, was awfully beautiful and Fina grew very shy when such a woman was addressing her so gently.
"...? Mama, Papa, what's wrong?" Lucia asked when she saw her mother
"Honey, we have something to tell you..." Zaqi solemnly said.
Anna had already cast a silencing barrier around them, so now no one can hear what they were talking about. Cecil was amazed at the ease and fluidity that Anna had casted the barrier. Seeing the flow of mana surrounding the air intrigued him. He was able to see that the mana was circulating in a peculiar way that forced the sound from going in or out of the barrier.
"Cecil, this concerns you too~" Anna said, trying to grab his attention
Cecil turned his attention to Anna and Zaqi after taking one last look at the spell formation. He sat down in front of them and quietly listened to Zaqi's explanation.
"You're actually a member of the–"
"Golden Fox clan? Yeah, I know~" Lucia said, finishing her father's sentence.
"...Okay?"
Anna was giggling on the side and Cecil just took the information in stride, no changes to his expression whatsoever.
"Where did you learn about this?" Zaki asked with a smile.
"Aurel told me about it a week ago~"
"Aurel? Aurellia Aurielle?"
"Yup, that's her. She's my cousin right?"
"Yeah... haha, my baby girl is so smart~" Zaqi said as he dotingly stroked Lucia's head.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
"...not surprised Little Cel?" Anna asked.
"Not really. It's not like this changes anything," Cecil mildly responded.
He did notice these past few days that Aurellia Aurielle, the female faction leader of the Royal Foxes, was acting real chummy with Lucia. But, since the girl in question wasn't actually against anything and was even accommodating for the new friend, Cecil didn't pay any particular mind to it. He was actually happy that Lucia found another friend.
"More importantly... this barrier is really something...the mana flow is so intriguing!" Cecil said as he once again eyed the silencing barrier around them. "How did you do it?"
Anna only smiled at this and simply told him it was a wind elemental spell, which then bummed him out. He couldn't use any elemental spells and manipulating the mana to do as the Silence Barrier did looked pretty hard.
Zaqi smiled at Cecil and continued explaining to Lucia the reason behind them being accepted back into the clan. It was mostly due to Lucia, since she was now one of the Queens of the Academy. Being so high profiled like that, outside sects and families were bound to recruit such a young talent. Since her parents were unknown and no one had any information about her being a part of any aristocratic family in the Kingdom, they would do many things to come and entice her into their sects or families.
The same went for Cecil. He was actually much more desirable. The young boy had talent and absurd combat prowess. Not only that, he had created a party and trained its members to become superpowers in their own right.
He was doing what the Academy instructors and teachers might not be able to and he already produced results in less than a year. This factor alone caused Cecil to be very coveted by the different factions and sects in the Anglaria Kingdom, but the unstable factor was that if one sect or family was able to acquire him, then the rest would do their all to impede his and the sect or family's growth. Whether it was elimination, abduction, blackmail, they'd do just about anything apparently.
Of course, nothing had happened to Cecil during this entire time and that was because of Lucia's parents. However, there was only so much that two people could do. So, the couple decided that it would be best to just take shelter under an umbrella, and that umbrella would be the Golden Fox Clan which Zaqi was originally a part of. The Elders of the clan had already agreed with Lucia's family coming back to the clan. So everything was already set in stone.
Lucia took the information in stride and just nodded obediently when Zaqi told her about the clan rules, duties and obligations she had to fulfill as a member of the clan's young generation. Cecil listened as well, but he felt a little disconnected. He only saw Anna and Zaqi as his guardians and no one else, he wouldn't even bat an eye if an Elder of the clan told him to do something he didn't want to do.
Of course, he would remain respectful as he always did, but he wouldn't get too involved in their clan matters. Most of the stuff he heard about was something close to what he's been taught as a child when he was named as his family's successor.
"Cecil? Are you okay with all this?" Zaqi asked.
"Well, it's nothing new actually. In my family, I was named as the next successor and I was groomed to become the next leader ever since I was a child...so I get the gist of it."
"!"
"Oh?"
"Huh?!" Lucia was the most surprised when she heard this.
Cecil remained nonchalant, but Lucia immediately began questioning him right after.
"H-How come you've never told me about this?!"
"Huh? Well...there wasn't the need?"
"Don't you think this is important information?!"
"Well... I'm not really sure where my family is...until I find them then wouldn't this be unimportant? What family would I lead if they're not here?"
"This is important!!"
While Lucia was listening to her father's explanation, she was also warned not to get too close to anyone in the family besides her father's immediate relatives. The branch families always wanted to find ways to climb up the social ladder in the clan so they'd resort to arranged marriages or whatnot. They'd even go as far as using underhanded means if necessary,
When she heard that her father also had his marriage pre-arranged by the Elders of the clan and why he had fallen out with his family over her mother, it was a very touching love story since he, as the next family head, had abandoned his status and everything to marry her mother.
Since Cecil was also groomed to be the next head of his family then wouldn't that mean he too had an arranged marriage or something similar to that? This posed a problem to Lucia, but Cecil didn't understand, nor did he know anything about this. This was simply because arranged marriages were only a thing for the Business side of his family. His side, the traditional martial side, had no such thing.
"Well, I was only groomed to lead the family. The martial section at least. Other than that, I had no other obligations. I only had to learn and pass down the martial arts of my family to the next generation. Nothing complicated like your clan, Lucia."
"..."
"What? What's wrong?"
"That better be it...if I find any..." Lucia began slurring and mumbling at the end of her sentence. Cecil only tilted his head and leaned back on the sofa. It seems that all the serious talk was finally over.
"Cecil, like I've already told you before. I've left my daughter in your hands. Please continue taking care of her," Zaqi said as he eyed the disinterested Cecil.
"Hm? Of course, nothing's changed father. Lucia's still Lucia even if she's joined some clan."
"You might get some competition~" Anna added teasingly.
Cecil didn't get what she meant and all he did was raise a fist and said, "Competition? Hmph, in my generation, there's no one left to compete with...except Lucia of course."
The girl had already gathered her mana into her fists, planning to smack the arrogance out of the boy's mouth, but stopped and began giggling when she heard the last part. Anna and Zaqi only smiled wryly at this. Cecil didn't understand what they meant by 'competition'. Though, in a sense, what he said was true.