"Today is the last day of school before winter break," Sophia confirmed with excitement in her voice.
"Great. Then you all go pack up your stuff. You guys don't need me to help, right?"
"Yeah!"
All three of them excitedly rushed back to their room, packing their stuff as fast as lightning, as if they had been dying to leave the house.
After waiting for just a bit, all three of them came out with their suitcases ready.
"Where is Mom?" Alex suddenly asked, raising his concern after noticing she was visibly missing this trip.
"She's already at your grandparents' house doing something... I'm here to bring you guys there instead."
None of them doubted their auntie's word, taking it at face value as she began casting some sort of teleportation magic.
In just a blink of an eye, they were gone from the living room. They reappeared in a dark room as their surroundings got consumed by an endless void.
When they blinked again, the darkness was gone.
They were now on top of a castle, with snow falling from the sky right out the window in front of their faces.
It was clearly not the same castle-like mansion as the one their grandparents were in back in the capital.
A real medieval castle.
"Auntie Amelia, where are we at?" Alex curiously asked, his face a little shocked as this was their first time seeing snow.
"We're in Regina... Did Katherine not tell you that your grandparent is the Duke of Regina?" Amelia asked back in a surprised tone.
"Mom never told us about our grandparents," Sophia replied as she slowly reached her hand out the window.
"Makes sense. Ahem, anyway, you guys are going to get used to coming here every winter from now on."
"Why?" Mary asked curiously.
"Because it's one of the most crucial things that makes all mages want to come here during the winter.
Even the emperor himself comes here once in a while to pay tribute to her. So you really wouldn't want to miss it."
The vague answer left all three of them confused as she grabbed all three of their suitcases and backpacks before vanishing into thin air.
"Who's 'her'? Why make this place so special?" Sophia asked, immediately noticing the small detail that Amelia had left out.
"You guys really don't know? She's a grand archmage... She's also your great-great-great-grandma, or something."
Amelia paused for a second before turning around, looking at them right in the face with a suddenly serious look.
"I lost count at this point. But it really doesn't matter since we never get to see her, so don't get your hopes up."
All three of them looked in shock, as the grand archmage was mage level 9, the highest level ever recorded in the textbook.
Not once in their lives could they imagine themselves to be related to someone who was at the apex of magic.
There were only a few people in the world who were mage level 8, let alone less than a handful who were an archmage level 9.
"Anyway, it's a good thing you guys learn it now so you won't embarrass yourself when the time comes."
"What time?"
Sophia asked curiously as they followed her up the stairs, only to find themselves in front of another castle door.
"You'll learn it soon."
As Amelia pushed the giant wooden door open, they were now right on top of a castle wall, with endless buildings stretching past the horizon.
Turning around for a second, they saw an even taller castle in the distance. They were now in the inner part of a castle infrastructure.
"I never knew our family was that important," Alex murmured, still in awe of the size of their surroundings.
"Mhm."
After walking for a while, Amelia suddenly dropped a bombshell that made him almost completely freeze in place.
"Hey, Alex... Not to put too much pressure on you, but you're the heir to this whole thing at some point.
So you better level up your mage skill, or else it will be really embarrassing for our family and our reputation."
"Wait, me?"
As the four of them arrived at the bottom of the staircase to another entrance, Alex couldn't believe the words that had come out of Amelia's mouth.
"According to Regina's Duke inheritance law, males have priority over females... Unless all the male relatives are dead."
Sophia and Mary didn't look jealous of it at all. Instead, their faces were giggling a little as they looked over to their brother.
An extremely stressed face. Frowns that could age a boy to a man. Someone who realizes he now has a major target on his back.
"Can I not take it? I don't really want to be a duke... That seems like so much responsibility for me as a kid." Alex pleaded.
"Don't tell me that. Tell your grandpa about it and see how he would react... But then again, not like he knows it yet."
Alex instantly fell into silence as he still didn't really know his grandpa that much. At least not enough for him to ask it directly.
After walking for a bit, they finally arrived at something different. The actual living quarters with warm lights inside a roof.
"You know, Alex, I'm surprised Kate gave birth to you. I'm not saying that you shouldn't exist at all or anything."
Once again, Alex was confused by what Amelia was trying to say. But what she casually dropped next stunned him.
"But our family bloodline is supposed to be cursed with 99% females... You and your grandpa have been the only males for the past two hundred years."
"Y-You serious?" Alex nervously questioned back.
"Mhm."
Alex still couldn't believe it.
