"H-hello, I am Juniper Kite." Here emerges my inner introvert. Great!
"Welcome to our home, Juniper. I heard of your situation. I hope my son isn't giving you too much trouble." the mother of Silvaris, Peridot Luveille greets me with a warm smile. She is not the hyper type person. She has more of a feminine aura around her. Now I see where the Lord got his eyes from.
"Don't worry, mother. I am always there to protect my bestie." Rosemary flashes her mischievous toothy smile and the Lord growls at her.
"Oh? Then that's ever more worrisome."
Apparently, the Luveille family have been hoarding the Lord's position for the past three generations. The chosen ones are actually selected through a series of tests and continuous exams for about three months. But Silvaris' grandfather, his father and now he himself, topped those trials and stole the honor of becoming the next Lord of Falska. This made them the most hated family among the candidates. But others praise and admire their strong leadership skills and government system.
So that means that Mrs. Luveille was once Lady Luveille. But after 25 years when the position changed, they stepped down and their title once again went back to how they were.
Now they are a family that pledged their loyalty to the royal family. Being an acknowledged family holds great value in the hierarchy of society. They come in third, just after the crown prince or princess and Lords.
Rosemary also cleared my confusions in magic abilities. Humans are first categorised in three major sections:
The shifters, who can only use their mana to shift into a certain animal such as wolves, ravens or serpent.
The elves, who possess an ability that lets them heal any wound, disease or health problems, both mental and physical. They also have incredible memorization skills. They are said to be perfect for assistance jobs.
Finally, the mana users, whose mana is not stuck in doing only one job. They also varies and main groups are the manipulators, the summoners and the spellers.
"Hey Juniper!" the eldest son, Xavier Luveille.
"Hello", the fourth sibling, Sandra Luveille.
"Oh my gosh, it's niper!" and the third sibling, Maximus Luveille. What the hell is with that nickname? It sounds creepy.
I greet them and walk over to Maximus as he was excitedly beckoning me go over to him.
I take a seat beside him on the coach. The living room is well-decorated. There is no fireplace or heating machine yet the room is cozy and warm. It probably is the work of mana stones or crystals.
"Look what I bought today!" he brings up a short metal weapon, "Ta-dah"
"Wow" it is a dagger, with craving artwork. Little red dots are creating a beautiful design."May I see it?" I request.
He beams, "Of course!" he places it on my waiting hands. I try to feel it's weight. I don't remember metals being this light.
I inspect it closely.
"The red dots here are actually mana crystals." They are! I can see the shine, "They generate heat and flame when infused with mana."
"What?" I gasp. How?
"Let me show you." he excitedly gets up and stands before me. There is not enough space. Will it be alright?
"Here, you have to pour out your mana into this handle while holding and let it infuse with the crystals." I watch the dotted crystals start to glow in a crimson shade, "And when the blades here will match the color of the crystals, it is ready to use." We both eagerly wait for it. It is his first time using it so he needs to infuse it slowly. Otherwise the crystals might lose its productivity and dull down.
We didn't have to wait for to long. After a few seconds, the blades start to glow.
"Test experience 01," I watch him pull the dagger behind him. His arm stretched as far behind as possible.
"94.8347% confirm his stunt is gonna bring havoc tonight."
"Huh?" I look beside at Sandra.
"Don't worry. Your safe."
What safe? I refocus on Maximus and his arm springs from back. The glowing red dagger shoots across the room and pierces just through the ropes of a massive hanging of different glass show-pieces. Every single one that was resting on the balanced boards falls over. In a matter of seconds, The floor becomes a crime scene of broken glasses while the culprit dagger stays penetrated in the wall.
"Look Niper! The wall around my dagger got burnt in heat!"
I look back and fourth from the disaster and an excited 29 years old. In the distant, I heard small thumping footsteps.
"Uncle Max!" I hear a pair of children enter the living room. They should not enter right now. It is a total mess here.
"Kiddos! Look at my new dagger. Awesome right?"
I wonder who is the actual kid here.
"Oh my heart, ..."
"Here comes the demon" Sandra gives me a mischievous smirk, "Enjoy our family circus."
The next thing I see is Mrs. Luveille chasing after Maximus with broom stick while he runs around the whole house, literally making a mess in every single place he lands on. The two children whom I later found out were Xavier's children, are clapping and cheering for their uncle. Thankfully, Xavier's wife, Alison, knew reversal spells and she quickly fixes the room as it was before. The whole house turned into two big groups, one rooting for the raging mother and the other for the childish son. I guess I am just a supported of another team here. Better stay neutral.
The end result was, obviously, Mrs.Luveille's win. She was once the strongest summoner and her spirit was incredibly powerful. But since she doesn't have to use it anymore, she let go of the bond to give the others a chance to use it. Even after this long, she is still athletic and fast. The chase was especially long because Maximus is also a summoner. Summoners usually train themselves for combats with weapon and fights with the help of their spirit.
We all ate dinner at 3 pm. Sir Asher Luveille was out and when he came back, his wife was still running after his son through the whole house. He had to wait till Mrs Luveille finished her task and then got a welcome. The dinner was another entertainment. Small bickering and laughter, I didn't even notice when I, an ugly duckling, suddenly blended into their family moment. I saw a different side of everyone that the most probably never heard of.
"When will you grow up?" Mrs. Luveille sighed at Maximus and shaked her head.
Maximus was playing with his nephews, who could stuff the most bread in one's mouth.
"You have a big mouth!"
"Yeah. Not fair." they both accused him which he laughed off with a demonic smug.
"I never want to grow up, if possible."
"Don't worry darling. He will probably become mature when he falls in love, or worse, get dumped." Sir Luveille snickered. Have I ever seen a father who can roast his children so fine? Probably not.
"Are you implying that you were exactly like him before we met?"
"... no?"
"Oh my heart, I feel so sorry for my mother-in-law. No wonder she was so happy when we were getting married."
We reach home almost at dawn. Rosemary stays with Silvaris in the Azalea Mansion. The other family members are permitted too but they all said that they were so fed up with the mansion that they don't even want to hear it's name. Thus, it became 'the mansion' in the Luveille family dictionary.
Sleep is consuming me and it becomes harder to even walk. The day was indeed tiring. But not once did I feel bored.
"You know, we have rooms available here. You can just crash into one."
It is amazing how the Lord still looks like he can go through another day without a break. His face is screaming 'exhausted' but he still holds his posture like an active soldier.
"Thanks. But I should return, my Lord." I yawn again and go inside the study room. There is the mirror. I walk over to it.
"We are of the same age. Call me Silvaris." he helps me get inside the rim of the mirror.
"Is it alright? Croran values honorific a lot or so it seemed to me." I ask him confused.
"You have the permission of the person." I hear a chuckle escape him. Sadly I miss it because my back was facing him. I hop off and enter the lonely study room.
He is standing there, making sure I got off safely. I wave at him and he waves back. Our connection is then interrupted by the sheet that I drape over the mirror. Another day ended how I never imagined it to end.