“Fuck!” Aodhán cursed as he turned back to his brothers. “Just when I thought no one would recognize me, this happens! It's like the cosmos is joking with me.”
Aodhán glanced at Daruk and Aldric, expecting a response, but both were too focused on Fortuna's departing figure to hear him, and it wasn't until the maid loudly cleared her throat that they snapped back to attention.
“Damn, despite that eerie manifestation, I still think she's hot.” Aldric muttered, and the maid glared at him.
“Apologies, he didn't mean that.” Daruk quickly responded before glaring at Aldric, who frowned in confusion. “I didn't?”
Daruk shook his head. “You're going to put us in trouble if you keep speaking of nobles in that manner.”
“Oh, relax.” Aldric dismissed Daruk's concern. “The woman is a soldier; I'd be surprised if she hasn't heard worse.”
Aodhán's gaze darted from Daruk to Aldric as they bickered, but when Daruk gathered himself in the manner he usually did when he was gearing up for a major argument, Aodhán finally had to step in. “Okay, that's enough, both of you.“ He glared at both of them and hissed. “Besides, did you not hear what she said last? She wants to talk about Varéc.”
“And that's a problem because?” Aldric asked with a confused expression.
“Because I don't want to talk about him.” Aodhán sighed. “I thought I left all that in the 5th sector; this was supposed to be a fun vacation.”
Daruk patted his shoulders sympathetically. “Aodhán, at some point, you'll just have to accept that you're a celebrity now, and for the rest of your life, everyone you meet will want to talk about Varéc.”
Aldric agreed with a hum. “As terrible as it sounds, it's just the reality of fame, and trust me, the more you try to fight it, the more terrible it gets.”
Daruk glared at Aldric for a moment before nodding grudgingly. “As much as it pains me to admit, Aldric's right. I know you didn't choose this, and I understand why you don't want to speak about Varéc, but you can't hide him away forever; you've barely even let him out this week.”
Aodhán rubbed his face wearily. Daruk was right; he couldn't hide Varéc away forever, but he wasn't just keeping Varéc within his spirit to hide him from the reporters; although that was the major reason, he also wasn't comfortable letting Varéc out in a residential area like Norbuik.
Varéc was unlikely to attack a random person, but accidents could happen, and if he wasn't jailed for it, even more reporters would swarm his house in search of juicy gossip.
His control over Varéc was growing stronger each day, but it was still far from absolute. While he was no longer suffering from the consequences of the twisted effect, he wasn't sure that Varéc was free from it as well, and he wasn't willing to take that risk.
The main reason he wanted to avoid conversations about Varéc, though, was because talking about Varéc always led to talking about how he bonded Varéc, and Aodhán much preferred to keep the how to himself. He shook his head as they took another turn. “I just wish things could go back to how they were in the academy. All I had to deal with was hate, jealousy, and girls throwing themselves at me.”
Aldric shook his head in amazement. “What are they teaching you children in that academy?”
Aodhán ignored him, and Daruk snorted in response to his earlier statement. “Things weren't this bad in the academy because most of the students, including myself, didn't quite understand the gravity of what you'd done. I didn't even know what familiars were until the tournament, and it wasn't until the interview that I realized the true gravity of what you'd achieved. Things might have been better in the academy, but when we return, I can guarantee that things will be much worse than they were before. It'll be a messy show.”
“You mean shit show.” Aldric muttered, and Daruk glared at him. “Unlike you, brother, I pride myself on being cultured and proper.”
Aldric mimicked Daruk, and the maid turned to glare at him once more. “Apologies.” He muttered, and when she turned back, he whispered. “I can't make a freaking joke in this place without someone glaring.”
Aodhán chuckled, and Daruk replied. “Well, if you chose not to speak for the entirety of the night, I would be most grateful.”
Aldric sighed as if he bore a great burden. “Alas, that is impossible. The girls love me, the boys love me; I just have to speak.”
“I'm sure you're doing the world a great service.” Aodhán replied, and Aldric grinned. “See, Daruk, Aodhán gets it.”
They all laughed, and moments later, they finally stepped into the mansion. Verdant energy engulfed them immediately, leaving them in awe as they walked through a hallway filled with glowing roots.
They emerged into a vast hall adorned with golden vines. The walls were lined with portraits, each displaying a member of the Willowood family. A staircase, crafted from golden vines, led up to the second floor, which was actually a tree branch repurposed as a deck. It was a testament to the size of the spirit tree that its branches were robust enough to serve as a part of the mansion itself.
Azula led them up the stairs and past several rooms, many of which Aodhán identified as indoor herb gardens or terrariums. They took several twists and turns, and it took them almost ten minutes to reach the banquet hall.
When they finally did, Azula gave a perfunctory bow and departed, leaving them to deal with the two advanced-class guards standing before the entrance on their own.
The first was a thin, tall man with a scar running down the left side of his face, while the other was a buff, stout man with stern features. Both guards observed them silently for a moment before waving them forward, but as the second guard moved to open the door, it swung open, and Andrew barged out. “Hey bloodfuckers! I've been expecting you guys for hours.”
