Two Returns - 664

Acting as though nothing had happened, Skymender sat down and began to read. He left soon after, having his fill. Skymerge continued to write without pause the entire time, as if countless ideas were constantly flowing through his head.

The next morning, Skymender continued to go to school as usual, spending almost all of his time studying in some form. He studied poison after school, and everything else during school. At this rate, he wasn't sure how much more intelligence he would have by the start of the next Imperial Scholar Camp.

Eventually, a new year came. The advent of a new year did not affect Skymender much, aside from changing the date he wrote down on papers, but the arrival of someone did.

Skymender looked out his window as a woman, holding only a sword, walked towards the house. Nobody else had noticed her, but while laying down, Skymender had felt as if the air had grown sharp.

His curiosity had led him to this scene, where his sister, Skybelle, walked towards the house as a true Sword Master.

Skymender came out of his room and walked downstairs. Opening the door, he was the only one awake to greet Skybelle as she had come deep into the night.

She looked at Skymender, a smile on her face. This only lasted for a moment as she looked Skymender up and down.

"What happened to you?"

"I was gonna ask the same thing." Skymender said.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing that can't wait until the morning. You aren't in any immediate danger, are you?"

Skymender shook his head.

Skybelle nodded. "Then I'll head to bed. I'm about to pass out from exhaustion."

Skymender moved to the side, allowing Skybelle to walk past him.

Although she had hardly changed in personality from before, the feeling around her, as well as her status within the Empire, had completely transformed since the last time had seen her.

Skymender could do nothing but go to sleep and wait until the next morning. When he woke up, everybody had already been thrown into disarray by Skybelle's appearance, as well as her advancement to Sword Master. Their parents' pride could not even be described, while their siblings were also extremely excited.

Skymender seemed to be the only calm one, but that was simply because Skymerge had yet to appear, if he even would.

Seeing Skymender appear, everyone shared their excitement with him. However, he eventually had to go to school. Melly, who was equally happy at Skybelle's arrival, unwillingly went to school as well.

Skymender's day continued as normal, but when he returned, there was a party waiting.

Skybelle calmly enjoyed the festivities, despite the fact that she was far from young.

However, Skybelle would not stay for long. As a Sword Master, she needed to report to the Emperor. She was now an integral part of the Empire and needed to work for it. What a Sword Master did, they could only guess. 

Skybelle left the next day, and everyone's lives continued as always. Skymender's research on poison, and general knowledge, grew every single day. He did not have a single peer within the entirety of the Sky Barony. 

Surprisingly, a month after Skybelle left, another person returned to the Sky Barony.

Though his status was less than Skybelle's, the effects on the Sky Barony by his return were far greater than the effects caused by Skybelle's return.

That was because Sky the second, at the age of 24, was returning to the Sky Barony to become the new Baron Sky. In the days leading up to his return, his father had indeed been looking happier. He was more than forty years old, and was due to enjoy retirement. He had a suitable successor that he had absolutely no complaints about.

In fact, if Sky the second had not insisted on studying for a bit longer in the Imperial Capital, it would not have taken so long.

Along with Sky the second was a woman, his wife, who would become baroness of the Sky family. She was not some noble, but a commoner. Although most noble houses would not let commoners marry into their family, they were only a Barony.

It was not unusual for someone of a Barony to marry a commoner, though it was uncommon for the heir of the Barony to do so.

Sky the second arrived with his beautiful wife at the front gate. He was a complete adult. He had full facial hair and a slightly aged face. His father enthusiastically greeted him at the gate, leading him in.

Everyone greeted Sky the second and his wife, welcoming her to the family just as they had Melly.

However, for the following days after that, Baron Sky and Sky the second were seldom seen. Naturally, the transference required a lot of information to be passed down, including secrets and important history.

After nearly a week of only being seen at breakfast and dinner, an official ceremony took place. Someone from the Imperial Capital arrived and officially declared Sky the second, now simply Sky, as the new Baron Sky. 

As for their father, he would take his old nickname, Skyblue. 

Afterwards, another small ceremony took place, making Baron Sky's wife, who would now be known as Skylight, the Baroness.

This greatly changed the Sky Barony. 

The peace and calm was broken as changes took place. Baron Sky began to implement his ideas thought of over many years, preparing for this very moment. Whether or not these changes would bring great results or bad endings was unknown.

A vast amount of these changes seemed to center around the only "City" within the Sky Barony, known as Sky City.

It seemed as though the new Baron Sky was much more ambitious than the last and intended to turn this place into a true city, not one that was barely considered a city.

The only way this affected Skymender was through the changes made to the school. However, these were all minor and could be mostly ignored.

He thought that would be the end of what affected him, but one day, the new Baron Sky pulled him aside.