"Oh, hoho." Melissa laughed cheerily, amused at her granddaughter's unique choice of words in a bid to comfort her.
"That is true. Boys do, in fact, behave that way sometimes; not listening to their mothers." Rowaine chimed in and Catherine nodded in agreement, before adding,
"Yes. A very bad attitude, I must say."
"Tia is right, grandmother. Do not be sad." Beatrix said softly from her position on the sofa opposite Melissa.
"If you are sad, I will also be sad. So, please don't be sad grandmother." Serina comforted.
"Oh, my daughters and grandchildren love me so much. How fortunate I am." Melissa laughed.
Melvin, Fedor and Ivan who didn't know how the topic became generalized from Wilson to boys.
"..."
I thought we were all complaining about Wilson. How did we become included? They thought incredulously as they were also males.
Aristia stifled a laugh as she gazed at the expression on their faces.
"How are your classes, Tia? You should have begun your classes as you have reached the age of five, am I right? I trust that your father hired the best tutors." Melvin inquired, directing the last sentence to Wilson.
"You are correct, Grandpa." Aristia responded to Melvin's inquiry. She hesitated, "I also..." she trailed off, not knowing if she should speak the words on her mind.
But seeing the Grand Duke and Duchess nod, she unknowingly continued. "I am also taking horse riding, archery and swordsmanship classes."
"Gasp!" A series of gasps erupted.
"What?!!! Isn't that too much work for your little body?" Rowaine asked worriedly, looking at her small form from top to bottom.
[I thought that their first reaction would be aversion to the fact that I am taking classes meant for the boys. I didn't expect them to be so calm and even worried about my health.] Aristia felt a warm feeling in her chest at the extent of their love as she stared at the worried faces of the people around her who were her family.
[You really have a loving family, Aristia. I hope you didn't take it for granted.] She thought.
"How could you allow her to take those classes brother?" Fedor asked, turning to Wilson. Why would his brother allow his daughter to take male classes?
Catherine was the one overseeing the classes but Wilson had to be aware of it. Even so, Fedor didn't ask why Catherine assigned her those classes in the first place.
[Such bias. It seems like Papa is always on the receiving end when it comes to us.] Aristia almost laughed out loud when she saw her father who looked like he was getting used to it at this point, even Catherine tried not to laugh.
Deciding to help him out, Aristia spoke up. "I am fine, aunt and uncle. I was the one to chose to take those classes." She assured them.
"You chose them yourself? Why?" Fedor was stunned.
Females usually wouldn't give any extra attention to things like sword fighting and archery. Even his daughters only praised their older brother whenever he made progress in his classes and that was it. No interest in the sports whatsoever.
Aristia gave them the same reason she gave her parents. "For self-defense purposes," she said.
Before anyone could say a word, she explained, "I have guards to protect me but they cannot always be with me and unexpected situations might occur, and when that happens, I'll be helpless. You don't want that, do you Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle?" She pouted and mentioned each of them, blinking as her eyes turned watery, invoking a pitiful sight.
[I can't believe I'm doing this, but this is the King. He can order that I discontinue the classes. The power these monarchs have!] Aristia was wailing mentally.
Thankfully, her plan worked as they all subconsciously nodded their heads as an image popped up in their minds. The same image that was seen by Wilson and Catherine.
Wilson and Catherine on the other hand were speechless as they witnessed what happened to them first-hand from another viewpoint.
"Tia, you are taking the same classes as Ivan?" Beatrix asked as if she wanted to confirm if she meant the same thing.
Aristia noticed something else in her eyes. It was different from the plain curiousity in Serina's eyes.
[Is that awe and...desire? I could be wrong.] Aristia thought.
"Yes, Bea." She nodded, calling Beatrix by her own nickname and Beatrix turned away to hide her reddening cheeks. Where was the nickname coming from?
[Cute.] Aristia chuckled before asking curiously after some thought in a low voice, not knowing it was useless as she could be heard by the men here.
"Do you also want to take the same classes?"
"Huh?" Her question caught Beatrix off guard, but she immediately shook her head while peeking a sneaky glance at the adults who were talking with each other while also paying attention at the same time. "Ah, no! I... I am content with the classes I am taking."
Aristia nodded, unconvinced. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Serina roll her eyes beside Beatrix.
"So am I." Serina chimed in, referring to Beatrix's words of being content with her current classes. But she seemed to be covering up something.
Ivan, on the other hand, stared at Aristia. "You are really taking the same classes as me. That means you are also learning to ride horses." He said with slight excitement.
[It seems he and Al have the same love of horses.] Aristia thought before she gave her reply.
"Yes, Ivan. But I haven't started riding horses yet." She corrected.
"Oh," a look of realization appeared on Ivan's face and he nodded. "But you can come ride horses with I and Allie?" He asked. Alaric excitedly nodded his head in support.
Aristia was about to reply when Fedor spoke first. " I think Tia will prefer riding her own horse Ivan, that is, if she has one."
"That is true," Ivan thoughtfully remarked. "I prefer riding my own horse, Shadowfax."
[I don't have a horse. Just using one of the ponies. I'm still a five-year old. Wilson and Catherine don't want me falling off the horse and getting injured.] Aristia almost rolled her eyes.
"Shadowfax is Ivan's daemon." Serina exclaimed proudly. It was very obvious who was more outspoken between the two sisters.
"Ivan has manifested his daemon." Fedor confirmed.
"At such a young age, well done." Wilson smiled approvingly at his nephew, patting his shoulders firmly.
He turned to Fedor, "When do we get to meet Ivan's daemon?"
Aristia tuned out the rest of the conversation.
[Daemon? Oh. Daemon! It was mentioned in the book. I actually forgot about that.]
According to the book, a daemon was part of a person's soul. A person feels what their daemon feels and vice versa.
It existed physically in form of an animal, but possessed special abilities that normal animals don't, and were intelligent creatures.
There were general abilities owned by daemons, but each daemon also had a unique ability.
[Those general abilities included communicating with their owners and other daemons, and acting as a mental communication link between its owner and another daemon owner, much like a cellphone. They also had enhanced abilities and were usually larger than other animals of the same kind.] Aristia thought.
[Another interesting fact was that it was only males who got daemons. There were no mentioned cases where a female was gifted a daemon. It wasn't surprising that Aristia in the book did not get a daemon, but Alaric did. He got a horse that he loved a lot. Book's words, not mine. Well, he does love horses.]
Suddenly, she remembered something important.