Family Matters

-----Yui's POV

With Kaede gone with the queen, I'm left waiting at the cabin, watching over Rina as she has now taken over her mother, letting Alenia sleep on the mattress.

Rina: "Still can't believe Kaede went and brought my mom here."

Yui: "From what I heard, Alenia consented to it. She wasn't taken."

Rina: "I guess..."

Sicily and Lillian are also still resting, however back at Kaede's place. Mell, Fleur and Faye chose to remain here at the cabin as they end up exploring around the forest by themselves. As for Lilith, she's still showing no signs of waking up. Her color is coming back, but honestly, when I compare it to the color of my hand, she's still pale in comparison.

Yui: "...Hey. What happens if the trees run out of mana?"

Rina: "With the amount of mana I'm funneling into Lilith, I'd say we could keep going like this for a couple years at least."

Well there goes my worries. For a second I was scared if we would need to move to find more trees, but to think the trees have that much mana.

Rina: "Of course it depends on the trees, but from what I can sense, these trees are quite healthy. Probably due to there being no dark elves around here before."

Yui: "Are the trees where you came from not like this?"

Rina: "Yes, but most of them begin to lose their life. Their leaves fall off, the branches snap off at the smallest of winds, until the tree itself crumbles away. It's why the other elves despise my race."

I see. If you're constantly draining the tree's life force, and with elves being ageless, they'd easily outlive the trees.

Yui: "Well at least Sicily and Lillian sees you in a different light."

Rina: "Mm. Yeah."

Seeing her smile fills me with joy as I watch her continue to heal Lilith.

Yui: "I think I'll head back now though."

Rina: "Oh?"

Yui: "Natalie hasn't came back yet, so I'm a little worried."

Unlike last time when she came to the cabin a couple hours after me, it's now roughly noon and there's still no sign of her. Speaking of lunch, I could try and have Natalie cook up something to bring over here.

Rina: "Okay. Take care."

Yui: "Mm. You too. Thank you again for helping us."

Rina: "Anytime."

And with a smile, I leave through the door. I do worry about leaving Rina all alone in there, but I guess her mother's there anyways.

...

I spent a bit of time looking for Mell, Fleur and Faye, but I end up giving up on that and make my way back to the city.

Moving past Kaede's house, I can see the lights are still off so I don't bother to try and disturb those two and instead make my way up the hill towards the mansion. Sometimes I wish I was a vampire. I could just fly up this hill and not bother with this incline. I may be fit, but the journey from the cabin to here can be quite tiring after a while.

Eventually however, I finally make it to the top as the butlers take notice of me.

Butler1: "My lady!"

Yui: "Yes?"

Strange. His voice seems quite intense. Don't tell me something bad actually happened! Did Leon wake up and start attacking?

Butler2: "Hurry. You're needed inside!"

What on earth? I'm needed? Then what could've possibly happened? Sure everyone in my household knows of my power, but I can't take control of light magic if Leon is actually awake. With that in mind, the two butlers guide me inside as they open the front door. I take a moment to steady myself for whatever it is before stepping inside.

Alice: "Ellen!"

Yui: "Alice?"

Just like the butlers, Alice also seems to be tense, however her expression is a lot different as I can sense some joy in that smile of hers.

Yui: "What happened?"

Alice: "Come-"

She forcefully takes me by the hand before she practically drags me along with her.

When we come around a corner, entering the main lounge room, almost every single maid and butler was around, crowding around the center. I can't see what the commotion is, but it definitely doesn't seem like anything bad has happened just judging from everyone's expressions. And with Alice guiding me, the maids and butlers take notice before opening a path for me to get into the center. And that's where my eye's locked onto my mother. She was on her knees, tightly hugging someone as they were also on their knees. I can't see their face, but... I know that hair. It's the same color as mine and my mothers.

Yui: "Fabian?"

I mutter the name of the person I want it to be, and at my words, the person in question lifts their face away from my mother. Their tear stained face looks my way as I begin to feel a tickling sensation start running down my cheeks.

Fabian: "Ellen?"

Hearing him call my name only made my tears more heavy as I begin to wipe them out of habit. But now matter how much I wiped, my vision continued to become more and more blurry by the second. Not wanting to go blind, I quickly rush in, crashing my body against Fabian's as I pull him into a tight embrace.

Fabian: "I'm sorry."

Yui: "What the hell are you sorry for?!"

How does he think saying sorry is the right thing to say? It wasn't his fault he got trapped there.

Fabian: "I was a fool."

Yui: "Since when were you not? That's not something to be sorry for."

Fabian: "Pfft, hahaha."

I end up chuckling through the tears as I tighten my embrace around him. Hearing him laugh was all it took for my heart to calm down.

Fabian: "...I'm home."

Yui: "Mm."

We remain in a hug for a bit longer before pulling away. Mom's face is completely ruined as her makeup has become a mess. I can just imagine my face looking like that if I had wore makeup today. But now that we're like this, I can't help but smell quite a sweet scent from Fabian.

Yui: "Wait. Are you wearing perfume?"

Fabian: "Huh?"

Iris: "Fufu. I was wondering the same thing."

Fabian: "Ah, you're probably smelling Ilfa on me."

Ilfa? That's the demon queen right?

Iris: "What?!"

Fabian: "I would've liked for her to come as well, but I guess that would be too much of an ask."

Iris: "My son found a woman?!"

My thoughts exactly. He's making it sound like he's in a relationship with this demon queen.

Yui: "I don't believe it for a second. How did you manage to woo over a demon queen of all people?"

Everyone: "Demon queen?!"

Ah, maybe I should've left that part out...

Fabian: "I'm not sure myself exactly, haha."

He starts to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment, but to be honest, I don't think that's anything to be embarrassed about. I thought I was pretty cool in being in a relationship with a vampire, but my brother just had to one up me and date a full fledged demon? Did some of my genes get mixed in with my brothers? There's no way that mom gave birth to two weirdos.

Maid: "That's still dangerous! What if that demon is deceiving you?"

Fabian: "I highly doubt it. She's done a lot for me. But I guess that's a bit silly considering she was the one who trapped me there in the first place."

Maid: "See? Then-"

Fabian: "And she's also the one that allowed me to come here. She's not a bad person, Priscilla"

That's right. I was wondering why this maid was so close to Fabian, but now I remember. She must be his personal maid. I guess after seeing Fabian, she went straight back into work mode.

Yui: "Wait, then would that mean the queen has also met up with the demon queen?"

Kaede: "Yes."

Out of nowhere, Kaede spoke up who was right next to me. I had no idea she was here as well! Where did she come from?"

Kaede: "Hehe. Can't believe you forgot I was here."

Yui: "S-sorry!"

Kaede: "But yes. The queen and the demon queen have met. I was there to make sure nothing went awry."

Iris: "Then did they come to an agreement or sorts?"

Kaede: "They both accepted to no longer fight with one another. Was a bit shaky at some points, but we got there in the end."

She's so cool! Mediating between two powerful people! A couple maids tend to mother's face, cleaning up the mess as the tears seem to have finally died down now.

Iris: "Then we shall hold a feast tonight! Ellen. Feel free to invite your friends as well."

Yui: "Y-yes!"

Fabian: "C-could we do that tomorrow?"

Iris: "Oh?"

Fabian: "I just want to be alone with you two for today."

Almost as if we're in sync, my mom and I both go in to hug Fabian once more as we end up in a three-way hug, however no more tears were shed as all three of us tighten our arms around one another with huge smiles on our faces. Yeah, I know mom wants to make Fabia welcome, but I'd also prefer to just enjoy this time as it is.