Mother elegantly stood there.
The three of us, all, greeted Mother.
"Good morning." She gently replied back as she patted the heads of Grey and Illa, then pulled me in as well as she gave affectionate kisses on our foreheads.
I love this family.
The three maids– Violet, Chixia and Hoshina watched the wholesome scene with bright smiles. Apparently, they had been there the entire time during Grey and Illa's quarrel over me.
Quite scary, I'll admit. Are they assassins?
"Hey, Mom! Let's have breakfast! I'm hungry!" Grey stated. He lightly jumped on his toes to portray his excitement. He turns into a child whenever Mother is around.
Illa on the other hand stood there, assessing Grey.
Grey looked at her and quickly looked the other way. He knew he was busted. All the warrior nonsense just to become a good boy.
Mother saw this, she smiled to herself and said:
"Alright, let's head to the dining hall, all right?"
Grey nodded his head, so did I. I was finally able to eat the juicy meats this place had to offer!
Life is simply good. I thought to myself, content with my current life.
As we walked towards the dining hall, Violet and the other exclusive maids simply disappeared. I looked back, to hopefully catch a glimpse of them, but I didn't.
I swear they're assassins..
Illa was walking beside me. She grabbed my hand, holding it gently. A flinched, not used to holding hands.
"Let's play a lot later, alright?" She smiled at me. Her warm, friendly expression lit up my heart.
I nodded then replied:
"Yes! I'll gladly play!" I brightly smiled back.
With the melting expression she made, I knew she was overwhelmed with love for me. We made a silent promise there and then. A promise between two siblings.
—
Somewhere in the long lost underground labyrinths of the capital…
"Captain! We found something! Please take a look!" A young man shouted.
He wore a light silver-plated chestplate and a white coat on top. A golden spiral that flowed down to form the roots of a tree was embedded in an insignia. He wore matching white pants and brown leather boots. In a decorated black sheath, was a curved blade in pristine condition.
He was a soldier of the Royal Capital, serving under a Captain in a division.
A taller, older and handsome man came up to him, his footsteps in a wet puddle announced his arrival.
He had azure hair parted from the middle. Bangs covered his ears while the forehead was clean of any strand of hair. He had a uniform similar to the young soldier, except it was more decorated with two of the same insignias, he had a longer coat, instead of a chestplate, he wore a vest inside that clinged to the hard dimension of his body. He had two amethyst piercings on his right ear.
He was the Captain of the 12th Division, the Royal Knight of the 3rd Royal candidate, and the husband of Katheryn Regis Frayder. He was Elemer Regis Frayder.
With a stern expression on his face, he spoke:
"What in the Divine Branches is this..?" His nose curled and his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the unnerving sight in front of him. The young soldier did the same.
He looked at the horrific sight of a corpse, except it wasn't a normal corpse. The corpse in question was mutilated in a terrible manner, its gender was intelligible due to the unholy condition of the body. It looked drained of all life, like tar or ash.
There were grey blisters all over the dried, ashy skin. White branches were growing out of its ripped open jaw, fungus growing in the empty eye sockets, a thick trunk of white branches grew out of where its heart was supposed to be.
There were small worms going in and out, creating holes in the fragile ash skin and leaving a disgusting smelling substance on it while flies surrounded the body. The worms seemed to have the same colour as the white branches.
Elemer knew that its death wouldn't have been a peaceful one. In fact, when they found the corpse a few minutes prior, it seemed to be breathing. Raspy sounds of inhalation and exhalation were heard before it completely stopped.
This is the fifth body with the same descriptions as the plague described in Asfel's suicide diary… Just what is doing all this..?
Elemer thought to himself, trying to make sense of it all.
"We'll need to report to the Church of the Golden Branch. Call Amenthius down here, quick!" Elemer ordered the soldier.
"Yes Captain!" The soldier exclaimed and bowed, before running towards another chamber in the dark, dimly lit, moist tunnels.
As the soldier left to get Amenthius, Elemer put his back on the wall beside the rotting corpse.
He gave it one look before turning away in disgust.
I really wanna have breakfast with Katheryn and my children…
—
In the dining hall, Mother and us three siblings were sitting on one end of the long table. We were having a sweet delicacy after having fried eggs with loaves of bread garnished with butter.
The sweet in question was this small bun filled with a warm, red gelatin-like substance that reminded me of jam from my world. I enjoyed the taste, it was simply wonderful.
"This is simply wonderful! I love Biskbuns!" Mother exclaimed while resting a hand on her cheek as she savoured the taste of this 'Biskbun'.
Illa seemed to do the same. They both seemed to be two halves of the same side. One younger and one older.
As they say, like Mother, like Daughter.
I thought.
Grey on the other hand, he didn't seem to be enjoying it much.
