AN: What's this? I updated both my fanfics on the same day? What's this? New cover for the story?!
We made it to 30+ follows already?! Thank you so much, people! It really does mean a lot to me.
And yep, I commissioned an Art of Beatrice Hiraga de la Valliere! I hope you like it, and thanks to Fen-San for making it, you can go and support him on Ko-Fi if you want a drawing too :3 (Definitely not being held hostage at gunpoint and forced to give publicity, no sir, now please, pull the rifle away!)
BANG
A set of bandages wrapped around her head, Louise looked down at her supposed daughter. Apparently her opinion mattered no longer in the eyes of the Principal and the Academy employees; Beatrice is officially her daughter both in blood and name, and all because she blew up half the school magnificently so.
Louise tried to object to this… but given the fact her Familiar will be killed for attempted genocide unless she's given the title of Noble asap, she was forced to accept it. What? She's not the kind of person to kill someone just because she doesn't like them… and that was the problem. She couldn't let this idiot die and thus, had to forcefully accept the claims… and hope none of her Family is informed of this until Louise gets an actual good excuse for this.
Meanwhile, Beatrice, who was wearing cast on both arms, for all her life always considered her Mom a living Tsundere stereotype who forgot what Character Development was, so seeing this younger version of her Mom actually worry for someone she hasn't fully accepted into her family… felt weird.
Not like she was whining… but it did make her wonder; "So… Do you want to know what the future holds then, Mommy?" How would her Mom react to such an offer?
"No, no, no, what I-..." Louise groaned as she stopped walking in circles around her messed up room. "Look… I have been reading books on the Familiar Summoning Spell, and according to each of them, the official description is that it's a 'Spell which travels across time and space to look for a Familiar befitting of the summoning Mage', so… your claims could be true."
Beatrice grinned at the younger Louise finally giving in to her explainings.
"If not for the fact I refuse to believe half of what you said!" And she went into angry loli mode again, "Me falling in love with a Commoner? Me-... beating and whipping him up and him liking it?!" She approached the taller girl sitting on the bed with a still infuriated gaze, "What kind of man would be into a woman who hurts him without hesitation!?" Clearly she didn't know what a masochist was… not that Saito was one, but he did mention at times the runes brainwashing him or something, "And I know I can get mad, but do you think I'd hurt a human being just because!?"
Beatrice shook her head and answered; "No, Founder no." Louise smirked at the reply of the girl she deemed as a dangerous imposter with a nod, "It's actually a fetish of yours. Like-... I've seen BDSM, and then there's your shit which was banned when you uploaded it… the cause being the content was too violent for what human rights allow to be posted online."
What.
"I'm sorry?" Louise didn't understand some of the terms, but she had a good idea of what was spoken.
"Yeah, like-... you and Dad once tried to do a sex tape and got banned from every porn site available because it was considered guro at some point… and I don't blame them, I still want to forget I saw it!" Beatrice puffed her cheeks at the memory.
It's not even that she wanted to watch her parents having sex, she simply wanted an USB Drive to save some school files when she found a video called; "Exam Answers", and of course, she had to think it was a video of her Dad passing answers of multiple tests.
The trauma remains, and she can't ask anyone for help in erasing her memories, because she refuses to admit she even saw said video.
Louise, however, was… practically sickened from how honest those words sounded. There's no way she would do that, like, she doesn't enjoy inflicting pain or anything, right!?
No, no, Louise, she's playing you tricks, this is all just one big trick to make you think she's being honest! Or maybe she's so crazy she's believing her own lies!
"Alright then, if you really are my daughter, then tell me something I need to know!" She pointed her finger at Beatrice with an accusing tone and a deep red blush, "... Why is Viscount Wardes not your father?"
"... Who?" Beatrice tilted her head at hearing such a name for the first time in her life. Her answer made Louise grin in victory.
Of course there's no way she can marry a Commoner if her fiance is a Noble that's been decided since she was a kid!
Now it was time to finish tearing down the rest of her lies!
