“……Do you know how dangerous Dad’s situation was back then at its worst?”
“I know, I know,” Reed chimed in, “Dad, you’ve told that story like eight hundred times already. It’s just that some guy on duty fell asleep, which let a Forest Direwolf sneak into the camp.”
“When you woke up, your tent was already torn apart, and the Forest Direwolf was right by your ear, gobbling down your marching rations. You were woken up by the wolf’s slobber, and nearby comrades were so scared they wet themselves, too afraid to make a sound.”
“But you, Dad, remained calm in the face of danger. While the wolf wasn’t paying attention to you, you quietly drew your sword and stabbed the wolf’s neck. Then you shouted loudly, drawing the whole camp’s support, and in the end, you managed to take down the wolf without injury.”
Lezerian was stopped mid-speech, his grand tale caught in his throat—neither able to spit it out nor swallow it down.
He really wanted to retort: my heroic feat alone could fill eight thousand words of fierce battle, and you just brushed it off with a single line, you little brat?
“Oh, right, Father.”
At that moment, Reed spoke again.
“Actually, I’ve always had a question,”He put down his spoon, staring earnestly at Lezerian.
“You said, back then you were in such a dangerous wilderness, yet it was just the wolf’s saliva that woke you up. How deeply were you actually sleeping?”
“Pfft!”At those words, Amon immediately burst out laughing, spraying his porridge everywhere.
He hurriedly grabbed a handkerchief to wipe it off but couldn’t stop grinning, resulting in him spilling even more while wiping.
Others at the table covered their mouths to laugh quietly, though none as blatantly as Amon.
Come on.
Lezerian’s face flushed from pale to dark, glaring at Reed, too angry to speak.
Then he shot a fierce look at Amon, who quickly covered his mouth but still couldn’t completely hide the occasional chuckle.
Lezerian’s fury boiled inside—those two unruly sons must be taking revenge here because of today’s earlier events!
…
“You two little brats, don’t you have any manners? Look at how you’re acting at the dinner table! Amon, if you still don’t know how to eat properly, tomorrow I’ll find your old pacifier and make you start learning again from sucking on that! And you, Reed, what’s with all the chatter while eating? Don’t you realize you’re splashing saliva into my bowl?”
Reed shrank his neck, wiping the spit off his face while muttering inwardly: who exactly spat into whose bowl here…?
“All right, all right, dear, don’t be angry with the kids.”
Lilian smiled, trying to soothe the mood.
Only then did Lezerian calm down, though still inwardly frustrated.
His eyes glanced sideways at Reed and Amon, already plotting how to discipline these two rebellious boys tomorrow, to teach them a lesson about the vastness of heaven and earth.
“And you two as well.”
Having calmed Lezerian, Lilia then turned to Reed and Amon with a slightly stern tone.
“You can’t talk to Daddy like that, understood? There won’t be a next time.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Yes, Mom.”
Both boys lowered their heads, promptly conceding their mistake.
Seeing their acknowledgment, Lezerian let them off for the moment.
“Eat!”
After grumbling this command, Lezerian resumed eating, and the dining table fell temporarily silent, save for the sounds of spoons clinking against bowls.
Clang!
Just then, a loud crash suddenly rang out.
Everyone stopped mid-motion, staring in shock toward Lezerian’s spot.
The seat where Lezerian had been was empty, and on the floor sat a dazed Lezerian, slumped over, sitting on the remains of a shattered chair.
“My dear!?”
“Father!”
“Dad!”Shouts of alarm filled the room.
Lilia quickly rushed over to help Lezerian up, dusting him off while asking with concern:“Darling, are you all right?”
“Ah? Oh, I’m fine.”
Lezerian waved dismissively, casting a strange glance at the broken chair behind him, thinking, why is today so unlucky?
Before long, the butler Laurenz brought over a new chair.
Lezerian patted the chair to check its sturdiness before sitting down with relief.
He then told Laurenz, “Laurenz, check all the furniture tomorrow. Replace anything that needs to be replaced.”
“Yes, Master.”
Laurenz replied as he cleared away the shattered chair pieces.
Outside, staring at the fragments, Laurenz frowned.
“Strange, we just inspected the house last week, and everything was fine. How did this chair suddenly break?”
He pondered briefly but soon decided not to dwell on it, instead considering whether to hire a professional carpenter for a thorough check tomorrow.
In short, what appeared to be a minor mishap was just another ordinary dinner for the Hayeral family.
…
The next day.
Early in the morning, Lezerian dragged Reed and Amon from their beds and took them out to the yard for training.
The yard echoed with Lezerian’s scolding and the brothers’ cries of misery.
Meanwhile, Lilia sat by the study window, basking in the warm sunlight and quietly reading a book.
“Heave-ho!”A sound came from the study.
Lilia looked up to see her youngest daughter, Hulim, struggling to move a stool.
She then stood on it, tiptoeing and stretching her little arms to reach for a book on the shelf…A large hand reached from behind and took the book down.
Hulim looked up and saw her mother’s gentle face.
“What is it, Hulim? Want to read this book?”Hulim nodded, “Yes, Mother.”
Lilia smiled warmly, carefully lifting Hulim off the stool and crouching in front of her to meet her eyes.
“Shall Mommy read it to you?”Hulim shook her head, taking the book confidently from Lilia’s hands.
“No need, Mother. I already know how to read! The teacher at preparatory school has taught me many words.”
Lilia was a bit surprised, then smiled, “I see, my Hulim is truly amazing~!”
Hearing her mother’s praise, Hulim tried not to look too pleased, but her chin still rose a little.
“Mother, I’m going to read now.”
Hulim bowed and hugged the book, about to leave.
“All right, go ahead. And if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can always come ask me. I’ll be right here.”
“I know, Mom.”
Hulim carried the magic book to the desk, climbed onto Lezerian’s usual chair, and earnestly flipped to the first page.
“The so-called magic is the world itself… ○… the miracle-like power. To wield this power, you must understand the most fundamental particles of magic, mag… mag… mag what?”
“…”
Lilia looked up and smiled at her daughter standing before her, holding the book.“What’s wrong, Hulim?”
Hulim held up the book and pointed to a character.
“Mother, how do you read this character?”
Lilia blinked and patiently explained, “This character is read as ‘su’—the most basic particle, magic particle.”
“I see, it’s magic particle. Hulim understands now!”
With that, Hulim gave a deep bow to Lilia and returned with the book.
“…”
Lilia watched Hulim’s retreating back, hesitating to say something but ultimately keeping silent.