Chapter 61: Chapter 49: The Birthday Boy and His Sisters…

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 49: The Birthday Boy and His Sisters…

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“Julius, wake up.” A feminine voice called my name.

“Ngn… Five more minutes…” I spun around in bed, not wanting to get up yet.

“C’mon! Don’t be like that! You don't want to spend your whole birthday sleeping, do you?” The owner of the voice patted my shoulder repeatedly, trying to make me get up. “I even made you breakfast and brought it here so you could eat it in bed!” The owner of the feminine voice spoke with a lot of excitement.

“Alright, alright… I’m getting up…” I sluggishly raised my upper body since I was feeling quite drowsy.

I immediately started using a bit of water magic at the tip of my fingers and washing and cleaning my eyes…

After I was done with that, I discovered that the owner of that voice was none other than Laura who was wearing a school uniform and had a gorgeous smile on her face.

"Took you long enough." She said with a teasing smile. "Good morning! How are you feeling, birthday boy?" Laura asked before giggling.

"Pretty good, actually." I smiled back at Laura. "Lia threw me a party in her Divine Realm, so I was having some fun with her and Catris there." I explained while I remembered all the fun I had during my party.

Though, I must admit that I had my ass handed to me by Reginleif… She is really good at Smack Siblings… Godlike, I would say. She effortlessly kicked my ass around countless times, much to my frustration…

I feel like that should be a huge clue about her identity, yet I still got nothing… I still have no idea who she is…

So in summary, Reginleif smacked the shit out of me in a video game… Still, I had a really good time with her and the Goddesses.

"So I've been told." Laura nodded in response before grabbing a tray filled to the brim with food from the nightstand. "I might not be as good as you when it comes to cooking, but I'm confident that you'll like this! So eat up, birthday boy! An apostle of the Goddess of Love can't start the day with an empty stomach!" She immediately put the tray on my lap with a big warm smile on her face.

After she placed the tray on my lap, the almost divine aroma of the food immediately invaded my nostrils… Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, a glass of orange juice, and a large cup of coffee. An American breakfast. Something simple, yet often delicious.

"So you know about that too…" I said while not being able to take my eyes off the delicious-looking breakfast in front of me…

"More or less~." She replied playfully. "You don't need to wait for my permission to eat, you know? Just dig in!" Laura said before giggling.

"Then don't mind if I do." I quickly grabbed a fork and a knife from the tray. "Also, when you say more or less, you mean that you know why Catris reincarnated you and Sarana and why I became her apostle?" I asked before I started eating.

"Yeah, we know about all of that. Sarana and I had a long talk with Lady Catris earlier in the morning where she explained everything in detail." She nodded in response.

"I see…" I said while looking at my reflection in the cup of coffee. "And you're not angry at her for what she was intending to do with the two of you?" I looked at her with a serious expression.

"Angry? Not particularly." Laura just shrugged. "I mean, if it is about fucked up tasteless prank she played on me? Then yeah, I'm still pretty pissed off about that…" Laura crossed her arms and frowned.

"Prank? What did she do to you?" I was really curious about what happened between the two of them.

"Y-Y-You don't need to worry about it! Forget I even said anything!" Laura suddenly stuttered and averted her gaze from mine. She was also blushing a lot.

Weird… Was that prank really that embarrassing? Now I’m curious about what Catris did… I might as well ask her when I get the chance.

“A-A-Anyway! I am not angry at Catris about her motives for reincarnating us, even if they were selfish.” Laura hurriedly attempted to get back on the topic. “When she told me just how much regret she felt, I just couldn’t help but try to put myself in her shoes…” Laura looked to the ceiling with a saddened expression.

“Yeah, I can understand why you would do that.” I nodded in agreement after I remember all the faces Catris had shown me while telling me her story.