"Heh! Alright then, my "Daughter", if you really are my kid, then what exactly is our element? I refuse to think I wouldn't have found the answer in the sixteen years of your life." Of course, Louise expected nothing but silence to come out of Beatrice's lips.
If her words are to be believed, then she spent a lot of years somewhere with a lot of information, and if she knows something, is that with so much information there had to be an answer to their element. So when she goes quiet, it'll be the perfect moment to demonstrate her lies!
Or demonstrate that even as an adult, she's useless.
"Oh, you're a Void mage, just like me, and just like everyone in Halkeginia, really."
"... What?" The question came from three different directions: From Louise who was in front of her "daughter", from Kirche who was hearing the conversation by pushing her ear against the door, and from Tabitha who was spying on them from outside the window via mounting Sylphid.
"!" Adult Louise began snapping her head around in a fury, her Mother senses telling her that Beatrice just did something that warranted a slap on the wrist!
Saito noticed the state of his wife and sighed while rubbing his forehead.
After running around in that strange world being hunted by children who could turn into weapons, Louise's magic recharged and the two managed to run off elsewhere… to a world that seemed to be stuck in a medieval age but with a shit ton of modern stuff?
They were now eating inside of a burger shop called Burger Prince (which made Saito snort), and while Saito was devouring his meal, Louise had simply ordered herself a set of chicken nuggies… with a toy included, of course.
"What's the matter? Regretting not going to Farbuck's?" Saito asked before eating another fry.
"No, no, it's not that, it just-... I feel like Bea just did something more stupid than Siesta could ever do." Her response made her husband grumble.
"Louise, Siesta is not dumb, she simply has her moments of messing up. And besides, you know how Beatrice is, she'll fix it up, I'm sure." Besides, it's not like they could do much to change anything, not with Louise needing 3 days to recharge her Willpower and have another shot at using World Gate.
The pink haired small woman grumbled again but ended up nodding in defeat. Sad as it was, they needed to have some faith in their kid.
"... You know," Louise tossed a smile in Saito's way, trying to be the one to lift the mood, "How about I do take your offer and we try out that Farbuc-"
Before she could finish her question, a loud THUMP was heard, shaking the ground and their drinks along the way. Sadly, it wasn't the only one, as more and more of them came and came.
Saito reached for Derflinger and stepped out of the local along Louise to see what was going on.
They heard screams from panicking citizens, and-...
"..." Louise looked up with a deadpan at what her eyes were showing her.
"..." Saito, too, was deadpanning at the bizarre sight, pondering if this was a dream or something as such.
"GIANT GINGERBREAD MAN!" Derflinger, however, screamed like an excited child at the giant gingerbread man grabbing Farbuck's giant decorative coffee cup, realized there's nothing in it, tossed it to the ground like a whining child… and then chased after a talking white horse and a puss in boots mounted on it.
… Was that a person standing on the cookie's shoulder?
"... Louise." Saito was the first to recover and speak, and as he did, he noticed various animals running in two legs, some wearing clothing, and others only a hat, chasing after the cookie, and-... was that a boy made out of wood and strings carrying three rats with black sunglasses.
"Yes?" Louise, however, was still looking at the giant monster as it headed for the castle, possibly with all the intentions of invading it.
"Next time, I will choose the words you'll use for the chant. I think you're just not getting it." His wife had nothing to say as the two calmly walked back into Burger Prince to keep eating… they refused to get involved in a fight involving something they'd only see drunk.
While in Tristain's Academy of Magic Beatrice was getting herself and Louise one step closer to being killed either by some hidden Agent church or kidnapped by a certain blue haired Gallia agent, in the Valliere state things were a little more heated.
In the dining hall of the Valliere manor sat all the members of the family except the two explosive children.
Karin the Heavy Wind sat at the head of the table, her eyes closed and hearing all the arguments coming from the rest of her family.
She was hoping doing this with only her daughters and her husband would prove more peaceful than bringing it to the Princess… and she was quickly proven wrong.
