The Earrings

As they reached the main residence and took cover, the rain stopped as if it had lost its purpose to continue on.

Master Zerst, who knew the reason, maintained his calm, but Caroline was clueless and started feeling spooked.

"Master Zerst, What is going on?" Caroline closed the 5 metres distance she was maintaining between them. At this moment, she felt that the nearer she was to someone, the safer she would be!

"It is the Great Plauge!" Master Zerst removed his wet clothes. A maid ran up to him and carried away his clothes while another maid handed him a towel.

"The Great Plauge from the north?!" Caroline eyes widened in disbelief. "But.. but, the Empire has announced that they had already taken care of the plauge in the north! How can it appear in our town?!"

"You don't need to worry." Master Zerst took the dry clothes from the maid and started wearing them. "While this incident is related to the Great Plauge in the north, it is under my control. The previous accident will be the last misfortune that mondo will have to face."

Caroline was relieved to hear this. Her worries faded away along with his words. She believed that the Zerst Family could take care of any problem they faced.

Now that her fear has faded, her excitement to see Lady Zerst returned.

The maids first led her to a guest room, where she was handed a towel and a pair of dry clothes, once she was ready, she was told to make her way towards the Guest Hall.

....

"Sis, I've brought you earrings!" The head of the family pushed the door to his sister's room.

He saw his sister still on her bed. Sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. A small smile was present on her beautiful face as if she was having a good dream.

Seeing her smile, Master Zerst chuckled. He made his way towards her bed, and gently patted her.

Since they were twins, their hair was similar. Both of them had silky hair, with half of it being glossy black, and other half shining silver.

"Don't you have work?" She asked, her eyes still closed.

"Taking care of my sister is my work." He replied. "And I've got a present for you!"

Lady Zerst lazily opened her left eye. She yawned, pushing away her brother's hand from her head.

"What present?" She said. "It's something that already belongs to me!"

Lady Zerst had already sensed their Family Heirloom, the Earrings were with her brother.

"Hmm." The brother thought for a reply. "Since they are Family Heirlooms, it means that as the head of the Family, they belong to me!"

"Childish!" The sister was awake and out of her bed now. She was leaning on her brother as support to stand.

"You are a boy. What will you do with Earrings! They obviously belong to me!" She playfully hit his chest. At this moment, she was pointlessly cute.

"What do you mean?" The brother saw through her moe act, and put on a serious face. "Boys too can wear Earrings, ok! Fashion is changing in this developing era, and I am strict follower of Gender equality! Just because you are a girl doesn't mean that you will get these Earrings!" He took the Green coloured Earrings and waved them before his sister as if tempting her.

"Whatever." The Sister gave up. She was too lazy to argue with her brother.

"Hmm. So you understand!" The brother nodded. "These Earrings are my gift to you! But let me tell you the advantages and disadvantages of owning them."

He actually wanted to tell her the history behind the Earrings before its usage, but knowing how lazy his sister was, he directly went to the important points.

"First, and its main use is that it passively restores our Bloodline Source, making the usage of Bloodline Ability more feasible and also increases the quality of our bloodline."

"It's secondary uses include a storage space of 10 metric cube, claming the mind when using Bloodline Abilities, protection against attacks on our bloodline, Passively assisting the development of bloodline abilities and other small benefits."

"It's only disadvantage is that it has been affected by 13th's Bloodline Ability and brings bad luck to the wearer and her surroundings. Also, the nearer the Earrings are to the 13th Ancestor, the more misfortune the wearer suffers."

"Help me put them on." Lady Zerst did not care about the disadvantage. Since it was her brother who gifter her the Earrings, she would wear them even if she has to suffer harships.

Master Zerst helped his sister put on the Earrings. In the process, a drop of blood from his sister's ear entered the Earrings and formed a connection with her. She had officially became the owner of the Earrings now.

"How do they feel?" Master Zerst asked in concern.

"Heavy." She replied. "And Uncomfortable. But also satisfying."

Master Zerst sighed. These Earrings were the greatest treasure of their Zerst Family excluding their inheritance space that was with the Great Rise Academy at the moment.

They were supposed to feel extremely comfortable, like a mother to her new born child, but due to their 13th Ancestor, everything changed.

"Come, let's go. We have a guest waiting to see your Bloodline Ability." Master Zerst led his sister towards the Guest Hall.

"Ho. Who might that be?" Lady Zerst narrowed her eyes as she let her brother carry her towards the guest hall.

....

"Hello Lady Zerst. I'm Caroline." Caroline, as soon as she saw Lady Zerst, lost her composure. She got up from her seat and bowed while introducing herself.

"Ho. A girl?" Lady Zerst narrowed her eyes at her brother. "So, you are the one who wanted to see my Ability?"

Caroline was stunned. Seeing Lady Zerst, her idol in person was already a huge gift for her. To be able to see Lady Zerst using her Ability, Caroline felt that she was the luckiest person in the empire.

She could only nod to her idol's question indicating her intrest.

"Hoho. The Ability I awakened from the 21 recorded abilities of my Zerst Family is the power of Frost." Lady Zerst waved her hand and a layer of white forst gathered around her, rotating around her in a spiral. At this moment she looked like an untouchable ice fairy that had descended from the sky.

'Sis is putting quite the effort. Does she like this Caroline?' Master Zerst who knew that his sister rarely put effort into anything saw that his sister was doing her best, and had some thoughts about it.

As for Caroline, her eyes were already worshipping the figure surrounded by Forst. If she were to die at the moment, she would not have any regrets.

"Now, can you tell me." Lady Zerst has stopped using her ability after she emptied all the bloodline source she had. "Who told you that I'm going to demonstrate my ability today?"

Her brother had mentioned the rain incident to her, so she wanted to find out who was scheming against them.

Caroline's face turned red suddenly. She seemed embarrassed. She avoided meeting her idol's eyes directly and replied in a small voice.

"It was me...."

Master Zerst "...''

Caroline hurriedly explained. "I'm a huge fan of Lady Zerst, and I heard that she would be leaving for the Great Rise Academy soon. So I thought if I can't meet her today, I wouldn't be able to see her in my whole life, so I spread rumours that Lady Zerst was going to demonstrate her Ability. I thought that with enough people gathered, I could force Lady Zerst to make an appearance! I just wanted to see her once in my whole life!"

"I know I have sinned. But please don't hate me!" Caroline begged.

Lady Zerst rolled her eyes. She looked at her brother, gesturing him to take care of this problem.

Master Zerst mind raced as he made many predictions.

"Your actions have affected not just my Zerst Family, but also common townfolks. Can you imagine the consequences of your actions if I wasn't present during the accident at that small road?" Master Zerst had a serious expression in his face as he said.

"Someone might have been hospitalized. Some might have lost their limbs, some might have even died!"

"But I understand that you didn't mean anything like that to happen. So, as long as you apologise to the townsfolk and express your sincerity, I will overlook this incident!"

"Thank you Master Zerst." Caroline expressed her thanks to him, but her eyes were glued to his sister.

"And, since you like my sister so much, you can be her personal maid from now." Master Zerst shooed her away. "Come back tomorrow. The butler will discuss the details of your employment tomorrow."

Caroline was dumbfounded. She turned to look at Master Zerst, who had closed his eyes to rest them.

For the first time, Caroline, the 16 year old who had not experienced any feelings towards the opposite sex, felt her body shivering. She felt that Master Zerst was her God, a person who demanded her respect.