Character Information - Who is who?
Because I have created quite a variety of characters, I will now create little cheat sheets before a chapter for the characters who will appear in the chapter, but not for those who haven't. Please open the spoiler if you need some reminders. (Be careful. It can be a spoiler for the chapter!)
Alexander K. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* The fourth child of the current Leonandra household (Nobility)
* Specialization(-s)
* Magic and Alchemy
* Eyecolor
* Golden-Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Snow-white
* Miscellaneous
* Transmigrated from the Earth and the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* Ocilia L. (Disciple)
* Maurice L. (Protector)
* Melina L. (Head-Maid)
* Francesca L. (Maid)
* Cloelle L. (Maid)
* Aurum L. (Head Accountant)
Lorient M. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* The first child of the current Leonandra household (Nobility)
* Specialization(-s)
* Martial Arts, Acrobatic, and Hunting
* Eyecolor
* Golden-Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Scarlett Red
* Miscellaneous
* A user of wild demon energy
* Sister of the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* Larry L. (Protector)
* Franko L. (Head Butler)
Narsiz K. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* The second child of the current Leonandra household (Nobility)
* Specialization(-s)
* Administration, Economy, etc. (Bureaucracy in general)
* Eyecolor
* Golden-Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Golden-blonde fur and hair color
* Miscellaneous
* Incredibly beautiful and charismatic
* Brother of the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* None mentioned
Sarah M. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* The third child of the current Leonandra household (Nobility)
* Specialization(-s)
* Shield Arts
* Eyecolor
* Pink-Colored (Heart-formed pupils)
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Pastel-greenish
* Miscellaneous
* Loves Shopping
* Sister of the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* None mentioned
Janina M. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* The fifth child of the current Leonandra household (Nobility)
* Specialization(-s)
* Painting
* Eyecolor
* Green-Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Black
* Miscellaneous
* Loves reading shitty romance novels
* Sister of the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* None mentioned
Kairoso Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* Lord of the Leonandra household
* Specialization(-s)
* Transformations (Monsters and Animals)
* Eyecolor
* Green-Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Black
* Miscellaneous
* Is a Druid
* Father of the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* Sarusos L. (Girl for Everything)
Marisia S. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* Lady of the Leonandra household (Nobility)
* Specialization(-s)
* High energy control and Martial Arts
* Eyecolor
* Golden-Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Crimson-Red
* Miscellaneous
* A user of the wild demon energy
* Mother of the MC
(Close-)Retainers
* Aro L. (Head-Butler)
* Salyna L. (Head-Accountant)
* Cross L. (Commander)
* Noriken L. (Archivar)
Scarlett J. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Known Position
* Former Lady of the Leonandra household
* Specialization(-s)
* Martial Arts, Administration, and Manipulation of Energy
* Eyecolor
* Golden Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Crimson-Red Colored
* Miscellaneous
* A user of the Wild Demon Energy
* Grandmother of the MC
* Incredibly ambitious
* Likes hazelnut cookies
(Close-)Retainers
* None mentioned
Fiorello P. Nine-Fire (Fox-kin)
* Known Position
* Child of the Nine-Fire family
* Specialization(-s)
* Manipulation and Socialization
* Eyecolor
* Green Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Black Colored
* Miscellaneous
* Incredibly beautiful
* Incredibly sadistic
* In cahoots with Klepto and the Asylum camp in Kratikal
(Close-)Retainers
* Strawberry N. (Personal Maid (?))
Linuel O. Nine-Fire (Fox-kin)
* Known Position
* A child of the current Nine-Fire household
* Specialization(-s)
* Hunting, Scouting, and Tracking
* Eyecolor
* Scarlett-Red Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Charcoal-Black Colored
* Miscellaneous
* A little rough around the edges
* Bad luck in finding a spouse
(Close-)Retainers
* None mentioned
Patricia O. Nine-Fire (Fox-kin)
* Known Position
* The youngest child of the current Nine-Fire household
* Specialization(-s)
* Fine Arts, Spear Arts, and Riding
* Eyecolor
* Scarlett-Red Colored
* Hair (Fur-) Color
* Charcoal-Black Colored
* Miscellaneous
* Very intelligent and talented
(Close-)Retainers
* None mentioned
...
At the dinner hall
After the greeting and unpacking, all Leonandras and Nine-Fires sat down to dine and talk. The lady, Alexander's mother, sat at the end of the dining table while his father sat on the other side with Janina on his lap.