The thought of being the only male in the family other than his 'manly' grandpa Fredrick seemed crazy to him.
A man who had a full mustache, looking like that of old-fashioned European nobility, was the only man in this entire noble house.
"Welcome back, Miss Amelia."
Rows of maids bowed down before them as the guards standing by opened the door, drawing all three of their attention away from the conversation.
"Luqing, can you bring them over to their rooms? They are my nieces."
As soon as Amelia mentioned the last part out loud, all of the guards and the maids were shocked.
It was almost as if they had never seen kids around this place, as their eyes were glowing as if they were looking at some sort of treasure.
They stared right at the kids' faces, making the three of them a little nervous until one of the maids stepped up and intervened.
"Here's your luggage back... And don't forget to bring them back to the living room after they settle down."
"Yes, ma'am."
Two of the maids quickly stepped up to grab the backpack and suitcases, with an older-looking one grabbing Alex's luggage.
However, Alex was a little shocked to see the more mature-looking maid that Amelia called out by name.
A mature woman who looked drastically different from everybody else in the room. Slightly tanner skin that sharply contrasted against the typical white skin.
The skin color on top of the unique hairstyle reminded him of someone from the East back on Earth.
It immediately reminded him of those Japanese maids he once read about, in the mythical land mentioned in the textbooks.
"Have their bedroom be next to each other... Actually, just bring them to Katherine's old bedroom section."
"Yes, ma'am."
"You three go follow them, okay? I'll bring your mom to the living room to see you guys later."
The three nodded in agreement as Amelia headed back outside, vanishing at the doorway as the maid guided them.
"Misses, how may we call you?" The senior-looking maids asked out loud.
"Just call me Sophia. He—I mean, she's Alex, and she's Mary."
As soon as Sophia said the word 'he,' almost all the guards' attention turned towards Alex for a second before she fixed it at the last second.
"Very well. Nice to meet you, Miss Sophia, Miss Alex, and Miss Mary. I'm Luqing, the head maid of this castle.
I have been working under Lord Fredrick for over twenty years. Or your grandpa, for short, if you didn't know."
"I'm sorry if this is a little rude for me to ask this," Mary murmured as she looked a little afraid to speak up.
"Ask away."
"Can I ask why you look so different, Miss Luqing?"
"Please don't call me Miss Luqing. I'm just a maid... Lord Fredrick saved me when I was being trafficked from the East to the capital.
Ever since then, I have been serving under him as a thank you for saving me while I was a kid," Luqing explained.
As the three of them followed Luqing and the maids around the mansion, they started to realize how big the place was.
There was an endless number of hallways, with rooms on top of rooms and big living rooms connecting all of them.
There was even an indoor park with a glass panel ceiling blocking the snow from the outside, with a grassy field in endless snow outside.
Yet, the more surprising part was the fact that they were only on the first floor, with the building having at least two floors from the outside.
After walking for a bit, they finally arrived at a hallway that had six different doors, indicating each different room behind them.
As the other two maids guided Sophia and Mary to the third and fourth rooms, Luqing guided Alex to the second room.
"Who sleeps in the first room?" Alex curiously asked, just wanting to confirm his theories from earlier.
"Miss Katherine... Sorry to ask this, but is your mom Miss Katherine?" Luqing asked back with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
As soon as Alex nodded in agreement, Luqing's face seemed a little excited before it vanished into a warm smile.
"You know my mom?" Alex asked curiously.
"Miss Katherine and I used to be good friends," Luqing explained as she started to zone out a little before snapping back.
"I see... Ahem, I can unpack myself. Can you wait outside for a bit? I'll come out after I finish unpacking."
Luqing didn't question his order as she stepped out of the room and closed the door, allowing him to finally be alone in the house.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. They're going to find out sooner or later. Why do I even need to hide this about myself?"
Alex started to panic internally as he could see everyone in the castle putting him up on a pedestal when his sister accidently mentioned him as a male.
Even as Sophia tried to fix his identity near the end, he could see the constant glare from each of the maids looking at him.
Looking down in his suitcase, he still had two pairs of leggings and skirts that Sophia didn't want back after the prank she did.
On top of the pad and panties for the upcoming period and his bra that he still hasn't started wearing yet, it was building up to be a disaster.
"Do I really need to wear this to hide my identity? I-I can't do this... I'd rather die than wear this again."
Despite putting them at the bottom, Alex still couldn't bring the courage to confess his gender in front of everyone.
Especially not after hearing Amelia's warning about being the sole 'male' other than his grandpa.