"We'll settle this in one month. One month from now, right here, just call my name. Ah, right, you won't be too scared to come then, will you~?"
Silvius looked at Velira provocatively.
"I'll definitely come! It's Silvius who better not run away scared!"
Hearing this milky fierce threat, Silvius acted as if she'd heard an extremely funny joke, clutching her stomach and rolling around in the air again.
Velira's face turned bright red with embarrassment as she angrily turned and walked away.
After walking only a short distance, a voice came faintly from behind.
"Remember, it's magic of all seven attributes! Don't get it wrong! Little~! ba~! by~!"
This was followed by another burst of loud laughter.
Velira walked even faster.
...
...
The sky gradually turned crimson.
Velira's small figure appeared at the entrance of the Kayestal house.
"You're back quite late today. Father almost went looking for you."
Alaric at the entrance sighed in relief when he saw Velira return, then immediately noticed that his little daughter's expression didn't look quite right.
"What's wrong, Velira? Did something happen?"
Velira was about to tell her father about today's encounter, but thinking of that hateful face mocking her made anger rise in her heart again.
"Nothing major, Father. I just met an annoying person. By the way, Father, do we have any magic books at home?"
"Magic books? Let me think, yes, we do. They're in Father's study, on the left bookshelf where there are books about magic..."
"Thank you, Father."
Before Alaric could finish speaking, Velira headed into the house.
Watching his little daughter's quickly departing figure, Alaric stroked his chin.
"Did she have a fight with her friends?"
In Alaric's mind, someone that such a young child would call annoying must surely be a peer.
"Ah, right, how many words can Velira read now..."
Looking at the now-empty courtyard, Alaric shook his head.
"I'll ask at dinner."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest outside Terix Town.
"Achoo!"
A certain fairy with an angelic face rubbed her nose.
"Strange, I feel like someone's being disrespectful toward me? Whatever, I'll punish them by making their next chair collapse when they sit down."
...
In the Kayestal family study.
Velira moved a stool over to the left bookshelf.
"Not this one, not this one either, this one... found it!"
Just as Velira was about to pull out the magic book.
"Velira."
Korvan's voice came from outside the study.
"It's time for dinner."
Her small hand stopped in mid-air as Velira turned to look at the sky outside. It had already grown quite dark.
Velira hesitated for a moment. Although they were bottom-tier rural nobility, as rare hereditary knight lords, the Kayestal family still observed proper noble etiquette. According to noble protocol, except on special days, young noble children had to stop all activities after dinner and prepare for bed.
"Velira?"
At this moment, her mother Moriel's voice also sounded from outside.
"Hmm,"
Velira sighed.
"Tomorrow then."
Her small hand reaching for the magic book withdrew.
"I'm coming right away, Mother!"
After responding from the study, Velira cleaned the stool and returned it to its place.
Then she opened the study door and walked out.
As she walked out, for some reason, her heart suddenly felt lighter, and a tense feeling of spite slowly dissipated.
She stopped and thoughtfully looked back at the study.
There she seemed to see a familiar figure arguing with someone out of spite, and then she understood—that wouldn't work. Magic wasn't that kind of thing.
Standing quietly for a while, Velira slowly closed the study door.
Much later, Velira would understand that under her mother's call, her heart had accidentally achieved a moment of growth, and in the future, she would rarely be controlled by emotions, thus being able to overcome crisis after crisis.
...
Dinner time.
At the Kayestal family dining table, the family sat together for pre-meal prayers.
At the head of the long rectangular table sat the current Kayestal family head, Knight Alaric Kayestal.
On his left side, going down, sat Alaric's wife Moriel, third daughter Lutty, and the twin fifth and sixth daughters Lumia and Lucia.
On his right side, going down, sat second son Gareth, fourth son Korvan, and youngest daughter Velira. Normally, eldest son Zieg should sit in the first seat on the right, but since Zieg had gone to the Imperial Knight Academy for training, everyone else had automatically moved up one position.
The seat opposite was usually for guests and wasn't used by family members.
Besides the Kayestal family, the household also included a middle-aged butler in his forties named Laurenz, an elderly maid named Mrs. Yeg, and a maid named Jessica who came from a family that ran an inn in Terix Town. Since her family's inn didn't need so many people, she came to work as a maid for the Kayestal family. Because she was good at cooking, Alaric gave her extra wages to also serve as chef, simultaneously saving the expense of hiring a separate cook.
As servants, they normally wouldn't eat at the same table as the master's family but would dine separately after the family finished their meal.
Just considering the servant configuration, if placed in an ordinary imperial family, this would undoubtedly be an upper-class household setup. But the reality was that even though they were the lowest tier, they were still part of the noble class.
The Kayestal family's configuration was truly modest—undoubtedly rural nobility.
"...May the blessings of the six gods be with us."
The prayer concluded, and Alaric opened his eyes while lowering his hands.
"May the blessings of the six gods be with us."
The others also finished their prayers.
When Velira lowered her hands, she suddenly had a strange feeling in her heart. After all, reciting prayer words before was just a popular practice among common folk—no one took it seriously, and whether or not one performed this act had no impact whatsoever. But...
...that was a genuine blessing, wasn't it?
"What's wrong, Velira? Don't you have an appetite?"
Noticing his little daughter wasn't moving, Alaric asked with concern.
"Nothing's wrong, Father."
Velira shook her head, then picked up the spoon in front of her, scooped up some porridge, and put it in her mouth. Mmm, it tasted sweet and refreshing, made with her favorite bobo powder.
Besides the porridge, her plate also contained a serving of gudong chicken stew, a slice of bread spread with honey, and a quarter of a sliced sunset fruit.
The others' dinners were similar, just with different portions.
Seeing his little daughter begin eating, Alaric also continued with his spoon, though he muttered inwardly.
He had originally wanted to ask what Velira had encountered during the day, but it seemed like she was still angry with her friend. Bringing up something that made her unhappy at a time like this would only make her mood worse. But what should a father do? Should he go discuss it with the other party? Hmm... but adults interfering in children's affairs is a bit...
"Dear, has Zieg written recently?"
At this moment, Moriel's sudden question interrupted Alaric's thoughts.
Alaric answered: "No letters, but didn't his letter last month say he was going on field training and wouldn't be in contact for a while?"
"Isn't it finished yet? I thought a month would be about right."
"Hehe, how could it end that quickly? When I participated in field training, I spent a full half year in the wilderness and almost became a wild man by the time I returned to the city!"
Alaric answered with a laugh. Having reached the "back in my day" segment, he forgot about his little daughter's troubles and began boasting about his past adventures.