Dad, Lucy, and the uncles came back a week ago, not for my birthday, but Alexander's Awakening. The Awakening Ceremony takes place twice a year on a Solstice. My birthday is only three weeks before the Summer Solstice, and while birthdays are celebrated, the Awakening only happens once in a person's life. It is generally seen as a person's introduction to society and the rite of passage into the world as a whole. It's like a debutante ball for everyone who has turned twelve since the last Solstice.
Alex was set to be the first of this new generation in the family to go through the Awakening Ceremony. I'm pretty sure, after taking a look at him with Raven's Eye, there are going to be some happy people. His bloodline mutated into a stronger version of a combination of his father and mother's bloodline, creating his Flame Oni bloodline. I highly doubt that he'll get something like the Warrior Sortis, which is D-ranked, especially considering his training these last few years with Grandma Estelle.
I'd say I was looking forward to starting my training, but I'm not insane. It's going to suck, especially since I'm her actual grandchild. Some people might go easy on their relatives, not wanting to hurt them; some go the other route and are harder on their relatives, expecting them to rise to the challenge. Grandma Estelle is of the third type that makes their own path with the battered and bruised bodies of the relatives, that according to her, 'need to toughen up.'
Today, though. Today, I suppose I'm the star of the show. Birthdays are not major events in this world, but they are still celebrated. The major life event is the Awakening Ceremony; after that, it is six years of compulsory education, followed by the Graduation Ceremony, which seems to hold some major significance, though no one talks about it exactly. Apparently, it's a very personal experience. I guess I'll have to wait to find out.
A knock at the door signals the end of fun with Erika. The already flushed maid experiences a dose of post-orgasm clarity and goes from flushed to beet red.
I pat her hand with a smile. "Why don't you take care of the bedclothes, and I'll handle who's at the door. We can finish the mending, if there is time, later."
She nods slightly and, if anything, somehow blushes even harder. I'm slightly concerned that she'll explode if this keeps up. She drops her eyes and says, "Of course, youn- Jeims."
My smile broadens. "Thank you, Erika."
I plant a light kiss on her cheek and turn towards the door. I hear Erika stumble a bit, getting up. I really need to be more careful. I can't tease these girls too much, or things may spiral out of my control. Rumors are already getting intense among a subset of the maids. Already, some are scrambling to try to get a position in my mother's service for when we leave the manor.
Dad has officially earned enough merit in the war to be raised to a baronet, even though he still has approximately two years on his tour. My family's new home, which I have dubbed Archerhold, though I'm sure someone with better naming sense will come up with a better name for it in the future, should be ready for our occupancy within the year. This means that around my fifth birthday, I'll be moving to a new home and we will have our new staff coming with us.
"Come."
The door opens, and Cindy, followed by a very bright and bouncy Molly, comes in. Cindy's bright smile freezes just slightly when she sees Erika picking tending to the sheets and such. The bright red cheeks on Erika's face and her dedication to not look over towards Cindy probably didn't help.
Cindy refocuses, though, and looks at me with a genuine smile. "Are you ready, birthday boy?"
"Happy birthday, Jeims!" Molly shouts. Cindy hushes her, and I smile and wave. She waves back with barely contained excitement.
"Almost. Erika was just helping me with the hem of my pants. I've grown a bit too tall, and they needed to be let down a touch," I say innocently.
"Oh. Is that what she was doing?" Cindy says, dripping sarcasm while eyeing the poor maid. "Well, why don't I finish it up. I'm sure Erika has lots of other assignments to attend to. Right, Erika?"
Erika has gone from beet red to sheet white in the span of a couple of sentences. She answers Cindy crisply. "Yes, ma'am." and scurries out of the room.
Cindy watches her go before walking over to me and kneeling to finish the hem of my pants. Molly runs over and hops up on my bed. She really is extra adorable. I see a lot of Cindy in her.
"I like your bed. Can I sleep with you?" Molly asks.
"Sweetie, I don't think that would be very appropriate," Cindy says.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind," I say. "Molly and I spend a lot of time together anyway. It should be fine."
It would also give me an opportunity to finish strengthening her body, and I can always use biokinesis to make her sleep if I need to sneak out of the room for a while.
"Well," Cindy says with a sigh. "I suppose if you don't mind, she can stay, but let me know if she becomes too much of a problem. She tends to move around a lot when she sleeps... and don't stay up too late playing. Your mother would not like that."
It's interesting; while mom and Cindy are romantically linked, as I've mentioned, dad and Cindy are not. They are friendly with each other, but there is no chemistry between them at all. I wonder if dad has any other girlfriends on the side... or boyfriends, maybe? Maybe he's a one-woman kind of guy. If so, that must have been hell over these last few years. They only typically visit once a year for a week at most. If I was in that situation, my balls would be so blue I'd have trouble walking, or I'd develop an acute case of spanker's elbow. Probably the latter.
A few minutes later and Cindy has finished taking down the hem. "All set," she says, rising to her feet. "Shall we go? Everyone is waiting."
