The length of the school year lasted from the end to the beginning of winter, with few short breaks for the students to return home to visit their families in between.
Erik didn't return home to visit, not even once. Instead, he stayed to study, intent on wasting no time on what he considered unnecessary, much to the sourness of his mother and father.
The carriages rolled into the front of the academy in a line with barely any gaps. Each one adorned the crests of the houses the children belonged to.
The entrance of the school was crowded with servants and handmaids running in and out. It was the guardians of the students that waited outside for their respective carriages to arrive, while the students waited around and gave their farewells inside.
Erik was now eight years old and he had begun to grow into his looks. Because of this, many of the female students had taken a fancy to him, and with it being the end of the school year, over a dozen had mustered up the courage to give him embroideries they had learned to make throughout the year.
Looking at any of them, all he saw were crudely tailored depictions of flowers or birds, but it was to be expected since they were so young. Regardless, he took them, simply to be courteous.
"How many is that now?" Devone said as the last girl ran off and turned the corner.
"Fifteen."
"Lame. Anyway, you should come visit my home soon. I will have food prepared and I have many of the best toys."
It wasn't long after that Randal came rushing up to him. "Young lord, the carriage is awaiting."
The carriage that was waiting for Erik was at a first glance, the same as the ones he knew, but the moment he stepped onto the rail step, he felt the carriage shake. He had expected it and was satisfied.
"Milord? Is something wrong?" Asked Randal.
"No." Erik responded before stepping into the carriage.
The ride home was smooth, to the point that Erik had managed to fall asleep without being awoken by the constant, violent shaking.
Arriving home, there were other carriages parked in the front, the garage to the left being left wide open with even more carriages parked inside. Erik scanned them all in a matter of a second and understood after seeing the crests adorning their doors.
They belonged to his mother's side of the family, the Malforn house.
"It would seem that there are guests, young lord." Randal said as the carriage came to a stop and he opened the door.
The cold air instantly flooded in.
They'd just managed to make it before evening, and with Randal knocking on the door before opening it himself, a maid who was coming to open the door had seen them and with a jolted look, had turned to inform the family.
Soon after, his mother rushed forth with her arms extended. She hugged him, squishing his face against her chest, and tightly squeezing him in her arms.
"Erik!! My darling boy! You're finally home!" Tears falling from the corners of her eyes.
The rest of his family followed after his brother, sister, father, and grandfather.
As they were welcoming him home, he could see a group of unfamiliar faces standing behind them.
"Ah, Erik!" His mother clapped her hands. "Come! Meet your aunts and cousins." She took his hand and brought him before a tall woman with dark hair and a similar face.
"Hello, Erik. It is dashing to meet you."
She said, holding out her hand and bending down slightly.
Erik held out his hand and she firmly grasped and shook it energetically. "I'm your Aunt Ahvan. You are just adorable, aren't you?" She chuckled. The ever-so-faint smell of cigars came off from her breath.
Erik had two aunts, and the other resembled his mother even more, though she seemed far more aloof than his first aunt.
"Hello Erik. I'm your Aunt Penelope." She smiled warmly, tilting her head as her long, thin blonde hair fell upon his wrist.
Aside from them, and his Aunts' husbands, Erik had seven other cousins, four being children of his Aunt Ahvan, while the remaining three were children of his Aunt Penelope.
They were fairly older than he, with the youngest being the twelve-year-old Isecial, son of his Aunt Penelope, and the oldest being his cousin, Kally, who was the twenty-four-year-old daughter of his Aunt Ahvan.
A celebration that night was held in honor of Erik, which was little more than a family dinner.
Just about every inch of the dining table was covered in food: entire roasted chickens, bowls of steamed vegetables, an assortment of fruit pies, a pot of beef stew, and clumpings of mashed potatoes with gravy.
The hollering laughter and constant speaking echoed within the dinner hall.
The adults were all drinking away at wine, while the children conversed with each other at the other end of the table.
Midway through, his Aunt Ahvan, tipsy from the wine, leaned against the table and spoke to him out of nowhere. "Erik, father says that the new carriages that can move without the constant shaking were because you came up with it. He's been bragging all over town about how smart you are."
"Oh, please, dear. I was not bragging."
"You were!"
Henry let out a screeching laugh, barely able to control himself as he took another sip of wine from his glass. "Ahh! Yes, perhaps I was!! Just a tad, though."
It was then that his Aunt Kally, who seemed drunk and drowsy at the same time, asked. "Even we've exchanged our carriages in for the new ones. I think just about every single person who can afford to in the entirety of the kingdom has. Must be a loootta~ money in the bank, now, huh?"
"Sister!" Celia snapped.
"Whaat? I'm just curious. He's so young, so who's keeping the coin?"
"It is in the bank." Said Henry. "All of it is his, and only his, so don't go trying to get him to give you any, now."
The women responded in laughter.
"We won't, we won't." His Aunt Ahvan waved her hand with a loose wrist, as if shrugging off the thought.
"Now, Erik. You need to be responsible with your wealth, don't go spending all your silver on needless items. That being said, I am sure you are dying to get something, so why don't you tell me what you want, and I'll get you it."
The offer was tempting since Erik needed many things. But asking for them would bring about questions he couldn't give complete answers in response too.
"I don't want anything, grandfather." He responded with a polite tone.
"Oh, ho, ho, ho, come now boy. No need to be polite. Surely you want something. Name it. You can consider it an early graduation gift since I know you will surely finish school.
"Well... There is something, grandfather."
"Oh? Tell me, my boy."
"A map of the world."
That night, as the adults continued to enjoy themselves in the company of wine by the fireplace, and the children had all been escorted to their own rooms, Erik sat on the edge of his bed in his room, looking out through the open curtained window and at the cascading night sky over the forest. Between two fingers, he twisted his ring in a toying manner. His fingers had grown too big for it to fit on any finger other than his pinkie.
The room was quiet, far enough from the den that the sound of the party couldn't reach even his door.
A sound interrupted that silence, and a flash of bright, blue light erupted as quickly as it disappeared. His hands were now empty, the ring destroyed, disintegrated completely without even a remnant remaining. The ring was useless, so destroying the evidence was necessary.