The Leonandra youth sat randomly on one side, while the Nine-Fire youth sat on the other with Scarlett. In noble society, there was a clear sitting arrangement where only one could sit on the end, who was the true ruler of the fief, while on the side would be the children in an arrangement by importance, not age.
Here, though, it was more legeré, and only a minimum of decorum was followed, which was also seen in how they ate. The enormous dining table was crammed with food of every variety. They ate in French style (service à la française) while more than a dozen servants tried to accommodate them by bringing them the food since the table was too large to reach most delicacies themselves.
Usually, in noble societies, the Russian style (service à la russe) was followed, where the food came in courses. Alexander thought about it but didn't mention it as it could come over as condescending since they always dined casually.
However, one part was followed meticulously and differed greatly from his usual eating experience: Everyone changed their clothes to fit the image of nobility. The girls wore fine dresses fitting their age, and the boys wore suits. Everyone wore accessories that looked, in Alexander's eyes, very expensive. His were the collar and mana item for training. If he chose to wear more, it would look goofy.
Alexander looked around and saw how everyone was a little on edge. The atmosphere was charged by what happened only a couple of hours ago. His sisters all looked at Fiorello like he was anti-Christ himself. Narsiz couldn't make eye contact with Linuel since it was apparent that he was into her in how he acted, and Patricia glanced at him, full of hate.
'Fun times. All that is left is the forty-something uncle who brings a barely legal teen as his new wife to the family gathering, and I feel like home.'
Luckily, his grandmother tried to break the ice by talking about mundane things, "Marisia, did you renovate? It looks so lovely."
"Thanks, Mother, we did do some things."
They not only repaired but also renovated the whole main mansion fully. Alexander insisted on it, and Aurum had a fit at him afterward. However, it resolved quickly, establishing that gold was barely a problem.
Alexander was already creating much more paper than he thought. Instead of the planned 1,000 pieces per week, he made 3,000. Thus, he got even more funds from Green without being forced to make any promises. It was like she only waited for him to do anything so she could throw gold at him.
It was obvious why she did it since she knew he already successfully created the mana ink but told her he needed more time to find the correct mixing ratio, which wasn't true. His actual reason for the delay was very petty: Alexander wanted and demanded that the color was to his liking, making all his new workers crazy. The mana distribution and density, on the other hand, were already close to perfect.
He didn't know why, but he had some weird streak in him that developed slowly and made him look at things very differently. For example, he loved that his clothes had a suitable color composition, like light brown shoes with a marine blue suit.
It was like a nail scratching his mind when he saw a terrible ink coloration, or at least what he perceived as such. All he wanted was to throw it away even though the batches he found unusable would be worth thousands of gold.
He had no idea why this was the case with him but attributed it to genetics since he had literally a new body. Sometimes, he wanted to force himself to be lazy in his appearance, like he was before, but it slowly eroded.
It became, for some reason, worse for the last weeks, but if it were the only problem he had, he would take it. Other things were bothering him and were much more pressing, such as the production of paper, which gave him a big headache.
The workers were very different from Earth, creating new problems. How different were they? Through skills, energy, and naturally better physical fitness, they could do everything they needed in half the time while following the safety measures he implemented to a tee. This was also why he created much more paper than expected.
So, where was the problem? Alexander was the problem since he was the part that couldn't get enough resources to them, which would change slowly with them hiring more merchants.
Buying sulfur and all the other chemicals was annoying since there was no established supply chain. So everything needed to be done, at the moment, through Salyna since Aurum was in Wolfsteeth, trying to get the projects to start and hire some more people.
He suddenly lost his thought when Scarlett asked Narsiz, "You are very much interested in politics, right? What do you think about the sudden influx of gold in all the charities and orphanages? Is it some new wealthy philanthropist?"
Alexander almost choked at his food and needed to beat his chest while his siblings chuckled. He gave Aurum a task to act aggressively and not care about anything regarding the proper procedure.
Ultimately, he wanted to act as quickly as possible and tune the process when they had more data. Otherwise, it would become too cumbersome. It was also the SOP for tech start-ups with novel ideas to monopolize the market niché so new competitors or copycats couldn't come in and sweep their potential user base away, for example. While it was costly, such a strategy was also unbureaucratic.
By listening to Scarlett, it seemed that Alexander's prediction that Aurum would act frugally was wrong, 'He actually listened to me, huh.'
