"Hello, anyone there?" A young man knocked on the wooden door of the medium sized house.
A few moments later, a slender figure appeared behind the door and looked at the young man with a questioning gaze. She seemed to be asking who he was. And why he was here.
"Hello." Seeing the beautiful lady behind the door, the young man hurried to introduce himself. "My name is Bland."
"Hi, Bland. Come in first." The beautiful lady studied Bland for a moment before inviting him in.
Bland entered the house and the beautiful lady closed the door. She gestured him to take a seat on the sofa and brought some snacks from the kitchen.
Bland, who was quite nervous thanked her for her hospitality, but he didn't touch the snacks.
Seeing this, the beautiful lady smiled and sat across him. "So, tell me why you are here? Bland."
"Haha! Lady Elise, I believe you can guess my reason for the visit! Money is not a problem!" Bland smiled nervously.
Elise was silent for a moment. She extended her hand towards the snacks and put them into her mouth. The snacks seemed to put her in a good mood as she smiled.
"It's a pity. These are made by my little daughter, you just missed the chance to taste them!"
Bland's expression turned grave hearing her words. "I come here with sincerity, Ms Elise. Money isn't a problem!"
"Only a Star can be exchanged for another Star!" Elise's words left Bland unable to retort.
"Sigh! I won't give up! I will return!" Bland knew it was impossible to get what he wanted with just a few words. He took his leave, planning something to get his hands on what he wanted.
After Bland left, the bedroom door of the house opened and 15 year old girl walked out drowsily. She was still half asleep as she asked. "Who was that, mother."
"A rich fool, dreaming of cheating me to buy the information of our stars." Elise walked up to her daughter and caught her into her embrace.
Her daughter kissed Elise's cheeks in return.
Elise giggled and asked. "Where's your brother?"
"He's still sleeping. Today is his day, so he wants to be at his peak before the ceremony!" The young girl answered docilely.
"It's good that he isn't neglecting this!" Elise sighed sadly, removing the hands that were around her daughter.
Noticing the change in Elise's mood, Rose patted her mother's back. "Don't worry mom! Brother will succeed this time!"
"I hope so!" Elise shook her head and her expression returned to that of a doting mother. "Prepare some food for your brother. I need to meet up with your dad before the ceremony to discuss some things."
"Ok." Rose nodded and headed to the kitchen.
Elise left the house 2 minutes later and disappeared into the distance.
Meanwhile, Rose chopped some local mushrooms and prepared a mushroom curry with various other side ingredients. She also cooked white rice to go along with the mushroom curry.
This was one of her brother's favourite meals.
.....
Redd awoke to the smell of cooked mushrooms. He yawned lazily, getting out of the bed and walking out of his bedroom.
He moved his sleepy eyes around and saw Rose cooking in the kitchen.
Without disturbing her, he brushed his teeth at a slow pace and laid down waiting on the sofa.
10 minutes later, Rose brought a plate, the white rice, and the curry to the hall. She placed the plate on the dining table and filled it with the two items.
Redd rolled his eyes at her. He took the plate from the dining table and sat on the main hall's floor. It was a habit from when he was living as an orphan and he didn't try to change it afterwards.
It was Rose's turn to roll her eyes. Why was her brother so dense. It was obvious she wanted him to sit on the dining table, right?
While eating, Redd wasn't idle. He started a conversation with Rose.
"How is school, little girl?"
"It's fine. Herblogy, Beast biology, Human biology are ok, but Astrology, Energy study, and the relation between speed and time are quite advanced. I can't understand the logic behind those things!" Rose replied.
"Hump! There's no need to concentrate so much on what is not proved. All the books about such studies are purely theoretical and are unnecessary at the moment!" Redd licked his hand as he said.
"Oh, I will listen to brother." Rose nodded.
"What else? Did anyone try getting close to you recently?" Redd looked at Rose through the side of his eyes as he ate, trying to catch any glimpse of lies in her words.
"Ah! There was! I met this strange girl during the Astronomy class yesterday! She was strangely clingy to me, even though it was the first time we met each other. She even told me that I smell nice! What a weird girl, right?" Rose laughed at the memory of the weird girl. She found the girl strangely cute.
"Oh, ho." Redd's eyes narrowed dangerously. "She might be a pervert! Kick her face directly the next time she tries to get close to you." He advised seriously.
"Hehe! I will listen to brother." Rose giggled, obviously not taking his words at face value.
...
Far away, in a place that was closest to the stars on this planet.
"Are all preparations in place?" Elise asked Match, her husband.
"Don't worry. I won't let the last incident repeat itself!" Match gave his word solemnly. He was the reason his son had missed a precious opportunity last time.
He was unprepared and sloppy last time, and was taught a valuable life lesson by those cunning wolves. Match didn't want to be taught for the second time!
"And the materials for the ceremony?" Elise nodded before raising another problem.
"I was only able to collect materials for three different ceremonies. We can only let him choose between these three!" Match was helpless.
The materials for the ceremonies are turning scarcer by the years. It took him a hell lot of effort to even accumulate these three different sets of materials.
This was the main reason behind why many powerful people are anxious nowadays and had shifted their eyes on families that have young children who are undergoing the ceremonies.
The Yriaf family that Match belonged to was one such family that is being eyed by many wolves!
.....