The Love of a Family

"You seem to be quite happy, haha!" Elliot turned around as he and Elaine stepped onto the second floor once again. He saw the face-splitting smile which was burned onto Elaine's face, as well as the distant look in her eyes.

"Happy… of course I'm happy! It's just… I don't know how to feel about it." Elaine said, her smile diminishing somewhat. She had never experienced kindness like what Grandpa Loran had shown her before, and she yearned to experience it again and again. However, she also wasn't sure how to feel about entering someone else's family. It felt like she was leaving her old life behind.

"Stop thinking so deeply! Goodness, it's like you're an old woman who has experienced the vicissitudes of life!" Elliot felt exasperation build in his chest when he saw Elaine's hesitant and conflicted expression.

"If you are worried about your parents, think about it this way. Would they want you to live without a family forever?" Elliot then leaned forward suddenly, bending down to cup her cheeks with his palms and placing his forehead on hers. He was already 14 years old and was much bigger than her, so the sight was rather comical.

"Your parents would want you to be happy. You're not leaving them behind." His words caused Elaine to shiver slightly, and a mist began to fill her eyes. "Now, now. Please don't cry, I can't make my little sister cry on the first day! You wouldn't want Grandfather to yell at me, would you?"

Elliot then backed away and put on a nervous expression, like a child who broke a lamp while playing indoors. "I-I won't cry. It's just that nobody has been so kind to me before." Elaine wiped her eyes and smiled at Elliot.

"Hmph! I guess I will have to spoil this new little sister of mine, then." Elliot chuckled and rubbed Elaine's head, causing her long blond hair to become disorderly. Ignoring her pouting expression, Elliot continued on with a more serious tone of voice.

"Well, now that you're my little sister, I should start to teach you about magic! Ah, this is so great!" Elliot then led Elaine down the hall to a room across from his own. Opening the door, he revealed a small, ordinary-looking bedroom.

There wasn't much color in the room, but it was still one of the most exquisite bedrooms that Elaine had seen. "This bedroom will be yours. Grandfather has already arranged for your course of study, though most of the exciting stuff will have to wait until you reach ten years old."

Elaine looked up at Elliot with an excited gaze. "This is all mine?" She didn't know what to say. She had gone from living in a broom closet with only dirty, baggy old clothes to being told that a large and spacious-looking bedroom was now her own space.

Looking around, she saw the plush bed surrounded by a light grey canopy, along with a corner of the room which had a small mahogany desk and bookshelf. There was even a small fireplace and plush armchair. Elaine was shocked that every room of the house she had been in could have so much opulence.

"Mm. Don't worry about clothes, Grandfather and I will be taking you out to buy some necessities soon. After all, it was only us two here previously. We should buy some more things for girls, haha!" Elliot smiled and rubbed Elaine's head again, causing her to swat at his arm in annoyance.

"Agh! Stop that! Seriously! Anyways, what do you mean that the exciting stuff has to wait until I turn ten? Why can't I learn it sooner?" Elaine quickly changed the subject, hoping that it would divert Elliot's attention away from her scalp, which was now covered by an utter mess of tangled hair.

"Well… that is because you won't finish your growth until you turn 10. Until then, your connection to magic will be shaky at best, the most you would be able to do is project Arcane Essence. As for forming complex structures like spells… well, that will take a few years anyways." Elliot's words sounded completely alien to Elaine. She could only stare at him with dumbfounded eyes, looking as though he were speaking like an idiot.

"Oi! What's with that look? You will learn all of these terms soon! You had better get used to it!" Elliot saw her expression and his ears turned pink in mild embarrassment. He reprimanded Elaine with a joking tone.

"Rumble…" Suddenly, from Elaine's stomach, a deep growling sounded out. Immediately, the one to feel embarrassment switched to being Elaine, delicate cheeks flushing a deep red.

'Seriously… what is with the timing.' Elaine thought to herself, not daring to look up. She could already see the teasing smile which would have spread across Elliot's face.

"Hmm, I guess the tutoring can wait. Why don't we go down and get something to eat? It is already almost dinner time." Elliot said, and Elaine realized that the whole day had already flown by from the morning when she had woken up here. So much had happened in one day that it left Elaine feeling as though she were in a dream.

"Well, what would you like to eat? We can go down and have a look, Grandfather should be down in a few minutes. Believe it or not, he's a pretty good cook." Elliot said as he turned to leave for the door. Elaine looked at his back with a mix of emotions flooding her mind. "While we eat, we will probably talk more about what you will be learning. He's probably going to have you learn some of the basics about math and literature during these two years."

Elliot's nonchalant voice at this time left a deep impression on Elaine. His kindness was not something forced, nor was it given with the intent of being repaid in the future. Instead, he spoke these words happily, like a caring elder brother would, in order to comfort a younger sibling. These words sunk into Elaine's heart, and she felt something that had been missing from within her for a long time start to fill in. It was far from being completely filled, but the hole she had felt in the wake of her parent's death suddenly didn't seem quite as big.

"This doesn't seem so bad… Mother, Father, I hope you won't mind if I find myself a new home…" Elaine then followed behind Elliot, leaving behind a part of her former self in hopes of being able to return to her past simple happiness.