"Young master, Ashoka!"
As Ashoka was warming up inside the training ground, a familiar voice was heard from his right side.
"Mom? Hema?"
His mother, Chandralekha, Hema, the nanny who looked after him in the tempest manor and the maids were running towards him.
"Young master!"
Upon reaching him, Chandra hugged him tightly—like a bird embracing its egg.
"Oh my god! Your face has become so skinny! It must've been hard, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Tears welled up in her narrowed eyes. Despite what she said, Ashoka had gotten thicker with muscles, and by no means was skinny.
"No mom, I…"
"It must've been hard! Going through so many hardships… Sniff."
Despite many months having passed after their meeting, Chandra was still the same.
She didn't listen to him at all, and just worried about his body.
{Even you look like a child in front of your mother.}
'Shut up.'
Draco chuckled, pleased that he saw something interesting.
"Young master. You've done well."
Hema bowed, smiling lightly. The maids behind her also smiled, telling him that he was amazing.
"I didn't even pass the test yet, though."
Ashoka scratched his face. The embarrassment from being praised for nothing was making him itchy.
"You held on for six months."
"That's the amazing part!"
"Yes. You really did great."
Hema and the other maids kept complimenting him nonstop.
"How did you get here?"
Ashoka pushed back Chandra, who was rubbing her cheeks against his, and turned his head to Hema.
"The guardians are allowed to witness the test today. It's not only us, but others are also here."
He looked around following Hema's gesture. Just as she said, children were greeting their parents all over the training ground.
"But who is she…?"
Chandra's eyes widened as she spotted Tish standing behind Ashoka.
Tishya bowed to Chandra respectfully.
'This girl is amazing.'
Tish didn't stop following Ashoka, despite Chandra and Hema coming to see him. That personality of hers was more amazing than her talents.
"Tish!"
While Tishya and Chandra were looking at each other, a thick voice could be heard from the left side. It was a middle-aged man with slicked back silver hair.
'Rokan Raksha.'
He was Rokan Raksha, the head of the Marquise family of Raksha, and Tish's father.
{That dumb girl's face doesn't change, even at the end.}
Like Draco said, Tish's eyes stayed hazy as she looked at her father for the first time in six months.
"Father?"
"What are you doing here? Let's go!"
After glaring at Ashoka and Chandra, he grabbed her hand and dragged her away.
{…I've seen many humans before, but that one is really… special.}
'I know, right?'
Ashoka thought as he was weirdly feeling a emotion of hate towards Tish's father, maybe due to the reason that he didn't even greet his mother, who the royal concubine, but he felt like punching him right in his face.
But that emotion was overwhelmed by the what he was seeing.
He smirked bitterly at Tish, who kept looking at him while being dragged away.
"Tishya, she is the youngest daughter of the Raksha family, right?"
"Yeah."
"You two became friends, right?"
Chandra smiled. Asking him how they became friends, she looked at him closely.
"We aren't friends."
Ashoka shook his head firmly.
"You aren't friends? Then what are you?"
"I wonder…"
He honestly wasn't sure about his relationship with Tish. He didn't even know what a friend was in the first place.
"My son, if people approach you, you should be friendly to them instead of pushing them away."
Chandra pouted.
"I've never done that."
He just didn't care whether they approached him or not.
"Don't be like that! Bring her to the magic tower next time. Mommy will prepare delicious food for you."
"I already told you we aren't friends."
"Aww, I'm really dying… Ah? Aren't you… Young master Ashoka's mother?"
While Ashoka was giving an evasive answer, Paul—who had been retching—walked up to them with round eyes.
"Yes. And who are you?"
"My… My name is Paul! The young master has been taking care of me! Please accept my greetings!"
Paul bowed until his head almost hit the ground.
"Oh my!"
"Oh, young master!"
Chandra and Hema smiled widely. The fact that Ashoka had been helping someone was making them happy.
"I was wondering why young master Ashoka was so handsome, but it was thanks to you! You're really beautiful!"
Paul took out a flower from his belly pocket and handed it to Chandra. He couldn't talk at all when he was scared, yet his speech and actions didn't show a speck of hesitation. Ashoka wondered what the hell was wrong with him.
"Ohoho! Thank you."
Chandra smiled, accepting the flower. She seemed to really appreciate it from the way she was looking at them.
"Go away now."
"But why?"
Ashoka tapped Paul, trying to push him away, but Chandra interrupted.
"Paul, can you tell me about how Ashoka has been doing?"
"Of… of course! Young master Ashoka has gone up from the lowest tier to the highest tier, making history in the training ground! Everyone watching him has been moved to tears…"
"Hoo!"
Paul kept talking as if he were trying to overcome his nervousness with chatter. The test hadn't even started yet, but Ashoka felt already exhausted.
{It's outrageous how much that human talks.}
'Still not as much as you.'
"…And just like that, thanks to young master Ashoka teaching us his posture, me and the other children in the lower-tier managed to climb to the middle-upper tier. As for everything else, I'll tell you later! I'm in a bit of a hurry right now!"
Paul bowed to her, then ran towards the toilet.
"Oh my god…"
"Young master Ashoka!"
Hema and the other maids were moved to tears as they put their hands together. If they had listened any longer, they might have really started to cry.
"Helping others is nice and all, but how about you? Is the dormitory warm enough? Are you sick at all?"
But Chandra's eyes seemed more worried than moved. She was as true to her emotions, as always.
"I'm fine."
Ashoka tapped his chest with a confident smile. But it wasn't enough to make all the worries disappear from Chandra's eyes.
"Remember you can stop whenever it's difficult. Don't mind the others, just follow your heart. Okay?"
"Okay."
He nodded and Chandra's worries seemed to fade away a little. She was still the same, she has always been the mother who worried about her son's well-being.
"Aren't you going to talk with Sudhatta, just go already"
Ashoka tried to escape from them to avoid any further embarrassment.
"Ah! You are worried about your brother, don't worry, we already talked with him."
But that didn't work.
"By the way, Hema."
Chandra slightly turned her head with a mischievous look.
"Yes, Lady Chandra?"
"Don't you think Ashoka has gotten cuter in the time he's been away?"
"Certainly. As expected of milady's son."
"Right? Ashoka! Let Mommy hug you one more time…"
"Ugh! W-wait!"
When Ashoka tried to step back from the approaching Chandra, pressure appeared at the entrance of the training ground.
'This power…'
Ashoka clenched his teeth and stared at the main entrance. Frightening pressure could be felt from beyond the brown door.
Wham!
When the door to the training ground opened wide, a man that he'd thought would never come appeared.
---***---