If Aurum followed Alexander's advice, he would go around in his name with Maurice and, hopefully, his new goons to inspect, talk, hire, spend, etc. He didn't expect that his grandmother would find out. Not that it was wrong since he didn't think she would stop him, but that she found it out was surprising to him.
Scarlett was confused about the reactions, and Marisia enlightened her, "Alexander... let's say, made a lot of gold through some invention and decided to spend a big part of his wealth on the poor and disadvantaged."
The fox-kin youth looked, or rather stared, confused at Alexander, and Scarlett asked him, also clearly confused, "Alex, what did you invent?"
Marisia wanted to stop her, but Alexander waved his hand while quickly chanting a spell to clean his clothes, where the soup spilled on, and explained, "I need to apologize, grandmother. This topic is very sensitive, but I can tell you in detail if you let those three sign a contract..."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He turned toward them, "Sorry, nothing against you."
Linuel shrugged, "It's fine, I understand."
Patricia was perplexed by something else, "Was this another spell?"
Alexander nodded, "Yes, you can clean yourselves with it."
She suddenly glanced at him more intensely with a hint of jealousy, making him uncomfortable, 'Holy, she has some intense stare.'
Fiorello looked bored and a little high-stringed at Patricia and tried to explain the spell to her, "It is a spell usually used by more experienced apprentice mages..." He looked at Lorient with a seductive smile, "...however, it kills the smell, and this is boring, am I right?"
Lorient looked at him and frowned, but before she could say something, Scarlett asked Marisia, being very interested in Alexander, "Is what Alexander said true that the information is too sensitive?"
Marisia nodded, "I am sorry, Mother, but he is even underplaying it."
Kairoso chuckled from the other end of the table, "Hehe if you only knew!"
On his lap was Janina, sitting and screaming like her father, "If you would know!"
Such conduct was unheard of for nobles, but Kairoso didn't care as he rarely stayed at the estate for the last few years and wanted to bond as much as possible with his puppies before returning to the frontline.
It was no secret since Alexander's father was always like this when he returned to the estate. However, it became somewhat cumbersome in the last days before he left, as he was around them all day.
He told them some days ago that the wild demons at the border to Kratikal came in weak waves periodically but became stronger. It was weird behavior for the blood demons who appeared, but nothing unusual. So this visit could be the last one for the next years before the waves became too strong and thus needed him to be there. So, he became even more clingy.
Scarlett ignored this behavior and was even more perplexed by Alexander, "Marisia, we need to talk... this all sounds strange."
Marisia frowned, "Fine. After dinner, the puppies can go out and enjoy themselves..." She stopped momentarily and smiled at Patricia, "...Alex has a lesson. Patricia, do you want to join him? Anastasia will be delighted to have two brilliant students learning from her."
Patricia became elated, "Sure! It would be great!"
Scarlett looked at Patricia and back at Marisia, "Did you say, Anastasia? The bunny-kin from the Ramputt household?"
Alexander chimed in, "Yeah, the one who came smelling like a whole bar to my lessons when the mating season was in full swing."
Marisia rebutted her son, "Alex, don't talk about her like that. The mating season is for different beast-kin..."
Narsiz interrupted her, "He is right, though. She smelled like every soldier mixed with cheap booze."
Before Marisia could rebuke her sons, as often before, because they shouldn't talk like that about someone reputable and well-known as a great teacher, Scarlett wanted to stay on topic, "How did you get her again? I remember she was gone after a year of teaching Lorient, and I could only get hold of her through some connections to the crown."
Every wolf-kin youth took a wild guess as it became more rowdy, making the atmosphere at the dinner much more easy-going.
Lorient drank some wine and answered confidently, "She was probably bored with all those losers from the central region."
Sarah was already drunk, as she was only now allowed to drink alcohol after months of house arrest, and blurted out what came to her mind, "Our men are better! Those wussies from anywhere else only know how to push papers..." She looked at Narsiz apologetically, "...sorry, hehe..."
Narsiz rolled his eyes and sighed. He wiped some alcohol from his face with a serviette and answered, "Food and men, for sure..." He also mumbled something barely audible, "...there go our manners."
Janina became more vigorous, almost screaming, "It was obviously because of Big Brother! Did you see the great plays he did?"
Alexander waved his hand in dismissal after gulping down a cup of some tea he found weirdly delicious, "It was obviously because of gold!..." He became strangely more relaxed, slamming the cup down, "...it rules the world, and we paid her an insane amount!"
The fox-kin youth also chimed in after seeing the fun discussion and relaxed atmosphere.
