Chapter 36: Departure
In the morning, Ian could be seen standing at the front gates of the estate, saying his final goodbyes to his family.
"I’m gonna miss you guys so much," Ian said, warmly rubbing the tops of Emma and Emily’s heads.
Emily quickly swatted his hand away, fixing her hair. "What the hell are you going on about? It’s just two weeks! It’s not like you are going to die or something," Emily grumbled with a pissed-off expression.
"Emily, be nice," Emma chided, lightly pinching her sister’s arm.
"I’m gonna miss you too, Emily," Ian said with a knowing smile. He then looked over at his mother to say his goodbyes. However, his eyes landed on someone else. "Mom, who is she?" Ian asked, pointing at a young girl in a crisp maid uniform who was busy packing his heavy luggage into the back of the carriage.
"Oh, her? She is a girl who has been training to be a maid here in the estate," Caroline explained. "I actually caught her in the village one time when I was out. She was stealing food from a local stall to survive. I took a liking to her since she reminded me of my younger self when I was an orphan."
Caroline patted Ian on the shoulder. "Take good care of her. She will be attending to you from now on during your trip."
"But I don’t need to be taken care of! I can do things on my own—" Ian started complaining, but before he could finish his sentence, his mother shot him a chilling glare that silently screamed there was no room for argument.
"I... I will take good care of her," Ian corrected himself, slowly taking a step back toward the carriage.
"Oh, that’s so wonderful, dear! I knew you would understand," Caroline’s scary glare instantly transformed into a terrifyingly sweet smile. "And if you need anything, you can just ask her. She will do it. And when I say anything, I mean anything."
"Mom! I would never do what you are thinking!" Ian yelled, his face turning completely red.
"Oh, don’t worry about her, she understands," Caroline sighed dramatically, her expression turning deeply serious. "Or... wait. Are you into men? You were always hanging around that Trevor guy lately. I have heard about that sort of thing happening in the eastern part of the continent, but I never thought my own son would be—"
"What the hell are you thinking, Mom?! Of course I like girls!" Ian shouted. Completely embarrassed and utterly defeated by his mother’s teasing, he quickly scrambled into the carriage to hide.
"Pfft—ha-ha-ha!" Emily couldn’t hold it in anymore and started laughing incredibly loud at Ian’s misery.
"Young lady, what are you laughing about?" Caroline said, slowly turning her head to look at Emily with the same deadly glare.
"Nothing, Ma’am!" Emily squeaked, changing her attitude in a split second and standing perfectly straight.
"Do you even know how serious this problem is? What if he really is into... that? I wouldn’t have a grandchild from him!" Caroline scolded.
"What?! What about me and Emma? Don’t talk like he is your only child!" Emily protested, getting flustered.
"Emma, maybe. But I would rather she stayed with me. I’m scared of marrying her off to a stranger," Caroline mused, tapping her chin like a deeply worried mother. Then she looked Emily up and down. "But you... sigh. Who would be crazy enough to fall for a loud, tomboyish girl like you? So no, I don’t have high hopes for you giving me grandchildren either."
"...?!" Emily’s jaw dropped. She opened her mouth to yell something back, but she couldn’t find a single ounce of argument against her mother’s brutal words.
"Now, where was I? Ah, yes, Ian..." Caroline said, glancing back toward where the carriage was parked. "Huh? When did they leave?"
She blinked in surprise, realizing the carriage had already bolted down the road while she was busy scolding Emily.
Inside the carriage heading toward the Main House, there were only four people: the coachman driving outside, and Vincent, Ian, and his new maid sitting inside the cabin.
"Ha-ha-ha! Your mother is really something, isn’t she?" Vincent roared with laughter, slapping his knee. "Haaah... well, at least you didn’t learn the hard way that she doesn’t like to be talked back to," Vincent said, wiping a tear from his eye as he finally relaxed.
"The hard way?" Ian asked, confused.
"Yeah. She was actually being soft on you just now. There were times when we were orphans growing up together where she would beat the absolute crap out of me if I didn’t do as she said," Vincent shuddered, remembering his painful childhood. "Even though she is stuck at the Second Stage of Aura now, she still scares the crap out of me. Honestly, even if I became the strongest warrior in the entire world, I would still be scared of her."
"I didn’t know you had that much respect for my mom," Ian said, smiling.
"What makes you say I have respect for that violent hag?" Vincent snorted, folding his massive arms across his chest.
"Even though you call her a hag, you still don’t fight back when she argues with you. You are a Fifth-Stage Aura User, Uncle. To me, you not fighting back isn’t out of fear... that’s just pure respect you have for my mother," Ian pointed out, sounding incredibly wise.
Vincent just stared at Ian, completely stunned into silence for a few seconds.
"Well... those are some pretty grown-up words to hear from a seventeen-year-old kid," Vincent finally muttered in a low, thoughtful voice. "But I guess you might be right about that. She did practically raise me when we were kids on the streets, huh."
A comfortable silence fell over the carriage for a moment as they listened to the rhythmic clopping of the horses’ hooves.
"Uncle, exactly how long is this carriage ride going to take?" Ian asked, peering out the window.
Vincent raised an eyebrow. "You’ve been to the Main House before, kid. You don’t remember?"
Ian let out a dry cough. "When I was younger, I used to fall asleep the second the carriage started moving. By the time I woke up, we were already there."
Vincent chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, don’t plan on sleeping through it this time..."
"It’s not too far though," Vincent replied, leaning back in his seat. "Since the Main House is located within the same barony, this carriage ride should only take us about half a day. We will arrive just before late afternoon." Vincent then smirked, a proud look flashing across his face. "Of course, if I were traveling alone and ran on foot at my full speed, it would only take me an hour or two to cross that distance."
Ian’s eyebrows raised slightly at the casual flex. The sheer physical stamina and speed of a Fifth-Stage Aura User were truly on a completely different level.
For the next few hours of the carriage ride, Ian spent some time talking with his uncle and getting to know his new maid.
The maid’s name was Tracy Ward. Just as his mother had said, Tracy was an orphan from one of their local villages. She had survived by begging and stealing food until Caroline caught her swiping from a stall. Instead of punishing her, Caroline brought her back to the estate and had the Head Maid train her, giving her a warm bed and a steady salary. From the gentle, reverent way Tracy talked about Caroline, Ian could easily tell the young girl was eternally grateful to his mother.
’Now I see why mother said should would do anything if I asked her, she would feel like she is repaying a debt.’
After learning her story, Ian’s expression turned serious. He looked over at Vincent.
"Uncle, I have a quick question for you," Ian said.
"Mmmm? What is it, kid?" Vincent grunted, opening one eye.
"That truth-telling drug you gave to Trevor during his interrogation... can you tell me more about it?"
