Chapter 24 - 22 - Revelations I

Chapter 24: Chapter 22 - Revelations I

Ivar brought Ivelia up to speed regarding all that had happened, starting from how Aiden and Flynn saved him at the shop, to how they made a plan to take out the members of Python to the eventual arrival of the Leopold, Sebastian and the rankers of the Tower.

Ivelia began to eat the food on the tray as she listened to her brother fill her in on all the details of the event of that day.

Even as Ivar kept talking, Ivelia found it odd that both Aiden and Flynn were still fast asleep without so much as a twitch in their posture or a change in their breathing.

Ivar noticed this as he watched his sister glance over to them which then caused him to explain the cause of it.

"Those two are amazing" Ivar said.

"They really are" Ivelia responded

"Even after the crazy and stressful events of yesterday, they still got up to train this morning" Ivar continued.

"Wait, seriously?" Ivelia replied with a bit of surprise in her voice.

"Yeah" Ivar responded as he began to chuckle remembering what their mum had done to them when she found out they went to train.

"Pfft... Hahaha..."

Ivelia watched Ivar's hearty laughter while wondering what could've happened to solicit such a hearty laughter from him.

Ivar began to wipe the tears from his eyes and he began to explain what had happened.

"Well the Duchess upon realizing what they were up to, ran onto the field barefooted while screaming at them with her slippers in her hands" Ivar explained while bursting into another round of laughter after which he continued.

"She seemed ready to beat the snot out of them as she had both of them kneel side by side on the field while scolding them vehemently for almost thirty minutes" Ivar concluded, another laugh threatening to burst out of his mouth.

"I can see why that would be really funny" Ivelia replied with a smile as she began to imagine the two confident brothers kneeling down while getting severely scolded.

"Wait, Duchess?!!" Ivelia immediately blurted out!

"I know right? I was so freaking surprised when I found out too" Ivar responded.

Ivelia seemed the most surprised by this new information. She had known that both Flynn and Aiden were from noble families but finding out that they were actually from a Dukedom came as a real shocker to her.

"In any case..." Ivar said while pointing to the sleeping brothers with both hands before continuing.

"These two were still very tired from pushing themselves to their absolute limits yesterday but still wanted to train. Even though they got a good night's rest, it was not nearly enough to get rid of all that fatigue"

Ivelia now understood why they were both sleeping like logs even with all the sounds they were making.

Healing potions could heal yes, but it can never get rid of fatigue. Mana might help to make fatigue recovery easier, but if an individual were to push themselves to the extreme by using all their mana to its absolute limit, it would take a long while for their body to recover and restore all of that mana and as a result, continuous rest was needed.

-Knock knock.

Suddenly, both siblings heard a knock on the door.

"I'm coming in" a gentle feminine and elegant voice said from the other side of the door.

The door opened to reveal a spectacularly beautiful woman with silver hair which had a deep shade of green cascade down her back into soft tresses. She was wearing a beautiful flowing pale blue gown and Ivelia watched her elegantly walk towards them.

Ivelia was stunned for a moment as she began to understand where Flynn got his incredibly good looks and hair from.

"Oh... they're still fast asleep even now. Well, it was to be expected" the Duchess said as she looked at both of her sons.

"I'd have thought there were no training addicts again in this family asides Leopold but I was proven wrong by these two sweethearts" she continued as she moved towards Aiden's side while sitting on the chair beside him. She then began to stroke his hair as she did so.

"You've influenced your younger brother way too much" she said to the sleeping Aiden while moving her gaze over to Flynn before finally moving it over to Ivelia and Ivar.

"Good morning Duchess" Ivar said immediately her gaze landed on them.

"Oh Ivar. I've told you to drop the formalities. You're a friend to my sons, are you not?"

"Yes Ma'am" Ivar responded.

"Then you're just as much of a son to me. Please, at the very least, address me less formally"

"Okay Mrs. Anna" Ivar replied while scratching the back of his hair.

"Fair enough" Anna responded.

Ivelia had also wanted to greet but no words could come out of her mouth. She had been temporarily stunned by this ridiculously beautiful woman.

