As their carriage moved down the road, Evan could sense thousands upon thousands of creatures living within the forest on either side, and after a certain distance, the wild greenery gradually gave way to an orderly, carefully maintained orchard, with plants of different kinds and trees of various breeds arranged neatly into distinct sections.
Eventually, the carriage passed through a set of guarded gates, and as it began moving slightly uphill, a large manor ca into view.
It wasn't as grand as the Lanefords' official residence outside Vitalis, but it was still clearly the kind of building that made a person think, "Yeah, this belongs to a noble."
When they stepped down from the carriage, a small group of servants was already waiting to receive them.
After a brief welco and greeting, they entered the manor just as a young-looking woman was descending the curved staircase in the foyer.
She had long black hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders, striking green eyes, delicate features with high cheekbones, a straight nose, and a gentle smile, wearing an ankle-length blouson dress that cinched slightly at the waist and flowed gently to her ankles.
Eliza's steps had already begun to quicken before they crossed the threshold, and by the ti they were inside, she was running. She dashed up the stairs and threw herself into the open arms of the woman coming down to et them, pulling her into a tight embrace.
The reunion between mother and daughter was a moving sight, one that brought small smiles to the faces of the servants watching, though those expressions were quickly hidden once more.
"You finally rembered us and decided to co back ho after all these years," the woman said.
Eliza cleared her throat, her eyes darting around as she replied, "Well, I was always going to co back, okay?"
Her mother simply nodded. "Yes, yes, you were always going to co back. I definitely believe you."
"Your tone says the exact opposite," Eliza shot back imdiately.
The woman chuckled, then turned her attention to Evan and said, "Well, look who we have here. If it isn't the continent's rising star."
Hearing that, a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "If I had a coin for every ti soone called that, I'd be a millionaire by now."
"Oh my, with that many people calling you a rising star, I suppose it's beco a Title by now," she said.
"It actually already has. Saw it this morning and couldn't help but laugh," Evan answered with a light chuckle as he took one step up the stairs before adding, "But titles aside, I'm Evan. It's nice to et you, Mrs Laneford."
He extended his hand toward her, which she accepted, shook, and replied,
"It's nice to et you, too. Just call Deborah."
"Geez, why are you both being so formal?" Eliza said, prompting both of them to turn toward her as she gave them an incredulous gaze.
Evan sighed softly and replied, "Really, Liz? First eting of the in-laws."
He gestured between himself and Deborah before adding, "It's gotta be formal, you know?"
Deborah chuckled at his comnt, while Eliza simply shrugged, clearly not caring about what he was talking about.
Turning back to her mother, Eliza said, "Mum, you baked today, right? I can sll the blueberries already. I want cake!"
With that, she ran up the stairs they were on and disappeared down one of the hallways, heading straight for the kitchen, while Deborah only shook her head quietly.
"That girl. I suppose so things never change."
She then turned to the nearby servants and said, "Prepare the garden table for our guests, and call my father and brother."
After that, she looked back at Evan and said, "Shall we?" while gesturing up the stairs.
Evan nodded, stepping forward as he replied, "We shall."
◇ ◇ ◇
Deborah's garden was enclosed by carefully tended hedges and flowering shrubs arranged by their colours, while tall trees cast gentle shade over the neatly kept lawn.
At its centre was a simple wooden gazebo, open on all sides, with a long rectangular table beneath it. Four chairs were placed along each length of the table, leaving the head sides clear and unobstructed.
Evan and Eliza sat together on one side, while Deborah sat opposite them, a spread of assorted cakes laid out between them. At the centre of the table was a five-tier cake stand holding pastries, sandwiches, and scones, which Eliza happily spun around and plucked treats from as she pleased.
Deborah watched all of this with an endearing smile, while Evan, phone held up, kept taking picture after picture of Eliza, snapping so quickly that it sounded like the shutter never stopped, blending into one continuous beep.
He even moved around to capture different angles.
When he finally lowered his phone and began scrolling through the photos, Deborah leaned in and said, "Can you send so of those to ? I want to fra them."
The mont she said that, Eliza's hand, which had been reaching for a slice of strawberry shortcake, froze in place, and she imdiately turned toward her mother.
"Mum, you are NOT framing anything."
Deborah blinked, a genuine expression of confusion appearing on her face. "Huh? Why? They're pretty."
Eliza sighed, pressing her fingers to her forehead. "Mum, why do you always want to fra every picture you get your hands on?"
"Well, obviously," Deborah replied, "because they're captured monts from your youth. They're mories you can look back on years from now and smile fondly at."
Eliza narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Deborah, who continued smiling and added, "Also because you look very cute and a little silly with your cheeks puffed up in this one," she said, pointing at Evan's phone.
Evan imdiately nodded. "Yep. This one's my favourite."
He marked the photo, then turned the phone toward Deborah as he said, "Fra this one. Make it the biggest fra."
Deborah nodded in agreent. "Don't worry. I know a guy. He makes the best fras."
