11 When a Dandelion meets a Lion

"Make sure all of your luggage were ready, son" says the middle-aged man to his son as they were packing up their stuffs and putting them in the horse carriage.

"Yes, father" the son replied.

"Always keep an eye on your brother at all times, okay?" the father reminded as looks at the younger sibling besides his son.

"Yes, father" the son replied again.

"Once you arrived at Roa, make sure you meet with your auntie at this location here" the father instructed as he points at the mansion on the map.

"Yes, father" the son replied once again. But this time, the father noticed that his son is tensed, so he decided lighten up the mood a little.

"Also, if you ever came across any cute young lady in your way there, always be humble and courteous gentleman, okay?" the father teased the boy, making him blushed in embarrassment.

"Father, please stop teasing me!" the boy angrily rebukes his father.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll stop. But seriously, always be kind and respectful to everyone you talk to. Do you understand?"

"I understand, father"

"Good. Take care of yourself and your brother" the father says his goodbyes to his son before they get on the horse carriage.

"We will, father"

That was the last conversation of the boy and his father before the unfortunate accident occurred.

It all happened on the road leading to the citadel, when something came hurling towards the boy's horse carriage and then…

*CRASH*

--------------------------------------------------

"Wake up, brother"

I heard a familiar voice. It is trying to pull me back to reality, but couldn't. I'm too tired.

"Oi, Jonathan. Wake up, sleepy head"

Another voice calls for me, this time it is older compare to the first voice. He too is trying to bring me around from my slumber.

"What do we do? Brother is still unconscious"

"Don't worry, I know just the thing to get him out of bed"

As the older voice said that, I can feel him pulling my boots out from my feet. Wait, what is he trying to do?

"Rise and shine, dandelion boy!"

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation at the sole of my foot as I sense the fingers runs through it.

"Hahaha! Stop, that tickles!"

I immediately opened my eyes and jolted my body. I look around to find the perpetrator and saw a brown-haired boy smugly smiling at me.

"Oho, look who decided to wake up"

*BONK*

Feeling a bit irritated, I decided to bonk the person in front of me. He winched in pain as he covers the top of his head.

"Ow, that hurts! Why did you do that?!"

"I told you to not wake me up like that, Ember"

Ember Teigrov is the grandson of an outrider and my childhood friend in the capital city. He often like to play pranks and has a bottomless energy when he is on the mood to play.

"Brother, are you okay?"

I then turn my attention to the small blond boy calling for me. I gently smile when I saw him and I pat the top of his head to comfort him.

"It's okay, Barry. I am fine"

Bartholomew Gunnhildr, one the other hand, is my younger brother and second son of the Gunnhildr clan. He is a very caring sibling and he likes playing with turtles.

"Oh yeah, where's the turtle you always carrying, Barry?"

"That's the problem, brother. I lost Mr. Sheldon when we crashed"

"Crash?"

"Don't you remember, Jonathan? Our horse carriage crashed when we are heading to Roa"

Ah, I remember now. Father sent us to meet with our auntie in Roa, but our horse carriage got hit by something and we crashed to the ground, also losing our consciousness in the process.

However, I can't seem to understand where I am now. From what I can tell, it seems we are a high standard bedroom with four beds in placed.

Speaking of beds, one of them was occupied by a small girl with navy-blue hair.

"Who's that girl over there?"

"You don't remember that either? We took that girl in our carriage when we saw her walking on her own at the road"

"I see..."

"Anyway, what do we do now, Jonathan?"

"I don't know"

Honestly, I have no idea how we will get to see our aunt, now we are here.

*knock* *knock*

Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door and Ember went to check who was it.

*creak*

-------------------------------------------------

When Ember opened the door, a bunch of people came to the room. One of which was someone very familiar.

"Oh, Ember. What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Captain Varya, I'm glad to see you here. You see, I joined Jonathan and Barry in their journey"

"I see...."

""Auntie Varya!!""

Ignoring Ember's cheeky commentary, both me and Barry cried out the name of our aunt as we run towards her.

"Oh dear, Jonathan, Bartholomew. Thank goodness, you two are safe"

Aunt Varya crouches down and hug us both. I can't believe we will see her in this kind of place.

"So, this are your nephews, grandmaster knight Varya. If only we knew who they are, I wouldn't have the troubles of hesitating on saving these brats"

"Don't be like that, father. Let's just thank the hooded fellow for the prophecy of rescuing them"

I then heard two grown up men talking about us and they seem intimidating from how they looked at me. They wear sophisticated clothing and their demeanor are very noble-like.

*stare*

After observing the adults, I suddenly felt an ominous gaze behind those two men. I saw a seemingly small girl that was staring at me while hiding herself in between the legs of the adults.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"...."

The girl doesn't answer my question and continues to scrutinize me for no reason. Looking at her, she has crimson red hair that looks like someone poured red paint on her and a pair of vibrant red eyes that are apparently glaring at me.

"No staring" the red-haired girl then speaks to me, telling me to not stare at her.

"Excuse me?"

"I hate people staring at me for too long" the girl explains and then she hides herself further behind the adults.

I see, the girl seems to be anxious when she's being stared at. I will just avert my eyes, so she doesn't have to hide from me.

"Don't be like that, my dear. Stop hiding yourself and go face the boy"

A red-haired woman, assuming was her mother, persuaded the girl and prompted her to come out from hiding and confront me.

The girl reluctantly follows her mother's instruction. She comes out from her hiding spot and walks towards my direction. She averted her gaze from mine and seems to be fidgeting her body.

"Come on, sweetie. You don't want to leave a young lady hanging like that, do you?"

"Huh?"

"Introduce yourself, silly. Go on, you can do it"

Auntie Varya then prompted me introduce myself to the girl. I nervously complied and prepared myself to tell my name.

Remembering the etiquette lessons that father thought me, I greeted her in a noble way. I moved one of my feet forward, placed my hand on my chest and bowed slightly.

"My name is Jonathan Gunnhildr. It's nice to meet you, my dear lady"

After I introduced myself, the girl was speechless as if she was in a daze. What is she doing?

[Bellona's POV]

'Shit! Shit! what do I do?!'

I don't know how to greet people in a noble way! I was too busy learning magic that forgot to learn any etiquette. Dammit!

I never thought it comes to this moment where a seemingly noble boy introduces himself to me. How am I supposed to respond to that without looking like an idiot?!

'Alright, calm down, Bellona. You can do this. Just remember the scene from the anime and you're good to go'

Following the images in my mind, I tried to placing my foot forward, then I lift my skirt with both of my hands and then slowly lowered my stance.

"M-my name is B-Bellona Boreas Greyrat. N-nice to meet y-you"

I awkwardly said my name to the boy and he seems to be confused. Crap, I'm screwed.

"Well, it is nice to meet you, lady Bellona" says the boy as he grabs my hand and puts it close to his mouth.

'Wait, hold on. What is he doing?'

*Chu*

The boy then kissed my hand and I was utterly confused because of that.

My whole face is flushed and my mind going haywire to the point I couldn't think of something to respond to what he did to me.

'What the heck just happened? Why did he just kiss my hand? Why am I acting like this?'

"Is there something wrong, lady Bellona?"

"I-idiot"

"Excuse me, my lady?"

Without thinking a second thought, I formed a fist with my hand and let all of my emotions go.

"IDIOT!!"

*POW*