Rayna's POV

"Goodnight, Rayna."

As soon as Erebus left Rayna's office, she stared a bit at the door,

"... W-what was I d-doing? Did I make him upset? Why you stupid girl started spouting so fast?! He probably didn't even understand half of what I was saying! Couldn't you be a bit more friendly and concise instead of putting on a silly serious act because you were ashamed of your incompetence and showing an embarrassing side of you to him yesterday?" Rayna said feeling dejected and holding her head.

"However, I am really happy he finally started recovering from his horrible past experiences and memories... I couldn't forgive myself for the rest of my life if you died in front of my eyes again, brother!"

Rayna said as he drew a picture of him from the drawer of her desk, and remembered how her brother died in front of her eyes and was revived although as another different person.

Erebus was born when Rayna was 16, and it caused the position of heir to be taken from her despite her being older.

However, his parents promised her to be treated like before without any discrimination as she was their number one secret keeper.

At first, Rayna was holding spite towards Erebus.

Over time, despite her initial resistance, she found herself unable to deny the depth of her emotions.

As she spent more time interacting and conversing with him throughout the years they were together,and her attachment grew steadily stronger.

This bond led her to make a solemn vow—to shield him at any price and never let him down.

Remembering her memories of her and his brother who had passed away playing with each other happily and laughing with each other after arguments that didn't last even half a day, brought drops of tears to her eyes but she quickly cleaned it with her hands, suppressing her emotions.

"It's not time to get emotional... The Preparatory semesters of the Academy are gonna be next year for him, and I doubt he's gonna be able to prepare for the Eldrin Academy since they only accept students with innate talents and those who show initial promise during the registration. If he fails to get accepted...,"

"No! He's a Silverleaf after all! His parents were able to fend off thousands of Virulents who attacked unexpectedly without them being able to prepare by themselves while also protecting thousands of citizens of an entire city... I have to ask from him, and observe him to see what he's planning and if it's enough for getting accepted in Eldrin Academy." Rayna said.

After thinking a bit more, she stood up, locked the door of her office, and went towards the bookshelf with the storybooks.

She touched the third book on the top right, and applied some mana on it, which caused the bookshelf to be pushed forward then turned aside to the left as many stairs leading down were revealed.

As she entered and went downstairs, the bookshelf went back to its original place automatically.

 After walking down 100 stairs to the underground, she opened a wooden door that led to a labyrinth of thick 3-meter tall walls of concrete that were made for ttrespassers

However, because she was the one who made it with her magic in the first place, she moved forward toward the entrance of the labyrinth and pressed her hand on the wall of the labyrinth applying mana and it caused the labyrinth to recognize her mana as all the walls in front of her opened like a door leading straight to an iron door on the other side.

She soon reached the door and placed her hands on a tablet attached to the iron door, causing the tablet to glow a bit and allowing Rayna to open it.

After she opened the iron door, a large room was revealed, illuminated by magical lamps powered by the surrounding mana. Shelves, cupboards, and glass cases were scattered throughout, displaying a variety of mysterious items. Among them were magical artifacts, scrolls, books, and a vast array of weapons including daggers, swords, spears, battleaxes, rapiers, katanas, claymores, bows, crossbows, scythes, and war scythes, etc.

These items were collected over the years by Rayna from a hidden treasury in the forest where she currently lived. Erebus's parents had revealed the treasury's location to her when they allowed her to escape with Erebus. Rayna discovered additional items by following clues within the treasury itself, and her collection continues to grow to this day.

"I need to give him some tools to accelerate his training, or he might go back like he used to be," Rayna said as she walked around the vast treasury looking for the stuff she was looking for.

"Hmmm... This Silverleaf dagger looks like a good weapon to start with for him. It might not seem as sharp or strong as others at first, but once he becomes skilled with it and develops his mana, it will outperform most daggers."

Rayna said as she picked it up from the glass case, observed the dagger, and then put it in her 'Median Inventory Ring' which allows her to store and sustain inanimate objects the amount it stores depends on its quality between Small-scale, median, and immense.

Then she went towards the end of the room, standing in front of a cupboard containing many magical and informational scrolls. Afterward, she picked a few scrolls containing two magical scrolls and one informational scroll.

1. "Mana Control from Stage 0 to 3" (Informational)

2. "Dexterity Enhancement Grade 3" (Magical)

3. "Sixth Sense skill (Novice-growth type)" (Magical)

"These should bo enough for now, he's gonna need to show something exceptional if he wants to be accepted in the Academy, and these scrolls are gonna help him do just that," Rayna said as she stored the scrolls in her ring too, and left to pick a book for him from the other side of the room.

Standing in front of a bookshelf filled with a variety of books about educational and academic in addition to combat techniques for different weapons and many styles of fighting, she picked up a book title "Secret Arts of Whispering Blade: Dagger Form".

"These will be highly valuable for him in the Academy and self-defense if he's ever in trouble," Rayna said storing the book in her ring, she smiled feeling satisfied and excited for the future of Erebus.

"Maybe... We will be able to restore the 'Silverleaf' family to its former glory and even beyond with your help, Erebus," Rayna said then left the treasury to her room from the way she came from repeating a similar process when she entered it.

"I wonder why the twins haven't come out of their room today... I should check if they're okay," Rayna muttered, climbing the stairs. Knocking on their doors, she heard no response, and after peeking inside, she discovered that they were fast asleep.

"Well, I suppose that's to be expected. They stayed up with me to watch over Erebus, but ended up falling asleep in the morning. The stress they must have felt was immense, especially considering their young age," Rayna said then decided to check on Erebus but he didn't respond as well, she assumed he was already asleep as it was past midnight, and went to her room to sleep herself.