The Eclipse Moons Grimoire: Lilith's Soft Whispers

Codex 0: Sequentia II: Fragmentum XI: Homesickness

After a few days, in the dining room, Emma and Tia were having dinner. Alaric also joined them for some reason.

"Aunt Emma?"

"Yes?"

"Who are Malachi and Ethan?"

"Malachi?" Emma pondered for a moment.

"Why do you ask?" she asked, becoming cautious as she remembered who they were.

"I heard the maids gossiping. When I asked them, they wouldn't tell me. Mother also won't tell me anything," Tia said, offering a reasonable premade excuse.

Emma and Alaric looked at each other in silence before looking back at Tia.

Emma considered whether to avoid the question in consideration of Tia's age. But after some thought she finally decided to give an explanation. Although she could sugar coat her words like everyone, she still felt that she should answer Tia's questions honestly.

Emma sighed as she thought, 'It might be better to clear her doubts, as Sera kept her children in the dark. She pampers them too much.'

"Malachi and Ethan are the ones who kidnapped you and Vina. They belong to the marquess's family."

"Oh! Then who is Adrian?" Tia felt elated, seeing that Emma is willing to satiate his curiosity.

'Tia must be very curious if she's asking these questions. Let's see what kind of questions she has prepared for me.' Emma chuckled inside.

"I don't know anyone with that name in our territory, but the most famous person with that name I can think of is Count Adrian."

Tia tried to extract as much information as she could from Emma since Sera always seemed to dodge his questions. Although he could feel that Emma was musing inside, he still felt he should make the best of this chance. So Tia decided to ask Emma, who seemed to be aware of the situation to some extent.

Tia continued to ask many questions, to which Emma provided answers, all the while amazed at Tia's intellect and maturity that didn't match her age. Alaric felt uneasy discussing these topics with a child but remained silent, trusting that Emma knew what she was doing.

After dinner, Tia walked ahead, lost in thought as he tried to sort all the information he had received. Alaric and Emma followed at a distance, on their way to Sera's bedroom for the night.

"Is it alright to discuss such things with a child? Even Sera avoided discussing such matters with her children," Alaric asked.

"Hmm, well, why not? There's no harm in it."

"But..."

"More than that, don't you find her strange?"

"How so?"

"From her questions, she seems, how should I say, more intelligent than her age?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, children her age don't usually have such a deep understanding of various aspects."

"Now that you mention it, it does indeed seem so."

"Vina has been quite active since childhood but Tia is always shy and introverted. She also doesn't seem to have many friends. I thought she was just shy at first, but it seems she has a high intelligence for her age."

"Is that so? Is it not good to be intelligent?" Alaric rubbed his neck.

"Children should be lively. They should play and have fun with their friends. But Tia's maturity makes it hard for her to blend in with children of her age."