Chapter 7 — Family

Part 1

I had no idea how to handle the situation unfolding before me.

One by one, the maids filed out of the mansion and formed two nearly perfect lines on either side of the entrance. With the kind of coordination that could only come from years of practice, each of them greeted the girls with an identical curtsy, following an order that seemed to have been rehearsed countless times for occasions exactly like this one.

Sebastian emerged directly behind them and offered the new arrivals a warm welcome to the Ashborne residence. With his usual impeccable formality, he inclined his head in greeting.

The two girls, however, did not return his welcome. Instead, they stared at me with grave, almost suspicious expressions, as though my very presence were a problem they needed to solve.

—Who is this boy standing in front of us? —one of them demanded, crossing her arms. The irritation in her voice was impossible to miss.

—He is Lord Edric’s firstborn son —Sebastian replied calmly, entirely unfazed by her cutting tone.

Both girls fell completely silent. They exchanged a quick glance, clearly taken aback by the revelation.

Then, as if remembering their royal upbringing all at once, they recovered their composure and bowed to me with flawless elegance.

—Aurelia Sorvain —the first girl introduced herself with a formal curtsy, though her expression remained every bit as stern as before.

—Wren Sorvain —the second added, mirroring her sister’s gesture so perfectly that she might have been her reflection.

I introduced myself as well, using the bow I had spent weeks practicing.

—Ren Ashborne. It is a pleasure to meet you, cousins.

—We are not close enough for you to address us so familiarly —Aurelia shot back at once, knitting her brows.

—Although, technically, we are his cousins —Wren murmured under her breath, earning a murderous glare from her sister.

I used their brief exchange as an opportunity to study them more carefully.

Their long black hair was almost identical, falling over their shoulders in perfectly arranged waves. They wore deep-crimson dresses trimmed with intricate white embroidery that must have cost a small fortune.

Everything about them screamed nobility—from their posture to the careful way they moved their hands whenever they spoke. And yet, beneath all that rigid formality, their behavior made it painfully obvious that they were still only a year older than me.

—Are you here for my birthday? —I asked, doing my best to sound more cordial than they probably deserved at that moment.

—Obviously —Aurelia replied, as though the question itself were absurd—. We are especially eager to discover which class the ritual will grant you.

—I’m sure I’ll become a great mage, respected by everyone —I said with the confidence I had spent months building through my lessons with Sebastian.

Both girls laughed, and there was far more mockery than friendliness in the sound.

—You had better —Aurelia said, taking a step closer—. Otherwise, you will look utterly pathetic beside your father. Imagine being assigned the caster class—or worse, archpriest. It would bring complete disgrace upon your family.

—Magic, on the other hand, suits us perfectly —Wren added, wearing the same superior smile as her sister—. Even if you are the hero’s son, your power could never compare to ours.

—Is that so? —I asked, perhaps with more defiance than I should have shown toward two princesses from another kingdom—. And how exactly do you intend to prove it?

Aurelia smiled.

Without another word, the twins raised their hands at the same time, moving with a flawless synchronicity that only twins could achieve. Their fingers intertwined in midair—Aurelia’s right hand joining Wren’s left—until the two of them seemed to form a single figure.

The air around us changed in an instant.

It grew heavier. Colder.

Only moments earlier, gentle clouds had drifted lazily above the mansion. Now the sky darkened at a terrifying speed. Vast masses of black cloud gathered directly over our heads, turning in a slow, almost hypnotic spiral, as though answering an invisible summons from the twins’ joined hands.

The rain that should have fallen from those clouds refused to obey nature. Instead, shining droplets rose through the air, spiraling upward toward the exact point where the girls’ hands met.

Little by little, the scattered droplets converged, forming an ever-larger sphere of densely compressed water above their heads. Its surface reflected the last traces of sunlight still managing to pierce the storm.

—We will be the next candidates to become this nation’s heroes! —they declared in perfect unison, their voices carrying a force that did not suit their age.

At their cry, the sphere exploded into thousands of glittering fragments.

The droplets shot in every direction, racing toward the black clouds surrounding them. Each one struck like a tiny projectile, tearing through the darkness on contact. A chain reaction swept across the sky in a matter of seconds.

The clouds vanished completely.

Where a storm had covered the heavens only moments before, there was now nothing but a deep, immaculate blue stretching in every direction—as though the tempest the twins had summoned had never existed at all.

I stood frozen, my mouth slightly open, unable to process what I had just witnessed.

The maids around me were equally speechless. They whispered nervously among themselves, quietly confirming that the girls truly belonged to Sorvain’s royal family. There could be no other explanation for such a coordinated display of power.

The twins lowered their hands and calmly separated them. Then they regarded me with severe expressions, as though they had just settled every possible doubt about who held the most authority in our conversation.

