Chapter 2 - Alvador City [2]

Alvador City, the capital city of the Astaria Empire, it was an empire that has established its rule for thousands of years. There are three powerful empires on the Angia continent, and one of them is the Astaria Empire, ruled by the Astaria Royal Family.

The empire was established long ago by the first king of Asteria. It was once just a country, but due to their king's leadership, they were able to rise in power and become an empire.

The capital city, where the royal family and other powerful nobles with high status and authority resided, was in the country of the first king. It was made the capital when the empire was created, which explains why the capital city was much larger than a regular city.

Currently Sian, Catherina, and Maya were flying above the city on a white wyvern, heading towards Marquis Avier's territory.

The whole territory of the Marquis was the size of a small city. To govern the whole territory, you would need a lot of resources like money and many servants or workers, but that wasn't a problem for Marquis Avier as he had many trusted individuals in his subordinates to manage them.

The wyvern landed on the lawn near the garden of the mansion. Sian, Catherina, and Maya then got off the wyvern, and Maya tossed it something to eat, and it flew to the sky, returning to its home.

"Sister! Welcome back!" They were greeted by a kid who looked 14 and ran up to give Catherina a hug, and with him, two other people also came to welcome them. They were Catherina's parents.

The two looked like a young newlywed couple in their 20s, but if you knew their age, you would say otherwise.

Catherina's mother resembled her older sister when they were together. She, like Nia, had blue eyes and dark blue hair that only reached her neck. With her cherry red lips and pristine white skin, you could imagine where Catherina inherited them. She had an elegant and graceful appearance, as well as a gorgeous face that made you forget she was more than 40 years old.

A man dressed in formal noble clothing stood behind her. His features were attractive, with pointed brows and gentle, dignified eyes. The aura around him indicated that he had been in a high-ranking post for a long time. Despite his efforts to conceal it, a faint aura appeared to emanate from him, radiating an overwhelming presence of power.

"Welcome back, dear." Her mother greeted her with a loving voice and a hug, as did her father.

"Welcome back, Catherina. By the way, who is this boy?" His father asked, looking at Sian. He was curious about the identity of the boy that her daughter brought home.

'Her lover? Did spring finally come for Catherina? Wait, no, let's not get our hopes up.'

Catherina gestured for Sian to come forward. Sian stepped forward and introduced himself in a similar way as he did with her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I am Sian Snyder, and I am..." He glanced at Catherina.

"You are.?" Catherina's father waited for his answer with slight anticipation.

"I am Lady Catherina's butler." He finished his words and turned to look at Catherina's parents. Her mother was smiling, but he was surprised by the somewhat disappointed look her father had.

"Haa. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up." Marquis Avier sighed in disappointment and was consulted by his wife.

"Cheer up, dear. It's Catherina we're talking about, you should have been expecting that already."

"I know..."

"Hey, what do you mean it's me you're talking about?!" She was questioned irritably by Catherina, who was annoyed by her parents talking about her.

Sian then crouched down in front of a boy and took something from his pocket. It was a tiny wooden bow sculpted by him when he heard from Catherina that her brother liked bows.

"This is for you, Rin. I heard from your sister that you loved playing with bows and wanted to be a bow saint when you grew up, so I made this for you and I hope that you'll like it." He said this as he handed the tiny boy to Rin, who accepted it happily. It looked like an ordinary, tiny bow, but he put some special touches into it. It was made by him, after all, so of course it won't be ordinary.

"Thank you, mister. Sister look! Your butler gave me a tiny bow!" He thanked Sian and joyfully showed his new bow to his sister.

"Oh, it appears that you are very skilled; making a sculpture as detailed as that, let alone a tiny one for your age, is really surprising." Miss Avier was drawn to the tiny bow carved by him. She was interested in sculpting but lacked the necessary talent. So the only thing she does is gaze at other people's sculptures

"Thank you for your compliment, Miss Avier, and if you want, I could make you one as well, a sculpture."

"Sure, but I don't have anything planned for a sculpture right now, so I'll think about it."

"It's all right, Miss Avier; take your time."

"Mmm. Okay, then let's continue our conversation inside; I had the maids prepare a feast for us, so another person joining us won't be a problem," she said as she walked into the mansion, and they all followed her back.

Miss Avier had a favorable impression of Sian even though they had only met briefly.His attitude and ability to create sculpture were important factors in this.

And seeing her family on good terms with Sian Catherina was partly reassuring, albeit her parents' past statements irritated her. They were seated inside at a huge table filled with various types of food.

They started eating and praying to their gods. In this universe, there were seven gods, and mankind worshiped three of them. Sian followed, jokingly praying to himself. After all, he was a god as well. But, as Sian thought about it, he had been treated like a lover visiting her lover's parents ever since he arrived.

He didn't dwell on that for too long and glanced at Catherina, who was in the middle of putting her spoon into her mouth. Their eyes met, and she tilted her head as if to ask, but Sian just gave her a kind and warm smile that made her taken aback for a moment, before they both continued eating.

After they all finished eating their meals, Marquis Avier looked at Catherina and spoke.

"Catherina, you'll be returning to the academy tomorrow, right? Will you be taking him along with you as well?"

"Yeah I'll be returning to the academy with Sian, but to do so he needs to pass the examination first, so I may need your help, dad, in case he fails."

"Right. I forgot to tell you this, but you can actually enter the academy without passing the examination as long as you have the approval letter of the headmaster of the academy."

"Really?! That's great, but how will he be able to get that?"

"Simple I'll just have to write a letter asking for approval from the headmaster. The truth is that the headmaster and I are longtime friends, but that information is not known to the public."

Great, thanks, dad! Now Sian won't need to go through that annoying examination." She rejoiced, her expression filled with joy, and she thanked her father.

After their talk about returning to the academy, they headed back to their rooms. Sian was guided by a maid to a room prepared for him, and as for Catherina's parents, they still had some work to do in their office. They were a marquis after all, and of course they have their hands full even if it's just signing and doing some paper work.

Sian entered the room, which was much larger than the one in the hotel, and laid on the bed and watched some TV. As for Catherina, she was spending time with her brother, whom she won't see for a while when she goes to the academy.

And just like that, a day and a night passed by without anything significant happening, and morning arrived. It was now time for Sian and Catherina to depart. Maya won't be accompanying them, as only students and teachers are allowed in the academy. The same is true for everyone, whether a duke or a prince. They may only bring one personal attendant with them if he or she was under the age of 30.