Aaron was now the head of this mining operation headquarters, but he was still considered an assistant, just as he had been in the past. And Aaron nodded, as if it was normal.
“Yes, I understand. But first, Professor, we have a guest.”
“A guest?”
Curiously, mineralogist Isaac Yurinova turned around.
He looked at Ekaterina and his eyes widened.
Smiling at her great-uncle, Ekaterina was inwardly surprised.
He looked just like my grandfather Sergei!
The grandfather she knew only from portraits, even though she knew of his gentle personality, he had a rugged appearance that personified his dignity.
He was the most suitable person to hold such important positions in the country as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was also an attractive man, a dandy in his own right.
Great-Uncle Isaac, my grandfather’s half-brother, had a distinct resemblance to Grandfather, with well-defined eyes and nose. He was much mellow looking, but not as tall as my grandfather.
His hair was bluish white, probably because his originally blue hair had turned almost gray.
The color of Grandfather’s eyes was bright blue, but Great-Uncle’s eyes were a pale blue, like those of a faded ambergris.
They could be described as light blue, but they were gentle and different from Alexei’s neon blue or my grandmother’s icy blue.
“…Anastasia?”
Ekaterina shook her head when her mother’s name was mentioned in a puzzled manner. She then assumed a ladylike curtsy.
“I am pleased to meet you for the first time. I am Ekaterina, Great-Uncle Isaac, and it is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Ekaterina!”
As if sprung to his feet, Isaac walked up to Ekaterina with a big smile.
He held out both hands and gently wrapped them around Ekaterina’s small ones. They were big, warm hands.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you! I kind of thought you were still a little girl. I had no idea you had become such a beautiful young lady…but yes, Aaron told me that you are a very clever young lady.”
Isaac snapped out of it. He gulped and said.
“Oh…sorry, I was supposed to meet you and Alexei at the castle. I forgot all about it. You’ve already arrived here from the imperial capital. Oh, no, I was told to go because there was a banquet at the castle. Either way, I’m sorry. I’m a really useless guy…”
Ekaterina smiled at Isaac, who was dejected.
As she had heard from Aaron and Laiza, the housekeeper at Yurinova Castle, he was not the type to deal with anything concrete.
Since he was a genius scholar, his life story would be more interesting if he were this way.
“Please don’t mind it. I have come to visit the mountain temple in the name of Big Brother. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“Really…? Ekaterina is a very determined girl.
Sorry, I was already around 30 years old inside. When someone praised me with such a genuine smile, all I could say was, “I apologize for being a fraud”.
“We were not alone, Forli was with us. He is meeting with the priests of the mountain temple to discuss tomorrow’s visit.”
“Oh, it would have been so reassuring to have Brother Balthazar with us. I used to travel with him a lot.”
Forli, who had been a close friend of his brother Sergei, seemed to have been a close friend of Isaac as well.
“Professor, the Young Lady has brought a gift. She wanted to give it to you as soon as possible, so I left the meeting to Sir Forli and brought the Young Lady here.”
Isaac looked surprised at what Aaron had just told him.
“Souvenirs? Ekaterina brought me?”
“I hope you will find it useful for your research, Great-Uncle. –Mina.”
Ekaterina called, and Mina came up to her carrying a large package. She placed the luggage on the table and quickly unpacked it.
