It was already late in the afternoon when the class finished. With the sack of foraged goods taken away by the mother before she left, there's nothing in his hand when Hespar is walking back home.
Since there's nowhere to use his strength, this gave Hespar idle time to have some random thoughts.
'How should I behave later when I'm back home?' Hespar scratched the back of his head while thinking. It wasn't a big deal for his mother to turn out as an Aura user, but what happened in the afternoon still surprised him.
His reason for not knowing how to face this is because his mother seems to be an equally skillful Aura user. Perhaps even better than his father, Hector.
As someone who trained with Hector daily, Hespar already had the experience of estimating someone's strength. Although the accuracy of his estimation is questionable, it still works as a guide. And through this estimation, he felt that his mother might be as powerful as his father.
At least from the control of Aura alone, his mother could subsequently deal with two patients at once. The duration of her Aura also lasted for more than twenty or so minutes. Furthermore, she doesn't seem to be out of breath like Hector did and can still walk out of the infirmary at ease.
The combination of all these facts made Hespar couldn't help but look at his mother on an entirely new level.
'Maybe this is the reason father seemed so docile before mom? Perhaps it's because mom can simply beat dad into black and blue if she wanted to?' Hespar laughed when his thought wandered in a different direction.
He was already outside his home when coming back from his deep thoughts. Using both hands to open the door, Hespar noticed that his father was not swinging his sword today while waiting for Hespar.
Instead, his father was seated at the dining table alongside Catherine.
"You're home? Come over here first and have a talk." Hector said. No matter how Hector was still the head of this house.
Hespar followed his father's words and took a seat. The food also seemed to be prepared much earlier today to accommodate the conversation.
"You have many things in your mind, correct? Feel free to ask. Both of us are here to answer. Furthermore, you'll be an adult soon, so it's about time we hide nothing from you." Hector said while grabbing a chicken drumstick from the table.
The drumstick then landed on Hespar's plate. No matter how they process this conversation, they still have to eat, and the drumstick always goes to Hespar as a sign of doting shown by Hector.
"I... I have no idea mom is an Aura user as well." Hespar said. He might have had a thousand questions, but none of them matters except knowing more about his parents. To him, both Hector and Catherine are devoted parents, but they still have some secrets.
Unlike the others, Hespar's parents seem to slightly differ. And the fact Catherine was an Aura user just confirmed his suspicion further.
"Oh? That's it? So instead of feeling curious about how come your mother can use Aura, your mind is all about how come your mom is an Aura user?" Hector rephrases Hespar's reply. At the same time, there's a big grin to be seen on his face.
The pair of father and mother then kept their mouth shut for a minute as they considered where to start.
Then...
"Son, would you blame your father and me if I say that we're the one robbing you from your life as a noble?" Catherine asked. Her question was accompanied by a saddened expression like she was indebted to Hespar.
The question also somewhat answered a few of Hespar's questions. Mainly about his true identity as the child of two Aura users.
It wasn't rare for a child to be born to an Aura user's parents, but it wasn't that common either. In fact, he was the only person in this Lavos Village to have an Aura user father.
Furthermore, only Hector had a family out of all the Aura users stationed or living in this village. All the others were still single or uninterested in building their own family. Even Headmaster Torres, who was also another Aura user, was single.
But right here, Hespar's background was elevated much further. From being the only one in this Lavos Village to have an Aura user father, it was promoted to having both Aura user father and mother.
Someone with this parental background is often found in bigger cities, such as the royal capital. Those with this background are usually people born with a silver spoon.
Perhaps this was why Catherine asked such a question. It was a pang of guilt in her heart until now.
Hector didn't add any words to Catherine's question. All he was doing was holding Catherine's hand firmly and assuring her that everything would be fine. He believes that Hespar's level of maturity is already at the stage where there's no point in mincing the word.
"Would living as a noble make both of you love me even more than now?" Hespar asked.
"Of course, it won't. We loved you from the bottom of our hearts. Noble or not, you're our child." Catherine said.
"Then, I don't see why I should be grieving for not living like a noble. It's not like I would get you both to love me more than now." Hespar continued. His answer was like a key that unlocks the chain within Catherine.
She feels lighter instantly after knowing that wealth and nobility titles meant nothing to her beloved child. Of course, that doesn't mean Hespar was someone uninterested in the title if he was bestowed with one in the future.
"So... Is it time for you both to tell me about it?" Hespar asked.
"Yes... Going into the details might be too much, but I'll make it simple as your father will report to duty soon." Catherine responded to Hespar's word and wiped the tears she's been holding for a while.
"There's not much secret about your father. He's indeed the person you have known since you were born until now. The one that had much to explain was me. You must be curious about why I am an Aura user, but not many people know about it?"
"That's because I am hiding my real identity as a noble in this village. Nobody knows that I'm a noble, except for a few other Aura users, such as Headmaster Torres and Baron Arc-Heart." the name of the baron was mentioned as Catherine spoke. From its look, perhaps even his father knew the baron well.
"In that case, can I ask where we're actually from? And why is my mother on the run?" Hespar asked.
"Was it because of me?" he quickly added another sentence before Catherine answered.
Hearing Hespar's question made Catherine smile and touches her husband's face lovingly. From the way it looks, they both experienced something before managing to stay together.
"Your mother's name is Catherine Von Fonterra. I am also the youngest and only daughter of the family in Fonterra Dukedom. I'm sure that you know who your grandfather was now, correct?" Catherine smiled and dropped a bomb that made Hespar speechless.
"Duke?"
"My grandfather is the duke in the book?"