Chapter 52. The Fragaria Family (5)

The man looked different from Mana. It was as if the two had no relations at all as the man had different eye colors, facial features and even his hair was dark red which was a marginal difference from Mana’s light pink hair. Not to mention, the man had this feeling with him that was reminiscent of that of a muscle head which doesn’t make me feel good.

“Are you perhaps Ayumi?” he looked at me and asked, his eyes lingered at my hands. It was a weird gaze, not in a perverted way but almost like he was inspecting my hands. I don’t understand what is there to inspect with my hands thought, but it seems like he saw something I couldn’t as he nodded after a short while before smiling.

“It seems like my daughter found someone who is strong,” he said before the door opened once more as Aurora walked out, dressed in a completely different outfit. Her dress was starry red like several dozens of red dwarfs at the skies, her hair was tied in a ponytail. There was no denying that she was like the star of a show, a model to be exact. Her aura was noble enough that you couldn’t separate your eyes from her.

“Of course, my inheritor will naturally be strong,” she said as she wrapped her arm on my neck, taking me by surprise as the man laughed.

“If the Night Rose says so, then I don’t have any doubts at all,” he said before gesturing us to head inside with his hand as he continued, “Feel free to enjoy the party, I do wish to have a private talk with this partner my daughter has chosen for herself. It will be a critical talk that might determine the future of the Fragaria family, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all,” I said before Mana’s hand grasped mine, tightening itself as I looked at her and nodded before he smiled as we walked inside the residence. The residence was more splendor than ours, it had a large fountain at the center with gardens more than twice the size of our own building could be seen left and right. The gardens were filled with all kinds of flowers whether it’d be lilies or roses.

Lanterns surround the area, lighting up the place as guests from all races and colors dine-in and discuss with one another freely. The sweet aroma of roasted boar assaulted our nostrils, exciting Flora greatly as desserts lined up all around us from caramel pudding to even my most favorite, icebox cakes. It was like heaven for the gluttons here.

“This place hasn’t changed even after so many years,” Aurora said as she looked around unwavering despite the heavy gazes of the guests. All guests’ eyes were either pinned on me and Aurora, though there was none for Mana and Leisha for some reason, in particular, I was attracting most of the girls’ attention while Aurora was attracting the boys considering that her dress made her chests look larger.

“Of course. This place would never change as a reminder of the past,” the man said as he opened up a glass door towards the main building before a grandiose living room came into sight. There were multiple floors to the building with a staircase on both our left and right side, at the center of the living room was a magnificent golden spiral staircase that led up to the ceiling, though the door to the spiral staircase was locked for some reason.

“If it isn’t the Night Rose!” a womanly voice echoed from the second floor, taking our attention as we turned towards the origin before a green-haired woman with the ears of a cat came to sight. The woman wore long black jeans with a white blouse that made her seem like a teacher.

After greeting Aurora, she soon jumped from the second floor, spinning like a cannonball before Aurora flung her right foot forward just before the woman landed… she landed to be exact on Aurora’s foot, creating the loud sound of bones cracking which made all of us shiver as the woman limply fell to the floor while Aurora clapped her hands.

“Aren’t you noisy as usual, Melia?” Aurora said as the woman looked at her with tears dripping from her eyes. I bet you a thousand dollars that it must have been a super-duper pain, just imagining such landing makes me shiver especially the part where her bones literally cracked. How hard could someone fall onto one’s leg to break plenty of bones…

“How cruel…!” the woman, Melia looked at Aurora with tears as she shrugged it off like dust before stepping on her, ignoring the screeching of the woman as she turned towards us while visibly placing even more force onto her foot.

“Did you hear anything?” she asked before all of us shook our heads as she nodded with a smile before stomping on her back once more as the woman moaned, blushing before she kicked her off… wait… that woman was clearly an M right… which person would moan and blush while being stomped on… there goes all my sympathy to her.

Well, following Aurora, all of us soon ignored the woman as we moved around her before entering the main part of the living room where many men and women sat on different couches, holding plates filled with magnificent meals of all sorts. Some only ate desserts, others that had vegetables while a few had only meat with the majority being neutral.

“Anyway, how about all of you have a meal ahead of time? It seems like the little cute girl over there is drooling too much, I feel a little bit bad…” the man who was Mana’s father said as he looked at Flora that was being carried by Mana, drooling more than ever as she stared at all the dishes everyone carried.

“Mwama! There is boar!” she said while pointing at the large boar meat that was placed on a table at the side. The boar had honey-golden crispy skin with meat that was juicier than any of which we had seen, not to mention, there was some kind of soup that was sprinkled all over it that made it even more delicious to the eyes.

“I see…” the man suddenly mumbled as he looked at Flora after she called Mana with her usual nickname for her. It felt like the man changed his stance on Flora from this neutral one to a warm stance, it could be me, but it definitely felt like it.

“The four of you should enjoy in the meantime. I will have a bit of talk with the oldies here,” Aurora said as she looked at us before we nodded as she grabbed the limping green-haired woman from the floor, dragging her as the man soon followed her. The rest didn’t even bother glancing at what had happened almost like it was normal.

After the two were no longer close, I looked at both Mana and Leisha… and also Flora who was drooling hard as she looked at the dishes but let’s just think of her as a prop for now… before I asked, “Do you two have anywhere you want to look for first?”

Immediately, Mana answered, “We could grab some meals first and head to the garden if you like since the garden is usually the best place for outing… especially with the fireflies that roam around on the trees that make it beautiful…”

I see, more than a suggestion, it felt like she really wanted to go eat out in the garden. I wonder if there is something special with the garden that she holds dearly like a memento, perhaps a tree that she took care of in the past.

After hearing Mana’s “suggestion”, I then turned towards Leisha who soon nodded as if signifying that she will just go with Mana’s plans which also was the most reasonable, considering she was the one with the most knowledge about the residence.

“Okay then, we’ll grab some meals for each other then head to the garden. As to not get lost, it’s better if we don’t separate, is that fine with the two of you?” I asked before Flora suddenly started poking at Mana’s cheeks as if desperate to eat now before the two of them nodded.

After receiving their nods, we soon turned towards the direction where the plates were stationed before all of a sudden, a man dressed in a familiar black suit with a black hat bumped into me a bit, taking us by surprise as he soon regained his composure before bowing down and leaving.

It felt like the man was a bit familiar, almost like I had met him somewhere, but I can’t remember where… it might be some unnecessary memories though.

“Aywumi-ma! Food!” Flora suddenly shouted at me as I quickly nodded, catching up to them as we grabbed a plate and lined up for the meals on the tables, taking different kinds of dishes one by one as a weird strange ominous feeling climbed into me.