Christmas Morning

Jaren hesitated to interact with Eloise because his mind was filled with paranoia, fearing that she possessed the ability to read his thoughts or be able to tell the honesty of his words.

But as I spoke a few reassuring words, I managed to quell his nervousness by informing him that her abilities weren't activated and convinced him to treat Eloise like a regular human.

Still reluctant, he accepted the two girls' offer to play house with them, and in a few minutes time, he had completely immersed himself into the role of the big bad world, hugging and puffing, trying to blow down the princesses' house.

He had completely forgotten about his fear and was enjoying his time with Eloise.

"Come on out, little kitties. Fear not, for I shall not feast upon you; I only seek to play some games with you two," he said, fully embodying his character including the voice he was speaking in.

I stared at my cousin and thought to myself that it made sense for him to get along with the kids so easily; all three of them shared the same age mentally.

As the girls discussed whether or not to trust the wolf outside their house, I settled beside Father, who was savoring his wine outside, sitting on one of the patio chairs, while gazing upon the garden.

It was a little cold so I threw a patio blanket over me before I greeted him, "Hey."

He replied with a lively tone, "Hey son, is something wrong?"

"What? Do I only talk to my father when something bad is happening?" I asked.

"No, but your face says that you have something serious to tell me."

I smiled, "I do but don't worry. It's nothing grave. Just something I wanted to discuss with you before it happens so it doesn't feel like it's coming out of nowhere."

"Hope it's not as serious as when you revealed Eloise's existence to me," he chuckled. "But go on, shoot. I'm all ears. I can take it. I think."

Resting my worries about his reaction, I said, "Don't worry, it's nothing that alarming as I said. I just wanted to talk to you about the investigation I've been conducting on a certain individual. I presume you're aware of it."

"The baron, right? That's right, I have been informed, but I've abstained from digging deeper into the details. I have a copy of all the reports they've been handing you but I haven't opened them yet. I trust your judgment and respect your privacy," he assured, emphasizing that he hadn't snooped on my activities even though he was aware of it.

"Well, basically the gist is that the man I'm looking into is a giant piece of shit, and he needs to be dealt with," I stated plainly. "I plan to be the one doing that."

"Require my assistance in dealing with him?" Father inquired, visibly ready to launch an assault on the baron and take his life as soon as he receives my permission to involve himself.

I shook my head, appreciating his offer, "No, thank you. This is something I must handle alone for reasons... I can't disclose. Sorry."

He seemed somewhat disappointed but accepted my wish. "No need to apologize. Just promise me you won't get hurt. I don't want to lose my temper and inadvertently destroy a city or two," he said, his eyes filled with concern.

It sounded like a joke but I could tell that it clearly wasn't.

I couldn't help but chuckle at his fierce paternal instincts. "I'll do my best not to get hurt then."

With the conversation having wrapped up, we sat in silence, observing the snowfall that rendered our garden a winter wonderland, its liveliness undiminished by the harsh weather.

"Come inside, you two, before dinner grows cold," Mother's voice beckoned from behind the glass door.

Dinner was delicious as usual and after that, the family, including Jaren but excluding Cyro, enjoyed a Christmas movie afterward.

Later, as I was about to inquire if Jaren would be staying in one of the guest rooms, I decided to hold my tongue, observing that he was still engrossed in play with Eloise and Rubi.

Back in my room, I reflected on Quentin's advice to continue training even in his absence.

'What better way to train than with live targets?' I thought to myself while eyeing my trusty companion Gon who was carefully wrapped in its bandages as always.

I pondered whether or not to take the sword with me though I ultimately concluded against taking it along.

'Nothing says character growth in a novel than them using none of their abilities or cheats and relying only on their pure prowess and skill to defeat a boss.'

As the next morning dawned, I was abruptly awoken by a jumping force on my bed. "It's Christmas! Wake up! Wake up!" Rubi's excited voice filled the room.

Rubbing my eyes, I found Rubi hopping on my bed, while Eloise stood by the door, looking a tad embarrassed to have barged into my room without permission.

It was evident that Rubi had brought Eloise along to wake me even though the little angel was reluctant to disturb my sleep.

"Please don't be angry. I tried to stop her," Eloise apologized, her eyes on the verge of tears, as if she had made a grave mistake.

Even though I had gone to bed earlier than them, they had woken up before I did; the energy of children was unmatched I guess.

Smiling gently, I rose from the bed, picked up Rubi mid-jump, and gently set her down on the ground. Approaching Eloise, I reassured her that I wasn't angry in the least.

"Thank you both for waking me. Merry Christmas you two," I greeted them warmly.

"Merry Christmas, big brother!" exclaimed Rubi, tugging at my arm, excitement visible throughout her entire body. She didn't even give any time for me to brush my teeth or wash my face.

