Inside the long car, Leon and the others were all seated and prepared for the return journey to the Lancaster mansion.
Brian and Helen were awed by the luxuriousness of the car's interior. Having learnt the identity of the other people inside the car, the couple was unnaturally quiet due to nervousness.
They were a pair of humble commoners sitting among nobles and not just any nobles, but the nobles of the highest class. It would be impressive if they could keep calm in such a situation.
With the exception of the empty passenger seat, all of the back seats were surprisingly all filled up by the group of 8.
"Hold on. Where is Mia?" Leon suddenly asked before they set off. Leon still wanted to introduce Mia to his parents and hope for them to adopt her.
"Who's Mia?" Ignis and Leon's parents naturally had no idea who she was, but the others did.
The Greene family of three wore funny faces when the question was raised.
"Erm... she is still at my home." Lina answered in a soft tone. What else could be said? They had forgotten about her and left her home alone.
"What? You left her home alone?" Leon was dismayed and couldn't help repeating her words.
The last thing Mia wanted was to be alone again. What would she think when she realized no one was home beside herself? Would she feel abandoned? Sad? Lonely?
His parents directed questioning gazes at him and he was compelled to recount Mia's story to his parents like how he had told Amelia and Lina earlier in the day.
His parents were quite the sentimental people. Brian's eyes were swollen red as he tried to not cry. Men don't shed tears, they shed blood. Meanwhile, His mother Helen broken into tears.
"What a poor child! We have to hurry there and fetch her." She cried out.
"Please take us back to Lina's home." Leon nodded and made the request to Sebastian in the driver seat.
Sebastian still had no idea who Leon was, but his identity certainly wasn't simple to be placed with great importance by the Duke and his wife.
The look they give Leon was as like they were looking at their son-in-law... wait. Son-in-law? Sebastian's brain started overclocking and he was able to connect the dots and came to a realization.
But... so what? He was the servant of the Lancaster family and Only listens to his Lord's command... cough* and his Lord's wife. In his opinion, the Royal family had fallen and it was the Duke's house, who had been holding the fort in the kingdom. His arrogant tendency was kicking in again.
Sebastian did not answer Leon's request right away, but turn to await his Lord's confirmation.
Ignis gestured for Sebastian to drive with a nod. He didn't see anything wrong with Sebastian's actions. He was Leon's father-in-law and his birth father's sworn brother. he was a generation older than Leon and deserved to be given face, not to mention Sebastian was his servant. However... someone did not think the same.
"Just do what he asked and drive the damn car!" Amelia roared furiously. Sebastian might be showing off his unswerving loyalty to the Duke, but this was not the time for that. She would not tolerate any disrespect to Leon. They mustn't give others the wrong impression that the Duke household was above the Royal family.
Her sworn-sister, Elizabeth was not the kind and gentle person she once knew, but a cold merciless monarch. Towards Leon, who she missed dearly and viewed as her darling treasure, she would most likely behead anyone that slight him.
Everyone was shocked at Amelia's outburst. Noticing her unladylike manner, she gave light cough and pretended nothing ever happened. The mother and daughter pair; Aisha and Lina, who thought Amelia was a gentle and easy-going person, reevaluated their impression of her. How was that gentle and easy-going? That was a tigress.
"Y-Yes, Your Grace." Sebastian panicked and stepped on the pedal and the car zoomed into the distance. Both lord and servant broke into sweat.
In the back, the servant behind were taken aback by the sudden rush.
"C-Captain... they're getting away. We're going to lose them."
"Ah? R-Right..." They accelerated and followed closely behind the Duke's car with bewilderment. Weren't they suppose to be careful on their return trip? Was this still being careful?
The roaring engines of their vehicles was loud, but the heavy rain was louder. Fortunately, no attention was drawn onto then as they relax their guard. But then again, they weren't even sure who they were meant to look out for.
...
