"That is because Sister Harper possesses immense practical combat application rather than mere classroom theory," Penelope said with a proud smile.
The grandfather clock in the corner of the great room chimed softly, its mellow tones marking the late hour.
Martha stepped forward from the kitchen archway, her hands folded neatly over her apron as she offered a warm maternal smile to the three young students.
"Young ladies," Martha announced in a gentle yet firm tone, "it is past eleven o’clock... The academy bells ring early tomorrow morning, and your uniforms for the morning classes have already been pressed, inspected, and arranged within Lady Lia’s wardrobe. It is time to conclude your studies and prepare for bed."
"Awwwww!" Kaede groaned instantly, rolling onto her back and flailing her arms. "Just ten more minutes, Martha! We haven’t even finished packing our satchels!"
"Ten minutes will turn into an hour, and then you will complain that your morning tea is too hot because you woke up late," Lia retorted with a sharp bossy huff, though she too looked reluctantly at her open notebook. "Come on, Kaede. Let’s pack up..."
Lia turned back toward Silas, her eyes narrowing as she prepared to make a final stand to stay in the living room longer.
"Big Bro, maybe I can just stay up for a little bit to—"
Silas simply raised a single dark eyebrow, giving her a calm look that held elder-brother authority.
Lia stopped mid-sentence.
She knew that look all too well... it was the exact same quiet, immovable expression he used back in the slums whenever she tried to stay up past midnight to mend clothing.
’Haah... what a troublesome man.’
She instantly knew arguing was a completely wasted effort.
"Fine," Lia grumbled, though a small affectionate smile betrayed her grumpy facade.
She reached out, pointing two fingers at his eyes and then back at her own. "Remember your promise, Big Bro. You are not allowed to step a single foot into the Sovereign Realm tonight or tomorrow. If I wake up and you’re gone, you are in huge trouble!"
"I promised, didn’t I?" Silas chuckled softly, reaching out to pat her head once more. "Go get ready for bed."
Upstairs, down the wide carpeted hallway on the second floor, Lia pushed open the double doors to her bedroom suite.
The room was spacious and bright, featuring soft beige walls, a massive plush bed adorned with oversized cushions, a dedicated study desk beneath a wide panoramic window overlooking the tranquil gardens of Silverleaf, and a large walk-in wardrobe.
While it lacked the gold-leaf ornamentation and antique tapestries found in the noble estates of Sector 1, it was clean, incredibly comfortable, and radiated a cozy welcoming atmosphere.
Penelope stepped inside, setting her satchel down by the desk and looking around the tastefully furnished space.
"You know, Lia," Penelope remarked thoughtfully, a small, genuine smile gracing her refined features, "while your room might be considered standard by high-noble architectural conventions... it is remarkably pleasant. It feels very warm. My quarters at the Whitmore estate are nearly three times this size, yet they feel cold by comparison."
Lia’s cheeks flushed with a light bashful pink as she looked down at the carpet, rubbing her arm shyly.
"Th-Thanks, Penelope. Big Bro was the one that got most of the furniture done and even the bedsheets, as well as everything else."
"It’s super cozy!" Kaede beamed, practically leaping into the center of the room and flopping face-first onto the large bed, burying her face into the mountain of pillows. "The mattress is like a giant, fluffy marshmallow! I could sleep here forever!"
"Hey! Don’t mess up the sheets before we even put our pajamas on!" Lia scolded playfully, grabbing a plush decorative pillow and lightly swatting Kaede’s back. "Bathrooms first! We need to brush our teeth!"
The three girls trooped into the adjoining en-suite bathroom, chatting and giggling as they lined up in front of the wide mirror.
Kaede hummed a cheerful tune from the Shogunate Isles as she vigorously brushed her teeth, her side-ribbons bobbing in the glass, while Penelope meticulously applied a gentle lavender face cream with the disciplined poise of a young noble lady.
Lia rinsed her mouth, wiping her chin with a fluffy towel, watching her two friends in the mirror with a quiet contented warmth filling her chest.
