Am I the Villainess of this Story?

Interlude 14: A Grandfather's Joy

Richford Douglas Hurst. That is my name. Many know of me as the General of the Mage Knights. There are others who recognize be better as the Earl of the Hurst Territory, despite my son acting as the de-facto earl for quite some time now. However, to my cute grandchildren, I am simply Grandpa Ricky, which is my favorite appellation so far.

When my beautiful daughter married that stick-in-the-mud Duke from Einhart Territory, I was bit miffed. But, then again, I'd probably be more disappointed if some weakling manages to snatch my daughter away from me. At least, with Lawrence, I'm safe with the knowledge that he is intelligent enough not to anger my daughter and also strong enough to survive her just in case he manages to do so.

Although I was satisfied with my lot in life, I began to realize how lonely my life has been after my younger grandchildren were born. My first grandchild was born and is being raised in the Hurst Territory far away from the capital where I work. As such, I wasn't able to interact with him as much as I want to.

When Sean and Mari were born, despite them being nearer, my interaction with them began when Lawrence started to look for tutors for both children. I was a bit surprised when Mari is also to take up combat lessons. After all, from my knowledge, this granddaughter of mine isn't as rambunctious as her mother was at that age. However, despite being surprised, I agreed to become their instructor when my daughter asked me to do so.

Since, I was also the prince's teacher, I usually schedule my lessons with them separately. But, when the young royal began to be over-confident of his skills, I thought that maybe being around children his age would help him. As such, with the King's permission, I brought Prince Leonhart to the Einhart Manor to meet my grandchildren. Of course, I didn't tell them that he was the prince, since I didn't want the two to lose to him on purpose just like those knight apprentices in the palace. As such, with only the name Leon to call him by, those two children befriended the lonely prince.

What I didn't expect to happen, though, is for Leon to take it up in his head to have Mari as his engagement partner. It was quite funny to see Lawrence enact petty revenge in the form of more paperwork for the King because of that stunt. Then, there was all that drama about Leon forgetting to tell Mari the truth. Seeing Sean be torn from helping his friend and protecting his sister was quite interesting to see.

Mari is obviously of fire, brilliant and enchanting. She calls people to her with a charisma of a leader. She even managed to ensnare that aloof Hendrickson kid to go along with her. Whereas, Sean goes along with Mari like water going along with the flow while serving as a dampener over his sister's more precarious ideas. However, both of them obviously has bits of earth with them, despite having no affinity over the element. Both of their eyes gleam with determination and steadfastness. Maybe, that's why I decided to have Li live with them in lieu of my original plan of having the boy stay with me. I had this idea that they would teach the boy to act his age and stop himself from being overly burdened by his empathy.

Li's addition to the group started off badly, what with the prince being jealous over nothing. But, my grandson's no pushover, so he managed to call out the younger child over his stupidity. But, as boys were ought to do, they started to distance themselves from Mari, prompting the child to seek the company of young Hendrickson, much to the prince's dismay. Then, when that Henson girl arrived, things with the group began to balance out. And, all throughout the years, the children learned, both magic and combat.

However, I couldn't forget that one time when Mari got accidentally kidnapped because of the inattention of a foolish boy. The sheer panic and rage it induced out of the most collected men that I know made me glad that I was there to mitigate the damage that they could have done. I was also thankful for my training as a Mage Knight for without it, I didn't think that I would be able to take in things calmly like I did back then.

When I took in the situation back then, I was proud that my granddaughter has the presence of mind to try and escape. And, if it weren't for Henderson's foolish boy, she would have been able to save the two of them without suffering any injury. Young Christien's proclamation of loyalty towards Mari would've have been endearing if it weren't so insulting of my granddaughter's ability to protect herself and of my grandsons' desire to protect their little princess. Young Leonhart was even incandescent with anger over the kid's audacity to proclaim his intentions towards the prince's intended. Really, it is such a pity that that brilliant Marquis somehow managed to raise an imprudent child.

Fortunately, there were no other incidents of similar nature before my grandchildren entered school. When Liam and Edith topped their entrance exams, I was not surprised. After all, although they began late in their studies, they have still managed to stay at the same level as Sean, Mari and Leon, who started earlier than the two of them. I was also unsurprised when the other three took their own entrance exams by the storm.

Although, to be honest, I was tickled when my old friend Bert told me of Mari's impassioned speech at the opening ceremony. Call me overprotective, but I was glad to have managed to con my friend into giving me regular reports over my grandchildren's progress. It was really funny to find out that the old codger even has to plead my grandchildren to tone down their methods of retaliation. That duel contract was a piece of genius. Then, when that friend of mine asked for help to find a suitable replacement teacher, I immediately told Lawrence about the matter, wondering whether such person was Gatrean spy sent to sabotage the students' learning. As such, young Hendrickson was conned into teaching at St. Regulus, even though he would deny having been tricked 'til the very end.

When the tournament was broadcasted for people to see. I was awed by the kids' progress. Even that girly boy that Mari managed to snag was somewhat impressive with his skills. Then, there was that glasses kid, who somehow ended up being Sean's attendant-in-training, his skills were good despite being handicapped by a worthless teacher in his previous years. So, with the addition of Leonhart's shadow, my granddaughter's team of five became a team of eight.

And, when I learned that the group wanted to travel for a bit. I encouraged them to visit Hurst Territory so my younger grandchildren could meet their uncle, citing that close vicinity of the Adventurer's Guild as the reason. Obviously, when I was informed of what happened during their adventure, I wasn't that surprised given those kid's unified luck for the unexpected. What surprised me, though, is that other kids also got involved somehow despite having to continued contact with them.

Then, in no time, all of my grandchildren have finally graduated from school and are now ready to face the world. And, there will be no greater joy for me than to see these children continue to flourish and enjoy everything the world has to offer them. After all, I have no doubt that they'd become the leaders that will lead Mirrae to greater peace and prosperity.