22 Age Ten – A Gesture for Three part 4

“Ah? You taught father?”

“Something like that— Keheh! That boy, Gideon, there were also these two girls that always trailed behind him. Come to think of it...“ Arinndra stroked his chin while eyeing the three children.

While giving them individual instructions and upon finding out that Celeste had spent some time at the Erden Wall, the discussion strayed to a topic about Urie's father, Gideon Loeth. The scene in front of Arinndra reminded him with a memory from the past.

Loeth, Vinney, and Perid...

Whenever he exacted 'just' revenge on Rivelle Vinney for her father's stinky crime, Merea Perid would arrive to foil Arinndra's plans. Eventually, them becoming an inseparable pair disallowed any of his further attempts.

For this reason, he shifted his irritation at Gideon Loeth.

The austere-looking child would take anything with an unchanging face; none of Arinndra's pranks would faze the boy. So he quickly lost interest... that is, until he discovered that the boy was highly favored by the water spirit, Undine.

This led Arinndra to pester the Loeth boy into becoming his personal student. Teaching the boy, the act came as a minor form of amusement for him.

“Ya, why can't we just stay in the classroom? Or at the courtyard, like everybody else?”

“Keheh!” the headmaster chuckled at Elicia's complaint.

The trio in front of him were different from Gideon but perhaps he could glean from them the same amount of amusement. Especially from the wide-eyed bedwetter with a red mana seed; Arinndra very much looked forward to messing with him.

Arinndra declared,“Here, you can go wild as much as you want!” And pointed towards three spots: a bed of smooth gravel right beside the lakeshore; a perch on top of a ledge overlooking the water; and a hole wide enough to fit at least five adults, carved into a large, rocky outcrop.

Urie followed the headmaster's finger and examined the locations with peculiar interest.

—Close enough to listen to the soft movement of water; a lofty position seemingly enveloped by swirling leaves; and a small chamber where you can be immersed within the earth...

He displayed his intrigue, “Are these...?”

“Keheh! Looks like the bedwetter's got the correct idea! Practice here should be very beneficial for growing buds such as yourselves!”

“Bedwe...!?” Ignoring the red-haired girl's stifled smile, and the bob cut girl's obvious smirk, since the headmaster didn't say anything else, Urie was left to ponder.

—It's true what the headmaster said. Getting used to mana circulation would be easier here than at the academy. It's just that, since Celeste I'm sure will be by the lakeshore— Elicia, I believe would suit the small cave, and me—am I supposed to stay atop the ledge?

Urie couldn't ask as Arinndra spoke again, “Starting tomorrow, this'll be where you three will report every morning!”

“Ah, tomorrow?” Urie cast doubt towards the headmaster, “We aren't starting today?'

“Today?” Arinndra groaned, “Starting tomorrow should be fine, and besides, it's almost time to eat.”

—Ah, right. Today's the first day, and we're only supposed to attend the morning class.

Watching the headmaster nonchalantly pick his nose while turning eyes up at the sky, Urie's eyebrows dropped down in an appearance that matched Celeste's constant squint.

Anyway, it didn't actually matter that the scruffy old man was suddenly feeling indolent. It was almost midday and his mother should shortly be arriving at the academy gate to pick him up.

“Ya! The academy bell!” Elicia joyfully exclaimed. Just like Urie thought, a loud clang from the academy belfry signalled the end of the first day of class.

It was a tiring but unexpectedly enjoyable day. The three were eager to escape from the headmaster and headed for the academy's iron gates, where parents stood waiting for their children to come out.

“Aah?! Look at you! Look at you!!! Where did my father pick up such a lovely girl!?” Rivelle gushed. Locked within her arms was a vacant-eyed Celeste who had lost hope in trying to struggle.

She continued, pulling in addition an unsuspecting Elicia, “And you?! Merea, you've always been small, why'd you become even smaller!?”

The tiring day it seemed, had yet to end, as there was a group of people that had met with them at the gate. Urie's mother, Rivelle;the two Loeth maids; his grandfather, Sacha; and lastly Elicia's aunt, Merea.