After years of isolation and scraping by in the slums, having true friends to share a sleepover with felt like a dream she never wanted to wake up from.
Returning to the bedroom, Lia walked over to her tall wardrobe, opening the cedar doors to retrieve her favorite set of soft flannel pajamas patterned with tiny cartoon mana-beasts.
Across the room, Penelope and Kaede unzipped the sleek enchanted travel bags they had brought with them from their respective estates.
"Huuu..."
Penelope changed into an elegant lavender-colored silk sleep set that fell smoothly around her slender frame, while Kaede donned a bright yellow oversized pajama shirt adorned with traditional Shogunate floral prints.
’Kaede sure is obsessed with the Isles...’
Kaede sat down on the edge of the mattress, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched Lia button up her flannel top.
A sudden, wicked glint of mischief flashed across the dark-haired girl’s bright eyes.
"Hey, Lia..." Kaede began, resting her chin in her hands and tilting her head with a sly playful grin. "Hypothetically speaking... if I decided in a few years that I wanted to date your Big Brother... would you give me your official blessing as his little sister?"
Lia froze mid-button, staring at Kaede with wide deadpan eyes for two full seconds before bursting into a loud uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"Pfft... hahaha!" Lia doubled over, clutching her stomach as she leaned against her wardrobe. "You?! Date Silas?! Kaede, are you crazy?! Big Brother doesn’t like younger girls at all! He looks at kids like us and just sees people he needs to feed vegetable soup to!"
Penelope couldn’t contain herself either.
A soft refined giggle escaped her lips, quickly turning into clear melodious laughter as she covered her mouth with her sleeve.
"Lia is correct, Kaede. That is an absurd proposition. Silas’s patience is formidable, but he would likely treat you like an unruly niece rather than a romantic partner."
Kaede puffed out her cheeks in mock indignation, though she quickly dissolved into giggles herself, falling backward onto the pillows.
"Okay, okay, it was a joke!" Kaede laughed, tossing a small cushion into the air and catching it. "I was just teasing! Besides, we’re way too young to be focusing on boys and romance anyway. We have our entire Year-long foundational curriculum to survive first!"
"Indeed," Penelope agreed, walking over to the bed and smoothing down the sheets. "We have to do some more research... While we informed Silas that the remaining phase was simple, "that" is easily the most intricate component of the entire project."
Lia sighed, climbing onto the mattress and pulling the heavy, plush duvet over her legs.
"Don’t remind me. We’ll have to spend all of Sunday afternoon running tests with "that" so we can get full marks but besides that..."
"There is more than enough space on this bed for all three of us," Lia added, patting the wide expanse of the mattress on either side of her. "Let’s just sleep for now."
Penelope slipped under the covers on the right, resting her head against the silk pillow, while Kaede curled up on the left, hugging a plush bolster tightly against her chest.
"Goodnight, Lia. Goodnight, Penelope," Kaede mumbled, her eyelids already drooping with heavy exhaustion.
"Goodnight, Kaede. Goodnight, Lia," Penelope whispered softly, closing her violet eyes.
"Goodnight, guys," Lia replied, reaching over to tap the bedside button, dimming the room’s ambient lighting into a gentle soothing twilight.
Within minutes, the rhythmic peaceful breathing of her two friends filled the quiet bedroom.
Several hours later, in the dead of the night, Lia’s eyes fluttered open.
The room was completely dark, save for faint silvery moonlight filtering through the sheer curtains of the panoramic window.
The house was utterly silent.
Lia lay still for a moment, listening intently. There were no sounds from the lower floor, no hum of magical machinery from the neighbors, and no footsteps in the hallway.
’Ah God...’
A familiar irrational knot of anxiety tightened in her stomach.
Even though they lived in Silverleaf now, and even though Silas was overwhelmingly powerful, the deep-seated fear that he might quietly slip away into the dangerous Sovereign Realm still haunted the edges of her mind.
Moving with the silent stealth of a former slum pickpocket, Lia carefully peeled back the heavy duvet.
