Volume 10 Chapter 10 A Long-awaited Reunion With Father And Mother
I sent a letter to let my family at Rest Priest know I'm coming back.
I asked the delivery guy in town to take it for me.
If it's within the Holy Capital, it should arrive in a day or 2, but I sent my reply a week early, so Father should have already received my letter.
In the letter, I wrote about coming home today and shared everything that's happened so far.
I mentioned the fake wedding with Sir Roxas.
I talked about what happened in Edelstein.
I expressed how sad and painful it was thinking Sir Ciel might die.
But I didn't write about how Dad, the holy beast, is actually a distant ancestor of the Rest Priest Family.
I thought it would be better to talk about that in person.
The Rest Priest Family is located deep within the Great Temple.
I remembered being attacked by Ms. Famine at the Great Temple and felt a wave of nostalgia as I looked up at the Great Temple, all decked out with banners, flowers, and shiny decorations.
"This is..."
The banner had big, bold letters saying, "Welcome back, Lyd-Lyd!"
"Lyd-Lyd..."
For a moment, I thought about just ignoring it and going home.
I could feel their warm welcome, but something inside me felt all fidgety.
"Should I just go home..."
"That sounds like a rebellious phase, Lydia. It's a good sign."
"Rebellious?"
"It's that time when parental love starts to feel annoying. I once had a phase where my love for my daughter made her dislike me. Good times."
"Even though I'm happy to be cared for, does that mean I'll end up hating it?"
"Exactly. You start to find your parents annoying, and eventually, you grow up."
"Dad, didn't you feel lonely when your daughter disliked you...?"
"Oh, I felt lonely alright. I was so lonely that I smothered her with attention, and when she brought home someone she liked, I said I'd never allow it. But then my wife got mad at me. Good times."
"Dad... your role is to connect the bloodline and help Sylphina, right?"
"That's true, but that's a different story."
Is that how it is?
As I stood in front of the Great Temple for a while, I saw Father running towards me from the Great Temple.
Behind him, Mother was walking gracefully with a smile.
Father looks young, but he's not that young anymore, so I feel like he shouldn't be running too much.
"Lyd-Lyd...! Welcome back! Father has been waiting for you...!"
"Uh, Father... I'm home."
"Lyd-Lyd, you've gotten even cuter and more beautiful in just a little while...! I worry so much that such a beautiful and delicate daughter of mine is living alone in town. I hope nothing scary happened to you? It seems like you had some scary experiences, but... I'm just glad you're safe...!"
"Father, calm down..."
"Lyd-Lyd. Welcome back."
"Mother!"
Mother seems more composed than Dad.
Since Mother has been sleeping for a long time in Ms. Famine, she looks a bit younger than me, which feels a little off.
But Father looks young too, so when they stand together, they look so youthful that it's hard to believe they're my parents.
Father hugs me tightly.
It kind of hurts.
"Mother, Father, um, the Great Temple is in big trouble..."
"Since it's been a while since Lyd-Lyd came back, Father got really excited."
"We decided to throw a welcome back party for Lyd-Lyd."
"Oh, is that so...?"
I had a bit of a bad feeling.
Just like the outside of the Great Temple was dazzlingly decorated, the path from the Great Temple to the Rest Priest Family, and even the inside of the house I was returning to, was all sparkling.
There were flower arrangements that looked like they were for a grand reopening, with so many flowers it seemed like they gathered them from all over the Kingdom, and all sorts of round and star-shaped decorations lined the walls that I couldn't figure out where they bought them from.
In the chapel of the Great Temple, a band was playing music, and when we arrived at the Rest Priest Family's hall, there was a table filled with lots of food.
"Wow, this is amazing..."
"Fresh flowers wilt, you know. I'm planning to give them as souvenirs to the people who come to worship tomorrow, so you don't have to worry."
Father pulled out a chair and sat me down at the table.
There were also tall chairs prepared for Eir-Eir and the others, and they sat there cutely.
Mer-Mer transformed from their big form back to a small one and climbed onto my lap, closing their eyes and falling asleep.
"The food looks incredible..."
"Yesterday, I decorated with all the servants. The chefs were crying, saying they felt bad for Lyd-Lyd while cooking..."
Before I knew it, the servants were lined up in front of me.
Familiar chefs and maids stood straight, looking serious.
"""Lady Lydia, we are so sorry...!"""
They all bowed their heads in apology at once, and I widened my eyes in surprise, feeling lost about what to do.
"Actually, Lyd-Lyd, I was the only one under Famine's control back then."
Father said this with a tone of regret about the past.
Ms. Famine ran over to me and hid on my lap with Mer-Mer.
I wasn't sure if she was surprised because he called her name or if she still had some memories left.
I gently stroked Ms. Famine's back, trying to convey that everything was okay.
"The servants were just following my orders to leave Lydia alone. Here, my word is law. Disobeying me, the Head Priest, is the same as going against Goddess Alexandria or God Ancestor Theobart. No one could question me, even if they had doubts."
"Um, yeah..."
That makes sense.
Father is the one closest to the goddess.
"That's why I couldn't reach out to Lyd-Lyd. All they could do was tidy up Lyd-Lyd's room a bit and pretend not to see Lyd-Lyd sitting in the kitchen. Then, they could only leave a little food behind."
"Oh! So that's why I wasn't scolded while watching the cooking in the kitchen."
"Ah, by treating Lyd-Lyd as if she wasn't there, they were protecting her from me and Francois."
"Thank you. Thanks to you all, I've been able to learn how to cook. It's all because you always showed me the cooking scenes."
I stood up from my chair and gave a small bow to the staff.
The staff exclaimed, "Lady Lydia, you've become so wonderful..." "We're really sorry...!" and they started crying loudly, leaving me at a loss for what to do and feeling troubled again.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)