‘Ah, I think I really missed this environment…’ Lucas thought as the carriage went on the path that led to the main mansion of Evandall. It had been 3 years that Lucas had lived in the capital together with Ryosuke but he didn’t realize that he would miss this mansion so much, where he spent his life for 7 years.

‘Good to see that the mansion is as good as before.’ He thought, while his face, featuring a smile of satisfaction. He had heard from his family that both the city and the mansion suffered a lot during the Dark Wave three years ago but when he looked at the environment of the mansion, it was as lavish as he had remembered. Like nothing had happened in the past.

“Lucas! Ahhhh, you don’t know how much I have missed you!!!”

As soon as Lucas had stepped outside of the carriage, he could hear the familiar doting voice, and felt himself being picked instantly and a light kiss on his cheek. His actions even made Tus and Eura who was following behind Lucas to be speechless.

‘What the heck are you doing!?’ Embarrassment rose up in Lucas mind as he wanted to scream back his dear brother, Edwin but he remembered that he was just a 10 years old kid in their mind, and decided to let it off as it was normal with just a nervous laugh. And there was someone else who would speak for his sake.

“Edwin, you shouldn’t do that. What if Lucas is afraid of you because of your rough gestures, like that?”

As expected, Maria came to help, making Edwin let go of Lucas, although he didn’t want it, complaining that he wanted to hold up Lucas forever if he could.

“Maria, don’t you miss Lucas!? How can you be so cold?” It was the typical tone of Edwin everytime he was prohibited to do something by Maria.

‘Did you forget that you just made a visit to me 10 days ago?’ Lucas couldn’t think how could his brother be in such a state of near crying just for not meeting him for 10 days. Even though Lucas didn’t leave the capital for 3 years, his family came to visit him from time to time. Of course, they didn’t have much time as they were pretty busy with rebuilding the city and such but they did have quite a contact.

“It is not me that is cold. It is you that is overreacting. Come on, you will make Lucas feel awkward.”

“Is that so, Lucas?”

Edwin seemed like he was going to cry as he asked back Lucas who was just watching them debate quietly. Actually, Lucas really had no idea how to take part in this conversation with his siblings and how to keep up with his 22 years old brother, acting like a kid of 10 years old.

“I am ok, brother Edwin.” Lucas just smiled as he always did. Well this brother of his had an overreacting side but it was because he loved him so much so Lucas could understand. It would be more correct if one said he sympathized with him because he might act the same when it came to Nway Oo, his little sister from the past.

A proud look was on Edwin as he heard Lucas, looking at Maria with a winning look while Maria just sighed as if she had given up.

“Come on, Lucas. Let’s go inside. You must be tired from travelling, right?” Maria still had a gentle smile whenever it came to Lucas and her smile somehow made Lucas calm.

No matter how Maria was mature and calm, she still couldn't hold back the urge to hold Lucas's hand while entering the mansion.

"Welcome back from Evandall mansion, Lucas!" Edwin had a wide grin on his face and also did the same with Maria, holding another hand of Lucas as they entered.

"Yep! It is really good to be back!"

While chucking a bit, Lucas did think it was truly great to live together again with his family. The time in the capital was not bad but he liked this environment, too. But he wondered if he would be able to stay long, though, as he had something else to do later.

Looking at those three siblings, the servants who worked in this mansion enjoyed the cute moment as seeing a warm family despite the high noble status was rare. The servants who worked for a long time felt happy because even Duke Cassiuss had to grow up through the problems of succession, the cases that no one wanted to think about. They were really delighted, praying for their happiness.

But the new servants who worked at the mansion only after the Dark wave, and had never seen Lucas before, seemed to have different thoughts.

'Is this really the lord and lady we are seeing?'

A chill ran down their spines as they couldn't help but to think in unbelief with the scene that they were seeing just now.

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Lucas settled down in the living room as he looked around. The design of the mansion was changed in some aspects but the atmosphere was still the same. Just like his home from 3 years ago.

He chatted here and there with Edwin and Maria, while they had some tea that the maids had brought. Only after a few minutes, Lucas realized Tus and Eura who were standing behind his seat all this time, in some awkwardness.

‘Ah, right! They had never been to this mansion before!’

Before, there was Alisa or Anton who would always show them if they had to do something new but now there was no one to guide them so it was their first experience in the new place alone.

And Lucas was surprised to see that Alisa wasn’t there among the people that welcomed him when he first came. Come to think of it, Lucas didn’t hear from her much after she had gone back to Evandall first for some family matters.

“By the way, is Alisa not back yet?”

‘Shouldn’t she be back for now?’ Lucas felt a bit worried, though. It was not like Alisa to be away from her work for a long time.