After gulping down a giant piece of steak, Linuel looked at Lorient and agreed, "You don't even know. I was once in central Mal-Gil, and all those young nobles were pathetic losers, only blurting out their family name to impress me like it meant something."
Fiorello was the only one besides Narsiz, minding his manners and smiling at their descriptions, "Hm, where is her room? I have some philosophical questions I want to discuss, hehe."
Patricia looked around in confusion, "She is a bad teacher?!"
Marisia tried to answer some of them while they talked happily and rudely with each other, already forgetting their manners, "She is a good teacher, and she came because of Alexander and a giant bag of gold."
Scarlett looked at her daughter more intensely, "Hm, let's talk after dinner, then."
Alexander saw how his mother looked at his grandmother and remembered that they had some problems, but there was fundamental trust between each other. His mother told him that when it came to certain things, his whole family would stand together, never mind the differences.
'Well, at least I know that she wouldn't fuck me over, but this is always in the eyes of the beholder.'
Alexander understood what his mother meant, but the differences were a little extreme for his taste. She would force him to marry someone she deemed worthy if she could, so she wasn't that trustworthy in his eyes.
'I bet all my money that, if she could, she would send me to the Nine-Fire household or any other, so I get surrounded by girls all day till I fall in love with some kiddo so I wouldn't marry some commoner in my future... great shit.'
Alexander was obviously against something like this and would rebel, but he also knew that he was very lucky since some families didn't even ask and just forced their children to marry others. He couldn't even imagine what to do if something like this happened to him.
He looked around at the relaxed atmosphere and how all talked freely with each other, which brought a smile to his face. He took another gulp and was confused about why the tea was this delicious.
The dinner ended with a relaxed atmosphere and a lot of small talk. After that, Narsiz showed Linuel the estate with a couple of guards, while Alexander went with Patricia to his lesson with Sarusos. Lorient and Sarah went together with Fiorello toward the garden with some guards. On the other hand, Janina was sent to her room by Lorient. She pouted and protested at first but, in the end, went to rest.
Everybody could see where the priorities were by which guards were sent and with whom. The soldiers sent with Sarah and Lorient were only there for decorum since they were rather weak. Marisia had clear priorities for who she expected could be a victim of her mother's manipulation.
However, while Marisia unevenly distributed the protection between the Leonandra youth, it didn't affect the accommodation. A barrage of servants from the Leonandra and Nine-fire households followed them so they could be helpful if the need arose.
...
Marisia's Office
Scarlett was sitting and listening to her daughter about what had happened since she visited the last time. Kairoso was also in the room, looking as proud as possible. Every time her daughter brought up something new, something inside her, which she thought had been buried, came out slowly. She needed to suppress it actively, 'He is a monster!'
Producing better training methods/schedules for soldiers. Inventing a technique for acquiring mana skills. Making mana paper and selling it for a ridiculous amount of coin to the temple while being exceptionally strong at such a young age.
She now understood all the weirdness around her grandson. It was very unusual for a puppy like Alexander to acquire an amount of wealth that could rival the poorer noble households. Only the descendants of higher nobles had pocket money that eclipsed anything reasonable. They usually acted similarly to Alexander but started unlawfully buying out businesses for fun instead of putting the gold into charity.
She also understood now why Alexander needed to wear the mana item and anti-mana collar, as he could only cope with the increased experience by training his body diligently with every method they had at hand.
The other thing that surprised her was that he underwent the demonic baptism. It was necessary since he inherited the treehugger's ancient bloodline and couldn't cope with the blood lust when it came out, resulting in a destroyed foundation of the main mansion.
She knew that her daughter was somewhat powerful when it came to her [Divinity Line] and had exceptional control over it. It was a first for her to hear that she could barely crack her grandson with full force.
Usually, the problem was that their previous ancestors overshot and damaged the psyche, but here was the puppy resisting. She couldn't even blame her for doing it in the lord's and lady's training hall since nobody could predict something like that could happen.
Scarlett smiled as the greed she had controlled till now invaded her thoughts. In her mind, even marrying her grandson to a princess who would become the empress would sell him short, 'He really could take one of the four seats beside the high nobles!'
Mal-Gil had a council with eleven seats for higher nobles and four for commoners, who could also be nobles who were exceptionally talented, strong, and firmly influenced the empire.
It was built after the last coup to control the Emperor better since more than Count Moorgrel alone was needed as a control instance.