She twisted her body with nimble precision, stepping over Penelope who was currently tossing and turning in the midst of an active dream, mumbling fragments of mana-flow equations and slipped past Kaede, who was sprawled diagonally across her pillow, softly snoring and uttering completely incomprehensible gibberish about sweet rice cakes.
Lia navigated the obstacle course of blankets without making a single sound, gently turning the brass door handle and slipping out into the hallway.
"Huuu..."
She let out a soft relieved sigh through her nose, closing the bedroom door with barely a click.
The second-floor corridor was cool and quiet. Lia walked on bare tiptoes along the plush runner rug, glancing down the central staircase toward the ground floor.
The dining room and kitchen were pitch-black and empty, even Martha’s quarters down the hall was completely dark.
Lia turned her steps toward the master bedroom at the far end of the upper hall.
Her heart hammered lightly against her ribs as she approached the heavy oak door.
’Haah... He needs to be here...’
She braced herself for the worst... half-expecting the room to be empty, the bed untouched, and a note left on the nightstand telling her he had emergency business in the Umbral Basin.
She reached out, gently pushing the slightly ajar door open.
CREAK!
The master suite was bathed in the soft glow of a personal smartphone screen.
Lying comfortably on his back atop the massive king-sized bed, propped up against a stack of pillows, was Silas.
He was still wearing a comfortable charcoal shirt and dark shorts with his blue eyes calmly reading through lines of text scrolling across his glowing display.
At the sound of the door moving, Silas’s sharp eyes shifted toward the entrance.
Seeing the small, brown-haired girl standing in the doorway in her flannel pajamas, clutching the frame with wide hesitant eyes, his rugged expression softened immediately into a warm understanding look.
"Couldn’t sleep?" Silas asked, his deep voice turning into a comforting rumble in the quiet room.
Lia didn’t answer with words.
A wave of pure overwhelming relief washed over her.
"Ah!"
She broke into a sprint, crossing the bedroom floor with quick padding steps, and launched herself straight onto the bed.
Silas laughed warmly, setting his phone face-up on the mattress and opening his arms to catch her.
Lia scrambled right on top of his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and burying her face into the crook of his shoulder, holding onto him with all the strength her small arms could muster.
"I wanted to sleep here," Lia mumbled into his shirt, her voice muffled and thick with sleep. "My bed was too crowded with Kaede kicking around..."
Silas chuckled, wrapping one large protective arm around her back, holding her securely against his chest just like he used to do when she had terrible nightmares in their drafty room years ago.
"You’re always free to sleep here, Lia," Silas said gently, his fingers lightly smoothing down her messy hair. "You don’t need an excuse."
Lia let out a soft contented sigh, relaxing her entire body against his broad frame.
The steady powerful beat of his heart beneath her cheek was the most soothing sound in the world, instantly banishing every lingering trace of anxiety from her mind.
As heavy, irresistible drowsiness began to pull her under, Lia’s eyes lazily drifted toward the glowing smartphone screen resting beside Silas on the sheets.
The display was showing an encrypted database dossier from the Sovereign Realm, and just before her heavy eyelids closed completely, she saw what he was searching.
=====================================================
Names of Ice Empresses that have been betrayed in the History of the Sovereign Realm? =====================================================
’Huh...?’
Lia’s brow twitched faintly with mild half-conscious curiosity at the majestic title, but before she could formulate a single coherent thought, the overwhelming warmth of her brother’s embrace pulled her down into a deep peaceful sleep.
’Ice Empres—’
...
The morning sun rose over the Silverleaf District, casting brilliant golden rays of light across the manicured lawns, polished stone driveways, and elegant architectural villas lining the quiet avenue.
The crisp morning air was clean and invigorating, carrying the subtle refreshing aroma of dew-kissed silverleaf pine trees.
Parked in the center of the Graves residence’s wide stone driveway was the sleek luxurious Zenith IVR and standing beside the open rear passenger door in her pristine black-and-white uniform was Martha with her hands folded neatly in front of her as she waited patiently to drive the young ladies to their morning cohort at Valoria Academy.
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