At that, Eliza turned toward Evan with a flat stare. "Really, Evan?"
However, Evan t her gaze with a bright smile.
"Fun mories to look back on years from now."
Deborah chuckled at his words, while Eliza shook her head, rolling her eyes and sighing in exasperation before returning to her cake.
After a mont, she looked back up to Deborah and asked, "Where's Khristian? Aunt Darcy said he was around."
"Oh, well, when he heard you were coming over, he rushed to the nearest teleportation waypoint and vanished through it. I have no idea where the boy went."
Eliza's eyes slowly narrowed at Deborah's response.
"And why did he do that?" she asked.
"I don't know," Deborah replied. "If I had to guess, he's probably done sothing that'd put you in a foul mood if you found out. You might want to check your room and see if anything's missing."
It was clear her younger brother felt guilty about sothing and had run off to avoid her reaction.
Unfortunately for him, Eliza was more than capable of saving that reaction for later. Whatever he'd done, she'd find him and make him pay for it eventually.
She didn't say any of this aloud, simply returning to her cake, but Deborah imdiately saw through her and thought to herself, 'I'm honestly a little worried about what she'll do to him later.'
anwhile, Evan continued scrolling through the photos he'd taken, stopping on another one he found very pretty, setting it as his wallpaper, then showing it to Deborah and asking her to fra that one too.
By then, Eliza had completely given up on stopping them and focused on enjoying her desserts.
They passed the ti quietly like this, chatting lightly, with most of the conversation flowing between Deborah and Evan.
Eliza only chid in when they started talking about her, especially when Evan showed Deborah pictures and videos she hadn't even known he'd recorded.
Eventually, after Evan exposed one too many embarrassing monts, Eliza reached over and snatched his phone from him.
Deborah laughed at her reaction, then picked up three glasses from a nearby tray, set them upright, grabbed a jug of mixed fruit juice, and poured it into each glass.
She placed one glass at the seat to her right and slid the other two toward the empty seats on her left.
Evan noticed this and turned to her with a raised eyebrow, and just as he did, several presences entered his Detection Field, moving toward their location, with one practically bounding over at supersonic speed.
A second later, Eliza noticed the fast-approaching one as well, her hand holding her fork freezing as she rolled her eyes silently.
Before Deborah could comnt on that, her expression brightened as she stood and turned around, calling out, "Grandpa!" while hurrying off in the direction of the other two incoming presences that approached at a much more relaxed pace behind the first.
She left the garden through its rear entrance just as the person rushing over arrived from the main entrance, their movents halting with an imnse gust of wind that rustled tree leaves and sent flower petals flying through the air.
"Hmm? Oh… George and Sir Alden are there."
Those words, spoken in a baritone voice, ca from the tall and bulky man with curly blonde hair and a goatee, his sapphire-blue eyes glimring in the light.
He was dressed in a dark-brown three-piece suit paired with black leather shoes, his black tie hanging from his wrist as if he'd just pulled it off.
Imdiately after speaking, his gaze, which had been fixed on the rear exit of the garden where Eliza had just gone, shifted toward Deborah, a bright smile spreading across his face.
"I see you baked today. I hope Eliza hasn't finished the red velvets."
"Any longer and she might have," Deborah replied, pulling back the seat to her right where the man moved to, planting a light kiss on her cheek as he sat down.
The woman kept her calm smile, not in the least ruffled by the man's usual displays of affection as she turned toward Evan and spoke.
"You're no doubt already aware, but for the sake of formality, this is my husband, Matthais."
She spoke while gesturing to Matthais, then looked to the man and introduced Evan.
"This is our daughter's fiancée, Evan."
"…"
Deborah's exact choice of words caused Matthais's brows to twitch in annoyance, and he turned toward her with a gaze that asked why she still used them even though she knew how he'd react.
Evan, however, acted like he didn't notice the unspoken exchange, turning his phone face down as he greeted.
"Good day to you, Mr Laneford."
When Evan addressed him, Matthais finally looked at him, not hiding his displeasure, and Evan, wearing an expression of obviously feigned surprise, asked, "You seem quite displeased. I wonder why?"
That was the final straw for the man.
"You wonder why??"
He unconsciously exerted too much force on the knife, cutting his cake, slicing not only the cake but also the saucer beneath it in two as he spoke.
"You're a shady brat with unknown connections to the demonic bastards trying to ruin this world, attempting to control this continent by building leverage others under the guise of 'Heroism,' and worst of all, you've involved my daughter in your ss and put her in far more danger than any parent could accept, and you have the audacity to ask 'you wonder why?'!"
He slamd his hand down on the table with such force that everything on it bounced and fell back, the glasses of drinks nearly tipping over if Deborah hadn't used magic to keep them in place.
Matthias, however, couldn't care about the potential ss as he was fully enraged at Evan.
Even more so when Evan simply raised an eyebrow and replied casually.
"Unknown connections to the Demonic Hand? As far as I know, my connection to the Demonic Hand is that of 'mortal enemies,' and it's fairly well known to everyone."
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