Adding to that, the conversation between Ivar and her had made it hard for her to say anything coupled with the fact that she was really nervous, considering that her sons had put themselves in a lot of danger to save her.

"And you must be Ivelia" Anna said, effectively jolting Ivelia out of her trance.

Ivelia could only nod her head at what the Duchess said.

"Aren't you a beautiful flower!" Anna immediately said, a smile gracing her face as she placed her other hand on the side of her face.

"Wha-! No! I'm not! You are Your Majesty! You're so beautiful it's blinding" Ivelia replied while flailing her arms, her cheeks turning into a rosy shade.

"Oh my!" Anna replied happily with a slight blush on her cheeks while smiling as she continued.

"I'm thankful for the compliment but not you too! Why are my children's friends so keen on addressing me formally?" she said with a slight pout but then she returned to her usual gentle smile as she spoke.

"You see Ivelia, I'm not that hard to talk to, am I?"

Anna had very much realized that the twins were being cautious around her, especially Ivelia.

Ivar had also been like that after he met her yesterday but he had let down his guard considerably after she spoke to him yesterday. Ivelia however was meeting her for the first time.

It was understandable that she'd be like that, especially considering how her sons had gone out of their way to fight a dark guild all on their own in an effort to save her. As a result, she knew that she'd also need to find a way to make her comfortable around her the moment she met her.

Ivelia upon realizing what the Duchess was trying to do considerably calmed down and began to speak again.

"I apologize for what your sons had to go through because of me Mrs. Anna. However you decide to punish me for it, I'll accept it" she said with a slight bow of her head.

"I most certainly will not punish you. My sons were the ones who decided to put themselves in danger so you need not fret. Besides, it all worked out fine, didn't it? That's all that really matters" Anna responded.

Ivelia wanted to show her gratitude once again to Anna but she was interrupted as the door to the room opened to reveal two 6-foot-tall men walking into the room. n/-0velbIn

The first was a man who was so unnaturally handsome and looked similar to Aiden but in his late thirties. Instead of his hair falling over the sides of his face like Aiden's, his hair was slicked back and tied in a ponytail with a few strands sticking out in front, revealing his sharp features.

The other man had striking features too and was quite well built. He was also very good-looking with his dirty blonde hair styled in a naturally wavy manner across the sides of his face, deep blue eyes, a perfectly styled moustache and a small beard.

"Hey honey. Sebastian!" Anna said as she watched both Leopold and Sebastian stroll in.

"Hello dear" Leopold responded and Sebastian did immediately after.

"Anna! It's been a long while hasn't it? You seem even more beautiful than last time. Leopold my man! Ain't you one lucky son of a gun!" Sebastian responded, his loud voice reverberating through the room as he pat Leopold on the back with a huge grin.

"Oh thank you! I keep getting compliments today" Anna responded to Sebastian.

Leopold just let his friend be as he was very much used to his personality. He however still said a few words to him, his deep calm voice carrying his words with a very slight irritation to it.

"I really would love it if you could stop hitting my back or shoulder every now and then Baz"

"Is that so? I'll try to be considerate from now on!" Sebastian said with a boisterous laughter as he began to pat Leopold on the back again.

"You say that every time..."

Ivelia and Ivar watched on as the originally noise-free room now became quite rowdy. Even with that, Flynn and Aiden still kept sleeping without being disturbed by Sebastian's boisterous laughter.

"I'm surprised they're still asleep even with all this noise from you" Leopold said while staring at his sons.

"It's called mana exhaustion for a reason Leo. Besides, not many kids their age could do what they did. Just let them have their rest. They very much need it" Sebastian replied.

He then shifted his gaze and stared at the twins for a moment before speaking.

"Ivelia and Ivar Steelblade, am I right?"

The twins widened their eyes and wondered how someone knew their surnames even though they'd never told anyone, not even Aiden and Flynn about it.

Sebastian realizing what was running through their heads, gave a slight smile, his previously boisterous look changing into one of familiarity as he spoke up once more.

"I knew your father"