“It must have been so lonely… To lose all the people she held dear just because she was afraid… It is just so unfair and sad, you know? And to have to live with such pain for thousands of years… I don’t think I could endure that for as long as she did…” Laura spoke with empathy before sitting at the edge of the bed and making eye contact with me. “There’s no way I could be angry at her after all she’s been through.” Laura then shook her head. 

Yes… It is unfair… It is one of the many things that I will personally correct by destroying the blight that is consuming this world, Agmos…

“Although her original motivation for reincarnating us was selfish, I can only be grateful to her, especially considering that she was the one who gave me a second shot at life after meeting such a pathetic end.” Laura showed me a warm gentle smile. “She also gave me the chance to meet the sister I didn’t know I had, but not only that, she gave so much more than that… I got a new loving family and some kickass friends. All of them are pretty fucking weird in their own particular ways, but who isn’t weird in this fantasy world? In my opinion, they are all amazing just as much as they are weird!” Laura let out an adorable giggle.

I couldn’t help but smile after hearing how grateful she felt toward Catris.

Sheesh… I feel a little dumb for worrying that Laura and Sarana would come to resent Catris after being told the truth about their reincarnation. I’m glad that wasn’t the case.

“Oh! I do have another thing that I’m grateful for!” Laura then smirked and made a dramatic pause. “Lady Catris gave me this smoking hot body, so I can very very easily hit the jackpot and marry a rich guy!” Laura said with pride as she puffed her chest.

“Is that so? I wish you all the luck in the world then. May the Goddess of Love aid you in your quest to marry a wealthy man since there’s no Zinder in this world to help you meet your soulmate.” I spoke with a teasing tone.

“Thanks! Though, I must ask… What’s Zinder? Is it some sort of futuristic marriage interview or something like that?” Laura tilted her head. She looked genuinely confused…

Oh c’mon, there’s no way she doesn’t know what Zinder is…

“It is not really that futuristic… It was actually invented back in your era… You know… The phone app? Swipe right to like someone? Get ghosted after three messages?” I gave her a questioning glance.

“Yeah, I don’t really get what you're talking about… My parents used to be a little overprotective when it came to the internet or phone stuff. I mainly used my phone to talk with my friends and family.” Laura explained, still with a lot of confusion on her face.

Oh… She actually doesn’t know… That’s a little unexpected… Well, she was 14 when she died so I guess it is not that unexpected.

“Is that so? Well, I guess it is better if we leave it as that…” I was feeling a little awkward because my joke had flown over her head. “So… Rich guy… You’re aiming pretty high huh? I said the first thing that came to my mind.”

“Look who’s talking! The guy who has two fiancées and two goddesses fighting for him on top of that! What I’m doing is tamer compared to you!” Laura poked some fun at me…

“It is not like intended for things to happen that way, to be honest… It all just sorta happened, you know?” I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. “So you are actually a gold digger like Grandpa said? Quite frankly, I didn’t think it was true…” I tried to change the topic.

“Changing the topic eh? Why are you avoiding talking about your harem? You must be pretty happy to have several women fawning over you.” Laura smirked at me again, clearly enjoying herself. “I suppose you could call me a gold digger, yeah. What’s so bad about wanting to marry a super rich and hot guy who would care for your every need and pay for your every whim? I call that living the dream!” Laura suddenly rose from the bed and looked at the ceiling with conviction.

“I-I-I see… Good luck with that then… But why do you need to marry a rich guy? You seem more like the type to care about personality and feelings rather than wealth considering how empathetic you can be.” I said to Laura. “I don’t mean to judge you or anything, I’m just curious.” I looked at her with interest before shifting my attention to the tray with food on my lap.

“My reasons are pretty simple. My parents pretty much shared one brain cell when it came to managing our family’s money, so because of them, I don’t want to be as poor as we were back then, and more importantly… I just fucking love money! I mean, why wouldn’t I love money!? Money can buy you really cool things like clothes, shoes, delicious food… Almost anything can be bought if you have enough money!” Laura explained with enthusiasm… Her eyes were basically sparkling while she talked about money…

“Okay, so if I became rich would you want to marry me or something?” I asked her jokingly.

