Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 943: Sibling Reunion II

CH943 Sibling Reunion II

***

Sibling Reunion II

"Big Brother!"

Someone jumped into Alex’s embrace.

Alex looked down at the person clinging to his chest, stunned with surprise.

"Seraphina?" Alex couldn’t believe his eyes.

Seraphina was the last of his siblings he expected to jump into his embrace like this. For a moment, he had even thought it was Wilbert.

The faint spell circle that had instinctively formed on his palm when he sensed someone charging at him disappeared.

"Sniff..."

Alex was about to admonish her when he heard his sister sob.

"I thought you were dead. Thank goodness you came back, Big Brother," Seraphina said in his embrace.

Alex almost couldn’t believe his ears.

He gently stroked her long hair for a moment, silently comforting her.

A few moments later, Alex suddenly smirked, a playful glint appearing in his eyes.

"What do we have here? Our Sera is actually crying for her damnable Big Brother? Did someone mix something into your food, or did the sun rise from the west?" Alex quipped.

"You!" Seraphina pulled out of his embrace and stomped on his foot.

Alex barely managed to dodge the stomp.

"I won’t care about you anymore." Seraphina glared at him.

"Now, that’s the fiery Sera that I know." Alex chuckled as he pulled her cheeks.

Seraphina pouted and glared at him.

A new set of footsteps approached them gracefully. It was Seraphina’s twin sister, Sophia.

"Don’t make too much fun of Sera, Brother Alex. She really felt bad when news of your accident reached us," Sophia said.

Then she curtsied gracefully. "Welcome back, Lord Brother."

"Looks like you are still as formal as ever, Sofi." Alex said with a genial smile.

He beckoned to her.

When Sophia walked closer to him, he hugged the twins together.

"I am home, my lovely sisters." He hugged them tightly.

The two sisters hugged him back.

The siblings enjoyed the warmth for a moment before separating.

Alex suddenly flicked Sophia’s forehead with his index finger.

"You lass, what do you mean by Lord Brother, making us sound so distant? It’s Big Brother Alex to you," he chided.

"Big Brother Alex." Sophia said with a blooming smile.

Much to the surprise of the territory’s officers around them, Sophia had always carried herself with the perfect temperament of a noble lady.

It was perhaps the first time they had seen her act her age—or smile like the young woman she truly was.

Alex turned to Seraphina and placed his forehead against hers.

"Thanks for worrying about me, my dear little sister," he said.

Seraphina pushed him back with a pout.

Alex chuckled.

"Both of you," he added, looking between his twin sisters.

Sophia looked over Alex’s shoulder and saw his wives.

"These must be your wives. Aren’t you going to introduce us, Lor—Big Brother?" she said, quickly correcting herself when she caught herself addressing him formally.

Alex gave her a look, then, with an arm around each of their waists, brought his sisters over to his wives.

"My ladies, these are my precious sisters. The fiery one is Seraphina, while the one pretending to be more mature than she is Sophia," Alex introduced.

Suddenly, Sophia and Seraphina’s hands shot towards his exposed sides. However, Alex saw the move coming and quickly evaded, pulling away from the twins while chuckling playfully.

He moved towards his wives.

"Sisters, I proudly introduce to you my wives," he said with a raised chin, as if bragging.

"This is my Ice Empress, Zora Frost-Pendragon. My Erudite Queen, Eleanore Ludovicus. And my Shy Princess, Udara Kael."

Zora’s eyes flashed.

She gave a glance to Eleanore and Udara, who then moved to Alex’s sides, taking his arms over their shoulders.

Alex gladly allowed them to do so as he assumed the posture of a flagrant young master boasting with a woman on either side of him.

Meanwhile, Zora moved closer to the twins, taking both their hands.

"I know this is our first meeting, but I hope we can get along like real sisters," she said to them.

The regality and poise, yet openness and playfulness, around her surprised the twins. It was as though she embodied parts of the ladies they wanted to become.

Unknowingly, both Sophia and Seraphina nodded to her.

"Excellent." Zora smiled. "And for our first meeting, I think I have just the perfect first gift for you," she added, pulling the twins towards Alex.

"Sisters." She smiled at Eleanore and Udara.

Suddenly, Alex felt a shiver down his spine as his instincts warned him of danger.

Alas, it was too late.

Eleanore and Udara held Alex in place, allowing him to be attacked with pinches from Zora, who was then joined by Seraphina. Udara and Eleanore also joined in the pinching attack.

Eventually, Sophia sighed, smiled apologetically at Alex, then joined in as well.

The guards and officials present—including the Chamberlain and Captain Cross—looked away, barely containing their laughter.

Ordinarily, the Chamberlain would have signalled the guards to quietly clear the scene, as it affected the dignity of the domain lord. However, she didn’t do it this time.

This was because this was a scene that the domain officials needed to see.

Alex had been gone for two years. Though tales about him continued to spread throughout the domain, and people still remembered who the true domain lord was, humans were inherently forgetful and oblivious.

Not many knew that the bulk of the plans implemented by the twin Vice-Lords had actually come from the true domain lord, Alex. Even among those who knew, there were some who refused to believe it, choosing instead to believe that the two Vice-Lords were simply covering for Alex’s dignity.

There were signs of a faction growing within the domain that apparently believed the domain should be stripped from Alex’s name and officially handed over to the two Vice-Lords.

Although Seraphina and Sophia had strongly shut down any murmurs even remotely close to this, it hadn’t stopped the sentiment from growing.

The Chamberlain didn’t stop this scene from showing the familial bond between the domain lord and the Vice-Lords because she hoped it would serve as a reminder that there was no gap between Alex and his sisters.

With the closeness they had—the closeness they openly showed—whether Alex did indeed fully trust and leave his domain to his sisters or, as the faction believed, his sisters were merely covering for him, it didn’t matter either way.

While this wouldn’t remove the faction’s sentiment outright, it would at least halt its spread or growth for the time being.

The Chamberlain looked towards Alex, Sophia and then Zora.

While the scene was indeed genuine sibling bonding, she didn’t think it was completely innocent.

She wouldn’t put it past at least one of the three of them to have orchestrated something like this—to settle the growing sentiment within the domain.

After sacrificing the lamb to strengthen their bond, the sisters-in-law left Alex behind as they headed into the hall, chatting and giggling.

Alex chuckled wryly as he watched the guards and officials around him barely keeping themselves from laughing at his expense.

To make matters worse, even his own Beast Companions had abandoned him.

With Dread remaining outside, Zora had handed Fen over to Seraphina while Senu flew over to Sophia.

"Women..." Alex thought to himself, shaking his head.

***