NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24: Vacation
Development for Clarissa's family!
Chapter 24: Vacation
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“Never feel guilty for the wealth you accumulate, because you are the one who did it. You made your wealth, it should be your pride to be a part of the rich, because it shows how far you have actually gone.”
Caravan Mcowsky, The Wine Industries
Year 613
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--POV: Laurence—
--Place: Stotterdam Street / Time:07:17—
With the first semester coming to an end, we were making our way out of the capital, before I notice that the presence that has been following us ever since we left the university is still following us.
“Haaah….stop the carriage” I give the order to stop the carriage and Clarissa looks at me questioningly
“Is it that person?” She seems to have noticed the person following us, but has taken no heed as they tended to have kept their distance.
“Yes, I won’t take long” Is my final words as I get off the carriage and go to greet the lovely personage.
The person seems to have noticed we are aware of their presence and has tried to hide in one of the side streets.
Not willing to let Clarissa wait long, I teleport on front of the person in the side street.
“Ahh” A yelp of surprise escapes the woman’s lips as she falls on her butt. Well, I can’t blame her, if someone were to suddenly appear right on front of her, it would be suspicious if she wasn’t surprised.
“What do you want, demon?”
This succubus was supposed to annoy the church, not annoy me.
“W…well, I was just wondering where my saviour was going” This demon doesn’t know how to lie at all, she is so bad at it, I may actually pity her for it.
She wants to join in, she wants to come with us. It makes sense after all, because she judged me to be safest person to be by, in a continent that is swarming with humans, there isn’t a lot of places that she would be safe.
“Why should I take you with us?” Noticing me getting straight to the point, she too stands up before bowing her head towards me.
“Please take me with you!” While the disguise may fool anyone weaker than her, if she come across someone stronger, her identity will be immediately known.
However, I could put this succubus to good use.
“Fine, I’ll allow it”
She better earn her keep, because if she doesn’t…….
As we walk back to the carriage I order her “Tell me your name” I still don’t know her name, while she knows mine.
“Stella”
“Do the church know about this name?”
“No they don’t sir” Good tone, she knows she is receiving my help, even though I’m not obliged to give it.
“I see, you can keep it then, and address me as Lance” After getting a nod from her, we move towards the carriage. Good thing the church doesn’t know her name, did she give them a false name? Well, it doesn’t matter.
As we get on the carriage, Clarissa raises an eyebrow at the woman behind me “And this is?”
“This is Stella, your new personal maid”
--Place: Chamberlayne Residence / Time:18:35—
I can’t believe we wasted all that time to get back to Avalon kingdom by carriage, I mean, I could have just teleported us and we would be here already, yet instead, we spent hours in a carriage.
While I did get to talk with Clarissa a lot during the ride, I still feel this was wasted. So what if others will find it suspicious if we arrive here too quickly……haah..never mind.
“Good evening, mistress” The guard of the eastern gate greets us as we exit the carriage, before quickly opening the gates to allow us in.
Clarissa’s father exits the mansion to greet us “Clarissa!”
Wow, I feel really out of place in this touching reunion of father and daughter as they hug, should I just pretend I don’t see them?
“Come on in, you too Lance” Theodore beckons inside with a smile on his face, he is actually genuinely happy that we are here.
“You both will need to change your outfits for dinner” Me too? I’m going to have dinner with the family? Interesting.
“And you are?” Theodore notices Stella who is behind me, trying to be as quiet as possible, no need to be shy.
“This is Stella, she is very talented, so I decided to make her into Clarissa’s maid if you don’t mind”
‘I’ll tell you about her later’ He isn’t convinced, so I telepathically tell him that he will know more. Very good father, if I do say so myself. He wants as much information as possible on every person near Clarissa. It makes sense that the church would target her in the university instead of here.
After freezing for a moment (contemplating the telepathy), he nods his head and continues like nothing happened. Even though telepathy was the last thing he expected right now, he still recovered surprisingly quickly.
--Place: Chamberlayne Residence (Dinner hall)/ Time:19:02—
With dinner on the table, and Clarissa’s father and siblings seated, I take my seat next to the oldest sibling, Octavius, and we immediately start eating.
Octavius, the smart mastermind, who managed to expand the Chamberlayne’s territory into lands that were previously controlled by Kainz. Even though his talent in magic and swordsmanship is a bit lacking. His intelligence and ruthlessness, as well as his cleverness, make him very suitable for politics.
On the other side of the table, is a man that looks like the younger version of Theodore, with sharb eyes, and a goatee. This is Kane, Kane Chamberlayne, second son of the household. His grades, sword and magic ability are all on the above-average side, with a glint of arrogance in his eyes, he is the exact image of the word noble.
Next to him, is a woman, one that is older than Clarissa by just a bit. She is Angelina, the second daughter, she is said to be called a seductress, using her beauty (still a bit lacking compared to Clarissa) as a method to bring in results to her father, she will without a doubt marry the person who could bring her the best future, to put it simply, love is nothing more than a transaction with benefits to her.
The first daughter, isn’t present, as she has been wed to Archduke Addington’s first son, and is currently living with them. The Addingtons are one of the families with royal blood that have a very good relationship with Chamberlayne, so after getting engaged and wed 2 years ago, she no longer lives in this mansion.
A staring contest begins as we all stare at each other as we eat the exorbitant dinner, with everyone eyeing each other, me being eyed the most as I stick out like a sore thumb in this dinner that was meant for only the Chamberlaynes.
“So, I hear Clarissa has gotten the highest grades in her year?” Theodore initiates a conversation, breaking the silence.
“Yes, father. It would be devastating if the Chamberlayne name did not reach 1st place.” Clarissa responds with an expressionless face and a calm voice. How can she say that with such a straight face when the actual reason was because she was horny?
She also takes a jab at every sibling who didn’t get first place during their exams, except Octavius, who did get first place in his year. Kane and Angelina wince slightly, at getting attacked so openly at the dinner table.
“I heard you lost to a man named Ryuta Koichi” Angelina doesn’t sit still and hits back.
“No, dear sister. Me and Mr. Koichi had a battle at the final round of the entrance tournament, leading to both of us falling unconscious, causing a draw with no victor” Clarissa corrects Angelina blatant manipulation of information, saying that she lost when Clarissa didn’t. “I have been training and putting effort to improve myself ever since such a failure occurred.” She recovers quite quickly if I had to be honest.
“Oh, did Laurence teach you?” Theodore ignores the insults that the siblings are throwing at each other and asks as he looks at me with curious eyes, he also doesn’t use my fake identity as Lance Lightbringer, it seems there is no need to, here.
“Yes, I did. Your daughter is very talented, Theodore” I talk to him on a first-name basis as all the eyes in the room are on me, my greatness must be captivating them all, yep that’s it.
“Why thank you, and good work on the accomplishments Clarissa” Theodore doesn’t react to the fact I called him with his first name, and continues speaking as if this is normal. Causing even Octavius to raise an eyebrow at such behaviour.
And we are back to the silence, with the only sound being the chewing of food.