“Maybe. But I’ll have you know that the path to winning my heart is pretty expensive. You’d certainly need to be rich as a noble. In fact, you’d have to be a noble too! If you manage to achieve both of those things, then I’d definitely be chasing after you.” Laura went along with my joke and smiled playfully.

“I have the two of them in the bag already. Don’t you remember that I am the prince of a country?” I continued to goof around with her.

“That might be true, but the only problem with that is that no one in this continent knows where your kingdom is, Your Highness. All of your riches are there too, right? What’s the point of having riches if you can’t even spend them? So, I’m afraid that His Highness is quite poor while you’re in this country.” Laura started addressing me according to my title in a joking manner.

“Well, you got me there…” I said before chuckling after joking around with my new auntie.

“Try your luck next time when you are a rich nobleman of this realm, Your Highness!” She stuck out her tongue in a teasing manner. “It was fun to be like this with you, but I have to go back to the kitchen. I left Sarana in charge of everything down there, and I’d rather still have a house by the end of the day… So, eat up before your food gets cold and get dressed. We are going to take you on a tour around the city, so we have a long day ahead of us!” Laura suddenly poked my cheek before getting up and walking towards the door.

“Is that so? I’m looking forward to it then!” I started feeling excited about sightseeing around the capital. “Oh! What about Mom and Dad? Or my sisters? Or Mia? All of them usually compete to see who can wish me a happy birthday first.” I remembered my family right when Laura was about to leave.

“Oh, them? Your dear mother basically woke up at first light and dragged your father away to go god knows where... They left a note for me and Sarana to take care of you and the other children and to not let you alone with Grandpa. Sis said that she didn’t want him to put any weird ideas in your head.” Laura explained.

After my first meeting with Lia where I remembered exactly when my birthday was, my adoptive mom has taken it upon herself to be the first to congratulate me and pamper me during the whole day. Can’t say I dislike it since my last two birthdays were pretty great thanks to her efforts.

Speaking of which… I wonder what my mother and my father are up to. The biological ones, I mean… It has been a while since I last sent a message to them… I’ll talk with Lia to send them one later in the day. I need to think of what to say first…

“Yeah, given what happened yesterday, that makes sense…” I nodded in understanding.

“As for your sisters and your cute girlfriend, they are getting all dolled up to go on an exciting sightseeing day trip! Leaf is with them too! So, please be a gentleman and don’t make them wait too long, but also enjoy your breakfast, okay? Now I’m off before my idiot friends and sister burn my home.” Laura winked at me and smiled before leaving the room.

After that interaction with my new adoptive aunt, I was left to my own devices while feeling pretty great. There was now only one thing to do…

I quickly started eating the meal that Laura had prepared for me…

“Holy shit… This is great!” I looked at the tray on my lap wide-eyed thanks to how delicious my meal was.

The meal was not as hot as it should be since I talked with Laura for quite a while, but it was still decently warm. The bacon was crispy and filled with such an intense salty flavor which went along great with the soft texture of the eggs that almost seemed like small clouds on my plate. The eggs’ flavor was mild, but it was very pleasant. Now the toast, oh the toast… For starters, the bread was freshly baked, something that I could tell after spending years in this world, baking my own bread. Laura had managed to toast the bread exactly how I liked, not too burnt but burnt just enough that the bread is still just a little soft. There was a thin layer of cream cheese and another one of strawberry jam spread all over the toast.

Now, the orange juice seemed to be made with freshly squeezed oranges and it had quite a lot of that yummy pulp! As for the coffee… There’s not much that I can say about perfection.

“Hmm… She’s pretty darn good at this…” I mumbled while thoroughly enjoying my food. “I didn’t think I’d say this, but I think I agree with Grandpa. Well, not entirely… I don’t think such an honest and sweet person like Laura is actually trying to become a gold digger… I know it is none of my business, but it doesn’t feel genuine for some reason… It feels more like she's trying too hard to convince herself that she wants to marry a rich guy… Again, it is none of my business, so...” A sudden thought came to my mind about my interaction with Laura.

