Edited by: Kuro and Lille
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After the happy reunion, Grey and Vincent said goodbye to Linus and the other knights who took care of them during their stay.
The Hansferd family got to know Vincent whom Grey refused to part with.
They were reluctant at first because Grey wanted them to adopt Vincent, but in the end, they settled with Vincent becoming Grey's personal butler.
He wasn't the happiest with this arrangement but Vincent preferred this, so Grey could only let it go and do what Vincent wanted. That was the most important. Still, Vincent was his best friend who followed him from world to world…
Hmm, I will be sure to treat him well!
The Hansferd family decided they didn't want to stay in Krenya Kingdom for a second longer, so they made their way back to Tresna Kingdom.
During the few weeks of travel, Grey was pampered by Ren's family while Vincent learned how to be a personal butler with the other personal servants of other family members. He also learned how to train his body to get stronger.
They wanted Vincent to not only be able to take care of most of Grey's day-to-day life but also protect him when needed.
Even if it was a bit difficult, Vincent did his best. He was hard-working and persistent, so no one underestimated him. He learned a lot in those two weeks.
As for Grey, even if he wanted to learn magic and swordsmanship from his family, they urged him to rest for the trip and train when he got home and had adjusted to daily life. He could only comply.
His arrival to Tresna Kingdom was not lowkey at all, especially with the entourage used to pick Grey up.
On the day he arrived in Trese, the capital, everyone knew that the youngest son of the Hansferd family was finally found and brought back.
No one stopped them on their journey to the Hansferd Estate, so it took only about 24 minutes to get there from the Southern gate.
When the beautiful golden gates of the Hansferd Estate opened, a beautiful mansion came into view.
It was a Châteauesque-style mansion with white walls and dark bluish roofs. The mansion was split into three sections, the main building and the east and west buildings. There were also barracks on the property for the Hansferd army.
According to Ren's memories, the place looked the same. It was still dazzling, gallant, but beautiful. It didn't have as many decorations as other noble estates, but everyone knew it housed a Duke's family.
There were many servants that Grey recognized from Ren's memories but a few people were missing, including Ren's personal butler, John.
"Where's John?" Grey asked because it was strange that his personal butler was not there.
"Him? Oh." Duke Hansferd sneered at the thought of him. She had already gotten rid of him years ago but thinking about him and those two other insignificant servants made her want to step on their graves a few times. "He and a couple of others were caught because they helped assist with your kidnapping."
"That's right." General Hansferd nodded. If he knew what his wife was thinking, he would support her fully and even join in. "We have been looking for other candidates to be your personal servant for when you come back, but Vincent came at the perfect time. I hope he will assist you well."
"I understand." Grey didn't ask any other questions. He greeted all the staff who gave him a warm welcome and made his way into the mansion.
His family didn't care for luxury or extravagance, so they got the bare minimum that was required for nobles. The Hansferd family only held a banquet once a year, so not many nobles cared for what the place looked like, they just wanted to gain good connections with them.
Grey was brought to his room, which seemed like it was frozen in time. It had all of Ren's belongings like toys, clothes, books, and even furniture from before the kidnapping. Even the placement of items on his desk was kept the same. He knew that his family loved and missed him very much because the place didn't have an ounce of dust. It was like the room was preserved for when Ren came home, and he finally did.
Looking at the room, Duke Hansferd almost teared up. Not because she was sad, but because she was happy that her baby was finally home.
"We didn't change anything, but if you need anything else, we can buy more stuff alright? We will get you new clothes as soon as possible."
"I understand. Thank you, mom."
"Hmm." She brought him into a big hug, almost like she wanted to glue him to her side.
After a while, she finally let him go so he could wash up and change into some clothes.
Grey was the same size as age 6 Ren. It could be seen how much starvation affected his body. One could even argue that Grey was a little skinnier.
As for Vincent, he was taken to his room that was down the hall. It was where the other personal servants lived. He was given his own room that was already equipped with furniture.
After washing up and changing into more noble appropriate attire, Grey was escorted to the dining room to eat lunch with his family. Vincent could not eat with them, so it was just his parents and two brothers.
"Welcome home, Ren!" His family exclaimed the moment he entered the dining room.
