Marina
When I told the maid standing outside my room that I wanted to meet Grandfather, she obliged, offering to lead the way to the third floor where his room was located. We were greeted by another maid standing in the front of his door. My maid asked her how he had fared, and she replied that he had calmed down and that he should be ready to receive visitors. The two exchanged glances before looking towards me. They didn't need to say anything for me to know that they wanted me to comfort him.
"Please, Miss, if you would." The one attending to Grandfather spoke with a pleading smile. "I saw him reading the letter you had brought, and I never saw him that happy for years. You're the only one that could cheer him up."
"Are you alright with just leaving me alone with him?" I asked. I was about to enter when I realized neither of them was going to follow. "Do you really believe I am truly his granddaughter, and not just a stranger that's after his life?"
"I believe you, Miss." The one attending to me smiled. "You don't seem to be a bad person. And the concerned look you have in your face when he had his coughing fit—I believe that was genuine."
Ah, that's right. She was present back downstairs at the drawing room.
"And besides," the other maid spoke with a smile also. "I've read your letter, Miss. And I don't sense any forgery from it. To think that you would be able to have the royal mage of Marchen to write you a letter like that, you must be an amazing person, don't you, Miss? Master would be glad to hear all about your accomplishments, I'm sure, so please, tell him everything."
"You're mistaken," I replied. "I merely gave her a visit, that's all. I didn't work under her or anything like that."
"But that's odd. The letter says you're a highly accomplished mage. A young genius even!" The maid returned with sparkling eyes.
Oh dear. I seem to remember her saying that she will write the letter as a work recommendation letter as well. But to think she will praise me this much…
I smiled, trying to hide the redness that crept onto my cheeks. "Thank you for the kind words."
After that small chit-chat, I entered the room at last.
I walked as gently as I could inside, taking care not to make a noise on the carpet. The room was dim, with the largest source of light behind the fireplace located near the large bed. In a cold kingdom like this, it wasn't odd to constantly have the fireplace running, even in summer.
I took a seat on the chair near it, facing towards Grandfather who seemed to be asleep, as his eyes were closed. Slowly, I placed my hands on his.
"Grandfather, it's me, your granddaughter. If it's alright, I would like to speak to you," I half-whispered.
He promptly stirred, opening his eyes but not looking at my direction, opting to gaze at the ceiling instead.
"You are truly… Alan's daughter?"
"Yes."
"The first?"
"Yes."
"Heh, he didn't even bother saying your name in his letter. Only said that she was the most beautiful baby he ever held in his arms. And now, seeing you in person like this, I can see that he wasn't exaggerating."
I blushed a little at his remark, and I blushed even more as his left hand slowly caressed my cheek.
"I can see both Alan and Ariel in you, my dear. That fierce look of yours… that belongs to Alan for sure. But the tenderness… that comes from Ariel. Or perhaps it's from your mother? Renee, was it? Alan kept bragging how beautiful she was in his letter." He smiled, pausing for a bit before continuing, his smile vanishing.
"To think that idiot would lose his life in such a manner. Those damn mages of the Magocracy! If only I have more pull in the court, I'll send the Sky Knights after them!"
The Sky Knights. They are the pride and strength of the Ferus Kingdom. Riding on monsters called Snow Griffins only found in the cold regions that the nation possesses in abundance, they are a formidable army to fight with. There aren't that many of them, but they are essentially the kingdom's elite force, only answering to the king and the king only, similar to how the Imperial Knights of the Holy Empire are.
I wouldn't say that they can rival the military strength of the Magocracy, but perhaps, just perhaps, an entire flock of them can win against a single Council member.
"It's alright, Grandfather," I replied. "Even if you can help, it will be too late anyways. The Magocracy is so far down south from here."
Suddenly, the old man turned as pale as a sheet. He sat up, looking at me with an extremely worried expression.
"D-did they do anything to you, my dear? When they took you away?"
I shook my head. "They didn't get to. Father, Mother, and my little brother came to my rescue before they could do it to me. If they had been just a little slower, then I would have been…"
I didn't need to finish my sentence. Grandfather already knew what I meant.
"Oh, praise the Saint!"
He gave me a surprisingly strong hug. I didn't resist, even if it felt a little more than just a bit awkward.
I wouldn't say it wasn't nice however.
Releasing me, though keeping his hands on my shoulders, he then said, "That Alan… I know he would sacrifice himself if it means saving his daughter. So please, don't feel that you have to blame yourself. If anyone needs to earn a spanking from my cane, then it would be that Vera person." He chuckled, before his expression turned serious once again. "Has he ever told you? The reason why he left?"