(You hit right on the nail! She's trying really hard to convince herself that that's what she wants!) Catris suddenly spoke in my mind.

"Oh, hey Catris. I thought you were having another serious talk with Lia." I said to the goddess.

(Yep! We were talking about the finer details of our future plans and whatnot, but she had to go back to Gliosis to help your bio mom since there was something serious going on there while we were partying… Lia said that I had to tell you that you don't need to worry about that situation, that you should just have fun today, and that she will get in touch as soon as she is done. As for me, I'm just hanging out with Reginleif and playing some games!) She said in her usual enthusiastic tone.

Oh, that sounds concerning… I guess I'll just have to trust Lia and wait for her to contact me again to ask her about it.

"I see… Thank you for telling me, Catris." I smiled at the empty air.

(No need to thank me! I'm your goddess too, so I'll do anything for my cute apostle!) Catris seemed to be in an excellent mood now.

"So, what was that about Laura trying to convince herself that she wants to be a gold digger? That sounds like it could become a problem in the future…” I spoke with genuine concern.

(You’re concerned about her? That’s so cute!) Catris said happily before giggling.

I mean, we might have met each other not so long ago, but still, she’s my mother’s little sister and a fellow reincarnator from Earth… I don’t mean to intrude in her life and tell her how she should feel or anything but still, I can’t help but be worried about her... She could get herself into a dangerous situation if she’s not careful…

I mean, I’m not saying all nobles are bad since we have Ophelia as an example of that, but there are also people like that Earl that got executed three years ago in Norvek…

“Yeah, I am a little worried…” I said with a serious tone while looking down at my food.

(I was also really concerned about that until a few days ago… But not anymore!) Catris seemed even happier than before.

“Huh? Why not?” I asked the goddess.

(Hehehe! If things go according to what I have foreseen, we won’t need to worry about Laura anymore~.) Catris replied playfully.

“Wait… You can see the future like Lia? What exactly do you mean by that?” I was extremely curious.

(No, I can’t see the future like she does… Though you could say that, in a way, I can see the future! Just not in the way that you would think~.) Catris was being vague and purposely avoided my other question. (Oh! Would you look at the time? I have to do some really important stuff right now, so… Enjoy your birthday!) Catris cut the telepathic connection between us in a hurry… It felt like she was running away from me.

That was odd… I have a bad feeling about this now… I swear to all the gods in existence that if Catris is trying to set me up with one of my adoptive aunties again, I’ll tell Lia to not hold back and teach her a painful lesson…

After thinking about Catris’s seemingly ominous prophecy for a few moments, I decided just to leave it be and enjoy my breakfast before going on an adventure with my family.

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-----Liliana’s POV-----

Luna and I were currently waiting at the front door for everyone to finish their breakfast and get ready to go out.

There were only a handful of people walking around on our street. Most people in the neighborhood go to work an hour or two after sunrise, so it makes sense for the street to be empty since it has already been a few hours since the sun came up.

Still, pretty all of the people we have seen so far have recognized us and greeted us very enthusiastically…

It was good to be back! Especially since we hadn't encountered them yet… I hope that it stays that way until we leave.

“Are you sure this looks good on me?” My little sister asked while looking inside the house with a worried expression.

“Oh, c’mon! Are you really doubting my sense of fashion? Besides, regardless if it looks good or not, it is too late to get changed anyway!” I chuckled while patting my sister on the back.

“That really doesn’t make me feel better…” Luna muttered while pouting.

“Jeez! Don’t get annoyed at me! I was just kidding! You look super duper cute! Have some faith in your older sister!” I stood proudly with a smug look on my face.

“Thank you… I’m just feeling a little nervous…” Luna spoke shyly.

“You're welcome! And besides, if you looked bad, I would also look bad since we are identical twins... Wouldn’t want that to happen!” I quipped before giggling.

