Again (This is an au of a manhua)

Chapter 40: Marquess Bell

 "DAD!!" Sears hugged her father, Marquess Bell.

"It's been nine years, Sears."

"I"m sorry dad! This bad daughter finally came to see you!!"

"No, no, it's alright. You're here now."

Despite reincarnating, Jasmine still barely knew what emotions were. She had thrown them away when her lover died so they still felt unknown and uncomfortable.

"MOMMY! DON'T CRY!!" Samuel started to cry.

"Ch-child?" Marquess Bell was confused.

"GRANDPA'S BAD! YOU MADE MOMMY CRY!!"

"Th-that's not it Samuel! You shouldn't say that to your Grandfather!" Sears was struggling to control Samuel.

"I HATE GRANDPA!!!" Samuel shouted.

Jasmine still didn't understand emotions. Maybe Samuel didn't understand them all that well either, tears weren't always sad.

"It seems as though I'm not hated." Marquess Bell told Jasmine.

"Ah, don't worry, Samuel will get over it soon. He's pretty simple."

"So you're Jasmine. I wanted to meet you."

"I also wished to meet you!" Jasmine smiled.

"Well, it's a relief that you seem to like me..." The Marquess looked at Samuel.

"There's no reason to dislike you. After all, you're mother's father."

"That's right my granddaughter! It's so nice to meet you!" Marquess Bell hugged Jasmine so tight she almost choked.

"Yes... S-same here..." Jasmine now knew that everyone in the Bell family loved skinship.

It was nighttime, the Marquess sat in a room with his daughter, sipping tea as they discussed something somewhat serious.

"Jasmine's power is quite astonishing." The Marquess pointed out, "Even though I'm only a 4th class magician, I was able to see a portion of that child's power. I never thought a little girl would have this much strength. The entire kingdom will soon have their eyes towards Jasmine. You are aware of what that means, right?"

"Yes, my husband and I both know what that means..." Sears looked away.

"Great power invites greed. At the moment, you and Earl Welton may be able to stop them. But there will be a day where that won't be enough."

"Is that why you gave That to me?" Sears asked.

"That's right." The Marquess nodded, "It's not a perfect shield, but it'll be quite helpful.

"It makes me relieved to know that a mother can protect her daughter." Sears smiled sadly.

"However," The Marquess stated, "I'm worried about the Earl. I heard that he became enemies with the Zenith church. It won't just pass quietly, those people are extremely twisted monsters."

"Is it that serious?" Sears asked.

"Yes." The Marquess nodded, "Because of those bastards, the Pyro church is in a trouble-some situation. I believe that the Zenith church is planning on completely getting rid of-"

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a very confusing scene.

(This is before)"Benna!" Jasmine shouted. She was in her bedroom, wearing her white pajamas.

"Mmm...?" Benna quickly sat up after hearing the voice of Jasmine.

"Didn't I tell you not to transform back?!" Jasmine scolded.

"B-but it's so uncomfortable being like that!!" Benna protested.

"Oh yeah? Well what're you going to do if you get caught?!" Jasmine frowned.

"Uhh..." Benna imagined a terrible scene inside her head.

"You evil black mage!! How could you hide by transforming into a squirrel!"

"Master!" Benna shouted.

"I don't know anything!" Jasmine stated.

Benna imagined if people found out people would either kick her off a cliff, drown her, or burn her alive. She certainly didn't want to be caught.

"I don't have a lot of patience left!" Jasmine pointed at Benna.

"Ha..." Benna had no choice but to listen.

After that trouble was dealt with, Jasmine stared at the necklace that her grandfather had just gifted her. It was a shining blue case shaped like a teardrop. The outside was clear glass but the inside contained a shining blue liquid.

"What's that?" Benna asked, she was perched on top of Jasmine's shoulder.

"Hm..." Jasmine was still in deep thought.

"I asked you what that is." Benna repeated.

"Oh!" Jasmine snapped out of her thoughts, "I'm not actually sure. All I know is that it's an artifact."

Jasmine admired the necklace for a while before she suddenly felt a threatening presence. The energy that this figure had was great, a scary energy at that. She tossed Benna off her shoulder, rushing out of her room. The threatening presence was coming from the direction where her mother was, was this an assassination attempt?!

Jasmine ran as fast as she could to her mother's location, spotting a figure standing by the door. He had long black hair and dark colored skin. He wore a large green cloak that was slightly damaged, on the back, he had a large sword with a huge blade. Jasmine knew that he was too powerful for her to beat, so she had to escape with her mother. Jasmine jumped on the person, using a spell named Erasure Volt, a high-class attack using the element lightning.

Jasmine thought that the spell would work, blasting the mass of electricity at the man. However, he was unaffected and grabbed Jasmine by the neck, stopping her flow of mana.

"What a cute little trick." The man smirked.

Jasmine didn't know what to do at this point. She might need to use black mana. She glared at the man when suddenly her mother interrupted her.

"J-jasmine...?"

"Uh... H-hi... mother...?" Jasmine smiled nervously while Sears and Marquess Bell stared with concerned faces.

"Gracious me!" The Marquess laughed, "My granddaughter is an amazingly talented person indeed!"

"Hurry up and greet them!" Sears scolded her daughter, smacking her on the back of her neck.

"Th-thank you..." Jasmine whimpered.

"How could you do that to someone you don't know?!" Sears shouted at her daughter, "Is this what I taught you?!"

"No, but-"

"But what?! Was I too lenient on you?!" Sear smacked her daughter again.

"I-I apologize..."

"You're mother is-"

"That's enough Sears." The man told Jasmine's mother, "Since it was my fault it turned out this way."

"What are you talking about, Sir Beryl?" Sears asked as Jasmine clutched her nape.

"Well, I heard that the first child of the Welton family was talented, so I did a little test." Beryl Onyx responded.

This was Beryl Onyx, also known as the "Tempest Swordsman". He is one of the five swordmasters of the Seldom kingdom.

End of chapter 40

Bonus:

"If you don't have anything to do, organize the blankets!" Jasmine ordered.

"Okay..." Benna responded.