meeting virion

POV Julián Kingscrown

I was stunned, the features of my face resulted in an adorable and androgynous look.

At that moment, I couldn't help but smile, as it was better than I thought. I now began to understand why Arthur sounded so arrogant when he first saw himself in a mirror, and I could sympathize with him.

"Oh, how handsome I am," I said to myself as I looked at my face from different angles in the glass that reflected my figure. Just a few seconds later, I heard the exasperated voice of Grandma Rinia saying, "Don't be arrogant, all I see is a child's face."

"Crag!" I heard the sound of my heart breaking at my grandmother's betrayal.

I admit that hurt my pride. I didn't think I could lose even more dignity since I was changed diapers and wet myself, but in this case, I disagreed. It was clearly a beautiful face that demonstrated my potential as a handsome person in the future, which would develop as I grew up.

I gave a cold look to Grandma Rinia to express my disagreement, and she simply said, "Don't frown your eyebrows, your face will wrinkle."

"Tch, she's got me there. I can't allow my beautiful face to be ruined," I expressed in my mind as I looked at my reflection again.

Sometimes, when I talked to Grandma Rinia, I had the impression that she had already seen something about me with respect to my intelligence or ability to communicate acquired too quickly.

Although I couldn't move too much without getting tired and could barely say a few words with constant pronunciation problems, I noticed that Grandma Rinia was also trying to treat me more like someone a little smarter, which made learning easier for me.

At that moment, while I was lost in my thoughts, I heard a loud noise from the entrance, as if someone was kicking the door, and a shout with a phrase I heard in the novel and often in the fics, "I'm here, old witch!"

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POV Third Person

After Virion's loud shout at Rinia's house door, she stood up from her chair, opened the door, and with an annoyed tone she shouted, "Old grump, my ears are still working perfectly, and don't kick my door. Who will pay for the damages?" she said emphatically.

"Who cares if it's a little dented? It's not like anyone besides me ever visits you," Virion replied.

"That's not something that depends on whether someone visits me or not. It's my house, old grump," Rinia responded.

After a few seconds of tension, which seemed like hours, during which it seemed like the third war in the Elvish kingdom could explode at any moment, both let out a small sigh.

"Tch, come in before I change my mind," Rinia said.

"Jmmm, I came to visit you, and this is what I get," Virion replied.

Then both entered the house, Virion quickly sat at the dining table, while Rinia approached Julian to lift him off the floor and bring him closer to Virion at the table to introduce them.

"So, that's the brat you spoke to me about," Virion spoke, requesting confirmation.

"Yes, about eight months ago, as I told you in the letters, I found him by chance in the Elshire forest," Rinia said.

"If I remember correctly, you told me there were no signs that he had been surrounded by humans before you found him, is that correct?" Virion responded, waiting for Rinia's answer.

"Yes, that's correct. It was like a somewhat unnatural encounter, even if I say so myself," Rinia said, looking confused.

"And you're telling me that you haven't been able to see anything related to this child, even with your abilities?" Virion spoke, looking confused.

"Yes, strangely enough, I've tried a few times through my deviated abilities to find out some information about him," Rinia took a few seconds to catch her breath and continued, "every time I use my abilities, it's like a black veil covers what I'm trying to see, and not only that, I feel like there's something else looking at me, but I haven't been able to know exactly what it is. It's a scary feeling, being watched that way," Rinia said, pale-faced and somewhat worried.

"That is strange and surprising, at the very least, we know that this brat seems special," exclaimed Virion, giving Julian a renewed look of interest. "What do you plan to do with him?" Virion asked, taking tea prepared by Rinia that was on the table.

"Mmm, that's a very good question. When I took him in, I was just hoping to be able to return him to his family," Rinia said, remembering the first encounter with the child and everything they had experienced in these eight months. "But seeing that there hasn't been any information about him and his family, I want to take him under my custody. This child seems to be more than what my eyes can perceive," Rinia responded, earning a surprised look from Virion.

"Well, that's a novelty coming from you of all people, with your personality taking in someone," Virion said, quite surprised by Rinia's decision.

After a few moments of sipping tea, Virion returned his gaze to Rinia and began to speak, "If that's what you want, I won't interfere with the decision you made. I'll inform the people who patrol this area or live nearby not to generate too many problems," Virion said.

"I appreciate that, old man. I've grown fond of him more than I imagined," Rinia responded as she took her tea and glanced at Julian from the corner of her eye.