“And you ruined it… Way to go sis.” My little sister crossed her arms and looked at me with annoyance.

Hehehe! She’s so easy to tease!

“You know that I’m just playing around! I’m also really nervous, you know?” I smiled awkwardly.

The reason why my sister and I are feeling nervous is that today is a very special day… Today is Julius’s tenth birthday!

Just like in the last two years, my mother is planning to throw a party for him. However, because she wants him to enjoy himself and not try to help her with every little thing as Julius always does, she asked Aunt Laura to take Julius and the rest of us sightseeing around the city so she and Dad could prepare everything for the party. She even got Grandpa to go out to buy all of the ingredients she needed for the dishes Julius taught her how to make.

Because of all that, my sister and I decided to dress up for the occasion!

I’m currently wearing a pale blue sundress with some really comfortable sandals of the same color. Oh, I also arranged my long hair into two cute buns so I can be more comfortable during our sightseeing trip! We are going to be walking a lot after all! I’m going to bring my usual fur coat as well just in case I get cold.

You are reading story Echoes of Fire and Shadows at novel35.com

Luna, on the other hand, is wearing a fairly similar outfit… A gorgeous white sundress and a pair of sandals. The only difference between our outfits was that she was wearing a hat. That hat and her beautiful short hair made her look like a mature and elegant young noble lady. I really went overboard to doll her up! Hehehe!

Ah! Of course, the two of us are still wearing the bracelets Julius gifted us! It would be a crime not to wear them since he made them with all his love and they are also really stylish! 

So, all in all, we are ready to show Julius just how cute we can be~! After all, who knows when a great opportunity to confess our feelings will appear? It would be stupid to waste that opportunity if it ever came up, but if it doesn't, there's still our master plan to confess at the end of the tournament!

Speaking of that, I wonder when Neris will show up again… She said that she needed to have a long talk with her parents and that she'd come with Elissa once everything is settled with her family.

"Jeez…  I can’t believe how much the two of you have grown…" Aunt Sarana suddenly appeared out of thin air right in front of us. She was wearing her school uniform from the Imperial Academy. “It almost seems like it was yesterday when I was your age and holding the two of you in my arms… Now I feel a little old…” She giggled awkwardly while pulling me and my sister into a tight hug.

I was happy to hug her, but there was a somewhat huge problem with that…

“Auntie… Are you trying to suffocate us to death again!?” Luna pulled her face away and looked at our aunt with fear.

“Yep… These things are as fearsome as ever…” I did the same as my sister as I looked with caution at the natural weapons my aunt had been born with…

It is not like we don't like Aunt Sarana, quite the opposite, in fact, we love her a lot! The thing is that her hugs are literal death traps thanks to her ample bosom… 

In response to us squirming around trying to break free, Aunt Sarana simply tilted her head with a bit of confusion. But then, after a few moments, a mischievous expression appeared on her face.

“What? Now you two are too cool to hug your poor auntie? I guess it makes sense since the two of you have grown to become such beautiful young ladies that only care about winning the heart of your beloved adoptive brother… It is fine, I understand~.” She didn’t care that we were struggling to break free, she kept pulling us closer to her for a hug with a huge smile on her face. 

“Auntie, that’s…” Luna’s face became deep red as soon as she heard those words.

"It is not like that…" I said awkwardly.

“It's fine! You don't need to get all embarrassed with me! After all, your mom told me everything about how you feel about him~!” Aunt Sarana smiled warmly. “All of it is just adorable, you know? Your auntie will definitely give all she has to support you!” She was hugging us so tightly that we were about to be suffocated by those things again…

Thankfully, before we were sent on our way to visit Granny Arentia in the afterlife thanks to Aunt Sarana's huge assets, we were saved by our other aunt…

“Sarana… Stop harassing the twins!” Aunt Laura suddenly arrived and pulled Aunt Sarana away from us by the cheek. It looked quite painful…

“Stop! Laura! Stop! I get it! Oww! Oww! It hurts…-!” Aunt Sarana yelped in pain while she was being pulled away from my little sister and me.