I shook my head.
"Then," He took a big sigh. "I suppose it falls for me to tell you everything. You're old enough already to hear about that tragedy. The terrible mistake I made that made him leave."
And with that, he started his story.
-----
When Grandfather finished his tale, I was speechless. To think that such a tragedy was what led him on becoming an adventurer in the first place. As his daughter, I didn't know how I should react.
"Luna… what happened to her?" I asked. "And with her noble house. Since the marriage was not going to happen, I assume they withdrew their financial aid for the region?"
He nodded.
"That girl…" He smiled wryly. "When she heard the news of Alan running away, she immediately came to us and begged for forgiveness, confessing to everything she had done, crying in the process. She truly was fond of Alan and she realized her actions had hurt him terribly." He then took a long sigh. "Of course, that didn't stop her family to cut ties with ours completely. She is now married off to some other noble. I just hope she doesn't still harbor some feelings towards him."
"...I was a fool. I didn't catch on to a 10-year old girl's plan before it was already too late. I let my anger and greed blind me from the truth. I broke Alan's heart by sending his love to her death. Thus he broke mine as well by leaving.'
"...And yet… why?! Why must he break Ariel's heart as well? She never deserved it! Not even in the slightest! It was all me, Alan, it was all me! Spare her from your vengeance!"
As he flew into a passion, his coughs returned. "Grandfather, please! Don't overexert yourself!" I begged. Quickly, I took out my wand from my pocket and created a flower on its tip. The flower then showered him with a pollen that immediately calmed his cough down.
It was a simple Serenity Flower. Like its name suggested, its pollen had the effect of inducing calmness and tranquility to a person if inhaled.
He immediately fell asleep afterwards. I folded his hands on his abdomen, before covering his body with his blanket.
...Hugo, with your grandfather like this… Perhaps I cannot chase you after all. I can't possibly leave him like this, can I?
------
A week has passed since then. We were received well by the servants in the mansion, who seemed to be overjoyed that they had new people to attend to. I didn't understand why though. We should be complete strangers to them yet they received us as if we were already part of the Archimond family.
Both Erika and I were assigned personal maids to attend to our every needs. They were actually sisters, with the older attending to me and the younger attending to Erika. To my relief, they treated us in quite the casual manner. Never rude, but not stiff either. Perhaps it was because of their youth. The elder sister was around my age while the younger one was just a few years older than Erika. Apparently, according to them, their entire family had been serving the Archimond House for generations. Their mother was the head maid while their father was the head guard. I quickly learned and remembered their names, The mother was Annelise, the father was John, the elder sister was Henrietta, and the younger sister was Lorry.
That explains why they're chosen to be our personal maids. Supposedly, it's the highest honor for a maid to be chosen for such a position.
Of course, I already told everything to Grandfather. He demanded it himself, asking me to regale him of the tale of our long journey here. Knowing that there would be no point in lying, I told him how it wasn't an easy journey, especially when the whole incident with Erika happened. As I spoke of that, his brows furrowed, and once again, that murderous look I saw when I told him in detail about my kidnapping by Vera resurfaced. I did it when we had one of our private chats in the garden that he asked me to join. We sat in one of the gazebos there, accompanied by our respective attendants before he dismissed them so we could chat in private. This was one of such occasions.
"Oh, to think that my granddaughter could be such a great mage." He smiled. "Alan raised you well."
"...You're not going to scold me for what I did?"
"Scold you? Hah! The only thing I would scold you for is you letting your little sister out of your sight. But all the other things you did? You're well within your right to do it."
I couldn't help but smile a little. Grandfather isn't that different from Father and Mother after all.
"I get called the Verdant Witch of Death for that, you know."
"All the better!" His smile grew wider. "That means people will now fear and respect you. Our kingdom's Sky Knights are revered the same way. And our kingdom barely has any diplomatic relationship with them so you won't have to worry about souring that."
"I don't know… I didn't do any massacring like the rumors said…" I sighed. I'm not that kind of a scary person, you know…
"You know," he continued after taking a sip of his coffee. "If we spread the news that the Verdant Witch of Death is here, and that she's none other than the granddaughter of the Earl himself, it might actually help in driving away bandits from this region. They would be too afraid to try anything with you around. Of course, I would only do it if you agree."
"...The bandits. How bad is it?"
