Two pairs of eyes came in contact with one another as an awkward silence rang loud in the air. I could only freeze in place as panic ensued, clogging up my throat, preventing any word from coming out. My mouth continually gapes open and closed before the other party speaks their mind.
"...How are you feeling, Amelia?" Before I knew it, Amber had already arrived in front of me. Her hand touched my head, testing for any abnormality.
"I am feeling better now." Why am I getting tongue-tied now of all times!
'This is the first time you are meeting a Laurel family member. Don't you fumble this!' I mentally straighten myself. My eyes were fixed on the beautiful, matching blue eyes in front of me.
" I...um..." Something in those mesmerizing eyes makes me draw a blank. Words bouncing off your brain instead of forming a proper sentence.
"..." A short silence follows, which almost feels like an eternity.
"What are you doing in the garden today, sister? Are you taking a break from the lab?" I finally managed to squeeze out something.
Her hand was suddenly on my head, patting the golden strands, leaving a lingering warmth where she laid her palm.
"Yes, I just returned from the magic tower. Work let me off early today, so I came back home to relax." She spoke with a soft smile, her gaze swept through me lightly as if checking for any anomalies or abnormalities left behind.
"That is great news, Amber! I'm sure father and mother would feel happy you could join them at dinner today." This is good, right? I am sounding normal and not saying anything stupid yet, right? The relationship between all family members where described in the novel as close and tight-knit nit so it wouldn't be wrong to assume they would have meals together and be happy for each other's presence, right?
I did hear that the Duke and Duchess are home today and will be having dinner. I won't be joining yet, cause... I'm sarced(´-﹏-`;).
" They sure would. But... Aren't you still in the process of recovery? Why are you running about without your maids?" She asked, her cool gaze scanning the area. For a moment, I could swear there was a scary look in her eyes, but it disappeared quickly, almost like I was hallucinating it.
" The maids are preparing my picnic for me. The doctors said I could start moving around the garden more to help with recovery. I just wandered off when they were distracted. You are not gonna tell on me, right?" I could feel a shiver down my spine as I put on my best " wet puppy eyes" look. Since I technically did sneak away since they just went back to the kitchen for some new pie the chef baked, and told me to stay still for just a minute since we were near the kitchen.
What a scary look.
I am sorry, dearest caretakers:')). This patient was wandering around on her own without your supervision.
I might have gotten you all in trouble with your employers.
If you get fired, I will help you sneak away some riches in the castle.
"No, of course not. Why would I get snitch on my little sister? You owe me one this time." She denied, seemingly realizing she had let her gaze slip in front of a child, well, more like a pre-teen, but eh, close enough.
Amber took my hands in hers swiftly, finding an excuse to distract me, the gears in her head spinning before her eyes suddenly shone as an idea struck her.
"Say... You are having a picnic, right? I'm waiting for a friend to come visit. Would you...mind us joining you? I'm sure they would like to meet you as well."
A guest? At the Spring Palace no less?
"I thought guests weren't permitted to enter the inner building? Are they a close friend?" I asked curiously.
With the Laurels' family air-tight protection of their members, all guests who are entering the estate go through several grounds of screening before even setting foot on it.
In the cases that merchants or nobles with whom the family rarely have any handling with, no dangerous or unregistered items will enter the property. Whatever they decide to bring with them needs to be listed carefully without fail.
Without confirmation from at least a governor or a steward, even specialized items like medicine or herbs will be held back until the guest leaves the estate grounds. Of course, all visits mandate an invitation with a seal of approval from the head butler and other household management heads or even the household head themselves, and a few more requirements like a full search of all items, including your carriage.
Special inquiries on certain medications or special needs are to be made before the visit and should be included in the request for visitation. And most of that is just so they can visit the outer building where none of the Laurels' members live, a completely detached building for guests alone.
Out of the 4 main palaces, only the Winter Palace is open to outsiders. Entries are limited to grand balls and national celebrations, but they allow certain academies to enter the palace for educational purposes.
Trusted vasals and friends still go through the same process, but they get to stay in the Summer Palace, though fancier, it is still three detached buildings where two will be for guests, while the smaller one will be a distance away for workers who live in the estate full time.
Spring Palace specifically doesn't allow guests that isn't family since it is built solely for the younger children under the age of 15. It is the smallest of all other Palaces, but it is directly connected to the Autumn Palace, where all direct family members and close branch families live.
In conclusion, it is practically impossible to get near the two palaces without the staff or family members noticing.
Why?
Because everyone here are literal monster.
A bunch of superhumans are living with each other and then training more superhumans.
Even though you can only consider one-sixth or one-eighth of the people here, including the Laurel, as the crazy kind of superhumans. The rest are like well-trained bodyguards with pretty costumes.
"Yes, we have been friends for almost two years at this point. Our parents seem to like her very much."
Ou la la, someone that close.
"Really? Why haven't I met her before if you were so close then?" I feign a pout, peaking through the corner of my eyes for her reaction.
Other than the Royal family, the story doesn't go into details about other guests. The setting of the Laurel family is consistently mentioned by Amelia in the story when interacting with the hero cast. Information on the family, other than strict rules and close relations, remains in the shadow, only being introduced as a side plot point.
With the conversion of the author wants to integrate more game-like elements into the story, and they drew maps of the world with the design + layout of many places in the story. One of them is the Laurel estate itself. Fans, upon seeing this, finally have a feel of the scale of the Laurels' legacy, which is overwhelmingly abundant.
However, they remain a background plot until the end of volume 4.
"No one has met her until recently. Our family met her face to face only a bit over two months ago, when you were still bedridden."
"Moreover, our process of filtering guests is rather... intimidating to most. So... it is awkward to invite people over with such damning entry criteria..." Amber sighed, sulking a bit.
Damn, she is hitting me with the sad eyes back. My technique has backfired.
Why are the people of this house so ridiculously shiny and pretty-looking? Even the mirror blinded me when I tried to look at myself.
I folded.
I fold so quickly.
That is just... sad, but so justified :3.
Before I knew it, I had already led her to the picnic blanket and sat down with her. The maids who saw me return frantically scolded me for leaving alone and apologizing to Amber.
She sat there laughing to herself, watching me get scolded. Praise her for trying to hide her laughter, but please stop... I... That...
...