Luna and I looked at each other and then we let out a sigh of relief after being released from the loving embrace of our aunt…

At that moment, a lot of people started coming out of the house… Mainly, my aunts' friends.

"I guess some things won't change, no matter how much time has passed, huh?" Emily said with a big smile on her face.

"It seems like it." Douglas, the usually grumpy dwelf said with amusement. "Though I don't know what to feel about the twins now being taller than me…" He muttered under his breath.

"Well, doing that is really not that difficult, is it?" Felix, the feminine catboy, didn't miss the opportunity to poke some fun at his friend.

"I hate the fact that you're right…" Douglas frowned. "I suppose it is only natural considering that they are the daughters of that mountain of a man." He nodded to himself while talking about dad.

"Regardless of their father being tall, it would be strange if they stayed the same size after all these years, don't you think?" Mark said to Douglas with his usual sunny and friendly demeanor.

Mark's words immediately made me think of the person I like, who has barely grown a few centimeters taller in the past three years.

Hehehe, cute~.

“How many times do I need to remind you not to hug the twins that tightly!? That you will end up suffocating them to death with obnoxiously big breasts of yours!?” Aunt Laura was pulling Aunt Sarana’s cheeks with all her might while scolding her. However, I could tell that she also sounded a little jealous…

“Stop! I learned my lesson, okay!? Stop bullying your older sister!” Aunt Sarana let out a desperate cry.

In the blink of an eye, Aunt Sarana then disappeared from view. She had used her magic to save herself from the wrath of our other aunt. Then, I felt something land on my shoulder… A small and very cute golden fox.

“Liliana! Protect your auntie from that monster!” The fox, who happened to be my polymorphed aunt, cowered in fear. 

“I was not bullying you, I was scolding you for harassing your clearly uncomfortable nieces! Also, a monster!? You’ll regret calling me that!” Aunt Laura crossed her arms and looked at Aunt Sarana with anger.

Aunt Sarana simply growled in response, before hiding behind me and Luna.

“And we are back to normal…” Douglas said with a somewhat relieved look on his face. “By the way, where’s the birthday boy? He’s the only one missing, right?” Douglas asked, clearly not caring that my aunts were busy with their usual antics.

“No, we are also missing Leaf, Klein, and Mia. As for Julius, I gave him his breakfast, spoke with him, and left him to enjoy his meal in peace.” Aunt Laura said before letting out a sigh.

“Wait!? You left him alone to have a meal on his birthday!? That’s just downright cruel! Weren’t you like, the Auntie of the Year or something!?” Emily looked a little surprised as well as a little angry about what my aunt said.

“Yeah, not gonna lie… To leave him eating alone on his birthday is just ice cold…” Mark nodded to himself awkwardly.

Well, I don’t think Julius would mind it that much, to be honest. He is the type that uses solitude to come up with his strange otherwordly ideas, meditate, and whatnot, so... Also, he is technically never alone since Lady Lia is pretty much talking to him all the time, so both Emily and Mark are worrying over nothing.

Though, I would have liked to eat breakfast together with him… A shame…

“I know and I do feel bad about it, but can’t you blame me? I had to come down and make sure that you guys didn’t burn my house to the ground! Especially after Douglas said that he was not going to help and that he was going to stay out of the kitchen… You know I couldn’t trust Sarana to supervise you all!” Aunt Laura retorted.

“Wow! That’s just rude! Now on top of bullying me, you insult me? You’re the meanest sister ever, Laura!” The small ball of fluff on my shoulder was outraged.

“Yep… We are definitely back to normal.” Douglas nodded to himself again.

“To be fair, I can’t blame Laura since we do have a history of almost burning each other’s houses… Especially Emily…” Felix tilted his head in a cute manner. “Though, I don’t know if it was a good call to have Sarana supervise us…

“Hey! Why do you drag me into this!? That only happened once!” Emily pouted and stomped angrily in response.

