Jupiter and Xavier laughed and joked as they left the school together after classes ended and everyone went home.
However, just as they came to a stop, a young woman approached them, and Jupiter, delighted to see them, shouted, "Auntie Liza!"
"I'm quite excited to know that you're finished with school," Jupiter's aunt replied while petting Jupiter's hair.
Jupiter excitedly said, "Yeah, me too."
Xavier didn't seem to know who the woman was. As soon as she saw Xavier, the woman apologized for not introducing herself and stated, "My name is Liza Cavendish. And I am Jupiter's auntie.".
"It is a pleasure to meet you, young sir," she added.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too!" Xavier responded with a smile.
Jupiter shyly said to his aunt, "His name is Xavier Ashford."
He went on, "And he's my newfound friend."
Liza exclaimed, "You made a friend on the first day?" shocked that her nephew had been able to make friends on the first day of school.
Jupiter joyfully replied, "Yes!" in response, causing Liza to jump with pleasure that her nephew had made his very first friend.
As Liza was celebrating Jupiter's gaining a new friend, Jonathan, Aleksander, and Violet approached them.
"Where were you during the whole school day, Xavier?" Aleksander asked Xavier, "Violet and I have been looking for you everywhere."
"I was spending time with my friend Jupiter and with Jason and his friends," Xavier answered.
Liza set Jupiter down after noticing Jonathan, coughed awkwardly, and said, "Excuse me for my manner, sir.".
Jonathan answered, "It's okay; you don't have to apologize for being happy."
Liza said, "You're very understanding, sir," with a flush and a giggle.
"My name is Liza Cavendish," she said.
"And I am the aunt of my nephew, Jupiter Cavendish.".
"It's nice to meet you, Liza Cavendish," Jonathan said with a smile.
"My name is Jonathan Ashford." Jonathan continued. "And I am the father of my youngest son, Xavier."
"And these two children of mine here are Violet and Aleksander.".
Liza replied, "It's a pleasure to meet Lady Violet and Sir Aleksander.".
To which Violet and Aleksander replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Madame Liza."
With a lovely smile on her face, Liza turned to Jonathan and added, "And it's a pleasure to meet the father of my nephew's first-ever friend."
Jonathan was taken aback and said, "Wait, you made a friend, Xavier?"
With a broad smile, Xavier replied, "Yes, Father!" in response.
Violet, surprised and happy to hear that her little brother had made a new friend, patted Xavier's hair and said, "That's good news, little brother.".
Jonathan chuckled proudly and added, "Well, in that case, I am also pleased to learn that my son has made a new friend."
Liza blushed and giggled in answer.
Then, with excitement, Violet approached Jupiter and greeted him, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jupiter.".
"And I'm so glad that you and my younger brother are friends," Violet said with a beaming smile.
Jupiter shyly replied, "Yeah... It's a pleasure to meet you too, Violet," in response.
Aleksander then patted Jupiter's hair and added, "Your shyness makes me think of Xavier when he first met his cousin."
Aleksander chuckled, to which Xavier, flustered, responded, "Stop it, big brother," and pulled away in embarrassment.
Miss Liza then apologized to Jonathan, stating, "I'm sorry, but we have to get going," realizing how late it was getting. And they had people waiting for them.
With a smile, Jonathan answered, "It's okay. We also have to get going."
Holding Jupiter's hand, Miss Liza and Jupiter said their goodbyes to Jonathan, Xavier, and his siblings. And they began their departure.
As Jupiter and Miss Liza left, Jonathan grabbed Xavier and carried him on his shoulders.
"So then, how was your first day at school?" inquired Jonathan.
Xavier said, "It was amazing, father," in response.
Jonathan remarked, "Well, that's great to hear," with a chuckle.
Xavier then asked Aleksander, "Brother, how come you never told me that you and Big Sis were so talented?" while sitting on his father's shoulders.
Aleksander answered, "I'm guessing that everyone must have told you how much of a genius me and your sister are," after understanding what Xavier was getting at.
"And how can we have such a high ethereal core at a young age, right?".
And Xavier said, "Yes!" in response.
"I learned that from my training instructor," he went on.
Aleksander laughed and answered, "Well, we never told you about it because we thought you wouldn't care about it, since you didn't know what an ethereal core was to begin with.".
Xavier responded angrily, "My, would I not care about it?"
"It's so awesome being the little brother of two prodigies.".
Startled by Xavier's compliment, Violet and Aleksander burst out laughing. "Thank you very much for the compliment, little brother," Aleksander and Violet said, wiping their tears of laughter.
With a smile, Xavier said, "You're welcome!"
"Plus, I'm not really on the level of Grand Herrscher," Aleksander went on.
Xavier asked in surprise, "What do you mean, big brother?" in response.
And Aleksander replied, "Well, that's because my contractor placed a seal on my powers so that it wouldn't hurt me because of my body not being physically able to withstand my pure-white ethereal core.".
"So that means I'm not nigh-omnipotent like the other Grand Herrschers are.".
"And my power output is on the level of a red administrator core.".
