Chapter 5 | The Seventh Witch

“...Do you know just how dangerous things got back during Father's most perilous moment?”

“We know, we know,” Reid chimed in like a comedy duo partner. “You've told this story eight hundred times, Old Man. Isn't it just that the guy on duty fell asleep, and a giant forest wolf sneaked into the camp? When you woke up, you found the tent torn open, and the giant forest wolf was right by your ear, gorging itself on your march rations. You were splashed awake by the giant wolf's drool, and your nearby companions were all so scared they pissed their pants and didn't dare make a sound. Unfazed in the face of danger, you took advantage of the giant wolf's distracted attention to stealthily draw your sword, thrust it straight into the wolf's neck, and shouted at the top of your lungs to call for backup from the entire camp. In the end, you killed the giant wolf without a hitch.”

With his words cut off like this, the speech Rezerian had wanted to deliver got stuck in his throat, unable to be spat out or swallowed.

However, he really wanted to refute it. His heroic display back then, which was easily enough to pad out eight thousand words of intense combat, had actually been summarized in a single sentence by this little brat?

“Oh, right, Father,” Reid spoke up again. “Actually, I've always had a question.”

He put down his spoon and stared at Rezerian with an entirely serious expression.

“You said that even though you were in the wilderness, a place teeming with danger, you only woke up when the giant forest wolf drooled on you. Just how soundly were you sleeping back then?”

“Pfft!”

As soon as those words left Reid's mouth, Yamen immediately burst out laughing, spitting out the porridge in his mouth. He hurriedly wiped himself with a handkerchief, but he couldn't stop laughing, resulting in more porridge spilling out even as he wiped.

The others at the dining table also covered their mouths to snicker, though none of them were as egregious as Yamen.

Rezerian's face flushed red and white with rage as he glared at Reid, too angry to speak.

Then, he shot a fierce glare at Yamen, who quickly covered his mouth, though snickers still slipped through his hands from time to time.

Rezerian was burning with anger. These two rebellious sons of his had to be nursing grievances over what had happened during the day, using this moment to seek revenge!

“You two little brats, do you have any manners at all?! Look at yourselves at the dining table! Yamen, if you haven't learned how to eat properly, I will go dig up your old pacifier tomorrow and make you start over from sucking on a pacifier! And you, Reid, why do you have so much to say during a meal? Don't you know your spit is about to splash into my bowl?!”

Reid shrank back, wiping the spit that had splattered onto his face while muttering in his heart, just whose spit was splashing into whose bowl anyway...

“Now, now, dear, don't get angry at the children,” Lilia consoled him with a smile.

Only then did Rezerian suppress his anger, but he was still feeling stifled. Glancing sideways at the brothers, Reid and Yamen, he was already scheming how to teach these two rebellious sons a lesson tomorrow so they would learn their place.

“And that goes for the two of you as well.”

Having comforted Rezerian, Lilia scolded Reid and Yamen in a slightly stern tone, “You must not speak to your father like that. Don't let there be a next time.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“We understand, Mother.”

Reid and Yamen hung their heads, decisively backing down.

Seeing that they acknowledged their mistake, Rezerian also let them off the hook for the time being.

“Eat!”

After uttering those words grumpily, Rezerian picked up his spoon again. The dining table temporarily fell into silence, with only the constant clatter of spoons hitting the bowls and plates.

“Crash!”

Just then, a loud sound suddenly rang out.

The family stopped what they were doing and looked in Rezerian's direction in sheer astonishment.

Rezerian was no longer in his seat. Instead, he was sitting sprawled on the floor with a completely dazed expression, the shattered pieces of his chair beneath him.

“Dear??”

“Father!”

“Old Man!”

For a moment, cries of alarm filled the room.

Lilia hurriedly stepped forward to help Rezerian up, dusting off his back while asking with concern, “Dear, are you alright?”

“Ah? Oh, I'm fine,” Rezerian replied with a wave of his hand. He glanced at the broken chair behind him with a bizarre look, thinking to himself how he could be so unlucky today.

Before long, Lorenz the butler brought over a new chair.

Rezerian patted the chair, and after confirming there were no issues, he finally sat down with peace of mind.

At the same time, he said to Lorenz, “Lorenz, check the furniture in the house tomorrow. If anything needs replacing, replace it.”

“Yes, Master,” Lorenz replied as he cleared away the shattered fragments of the chair.

Stepping outside and looking at the broken pieces, Lorenz was deeply puzzled.

“How strange. I clearly inspected the house just last week, and there shouldn't have been any issues. Why did this chair suddenly break?”

After thinking about it for a moment, Lorenz stopped dwelling on the matter and instead considered whether he should find a professional carpenter to conduct an inspection tomorrow.

All in all, despite this minor hiccup, yet another ordinary dinner for the Hayeral family drew to a close.

...

The next day.

Early in the morning, Rezerian dragged Reid and Yamen out of their beds and took them to the courtyard for training. Rezerian's scoldings and the brothers' wails constantly drifted in from the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Lilia sat by the study window, bathed in the warm sunlight as she quietly read a book.

“Heave-ho!”

Hearing a sound from inside the study, Lilia looked up and saw her youngest daughter, Shulim, putting all her strength into moving a stool. She then stood on the stool, stood on her tiptoes, and stretched her tiny hands as far as she could, struggling to reach a book on the bookshelf...

A large hand reached out from behind her and retrieved the book.

Shulim tilted her head back and saw her mother's gentle face.

“What is it, Shulim? Do you want to read this book?”

Shulim nodded. “Yes, Mother.”

Lilia gave a gentle smile, carefully lifted Shulim down from the stool, and squatted in front of her with the book, meeting her gaze.

“Do you want Mommy to read it to you?”

Shulim shook her head, took the book from Lilia's hands, and said confidently, “No need, Mother. I already know how to read! The teacher at the preparatory school taught me many words.”

Lilia was slightly surprised at first, but then she laughed. “Is that so? My Shulim is truly amazing!”

Hearing her mother's praise, although Shulim tried not to look too pleased, her chin still rose a bit higher in spite of herself.

“Mother, I'm going to read now.”

Clutching the book, Shulim gave a polite bow and turned to leave.

“Mhm, go ahead. Oh, and if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me anytime. I'll be right here.”

“Okay, Mother.”

Shulim carried the magic book she had retrieved to the desk. She climbed onto the chair that Rezerian usually sat on and, with a serious face, flipped open the first page of the book.

“So... called... magic... is a... mir... miracle-like power... ○-ted... by the world... itself... To... use... this power... it is... ne-○-ssary... to... co-○-pose... the most... ba... basic... particles... magic... magic... magic-what?”

“...”

Lilia looked up and saw her youngest daughter standing in front of her, holding the book. She couldn't help but ask with a smile, “What is it, Shulim?”