“Once? You must certainly mean once a week… You are definitely clumsier than Sarana when it comes to cooking, you know that Emily?” Felix pointed at the angry sheepkin while looking at her with amusement.

“Yeah, and it really doesn’t help your case that every time you try to learn how to cook, your messes end up being even more chaotic than the last…” Douglas said with a tired expression.

“I’m not clumsy! How dare you!? Have you thought that maybe, it was because your explanations were difficult to understand and overall, not very helpful!?” Emily pouted even more while looking at the small dwelf and the amused catkin.

“Oh? Then can you explain to me what clumsy means? Because last time I checked, it was used to describe someone who’s capable of almost setting ablaze my parents’ kitchen while boiling some water.” Douglas got annoyed at the sheepkin priestess.

“That was just a fluke!” Emily shouted while blushing furiously.

“A fluke that unfortunately happened at least three times… The last time being last week…”  Douglas stared at Emily with a deadpan expression.

Hehe! It seems big sis Em is still clumsy as ever! The others haven’t changed at all either! I’m kinda happy that Aunt Laura’s and Aunt Sarana’s friends are still the same! It makes me feel a little nostalgic!

“C’mon guys… Can you please stop fighting? The birthday boy will be here any minute now… We don’t want him to come out to see this awful spectacle and ruin his special day, do we?” Mark said with his usual sunny disposition.

Mark’s words were extremely effective as all of his friends immediately fell silent. Everyone awkwardly stared at each other while Mark simply smiled and wagged his tail in response.

“Sorry for the wait everyone! I had to do the finishing touches to my gift for Julius!” I heard the familiar voice of a certain rabbitkin girl… It was Mia.

Oh! Speaking of clumsy!

I quickly turn my head around only to see the exact moment when my best friend tripped right when she was about to end the stairs…

Oh boy… Down she goes again…

“Ugaah…” Mia let out a strange sound as she fell face first onto the wooden floor…

Everyone besides me and my sister looked at the scene in horror. Even my polymorphed fox aunt who could use rare magic to teleport Mia and prevent her from falling seemed completely stunned.

Yep… Mia still doesn’t get along with any flight of stairs… Poor girl…

“Seriously, sis? Again? It is the third time today already…” Klein looked at his fallen sister from above. He shook his head with disappointment as he walked past Mia and joined our group.

“Mia! Are you okay!?” The panicked Leaf quickly flew downstairs and started hovering over Mia while looking worried sick. 

“Don’t worry, Leaf! I’m fine! I’m already used to it!” Mia quickly stood up and dusted her clothes with a big reassuring smile on her face.

Both Mia and Klein were wearing nicer clothes than usual. Instead of their black shorts, Klein’s simplistic robes, and Mia’s black cropped top, they were dressed up for the occasion.

Mia was wearing a red frilly blouse, a cute white skirt, a pair of new boots, and a pink cap. Her blazing red hair, which she usually likes to let loose, was now arranged into a ponytail. Her whole outfit combined with her hairstyle, her cute rabbit tail, and her rabbit ears simply made her look super gorgeous! There was no doubt in my mind that she really wanted to look her best for her Beloved Prince today.

As for Klein, he was wearing trousers, an impeccable white shirt, and a pair of black boots just to seem a little cooler. He had even combed his usually unruly short hair to make him seem more mature. 

I do have to admit that Klein can be quite handsome when he really puts in the effort to look good… I guess that it has to do with the fact that, just like his older sister, he has a certain someone in mind that he wants to impress with his outfit. 

As for Leaf, she’s still wearing her cute dress that is made out of leaves. In my opinion, she doesn’t really need to change since she already looks adorable like that!

“Julius is not here yet? How strange… He is usually the first one to arrive at pretty much everything. It is really out of character for him to be late…” Klein said with confusion as he looked around to find his future brother-in-law.