She had already started to think of a way for Alexander to reach his full potential, but it became suddenly complicated to think everything through as she needed to confirm some more things. However, she already started with a rough outline.
'It's getting weirdly complex...'
Because of his birth, coming from a druid, and a noble lineage, which was Moorgrelian nobility, there was no way for him to climb to a position of higher nobility through merits. So, if she wanted him to rise to a fitting position, it only would be one of the four seats.
The first one belonged to the leader of all mercenaries and adventurers. Those groups differed heavily as one specialized in wars or protection, while the other specialized in killing monsters.
Yet, there was only one at the top: The leader of the Union for Combatants. He was powerful, and if push came to shove, his top people could rival the army of a dukedom.
The second was the leader of the Healer Union, who worked closely with the Union for Combatants for apparent reasons. They also had very close relationships with many other nobles, as they were basically the lifeblood of any group or household.
The third was the Trade Union, which had incredible wealth under them. They were a council in itself, and only one represented them. They could bankrupt kingdoms while having half the council of the higher nobles in their pockets.
Last but not least was the Union of Wizardry and Artificing. This group was where Scarlett saw her grandson becoming the next archmage. With such a talent, everything short of getting the seat would be a waste in her eyes.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Marisia, "Well, and now you are here. Want to learn mana skills, too?"
Marisia smiled at her while Scarlett didn't say anything and was in her own world. She tried to remember all the connections to mages she had made, but they were weak, and she would need to work extra hard for the following years to try and connect her grandson with mages in higher positions.
'I know of some individuals... they could be actually much better for him, but I need test him first to even to determine his true potential.'
After a moment of silence, Kairoso answered her, "I think we broke her?"
Marisia sighed at what her husband said, "Please don't use the same phrases Alexander uses. It sounds degrading."
Kairoso shrugged at this while his mother-in-law looked at him and waved her hand in dismissal, "Shut up, you big oaf. I need to process somehow what you and Mari told me."
Marisia looked at Kairoso, who stepped back with a big smile. She turned to her mother and became serious, "Mother, the situation with Alexander is very sensitive, so please don't do anything overly rash..." She frowned a little, "...while you are at it. Also, don't do the same things to Narsiz, too."
Scarlett felt attacked, "What? It sounds like I am trying to assassinate them while only trying to introduce some nice girls to them?"
In her mind, Alexander needed a good girl he could trust with his life, and what better choice was there than to have him marry someone from the guard households?
At this point, she didn't even care about nobility since her grandson wouldn't even need it with so much talent, but he would need someone who could maneuver through the social circles of nobility. A commoner couldn't do it and would only damage Alexander's reputation.
Also, because the guard households were heavily interconnected, there was no way that any backstabbing could happen, so this was preferable to her to every other girl with higher status.
Marisia frowned, "Listen, I know what you tried the last time with Narsiz, and I don't want something like that to happen again."
Scarlett frowned in the same way as Marisia. Kairoso chuckled a little at the sight, only to be glared at by the mother-daughter duo. He stepped back one more time and smiled at them happily.
She ignored him and answered her daughter, "It was obviously not my plan. The little squirt I brought here had, for some reason, a mana contract and really liked Narsiz."
Marisia sighed, "Fine, let's just say it is as you say it is. There was another thing that happened, can you remember? I don't want my puppies, no matter who, to be punished in a way you see fit."
Scarlett squinted at her daughter, becoming angry, and exactly knew what she was talking about, "How I see fit? You are talking like I beat up Sarah..." She stared her daughter into her eyes, "...I only spanked her since someone couldn't teach her not to call her grandmother an old hag, and you..." She turned to Kairoso, "...needed to escalate the situation. So much for being a peaceful druid."
Kairoso took another step back with a joyful smile on his face. For some reason, this made Scarlett pop a vein, 'Alexander already showed a similar attitude to Patricia like this bastard of being relaxed while provoking... I just want to beat him till he crawls around and begs me to stop. I need to teach proper manners to Alexander before he becomes like the treehugger.'
Marisia stood up and leaned against the table forward, clearly angry even though appearing solemn, obviously letting all her emotions out, "You think what you did was only spanking?! She needed a healer afterward!..." Marasia's glare intensified, "...you did the same with Lisa all her life till she broke..." Her grip ripped a part of the table out, "...all you did was torture her, thinking it would strengthen her, and what happened in the end? She crumbled because of your greed!"
Scarlett stood up, too, looking her daughter in her eyes, "It was my mistake. How much do I need to apologize? She was not ready for the baptism, and I failed to recognize it!"
