Chapter 97 - A bright breakfast

Chapter 97: Chapter 97 - A bright breakfast It’s so good to wake up in the morning without having a worry in the world... I mean, there are still unresolved things. But I’m not fleeing or trying to hide from anyone, nor am I with the weight of having someone dear that I need to rescue. Which means that it’s the first time in this life that I’m truly at peace. Also, there’s nothing like letting your energy run wild at night to have a truly nice sleep afterwards. "Lady Aurea? May I come in? Breakfast is ready." "Ah, yes, welcome in." I now have a personal maid, and that is something that feels weird. "That’s not good, Lady Aurea. You’re doing my job for me. You shouldn’t dress by yourself." Yeah, that’s what I mean. To have someone else dress me and do all the morning routine for me is something that really creeps me out. "I’m not a doll, you know?" "But you are a noble. And I am your maid. Come, sit in this chair so I can comb your hair." "I can comb it myself." "I can, but you shouldn’t." "Ugh..." It doesn’t matter how much I protest; she never lets me do anything with my own two hands. She says that I should ’behave like a princess.’ After we finish the morning routine, I walk to the dining room, where the whole family is already waiting for me to have breakfast. "I’m sorry I’m late!" "No, it’s ok, Aurea. Did you sleep well? You look resplendent today." "Hehe. Yes..." Yeah, let’s leave it at that. My grandparents don’t need to know how much fun I had last night. "You and your mother seem in a rather good mood today." "Oh, Mother. We feel vindicated, after all those years. That’s all there is to it." Lillian protested Grandma’s remarks about our good mood. And yeah, it feels good to have our vengeance. Today is the day of the execution of the Duke, but last night was the true revenge. "Lovelace is not eating with us?" "She mounted guard until moments ago, dear, and then retired to her quarters to rest. The vampire didn’t come back." Oh, right, there’s the vampire thing we still need to solve. "That’s good to hear, grandpa. How are you feeling today?" "I’m feeling well. It seems that the times I had what appeared to be an improvement in my condition, it was just the vampire staying away for a couple of days." "Which means that if we get rid of the vampire, you’ll be completely recovered soon." "Yes. I’ll ask Lovelace to lead a party into that dungeon today." "Yayyy. I love exploring dungeons!" "And who said that you will go, little Aurea? I’m sending Lovelace and some of our best knights." "Huh? That’s not fair. I want to go too." Grandpa and grandma exchange glances. Why am I getting a bad feeling about it? "You need to learn to behave more like a princess, my dearest granddaughter." "Thieda is right. It seems that your mother was a bit too lenient in your upbringing. Which is understandable, given the situation, but now you are in the palace." "Yes. We will find a tutor to teach you etiquette." Nononononononono... Lovelace will go dungeon delving while I have etiquette classes? Is this a nightmare??? "Mother, Father. I was hoping to send Aurea to the Royal Academy. She has great potential for magic." "She has, indeed. But that is one more reason to train her in the proper etiquette as soon as possible. We wouldn’t want her to tarnish the royal family by behaving inappropriately in the academy, would we?" The way grandma Thieda looked at my mother right now... Was Mom a problem child? "H-huh. Yes, we wouldn’t..." Why is your face red, dear mother? "Did Mom do something like that in her time?" "Oh, don’t even get me started, Aurea..." Grandma sighs, and it’s Jyllian who speaks right after. "When I entered the Royal Academy, mother was called ’the red beast’ by my seniors. She would often start fights over anything and would overpower seniors and, sometimes, even teachers." Heheheheheh. I wouldn’t have guessed by her behavior during our time together. Except for the one last night, that is. "I have grown out of that, you know. Now I don’t pick fights that often." "’That often’ being the key word here." Everyone burst into laughter. That is, everyone besides my mother. After we calm down, grandfather makes a question for me and Mom. "Lillian, Aurea. What do you two really think about that woman, Lovelace?" "She is a nice and caring woman, very thoughtful and cool-headed." "I agree with Mother in everything she said. But I would add that she is also very powerful and gorgeous. But why the question, Grandpa?" "Do you think that she would be a good court wizard for our country? Gundmund has served us for decades, but he is past the age for retirement, and he deserves to rest." "She would, definitely. I doubt that anyone in this kingdom would be a better person for the job." Damn, Mom, calm down. You barely let Grandpa finish his question. Though I agree, she would excel at the job. There’s the matter of our goal here, though... Oh... She would be in the best position possible to do exactly what we wanted: to search for any information that might lead to finding her memories. First of all, the court wizard has unrestricted access to every library in the realm. She will be able to read all forbidden books without the need for any sneaking around. "Yes, she would be great at the job. And I think that she would like to do it." "Is she trustworthy enough for the position?" The answer came in unison. "Yes!" "Oh... I see. You two seem to have full confidence in both her abilities and character. I would add that I feel the same, from the little we interacted." At this point, Grandpa already knows about the three years I lived with the beastkin before rescuing Mother. He also knows that Lovelace trained me. The cover story we came up with was that she was an orphan whom the beastfolk took in. And that she wanted to come with us because she knew nothing about living among humans. But damn... Lovelace will do dungeon delving and then become a court wizard. In the meanwhile, I will have etiquette classes and then go to school. Life is not fair.