"Wait, your contractor?" Xavier inquired, perplexed.
Aleksander answered, "Yes, my contractor," in response.
"What is a contractor?" Xavier inquired after that.
Violet replied to Xavier's question, saying, "A contractor is someone who gives you their power.".
"Consequently, you will serve as their vessel and come under their authority and guidance.".
"They could be anyone, but they have to be someone stronger than you for the contract to work.".
"Whoa, that's awesome," Xavier answered.
"I know, right? "Even I have a contractor," Violet stated with enthusiasm.
Xavier then said, "Wait, you have a contractor as well?" with envy.
"Yeah, I do," Violet replied.
"Oh, why can't I have a contractor too?" Xavier lamented, looking discouraged.
"Don't worry about it, Xavier; you may find one in the future," Aleksander responded.
"Really? I hope so!" Xavier exclaimed.
Then, out of nowhere, Jonathan said, "Speaking of cool, I got you a gift, son," and gave Xavier a wrapped gift.
Xavier was perplexed as to what the present was and inquired, "What is it?"
Jonathan retorted, "Open it and you'll see."
When Xavier started to open the present, he was shocked to realize that it was a scarlet scarf with gold trim around the edges.
"A scarf? It looks so cool!" Xavier exclaimed at Jonathan, beaming with happiness.
Jonathan confidently responded with a smug grin, "Yeah! And your sister and I made it by hand for you."
"Really?" Xavier was questioned in shock.
"Well, your grandfather purchased all the materials needed for sewing the scarf."
"But yes," Jonathan answered.
"That's amazing, Father," Xavier said.
"But what makes the scarf special is that the materials used are very rare," Jonathan stated.
"The scarf is resistant to cold and fire because of those materials. And all it takes to change its size is to apply ethereal energy within it," he went on.
"Resistance to fire? Father, that's so awesome," Xavier exclaimed, smiling broadly.
"Thank you very much, Father and big sister, for this gift," Xavier said, with his face beaming with happiness.
Then, blushing, Violet and Jonathan said, "You're welcome, Xavier.".
As Xavier and his family left, Miss Faelwen, who was inspecting them from the academy's gate, said to Instructor Joshua, who was standing beside her, "I am quite fascinated by that child, Xavier."
In response, Instructor Joshua said, "Well, either way, I've already told Principal Cedric about Xavier not having an ethereal core."
"And he told me that it would be best to leave that boy alone and inspect him from a distance and everything he does," he continued.
Miss Seo-Yeon Park suddenly jumped enthusiastically upon Instructor Joshua's back and exclaimed, "Oppa! I've been trying to find you. Where have you been?"
Irritated, Joshua said, "Seo-Yeon, you shameless woman, why did you tell your students to ask me what a Grand Monarch was?"
"Isn't that the very job you were given to do?".
With a giggle, Miss Seo-Yeon Park answered, "Oh, relax, Oppa—it's not that deep."
"You don't need to become upset over it," she continued.
Instructor Joshua answered, "Yes, I do."
He went on, "You annoy me every day!"
"Well, that's because I can't live without tormenting you, Oppa," Miss Seo-Yeon Park answered with a smirk.
"You two make a cute couple," Miss Faelwen remarked jokingly.
Instructor Joshua became enraged and retorted, "We're not a couple!"
"Why does everyone keep saying we are?".
"You don't have to play dumb, Joshua; we all know that you guys are secretly a couple," Miss Faelwen responded.
"There's no need to conceal it. It's acceptable to occasionally tell the truth".
Instructor Joshua clenched his teeth in annoyance at that.
"Oh, by the way, why are the both of you just standing here and looking at Xavier and his family?" inquired Miss Seo-Yeon Park.
"Well, that's because that kid, Xavier, is an abnormality," Miss Faelwen retorted. "Because he lacks an ethereal core.".
Miss Seo-Yeon Park said, "Wait, really?" with amazement.
"Why do you find this surprising?" The instructor, Joshua, said he was perplexed.
"Didn't you already know that?" The instructor, Joshua, went on.
Miss Seo-Yeon Park answered, "No, not really."
Instructor Joshua was speechless and questioned, "How?".
"You're as strong as me; how did you not notice?"
Miss Seo-Yeon Park responded, "Well, that's because I don't go around using my powers on children to see if they're geniuses or not.".
"Because anyone, gifted or not, can be a genius," Miss Seo-Yeon Park went on.
Upon hearing Miss Seo-Yeon Park's remarks, Instructor Joshua was taken aback and chose to remain silent.
Miss Seo-Yeon Park went on, saying to Miss Faelwen, "Plus, you're the second strongest person in this academy, only behind Principle Cerdic, Unni.".
"So I don't see why a grand monarch like you would be worried about what a coreless child would do.".
Miss Faelwen retorted, "You're right, but either way, I will just keep my eyes on him," after giving Miss Seo-Yeon Park's remarks some thought.
As she looked at Xavier, Miss Faelwen then said, "And if needed, I won't hesitate to teach him how to harness that endless pool of ethereal energy of his.".