Reborn as the Princess' Knight (GL)

Side Chapter: Family or Him? (I).

The Yulien noble house is one of the most active noble houses in every season of the circle. Containing a long line family of scholars that rose up from commoners a hundred years ago before earning their position.

The current main head of the family consists of four people.

Countess Haren Yulein and  Viscount Lenois Yulien as the head of the family.

Following the twins, their two sons. Lucas Yulien and Lenard Yulien.

You may remember Aunt Haren, as Kein's aunt that made her through horrible things such as keeping her locked in the dirty closet full of broken glass shards, not feeding her to the point of starvation and ordering the maids to just make her life a living hell.

She was not a good person.

Her husband, Viscount Lenois Yulien who was only there when it was needed. He's always in his study, rarely to be seen. Nose always pointed at the many books they have over his, proud of having knowledge as the power to everything.

He values it more than money and thus why he favors one of his sons over the other.

Lenard focused his career in being a scholar in hopes he can get merits from the scholars of the royal family. Focusing on the study of magic theory and such, the magic academy he was in respected Lenard and even became their top student.

Lucas on the other hand, has only received honors and was in the same military academy with Kein. The two were known to have some head butting moments and a lot of arguments in the academy, to the point both of them were called into the Dean's office to be punished but thankfully it wasn't that bad.

.-.-.-.-.

The following days were rather peaceful...

This was the time when Kein was on her way to the mission to escort the second princess to [Winshern Kingdom], she made sure to give Lenard a letter of where she will be in order for him to not worry.

Lenard was reading in his room about how to use a Kamera that he ordered from [Sprivanto]. Apparently it's a device that's able to capture sceneries or something you like into paper magic films. "Hmm... I see... so I just insert the film and just peek on the hole."

He holds the kamera up to his eye wanting to test it out to picture his pet flower when suddenly someone knocks on his door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

It was Ellis Regan, a loyal servant for their family and the nephew of the head maid.

Two years ago, these two decided to court each other in the name of love. It was around the time where Lord Vincent was just finding out and learning about his feelings for Kein's cousin but it seems that he was too late.

"Young master, a letter has arrived. Would it be alright to give it to you now or are you occupied?" The voice could be heard outside of the door. Lenard's ears picked up that it was his boyfriend's voice so he fixed his tangled blonde hair and wrinkly coat.

It was really early in the morning so he wanted to look presentable for him.

"No... I'm not busy. C-Come in." (Lenard) tried to sit down straighter but found out that he couldn't after seeing Ellis smiling sweetly at him as always. It made his heart pound like crazy just by looking at him.

Once there was no one else inside Ellis broke down his formal greeting and immediately hugged Lenard affectionately while he was still sitting down, since he was taller he nuzzled his chin under his blonde hair and greeted him a wonderful morning.

"Honey, good morning." He tells Lenard in a little low whisper who was beet red into his lovely greeting. Lenard accepts the hug and reciprocates back with a slight kiss on the cheek.

They were already this lovey-dovey but seeing the blonde boy being so weak against someone they like, you could say it runs in the family.

"G-Good morning. I hope you slept well." (Lenard) looks up slightly while holding the kamera carefully. "And a letter came for me?" he asks, remembering the reason why his boyfriend came looking for him.

"Ah right." (Ellis) quickly takes the letter that was hidden in a secret compartment in his vest. It had a sealed crest with a dove carrying a rose, its sender was addressed from Kein Hills. "It's from your cousin, I quickly came to fetch it before the other servants could."

Many knew the history of the family with their niece inside the Yulien household. They weren't expecting for the mere servant girl that was ridiculed by their masters would be adopted as an heir and daughter of a Baron.

Aunt Haren made sure none of her sons would gain contact with Kein, especially Lenard and at first Kein's letters were burned by the other servants whenever she would send them. Of course, they did by orders of the Countess.

Now Ellis wakes up much early for his master, always checking onto the mail box before the other servants could just so he can deliver milady's letter to his young master. He would always say it was worth it as long as the two kept in touch.

Ellis holds up the letter before offering it for the blonde boy to inspect, it was indeed from Kein and his eyes sparkled for a second, excited to read the contents inside.

