Every sound seemed to die down in those seconds. Well, aside from Sol's obnoxious laughs that doesn't seemed to be stopping.
"You done yet?" Lilith griped as she threw her cousin a glare that would have singed and burn Sol on the spot if she had the ability.
Sol took a deep breath to try to calm himself, but he was still chuckling. "Sorry cousin, but this new friend of ours had such an interesting face when I told him that."
"W-wait, so it's true? You don't have magic?" Henry looked at the girl, mouth hanging. He cleared his throat when he saw Lilith looking to the other direction. "S-sorry. I wasn't--I was just surprised, is all."
The girl heaved a sigh. "It's alright. Everyone in town has the same reaction when they realized I didn't have any blessings." She heaved a sigh again, but this time her lips stretched in a smile. It was obvious to the other two that she's barely trying to force it out. "It's fine though. Even without any magical abilities, I could still do a lot of things to help my family and my town! I still Cary the name Solerna, thus also carrying the duties entrusted to us by our ancestors."
"Yeah yeah, you're still part of the Solerna family," Sol rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you're too obsessed with that old story. Why are you so hung up when those people had been long dead?"
"Better than being hung up by gossips like you," Lilith replied and stuck her tongue out childishly. Sol rolled his eyes again.
"Very mature. Come on, Grandmother actually asked me to fetch you two back to the house. I think our Lady Luna is finally emerging to her room after how many hours," Sol wrinkled his nose and Lilith groaned.
"What's so wrong about your cousin? Luna, right? You two sounds like you don't like her all that much."
"Oh, who wouldn't love mis Perfect Little Luna?" Lilith gasped dramatically, sarcasm dripping unto her every word.
"Fair beauty, gentle attitude, talented young woman; a model for every young girl out there," Sol followed with the same mocking voice. Lilith quickly shook her head.
"Uh uh, no. I don't think she'll appreciate it if I actually try to follow her." That earned her a laughing reply from her cousin.
Henry, slightly perplexed, asked, "So. . . I take it she's not the friendliest girl out there?"
"Oh, she's actually pretty okay," Lilith told him with a wave. "She can be just. . . a little entitled at times. I think all that praises from the people got to her head sometimes. She especially doesn't like me since I'm "ordinary."" Lilith quoted the word 'ordinary' with her fingers.
"Also added to the fact that my dear cousin Lilith here has a tendency to be a little clumsy when she's trying to move around the house and often ended up with a disaster for Luna," Sol added with a snicker. Lilith glowered at him.
"I'm not making a disaster for her! She's the one that seemed to be always on my way everytime!"
"You're just overly eager at times," Sol patted her shoulder. "I think it'll do you good if you slow down a little."
By this time they had arrived arrived at the Solerna's home. It was an old mansion, the designs belonging from a popular style some generations past, but the house continued to stand strong. One of their ancestors was said to have a gift in crafting and carpentry and so constructed the house close to being indestructable.
As the three of them moved towards the gates, a commotion rung from the east side of the yard. The three of them looked at each other and went to the direction of the sound.
"Maybe you should stay out of the way for this, dear sister. We don't want you getting all. . . worked out, now would we?" came a pratronising voice. The woman had an arm over her chest as the other arm's palm were on her cheek, looking as if they're worried despite the obvious mocking from her pose. Her platinum hair was curled stylishly to the left shoulder, and her obviously amused eyes sharp.
Henry looked at Sol and noticed that the two were a splitting copy.
"Oh, and so you want to help then, dear sister? Except that I didn't actually asked for it so you don't need to trouble yourself," the other woman grittedly replied, a forced smile on her lips. Her sharp face and eyes made her look like she's about to blow up in anger the longer the other continues to mock her.
"Aunt Aula, Aunt Carina! Glad we bumped into you early!" Lilith called as she directly walked towards the two without even batting an eye from the obvious tension. Sol, too, casually walked towards them.
"Ah, Lilith dear. I'm glad my son found you soon," the blond one commented as her eyes landed to Henry. "Ah, is this Miss Contance's son?"
"My name's Henry, ma'am."
"I am Aula Solerna the eldest of the three daughters of our family matriarch." Aula moved in such graceful manner as she gestured to the other woman. "This here is Carina Solerna, the youngest of us three."
"I believe that I am more than capable of introducing myself Aula. You don't need to go to the hassle of it," Carina quickly replied, looking irritated. Even so, Henry still thought that the darker-haired woman was as beautiful as the eldest daughter of the Solares family, even with the glare scaring him a bit."
"Oh hush. As you young lad, please make yourself comfortable to the sitting room, towards that door to your right. I believe my mother and the rest of your company will descend from the studies soon." After she said that, Aula moved to look at the fireplace and, with flowing movements with her arm, lighted a fire. "For the incoming night. The weather lookes like it'll rain later."
Carina scoffed and crossed her arms, but as soon as she noticed that her eldest sister had already entered the sitting room, she quickly flicked some water from the vase to her side and smirked.
"Um, your aunts are a little scary. . ."
Lilith snorted. "They're always like that. Aunt Aula receives the Blessing of the Flame while Aunt Carina has the Blessing of the Sea, so their personalities kinda clashes."
When they entered the sitting room, Lilith pointed out the rest of the people in the room. "Well, you've met my mother Silona earlier, as well as my father Kasper." Henry nodded as his eyes landed to the said woman. Lilith inherited her golden hair to her mother, and her brown eyes to her father. "My mother's gift is called Blessing of Breath and allows her control with the wind."
"Huh, like they're all elemental, your mother and aunts?"
"Yeah. They believed it was because they were the only generation that successfully had three children despite the curse in our family. And that young girl near Aunt Carina? That's her daughter Luna, that had the Blessing of the Muses. She can hypnotise you with her songs so keep your guard around her."
Henry's eyes had been steadily getting wider the more she introduced the rest of the family. They were all standing close to the grand staircase, having casual conversations at each other. It almost felt like being in the presence of members of the royalty, with the way they bring themselves, even Sol.
Sol quickly pulled Henry towards the rest of the family to be introduced, leaving Lilith close to the door. As she continued to eye her family going about and talking about their usual days--days like her mother accidentally causing a tornado in the kitchen after a chicken flew inside in fright, or Luna talking about the new song she's working on, or her aunts' bantering--her reluctance to go near them increased, deciding to just stay where she is at the moment.
It was nothing new to her, after all, being the only Solerna that didn't received a gift.
The door above the stairs opened and cut all the chatter as all heads looked up at the woman standing above the steps. Annitta Solerna, the current matriarch of the family, descended the stairs like a queen walking to her throne.
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Author's Note: when you're stuck in deciding whether to continue playing Genshin, YouTube, and your stories waiting for an update 😅