The Autumn Break started, and most of the students in the academy had gone or would be going back to their hometowns to spend a week with their families.
Of course, not everyone wanted to go home, deciding to stay inside the academy.
Ethan naturally planned to return home to spend some time with his grandparents.
To his surprise, Chloe told him that her parents would be staying with Ethan’s Grandparents for a week, making it a small family reunion.
Because of this, Chloe would be going to the countryside together with Ethan.
Ethan also invited Luna to accompany him on his trip back home. The reason why he did that was simple. Since he had already decided to be true to his feelings, it was about time to introduce Luna to his grandparents.
Also, since Chloe’s parents would be staying with them, he wanted to talk to them as well.
Truth be told, Ethan felt a bit anxious because he couldn’t guess how his grandparents and Chloe’s parents would react.
He had already braced himself to be slapped silly by his grandma’s flip-flops for what he was about to tell them.
Even so, he decided to push through with it. His time in the Lands of Alastor had taught him a lot.
You would always regret the decisions that you didn’t make.
This was the painful lesson that he had learned the hard way.
Ethan didn’t want to have any regrets, so even if the odds were stacked against him, he would stay true to himself.
But there was one more person who decided to accompany Ethan back home. Naturally, Ethan didn’t invite this person, but on the day when they were leaving the academy, Emma appeared with her traveling bag.
“My Liege, as your Protector, I need to be by your side,” Emma said.
“But I’m just going to visit my grandparents?” Ethan blinked in confusion.
“Accidents can happen,” Emma countered. “Just like what happened on your escort mission. No matter how unlikely it is, the possibility still exists.”
Ethan couldn’t find any counterargument to Emma’s statement, so in the end, he agreed to let her come with them to the countryside.
Chloe and Luna were surprised because they weren’t aware that the Assistant Librarian had a very close relationship with Ethan.
When Ethan and Lily entered the Nexus, it was Emma who assured them that he would return without fail. She even insisted that they shouldn’t lose hope and that they should wait for his return.
On the day that Ethan returned, it was also Emma who had informed them of his arrival.
Although they didn’t know how she was able to know about these things, the two had a better impression of her since then.
“Ethan, why did she refer to you as ‘My Liege?’,” Chloe asked.
“I’ll tell you about it when we reach my house,” Ethan replied. “This is not the place to talk about it.”
Chloe nodded her head in understanding before glancing at Emma, who was looking back at her with a bored expression on her face.
The handsome young man could only smile bitterly after seeing this scene, but there was nothing he could do about it.
After boarding the train that would take them to the countryside, the four students headed to their compartment.
Ethan, Chloe, and Luna sat together, while Emma sat across them. 𝞸𝓥𝑙xt.𝑐𝑜𝚖
The Assistant Librarian spent most of the trip looking outside the window, occasionally sending sidelong glances to Chloe and Luna, who were resting their heads on Ethan’s shoulder.
Both ladies were holding his hands, wearing smiles on their faces.
‘How lucky,’ Emma thought as she shifted her attention to the view outside the train. ‘I need to make a good impression on his grandparents when we arrive.’
Emma knew why Ethan had invited Chloe and Luna to go with him. At such a critical moment, if she didn’t make herself known to Ethan’s grandparents, she might not be able to gain their support in the future when the time came.
As a Seer, Emma didn’t believe in coincidence.
She was certain that Fate had chosen the Gremory Household to raise Ethan, allowing him to grow up as a responsible child.
‘If he was raised in a different family, he might not be as nice as he is now,’ Emma mused. ‘I’m glad that Lady Catherine chose the right family. I’d hate it if My Liege had grown up to be an arrogant Young Master. Although he has the right to be arrogant, I like this version of him more.’
(A/N: Lady Catherine is Ethan’s mother.)
Emma was Ethan’s Promised One.
Although the handsome young man still didn’t fully understand the role that Emma would play in his life, the moment she discovered him, the Wheels of Fate had already started to turn.
As to what that Fate held for both of them, only time would tell.
A few hours later, the four of them arrived at their destination. Their travel was smooth and uneventful.
“Ethan! You’re finally here!” Ethan’s Grandma, Agnes, waved at her grandson the moment she saw his figure at the exit of the train station.
“Grandma.” Ethan hugged the old lady who had raised him with love and care. “I missed you, Grandma.”
“I missed you, too,” Agnes said before shifting her gaze to the young ladies, who had accompanied her grandson back home.
She was already expecting Chloe, but when she saw that Ethan had brought two other girls with him, the smile on her face widened.
“Oh my! Such beautiful ladies.” Agnes chuckled. “As expected of my grandson. You got all your good genes from me. Come, we prepared two carriages for your arrival. You can drop all your luggage in the second carriage and let your grandpa take care of it.”
Ethan glanced in the direction Agnes was looking and saw his grandpa, who was looking at him with a satisfied look on his face.
Clearly, he was also very happy that his grandson was doing well in the academy and had even brought home a few ladies, whom he believed to have a close relationship with the latter.
“Grandma, I missed you,” Chloe said before hugging Agnes.
“Chloe. It’s been a while since we last saw each other,” Agnes replied as she hugged her back. “You’ve grown more beautiful since I last saw you.”
Chloe giggled after she was praised by her grandma.
She then introduced her best friend, Luna, to Agnes, and the old lady’s gaze softened after seeing the angelic beauty call her Grandma.
“What a good child,” Agnes said before looking at the third girl who was looking back at her with a smile.
“And she is?” Agnes inquired.
“Grandma, her name is Emma. She’s…” Chloe wasn’t able to finish what she was going to say because Emma took a step forward and made a curtsy to the old lady.
“Good day, Mrs. Gremory,” Emma said. “My name is Emma Harper, and I am your grandson’s concubine.”
Although the train station was a busy place, for a brief moment, all sounds seemed to have disappeared after Emma’s introduction.
Ethan blinked once then twice before averting his gaze.
Clearly, he didn’t expect his “Promised One” to drop a bomb like that upon meeting his grandparents for the first time.