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"Oh? That was…" Rosalind looked in the direction her brother was pointing.
"Now that you mentioned it, I've never seen that man next to mom. He seems very familiar with her."
Rosalind became influenced by her brother. The two siblings put on a thoughtful look as they watched their mother at a distance, completely ignoring their companions at the side.
They looked each other in the eyes, speechless seeing Rosalind's behavior change drastically. She easily forgot them, without any second thoughts.
'Indeed, the two of them are blood relatives.'
"Oh? You don't know him? Is he mom's friend?"
Aria asked, slightly suspicious. He thought his sister would recognize the man because she was indeed more sociable and knew more about their parents' circle of relationships. Who would have thought that his sister also didn't even know.
"I've never seen him before. Do you want to find out?"
"Just leave this matter to me, while you…" Aria turned around, looking at the neglected youngsters, still standing in their respective places, "How about you accompany these people? You don't need my presence here, do you?"
Not waiting for Rosalind's reply, Aria rudely left her with her friends, approaching his mother.
"Hey, Mom!"
Alisa was slightly surprised to hear Aria's voice. She saw Aria walking towards this place as he greeted her with his boyish grin.
"Aria? Why are you here? Not with your sister?"
"Well, I don't want to join in the meaningless chatter of small kids like them. Boring," Aria arrived near his mother, immediately staring at the extra person, the stranger that attracted his suspicion, "Your friend, Mom?"
Alisa felt helpless with her son's behavior who refused to join his peers, preferring to accompany his mother here.
She was a little happy that her son didn't shy away from her presence as his old mom, by showing his face here. On the other hand, she as a mother didn't want him to be an anti-social kid.
"You kid, really..." Alisa gave him a reproachful look, "Let me introduce you, this is Hendrick Argyr…"
"Just Hendrick," the man quickly cut off her words.
"Yes, yes, just Hendrick. You can call him uncle Hendrick."
"Oh? Nice to meet you, Uncle. My name is Aria Archduke."
Aria immediately extended his arm with a friendly smile on his face. Despite his suspicions of this stranger, he needed to be polite in front of his mom.
Perhaps seeing his mother's familiarity with this man, making him fully on guard. Moreover, with his father in the middle of nowhere, he was the only man in the family. It was his responsibility.
Hendrick watched the hand that was stretched toward him in a shaking gesture, from a far younger person with a strange gaze.
In nobility ethics, this kind of gesture could only be done if both are in the same position or status. At least the same age or generation. Basically, it showed equality between both parties.
But this kind of behavior from this boy in front of him was considered pretty rude. There was no equality between the two.
Fortunately, he wasn't one to be bothered by such formalities. Moreover, he had long ago abandoned his noble status.
The one who should be making a fuss about this was the woman near them who always cared about how a proper lady should behave. But seeing Alisa's sharp glare at him, he also knew that rules didn't work here, with her flesh and blood involved.
"Hello."
Hendrick shook hand and replied curtly. But immediately, his eyebrows furrowed tight, watching the boy in front of him who was still with his unchanging sunny smile.
The two of them shook hands and didn't let go for a few seconds. Unseen by Alisa, Aria tightened his grip with all his might, a greeting for the first time. He did so impulsively, without caring about the consequences.
After all, if the opponent was too weak, the stranger would at most receive a few broken palm bones. It would be easy for his mother to treat such an injury.
He just had to apologize. With him being at such a young age, the punishment he would receive wouldn't be too severe. His mother wouldn't be that heartless, at most he got reprimanded for several days.
If this man was too strong, in the worst case his arm would be crushed. Hopefully, it's not so broken that his mother could treat him till he's fully recovered.
But in that case, at least he wouldn't see his mother as familiar as before with this man. And deep down in Aria's heart, this was also what he wanted to see. The worst-case scenario, with his hand as a martyr.
Looking at the appearance of this man in front of him, who looked like a gentleman, a scholar type one.
His appearance was neat, nothing stood out from the way he dressed. And with his slightly fair face without any facial hair, he looked younger than his father.
Aria couldn't judge whether he was handsome or not. In his eyes, it was average. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable with this man the first time he saw him, didn't know why though.
"Why are you so aggressive with me, kid?"
Hendrick asked calmly. The handshake of the two still hadn't come off either. Perhaps the two just didn't want to become the first ones to let go because of the pride. Even though the adult didn't respond the same way as the kid's behavior.
"Huh? Why would I do that? Of course not, why did you accuse me like that, uncle? How could I possibly do that when it's the first time I've seen you. You must be joking here."
Aria chuckled as he denied the accusation with a hurtful expression. Superb act. If Alisa just watched from her son's expression, she would definitely believe it.
But as a spectator on the side, she felt a little tension between the two of them. Just look, a few seconds passed, but the hands of the two hadn't been separated yet. If someone said there were nothing between them, she wouldn't believe it.
"Oh? Why do you say that, Hendrick?"
That question further strengthened Aria's suspicions. He believes that their relationship was not an ordinary friendship.
Even though his mother felt that something was wrong with his current attitude, she should have asked or confirmed directly to him, her own flesh and blood, instead of a stranger. But she skipped him without the slightest hesitation.