—From this moment until the end of our stay, you will treat us with the respect we deserve —Aurelia declared—. And do not think too highly of yourself merely because you are the son of a hero.

Before I could answer, Wren turned toward Sebastian. Her tone suddenly became far more serious.

—Lord Edric, Lady Elira, and the rest of the caravan are already close. We rode ahead only to give you time to prepare.

The twins turned toward the mansion. Before taking her first step, however, Aurelia glanced at me from the corner of her eye, barely concealing a smug smile.

—We were hoping you would still be asleep at this hour. Then we could have made fun of you a little more.

Frustration swelled inside me, but I forced myself to remain silent and merely tightened my fists at my sides.

Those girls must have been spoiled rotten wherever they came from.

I watched them disappear into the mansion, carrying themselves with an air of superiority that never seemed to leave them for even a second.

Part 2

I returned to the same front steps and sat down, still trying to process what I had witnessed only minutes earlier.

They really are incredible.

I replayed every detail in my mind. According to what Sebastian had taught me, the twins had used a form of magic capable of directly interfering with the surrounding environment. Pulling off something on that scale required an extraordinary amount of magical power.

Now that I could analyze it more calmly, those droplets had contained enough force to cause a genuine disaster across the entire estate. Anything living in their path would have been torn apart without exception.

My gaze fell to the ground.

Will I ever be able to surpass something like that?

Without warning, a swift whisper brushed past my ear.

—You can.

My entire body jolted.

That voice… It was the same one I had heard that morning, just after waking up.

I spun around, searching for its source, but there was no one there.

—And who are you talking to now?

Siena’s voice—much closer and considerably more real—dragged me out of my confusion. She sat beside me without waiting for an invitation.

—I thought you would be with your cousins. At least talking to them for a while —she added as she settled beside me.

—I have no intention of speaking to those ill-mannered girls —I replied, crossing my arms, still shaken by the whisper I had heard—. Don’t they realize whose birthday is tomorrow?

—My, they really got under your skin —she said with a faint smile, nudging my shoulder with hers—. I’ve never seen you this upset over something like that.

—I’m not upset —I lied, though my own voice betrayed me.

—Of course you are —she insisted with the effortless certainty of someone who had known me all my life—. And that’s fine. Sometimes, it’s all right to be angry.

I remained silent for a while and let the cold morning air carry away some of my frustration.

Siena leaned back slightly and looked up at the sky. A handful of small, scattered clouds had already begun to appear—the barely visible remnants of the artificial storm from earlier.

—You know, when I first arrived here —she began, her voice taking on a quieter, more reflective tone—, I thought I would be the only maid in the household. It didn’t take long for me to realize how many others there were. And, above all, there was Sebastian.

—I wanted to be the one person Edric could always depend on—the most useful, the most loyal, the most indispensable. But as the days passed, I discovered that I couldn’t even carry out some of the simplest tasks properly. I burned meals, mixed up instructions, and even managed to get lost inside this mansion more than once.

I couldn’t help laughing at the image.

—I would watch the other maids —she continued, answering my laughter with a smile of her own—, and constantly wonder why I couldn’t be better than all of them when I had such a clear goal in mind.

—What was your goal? —I asked, my earlier anger forgotten as genuine curiosity took its place.

Siena fell silent, as though deciding how much she truly wanted to tell me.

—To repay your father —she said at last—. When he saved me, he did so much for me, yet at the time I was nothing more than a burden. I only escaped that day because everyone else was killed first. While they were screaming, I used the chaos to run. I didn’t have the courage to remain and die beside my people as so many others did.

A knot tightened in my chest.

She had never spoken to me so openly about that day. I knew fragments of the story from Sebastian, but I had never heard them from Siena herself.

—And when Edric arrived, already gravely wounded, he still defended me with absolute determination —she continued, lowering her voice—. I carried that memory for a very long time without ever truly examining it or turning it into something meaningful for my own future. I saw it only as an obligation I had to fulfill. A debt I had to repay. Nothing more.

—And you don’t see it that way anymore? —I asked.

—No —she replied, shaking her head—. Sebastian told me something long ago that I have never forgotten. He said that a true goal is not born from obligation, but from genuine devotion.

—There will always be people better than you at something. Someone may have a sharper sword, a more polished technique, or a natural gift you simply do not possess. But none of that matters as much as it seems. What truly matters is whether you practice with your heart invested in it—or whether you are merely fulfilling a duty. When you give something your heart, you improve. Far more than you ever believed possible.

She looked directly at me with the serious eyes I knew so well.

—That is what eventually allowed me to become second-in-command among all the maids, directly beneath Sebastian. Not because I was the most talented from the beginning, but because I never stopped working—even when I wanted to give up.

She leaned closer and lowered her voice, as though her next words were meant for me alone.

