Anton was relieved when he saw his sister behaving childishly, like being jealous of Luna, the sister of Selena, who was one of their father’s lovers. Anna had been behaving maturely, even though she was only 13 years old. He knew that it was inevitable for his sister to grow up so fast. Their past experiences running from the scourge that was the Undead Coalition would force anyone to grow up beyond their years.
Luna was two years older than Anna, and from what Anton could see, the girl knew perfectly well why Anna was behaving that way. Instead of being contentious, Anton had a feeling that Selena’s sister was highly amused.
“Anna, I’m Luna. Let’s be best friends,” Luna introduced herself despite Anders already introducing her to Anna and Anton.
Luna then went to Anna and hugged her, then held Anna’s hand, as if they were young preschool children, without showing any intention of letting go. The funny thing was, Alfred, Luna’s sister, did the same thing but to Anton instead.
Alfred ran to Anton after hugging Anders’s arms and introduced himself to him.
“Brother Anton, Uncle Anders said that you’re a powerful wizard. Can we be friends?”
Anton knew that the two siblings were precocious, and he had a feeling that it was a forced behavior. They probably adapted that behavior for survival, and for a moment, he felt pity for Luna and Alfred.
He then dismissed that pity because now that they were relatives, he would make sure that they were protected. Besides, their situation wasn’t much further off. They had to do everything they could to survive as well.
“We’re brothers, and Luna is our sister. You can live here in the Rose Manor, and I’ll make sure that you have everything that you’ll need. Our manor is magical. The garden will always be full of flowers, and we have a cinema room where you can watch a lot of movies and television shows,” Anton said to the young boy.
“I know about movies! Uncle Anders told us all about them,” Alfred said excitedly, and Anton saw that Luna was excited as well.
More than likely, during their travels, Anton’s father told them stories about the movies they had seen to entertain the children.
“Once I grow up, I will become a very powerful warrior, just like Uncle Anders. While we were traveling, we saw him slice up a troll like it was nothing!” Alfred said loudly due to his excitement.
“Yes. And we saw him appear and disappear all over the place to kill a lot of kobolds that attacked us when we stopped one time to camp,” Luna added, looking at Anton’s father with admiration.
Anton realized that the road from New Drennor to Ormunda wasn’t safe, and it was only because of Anders’s power that they were able to reach Ormunda safely.
Anton and Anna were then introduced to everyone by their father, and since there were a lot of people, it took about a couple of hours. Thankfully, Ms. Noria kept the buffet table full of food. He didn’t notice when their head maid switched the food from light snacks to heavier ones.
After everyone was introduced to Anton and Anna, it was their turn to introduce people to Anders. Anton introduced Elianah, her sister Laloniah, and Laloniah’s friends Mierin and Selanor. After that, Anna introduced her teacher, Supreme Munetta, and her classmates, Avina, Normumu, and Alethea, to Anders.
The impromptu introduction party lasted for another hour, and then all the servants led everyone to the rooms assigned to them by Mr. Jenkins and Ronia.
Anton, Anders, and Anna returned to Anders’s office to continue talking. As per Anton’s request, Mr. Jenkins, Ms. Noria, Torbin, and Ronia followed them. Once they arrived there, Anton introduced his employees to his father and sister and told them what their roles were in the manor. After the introduction, the manor’s employees were about to leave to give Anton and his family some privacy when Raymond discreetly informed Anton that they needed to hire more servants, and he agreed.
Once they were seated, Anders asked Anton a question.
“So what’s our next step?”
“The manor is almost self-sufficient as long as I continue giving them funds. The flower shop helped a lot in offsetting the coins that I will have to provide. The business was unexpectedly successful and is earning a lot of gold coins. I told everyone, Father, that you’re the patriarch of the family, so major decisions regarding the manor would be dependent on you. Since Norma’s parents and Belue’s aunt came from the noble circle, I was hoping that they could assist you in managing the manor and the flower shop. I know that you will be busy with your Adventurer Group, so their help would be a necessity for you. Then again, because of Mr. Jeknins, our butler, the manor is almost self-sufficient. You will just have to give it a cursory management now and again and inspect the logs every week or so.”
“Why did you form an Adventurer Group, Father?” Anna asked.
“Just like Anton, I want to train my battle and commanding skills so when the time comes that we will have to fight it out with the Undead Coalition, I will be ready,” Anders said resolutely.
Anton realized that his father now firmly believed that the Undead Coalition wouldn’t stop and would probably reach this kingdom. A lot of people kept saying that Ormunda was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world, and no organization would have the power to equal it, but they believed something like that before with Zalnothel. Anton, and possibly his father and sister, believe that it was better to be prepared. If Ormunda could truly contend with the Undead Coalition, good, but if the time came that they truly needed to fight, they would be ready. Get full chapters from NoveI~Fire.net
“Bruce, Susan, and Romina should be able to handle the manor without any problem. They’re very experienced handling such things. I will be focused on delving into the dungeon to train my battle and commanding skills, and you can continue training yourself. Anna can return to the academy to grow her powers,” Anders told everyone.
“Well, I’m still going to be staying here for a month for vacation. My teacher and my classmates will be here as well,” Anna said.
“I will be resting for that time as well, since we’ve been extremely busy ever since we arrived on this continent. It would be good for us to rest, and thanks to Anton, we have to capital to be idle for a month,” Anders said with a contemplative tone.
Anders then rang the bell to summon a servant, and it was Ronia who entered. Ronia told them that Mr. Jenkins was busy hiring more people for the manor. Anders told Ronia to call Bruce and Susan, Norma’s parents, and Romina, Belue’s aunt.
While they were waiting, Anders admonished Anna about her behavior towards Luna.
“I was just kidding. I promise to befriend her. I’ll return to school anyway in a month,” Anna said sulkily, and Anton laughed, which earned him a glare from both his father and sister.
Ronia returned, followed by Bruce, Susan, and Romina. Mr. Jenkins, Ms. Noria, and Torbin also arrived and, for the next few hours, a meeting occurred regarding the Rose Manor. They discussed a lot of things, which covered the day-to-day expenses, the daily duties of the manor’s servants from the top to the bottom, the tax status of the manor, the status of the flower shop, everything, and Anton and Anna got bored and asked to be excused.
Anders sighed at his children and allowed them to leave. The two gleefully ran outside their father’s office. Raymond, Ronia, Ms. Noria, and Torbin smiled at Anton’s childish behavior.