Mascre Family

After a relatively short period of time, they finally arrived at the Mascre family territory. Its size could be said to be quite large as the mansion was filled with multiple libraries, these libraries contained knowledge from languages from other species to the history of Jiana Kingdom.

Gwen reluctantly got off Felix's back and walked to the gates where a worried servant wearing all black looked around constantly trying to find out if they'd already arrived. Finally seeing Gwen's signature purple hair and Felix's blonde hair, the servant was finally relieved and immediately came up to greet them.

"Young Master Felix, welcome home. I also greet Lady Gwendolyn from the Aria family. We have set up proper accommodations for you, as well as a small gift for your visit."

Gwen looked around and saw that No. 12 wasn't anywhere to be seen, in fact, he didn't see a single servant of the Aria family coming in to greet her. This made Gwen a bit suspicious of what No. 12 was planning on doing but she still didn't focus on it too much.

"Please follow me." The servant bowed and immediately led Gwen to her lodgings while Felix was catered to by another servant who separated from Gwen after entering the mansion. Gwen knew this was proper etiquette so let it go.

"I'll see you at dinner."

Felix weakly smiled and waved, "I'll see you later."

After going in their own ways, Gwen admired the design of the mansion as it was completely different from the Aria family's. Instead of the fairy-like and grim aesthetic of her home, the Mascre family's aesthetic was more superficial and grand with golden-plated… everything. Numerous golden statues of dragons and phoenixes were set in place accompanied with paintings of people who faithfully served the Mascre family. Golden tiled walls shined, reflecting the light from the golden candles by the side right back into Gwen's eyes.

"The Mascre family is rich, huh?" Gwen tried to make some small talk with the servant guiding her but he refused to even utter anything. She tried asking a few more questions but after getting ignored even more she just gave up and just continued to admire just how wealthy the Mascre family was.

'Noble huh… I guess they aren't as brutal since they are already showing off so much.'

After a few more twists and turns, they finally arrived at Gwen's room. Inside, No. 12 was patiently sitting while drinking a cup of tea that she brewed on her own. Gwen came up to her and sat directly in front of her. No. 12 didn't say anything as she placed a few sugar cubes in front of her Gwen poured everything into the cup of tea and drank it. The servant then bid his farewell and reminded them of when dinner would occur.

Gwen was quietly drinking her cup of sugar as she rubbed her face in exhaustion. Gwen slowly opened her eyes as she saw No. 12's wide grin and curious expression.

"What is it, No. 12?"

"Nothing~"

Gwen sighed and gulped down the entire cup of sugar in her hand, "Just out with it."

"So… did anything fun happen?"

"Yeah, actually something did happen, I found a personal cook! He made the most flavorful, the most juicy-" Gwen recalled the best snack he had this day and continued on before No. 12 got annoyed.

"No, not that! I meant… with Sir Felix. Did you two progress your relationship?"

"Unfortunately for you, nothing happened. Same old, same old."

No. 12 sighed in displeasure, "Lady Gwendolyn, you should really start doing something. Your tenth birthday's coming up and you have to make an important decision! You need to start being more proactive since it concerns your future."

"Oh, you're still on about that? Didn't I tell you about my decision already?"

"Miss Gwendolyn! You can't be serious about leaving the family, right?"

"Sister Mia did it, why can't I?"

"Your sister's… uniquely difficult. She's obsessed with the blade that she'll even abandon the family. Besides, she's extremely talented, I don't even stand a chance of blocking a single slash. You, on the other hand…" No. 12 gave Gwen a pitiful look as she started to pet her like an animal.

"So, what? I can use Tier 9 spells if I have my Death Artifact with me! I'm confident that Sister Mia wasn't as strong as I was at her age."

No. 12 gave Gwen a look, "About that…"

"She was just 10! Just how strong was she? Tier 7? Tier 8?"

No. 12 slightly shook her head. Gwen's expression at this point was priceless as she shockingly said, "Tier 9?"

"She was an Auric Swordsman."

Gwen felt as if her entire understanding of the novel was thrown out of the window. To put it into perspective, Gwendolyn was considered the greatest genius of the Aria family, surpassing every single person in her family, even her father. At the age of 10, she was only a Tier 9 Mage, for her sister to have already achieved enlightenment and have broken through a realm into being an Auric Swordsman then it broke all common sense.

No. 12 continued on, "She wasn't just an ordinary Auric Swordsman, she was Tier 3."

"Now you're definitely lying! That just doesn't make sense! No sense at all! If she's so terrifying, then why isn't anyone talking about her?"

"She killed everyone who knew. Other than a few select people, every other person who saw her was killed. See here, Gwendolyn, about your family, every single person has an odd inclination to one thing. Rachel desires respect, Finn promotes equality, and you with… world domination. Mia's obsession is murder."

'Murder? Then why didn't the novel say it? There are too many things to take note of, too much deviation from what I've known. It's as if the novel was written from the perspective of a commoner without any real grasp on the true situation happening.'

"Tier 3… then what did my eldest brother reach? Tier 9?" Gwen was still in shock from finding out about this just now. This made her think to start questioning No. 12 even more.

"Fortunately, no, only Mia was the odd one out. Your eldest brother, Marcus, was only a Tier 8 Mage when he was 10 years old. From everyone in the family, your Tier 2 Mage realm is the most pathetic one out of all of them."

"Hey! That's uncalled for! Besides, you fully know well that I'm unrivaled under the Archmage realm given the right circumstances. If you don't believe me then give me back my Death Artifact and I'll show you what's what!" Gwen raised her voice but No. 12 only saw her threats like the cute barks of a small animal.

No. 12 jumped up and laughed it off, "Now, now, don't be like that Lady Gwendolyn. I think it's about time for dinner. Let's get dressed."

Gwen looked down and saw that she was shabbily dressed in commoner clothing, completely unbefitting of her status. With No. 12's abilities, Gwen couldn't fight back even if she wanted to so she was quickly cleaned up despite her vehement protest.

After a troublesome few minutes of struggling, Gwen was dressed up and came by to the dinner where the Mascre family's patriarch was waiting for her.