Daruk cringed, and even Aodhán winced. Swearing and cursing while they were in the academy was all fine and good, but doing the same before a bunch of noble guards just seemed wrong somehow. The second guard frowned in disapproval, but Andrew just scoffed. “Don't get all soft and proper on me now, Aaron; these are my friends; they've heard me curse a thousand times.”
Aaron's frown deepened. “It would be good if we kept it that way, my lord. At a thousand.”
Andrew sighed and turned back to them. He rolled his eyes and whispered. “Aaron’s always so stiff; he needs to lighten up.” If Aaron heard Andrew's words, he gave no indication of doing so.
Aodhán gestured towards Aldric and introduced them. “Andrew, meet my elder brother, Aldric.”
Aldric gave a polite bow. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Willowood.”
“I'm sure we can do away with the title.” Andrew responded and extended a hand in greeting. “Just call me Andrew.”
“As you wish, Andrew.” Aldric replied with a frown, as if the words tasted sour on his tongue.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Andrew grinned and waved them forward. “Come, let me introduce you to my family.”
The guards pushed the door open, and Aodhán walked into chaos. Over a hundred people milled about the hall, chatting and laughing. Children ran around in circles, and impeccably dressed servants moved around, serving drinks to the guests. A din of conversation filled the hall, and at one corner, a musical band played a merry tune.
“Are all of these people your family members?” Aldric asked the question Aodhán was thinking, and Andrew shrugged. “Just about 90% of them.”
Aodhán's eyes bulged, and after a beat of silence, he asked. “So that's about 90 people if I'm doing my math right. Am I doing my math right?”
“You're doing your math right.” Daruk muttered and shook his head. “I can't imagine having to deal with so many people all the time.”
Andrew frowned. “It does get a little chaotic from time to time, but I've grown used to it.” He shrugged apologetically and continued. “I know I don't talk about my family a lot, but our numbers aren't too surprising if you think about it. We're mostly nature, life, or wood-affinated, so vitality is kind of our strong suit.”
“How far back does your family go, though?” Daruk asked, and Andrew frowned again, thinking for a moment before responding. “I'm not really sure, but my grandfather is somewhere around here, so I'm guessing we go pretty far back.”
“Not exactly what I was asking, but I guess it's good information nonetheless.”
Aodhán just shook his head, still amazed by the whole thing, and he soon found himself wondering how his life would have turned out if he'd had a large family of his own.
“What about your actual nuclear family?” Aodhán asked. “In fact, how many siblings do you have? We just met your eldest sister, who has a blessed bloodline, by the way. Aren't those meant for, like, high dukes and royals?”
Andrew chuckled. “I guess my nuclear family is still a little large. We're six, including my parents, and I'm the last of them.”
“How did I not know any of this?” Aodhán blurted out, but Andrew just smiled and continued. "Also, I see you've met Aunt Fortuna." He leaned forward and whispered. “As for her bloodline? I'm just as surprised as you are, but she somehow managed to evolve it, which is, you know, insane.”
Daruk's eyebrows climbed up to his hairline, and Aldric let out a decidedly undignified squack, but Aodhán... Aodhán was too stunned to speak. Bloodline evolution was a pretty common topic, but it was considered extremely hard to achieve, requiring an enormous amount of willpower to do so, especially when it came to the higher grades.
Evolving from common to uncommon grade was... well, common to uncommon to epic was hard, and epic to blessed was so difficult that it was considered nearly impossible. The fact that Fortuna had done it was astonishing, and Aodhán wouldn't be surprised if she was titled an ascendant candidate the moment she stepped into the Mythic class. Unlike he and Daruk, who had a wellspring of willpower to tap into, others weren't so fortunate, and Aodhán had half a mind to ask Andrew if Fortuna was his actual sister or an adopted one, but he tamped down on the urge and allowed Andrew to lead them around the room.
“Ideally, I should lead you to my parents first, but I still have to introduce you to all these people, so we might as well work our way down randomly... or is it up?”
Daruk must have responded, but Aodhán was barely listening, his mind still distracted by the fact that Fortuna was either an inheritor or a transmigrant. They walked past a couple guests whom Andrew greeted and introduced them to, but as they neared the first member of Andrew's extended family, Aldric snagged a drink from a passing servant and downed it all in one gulp. He returned the glass, and when he noticed them staring, he asked. “What!? This is obviously going to be a long, boring night, and I won't subject myself to it without at least a buzz.”
“Why am I not surprised?” A voice replied from behind them, and they all turned to see a dark man with wooden eyebrows and a golden moustache grinning at them.
“By all the dead stars! Dreamond Corvuis!” Aldric exclaimed, his entire face lighting up in excitement as he pulled the man into a hug. “What are you doing here, man?” He asked after he pulled back, and Dreamond snorted. “Just because I spent my vacation fooling around with y'all doesn't mean I don't have a family of my own.”
