Just right at that moment, we heard the door opening, followed by a ruckus.
"...The king?!"
"He decided to attend?!"
"I thought he was going to be absent for this party, as well!!"
...eh?
The king himself, in flesh?!
Upon glancing at the source of the others' stares, I found a young man who looks to be at the same age as Dad. His short light brown hair hasn't changed, and his green eyes are looking more mature. He wears a luxurious golden-white suit, covered in a red robe. The royal family emblem is stitched in the middle of his chest, holding up his robe. There are also a few gallant-looking guards standing beside him.
Dad walked to approach the commotion while carrying me. Mom followed Dad from behind after she held Altaire's hand and soon, we finally got to face the king.
"Sorry for being late, there were some urgent issues coming up at the castle!" The king said.
"No problem, we are glad about your arrival alone, Your Majesty." Dad said, as he bowed down, followed by Mom.
"Please enjoy the party, Your Majesty," Mom said, as she tugged Alt-nii's hand that she was holding.
"T, thank you for coming Y-Your Majesty," Alt quickly realized Mom's signal and bowed down, as well. I slightly bowed my head down, as well.
"No problem, I've been planning to come here ever since Cyan there gave me an invitation. Anyway, do you mind if we speak alone?" asked the king, still with his casual tone.
...does this smell like a trouble?
We entered another room near the hall, leaving the other nobles to enjoy the party. I notice myself getting all tensed up especially the moment the door closes. I bet the atmosphere here will soon turn tense, as well... My family must also be nervous with this development. For the king to request a private audience, there must be some issues he'd like to talk with us. Perhaps, it's regarding the Hartmann's governance, or other things, as I remember that both my parents are already working at the Royal Castle, in spite of their role in East territory's management.
I braced myself to look at Dad's expression. I should be able to notice if he's tense, despite the fact that he might cover it up with his usual business smile... and yeah, there he is, smiling... but he doesn't look tense at all...?!
I quickly turned my gaze at Mom. Nope, she isn't tense as well!
I desperately turned around to see Altaire-nii, he's all smiling! No sign of nervousness!
W, what's wrong with my family?! Why am I the only one feeling tense?!
"What's up with that grand entrance, Your Ma-jes-ty~?" Dad said in a teasing tone. Dad seemed a little... irritated?
Huh?!!
GWAAH?! Wait Dad, what are you thinkin—
"How many times do I have to tell you to cut all the formalities off when nobody is around, Cyan?!" The king seems irritated, as he crossed his legs and put one of his hands on his chin.
...This situation... doesn't seem like an audience between a king and his subject or his subordinate... Rather, it's like... a casual talk between close friends?!
"Hahaha, it's my little payback for gathering the audience just now, causing us to be all formal and nervous! Not to mention the fact that we have to think and act fast before others call us as rude towards the king! This whole play of being formal in presence of others and being casual when there are no one is quite tiring, I admit."
"Well, I told you there were some urgent matters coming up! I didn't intend to be late and make that kind of entrance to the party!"
"Okay, okay... So, how was it? Do you need my assistance for that 'urgent matter'?"
"Nah, I don't think we need that for now. Just continue your usual work. I'll make sure to summon you if I ever need that."
"Alright then. You know you can always count on me, Titus." Dad said as he patted the king's shoulders. The king laughed it off and the two of them fist-bumped each other.
Mom and Altaire are watching the scene unfold as if it's natural...
So, am I the only one left in blanks?
I desperately tried to make anyone look my way, so that they can see a desperate confusion on my face.
Luckily, I managed to get their attention, and they tried to explain the whole thing to me...
------Please wait for the long explanation intended to a child to end so that Lyra can conclude everything and retell the whole explanation curtly—---
Back then, Mom worked as a Royal Magician in the Magic Court, and soon became the Head of the Royal Magic Court, where she is famously known as "The Sky Magician—Ophelia". And Dad served under Mom as a Royal Magician... plus handling underground activities like uncovering the frauds and mistreatment especially his family did, directly under the king—who was still the crowned prince back then. Obviously, he made use of his illusion and transformation power as a Hartmann for doing his work as a spy.
Upon gaining the responsibility as one of the Four Dukes, Dad stopped working as a Royal Magician, but he's continuing his work directly under the king's order! He is the king's trusted right hand, working as a spy countless times. He can be given the title of "The Royal Spy"!