"Merry Christmas... big brother," Eloise chimed in, a little embarrassed to refer to me as her brother, her spirits lifted a little after my reassurance.

Scooping them up, one in each arm, I escorted them downstairs, as if I were their devoted bodyguard.

I half-listened to their conversation where Rubi was mostly bragging about the artifact that Father got for her because he promised to gift her one for her fifth birthday.

Due to the chaos following the revelation of an angel, Father found himself dealing with the complications her existence brought upon the world. The weight of his responsibilities as the one who accepted the angel into his family consumed him, causing him to momentarily forget the promise he had made to Rubi.

However, her tearful reminder tugged at his heartstrings, and like the doting father he was, he sprang into action; within a remarkable span of 48 hours, he managed to secure a precious artifact and gifted it to her, helping her become one with it.

I placed the two girls down and like an exicted puppy, Rubi immediately ran to the Christmas tree set up in the living room.

Eloise grabbed my hand and the two of us calmly joined her.

"Patience," said Mother from behind. "It's not time to open presents yet."

I noticed Mother looked fatigued, her body clearly sore and a few cracks of her bones could be heard as she walked.

Father joined us a few minutes later and he also looked fatigued even though he was an extremely powerful person capable of destroying cities.

I had speculations why the two of them were like this but kept it to myself.

Jaren joined us soon after, preoccupied with texting someone as he walked over to the couch and sat down, most likely a girl he was interested in.

"She asked to spend the day together. Should I?" he sought my advice after a minute of silence.

"Go ahead."

"But I wanted to spend Christmas with my cuzzo. Why you kicking me out?" he feigned a hurt tone, sniffing as if crying. "Bros over hoes, right?"

Rolling my eyes, I asked, "Are you serious about her? This girl you're chatting with?"

He pondered the question, then shrugged, "I don't know. We just met yesterday."

"...Is this the girl from the club? The one you were dancing with?" I inquired, realizing the identity of the person inviting him out.

"Yeah, you know, the one with..." he gestured with his hands, hinting at her massive buttocks.

"Quite the charmer you are," I sighed.

"Hehe, you know me," he grinned playfully, rubbing his hands together. "Bad boy ting."

"...Yuck. Anyway, stay for breakfast, then head out on your date. Who knows, she might be the love of your life," I teased.

"You think the love of my life frequents a club where people do drugs and increase their body count every night?" he wondered, an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know, but don't pretend to be better than that," I retorted.

"Haha, fair enough. I ain't," he admitted before falling right back into the conversation he was having on his phone.

Cyro, who had been absent the previous night, missing dinner completely, finally joined us, looking three times as fatigued as our parents.

"Where were you last night?" I asked, curious.

"There was an issue my order had to address. I thought... no, all of us thought that it would be an easy fix, but it turned out more complex as we delved deeper into the situation," he sighed. "If it weren't for the fact that night had enveloped us, I might still be working on it now."

"The issue isstill not resolved?" I asked vaguely, avoiding prying into the specifics of the problem he faced since he likely wasn't able to share it.

"Nope," he frowned, sipping on water. "Even though it's Christmas, we all have to return to work soon. Barely get to enjoy my presents."

"First no day off on your bday, now on Christmas? That's tough," Jaren sympathized, listening in our conversation

"Yeah, I guess it comes with the territory of being a paladin," Cyro acknowledged.

His birthday had fallen a few weeks before Rubi's, but we had to celebrate it simply due to his overwhelming workload. We managed with a small cake and a birthday song with only our family, no massive party like we did last year.

After breakfast, it was finally time to open gifts underneath the tree. Jaren was about to leave for his date when Father stopped him and handed him a watch.

"I didn't know you'd be here, so this is a last-minute gift," Father explained.

Jaren bowed graciously, saying, "Thank you, Uncle," before exiting the mansion.

As Father watched him drive away in one of my vehicles, which he had promised to purchase off of me once he gets home, a sigh escaped his lips. "When will that boy take his life a little more seriously?"

Mother stood beside him, nodding in agreement. "He's a talented child, but he wastes his time on girls he doesn't really care about and constant partying."

"Talented?" I murmured, eavesdropping on their conversation.

Although Jaren came from the lesser-known branch of the Agnus family, I couldn't recall any instances in my memories that showcased his talents. But if my parents claimed it to be the case then that was the truth.

"Perhaps with the impending war with the demon king around the corner, my foolish brother will get more strict about his son's education," Father said as he gestured for the butler to close the door.

In his eyes, he tried his hardest to pretend like everything was normal but I could tell that he was visibly burdened by the impending threat of the demon king.

"Speaking of education, how's your training with Quentin going so far?" Cyro inquired, engrossed in cleaning his weapon in preparation for his imminent return to work.

"Challenging," I replied honestly.

"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" he probed.

"It's good. If it wasn't tough, then it wouldn't be worth my time."

"Good to hear that."