Chapter 151 - Heirs

As Jien was truly resting for the first time in ages after being in the Warping Forest for so long the others of his group were taking their time reuniting with their own families as well. All of the parents were more than happy to have found their children healthy and well. It was not necessarily a given that they would return in the best of conditions but the fact that they looked to be well in most meanings of the word led to many happy moments.Rosalind met with her mother and father, Alexandra and Johnathan. The first thing that happened after they were behind closed doors was that Johnathan Griffith scooped up his daughter in a bear hug that nearly squeezed the air out of her. Luckily she had gotten a fair bit stronger during their year away, She surprised her father by being able to resist his hug to a certain degree. This ultimately only made his smile broader as peppered his daughters' head with kisses. It took her mothers' stern intervention to free Rosalind from her fathers' grasp, after which her mother looked over her just as thoroughly as Runa had Jien. Alexandra gave occasional nods of approval at her daughters figure having developed some and her firm muscles that would be excellent for work in the forge.Olivia meanwhile was in discussions with her mother and father after a short inspection they found their daughter to be healthy and in good spirits which was enough for them. Rather than an overly physical reunion the trio settled for a thorough discussion on the happenings of the past year spent training. The discussion veered from training programs to some of their struggles and then further to discussions on what it was like to live with the group of heirs and heiresses. What left the parents chuckling was that when the discussion reached Lesley she began to complain but it became blatantly obvious that this was not her usual feud with the boy from a neighboring territory. Her parents' chuckling ultimately led her to seal her lips with a blush, knowing that she had clearly said too much.A similar scene was happening with Lesley. His parents were much more proactive in the discussion. Rather than chuckling they found themselves cheering him on in his ventures with the neighboring heiress. They had always know, much like Olivia's parents, that the two of them were more than likely to end up together. Their rivalry is the way that many relationships in the field started. They weren't all that different themselves when they had met at the academy. The result of this cheering was the same as Olivia, though Lesley's expression was able to stay cool his ears burned a furious red.Bernards' reunion with his mother and father was much like Jien's with his mother first giving him a long hug and then checking him over thoroughly. His father was more active in the moment than Earl by making the hug into a family event. Bernard bathed but managed to stay awake, sitting down to regale his parents with the hardships and triumphs of their adventure in the closed world of Warping Forest.Of all of Jien's cohort the most unique reunion was Barret and his mother. Gloria Romero did not embrace her son nor did she exchange pleasantries with him. Instead once behind closed doors she used a spell to muffles sounds by sealing the spaces that it would escape to from the room. This process took some time but Barret remained calm and silent, standing before a chair in the room where his mother would soon take a seat.As expected it wasn't more than a few minutes before Gloria sat calmly in the seat in front of Barret, folding one leg above the other and extending her right hand that bore a ring with their family's crest, a crow with wings outstretched and single dagger held in its beak. Barret responded to the action by kneeling and kissing the ring as a sign of loyalty to his family as was tradition for generations."Report." the order was calm, cool and firm. There was no room for refusal or negative response. Barret, as if this was the natural way of things began from the beginning of the year long boot camp. He did not just explain what occurred he analyzed it as if he was a strategist. He even picked apart his own actions piece by piece for his mother. The conversation was long and full of intricate details but he did not slow down or stop his speech until he reached the point of their return from the forest and reunion in the fields outside of Afrem.All of these reunions were taking place at the same time and most dragged on into the evening. The group of noble households all met back in the banquet hall of the manor in the evening for their first meal together in a long span. Upon smelling the food the youths stomachs roared like a pack of hungry beasts, leading to a full ensemble of blushes, however the children did not hold back when the food was served. Unfortunately abandoning the greater portion of their etiquette training for the ability to consume more at a faster rate.The parent's couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, knowing exactly the reason for it and encouraging their children to eat until they were satisfied. They would only get so many more of these meals before they would be heading back to their training camp. They needed to enjoy every moment while they could.