OHNIR – Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Warmth
Isabella was also taken aback. “Gloria allows you to call her Lux?”
“Ah, yes…” Kelusta looked at her grandmother, bewildered. “Is there a problem with that?”
Sensing her faint unease, Isabella shook her head and reassured her, “No, not at all. It’s just that Gloria and Wend are known for being distant with people. I never knew anyone outside the Silentdis family was permitted to call them by their nicknames.”
“Ahem, Mr. Wend hasn’t allowed me to address him so intimately,” Kelusta said immediately. “Only Lux allows me to call her that…”
“That’s wonderful too,” Isabella raised an eyebrow meaningfully, smiling as she patted her hand. “To be able to become friends with Gloria… you truly are our family’s Little Ruth.”
—In fact, we’re just a tiny step away from being “girlfriends.”
Kelusta silently added this in her heart, but she tried to steer away from the nerve-wracking topic. “Alright, Grandmother, we can talk about that later… You still haven’t told me, what does the reason for your change of heart have to do with Lux?”
Isabella paused, then said, “Because of Ricana and Miss Sumolor’s relationship, and because Gloria herself is very close to you, I sometimes invite her over to sit and chat, to have afternoon tea with an old woman like me.”
Kelusta sat up a little straighter, perked up her ears, and began to listen quietly.
“Although the child has always been somewhat against me contacting you, due to my past failings with Ricana… ultimately, because of her mother, Susan, and perhaps out of pity for an old woman like me with almost no one to talk to, she accepts my invitation every time. Then she tells me about what’s been happening with you at the academy.”
Isabella sighed, took a sip from her own teacup, and then continued, “However, not long ago, I learned some shocking news from her.”
“What news?” Kelusta asked nervously.
At her urging, the Duchess turned her head. A fierce light flashed in her eyes before suddenly dissipating, replaced by a look of heartache and lingering fear as she gazed at her newly returned granddaughter.
The current head of the Amirium family’s voice held a suppressed anger, as if recalling something infuriating. She spoke word by word, “Gloria let it slip due to a moment of carelessness… She told me that not long ago, that Second Princess of the royal family actually tried to harm you with a potion—if she hadn’t arrived in time, it nearly would have cost you your life, wouldn’t it?”
Oh, the Fake Illness Potion incident.
Kelusta pressed her lips together and admitted, unable to deny it, “Yes.”
Isabella snorted coldly, but she couldn’t even bring herself to scold her precious granddaughter for being “too careless.” She could only bottle up her fury, slamming her palm on the arm of the sofa. “How dare she be so audacious, so bold as to attack a student! Isn’t it just because she thought she could bully you for being a commoner, with no family to back you up?”
“—The Nobili of today looks glamorous on the surface, but underneath it’s already a cesspool. To prevent such insidious plots, I must immediately recognize you as part of the family.”
Isabella said in a low voice, “Although Gloria is willing, she can’t be by your side every single moment—believe me, Ruth, only when you have power of your own will those rats living in the gutters not dare to act so easily. Only then will you truly be safe from the trouble and harm that could have been avoided.”
The Duchess’s words rang in Kelusta’s heart like a solemn warning bell.
Yes, she thought. Only by becoming truly strong can I fend off all overt and covert attacks, and protect the one I love.
Having figured out what she was most concerned about—Isabella’s motive for recognizing her—Kelusta completely let go of her reservations and began to talk in detail with her grandmother about her past life.
From Seaside Town to the Holy Light Magic Academy, she recounted every part of her life that Isabella had missed, word by word, for her long-lost grandmother.
Isabella listened to her granddaughter’s stories with great patience and interest, and she also took the opportunity during their conversation to briefly explain the family’s current situation to her.
—In short, the family was currently… a bit poor.
With no heir and the current head, Isabella, being advanced in years, both external partners and internal stakeholders believed the family’s legacy was about to be severed. In a few years, it would become a shadow of its former self.
Regardless of its remaining value, any discerning person could see that once the family began to decline, it would inevitably meet the predetermined end of “extinction.”
Consequently, families that had maintained business or other friendly relations quickly fled, trying to cut their losses in time. Certain factions that were tied to the family and couldn’t escape gradually grew listless, adopting a bleak and pessimistic “if we’re going down, we’re going down together” attitude.
“But now, we have you, my child.”
Isabella sighed, looking at Kelusta with affection.
After grasping the family’s situation, the intelligent girl’s brow immediately furrowed, her face filled with a grim seriousness and a sense of urgency. She didn’t look at all like an ignorant girl fresh from the countryside; in fact, she was hardly different from those noble ladies who had been pampered since birth and received an elite education.
“I will choose a suitable time to announce to the capital that you will be the next heir of the Amirium family,” the Duchess promised with a smile. “From then on, no one will ever bully you for being a commoner again.”
Hearing this, Kelusta’s furrowed brow relaxed a little, and she looked up at Isabella with a reserved but sincere smile.
—Unlike her mother, she did not love freedom so much that she was unwilling to be bound by power and responsibility. Therefore, Kelusta, who was accepting the great task of “reviving the family,” did not feel much aversion to the title of “heir.”
One could even say that for the tasks she was about to complete as the “game’s protagonist,” having a ducal family backing her would be an even greater asset.
As long as Isabella’s intentions in recognizing her were sincere, Kelusta would be more than happy to start planning for the Amirium family’s future.
