Chapter 18: Eric Vallen of Piran

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In the main building of Piran's castle, a young man with cleanly cut dark-brown hair is standing at the balcony, wearing a ceremonial robe (a crimson velvet robe trailing on the ground at its backside but with an open front), he is looking at a nearby fishing village in the south, along the coastline. His gaze moved to a village and farmlands to the west, then to the thick forest further west. Finally, he turned to the grassland to the north and to the Vasin mountain range beyond it. Sadly, he can't view the ocean from here, he'd have to move to a different room for it.

Eric thought to himself, 'why am I feeling somewhat uneasy now? like a high school student worrying about what's waiting for him in college. The concern of uncertain future. How pathetic of me, ku ku ku. Now that it is happening, am I afraid to fail?'

"Ugh! Whatever! I'll probably fail and make bad decisions, but I'll just grit my teeth when that happens and live with it, as long as I'm alive. Hahahaha."

Eric was pulled back to reality after a couple of knocks on the door sounded, "enter", the young lord commanded. The chamberlain entered holding a coronet with 16 silver balls on the rim, the old man then said, "we're about to begin milord".

Eric nod and followed Reginald out the door, there they met his knights and a number of servants who followed behind them forming some kind of procession.

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This is Eric's fourth day in the territory, on his first day the old viscount passed away and was buried the next, today is when the inheritance ceremony is held. He decided for the ceremony to be simple and asked for a shorter version since he didn't want the long dragged out nonsense, according to him. Which is opposite to what his ceremonial minister wanted, a nagging bald old man who has an irritatingly loud voice, who is also the people's representative, as a mayor.

Even though the ceremony was cut short, it still took the whole morning to conclude. Now he is Eric Vallen of Piran since he has to take the viscount's name as a condition for the inheritance.

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An hour after midday, Eric is having his late lunch in the dining hall, with him at the table are the remaining direct family members of the old viscount, his closest blood relatives in the territory. A woman in her late thirties with light brown hair, Eric's uncle's wife is quietly finishing her meal, she appears uncaringly towards people and situations around her, but not to the extent of being rude.

From other, people's perspectives she is somewhat pitiful, losing her husband a few years ago, then her only son was killed more than a month ago. However, Eric is indifferent to this, even though the situation resulted in him gaining the viscounty, he didn't particularly ask for any of it. Moreover, he only met these people four days ago, so he didn't particularly like or hate them. But it doesn't mean he'll tolerate or be lax with them, he still needs to be vigilant, since most people here are still strangers to him.

The specific of Eric's cousin's death is not clear and needed to be looked into further, he tried asking the knights and servants but he received no definite answer. Eric ordered Gallahan to probe into the incident, he didn't want any stones left unturned, especially as a lord he needs to eliminate any threat to his rule or to his life.

With him at the dining table are his two female cousins, the older one is a quiet eighteen-year-old girl with a pretty face and long black hair, the other girl is ten years old, has her mothers light brown hair, with a round face and beautiful blue eyes of the Valen's. The mother and older girl were respectful of Eric but didn't say much, the youngest however is a curious naive girl who asked him sorts of questions, more particularly about the orange-haired young woman he was with, Eric liked the girl's upfront personality.

Eric looked at the people at the table and announced, "I would like to have a word with the three of you in my study later, an hour after this meal maybe?".

Her aunt didn't have any noticeable reaction, while the older girl appeared to be a bit worried, and the little girl seemed just naturally curious.

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Later in Eric's study...

Eric is sitting behind his desk, in front of him is his aunt and her daughters.

"Lady Sesa, I'm sorry for your loss, there might be nothing I can do to even lessen your grief, but if you decide to stay in Piran castle, you're welcome, I'll try to accommodate you in any way".

"Thank you, milord, how about my--", Eric didn't let the older woman finished and gestured for her that he has something more to say about the matter.

"As for your daughters, my cousin", Eric looked at each of them and continued. "If you want to leave and or find some nobleman to marry, I will gladly help you. But if you decide to stay, you would need to work for the territory, don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly and you can decide you're role for yourself. You can learn governance of the territory from the chamberlain", Eric paused and looked at the youngest then continued. "Or you can even learn how to fight and be a knight if you want", the women's eyes widened.

"Well you see ladies I don't discriminate, and aura is beneficial not only for combat but also on various tasks, it is even very good for the skin", Eric finished with a smirk. The women gave him an expecting stare.

The mother thanked Eric and decided to just live with her daughters in the castle, just like before. The older girl however said that she will continue to study in order to be of use to Eric as an advisor, she is said to be very smart and is great at reading people. While the younger obviously wanted to be a knight, both of them decided to learn how to use aura.

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Then for the next whole week, Eric immersed himself in learning everything about his land and its people, from its history on records and other means of information.

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