"That is great to hear. I will answer your questions the best I can little Kurao, come in and make yourself comfortable."
After entering Vayla sat him down at a table,
"Wait here little Kurao I will be back with some refreshments, while I answer your questions."
"Wait Aunt Vayla it wont be long I just have a question"
"It won't be long I was already preparing the water a minute ago before Soliel left. So let me go finish making it and we will be able to talk while we drink."
After saying so she left the room, leaving Kurao to stir in his own thoughts about Soliel who he just saw, and his questions about Slaine.
But as he was in thought his gaze drifted onto the bookshelf near the wall where the entranceto his father treasury was.
Curious he got up and walked to shelf grabbing one of the books and opening it. As he was expecting it was the usual unreadable text that just went on and on with no pictures and no similarities to any language he has researched.
Flipping through it, he found nothing and decided to look at the other books on the shelf. All were the same as the last except for the fact he recognized the numbers that were on the cover of each of the books.
He recognized them as they were the newly implemented number system that the teaching department of the empire has been rolling out over the past few years.
'It is too obscure to be a coincidence since its only been implemented recently but the books were said to be way older according to Vayla.'
As he was thinking about the book the door opened as he smelt a draft of the fragrant tea.
"Kurao come and sit."
Vayla entered the room without his notice and gestured for him to come join her at the table. Snapping back to reality Kurao put the book away,
'Nevermind that book I don't got time to waste on pointless goose chases. I have to ask about Slaine and maybe some insight to why Soliel was here.'
Sitting down Kurao took a sip of the tea before setting it back down and asking,
"The question I wanted to ask was who is Slaine?"
Vayla who was also drinking put her cup down.
"Why aren't you asking him? I don't think he would mind if you wanted to know him better."
"I would if it wasn't for the fact I wanted to get a third party's insight about him. Plus it seems him and my mother aren't on good terms right now and probably wont be able to talk to him today."
Pausing and then sighing slightly Kurao continues,
"It seems he isn't in a good mood and my mother seems to have a certain hatred towards him, and I just learned he was my grandfather today,"
"Do you know why?"
Vayla waits a moment before taking another sip and responding.
"Well that is because Ella and Slaine got into a massive argument when your mother started 'courting' your father."
Vayla said 'courting' with slight sarcasm.
"Wait mother initially chased father not the other way around?"
"Yeah, it was around 15 years ago, this was when your father just fully established the empire. During that time he was swamped with work and was in the process of setting up a reform on the standard of mana training, which was a lot of work.
Cause there was a lot of back lash from the other noble families and high ranking Elementalists over implementing the new mana training method and other policies, when they met."
"Was that the method, Mr. Ester said that he taught father when he was starting?"
"Slaine did teach your father the basics of mana manipulation decades ago, even before I met him. But no the method that is the standard in the empire, is a modified version your father came up with."
Taking another sip, Vayla continued her story.
"Slaine has been with your father since the beginning. He sponsored your father and even still helps him with training a elite units comprised of advanced stage elementalists.
But back then when Slaine was just appointed general of the new army, during one of their check ups, husband came for personally to check in and that was the first time he and Ella met."
"If Mr. Ester was with my father before you even met him, how did he never meet mother?"
"According to what I know Slaine never really shared his personal life. But back to the story, there was a terrorist attack during one of the check-ups that your father did often, he crushed the elves that were planning on crippling the training of the new soldiers and crushed the plans of the terrorist elves. Ella who was saved during the whole incident, by your father fell madly in love according to husband."
Vayla released a slight sigh as she recounted.
"She then started following him everywhere and even managed to get her own room in the palace even though she didn't have a personal relationship with him. Apparently Slaine seeing how his daughter was acting, kept telling her to stop perusing your father.
To which during the time Slaine was sent to the East Front, Ella who was planning on how to capture your father's heart during the time executed her plan. The outcome of her plan was successful and she was taken by your father to be his 8th wife."
"Do you know how she got father's attention?"
"No, I only know this much cause of what husband would tell me, cause at a time I was also curious on why. But anyway why Slaine and Ella's relationship has soured is because when he came back and saw them married, even though he hammered in why she shouldn't marry him, but she did it and it broke the trust between the two."
Vayla took another sip of the tea as she chuckled,
"From what I see it seems Slaine is upset cause her daughter eloped with a man he didn't approve of."
"Why would Mr. Ester not approve of father?"
"I am not sure, but everyone has their own reason. And well even though Slaine and his daughter's relationship was ruined slightly, he still seems to be loyal and holds no major grudges against husband."
'Why wouldn't grandfather not want her daughter married to the emperor, he was successful in anything he did and was able to take claim to the empire in a short amount of time.'
'He was also his mentor, why wouldn't he want to marry his daughter to him?'
As Kurao who was wondering what was so bad about his father that his grandfather refused to have him in his family, Vayla asked
"Was that the only question you had for me?"