"Now, what am I going to do with you, brat? Since I arrived, I've felt that you've been looking at me intensely. Did this old man seem so cool to you?" Virion asked with a smile, to Julian, who a few seconds later had a bewildered face and somewhat embarrassed by having been so obvious.

"Leave him alone, he's usually very curious about everything around him," Rinia spoke.

"Jmmm, I suppose it's something fun for you to watch him. So, I wonder if Tessia could find a friend in him," Virion expressed his thoughts

"Only time will tell, since I can't see clearly anything related to Julian," Rinia replied.

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POV Julián Kingscrown

After Grandmother Rinia and Virion finished talking about me, it was decided that I would be raised by Rinia.

This helps me a lot with my plans to train without anyone bothering me in this forest and without drawing the attention of Agrona or Kezess' dogs. At most, I may come across Mordrain and his allies, but they won't intervene unless it's the right time.

So, it can be said that I have a free pass to train in this forest without being too disturbed by people.

In addition, I was able to discover important information. I never thought that Grandmother Rinia couldn't see anything related to me, especially considering the abilities shown in the novel, where despite their high cost, her predictions were very accurate and precise.

I increasingly felt like a very special irregularity in this world. It made me doubt whether the plans I would prepare for the future would work correctly and whether I would be able to save everyone.

After taking a breath, I decided to put aside the insecure thoughts that threatened to flood my mind.

As I thought about my future training plans, after forming my mana core, I also heard part of the conversation the two old friends were having.

Virion kept bragging about how pretty his granddaughter was and how beautiful she would be in the future, earning disapproving looks from Rinia.

It made me wonder how the hell Arthur won the approval of the old man and managed to convince him to give his granddaughter's hand in marriage.

Because from what I can see, this old man resembled Arthur when he saw someone near his sister. The mere thought that he could overcome the barriers set by Elder Virion and become Tessia's partner spoke of how much he valued Arthur as part of his family.

After some time, the old man decided to try to talk to me, but my responses were horrible. My vocal cords had not yet developed enough to transmit my thoughts clearly.

This caused Virion to mock me, so I decided to play along and try to get closer to him, since I needed his help to gain access to the library he had in his castle and to train me.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon with some laughter, where I confirmed again how pleasant Virion was and why he was one of the most beloved characters in the novel.

This made me think about everything he would have to suffer in the future, from losing his son, daughter-in-law, and Grandmother Rinia, as well as the kidnapping of his granddaughter, in addition to the loss of his homeland.

Remembering all those events that happened in the novel and how heartbreaking they were, I reaffirmed my resolution to save them all. I wasn't going to stop, even if I broke in the process, I was going to do everything possible to strike Agrona and Kezess for the good of this world and all the people who live in it.

With those thoughts in mind, almost sixteen months passed, where I was approaching two years old and my mana core was almost complete.

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POV Rinia Darcassan

After it was decided that little Julian would stay with me, a year and a couple of months passed, during which little Julian continued to surprise me with his intelligence and ability to learn.

During this period, Virion came to visit us a few times to see how we were doing, despite me telling him that we were fine, he always insisted on being attentive to any need we had.

This made me realize how much the old man had softened since the birth of his granddaughter. Although he wanted to bring little Tessia to meet Julian, Merial and Alduin stopped him, considering that a too strenuous trip could negatively affect the baby.

And it was something I had to agree with, a too long trip could affect any baby.

In that way, I couldn't stray too far from the house because I was concerned that Julian would hurt himself when I wasn't watching him.

Although I knew he was a very intelligent child, I worried that his own curiosity would hurt him when he made a mistake and put his head where he shouldn't.

In that way, I was teaching him the books I had at home and those sent by Virion whenever he asked me, but after he could do it on his own, our reading sessions decreased.

This discouraged me a bit, but nothing I couldn't overcome since I enjoyed seeing him grow.

I wondered if this is how Virion feels every time he sees and talks about his granddaughter, as if the shadow he was dragging after losing Lania had dimmed a bit after Tessia's birth.

Also, at times, after he could walk and take his first steps, I took Julian for a walk around the house. I was surprised that every time we went out, he observed where we were with attention as if he were looking for something.

I don't know exactly what was going through his mind, but I tried to please him by walking a little further than I had planned, until finally, after a few times, he seemed satisfied, as if he had found what he was looking for. When I observed the place where he was looking closely, I realized that it was a small clearing about ten meters in radius where there were hardly any trees around and only several bushes or protruding rocks under the sparse grass.