He returned with a sigh. "It's quite bad. We don't have the funds to have constant patrols inside our territory, especially at the faraway villages near the wilderness. The king required me to keep a certain number of soldiers at the northern border, and raising taxes is certainly out of the question, with how most of our people are already struggling as it is.
I paused, looking down at my cup of tea before taking a sip of it. "I'll think about it." was the only answer I could give right now.
"That is fine. I understand why you might not want such a moniker. Not to mention how it might attract unwanted attention to you, positively and negatively. Fame isn't for everyone. Though, as my daughter, you'll have some fame, whether you want it or not."
That is true. I am now, for all intents and purposes, the daughter of an Earl with his own territory. I am a noble, and not a low-rank one at that.
"Oh, one more thing."
I raised my eyebrows.
"If you can, please. Help our people with their crops. If with your magic you can at the very least make every year's harvest be a successful one, then we would be able to start turning things around here. We will earn more in taxes and we can use that funds to increase the security of our land."
"...I'll look into it." was my answer to his plea.
I remembered those Mundane Magic classes I used to take at the Academy. They were all about how mages could use their spells to help with ordinary daily lives. They weren't that popular compared to the more combat-oriented classes, but knowing how steeped the culture of Magocracy was in magic usage, it wasn't that odd that such classes would be mandatory. The Council would see no threat in people learning magic to grow crops better or to catch fishes more efficiently. In fact, it would be a boon to their nation. Thanks to said mass usage of magic, they were able to remain mostly independent from any other nations.
"If you're going to go outside, I suggest taking Reinhard with you. He'll be able to show you around."
Reinhard Archimond. He was a personage I met a few days later after I had arrived here. He had been out with his wives on an outing to inspect surrounding villages, so I didn't stumble upon him right away.
After Father left, with Grandfather not wanting to remarry and make another child to be his successor, he instead settled on adopting a local commoner as his son. Apparently, he was chosen because he was somewhat of a hero, as he had been taking out bandits and monsters all on his own the years. He was an expert ranger who excelled both in the sword and the bow. He then married him off to the daughter of a baron, allowing him to get access to some funds he wouldn't be able to get otherwise.
And then, to my surprise, Grandfather actually allowed him to take another wife. This time, it was his actual sweetheart, the woman he had taken a liking to ever since they were little. The classic "childhood crush" scenario.
I thought just how mad the daughter of the baron would be from it, but somehow, she seemed to be completely fine with it, sharing his husband with another woman. She even reassured me that she had convinced her parents that it was alright as well.
To take a commoner as a second wife, it's like you're insulting the first as you're equalizing her noble stature with a commoner. And yet, they seem to be completely fine with it.
Not to mention the thought of sharing the man you love with another. I could never understand how someone would be willing to do that.
"I suppose I would," I replied. I just hope that I won't gain the ire of his wives by doing so.
"Of course, I don't expect you to help me do all of this without a reward," he continued. "Like you have requested, I would try to my utmost to help you obtain that Dream Orb you wanted to contact your brother."
I had told him about how Hugo ran away after defeating Vera. At first, he was angry that he would do such a foolish thing, but he quickly understood afterwards. "Your little brother… he might be similar to Ariel. Too pure for the harshness of this world."
That certainly wasn't something pleasant to hear, as that implied he might actually go mad from it as well, just like his grandmother. So I replied, "No, my Hugo is stronger than that. He will bounce back. I'm sure of it." However, even after saying such a confident thing, my worry towards him increased exponentially, which led to me bringing the matter to Grandfather, telling him how there was an extremely rare magic tool that one could use to communicate to another person, no matter where they were in the world.
"I have sent letters to all my colleagues. Hopefully, one of them will reply soon with some good news."
Unfortunately, there weren't any nearby World Dungeons that I could use to seek out the orb myself. So I had to just hope that somehow, I would find someone who would be willing to sell it to me, and for a reasonable price. Grandfather didn't have much money in his coffers after all.
With the conversation being over, I departed, to the nearest struggling farmland with Reinhard accompanying me.
And the result?
This soil… it's barely suited for this type of crop at all. It's too hard and dry. Not to mention the temperature itself.
...No. Even with my capabilities, I can't fertilize every single farmland in this region. It's simply too impractical.
The only solution is for them to grow something different. A type of crop that would flourish, even in the middle of a harsh winter.
And I think I know just the kind of crop it is. All thanks to one of Vera's books that I had pillaged from her mansion.
With that plan in my mind, I returned back to the mansion. First step: to reproduce the seed for the crop using my magic.
Sorry, Hugo. It seems your big sister will be staying here for some time after all.