"From Kein!" He takes the letter anxiously, opening the seal and reading it with haste. He hasn't heard from her in a while so he wanted to know what her beloved cousin was doing as of late.

The contents of the letter was;

Dearest cousin,

Lenard I will be venturing out in another kingdom due to a mission prepared by Duke Wolford personally and I won't be back for a while. It is expected that the expedition will last until two weeks so by that time if you visit the estate I will be gone. Thank you for the books you sent last time, I enjoyed them. I hope you and Ellis are doing well, be careful and make sure you get proper rest.

Sincerely,

Your cousin.

Kein Hills

"O-Oh! Kein is going away for a while. I can't believe she's growing up so fast." (Lenard) takes the letter and folds it, putting it in his [Storage Ring] to make sure no evidence will be sought. "I hope she's going to be safe." he mutters to himself.

The way Lenard worried was like an overprotective parent that would rather keep his kid at home where it's safe and secure, nothing like venturing out in the wild. "Ellis, [Winshern] is dangerous right? Do you think she'll be safe there? I know the women there has a specific set of rules they have to follow..."

"Don't worry, if it's milady she'll be safe. Your cousin is no longer the same little girl you've known, Lenard, she's all grown up now and most likely has learned how to defend herself while staying at Baron Hill's care." (Ellis) couldn't help but pat Lenard's soft blonde hair before kissing his forehead for reassurance.

It made Lenard light headed but still enjoyed every single bit of it. "After all she attended the military academy right?" he continued.

Lenard has almost completely forgotten that Kein attended the same military academy that Lord Vincent did.

Such a shame that they didn't end up together but... Lenard is a lot happier now. "You're right. I shouldn't worry so much about her..." finally his heart felt reassured and excitedly moved onto the topic of his new package.

A new model of a Kamera just came out, the use of it is being able to take pictures similar on earth. Princess Cecilia also has this type of model she uses for blackmail and she was very fond of the product.

"Look Ellis! I brought this from [Sprivanto]. Some inventor made this and there's only about five thousand available in the world produced!" He holds it up for his boyfriend to see and shows him the buttons including how it works. Ellis couldn't really understand much of it but it was nice seeing his young master not furrowing his eyebrows worrying about Kein for the next few weeks until she comes back home.

The next few days were mundane, Lenard would work in his room on his thesis and write. Only to come out to dinner when it's needed and every dinner was considered a family time that everyone has to attend to.

.-.-.-.-.

It was evening when all the servants were preparing to set the table for their masters, busy cleaning up plates, cups and utensils because one of their young masters will be coming back from their knightly duties to stay for a dew days before leaving again.

Horses could be heard trotting outside. Their young master has arrived. The heavy footsteps of his armor were heavy, everyone in the servant was afraid. The young dark-blonde boy just threw his horse's leash on one of the stable boys and clicked his tongue.

Bam!

"I'm home." he groans visibly tired and his armor was full of dirt.

Lucas Yulien came home with his armor a bit tattered and dirty, the expedition was nothing easy and it was mostly just fighting off magic monsters that were coming close to the kingdom's walls.

All the servants bowed their head at the young master who was removing his cape and threw it on an old butler that was standing near him.

Countess Haren was the first one to greet his young little boy into the estate, looking very excited to see his son come back home safely.

"Lucas! Dear, welcome home!" She walks up to his son taking a few elegant steps and tries to hug him but stops seeing how filthy he was. She ought to wait for him to take a shower before doing any hugging.

"Have your armor be sent to be clean and polished. So how has your expedition been going?" (Countess Haren) she asks Lucas who was clearly angry.

It seems that his expedition was too boring, all he was just doing was monster expedition and nothing exciting.

Everyone in his group was talking about how it must be amazing that their classmate Kein Hills was reported to have joined the advanced secret mission that was only for the high ranked knights.

Everyone was talking about how it'll bring merits and good rewards if you were picked.

Naturally it irked him, he hated Kein to the point he actually dreamt about killing her. How could that useless servant girl that they brought home before would dare to even be higher than him at everything?!