As for Dad's relationship to the king...
Dad has always been good friends with the current king ever since they were still teenagers, since they met at the Harmonia Academy, to be exact. That explains the king's trust and friendliness to my dad, and vice versa. Meanwhile, Mom, as the Head of the Royal Magic Court and one of the people who needs to work directly with the king, who sometimes aids in underground missions, also become used to talking with him and soon become friendly, as well.
According to what they said, there are also other people who are close to the king. The king wants the people working directly with him to be friendly and close as comrades, instead of being stiff like a robot that has to watch everything they say so they won't be charged with lèse-majesté or being a hypocrite, trying to fawn over the king.
Also, also!!
Apparently, at first, Dad refused to continue the Hartmann family's reign. However, the king wanted no one but him to be one of the Four Dukes because of reasons (mainly because the Four Dukes are like four pillars of the kingdom so it must be important for the king to have a close relationship with the dukes), and so he skillfully manipulated the conditions and appointed Dad as the Hartmann family's head, and continued Dad's engagement to the Sanctuaria's young lady, who is none other than Mom.
The king gained a lot of profit with this kind of setting, I see!
-----------And that concludes Lyra's report!—-------
"So, are you going to the castle again, Alt?" The king turned over to Altaire.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Alt-nii answered with a bright smile.
...wha? Again?
"Yes, as Altaire is already 6 years old, I would like to reconfirm his magic affinity and then proceed to check his mana capacity. Perhaps he would need to come to the castle more often with me from now on," said Mom.
I stared in another confusion. Noticing this, Mom told me.
"Ah, Lyra, you'll also come to the castle with me when you're 4 years old, so you can get your magic tested in the Royal Magic Court. Alt has done that, too, when he was four... his result was amazing, so I want to recheck it together with his mana capacity check..."
"Amazing result?" I pondered. What affinity might be categorized as amazing when Mom can do the rare attributed magics?
"Hehe, guess what?" Alt-nii is grinning wide.
I reflexively hold my breath in anticipation.
"Surprise, the attribute that I have the most affinity with, is... Void!" said Alt-nii.
...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
I am very surprised that I become speechless. My face right now might be similar to the emoticon [O_O]
[Void] is even considered as a mythical element!
To think that my brother is the one possessing such an amazing element?!
The king and my parents talked a bit more after setting up Alt-nii's magic test for tomorrow, mostly about their work and about past days, before they finally went out and socialized with the others at the party. The party finally ended at around 9 p.m., and obviously nobody dared do go back before the king stepped out... unless it is an emergency.
After a lot of mind-blowing revelations today, I feel very exhausted. If I were to wake up and realizing this was all a dream, I'd believe that right away. I just want to hop in my bed and sleep...
However, being a good child and remembering the pain from the tooth cavity when I was Reinst, I decided to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth before I sleep, without having the others reminding me.
As a result, I was praised by them. Alt-nii sulked a little because he planned on skipping his tooth-brushing routine today, and now he has to brush his teeth because his little sister did that without being ordered to.
Uuu, sorry, Alt-nii! But it's for your own good! Honestly, tooth cavity is so bothersome!! Since the external surface of a tooth, the enamel, is not a living tissue, so a healing magic cannot influence the cells to repair itself, therefore we have to go to the dentist to get it fixed with another hard material as its replacement. Healing magic can actually stimulate the second surface of the tooth, the dentin, to heal, but the hard material to replace the enamel functions better to protect the teeth in the long run!
Not many people can use complicated healing magic, so obviously we still have doctors and dentists. I believe Mom can recover the dentin should we get a deep cavity, but eventually we still have to go to get the protective hard material to replace the broken enamel. There are also other procedures that cannot be accomplished with healing magic, such as transplanting cells to heal incurable illnesses, such as genetic illnesses. It would be so ideal to have a magic that can quickly change your genetic formation and replace the cells with healthy ones. I wonder how much mana must someone have in order to do such a feat?
Just a few minutes after getting a touchdown with my beloved bed, I fall asleep immediately. My brain needs a lot of time to process all these absurd information, so when I wake up the next day, everyone says that I've been asleep for half a day already, without being bothered by any noise they made.
For the first time in my life, I skipped eating a complete breakfast.