Marisia became angry and showed her fangs, "Really?! I remember you torturing her even after she failed! All her life, all the time she was in this damned estate, she was only doing what you wanted because of your so-called grandiose goals! Even after she became miserable, you wanted to marry her to some bastard!"
Scarlett let out a little bloodlust, "Do you think she is happy living somewhere in the woods like some animal with a damn dirty farmer?! I wanted the best for her even after she failed...." Scarlett felt sadness at the moment, "...she had so much potential, so much talent and unwavering will..." She bit her lower lip, "...it was truly my mistake."
Marisia's bloodlust exploded, interrupting her mother, "She failed?! You fucking bitch..." She fletched her fangs at her, "...do you listen to yourself?! You destroyed all that made her, her! Her friendliness, her openness, her unwavering goodwill. What did you expect with training that I barely survived when I went through it when I was much older!"
Scarlett wanted to interrupt her daughter but suddenly felt intense killing intent toward her, and the following words of her daughter sounded like pure poison, "I always thought that it was for our own good to be strong and if something terrible happened, you would be there..." Her eyes slowly reddened, "... tell me, what did you do after she got raped?"
She didn't say anything and stared at her daughter, feeling ready to teach her a lesson but couldn't. She knew she had failed on many fronts, so she tried her best to stay calm and let her tantrum end.
Marisia, on the other hand, became angrier, and Scarlett could feel it, "You didn't do anything! The least you should've done was to kill him, but no! You tried to sweep it under the rug like the fucking good mother you are! Everyone would crumble if not even the family stood behind one?! Tell me, how did you feel after she lay and cried in front of you after getting violated by your fucking loser of a brother."
Something snapped inside Scarlett, she couldn't hold it in any longer, and her bloodlust exploded the same way, hearing her daughter's accusation, "Do you want me to damage the damn family, you moron?! I wanted to send him away before anything happened, but you needed to tell your father what happened, right? He cut his arm off and damaged our reputation for no damn reason!"
Marisia opened her eyes wide, which became fully red, filled with demonic energy, "No reason?! This broke Lisa entirely! She trusted you and thought you would help her! After your betrayal, she became nothing more than a shadow of the happy girl I knew! Anything less than having his head on a pike was the disgrace!"
Scarlett squinted at her daughter, trying to calm down before the whole argument escalated into something more, "You are too emotional like your father. Maybe it was a bad..."
Kairoso stepped forward and banged the table. Both women turned with their bloodlust toward him. Scarlett could feel the annoying energy of nature he emitted, which relaxed her slightly. She also saw how her daughter became much more relaxed.
Kairoso shivered slightly, but his voice sounded sincere and soothing, "Ladies! We are all family! There is no need to become like this! What happened, happened! Please think of what is important at the moment!"
He slowly walked beside her daughter, "We have very talented puppies and will need your help, but we want to decide what kind of help we will need while also listening sincerely to your opinion..."
He smiled at Scarlett, "Scarlett, you are a great and ambitious knight without question, but understand that we have some things to work out because of the past..."
He turned to Marisia, "Mari, you should know that your mother never did something bad on purpose, and this was just bad luck or misjudgment..." He touched her shoulder, "...she apologized already and admitted her mistake..." He turned to Scarlett, "...but this doesn't mean everything is fine. I know of Lisa and met her. She is wonderful, so please understand that those scars can't heal that fast. Please, give Mari more time."
Scarlett looked at Marisia, who became relaxed and sat down again. She could feel her bloodlust also subside. Then she looked at the smiling moron who stood behind her daughter, rubbing her shoulders, 'Like Roland... I can't believe we find the same type of men attractive... how can he be even this sensitive as a former mercenary?'
She decided to talk it out again and even apologize as often as needed since she wanted to bury the problem. There were much more important things to discuss, like Alexander's future.
What happened with Lisa was clearly a misjudgment from her as she didn't see the signs of her slow decline, but every time she met with Marisia, she barely trusted her with her puppies, thinking she would do the same. Scarlett thought she had changed, but the moment she heard about Alexander and all his achievements, it was like all her old ambitions came out again.
Now, she was ready even to admit everything her daughter wanted as long as she could realize her grandson's potential, 'Slow. I can't be the same as in the past. I need to somehow make Alex show interest in what is best for him... for us. Then, Marisia can't say anything against it if he wants to go through my training by his own will.'
However, before she could sit down, Aro barged into the office, "My lady, we have some problems..."