"...I prefer biscuits over this.. They're less sweet…" Grey spoke. It was barely audible but the people on the table still heard him.
Mother gave him a glare, making Grey flinch.
"I-I mean, biscuits?! Who eats that in this day and age?? Biskbuns are simply unbeatable!!" He spoke in forced enthusiasm as he ate his Biskbun whole.
Mother seemed satisfied.
"Next time, be sure to maintain your manners and not swallow it whole but savour it, okay sweetie?"
"Y-yes, Mother!"
Mother is very frightening sometimes.. I wonder where she gets it from.. I wondered as I ate my Biskbun whole.
—
After breakfast, Mother spent some time with us in one of the countless living rooms of this Manor.
She read us stories about mystical creatures.
I was surprised listening to them, since most of them were very similar to folktales back from Earth. The only difference was, these creatures actually existed and were a part of this world's history. Big still, these similarities are no joke.
Now that I mentioned it, there are countless features about this world that are more or less the same as Earth. It's as if this is a parallel world. I still don't know what brought me to this world, but I'm glad.
I love my life here.
"Mom, are the giant rats really that dangerous?" Illa questioned, her eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Oh yes, I remember when I was a little girl around the same age as you, one of our butlers was devoured whole by them. As if digesting a small piece of bread down the throat." Mother replied with an ordinary smile.
Did she really just say that to an eight year old girl?
Illeria's face shone with bewilderment. She rapidly tapped her feet on the ground.
"Woooah! I wanna see one too now! Mom, let's sacrifice one of the chefs!!!" She exclaimed with newfound excitement. She laughed as if it was normal to say things like that.
Mother laughed too: "Sure, we'll pick the plumpest one!" She added to Illa's idea.
This is no laughing matter! Although I am quite interested..
Grey was having none of it. Curling his nose and frowning, he said:
"That's disgusting! Who would want to see that?! Just kill it and get it over with, for the love of the deities…"
He sighed before turning away to the small guidebook he was so fixated on.
This family is anything but normal. One moment, the Mother and daughter are thinking of sacrifices. The other moment, the son is talking about slaughter.
I thought while quietly putting my palm on my face, sitting behind Grey.
Even though I was an outcast and very unmerciful according to my peers back in the orphanage, this made me feel like a normal being.
Just as we were spending quality time as a family, with the sole exception of father, a servant knocked on the door. Mother let him in the room.
He was a tall male, wearing a tuxedo.
A very good physique.. I like that.. I thought.
He bowed down, then spoke:
"Lady Frayder… I must urgently inform you that the Duke of Prasilla is here to request your audience." He spoke with a calm, reserved tone.
Mother swiftly raised herself from the extravagant chair she sat on.
Illa spoke first.
"Aww! Mom, are you going already?" Her tone was full of disappointment.
"She has work, Illa. Unlike you, you freeloader." Grey spoke while engrossed in his book. He didn't even turn back.
Such a brat.
"Grey. Mind your tone." Mother firmly commanded.
Grey flinched.
"...Yes, Mom.."
Mother came up to Illa, me and Grey.
She pulled us three in a big hug. I could smell the faint odour of caramel and strawberries covering Mother. The intoxicating mix of her sweet smell filled my nostrils, making them flare.
"I'll be back in a while, I'm sorry I couldn't stay much longer." Mother silently whispered to us.
She held an impenetrable smile on her face. It filled me with unending warmth. Illa and Grey must've felt the same with the way they had a hypnotic look on their faces.
Mother got up, heading towards the door.
Before leaving, she put her hand outwards.
A sudden cool shine encompassed Mother's palm, the blue light shaped itself into the rough form of a small bell, before it materialized into a silver bell, engraved with small runes and flower patterns.
Wait what?? Did she just…summon the bell?! What type of magic is that?? Summoning magic?
She rang the bell, its melodic sound felt as if it echoed around the entire world, reaching each and every ear, reaching so far and high that I was convinced it could be heard by the Gods.
A second later, all three of our exclusive maids came from behind the door, standing there formally.
"Good morning, Lady Katheryn." All three of them spoke in unison.
The male servants referred to Mother with her last name, while the maids were allowed to refer to her by her first name.
Biased. Yet, understandable. I remarked.
With that, she walked out of the room, glancing back at us for less than a second.
Perhaps only I noticed. Mother carried a grim, dark expression on her face a moment before she disappeared behind the door.
Her facial expression seemed as if she carried a large, titanic weight on her shoulders and was forced to carry it all the way up an infinitely expanding incline of a mountain.
Just from that, I knew there was something going on, something I wouldn't understand just yet.
For now, all I could do was be a good son and increase my Mana.
I need to step up my game too.
Its time to start learning the ways of magic.