"So you still rember , huh, Dean?...... It's been a long ti, hasn't it?"
My mother's lips curved into a gleeful smile.
"...Sir Dean, who might these people be?"
The other knight — this one was rather young — inquired when he saw the knight nad Dean halt his words after a look at my mother.
"......Of course. Of course, how could I forget about you, Young Miss? I have no words to describe my joy when Master Randy sent us news about your survival...... You, hurry up and inform Frelia-sama. Young Miss... Cecilia-sama is back!"
Receiving the order, the young knight left in the direction of the estate in a sprint.
"Dean is Dio's cousin. Just like Dio, he looked after us siblings. He, along with Dio, had always been there to support us. At present, he's the head of the Ringart family after Dio left."
Dio... Right, he was the spear user my father had arranged as my knight escort when I had left for the Royal Capital for the entrance exam. And during Randy-san's visit a few days ago, it later ca out that Dio was actually a quasi-noble serving the Dosperior family.
While our mother introduced Dean to us, Dean quickly rubbed his eyes, and formally introduced himself, placing his right hand on his chest in salute.
"Excuse my belated introduction. I'm Dean, the head of the Ringart family serving the House of Dosperior. As His Excellency Randy has set out to accompany His Majesty on his foreign trip, the protection of Rabeldin is now currently under my care. You must be the Young Miss’ husband, Viscount Bellwood von Rovenne, I presu? And—"
His eyes trailed from my father to us, and his expression broke into a huge smile.
"You must be Allen-sama and Roselia-sama, the children of Bellwood-sama and the Young Miss. And you must be their private tutor, Schord-dono, right? The Dosperior family has never seen the Academy in a great light, but even then, word of Allen-sama could be heard even in Rabeldin for the past year. It had shocked the vast majority of the Dosperior family mbers when they heard that Allen-sama was actually the son of the Young Miss all along.
After the loss of our symbol Vardi-sama in the great war a decade ago, along with the presud death of the Young Miss, this has been the first good news we've received in a long while. Had the family known earlier about your arrival — though the rumors of the Young Miss’ survival had already spread among the masses — we would have set out to et you with a parade, and let the citizens formally know of your survival… Why didn't Young Miss contact us earlier?"
A p-parade?!... Good lord, I didn't even need to look in the mirror, I could feel my face stiffening. I’d like to pat my past self on the back for suggesting 'Let's go incognito to surprise grandma!', which I had suggested mainly to conceal my tracks from my master.
Now that I look back, our mother could always see through our lies, but this ti, she easily nodded at my proposal after giving a thorough stare-down for a mont. She must have expected the fanfare otherwise, didn't she...?
"Ahem, n-nice to et you, Dean-san. I know there are so crazy rumors about floating around, but personally, all of them are nonsense. If anything, I’ve always been outclassed in both brains and brawn by my sister. What was the saying, ‘Sagacious elder sister, silly younger brother’? Yup, that's the perfect way to describe us."
I an, I was right. I was rely using knowledge from my past life, the fruit of soone else's knowledge. anwhile, I was re scum against the inherent talent of my sister in martial arts. Then again, I wasn't aiming to beco the world's strongest or anything cliché, so I wasn't particularly bothered by the gap between us.
I just want to work on my wind magic and enjoy this life to my heart's content.
So I made sure to convey all this in a serious tone. Dean-san's eyes widened when he heard .
"A-Allen-sama is the silly one......?"
I nodded assertively. Dean-san went silent for a mont in surprise, then he suddenly burst out in laughter.
"Pffft! Hahahaha!... *Ahem* Excuse . It's just, I couldn't control myself from laughing out loud. The Royal Academy is the greatest educational institute of this kingdom, of course, but beyond that, this also begets the attraction from many powers.
—'How long can the good remain good? When one’s morals are corrupted with a materialistic view, there has to be a voice of reason to stop one's downfall.' With that reasoning as his core, the founder of the Dosperior family decided that his lineage would be that voice. Hence, all the successive generations have kept their distance from the Academy.
Needless to say, the resolution ca with a price. Nevertheless, our successive masters held on to that legacy, of which we're very much proud of. On the other hand, we do have so disdain against the so-called ‘prodigies’, or the ‘strongest in the generation' in the rumors. Because for us, our master is the strongest.”
Dean-san narrated, his gaze shifting to my mother, then back to , tears beginning to well in his eyes.
"But then we heard of you, Allen-sama, and who your mother is. In the past year, everyone has heard of your exploits, of how you stuck to your goal even if it ant throwing the Academy into chaos. Eventually, you even achieved the impossible by completing the mission His Majesty himself had issued upon you. Yet, you say you consider all those achievents as nothing much. Excuse , but after hearing that much, how could I not be pleased? It's like for the first ti ever, the millennia of pent-up resentnt has finally found an outlet to vent out."
His voice was choked with emotion as he started to shake his head, 'I think this is going to be a tale I can be proud of until my grave.' I imdiately quipped to change his mind.
"I-I'm just saying these rumors are all re embellishnts. In fact, even the transport mission would have been impossible without everyone else's efforts. And I sure as heck didn't throw the Academy into chaos..."
"Hahaha, you're surprisingly humble, Allen-sama. We’ve also heard of your unbelievable argunt with Sir Godorfun, of how you stood your ground against him while shouting 'I’ll smash away anyone who dares stand in my path' on your first day in the Academy. Even Vardi-sama had to concede when it cos to Sir Godorfun's character, so how could soone make those rumors up without it happening, right?"