“To be fair to him, he was the last one of us to wake up, so give him some time to get ready. The poor little guy was really tired from the long trip…” Aunt Laura said with a compassionate expression as she looked at the second floor of the house.

“Well, I don’t really mind waiting for him for a bit.” Klein nodded in understanding. “Maybe, that way there are more chances to see her again today…” Klein whispered to himself before taking a seat by the door.

“Knowing him as well as I do, it won’t take him too long to get here~.” Mia said happily before letting out a giggle. She then quickly walked over to my sister and me. “Liliana, Luna, I need to get your opinions on this new drawing I made for Julius! I stayed up until midnight to finish it!” Mia said with excitement to the two of us.

“Mia… Did you even get enough sleep?” My sister asked with concern.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m also used to that!” Mia brushed off my sister’s concerns with a smile. “It was all more than worth it since I poured my heart and soul into making a gift for my beloved!” Mia said with pride moments before averting her gaze and blushing a lot. She suddenly got embarrassed…

“I think Mia’s drawings are incredible! I wanna learn how to draw like her someday!” Leaf said with admiration as she flew towards Mia and sat on her shoulder. She quickly hugged Mia’s cheeks as she usually does with anyone she likes

Hehehe! It seems like today is gonna be a really fun day with everyone coming with us to show Julius around the city! Hopefully, by the time we are back, Mom and Dad will throw him the most amazing birthday party ever!

“You know, I was wondering… Should I invite my little sisters to the party, Laura? They’re all around the same age as Julius and the twins. Kids always like making new friends, so I think they will get along pretty nicely with your nephew.” Felix asked with an excited look on his face.

Oh…

“Oh! That’s a great idea! I could also bring my little brothers and sisters! They are all a little younger than Julius, but it shouldn’t be an impediment for them to have fun together! They have been asking nonstop about the twins too, so it is perfect!” Mark also looked pretty excited. So much so that he was wagging his tail at an incredible speed.

Oh shit… More competition… We definitely can’t allow that… Luna and I already have enough competition on our hands as it is! Adding the obnoxious amounts of sisters that Felix and Mark have is simply stupid!

Don’t get me wrong! I get along with pretty much all of their siblings, but I ain’t in the mood to get two dozen love rivals all of a sudden!

While I was busy thinking hard about how to reject Mark’s and Felix’s earnest proposal, I failed to notice the undesirable group that had just arrived… 

“Well, well, well… If it isn't Liliana and Luna! It has been a while!” A cold feminine voice spoke in a tone of fake excitement…

“Yeah… It really has been a long long time since the last time we saw them!” A snarky female voice agreed with the previous one.

“It really makes me sad that they didn’t even bother to come to greet us… I thought we were close friends…” A proud male voice said with disappointment.

Those voices… Oh no… Oh, fucking hell no!

As soon as I became aware of the presence of that group of people, I looked at my sister only to notice that she had grown pale… Like, seeing the scariest ghost ever kind of pale…

“Well, I guess that just means that we must teach our old friends some manners, don’t you think guys?” A serious male voice said evilly.

Fuck all kinds of fucks! Why the fuck do we have to encounter these guys now!? Especially today out all days! Why are we so fucking unlucky!? Fuck!

The people in that group were the ones responsible for Luna becoming so shy after we left the Capital… They were the ones that had bullied us for a long time while pretending to be our friends just so that their parents could get close to our father, the Skull Crusher.

The mere sight of them made me tremble with fury and indignation after remembering all the horrible things that they had done to my little sister and me…

“So? Are you not coming to greet your old friends?” The serious male voice asked me and Luna…

These motherfuckers are about to learn a very painful lesson! Now I’m really pissed off! If they think that they can come here to bully my sister and ruin my little brother’s birthday, they are seriously mistaken! It is my duty as the older sister to beat the shit out of them! I’ll show them how powerful my magic is now!

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Chapter 49: The Birthday Boy and His Sisters…

END

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