279 A Foolish Man.
"Is that all?"
Astra questioned, looking at Eliza, her faithful subordinate and
a close friend.
"Yes, Lady Astra." Eliza nodded as she finished her report, all
this time her head was lowered, she didn't even look into
Astra's eyes once.
Despite Astra telling her countless times
that she could act normally whenever the two of them were
alone, she refused to comply.
She knew Astra considered her a friend, a guide, and even a
teacher, however, Eliza firmly believed that there should be a
distinct difference between a Leader and a Subordinate.
Since she had decided to submit and become Astra's
subordinate, Eliza would give it her all. Astra was the woman
she respected from the bottom of her heart, and to show this
respect, she believed that she should always act like a perfect
subordinate should.
Astra, knowing perfectly well how useless it was to comment
on Eliza's attitude, just sighed and decided not to think about
it.
After all, it wasn't her first time interacting with the woman,
not to mention that she had something much more important
in her mind than her subordinate's stubbornness.
"Eliza."
Astra called out with a serious look on her face.
Eliza stayed silent, waiting for the Family Head to continue,
"Raise the number of guards secretly guarding Vaan and Elara.
Put on Obsidian Order Mage on each of them."
Astra ordered
and for the first time during their entire interaction, Eliza
raised her head and glanced at Astra.
Astra, on the other hand, frowned as she thought of
something and continued,
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Tell the mages to respect their privacy, as much as I hate to
admit it, they are not children anymore.
Keep some distance,
however, always be ready to act the moment you feel
something is wrong, is that clear?"
"Why the sudden order?"
Eliza questioned with a frown on her face.
Yes, she was a perfect subordinate who would follow her
master's order to the dot, however, this didn't mean she
wouldn't question Astra's decision.
After all, as the perfect
subordinate, it was also her duty to make sure that her Master
wasn't making a mistake.
Astra glanced at Eliza, for a moment, she considered revealing
the secret to Eliza, after all, if there was one person she
trusted completely, it would be Eliza.
Soon, however, she shook her head and dropped that thought.
"I have my reasons."
She trusted Eliza, yes, however, Eliza was also the first person
her enemies would approach the moment they sensed that
something was wrong.
Of course, Eliza wasn't weak, no normal being could touch her
let alone get something out of her, honestly, Astra knew that
the moment Eliza realizes that she was about to be captured
by the enemy, she would take her own life, but even then,
Astra didn't wish to take any risk.
Eliza was strong and for that very reason, she needed to be
more careful. After all, unlike others, the enemies wouldn't
dare to underestimate her if they decided to target her.
They would come with a plan and a well-prepared enemy is
always troublesome, no matter who you were.
Astra knew that she would need to reveal the secret at some
point, however, knowing that her son was already making
hisownmoves, she decided to play passively.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})After all, no one in the entire world would ever think that the
centre of the storm that was about to come to the world
would be a child in his early 20s. She would just act
'suspiciously' to attract attention, giving Vaan time to do
whatever he wanted.
"As you command, Lady Astra." Eliza nodded as she bowed her
head again.
Since Astra didn't wish to say anything, she didn't
push her master.
She, who had received new orders, decided to leave and get to
work.
As the woman left, Astra closed her eyes as she rested her
head on his hand.
"How much longer are you planning on hiding? Come out."
She
spoke in a calm voice and suddenly, she sensed something
around her move.
She opened her eyes, looking in the direction she sensed the
movement from, there, she saw Orion standing with his back
leaning against a wall and a smile on his face.
"You seem quite worried. That brat must have said something
important huh…"
Orion commented.
"If you knew what he said, you would act like me as well,"
Astra replied.
"I do-" Orion wanted to say something, but,
"I know, you do not care.
Sometimes, I am jealous of your simple thought process."
Astra sighed.
"Hey, are you calling me foolish?"
Orion narrowed his eyes as he stared at his wife.
"Are you not?" Astra chuckled.
"I prefer to call it simplifying things.
I would even say that it is quite the opposite of being foolish.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})I do not care what my child is doing or wants to do. His future
goals, his plans, the actions he takes to follow through those
plans, none of that matters to me,
I only know one thing,
The moment my child needs it, my sword would rise.
Him being in danger?
That is only possible when I stop breathing. Before that, death
will never get close to my son.
In my eyes, other than my child's safety, nothing else matters.
Even if he decides to become someone who would bring the
end of the world,
I would still protect him because he is my son."
Orionannounced,the determination in his eyes was so intense
that even Astra momentarily felt… small.
Soon, however, she shook her head and smiled.
It wasn't like this was the first time she had seen this look in
her husband's eyes. Rather, she had seen it so many times that
she was now used to it.
That was the real Orion Ravenshadow.
A man who would go to any lengths for his family.
All hisactof not caring about anything, letting his son do
whatever he wants and never bothering with his matters, all
of this was just that, an act.
In truth, this crazy man always kept an eye on Vaan.
Even
when Vaan's performance was… not satisfactory. Was he
disappointed? Of course, what father wouldn't be
disappointed if his son was useless and didn't put in any effort
to improve, but even then,
Orion was still there, lingering in the shadows, ready to
protect his son no matter what.
It didn't matter whether his son was in the wrong. It didn't
matter whether he was bullying others using his status, the
moment his son needed his help, he would appear.
That was the type of fool Orion was.
