?1349 Forging Ties
"I'm so terribly sorry for my daughter's behavior, Mordred. She can be a handful at times!"
It was no surprise that the commotion that Serah created—no matter how brief—would garner the attention of the grownups.
The party was out on instant hold as the respective parents of Serah and Neron rushed to the scene.
They saw potholes and debris around, but none of them were surprised by the sight. The ruined garden that marred the pristine beauty of the estate was of no concern to them.
What was most important were their kids.
"Why weren't you with her, woman? You know full well how Serah can be!"
Despite Duke Philius' intense tone, his face did not contain worry, but rather a strange form of tenderness.
"This girl… haaa… I apologize."
The small crowd of nobles that had gathered were quickly shooed away by the commanding declaration of Duke Philius Crimson himself.
"Party's over. Those who have a long way off, we have enough space to lodge you for the night. I wish those who are leaving this very night safe travels."
Regular Nobles would try to save face, or follow proper etiquette to the letter, but the Crimson Household didn't need any of that.
They were plenty strong in their own right, so they made up the rules in their Estate.
Once the guests had dispersed, and the ones who desired to stay, lodged in the exquisite suites that had been prepared for them, the two families had a meeting with their children.
*******
"Alright. Let's hear it…"
The parties involved now occupied a lounge meant for only the most respected guests.
The beautiful chandeliers that hung in the ceilings, the pristinely woven carpets and expensive curtains—talkless of the paintings that hung on the luxuriously painted walls—gave off an aura of wealth.
Even within the Crimson Family Estate, this place was especially astounding.
Lord Mordred sat with his son on a sofa, and opposite him was the Crimson Family head himself—Duke Philius.
His wife sat beside him—to the right—and his daughter was on the left.
"What exactly went down?"
All the parents saw were craters and the two kids dispersing their Mana.
No one really knew what happened.
"Father, she's weird. She kissed me without permission." Neron swiftly pointed at Serah without hesitation.
He had the same calm expression on his face, so it was difficult to tell how he felt about her action.
Was he upset about the kiss… or did he enjoy it?
"S-shut up! Father, mother, he hit me on my stomach and caused my face to eat dirt."
"You attacked me first!"
"You should never strike a maiden—especially not in such a crude way!"
"Maiden? You? You're a—!"
The kids would have kept going without any intervention, so both Lord Philius and Lord Modred stopped their children with knocks on their heads.
"O-ow…"
"Why…?"
As the kids rubbed their heads, the adults sighed in exasperation.
This wasn't how things were supposed to go.
The plan was for Serah and Neron to become friends, just as their parents were.
Mordred had even been exchanging letters to Philius all week about the arrangement, and they were both pretty excited about it.
That was because, just like Mordred, Serah had no friends.
Her terrible personality and dominating aura scared off the boys and intimidated the girls.
No one wanted to hang out with her, and she frankly didn't seem to care about making any friends.
She only did whatever pleased her.
"I remember us arguing about who would win if they fought in one of our letters. I never expected the kids to duke it out behind our backs…" Philius muttered tiredly.
"Looks like my kid is stronger, though."
Mordred's wide smile made Philius give a tired one in response.
"I guess he is. What is his Mana Core Grade now?"
A Mage's Mana Core was what held their Mana and determined their capacity for generating and controlling the supernatural energy necessary for Magic.
Classified into Grades, the color of a Particular Mana Core showed how strong a Mage was.
… Or how talented they were.
"Blue." Mordred said with a wider grin.
"Blue? That's amazing!"
A Blue Core was the third stage after White and Yellow, and even the most talented of Mages didn't reach a Blue Core Grade until they were twelve years old and above.
Yet, Neron had done it at just five years old!
"What's more amazing is that he only started training in Mana a few months ago." Mordred added, as if he hadn't mentioned this to his friend a million times already.
"Wow. What a monster. You have a monster as a son, you know that right?"
"Hey! I'm not a monster. Your daughter is the mons… ouch!"
Another knock on Neron's head caused him to cease his words and leak out a tiny bead of tears.
He looked betrayed, but he swallowed any other word he would have uttered.
"Haha! Your son has quite the sharp tongue… just like Serah!"
Neron and Serah glared at each other the moment they were compared to each other.
They both really despised each other.
"Hahaha! They get along well, don't they?"
"Indeed, they do."
It almost seemed like both parents were trying their hardest to convince themselves that their children had a future as friends.
Despite the children barking words of annoyance at each other, the adults kept laughing and calling their squabbles cute.
It was indeed cute, but to the children it wasn't.
Without the overseeing gaze of their parents, it was clear that Neron and Serah would have torn each other to pieces.
********
[Moments Later]
"Father, who is that man?"
Once Mordred and Neron had taken their leave from the lounge, following the Duchess to the special room prepared for them, Serah was left all alone with her father.
"You treated him like an equal. I've never seen you act that way with anyone before."
In response to his daughter's naive curiosity, the Duke chuckled loudly.
"Haha! An equal? Is that what it looked like to you?"
Serah was still too young, so she didn't understand. She couldn't see the reverence Philius gave Mordred in their entire time together.
"You know that other than the Four Great Noble Households that hold the Kingdom together, there are three individuals who possess equal—if not superior authority to us."
"The Grand Mages?"
"That's right. That man… Lord Mordred Kaelid… was the strongest of them. The Supreme Battle Mage of the Eastern Kingdom."
The moment Serah heard this, her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets.
"N-no way! That was him?!"
Appearances could be deceiving. She thought Grand Mages dressed in traditional Mage Outfits, with all sorts of Magic Items dangling from them.
But Lord Mordred wasn't like that at all.
"Indeed. He's a Mage that is a lot stronger than your father."
Serah's ears couldn't believe it—her father was admitting his inferiority to someone.
"I suppose it makes sense that his son would be stronger than my daughter." This time, Duke Philius smiled a little nostalgically.
"Father…"
Serah wanted to complain, but she knew she didn't have any right to.
Her father was right, after all.
She truly was weak.
"Hey, Serah… would you like to be friends with that boy? With Neron?"
Duke Philius had initially agreed to the whole arrangement because he wanted his daughter to forge genuine connections with others and have allies outside the Crimson Household.
None of that had changed, but something else was added to the father's mind.
'A child like that… he possesses immense potential. His talent is something I haven't seen before…' Philius rubbed his chin as he grinned widely.
'If he could join the Crimson Family, just how much stronger will we become? And if he were to join hands with my daughter…'
He glanced at Serah's pure and innocent face.
'… Just how powerful will their seed be?'
Philius could only imagine it, but that was enough to make him chuckle to himself.
'Mordred is powerful, and he is highly respectable, but the Kaelid doesn't really have any influence…'
Compared to the Crimson Household, they were a small Noble Family.
'Perhaps it's time to merge our Families together. I don't mind adding Kaelid to our great Crimson name if it means producing a superior breed of Mages in the next generation…'
He could see that the Helmsworth and Netherlores were already catching up to the Crimson Family in terms of power, and Philius did not want that.
He wanted his Household to remain the supreme force among Nobles within the Kingdom.
'And I'll do whatever it takes to maintain that.'
His only worry was that his daughter would refuse to associate herself with Neron.
Fortunately for him, he was worried for nothing.
"Neron, huh? I suppose it wouldn't be bad being his friend."
The moment Philius heard this, he smiled deeply.
"That's a good girl. Make sure you get very close to him, okay?"
Serah nodded vehemently.
on doing that.
Even if her father didn't say anything, she was already planning "That boy is mine!"
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Thanks for reading!
A longer chapter than usual, but I hope you enjoyed it. Another time skip is coming soon…