—So what if those girls received their magic a year ago, Ren? They had their time. This is yours. I know that if you dedicate yourself and give it everything you have—not as the hero’s son, not as someone forced to live up to a family name, but simply as Ren—you will accomplish things neither they nor anyone else could ever imagine.

—You may even save many lives one day. More than you can imagine right now.

As she spoke, Siena took a small handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped my face. Her movements were soft and almost motherly, but I felt no embarrassment in letting her do it.

With Siena, I never did.

—Besides —she added with a lighter smile, breaking the solemn mood—, you’re very handsome. I doubt you’ll have time to waste on such bitter little girls. I’m sure there will be others who would much rather speak to you pleasantly.

A warmth spread through my chest, entirely different from the frustration I had felt moments earlier.

Without thinking, I threw my arms around her and held on tightly.

—Thank you, Siena. Truly. I’ll give it everything I have today.

She returned my embrace without hesitation. For a brief moment, neither of us said another word.

There was no need.

That was when we noticed a large caravan of horses and carriages approaching in the distance, raising a thin cloud of dust along the road.

Siena rose first and took my hand.

—It’s time for you to meet your parents.

The maids began filing out of the mansion again, forming orderly lines on both sides of the entrance. The twins walked ahead of them and took their places for the formal reception, their elegance seemingly untouched even after their earlier display of power.

Sebastian adjusted his coat and inspected every detail of his appearance. Then he approached me and gently stroked my hair with a warmth he rarely displayed.

—Your father is overjoyed to see you, young master. Take courage.

I gathered every scrap of courage I possessed and walked to the front of the gathering, my heart hammering against my ribs.

I assumed the same posture I had used when greeting my cousins earlier and bowed my head. As I waited, every second seemed to stretch toward eternity.

At last, the caravan reached the entrance and came to a halt, its wheels creaking against the earth. One of the guards announced my father’s full name in a powerful voice, followed by his titles as a noble and hero of the kingdom. Then, with equal solemnity, he announced my mother.

Another guard hurried to open the main carriage door.

I could see nothing with my head still lowered. I heard only the firm thud of two boots landing on the ground, followed by steady footsteps drawing closer.

My father had left the carriage and was now walking toward me.

A moment later, the lighter sound of another pair of heels confirmed that my mother had descended beside him and was following close behind.

The words I had practiced countless times over the past several months had finally found their moment.

I drew a deep breath and spoke.

—My name is Ren Ashborne, firstborn son of Lord Edric Ashborne, renowned hero of this nation —I said, keeping my voice firm despite the faint tremor beneath it—. I have awaited this moment with all my heart for as long as I can remember. I do not know whether I will ever prove worthy of the name I carry, or of everything the two of you represent. But here and now, I promise that I will devote every day of my life to trying.

—It is an honor—a true honor—to finally welcome you home. To my home.

I completed my bow and slowly raised my eyes, fully aware that I was about to see them for the first time in my life.

A tall man stood before me, dressed in a long black coat that revealed glimpses of armor beneath it. His hair was perfectly groomed, and a golden sword hung at his waist, gleaming even beneath the muted morning light.

His eyes, however, held none of the coldness I had expected from a legendary hero. They were warm—almost vulnerable.

Beside him stood my mother, a woman with vivid red hair. At first, I couldn’t understand the expression with which she watched me. Then I realized it was love—pure love that had been restrained for far too long.

She wore a beautiful dress covered in floral embroidery, and her pale, delicate skin gave her an almost celestial appearance. In the only words my mind could produce, she looked like an angel who had descended solely to meet me.

My father crouched slightly until he was closer to my height, as though he had suddenly forgotten his titles, his reputation, and every burden resting on his shoulders.

My mother bent down beside him, her eyes already shining with tears she was struggling to contain.

Happiness flooded through me so completely that I could not hold it back for even another second.

Tears spilled from my eyes. Every remaining line of my carefully prepared speech vanished, replaced by something far simpler—and far more real.

My father took a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to my mother. With infinite tenderness, she began wiping the tears from my face, her hands trembling faintly as she did.

There was so much love and devotion in that simple gesture that I only cried harder.

Abandoning every trace of practiced formality, I threw myself into my mother’s arms and held her with all my strength.

—Mother! Father! I’ve waited so long for you!

They embraced me together without the slightest hesitation, my father’s strong arms wrapping around both my mother and me.

—So have we, Ren —my father said, his voice breaking with emotion—. More than you could ever imagine.

In that moment, everything around me finally felt complete.

It was as though, after all this time, our family had finally finished taking shape, closing a circle that had remained open for five long years.

I thought they might say something more—something formal, something worthy of the occasion.

I remained inside that warm embrace, wishing it would never end.

But this… this simple embrace is more than enough.

In fact, it is everything I ever truly needed.