Arriving at the Greene's home, Leon found Mia weeping tearfully by the door. He felt a pangs in his heart as he picked her up and carried her out.
"Don't cry, don't cry... Big brother is here." Leon tried cheer her up. He wasn't good with children, let alone ones that are crying.
"Wuwuu... Big brother... you're back..." Mia sniffed as she hugged his neck. Her mood brightened quickly with his presence. Words weren't needed to comfort her.
"Let's go, Big brother will take you to meet his parents and the others." Leon wiped off the tear stains on her adorable face.
Sniff* "Okay." Sniff* Sniff* Mia
When Leon opened the car door, Mia was quickly snatched from his arms and entered the embrace of another.
"Mom, You have such fast hands."
Helen seemed have her dexterity magically improved greatly in the presence of children. She was a big children lover. Thinking back, Leon was around the same age, when he was first adopted by Brian and her.
Mia was startled by the sudden change of hands, but she quickly calmed down under Helen's gentle and motherly embrace.
"Hi Mia, do you remember this big sister?" Rachel smiled and pinched her cheeks.
"Mmmm, hello big sister." Mia nodded repeatedly before looking around. "...and many uncles and aunties."
She wasn't scared by the presence of many adults. She didn't sense any ill-intention and only care from their gaze.
"Ahh... this child is too cute." Amelia, Aisha and Helen all gave her cheek a squeeze. Most mothers tend to favor daughters over sons and it seemed especially true in this case.
Mia didn't like getting her cheeks pinched and squeeze, but she was overwhelmed by everyone's showering affection. Just one moment ago, she thought she was abandoned and the next moment, she is surrounded by nice aunties.
Today had been quite a long and eventful day, full of ups and downs.
Her body was suddenly overwhelmed with a sudden drowsiness that forced her to fall asleep again.
It was late in the night and she was still a child in her development period. Children tend to sleep more than adults to support their mental and physical development.
"I have decided. I want to adopt Mia as my daughter." Helen stated. Without Leon having to express his wish, the result was still the same.
"Really?"
"Ahh... what a pity. I also wish to adopt Mia." Amelia said with some regret. But it wasn't a big deal. She already has Rachel. Having a son next would be better than another daughter. They didn't have an heir.
Including the Royal family, most Marquis-level noble family and higher only settle for one child if their firstborn was a boy. This was to avoid infighting within their families over the succession rights.
As for noble families below the Marquis rank, they are less likely to follow the same practice as they don't own big business like Marquis level nobles and higher. They instead believe in the strength of numbers and created many offspring to expand their influence and family businesses.
...
Upper West District.
The forces of the four great families have split into two unequal forces. House Weld, Grey and Acker have stayed and set up an ambush along the same route the Duke's group had passed through to enter the Lower West District, while House Weld had taken their troops and rushed to set an ambush in the Upper North District for contingency in case the Duke did not take the same route back.
With the help of minor families in their alliance, their had set up an effective communication line between the two points. When one point is alerted, the other side would quickly be informed and would rush to their aid at the quickest speed possible.
As to why House Weld was chosen to be singularly stationed in the Upper North District instead of any other houses? It because House Weld was noble family of water-users.
With the rain in his favor, Lord Weld believed he was capable of making a stand even against both the Duke and his wife.
The rain became Lord Weld's natural domain, enhancing his ability and also suppresses Duke Ignis and his wife's fire ability.
Similar to the Queen's metal palace that was her absolute domain, Lord Weld had his rain domain. But the two cannot be spoken in the same breath. A water-user's absolute domain would be where the sea and ocean are. However, a domain was still a domain and shouldn't be underestimated even if it was absolute.
"Father, with our advantages, did we still need to set up this ambush point? Can't we clash head in and suppress them?" Marquis Gregory asked.
Lord Weld shook his head. "It is after all the Duke's house we are dealing with. It is too arrogant to fight them head on.. We mustn't give them a chance to make a come back."