Wizard World Irregular

“The Lord has left another important message in the letter,” Fortuna stated. “If the Young Master rejects this trial, he will not be allowed to return to Caer Wydion, and he will be excommunicated from the Valentin Family.”

“I-Isn’t that a bit too harsh?” Lilith couldn’t help but stutter after hearing Fortuna’s words. “Is this because of what happened during the party? Did the Lord perhaps not like what happened between the Young Master or the Young Miss?”

Fortuna shook her head. “I don’t know. All I know is that the Young Master needs to make a choice. Return to the Shire Continent and forget his background, or take the trial and learn about his true identity.”

Fortuna then glanced at Ethan with a worried gaze. Since her daughter was now Ethan's Promised One, she was worried that the trial would distance the two from each other.

“We will wait for the Young Master’s decision until the sun rises,” Fortuna said. “Young Master, please carefully think about whether you should accept this trial or not. If you think it's too dangerous, feel free to reject it. I’m sure that the Lord would change his mind in a year or two and call you back to take a different test.”

Ethan nodded, knowing that this wasn’t an easy decision to make. He would need some time to weigh the pros, and cons of this trial.

He might be curious about his identity, but it didn’t mean that he would be willing to take such a risk and obey the orders of this Lord, whom he hadn’t even seen once in his life.

Ethan’s Other Half, on the other hand, frowned. Even he didn’t expect that Ethan’s coming-of-age trial would be something like taking a dip in the River of Okeanos.

But, he didn’t say anything.

This was Ethan’s life, and he wanted the young man to make the choices that would shape his own future.

———————————

Meanwhile, inside Joanne’s Room…

“Grandpa, you finally returned!” Joanne happily sat on the lap of her grandfather, who only visited the castle during her birthday. “Grandpa, I wish you had come sooner. That commoner who arrived here two days ago bullied me!”

The little girl complained and acted like a spoiled kid, making the handsome man with short gray hair chuckle.

“You should get along with your brother, Joanne,” the man said with a smile. “Family is important. Didn’t you say that you’ve always wanted a brother or sister? You have one now. Why aren’t you getting along with him?”

“I hate him, Grandpa,” Joanne replied. “I don’t recognize him as my brother. I hope he fails his trial and leaves this place at once!”

Her Grandfather only smiled faintly before patting his granddaughter’s head.

“Actually, he’s about to perform an extremely difficult trial,” the Gray-Haired Man commented. “He is going to challenge the River of Okeanos. As to where the currents will take him, only Fate will know.”

“The River of Okeanos?” Joanne frowned because she had never heard of it. “What’s that?”

“It’s a river that travels around the world,” the Gray-Haired Man replied. “I got lucky when I took that Trial. That's where I met your grandmother, and she fell in love with me at first sight.”

“Eh? But Grandma said that it was the other way around,” Joanne corrected. “She said that it was you who fell in love with her at first sight.”

“Don’t listen to your Grandma. She has already become senile with age.”

“Huh? Who are you calling senile, you stupid old man?”

“Grandma!”

Joanne jumped off her Grandpa’s lap and ran toward her Grandma, giving her a tight hug.

An extremely beautiful woman, who seemed to be only in her early thirties, picked up her granddaughter and kissed her cheeks as a greeting.

“Grandma, Grandpa said that you fell in love with him at first sight,” Joanne said sweetly.

“Nonsense,” the beautiful woman replied. “He got down on his knees and begged me to become his wife, promising to give me the moon and the stars. Listen, Joanne—if you happen to meet a man like that when you grow up, make sure to tell me. I promise that I will feed them to the fish.”

The Gray-Haired Man coughed awkwardly, not expecting that his wife would appear out of nowhere.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the Lands of Saraqael?” the Gray-

Haired Man asked. “What are you doing here?”

“The same reason why you are here,” the beautiful woman replied. “Don’t worry. Vincent and Lleu are standing guard. There is no way that our enemies will get past them so easily.”

The Gray-Haired man sighed before reluctantly nodding his head.

“So, have you seen him?”

“I saw him before I came here.”

The beautiful woman smiled faintly as she recalled the face of her grandson, whom she hadn’t seen for nearly eighteen years.

“I liked his eyes,” the beautiful woman said as she sat on Joanne’s bed and placed her pouting granddaughter on her lap.

“I liked them too.” the Gray-Haired Man nodded. “I didn’t expect that he would regain his power even after Catherine destroyed his Magic Circuits. It’s truly a miracle.”

The beautiful woman agreed. “Indeed. It seems that Fate has other plans for him.”

Joanne, who had been left out of the discussion, cursed her no-good brother, whom she didn’t want to recognize in her heart.

Usually, when her grandparents came to the castle to visit, they would spoil and pamper her, giving her whatever she wanted.

But now, they were just talking about Ethan, which made her pout.

The beautiful woman chuckled after noticing the dissatisfaction in her granddaughter’s face.

She then lightly pinched her cheeks, before kissing her forehead.

“Joanne, at the end of the day, he is still your brother,” the beautiful woman said. “It doesn’t matter if you like him or not. It will not change the fact that the two of you are family, and I want you to remember that.”

“B-But, he said that his surname is Gremory,” Joanne replied. “Why would he want to keep that dog name if he wants to become part of our family?”

“A lady of your standing mustn't use these kinds of words, Joanne,” the beautiful woman answered. “There is nothing wrong with letting him keep his family name.

“After all, they were the ones who raised him. In his eyes, his adoptive family is his real family, unlike us who only appeared now that he has grown older.”

The beautiful woman exchanged a knowing glance with her husband, making the Gray-Haired man smile bitterly.

Back then, they were forced to make a difficult decision in order to save one of their most precious family members.

The trial that Ethan was about to take part in wasn't entirely their decision either.

No.

It was decided by their Patron, the one allowing the Valentin Family to wield incredible powers.

The Gray-Haired man was once a powerless person. Only after becoming a Warlock did he gain a power so strong that it turned every nation in the world into his enemy.

Now, the same Patron who granted him that power wanted to test the child whom the Valentin Family had been forced to abandon due to an incident that was outside of their control.

He had high hopes for Ethan’s potential, and if possible, he hoped that the Patron of the Valentin Family would have Ethan take over the mantle of his Grandfather and finish the job, which the Gray-Haired Man had abandoned halfway.