Free Web NovelChapter 19: The Noble house
The patriarch regions supreme.
His five wives look after the estate, the family, and the dignity of Sungrade.
There are five young masters born from the five different women, and there are four young ladies of the house, three of whom share maternal bloodline with their brothers.
The branched families look after the different cities and towns where the family’s direct influence does not reach, reporting to the ladies of the house that hold the main authority in the absence of the Flame Lord.
The children, holding the qualification to succeed the seat of the highest honor in Sungrade, train their skills, improve their bond with their beasts, and express their social standings within the high society.
Sungrade, much like any other noble house, is a place of nobility, honor, and grand politics. However, beyond the faces that scare off the ones eyeing their riches, there exists a strange harmony.
The mothers have a good relationship with their children, the children respect their mothers and hold their father in the highest regards.
After the disappearance of the oldest of the heirs, the ladies of the house kept a closer eye on the remaining one of their children... and, that was true for the ’useless’ boy of the women they did not like.
"Hehehehehe~!"
"Lady Alex! Young lady, please don’t run like that!"
"Hehehe~!"
The ladies protected and looked after their children in their own way. They were the strictest with the oldest, but when it came to the youngest of the boys, they became a little negligent.
On the other hand... when it came to the youngest of the ladies, they were a little too overprotective.
"What? She has run away again?"
"Can’t you take better care of her!?"
"Why are you just standing there like that?! Find her! Go!"
The troublemaker of the Sungrade and the youngest of the gems, Lady Alexandria Von Knightheart Sungrade.
Born with the Blessing of Spirits she was loved by the creatures of the spiritual realm. Even without forming a contract with them like mages, she could communicate with them.
"Lady Alex! Where are you hiding, young lady?"
The spirits loved her as much as the five mothers that could barely handle her mischief. Every now and then, she would play a game of hide and seek with the servants, hiding away from them all with the help of her spirit friends.
[ "We should go there!" ]
[ "Let’s go there! Let’s go there!" ]
[ "Whooooo! There! There!" ]
"Okie~!"
As young as she was, she was also lonely with nothing much to do. With her family being so overprotective, she had to stay copped up in her room on the highest floor of the castle.
She did not like it up there even though she could have anything she wanted over there... She was alone, only the spirits accompanied her.
They were her friends.
And today, these friends had helped her escape that magical jail once again.
"She’s not here."
"Hello, yes! She’s not in the western section either!"
"Someone search the lower floors!"
"The first floor is the only place left then! Let’s go!"
She planned this escape for the whole week. And since she wanted to see the so-called ’festival’ their family held, she was planning to hide away for the day and sneak off to the outskirts of the city where the Proof of Worth will take place tomorrow.
Her spirit friends were going to help her with that. So, she first flew out of her room with Windy’s help, then she asked Rainy for some camouflage, and lastly, when she got caught, she ran away after placing obstacles in the way of others with Rocky’s help.
They had planned to hide away in the place where no one comes: in the innermost garden of the castle on the ground floor.
It was situated beside the library that was always empty, and was pretty much an isolated area for the rare birds that hid away in the colorful trees.
The dome was made in a way that provides natural sunlight to the garden even though it was so closed off, but she did not understand those things.
"This is pretty~!"
By the time she had fooled all the other servants and knights that were chasing her, she had reached her destination.
[ "Look! Look! The flowers are pink!" ]
[ "The grass is so fresh! Woooooo!" ]
[ "Hahaha! The warmth! It’s so cozy~!" ]
[ "Let’s sleep in the grass! Let’s sleep in the grass!" ]
The spirits that were in the form of colorful orbs of light danced around her. And the young girl who’d soon see her 10th birthday giggled alongside them.
The children, high on their victory, looked around the blossoming cherry trees, the unique colorful flowers of the Magical wisteria, and peach flowers that filled the entire garden with its sweet scent.
The Mana in this garden was much higher than the other parts of the castle. If one listened closely, they’d hear the sounds of birds from the trees as well.
"I wanna see the birdies." Sadly for the young princess, not even her best efforts resulted in a glimpse of the owners of the sweet chirps.
She couldn’t see them in the trees.
Even the spirits that can fly anywhere they wanted couldn’t steal a glimpse of the unique elemental birds of this garden.
They were hiding.
And unless they revealed themselves, there was no way to see them, much less play with them as the young girl had wished.
"Birdies~. Please come play with me~. Birdies~!"
She called out to them as she moved around the garden without giving up. She was going to spend much longer in this place so she needed new friends that would help her hide better.
"Lettle birdies~."
She moved deeper into the small garden with her spirit friends.
[ "Wait." ]
[ "Someone. Someone!" ]
[ "Alexa, stop." ]
"Hmm?" But her steps halted when the spirits warned her about a human presence in some distance.
"Did they catch me already?"
She was unsure who this might be, so she asked Rainy, the water spirit, for help.
[ "Yes!" ]
-Oooooooooooong!
With the water elemental spirit’s ability to hide presence, the girl concealed herself and moved with extreme caution.
’Is it mom? No, it cannot be her. Then is it one of my big sisters?’
She was wondering who was here, in this desolate place. She had many people in mind who could have come to this empty garden... but the one that she saw from behind the bushes was beyond her wildest expectations.
[ "Wow..." ]
[ "Birds! So many birds!" ]
[ "Look, Alexa! He has so many birds around him~!" ]
Before them, on the grass bed, sitting cross legged was a boy with distinct blue hair.
With his eyes closed, he seemed to be meditating right now.
Scattered around him were red flowers that fell from the trees above him, sitting before him was a gray cat that seemed to be equally meditating.
A white bird was sleeping away from them, looking too different from all the other colorful birds that played around on the boy’s body.
They were smaller, completely of a certain color, were smaller and they did not have any presence of their own.
Still, as these colorful birds played around the boy and the cat, a strange envy grew in the spectating girl’s heart.
"I know him..."
The youngest of the Sungrade had seen her youngest older brother. She had never really talked to him much, but the others had asked her to stay away from him.
For some reason, everyone avoided him.
She never really understood why people treated him like this, but, while they did not have any memories with him, she could not let go of the scene that she was seeing right now.
"It’s... so pretty."
The birds that considered him a part of nature as well as something attractive and safe, the colorful birds that did not go to her but had gathered around him, and more than that, the way he was lost in his meditation.
While she did not know what he was doing here, she also wanted to play with the birds that were playing with him.
So... the girl stepped out of the bushes, and took a step towards the cluster of the elemental birds.
"...!"
Sadly for her, these creatures were far more sensitive to the presence of spirits and elements than humans.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
"CHIRP!"
After she had only taken two steps, all the birds perceived her as a predator and vanished without a trace.
They did not fly back to the trees. They had actually vanished, becoming one with nature as they did to avoid the predators.
"Chirp? Chirp!"
The scared sound they made in the last moment, however, woke up the white bird that was sleeping so soundly.
"Meow~?"
And along with him, it woke up the gray cat and the boy who were in the middle of their important training.
"Hmmm?"
Her camouflage had lifted because of the bird’s counter energy as well, so, right when Prism opened his eyes, the girl with twilight orange hair was looking at him with her innocent golden eyes.
"Alex?"
This wasn’t how they were supposed to meet.
However, Prism certainly was surprised to see this little troublemaker genius standing before him.
Especially with that flushed embarrassed face.
It simply made her look endless times more adorable...