As Aria's face darkened, Hendrick replied.
"I don't know why your son is so hostile to me. Saying that this is the first time he's seen me was true. While his aggressiveness because of…"
Hendrick narrowed his eyes as he dragged his answer, looking at the boy who had withdrawn his pretending face. Now Aria was staring back at him, with a defiant gaze without fear.
"…jealousy?"
"Huh?!" "Huh?!"
The two pairs of mother-son exclaimed at the same time, shocked. They looked at each other in the eyes at the same time, doubting and trying to make sense of that words in each other's minds. It was Alisa who made the first response.
"Oh? So my baby boy is jealous of his mother talking to another man, huh? Did you come here to save your mother from a stranger? Oh, how cute!"
Immediately Alisa smiled ear to ear, her eyes narrowed into crescents shape. She became a bit playful as she teased her son, embarrassing him in front of others to no end.
"MOM! You talk nonsense. How can you just believe what other people say about your son?"
Aria was a bit agitated. His feelings were mixed; embarrassed, disbelieving, angry, and a little disappointed. Without realizing it, this was the first time he raised his voice a little to his mother. Fortunately, Alisa was in a happy mood, so she didn't care a bit, no one got hurt.
Alisa chuckled, finding her son's reaction amusing. She continued teasing Aria.
"Of course, mother believed his words."
Watching her son looking at her as if he couldn't believe what she said, Alisa decided to end the game before her son's heart was injured permanently. She couldn't afford that.
"He was a sensor."
"Huh? What do you mean, mother?"
"I said, your uncle here was a sensor."
Aria turned to Hendrick who was still looking at him with calm eyes. Then he saw both their hands were still not separated. He immediately pulled his hand with a strong tug, separating himself as if a second longer would make him infected with the disease.
Feeling not safe enough, Aria took a few steps back away from the man he now considered even more terrifying than the mother bear at that time, which he could face without fear. Coincidentally, that subconscious response was not wrong though.
The corners of Hendrick's lips twitched, seeing the drastic change in the boy's face, who now looked at him like a lunatic.
"This kid of yours… a little eccentric."
Hendrick had a hard time conveying the right words to his friend, who made Alisa let out a ticklish chuckle.
"I've heard that many times."
"But I don't know if your first child was a boy. From the news I heard years ago, it was a girl."
"Indeed, my first child is a girl. This Aria is my second child."
"Second child? Then… how old is he now?"
"Almost seven years… How? He's grown really well, hasn't he?"
Hendrick lost for words, seeing Alisa beaming with a big smile. If it weren't for him being a sensor, he would have thought she was tricking him.
He couldn't understand what kind of food she would feed her kid until he grew this fast. He even thought the boy in front of him was a fifteen-year-old boy.
"But he doesn't look like you or Garreth."
"What do you mean?" Alisa couldn't accept such words, "It's only because of his big and stocky body that he doesn't resemble us. When he gets leaner in the future, you will see how much both of us look alike."
"But you never allow me throwing my fat away," Aria mumbled softly under his breath, but Alisa could still hear it clearly.
"From now on, you have to start planning to tone up your body."
"But, my meal…" Aria didn't finish his words, trying to lure his mother.
"You can't reduce it, I don't want you to starve to death."
"Then, my training…" Aria now tried to hide his sly smile from his mother.
"Ugh…" Alisa stumbled, realizing she was being tricked by her son, "You can, but only if with my permission."
"Aye aye captain!"
Hendrick just shook his head at the behavior of the mother-child in front of him. Only now did he see the resemblance of the two. Then, he continued the conversation that was interrupted earlier.
"So, Garreth isn't here right now?"
The question re-aligned the problem on its path back after experiencing an unexpected turn by the arrival of Aria, who was now more wary of this 'uncle'.
"Yes, he was in Akkedisha Forest. I don't know how long he'll be there. Usually, he won't take more than a week. It's only the fourth day he's been there."
"Oh, I see…"
"What do you need from him?" Alisa tried to find out.
"I have to tell him directly. Hahh... There is no other choice, then. I will wait for the next two or three days. I can't stay in this city for too long either."
Hendrick felt helpless, then he turned his attention to another matter, Aria to be exact.
"So he's over six years old, huh? How was the test result?"
The test? Ah, he meant that test. Alisa didn't answer right away. Perhaps, she wasn't comfortable talking about this in front of her son, which Aria quickly beat her without hesitation.
"I have no affinity."
"Oh?"
Hendrick did not expect an answer like that to come out so straightforwardly from the person concerned. He watched the boy's expression didn't turn uncomfortable. His face is normal as if that was something nothing to concern about.
"Good for you," Hendrick immediately clarified his words as someone's gaze turned very sharp, "you don't feel mentally burdened by that, that's good."
"Of course, I don't have anything heavy on my shoulders for me to carry because of that."
Aria felt a touch on top of his head, rubbing it softly. He knew that his mother was trying to comfort his heart.
As silence fell between the three of them, Aria voiced.
"Mom, I have a request!"