If he knew she was going to be a big threat to his merits, he would've made her suffer and at least broke a few more of her bones so that she wouldn't be able to wield a sword. What if he just broke her legs?

If the girl couldn't walk she wouldn't be going anywhere and he would prefer keeping her locked in a basement, chained. However, he couldn't tell her mother that and in front of many servants.

"My expedition is nothing special. Everyone was talking about how the crown princess will soon be married to one of the princes of [Winshern] as expected." (Lucas) takes off the rest of his armor and throws it at one of the servant boys. The servant boy, being surprised, hurt himself while trying to catch the armor.

"Where is my elder brother?" he asks, looking around.

"Oh in his room, as always." (Countess Haren) scoffs not believing his other son was holed up in his room just- studying and not doing anything productive! Why can't he be more like Lucas?

Being a knight is one of the proudest careers anyone could take! She doesn't get how he can be like his father who did nothing but read until the dawn was over.

"One of the butlers will come and fetch him, not to worry. We can get started on dinner with your father after you wash up, and I made sure to have the chefs prepare all your favorites tonight." (Countess Haren) was a spoilt mother towards Lucas and her son was enjoying every bit of it ever since he was young.

Everything wrong he would make, Countess Haren never blamed him because she was sure her son was always in the right. It must be those other children that made a mistake!

Not his little beloved Lucas!

Lucas loves his mother truly, but what he still wants until now is respect and a sign of satisfaction from his father. "Father will be coming to dinner with us?"

"Mm and you can tell him all about your adventures. I'm sure he'll be proud of what you're doing right now, dear." (Countess Haren) holds down his son's hands softly.

"Thank you, mother." (Lucas) smiled towards his mother and escorted her towards the dining room area even pulling the chair for her to sit down to before heading into the showers and coming back a few minutes later in his home attire.

When he got there at the dinner table, he noticed it was only his mother still waiting. It seems that the Viscount is running a little late to dinner as well.

"Father... is not coming?" (Lucas) mutters, but the tone of disappointment was clear in his voice.

Countess Haren gives a stiff smile before ordering one one of the maids to go fetch her husband. She wonders what that man could be doing on an important family dinner at a time like this when one of his sons came home from a dangerous expedition?!

"Oh he will be. He better come... or else." (Countess Haren) crosses her arms and waits impatiently tapping her foot onto the floor.

"I-I'm here!"

A familiar voice calls out into the dining hall and it was Lenard walking in a rush fearing that he might've missed something important over dinner. He breathes a sigh of relief seeing that dinner hasn't started yet but his mother thinks otherwise.

"Lenard, You're late." (Countess Haren) tells the boy who grimaced, feeling embarrassed of being late.

"M-Mother... and Brother, good evening." (Lenard) greets his family who looked at him full of disapproval. Perhaps Ellis and him were having too much fun staying together and playing around with the kamera that he hadn't noticed time has passed by so quickly.

Ellis, who was with him, bows slightly towards his masters before going to his station with the other servants. "I apologize for being late... I was-" the blonde boy was cut off.

"No need for excuses, just sit down and let's wait for your father to come so we can start dinner." (Countess Haren)

"A-Ah. Yes, mother." (Lenard) sits down on the other side of the table and Lucas sits down right beside his mother. Smiling because he saw his elder brother being scolded right in front of him.

"Imagine being late, aren't you the eldest here? Aren't you supposed to be a good role model to your little brother? But it seems we're trading positions now." (Lucas) taunts Lenard who hides his flustered face by looking down at the plate, looking timid. He puts his chin at the side of his palm, grinning.

​ Ellis hears the entire thing while he was standing at his station... oh how he wanted to push that little brat out of his chair so badly. If it weren't for him being Lenard's little brother, he would've gone raged.

"I-I am sorry for being late..." (Lenard) mutters out weakly and Lucas just enjoyed doing this to his older brother every chance he had.

Squeak...

Not a few moments later the head of the family arrived. The Viscount fixed his eyes on his two sons, eyes more softly on the eldest and for the second it was more of dissatisfaction towards Lucas.

"Let's start dinner now, shall we?"