“She has some extension for leave. You haven’t heard it, yet? Alisa’s grandmother died last week and so she was busy with the funeral. She said she will be coming back the day after tomorrow.”

“Oh,.... I see….” Lucas really did feel sorry for her. Alisa was an orphan and the grandmother was the lady who took care of her since young. If her grandmother was gone now, she would feel so alone. “Is the funeral finished?”

“Yes, it is. I think it finished two days ago.”

As soon as Edwin answered, Lucas felt that it was truly sad that he couldn’t accompany her throughout the funeral. Alisa was one of the people that he came into contact with the most since the time he got here and she was also a loyal personal maid of his mother, Stacia. Although Eura became Lucas’s personal maid, she was still accompanying him from time to time.

“Edwin, you still have things to organize, right?”

Since the atmosphere became dull at the moment, Maria decided to interfere. And she was right. Edwin still had some things to do.

“Are you busy, right now?” Lucas could get a hunch of why he could be busy, though.

“Yea. There are some appearances of new demons and monsters in the Ereck forest. Since it was one of the closest ones with the capital, we are trying to hunt them and also find the cause as it could not be ignored.” After explanation, Edwin had a huge sigh with fatigue on his eyes. “And I am one of the responsible people for this case….”

‘The cause is the experiment that demons are trying to conduct and it is related to something called the orb and elves know it.’ Lucas wanted to tell this information why he wondered how he could do it. It meant that he had to reveal all the things that happened in Ereck forest, making trouble for him to go out in the future.

‘Maybe I should convey it through Carl. If it was him, he can just tell that he met one demon during training in his free time and get some information from the demons… a story like that would work, I guess.’ Lucas also thought that if wasn’t successful, he could just reveal it. ‘Yep, let’s just forget the consequences.’

“So, you have to do some instructing. Let’s go. Lucas, make sure to rest! I am sorry that we can’t take you to your room since the meeting time is near. will lead you, dear.” Maria seemed to be a little bit rushed.

“Get it, get it…” Edwin was, as usual, dragged away by Maria, while his feet were so lazy to walk away with some lectures along the way.

And Lucas was left with a nervous laugh at how unorganized that these two could be as he also prepared to leave to his room when a maid came to escort him.

‘Well, it isn’t bad to see them like that, though.’

Lucas remembered that in the novel, after Maria’s death, Edwin became a cold and ruthless man who became a villain later, only to meet with the bad end. At least the happy-go-lucky Edwin that Lucas was seeing right now, together with alive Maria, was much better than the one in the novel.

The place for Tus and Eura was already arranged so they had no problem in settling down and Lucas made them rest in their respective rooms, as he himself lay down flat on his own bed in his room.

‘My room didn’t change that much…’ Lucas just gazed around his room on his bed. “It seemed that they really made it the same.” He murmured alone.

‘Now that Ryosuke was already in the academy, only two years left before the events start…’ Lucas didn’t like that amount of time. He would be only 12 when the novel started. ‘Should I be glad that the novel is slow-paced?’

The main problem was his age. Lucas didn’t know whether to curse at Lucian for transmigrating him into a baby who had too much age difference with the protagonist or should be saying thanks as even if the events started, it took a lot of time for some main arcs and such.

But at the same time, Lucas felt that he definitely shouldn’t rely on the novel too much as it was showing some signs to deviate. It might be really deviating or might be not but nothing was better than staying cautious.

“First, let’s think about how to get stronger….”

Lucas definitely didn’t want something that happened in the Oiria tunnel anymore. He was good at swords but it didn’t give him absolute ability. He started to think about a variety of artifacts and magical stones he could think of in the novel and even went through some stories and legends that he had read in this world.

He nervously laughed as he could think of one way. That one only way for him to get a mana that he didn’t possess. It should be correct if he said it was something he could borrow.

“I think it is time to find a familiar…….”

Lucas nervously laughed at his own thoughts as he wanted to hit his head for his own stupidity.

“But how can I find one!?” He immediately got up from curling, as his frustration rose up.

It was just that a familiar was not something that one could just go and pick up and no one in the novel, not even Ryosuke, got one.

‘Ah…. such a beautiful dream…….’ Lucas tried to imagine that impossible path and was instantly

depressed.

“And if I have to find one, I have to go out for a while no matter what…..”

And there came his problem of age.

‘Not even a normal family wouldn’t let their kids go alone……..’

As Lucas thought about his family protectiveness, he let himself flop on his bed again.

‘How the heck am I supposed to do this, Lucian!?’

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A/N: A new volume is out, YAY!!! ><