W-Well, he wasn't wrong, but hey, you have to understand the nuances first!
My eyes looked away as I sohow put up an explanation.
"I-It's nothing but a black history for , truly. In fact, it was my mother who got all fired up when she told 'Don’t let anyone underestimate you, no matter what' right before our first class orientation, so the situation just escalated from there. If anything, I was the one who picked that fight—"
I an, was I wrong? My mother could have just told directly that I might be labeled as a cheater or sothing for my exam result, then I could have brought up my argunt in a more civil manner, for crying out loud!
Dante-san swallowed with a look of amazent, and rubbed his chin with the back of his hand.
"I-It does seem to be Cecilia-sama's teaching, to be fearless just like her... But then, what about the Hill Road Club situation I had heard about? It said that you slamd down the 'failed' result and even gave the esteed teachers of the Academy a good scolding. Surely, impossible as it may sound, this rumor shouldn't have started without any concrete—"
N-no more, soone hold before I collapse!
"For the love of god, how did this rumor even co out?......"
I really was hearing this rumor for the first ti.
I was too dumbfounded to even think of how to explain this nonsense when another voice interrupted us from behind.
"......I've been standing here for so long, with all my preparation already done. Dean, do you intend to hog all the joy for yourself?"
"O-Of course not, Madam. My apologies!"
I looked in the direction of the voice and spotted the sa elegant old lady who had co out to greet Glover-san during the transportation mission. Her na was... Frelia-san, I think. So, she must be my grandmother, I suppose?
"......It's been a long ti, Cecilia. I’ve already heard of the details from Randy, but rest assured. This information is known only to . But look at you...... it's been a long, long journey for you, hasn't it? It must have been hard on you. But know that I’m always proud of you."
She said as she walked up to my mother and opened her arms for a hug—
◆◆◆
My mother and grandmother hugged each other in an emotional reunion.
Everyone looked at them with tears welling up in their eyes.
I had thought my mother would use her iron claw again to hide her embarrassnt, but the emotional scene played out safely. A wave of relief washed over as tears — not for the scene, but for poor Randy-san who got the short end of the stick — stread down my face.
Frelia-san gently cradled my mother's face in her hands.
"I can't tell you how many tis the thought of 'How would you look like all grown up had you survived...' crossed my mind after I watched you depart that day… This surely wasn't completely what I had in mind, but nevertheless, you've grown to be a splendid woman. I'm glad, Cecilia. I'm truly glad."
After saying that, Freria-san took my mother into a second hug as the latter silently shed her tears.
I was slightly surprised. I had never seen my mother cry before. She had always maintained an ironclad front in front of us. But I guess, emotions were a river: hard to control. I did hear that she left her ho at the age of 16 on a dood trip, destined to never return.
The things they wanted to convey, and the emotions they were feeling right now were sothing I could never imagine.
I discarded my thoughts of Randy-san from my mind, and finally shed my long accumulated tears ant for this long-awaited reunion scene.
After basking in her emotion for a short while, my mother exhaled, her tears stopping, and the usual lively smile crept on her lips.
"...I'm just glad to see you in good health, Mother. I truly have no words for the trouble I’ve caused you, so do forgive … Let introduce you to my cherished family."
Then my mother proceeded to introduce us one by one.
"It's quite sothing to see my little girl becoming a mother, giving birth to four kids, and all of them growing splendidly. It's like the due happiness has crashed forth with four tis the interest. You have no idea how happy I am. It's a pity Beck and Grim aren't here today. Please inform them I would like to et them soday… By the way—"
After sharing words of nostalgia, Frelia-san paused, the surrounding air suddenly beca frigid.
"Why didn't you contact before arriving? You're supposed to be the wife of the current head of the Viscount Rovenne family. I’m sure I never taught you such ill manners."
As she spoke, her voice was frigid cold, devoid of any emotion, and brimming with raging fury.
My mother didn't try to look away from Frelia-san's eyes, and firmly placed her hand on my shoulder.
"It's because Allen asked to keep it a secret. Right, Allen? How about you explain yourself?"
Huuuhhh?! No, none, nay!!! How could I pull up an excuse so suddenly?! And I absolutely can't say I did it to skip on knight's work, can I?!
Frelia-san's gaze shifted to , her stare probing for the reason.
Though it was my elder sister who saved the day.
"Allen said he wanted to surprise granny. He didn't have any ill will, so forgive him, grandma."
"...To give … a surprise? Is that so...?"
Frelia-san repeated the words of my sister as she stared at .
Cold sweat began to pour out of as I searched for an answer. But before I had to do anything, Frelia-san's expression broke into a lively smile, reminiscent of my mother. Her frigid aura suddenly lted away to show a happy expression.
"Fufu... You're quite a mischievous kid, huh, Allen? It's fine since it's , your granny, but do rember to at least keep the bare minimum decorum for nobles, alright? And you too, Roselia. You're his elder sister, so don’t go easy on him, understand?"
"I will~ Sorry, grandmother."
My elder sister responded in a flippant tone, sticking out her tongue playfully. Granny saw this, smiled, and then nodded in satisfaction.
......The heck, ain't she too sweet on her grandchild?!
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