VIP Chapter 72: Advice from an Experienced Person
“True Demonic Sword Arts? Didn’t you say you don’t know sword skills?”
“Well… not knowing sword skills doesn’t mean I can’t be a teacher.”
Will scratched his head; he truly lacked credibility on this point.
“I’ll first correct your flawed basic stances, and then… tell you how to learn Demonic Sword Arts.”
“Hmm… Eugenie mentioned that this comes from retired swordsmen in the Royal Family…”
“See, she’s lied to you about quite a few things.”
“Angry.”
Princess Treya clenched her fists.
“When is your birthday?”
This was supposed to be something written in character settings.
Because when making a mobile game, birthdays required matching various birthday events to send gifts, letters, and congratulatory art to players.
But…
Will’s memory wasn’t that good. Plus, the three “fallen dog” characters weren’t the actual characters from the original work. To be honest, the moment he opened his eyes, he’d forgotten it all.
“Why are you asking this?”
“On your 15th birthday, doesn’t each member have a Crowning Festival?”
“Mhm.”
Princess Treya seemed to just remember and nodded.
The Crowning Festival.
It was a very important royal ceremony, set for the age of 15.
It was…
An important node mentioned in Mission 88, and the time should be around now.
“In… two weeks.”
“Two weeks… Hmm, then there’s still some time… Wait a minute…”
“What’s wrong?”
Will slightly Raised his head.
He looked up at the Half-elf who was slightly taller than him.
“You’re actually a few days younger than me?”
“Huh?”
“My 15th birthday should be next week… Why are you taller than me? I thought I could call you ‘big sister’.”
“Will, why do you sound so disappointed?”
“No, I just feel like I’m missing an older sister type around me.”
He instantly thought of the sweet Eugenie, and his loli teacher Liya.
That kind of…
That kind of warm older sister one could bury their head in?!
“If you want to call me that, it’s not impossible?”
Princess Treya tilted her head and reached out to ruffle Will’s hair. The movement was like a cat curiously pawing at something high up.
“Hmm… Little Brother Will?”
“Stop. Just… just call me Will.”
It felt a bit awkward.
To be called “little brother” with such sisterly and cat-like actions felt very awkward.
But it was surprisingly satisfying.
“Then it’s settled, we’ll have a training session this weekend.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will, holding his empty orange juice glass, walked back into the venue and heard a familiar voice from behind him:
“Mhm, not bad. You just set your engagement today, and you already know to find a private place with a girl, I should say… the Hysterm bloodline you inherited is quite good.”
“Carver—!”
This guy.
He’d withdrawn from the engagement he’d secured—well, he’d postponed it.
He was just like that Entertainer who always watched from the sidelines and only interfered at the crucial moment.
“With the Hysterm Family’s reputation, I’d rather not have this bloodline.”
“Boys, as they grow up, they’ll understand?”
“I… am a gentleman.”
Uh…
He thought about how he had a Beastkin maid who said, “I am Young Master’s dog,” a Witch he acknowledged as a teacher who looked like she was into loli, and now, a Half-elf fiancée…
“…Probably.”
“You… did very well today. Impressive.”
Carver was actually praising him.
And it wasn’t a perfunctory compliment; this praise was quite sincere.
“What are you talking about, doing well? I don’t understand.”
“You went to find Princess Treya early this afternoon, then tricked Eugenie step-by-step, and finally, when you made Princess Treya see through Eugenie’s scheme, you also smoothly gave her a way out…”
Carver said as he swirled his wine glass and summarized.
“As my fourteen-year-old son, you did well.”
Carver leaned in and poured a little of his red wine into Will’s glass, then clinked their glasses.
“I have high hopes for you.”
“You know everything? Including the fact that Eugenie was the mastermind…”
“My poor son was injured by a Witch, so how could I not investigate further?”
Will looked at the red wine in his glass, unsure whether to drink it.
He wasn’t old enough to drink.
But it was obvious…
Carver wasn’t a conventional person. Was he implying something by specifically sharing his wine with him?
Did he get his approval?
Or, by drinking this glass of wine… would he be standing with him?
Will drank the wine.
Very decisively, then looked up at Carver.
“Then why did you propose… to postpone all subsequent actions related to the Royal Family and this engagement? You saw what I did.”
Carver stopped swirling his glass.
“That was indeed a temporary decision. Perhaps… I suddenly became disappointed with the Royal Family and thought it was better to rely on myself, or perhaps…”
He didn’t look at Will, his wine glass directed towards outside the banquet.
“When you saved Princess Treya, you were very similar to me back then. And Princess Treya was also very similar to her back then.”
“How disgusting, still trying to put on a pure act in front of your son at a time like this.”
Hearing Carver say that, Will felt like… some thread of Fate had been tied to Carver, the puppet.
After all, the “engaged but not anymore” relationship should be quite important to the original timeline, right?
But…
Carver’s expression was indeed rare and deeply emotional, for once putting away his usual flippancy.
It made Will feel that this was his true self.
“Ah… you really never believe me.”
He smiled, bent down again, so he was at eye level with Will.
“Speaking of which, your recent behavior has been quite interesting. Whether it’s at the manor or at school. Yes, whether it’s the maid or the Witch…”
Will understood what Carver meant.
He had been monitoring him.
Whether through magic or informants, but…
He was indeed, as the butler said, a father who cared about him exceptionally.
“However, I must remind you as someone with experience…”
“Don’t get yourself into too much trouble. If you get burned, I’ll gladly help collect your ashes.”
Carver narrowed his eyes, his words seeming to carry anticipation.
“Don’t underestimate me. I have my limits—but, is this something a father would say?”
“If it weren’t a father, wouldn’t he let you fool around and then gladly help collect your ashes?”
“Your understanding of a father is truly peculiar.”
“Haha, and isn’t your understanding of a son also quite strange?”
—This was the longest conversation between father and son in fourteen years.
If the biggest gain from this banquet was Princess Treya’s shallow awakening, then the second biggest gain…
Was probably being able to communicate normally with Carver.
Before coming here, Will found very little description of the Hysterm Family in the original work. However, some minor foreshadowing and reader speculation suggested that this family had great potential.
Perhaps, it wasn’t a bad thing?
