"You wanted to see me, Dad?''
"Ah, yes come in." Fharom gestured to the seat in front of him and Naell sat down as he was instructed. This was his first time in his father's study. Bookshelves lined up in one corner of the room, and his desk was flooded with documents that he didn't care to look at, as Naell was not a man of politics. There were books that he was quite curious about, but he was sure he could read them soon in the library.
Fharom handed Naell a certificate. From his guess, it was his diploma, congratulating him for passing middle school. His father smiled, but Naell's face had no hint of joy.
"Son, will you be attending high school?"
'I guess that's what has been bothering him. It's not surprising if someone told him I had stopped training my martial arts.'
Naell, as to not disappoint his father, tried his best to answer as rationally as he could.
"I've figured out I lack the talent to continue pursuing martial arts, Father. It is much better if I will just become a librarian."
Naell could see his father, Fharom, deep in thought with a hint of disappointment. Yet he managed to say,
"I see Alicia would have been proud of you. She was very fond of books."
'As much as I do not want to disappoint him, I'm just a minor villain that has been erased completely at the end of Volume 1. Capital is not an option.'
"What kind of person was she, Father?" Naell knew he blurted out some blunder considering how surprised his father was. It was odd to be asking some sort of common knowledge between a parent and a child. Yet he has done so randomly to change the subject.
"I... just wanted to hear your stories again, with mom considering I've been out cold for weeks... Hahaha."
*awkward dry laughter*
Naell knew he should not have used that as an excuse but it was better than nothing.
Baron Fharom looked at him closely. Naell was trying his best not to squirm in panic while he was seated.
*cough*
'I guess Naell really did get mature, now that he is open to know more about his mom. I guess it would be fine again to show him some pictures.'
The old Naell could not even hold himself together when it came to his mother. He despised the nobles for her death and blamed the commoners for her passing.
He could see how Naell's eyes twitched when their eyes met but were still strongly showing a fake composure of confidence.
'Just like how Alicia would look when she was intimidating someone.' Baron Fharom couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"That's right, your mom, Alicia, she really resembles you a lot.
Naell tried his best not to look more shocked as much as possible. But when his father handed him some photos of his mother, he saw that she really did look a lot like him. The differences were that she had short white hair and bright red eyes. He then knew she resembled a vampire a lot more than he did.
'I kinda embarrassed myself for thinking I looked like one.'
Fharom misunderstood Naell's solemn look of embarrassment to a kid yearning for his mother.
"...She is one of the strongest women I've ever known!"
'I don't know how strong my mom's martial arts is, but she looks as weak as me.' He kept the thought to himself and just nodded to agree.
Naell and his father, Baron Fharom talked a lot after that. He could see the sadness in his father's eyes when he talked about how he was not there at the Noble Summit, where she died. Naell was not really there to open some old wounds so he tried his best to cheer him up.
"I'm happy as well to have a cute sister like Lily, and I'm sure Mom would have loved to meet them too."
"Alicia would have loved to meet them surely; she always wanted to have a sister and a daughter."
'Yes, it is a pretty normal thing to have a HAREM here, but that doesn't mean I want one, OKAY?.'
They talked more about the past and the lands that his father managed and watched over. In both of which, Naell just nodded to look convincingly attentive
"I hear you are often in the library. You can always read some of your mother's accomplishments there."
"Hmmm" Naell's gaze went elsewhere for a long time, nodding to look more knowledgeable about his mother. But his interest was immediately piqued right after.
"After all, she was an S-rank adventurer two ranks above me."
With that, Naell became curious as to what his mom and dad were capable of.
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