"Hello, sir Melor. Hope you have been well~." She said with a genuine smile on her face, and the knight captain nodded with a similar radiant smile.
"Of course, lady Reinelle. Though two months, three weeks, four days, five hours, and six minutes is nothing, it is definitely nice to see you again~."
'Damn, that's specific...'
He was happy, surprised as well as... annoyed?
But then he looked at me with a thankful expression and then back at her.
And just nodded while continuing his smile.
"I hope the duchess is alright," he said in a calm tone, but his eyes were asking her if she was actually alright or not.
Maybe he and lady Nissa were the only ones other than grandpa who actually knew about the duchess's health but, they had nothing to worry about now.
"She's perfectly fine, even better, actually. And all that thanks to your young master."
Even Rein had a thankful, warm voice as she said that, and I couldn't help my helpless smile on that note.
I did what I could, and it was alright in the end.
We met and got to get this close, all because of the way we met and how things went from that point.
He was surprised and then, maybe, he joined all the pieces together and a new light flashed in his eyes.
A light full of even more respect than before, and more than that, he was thankful.
I didn't know what the relationship between the two was but, he genuinely cared about her grandma and I could see it in those relieved eyes.
"Well, have a great day sir Melor~. I have to be with my friend for now.
Maybe we can have a spar someday if you want?
I will be staying here for quite a while now~ so we will be seeing each other often~!"
His genuine smile twitched at those words and that was enough to tell there was definitely some bad blood between these two.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Let's go, sister Elle~!" Anna shouted with an excited face and Rein started walking toward us after a small bow.
The iron heart sighed with some mix of emotions as he watched her back and I just shook my head at this friend of mine.
If she had bad blood with a kind-hearted figure like him then, I didn't doubt she would have actual animosity with many others.
"You are a bad person, you know?" I spoke out loud, and she blinked at these out-of-the-blue words.
"Noooo~! Sister Elle is a good person~! She is sweet too~!" Anna protested those words and Zoe, even while knowing what I meant, followed along.
"Yes! Big sister Elle is a cool~ person."
Zoe was smiling cheerfully and even I can't deny that this friend of mine was a cool person.
But she understood what I was trying to say and nodded truthfully.
"Yes. I am a bad person. And you have to deal with it, my dear Eon~."
She definitely was a bad person, and I had no doubt she will cause many problems in the future and I will have to clean up the mess after her.
And it would be annoying, so I will have to teach her some things, many things actually before we get to the academy.
"I will make sure you become a good person then~." and this made her break out in laughter.
Good, well, the little Anna didn't understand what we were talking about despite knowing how we were feeling, but she knew we were happy so she just shook her head.
"Okey then~. Let's go~!" the innocent little angel cheerfully shouted, and we followed along with excited smiles.
Everyone else was alright, and they had some things to take care of, so we all had already parted ways after deciding to meet back at lunchtime.
Anna was our home tour guide today and every servant in the house had already received the news of our arrival.
Everyone was excited and so were Zoe and me.
Starting from the giant garden and all the rare shiny-shiny, glowy-glowy flowers, we saw all the places in this garden and this little angel of mine even told me a secret about this fountain by the bench and it was really something fascinating.
Maybe, if we are lucky, Rein and I will also see the things she talked about someday.
Then we moved to the door, and even the door of this house was something really amazing.
It only opened for people registered with the house's defense mechanism and it was quite complex, made with not only Mana circuits and spirit Mana circuits but also Aura links, and the entire system was genuinely complex for a home.
And I knew... this was the creation of my dear first uncle.
Though he didn't put the system in the whole place himself, aside from the creator and those who entirely understood the complete system, no one, not even the one who carried out this, would know just how this whole thing worked.
From what I can see with my (: Scan), this started from the center of the underground where the control room was, then spread throughout the underground, to the house on the other side, and then this entire home.
It was similar to the system back at the old home at the border town but, this was far more advanced than that one.
And even for me, it was somewhat difficult to understand.
Well, breaking this thing would require someone to infiltrate the control room and shut the whole thing down. And that was the only way aside from bombarding the barrier with (tier-9) magic spells.
Well, it was a nigh impossible thing so, thinking too much about it was too much.
We entered the house and the first thing after the giant gates that opened on their own after Anna's touch was an open banquet hall.
A giant room even bigger than the one at Rein's home and it looked amazing~.
And the interior and decorations, although not lavish, weren't modest either.
Unlike the outside, the inside of the house was beautifully decorated with eye-catching things. At least this hall was.
Then, on the other hand, were two stairs that ended at one balcony that most definitely was a stage for musicians to play instruments and for announcements.
Well, this was the ground floor, and then we moved up to the first floor, which had many guest rooms as well as mom's working office.
And mom was doing her work, so we didn't disturb her for now.
I knew her capabilities, and she was strong enough that I had yet to see her status window.
And she was strong mentally, so it would be even more difficult than others.
All the guest rooms were good-looking and definitely comfortable for people of any standing.
Then the second floor... which only had my uncle and aunty's bedroom, his research lab, and the room with the device my dad and he made after I was gone away…
This device, this structure of a complex mechanism that covered half of the floor and had pieces of equipment worth thousands of platinum and Mana crystals worth even more thousands of platinum planted on the walls.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAnna only came to know this place accidentally, and she actually didn't know what these things did, and we didn't have any need to tell her.
She knew they avoided telling her and after I first contacted them; they had lessened the frequency of visiting this room.
And Anna mostly stayed on the ground floor, maybe sometimes on the first floor and rarely on the second or their floors, so she was almost clueless about most stuff.
Her room, the most special room, was on the ground floor and it was a special 'pink' place of her own.
We saw that when we were on the ground floor and that place filled with dolls and stuffed toys and books. That was something that reminded me of those young princess rooms.
Though that room was comparatively smaller, the room was so secure, and I mean absurdly fortified with magic, artifacts, and barriers, that I can't help but sigh at this overprotectiveness.
Well, I can't say anything myself after giving her a teddy bear, which though wasn't an artifact and was close to the magic-engineered tech of absurd powers comparable to a (level-11) or (level-12) artifact.
It was a literal magic AI created with the knowledge of ancient times, something of lost knowledge.
And this teddy bear, something so valuable that can freely change into anything she wanted without using any energy of her own.
Well... something powerful that a child shouldn't have, but, well, it was something she loved, and I even made this for her, so it was hers.
The artificial power technology used in its creation was something grandma and I worked together with, and even though it was lost knowledge and she knew it, making things like these was pretty fun.
And... I would make another one for mom. A can that was like an actual cat.
And although I won't be able to give it the feature to change the form, like this one, that cat can function practically forever.
The core energy accumulation was also complicated to explain but, in short, it worked like a Mana core as well as a solar battery.
Well, the body was almost a high-grade nanotech, so, well, that was it.
The third floor was grandpa and grandma's room, a meeting hall, a magic lab that dad used, and a library.
They were nice places, and I was looking forward to spending my time there, mostly in the library, as it was quite a nice place.
I hadn't read many books at the present time and I just loved spending time in the library so, this was the most fun place in this house for me.
The terrace was a 'normal' place and Anna had no permission to go there, so I would have to go there alone when I have time.
So, we moved outside, to the place I was looking forward to seeing.
'The young knights of the house Heliox. Can there be something really like a hidden gem? It would be useful for sure. I had some great plans for the future anyway.'
Zoe and Anna loved this house exploration and now, as we walked outside, Rein and I got excited about the things we would see too.
People actually... they weren't things.
Well... right?