Special Chapter IV - Hoaqin House (part 1)

Haiyahh… this is so tiring.

I flew from one house to another, relaying the messages to the family head. Luckily, all of the family heads did not show up to meet me in the guest room, and I only talked with the butler or the other family member, like the wife or children.

I successfully relayed the message as well as avoiding a marriage request coming from the family of shadow, the Korvus family. They saw my ability to use shadow magic easily and fly, which is highly rare and difficult to do, and the lady of the house ended up requesting a marriage from me.

Obviously, I escaped.

That was genuinely scary.

One last house… and I was savoring this for the last.

The house of water and ice, Hoaqin family…

Hod's original family.

After learning about the seven great families, I found out about the Hoaqin family. They are very known for their light blue hair, and the cold deadly behavior. But the real reason as to why they are famous, is their mastery in ice magic.

There are no other families or individuals that are better than them in terms of ice magic, at least not that I know of. Even Hod, who is the illegitimate child of the family, was able to get Knight tier ice magic without getting taught by anyone.

Their genes are just that strong.

A long time ago, Hod's mother was a cook in that house. The head of the family fell in love with her, and Hod was born. Obviously, the house lady was not happy. She tolerated the first few years of Hod's life in that mansion, but then she got sick and kicked Hod and his mother out of the house.

If I'm not wrong, Hod lived there until he's around two or three years old. Barely any memories to remember. His mother, however, must have remembered all the pain.

Simply said, it's a house filled with garbage. I won't expect much from them later, that's why I savored them for last.

I landed in front of the house, and turns out they were not like the other families. The other families decorated their houses based on their elements, like a flaming roof or black and white paint to match their identity.

But the Hoaqin family, their mansion just looked normal. I mean, it's fancy, but it's nothing like I expected.

I was expecting a fully light blue house with ice decorations everywhere, sort of show-off-y like what the other families had. Turns out it's just like any mansion you'll find in Mazino's high noble area.

The guards allowed me to enter after I confirmed my identity, and I walked to the front door. After I arrived, I was immediately greeted by an old maid who was already waiting at the door.

"May I know the identity of the young guest?"

The old maid asked softly, and I placed my hand on my chest to introduce.

"Vice president of the magic academy's student council, Rize Violet. I am here to see a family head or a family member of the Hoaqin family."

"I see. Come inside first, would you like tea?"

"Then a tea would be lovely."

I entered the house following the old maid, and was greeted by two other maids. From their age, they don't look that far from me. Roughly guessing, three to five years difference.

""Welcome to the Hoaqin residence.""

They welcomed me, and I nodded at them politely. They then followed the old maid towards the back, while I sat down at the sofa in this giant guest room.

I studied the guest room for a while, and I noticed that it is much fancier than the other houses that I have visited so far. Then again, the Hoaqin family is ranked second on the seven great families, right below Arfius's family.

Which means they are the second richest family in the kingdom and the second most powerful one. Probably third if you count the king's family, but the king and his royal bloodline was never counted as the seven great families.

I waited in the guest room, and the old maid came back a few minutes later.

"I apologize, young miss… but the only family member present in the house is Miss Valencia, the oldest heir."

"That's… okay, I guess. Wasn't that supposed to be a good thing? Having the oldest heir seeing me."

"It seems that you don't know… but the young lady is not quite the social one, you see."

The old maid ended up telling me the details about their oldest heir. After all, I am quite curious.

Exactly what kind of person is the oldest heir of the Hoaqin family? One that was praised and treated higher… than Hod? What kind of person Hod would be if he had stayed in this family, born and raised as a legitimate son instead?