—Although according to the kingdom’s laws, inheriting a title required meeting the conditions of “being at least thirty years old and having made considerable contributions to the family, with the consent or upon the death of the previous title holder” before a succession ceremony could be held… Kelusta had already consciously shouldered the responsibility of a future duchess. With a serious expression, she began to earnestly instruct the System.
“I’ll start studying the relevant subjects as soon as possible, and after a while, Grandmother will definitely have me inspect the family businesses,” Kelusta said earnestly. “Old Sy, Old Sy, you have to remember to help me then!”
The System, while thinking to itself, So even a brat like you has times when you need me, replied with concealed excitement, “I would be delighted. At your service.”
The grandmother and granddaughter talked for almost the entire morning. It wasn’t until Oliver came to remind them for the second time that lunch was ready that Isabella reluctantly ended her expressions of satisfaction with Kelusta. Holding her granddaughter’s wrist, she led her to the dining room with a brisk stride.
Kelusta couldn’t help but be shocked by her grandmother’s physical fitness—and she still couldn’t forget the sight of the old woman tossing her cane aside at the main gate.
Lunch was delicious and sumptuous; even the decorative carvings on the dishes showed great care and effort. Perfectly fried cutlets sizzled with oil, the smoked salmon had a unique and rich texture, and the cream of chicken and corn soup was so savory and sweet you wanted to swallow your own tongue. This was accompanied by small crepes drizzled with pink fruit jam… The aroma was like an invisible silk ribbon, hanging throughout the spacious dining room, easily whetting one’s appetite.
Isabella looked at the dishes and said with some emotion, “It seems our head chef has finally put his heart into it today. This meal looks to be of the same standard as when Ricana was still here.”
The young lady of the ducal manor had always had a picky palate, something everyone knew and was willing to indulge.
Seemingly noticing that the scene had stirred the old woman’s emotions, the attentive butler, Oliver, who was standing by, immediately took a step forward and said softly, “Isn’t it because the young miss has returned that everyone is so motivated? The ducal manor hasn’t been this lively in many years. Today is a joyous occasion, so I hope you will keep your spirits up, Madam, and not be sad.”
Kelusta, sitting at the other end of the table, also smiled at her grandmother, half-comforting, half-joking, “From now on, I’ll be here to keep you company in Mother’s place. I’ll have to try every single one of her favorite dishes.”
Comforted by their words, Isabella no longer dwelled on the past. She looked at her granddaughter with kindness and adoration, repeating, “Yes, yes, of course you must try them all.”
After a pleasant lunch, Isabella instructed Oliver to take Kelusta to the room that had been prepared for her to rest, as she herself had some rather urgent matters to attend to and would have to wait until the afternoon to accompany her granddaughter again.
So, after she left, the highly competent butler immediately took on this important task. He bowed to Kelusta and said, “Young Miss, your room is on the third floor. Please follow me.”
“Alright,” Kelusta smiled at him and added, “but I’d also like to walk around the whole house to get familiar with the layout… Thank you for your trouble, Oliver.”
At Kelusta’s request, Oliver led her through most of the ducal residence, allowing the newly returned young miss to get her bearings before finally leading her up the stairs to her bedroom.
“To be honest, Oliver,” Kelusta said reflectively, “the Amirium family is completely different from what I imagined… Right up until the moment I stepped through the main gate, I was convinced the atmosphere here would be very serious and rigid.”
However, just as she finished speaking, Oliver, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.
The butler, who had served in the ducal manor for many years, turned his head. He looked at Kelusta, whose face showed suspicion at his sudden halt, and sighed softly with an expression that was a mixture of relief and melancholy.
“Actually… you guessed correctly,” he said. “Before the Duchess decided to invite you home, the atmosphere of the Amirium family was indeed, as you said, quite solemn and strict.”
Kelusta: “…?”
She dazedly recalled the lines of goofy servants welcoming her and her grandmother who had thrown away her cane and rushed forward, weeping with joy, the moment she saw her.
Have I misunderstood the meaning of ‘solemn and strict’?
Seeing the utterly bewildered look on her face, Oliver couldn’t help but smile. With a gentle expression, he continued to explain, “You needn’t find it too strange… In fact, the scene you encountered when you first stepped out of the carriage was something the Duchess specifically instructed me to arrange.”
“Grandmother?” Kelusta repeated in astonishment.
“Yes—because the Duchess believed that since you grew up in Seaside Town, you must be like Miss Ricana and dislike an overly somber atmosphere. That’s why she ordered us servants to be as lively as possible, so that you wouldn’t feel constrained in any way.”
“I took the liberty of revealing this to you so that you might understand the Duchess’s kind intentions. I hope you are not offended, Young Miss…”
The brown-haired girl was stunned for a moment, her expression surprised, but her heart felt as if it had suddenly been bathed in sunlight, and it involuntarily softened.
“How could I possibly think that, Oliver?” Kelusta shook her head and smiled at him. “To be honest, knowing that Grandmother and all of you value me so much… I couldn’t be happier.”
After her denial, Oliver also breathed a sigh of relief. A smile that was both happy and comforted appeared on his weathered face.
The butler, who had dedicated half his life to this family, turned his head and sighed, thinking to himself:
“Thank the Goddess of Light for allowing the Amirium family, at this moment of its decline, to have such an excellent and lovely heir.”
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