Aldric laughed and shook his head. “Damn, you should have said something; I never knew you were a noble.”
Dreamond shook his head, chuckling. “Now that's information you want to keep to yourself while at sea and suffering terribly from hydrophobia.” He grinned and gestured toward Andrew. “Besides, I ain't no noble. I was only adopted by the Willowoods. Young drew here is technically my uncle or nephew? I can't remember.”
Andrew laughed. “I can never get it right either. These are my friends from the academy, Aodhán and
Daruk. I see you've already met their brother.”
Dreamond extended a hand in greeting, and Aodhán clasped it. “Nice to meet you guys. Hopefully, you guys aren't as mischievous as Aldric here, sneaking around and manipulating people's emotions callously. You know he once made two strangers have sex at the gangway just because they pissed him off. I tell you…
Dreamond spent the next few minutes narrating a few of Aldric's questionable escapades, many of which caused Daruk to frown in confusion and disapproval.
After another wild sex story that just confirmed to Aodhán what Aldric's 'skillset’ might entail, Dreamond grabbed Aldric and said to him. “Come with me; I've got a ton of people I’d like to introduce you to.”
Aldric grinned, grabbed another drink, and with a wave in their direction, he and Dreamond disappeared within the crowd, which had only increased in the last few minutes.
“Come,” Andrew said, leading them towards the family member he'd been taking them to before Dreamond's interruption. “That's Aunty Mio, and she'll eat me alive if we pass her by without greeting.”
Aunty Mio's was a wizened old woman with a life affinity limited to the Advanced class. Her core blazed brightly, which meant she must have suffered from some sort of spiritual limit rather than a core limit. The topic of spiritual limits had been hinted at by professor Jorendil in one of their classes on awakened advancement theory, but it was a confusing thing, and Aodhán only had a surface understanding of the topic.
Unlike Fortuna, Aunty Mio's hair wasn't a tangle of vines but rather a verdant mane of smooth grass that reflected and refracted light. She squinted at them after Andrew introduced them, and after a few words of acknowledgement, she promptly dismissed them in favor of chasing a running child.
“Apologies.” Andrew grimaced, adjusting his tailored suit awkwardly. “Aunty Mio can be a little asocial at times, but she bears no ill will, trust me.”
After their meeting with Aunty Mio, Andrew introduced them to several uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, and even his grandfather. After the sixth aunt, three of whom bore the same name, Aodhán gave up on memorizing the names of each family member and simply identified them by their bloodline manifestations or any other interesting markings they bore.
Fifteen minutes later, Aodhán was completely and utterly lost, and he couldn't understand just how Daruk was managing to keep up with the names. When they reached the next group, Andrew bowed. “Uncle Roshan, Aunt Derindale. Meet my friends from the academy.”
The man Andrew had addressed as Uncle Roshan was a tall, handsome man with almost no visible bloodline manifestation save for the glowing gold highlights on his midnight black hair. His wife, on the other hand, had tiny lines that resembled verdant veins glowing from within her skin.
In his experience, Aodhán knew that the severity of a bloodline manifestation not only depended on the grade of a bloodline but also on spiritual compatibility, but in this case, Aodhán was leaning towards the former. He estimated Derindale's bloodline to be at least epic grade, which was weird considering the Willowoods were a barony, so he'd expected to see mostly uncommon and common grade bloodlines with only a smattering of epics, but now he couldn't count the number of epic grade bloodlines he'd seen so far on one hand, and that was saying a lot.
Another thing he'd noticed as they'd moved about the hall, greeting people and introducing themselves, was the large number of family members who had chosen a military profession. It shouldn't have been surprising, considering Andrew's battle lust and the fact that they were here to celebrate one of Andrew's sisters—Aodhán no longer knew which—who had recently gotten promoted to the rank of captain. Aodhán had seen how brutal Andrew could get in a fight, but he still had a hard time reconciling the fact that life and nature affinity awakeneds had chosen to be soldiers rather than healers.
Aodhán and Daruk bowed in greeting, their mouths and bodies moving along to the routine they'd gone through several times now. It was almost always the same polite question, and they both answered accordingly. “We're fine.” “Our family is fine.” Our studies are fine.” “Yes, we love to fight.” “Yes, the war is terrible.”
Aodhán was barely even paying attention to the conversation, simply replying whenever Daruk failed to, but all that ended when Roshan asked. “Do you boys have any plans to join the military after your time in the academy? We're always in need of fresh blood.”
Aodhán and Daruk paused, both of them wondering just how they were supposed to tell the man that they hated the war and would much rather avoid it entirely. Fortunately, they were saved by a ruckus at the entrance as the banquet's door was pulled open and a man walked in.
The man was dressed in a very decorated military uniform, and although his presence commanded respect and attention, it was the man who walked in behind him that caused Daruk to inhale sharply and Aodhán to frown in disbelief.
The second man was a younger, better-looking version of the first, with coppery blond hair and a fiery gaze. It was a man they both recognized. Second lieutenant, Tyrus Hadjen.