After Elicia slipped from her grasp, Rivelle turned to Sacha, “Ah, my sad father! Do you know that kidnapping is a crime? I don't want to have my son grow up with a criminal as a grandfather!”

She threw suspicion at him while still cradling the leftover Celeste.

Sacha knelt on the ground and seeked support from Urie, the same way Rivelle fawned over Celeste, “Wha—!? How dare you assume that your father would resort to kidnapping! My dear grandson! I was wronged! Wronged!”

“Hah! I know for a fact that if it were not for my dear Urie... then you 'would' resort to kidnapping!!” Rivelle held a hand on her mouth while exaggerating a gasp, and the surroundings filled with laughter as bystanders enjoyed their comical exchange.

—Ahk! This is so embarrassing...

Urie's ears flushed at the attention their group attracted. He tried pleading for help from the pair attending his mother, but felt betrayed seeing them turn their heads to the side in silence.

The father and daughter comic act continued for a few more exchanges before they finally got tired of it and got on a carriage bound for home. On the ride back, Celeste bobbed from one side of the carriage to the other, showing great interest in the city's daytime aspects.

The pair from Perid separated from them on a street surprisingly close to theirs, which made Urie wonder why he had rarely crossed paths with Elicia. The carriage then proceeded to the Loeth residence.

...Although Gideon's letter, sent from the wall, explained that Celeste was to spend some time at the Vinney residence with Sacha, the short carriage ride home was enough for Rivelle to grow attached.

She insisted on Celeste staying with them at the Loeth residence; reasoning that since Celeste was a girl, Patty and Ersha would be more suited to watch over her rather than a lanky old man.

“Then me too—!” Sacha threw an old man's tantrum, briefly being kicked out of the residence because of it. “How cruel! My daughter is so cruel! Locking his father outside! After I raised her with so much love!” Banging at the door with an downcast expression, Sacha was ignored.

“Ersha, go prepare some sweets for our new family member.”

After making sure Sacha had left, Rivelle sat down on a couch at the parlor room, and leisurely sipped on tea that the maid had brewed. Urie and Celeste sat themselves in front of her, both showing apprehension as she had suddenly turned silent.

“Now that the old man is gone... Celeste, dear, would you like to talk?” Rivelle spoke sweetly, “Would it be alright for me to ask for your mother's name?”

“Stella... Stella Varethe...”

“Aha—? So her name is Stella.”

Celeste felt compelled to answer, while Rivelle returned a silence gesture to her son's dubious stare. She continued, “What about your father's name?”

“Papa...“ Celeste paused, and had unexpectedly started crying.

To see the young girl welling up with tears startled Rivelle, and had her hurriedly going around the table. She sat next to Celeste and tried her best to console the child.

“I'm sorry, dear, what's wrong?”

“Papa... He—“

Celeste couldn't get a sentence out as she kept interrupting herself with a sniffle. Rivelle wiped the crying child's face with a towel handed to her, and continued caressing until Celeste had calmed down.

“There there, dear. Why don't you tell mother Rivelle all about it? Did your father leave you and your mother? Tell me where he is and I'll give him a piece of my mind,” Rivelle wondered what Celeste's father had done to make the child miserable.

Her mind that was full of concern, however, had returned to suspicion. Celeste's skin was slightly cold. There were only a few Rivelle knew of with the trait.

In fact, there were only three.

—Ah, mother... she's making that face...

It was the face Urie's mother made whenever she fell into a misunderstanding.

Urie thought back to the night of the Harvest Festival. At the fountain, about the first time he had seen Celeste, she was also crying. He felt his chest grow heavy; maybe she was shedding tears for the same reason as back then?

“Mother, do you know of a family in the city with the name Varethe?” Urie asked. Rivelle thought the name sounded foreign and shook her head.

“Umm...” Celeste, in between sniffles, called for their attention. She quickly regained composure in a manner that Rivelle once again thought familiar.

“I am...” Starting from a city constantly blanketed in darkness, Urie and Rivelle listened as Celeste began her story.