Piece 24 (part 1)

The deal went perfectly. A little too perfect, perhaps?

"Did you see his face when I told him Veldonia is coming back?" Dad asked with so much excitement as we both walked on the streets, on our way back home.

"I saw! It was funny!" I laughed a little while reminiscing about the general's shocked expression, because it genuinely looked like he was about to pop his eyeballs out.

Veldonia coming back means everything that the Ardjestyn Kingdom stolen ten years ago has to be returned. And if they failed to return it, well, the answer is pretty obvious.

"Do you think he will do as he says?" I asked Dad as we both strolled down the streets, coming back from the mayor's house after that discussion. Dad turned his massive grin to me, and it looks like he doesn't even doubt the general even for a second.

"… Never mind. Don't answer that." I gave up right away, and Dad laughed while messing with my hair.

"I'm sorry, I'm just really happy right now. Everything is fine. The General of Ardjestyn owes me a huge favor, and we get a genuine helper who will for sure aid us during the rebuilding! I think this weekend is incredibly fruitful for us!" Dad said so excitedly, and I guess I can understand why he was so happy.

Back during the first meeting between him, Mom, Uncle Althorn, and Miss Fiona, they discussed deeply about what they would do if the other kingdoms and empires decided to act. For sure, a war can very easily break out, and both Mom and Dad do not wish for another war to occur.

That is the case if all four nations decided to go against our return. But, now the situation has changed.

"If Ardjestyn decides to back us up in our revival, then that will help us immensely. Because not only are the enemies reduced into only three, but we also get an ally which can aid us. That is incredibly massive!"

I… I get it. In the end, the number of enemies were reduced, and our strength grew with an extra ally.

Turning an enemy into an ally… that is one powerful thing.

"Things like this don't happen often, does it?" I asked the obvious, and Dad nodded firmly.

"Yeah. Ardjestyn and Naverne, I predicted them to be the friendliest ones. Xyphon and Quarvern, though…"

"I'm sure we can deal with them in a similar, if not, the same way." I said positively, and Dad chuckled again.

"I'm glad you're all positive about it! That's the way you should think. Leave all the negative thoughts to me and your mom!"

"Okay. Speaking of Mom…"

"Oh. Crap. You're right." Dad was immediately reminded about it, and I let out a sigh as we both stopped on the road.

Yesterday, after coming back from Fort Julius… Mom was furious.

Upon arrival, she noticed right away the mess coming from my clothes. She started studying my appearance, and her focus landed on the necklace that is on my neck. Seeing how depleted the magic energy behind the necklace was, she realized just how bad my situation was.

Apparently, what protected me during all the explosion and debris falling was the necklace. Dad has mentioned to me that my necklace had plenty of magical enchantments done to it, lots of protective and also enhancing properties. It also contains a ton of magic energy stored in it, to fuel the magical enchantments.

And the protective layer that was protecting me during the whole fiasco… well, they weren't exactly cheap to cast. When Mom checked it, it was down to only 20%, which is a very small amount. Any more explosions or debris falling onto me, then the necklace would've shattered, and I would've died on the spot.

Fast forward to the punishment, (even though I did nothing wrong,) I was tasked to head to the city's bookstore and buy certain books about magic. Mom wants me to learn more so that I can protect myself whenever she's not around, and Dad will be the one to show me which books are the best fit.

As for the time, the 'When' those books are going to be read… Well, I have plenty of time.

Coming back from the library, Dad joined Grandma at the kitchen while I headed inside with Mom. I showed her all the books that Dad told me to borrow from the bookstore, and we went through them one by one to learn more about what we bought just now.

And during the evening, a letter came to the diner. It is from the school, and it's certainly not every day they send letters to our houses to announce something.

And low and behold… a two weeks off!

No school for two weeks!! You know what that means!?

"Road trip!!!" I shouted as the carriage moved quickly through the wind, and my face was immediately brushed by the strong wind.

The letter states that the Dukedom is now taking matters seriously. As such, they will have multiple parties from the school, either the students or the teachers, to comply with their investigation. They are taking two weeks for the investigation, and the school has announced that there will be no classes for that entire time.

As for me… since my name was cleared after our 'Discussion' with the Duke, there's no need for me to attend the investigation at all. So, with two weeks of no school in front of me, my parents did the best thing that we can do at the moment. We've talked about it, and we decided that now is indeed the time.

The very next day, we were well on our way for the trip.

"Get back in, Brat. You're gonna hit your head on a tree branch." Grandma angrily told me while I was sticking my head out the carriage window, and I pulled it back right away to grin at her.

"I'm just excited! It's not everyday we get to have road trips like this!" I said so excitedly, and both Mom and Dad who sat opposite of me only smiled softly.

"Well, it's certainly a surprise vacation. And what a good timing, because I definitely can use a vacation." Mom commented on her perspective, and I bet she's just very happy to not work at the diner.

Her boss, however, gave her one stern gaze. Mom turned away in that instant.

"I'm thinking this trip is more like our chance to see the world. It's been ten years, after all. For Milly and Lady Estella, I don't think the two of you visited other places aside from Cytus, right?" Dad asked Grandma, and she nodded firmly.

"It's impossible for us. There's quite literally a group of hunters formed and paid to hunt this brat down. A single step she made into any other city aside from Cytus, she'll be taken down instantly."

"That's terrible. Well, glad the group no longer exists!" Dad said cheerfully, which made me rather confused.

How does he know the group doesn't exist anymore? What did he do!?

"So, we can travel safely now?" I asked after putting those questions aside, and Mom nodded to me.

"As long as you're with us, Milly. You'll be fine." Mom said to me with her soft smile, and I can tell they just wanted to protect me.

"Then, where are we going? Are you finally gonna tell me where?" I asked Mom and Dad, but the two of them only turned to Grandma. 

I became confused why it was so difficult to answer, so I turned to Grandma instead. The old lady let out a sigh before answering.

"Felton. My hometown." Grandma said with such an annoyed tone, and I opened my eyes widely.

"F-Felton…? Where is that?" I turned to Dad, and he took out a map from his magical storage ring. Dad spanned the map open and held it with both hands.

"This map is still valid, right?" Dad asked Grandma, and the old lady shook her head right away.

"Pretty sure this eastern empire called 'Veldonia' doesn't exist anymore."

"It's pretty valid, then! You see, Milly, Veldonia is a gigantic empire. The size alone is almost twice the size of Ardjestyn, and there's plenty of smaller cities that is ruled by a dukedom or countdom, just like Ardjestyn." Dad explained while looking at the map, and I took a closer look at what the writing is all about.

Veldonia is indeed incredibly large. Compared to all the nations in this big map, Veldonia is the largest. This map also completely tells about all the smaller cities that are present in the Veldonia territory. Some of which are pretty big, which are the dukedoms. Some of which are pretty small, which are quite probably just small villages.

"And where's… Felton?"

"It's right in the southern area. It's a small town ruled by a Viscount, which is Estella's family." Mom pointed her hand towards the town called Felton on the map, and I turned my eyes there.

"G-Grandma's family ruled the town??" I turned to Grandma right away, and she shook her head.

"Not anymore. The family is all dead. They got wiped out." She said ever so grimly, and I had both my eyes open.

"They all died so many years ago, Milly. Right before the Veldonian civil war." Mom said softly, and I realized that Grandma was purposely teasing me.

I turned back to Grandma and found her looking away. And if I know anything about her, that simple gesture simply tells me that she was only joking around.