Chapter 48: Erza's Guardians...

In Irene's suite study—

Papers were scattered all over the sofa and the desk...

Irene, along with Juliet, Heine, and Mera, was reviewing various materials, so Erza and Selene could only see the top of Irene's head.

At this moment, Irene's hair wasn't braided but casually pinned up with a hairpin, her eyes completely focused on the documents.

Because Irene was so engrossed, she didn't notice the door opening as she should have.

"Selene-sama."

Juliet was the first to notice Selene.

"Erza... sama."

Originally, Irene had no intention of looking up upon hearing Selene's name, but she suddenly looked up the next moment.

"No, no, no! Please don't call me that," Erza quickly waved her hands, completely unable to accept such a title.

Irene's tone was full of surprise and astonishment, "You... why are you here?"

Suddenly realizing that her words might be misinterpreted, Irene quickly explained, "No, I don't mean it that way. I'm very happy to see you here."

"Pfft."

Erza couldn't help but laugh, her face lighting up with a radiant smile.

Selene raised an eyebrow at Erza, and Erza, realizing her lapse, quickly restrained her smile.

Selene then turned to Irene, "I brought her over. She has agreed to stay here. I brought her to inform you."

The excitement on Irene's face was evident, "Is there anything you feel the room is missing?"

Irene was currently in a phase of nervous tension, eager to make amends after making a mistake.

However, this did effectively bring her closer to Erza. To Erza, at least Irene wasn't the aloof, slightly cold high-born flower.

"No, the room is perfect."

...

After Erza had been living there for a week, Irene tried various methods on her, hoping to treat Erza's right eye.

For this, Irene even asked Juliet and the others to invite Porlyusica.

Porlyusica still gave the same answer: there was no problem with the artificial eye she made, but Erza's right eye simply couldn't produce tears normally.

Irene knew Porlyusica wasn't lying. She had checked Erza's right eye with her investigative magic and found no difference from a normal eye.

Seeing Irene's furrowed brow, Erza instead felt a sense of relief and comforted her, "It's alright. This is fine too."

Erza knew it was likely due to her experiences in the Tower of Heaven, but she didn't mention this.

Firstly, she had passed out when she left the Tower of Heaven and had drifted to Magnolia with the ocean currents, long forgetting the exact location of the Tower of Heaven.

Secondly, she felt this was something she needed to face and resolve herself; otherwise, she might never escape this nightmare.

This nightmare was vividly evident in her, causing her to wear armor even at home.

Thus, at the dining table, there was this scene:

Aegon eating in his robe and Erza eating in her armor...

Both had the same thought about each other:

'Does this person not have another set of clothes?'

Aegon was somewhat better, at least his robes came in various colors and styles, but Erza truly always wore her armor and white dress.

After a week of living together, Erza was no longer uneasy at home. Selene was kind, and Irene was overly attentive due to her guilt.

Aegon was also not as difficult to get along with as she had originally imagined; he even seemed overly simple...

While eating, Erza pondered, wondering why in the novels she read, stepfathers and stepmothers were always hard to get along with???

Noticing Erza's peculiar expression, Irene, who was sitting beside her, asked a question.

Erza returned from her daydreaming to reality, shaking her head, "Nothing, just thinking about a job request."

Erza hadn't left Fairy Tail. Although she had once angrily declared that Irene wasn't her mother and that Makarov was her true parent, that sentiment had some genuine feeling.

Makarov had accepted her without questioning her background.

Not only that, he had taken her to his old friend Porlyusica to treat her eye. It was thanks to Makarov and Porlyusica that her right eye could see again.

This was a kindness Erza needed to remember for a lifetime, so one of her conditions for living here was that she wouldn't leave Fairy Tail.

This wasn't really a condition for Irene, because after learning that Erza had joined Fairy Tail, Irene had already had Juliet and the others investigate Fairy Tail. Therefore, Irene agreed without hesitation.

This was undoubtedly another correct decision by Irene.

Just by agreeing to this condition, the relationship between Erza and Irene improved significantly.

Aegon had no objections either. It wasn't good for Erza to stay at the manor all the time, as Irene wouldn't have time to accompany him.

Moreover, now that Erza was living at the manor, with Selene and Irene teaching her, at least she wouldn't be so naive about the matters between men and women.

In mid-October, Magnolia held the Harvest Festival, and because Erza was participating, Aegon took Irene and the others to watch.

This was a different scene from what Aegon had seen before. After all, it was a magical world, and the integration of magic into the parade added a unique charm. Juliet, Misaki, and the others, who had never seen it before, were quite interested and went down to follow the parade.

Aegon sat on the rooftop, holding Irene and Selene on either side, watching the performance. He murmured softly, "Suddenly, I feel like I'm at a parent-teacher meeting..."

"A parent-teacher meeting?"

"What is a parent-teacher meeting?"

Irene and Selene turned to look at him.

"Uh... it's an event where parents participate. It's not a big deal."

"Well, we can have our own parent-teacher meeting when we get back."

Seeing that he had strayed from the topic again, Irene shook her head in exasperation and turned back to continue watching the float where Erza was.

Selene didn't pursue the matter either. She was more interested in the Harvest Festival parade now. This was her first time watching a human festival, and her attention was on the parade, not even minding Aegon's hand wandering on her.

Fireworks and magic illuminated her delicate face, her clear eyes reflecting the light, like a shimmering lake, with a happy smile on her lips.

Aegon and Irene weren't very interested in the Harvest Festival itself. Irene came to see Erza, and Aegon came because everyone else did, and being alone at the manor would be boring.

However, he did have an unexpected discovery: Cana, in an orange dress with a tuft of hair tied at the back, and tanned skin, was also on the float with Erza.

Selene and Irene's eyes were on the parade and Erza, respectively, so they didn't notice this.

That night, Selene and Irene understood what Aegon meant by a parent-teacher meeting.