2 The Meeting(s)

Walking inside, everything seemed the same as I saw in my memories.

My father sits at the head of the table with a stern look on his face, my mother on his right with funnily the same look, and my sister on his left with a more neutral face.

My father, Aragon, despite his stern look, has a very good-looking face with the same hair and eye color as me, and he's also sporting a beard. No, not a beard, more like stubble which he looks good in.

My mother, Amelia, is also a very good-looking woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes. All in all, she is very beautiful.

Lastly, my sister, Elizabeth or Liz as I like to call her, has the same hair and eye color as my father and me, making us look even more like siblings when we stand together since our looks match.

Before I take my seat, I greet my parents and sister as the noble etiquette conducts and then take my designated sit next to my sister. I unfold my napkin and gracefully place it evenly across my thighs.

The maids start serving the food to all of us, and we start eating our breakfast.

My father disrupts the silence in the room.

"Your birthday is getting closer, as is your admission to the academy. How do you think you're going to fare?"

Before answering the question, my mind trails off to the way of his phrasing.

`Did he say my birthday is getting closer because he doesn't know exactly when my birthday is? Because I had something similar happen to me on earth when my father asked me what grade I was in. And also, why did my sister fidget when she heard about my admission to the academy? Does she want to leave that badly from here?`

Anyways… I answer my father

"I don't think that someone else will get the first place since, from the nobles I've met, it seems that I'm way ahead. I don't know about the commoners or the nobles that I have yet to meet from the other kingdoms, but either way, I don't think someone else has the first place."

It might sound a bit arrogant, but it's the truth since most nobles at this age are around F+ to E-. It might not sound like a big difference compared to my E+ rank, but to advance even a small rank takes considerable time and many resources. To put it into perspective, my sister, who is equally talented as I am and is a year older, sits at the D rank, which also is very good for a 17-year-old.

"Very good. I hope you don't disappoint me."

`Thanks for the vote of confidence, father.`

"I will try my best not to shame you and this family, father."

Was my reply a bit too much? No! When my sister got her admission and the academy ranking, she got second place, and he told her that weakness didn't belong in this family. It might be a great mindset to have, but not everyone thinks the same way, and honestly, not everyone can.

As I think of those things, I slightly take a peek at my sister, who is silently eating her food with her head down. Probably thinking about the things father said.

The rest of the family breakfast was uneventful, to my delight.

My mother probably returned to her room without uttering a single word throughout the entire breakfast. The same goes for my sister, who is currently following me to my room as she always does whenever she returns from the academy. As for my father, he went to his office.

Getting inside my room, my sister sits on the bed and says to me.

"Don't worry about what father said. You can also get another rank. The admission examination is not only about your current capabilities, but they also take into consideration your future potential, which they have a way to measure, as it seems… ."

Yes, my sister got the second rank because her future potential was A, in comparison to the first son of Duke Saint, who was A+. Their other stages of the examination were pretty much the same, so their rank got judged mostly on their future potential.

Getting an A -includes all sub-ranks of A- as potential is not a thing to scoff at since there are around 1000 -officially- registered A awakeners and even less than that S rank awakeners in a kingdom that consists of millions of people.

"It's okay, Liz, you don't have to worry about me. Now, tell me, how was this time at the academy? We didn't have time to catch up yesterday when you came."

Smiling at me, Liz says.

"It was pretty good. We mostly this year got outside missions to hunt mana beasts. Ooh, and also I made a new friend, she is a commoner but pretty talented and has a good character. Maybe I will let you meet her. She is also beautiful."

She finishes saying with a mischievous grin plastered on her face.

"Maybe your potential in matchmaking outmatches that of your rank."

I said with the same mischievous grin.

And that's how she gets up, gets me into a headlock until I say sorry to her, the usual stuff, at least to us.

"Sorry, sorry," I say between laughs. This reminds me of how we used to be with my sister back on earth.

"Hmph, as long as you know who is in charge."

She says as she leaves the room, probably going to ask the maids how things have been in the house while she was at the academy because that's not something she wants to talk about with me, or so she says.

Standing before my window, I admire the view while it still rains. Right now, it's September, the beginning of the fall, and undoubtedly one of my favorite seasons along with the winter.

Getting me out of my stupor is a knock on the door.

"Come in."

"Master, mistress requests your presence in her private quarters."

"Okay, lead the way."

Another meeting, this time a private one. I wonder what this is about since, from my memories, there have only been a few times when I met my mother like this.

Arriving in front of her private quarter I can't help but marvel at the beautifully oriented door decorated with beautiful gems all over it making it look like a mosaic.

The maid knocks on the door and says,

"Mistress, young master has arrived."

"Let him get in."

I get in, and the maid closes the door behind me. My eyes wander around the room, and they finally land on my mother, who sits behind her desk. I walk in front of her desk and take a sit at the chair.

"You requested me, mother?"

"Yes, since your birthday and your admission are coming up, we have a lot of things to do. Don't worry much about your birthday since that will be taken care of by the maids, and also I will handle the attendee list. I hope you don't have a problem with that."

"No."

She nods and continuous,

"Now, about your admission, you know that all nobles get a recommendation from the academy, but almost no one takes it since it means you don't have the qualifications to pass with your capabilities. So that being said, for the next two weeks, you will mostly train in your ice affinity and mana breathing with me since it's the thing that you are lacking right now compared to your sword. Any questions about the training or something else?"

"No, mother."

"Okay, good, you can go, and we will start training in about 2 hours. I will send a maid to notify you when to come to the training grounds."

"Yes, and thank you for training me."

"Of course, I would train you. We have the same affinity, and you are the person who will eventually inherit the household, so you must be strong. Weakness has no place here or anywhere in the world for what matters. I hope you always remember that. You can go now and get ready."

She said as sternly as ever.

I did a simple nod and left, heading towards my room.

`Will someone else come to make me visit father?`

I thought of it because it seems like I'm meeting everyone today. I get inside my room and walk straight to the window once again, admiring the view from my room, waiting for the training with my mother, which brings me excitement since she is one of the few S-rank awakened in this kingdom so in those two weeks, I will get the chance to learn a lot and maybe even breakthrough.

"Let's see what awaits me in those two weeks. I hope I won't be disappointed." I say as I watch my smiling reflection in front of the window.