The whole table was covered with food, most of it was Ren's favorites. The rectangular table had 8 seats, so it was quite big. Grey's seat was to the right of his mom's who sat at the head of the table. To the left, was her husband and his father. Richard, his oldest brother, sat next to Grey while Gary sat next to their father.
It was a happy and wonderful meal….
*****
The person who looked forward to his arrival the most was First Prince Alastair Tresin, a childhood friend of all the Hansferd siblings.
Alastair was the only one out of all the royal family's children to look the most like their mother. He had short, black hair, tan skin, and gold eyes. The only difference was that his hair was not curly like his siblings. He was almost a carbon copy of his mom.
He was also one of the companions that went with the Hero to defeat the Demon King of their generation.
God System, who took over Alastair's body, knew that Grey was in the body of Ren Hansferd. He had access to Alastair's memories of not only their current life but the two lives he had to live previously. Alastair had found out about Ren's death and was anguished. Later he ended up dying alongside the Hero…
However, the grief of losing Ren was too much for Alastair to leave in peace. Thus he was reborn and lived the same life once more before perishing alongside the Hero for the second time. With the third time this world has cycled, Alastair still had regrets, which was how Alastair woke up with God System's memories a few months ago. He suspects that was when Grey arrived in this world.
He remembered everything.
Everything about who he was before following Grey from world to world. He remembered all the times they spent together.
God System remembered how he ended up fighting with the Villain System but was stabbed in the back trying to help the other Systems who were falling under the Villain System's control one by one.
Thankfully, System 225 and the other systems were able to get him out of the command center and into the care of the UniOrb…
Still, he was glad to have been able to meet Grey during this whole ordeal. He found his soul mate and now, he could stand by his side to fight the upcoming battles.
"Alastair, why are you pacing around the room like this? You are going to scare away all the servants."
A young lady and a little boy entered the room. They were Alastair's siblings. However, they only looked a little bit similar to Alastair.
"Natalia, Zyair… I'm just a bit anxious." He wanted to meet Grey as soon as possible! And let him know that he finally remembered everything.
Natalia Tresin was the eldest among the three siblings. She was supposed to be the Crown Princess, but she refused this position because she wanted to travel the world. Plus, she found it to be a hassle.
She had curly black hair and purple eyes. She got her curly hair and tan skin from her mom, the Queen, and her purple eyes from her dad, the King. Her features made her look more like the King though. She was smart, strong, and overall a brilliant candidate for the throne, but she didn't want it.
"A bit anxious to meet little Ren?" Natalia teased her little brother. "I know you and Ren were always close before the kidnapping. It's good to see he's alive and well…"
"'Close' is an understatement. Do you remember when big brother proposed to Ren when Ren was only 5 years old? The Hansferd family looked like they wanted to have you executed, maybe even execute you themselves." The young, but adult-speaking child was the youngest of the three. His name was Zyair Tresin and he was the Crown Prince.
Long story short, everyone established that Alastair was not fit to be King because he couldn't care less about the state of the country and would leave it to other people to deal with. Natalia didn't want the throne, and Alastair was deemed unfit for the throne so it was left to the Second Prince Zyair Tresin.
He looked just like his father with blonde hair and purple eyes, but his hair was curly just like his mom's.
"Yes, I sent a letter to the Hansferd family to welcome them back, but I haven't gotten a reply yet."
God System fully adapted to the original Alastair's personality a long time ago. Now, they were like two peas in a pod with God System helping out Alastair who no longer had any will to live.
"Big brother… You know that letter probably hasn't gotten there yet, right? You just sent it out like 10 minutes ago."
"It has only been that long? I feel like it has already been hours." Alastair cheekily replied to his siblings who made themselves at home in his room.
Natalia couldn't help but use Alastair's nickname to tease him. "Alli, keep acting like that and you will scare Ren away. You are two years older, so you should act like it."
"Don't worry. I know how to act in front of him." Moreover, Grey liked his shameless side and frequently called him shameless while acting cute.
Well, they were all very young right now in this world, so he could only be shameless when they were older…
Anyway, all he had to do was wait because he would be able to meet with Grey soon. After that, they would be able to talk about what Grey needs to do in this world so they could successfully move on and defeat the Villain system.