I reach out a hand, taking hers, and step off the stool I was on for the alteration. A giggling Molly rolls off the bed and runs over to take my other hand, and together we head towards the hall where my family has gathered for my birthday.
.
.
.
As I said, birthdays are celebrated, but even among the nobility, it's not that big of a deal. A family affair with food, drink, and gifts. It's what I'm expecting walking into the hall to the picture of a noble family.
My family is a pretty good-looking crew, honestly. I don't know if that's just because they're nobility and can afford to stay looking good, or if it is just good genes, but even aside from the women, who are all stunners in their own right. The men have what could be considered classic good looks. Square jawed, well-groomed, symmetrical structure, and an intense gaze; they all have that classical masculine look.
The only oddball in the group is my father, and he leans just a touch more towards beautiful than handsome. The other men look like rugged men; even the boys look like they'll grow into rugged men. Well, maybe not Kodo; he's still what would be called pretty, maybe that will change with puberty, but for now, he's still shotacon bait.
Amelia smiles when she sees me and walks over to meet us halfway. "Hello, my baby. Happy birthday," she says, lifting me like I weighed nothing. I suppose to someone like her, I practically do. I wasn't the only one to make strides in the last three years. Mother has advanced to the B-ranked Sortis Swordmaster. The first time dad came back after her advancement, he got his ass handed to him. The power leap between Sortis ranks just multiplies as you increase ranks.
That's why grandma is so revered and feared. She's one of the few A-ranked Sortis in the country, and she holds it at a high level. She may someday even breakthrough into the S-ranks. That's a one-person army. As in, if you placed one S-ranked on one side and twenty-five hundred normal soldiers on the other side, the soldiers will likely be dead within minutes, if not sooner.
Mom spins us around and plants a big kiss on my cheek. She really is a sweet woman. She walks with me, still wrapped up in her arms, over to the table and plops me down on a chair between her and Rowan. I almost feel bad that I don't have much of a relationship with my father, but there isn't much to be done about that right now.
He hugs me, and congratulations on surviving another revolution around the sun are circulated around the table. Even Uncle Reegan doles out his perfunctory well-wishes. Amanda is much more animated than when we first met, and she even has a gorgeous smile for me. It probably helps that cousin Reegan and Hester are between her and her husband.
The meal, half a step up from our usual fare, is, of course, delicious, and the chefs and maids come in pass on their well-wishes. Some of the maids are a little more enthusiastic and, in turn, receive a bit of the stink-eye from Cindy.
Once the meal has been cleared, and a digestif is served, it is time for gifts. We all gather in an adjoining room with comfortable chairs and couches as well as a large fireplace. I sit on mom's lap to open the gifts.
One of the first gifts I open is actually from Uncle Reegan, and after thinking about it briefly, I realize it is significantly more meaningful than first meets the eye. It is a trilogy of books on finance and business management, which are obviously far too advanced and boring for any normal four-year-old, and honestly, too boring for me even. Still, for Reegan, these are something he actually loves. It's completely the type of gift a sociopath would give a child, but that's the only way he can express himself. I almost feel bad that I'm planning to steal his wife, but not really, because he doesn't love her, and she deserves more.
Grandfather Reegan is not much better, as he gifts me some very nice clothes. The type of clothes a four-year-old should never be tortured by being put in. I'm starting to think he's going to start trying to get a marriage contract for me to expand his influence. Judging by mom and grandma's scowls, I might be on to something there. Grandfather better be careful and listen to his wife, or there will be a world of telekinetic hurt in his future.
Dad and grandma actually received mom's scowl when I receive their gifts. Of course, they were weapons; a small sword from grandma and a bow from Rowan. I knew this was coming. Grandma has been waiting for me to turn four since I was born, and dad, of course, wants me to follow in the family business. Sorry, dad, that's not happening. I mean, sure, I want to learn both the sword and the bow, but I'm not looking to specialize in either, really. If I'm going to specialize in anything in this world beyond my psychic abilities, it's going to be magic.
In that regard, mom knows me best. I don't know how she knows, but somehow she must have seen me reading books on magic. Considering there are very few in the house, it's possible she saw me with my grimoire, The Twilight Sage's Guide to the Omniverse. That's worrying, but nothing I can do about it right now.
She also got me a book, 'A Beginner's Guide to Magic' and I have to say, it was the perfect gift. My grimoire gives me everything I need, but it is certainly not a beginner's guide. That thing is dense, and every page is taking me hours to work through, and that includes my Quantum Intellect.
I pretty much lucked out with that one. If I didn't have Quantum Intellect and Quantum Memory, I'd never get through that damn tome. This Beginner's Guide, just flipping through the first few pages, I'm already making connections and understanding the basic concepts. Concepts that The Twilight Sage's Guide to the Omniverse assumes you already know.
I thank everyone for their thoughtful gifts and hug my mom tight to whisper in her ear, "This is exactly what I needed. Thank you, mom. I love you."