"An imposter of course, Mother!" Eleanore, the eldest daughter, had been picked up from the capital by Karin but a couple hours ago just to hear this nonsense sprouted out.
"I don't know…" Cattleya, the middle daughter, had to come out of bed despite her strong illness to discuss this important matter relating to her younger sister, "I am not saying we should believe her without proof… but we can't really turn her down without hearing from her first, can we?"
Despite being known for her kindness, half the members of her family turned to her with a glare, prompting Cattleya to flinch and go quiet. She just wanted to be fair…
"..." Karin, witnessing the lack of words being spoken by the members of her family reached a decision, "Alright, then I'll go and deal with this brat so Louise can have another chance at Summoning a proper Familiar next year."
Usually, Karin's word was the end of all their family arguments.
While Sandorion de la Valliere held the title of Duke, just like his wife held the title of Duchess, he was clearly the one benefitted from his marriage with Karin and thus let her take most of the big decisions.
However, something strange… occurred this time around.
"Oh, really? And what exactly will you do with this… 'imposter'?" Sandorion asked with some venom in his voice, making Karin raise an eyebrow at the sudden aggressiveness from her husband.
"Well, make her confess her lies and if she cooperates, I let her go, if she doesn't, I'll have her arrested for impersonating a Noble." Her answer, instead of calming him down, only seemed to make him angrier.
"I see, I see… so that's all you'll do, like a slap in the wrist."
"Okay, what is the problem?" Karin had enough of his vague anger.
Her question, however, made the man slam a hand on the table and turn to her with some anger, "Karin, be honest, does Louise have a twin?"
"..."
Silence filled the table as the mood was shaken from a violent one to an awkward one.
"... Excuse me?"
"I've been thinking about it, and it suddenly starts to make sense!" He turned to Karin with more of a-… betrayed look? "The day Louise was born, you did not let me be in the same room you were as you birthed her, and even as Louise was born, it took an hour for me to be allowed in, and when I was, you were already alone with the baby in your arms! Everyone else was gone by that point!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Why didn't you let me be there for Louise but you did for the other two? Why did you wait until all of the Water Mages who helped you out leave for just me to be allowed in? Why make it so suspicious all of a sudden?" His words began gaining some weight into them. All by themselves, those actions would mostly be Karin wanting privacy as she dealt with something as personal as giving birth… but why let him be there two times and not a third one?
And why wait such a long amount of time to let him in if Louise was already born? Not even Commoners did that.
And… thinking about it, neither Cattleya nor Eleanore were allowed anywhere near their Mother's room that day.
Everyone knows Noble Titles and Twins aren't a good mix. No matter the number a child is born as, be it the firstborn, lastborn, fifth born, all the Nobles have at least something reserved for them just for being born into their families, and should they get a twin, it will become a bloodshed when time comes to give them what is rightfully theirs.
If the one born first gets most of the things, the second one can grow envious. In exchange, if the two get the same treatment, the oldest one will grow furious. Cases where the younger or older twin murder the other just to keep their part, or to take what they believe should be theirs is so common that a law regarding twins had to be made, the second twin must be murdered at the moment of birth to avoid any kind of conflict.
However… it is widely known a Mother can't willfully murder her own baby moments after being born, at least most of them, so cases of them being sold to other Noble Families for favors or to pay debts isn't weird whatsoever. The Mother gets to not kill any of her children, and the new family gets to have new blood with them, probably for one of their already born kids to end up marrying sooner or later.
But what happens with a case such as the Valliere family? Nobles would murder each other for a chance to get to hold some of the Valliere blood in their households as their own.
In such cases, there's times a Noble entrusts the baby's life and future to either the Water Mages who helped birth it, or to one of their servants they hold in close and who they trust. Sure, a life as commoners would await them in one of those cases, but some Nobles considered it better than living as literal livestock just waiting for the chance to be milked.
"..." Karin was well aware of all of that, and when looking at her situation from an outside perspective, it could make sense that that's what she did. And really, she would normally call it a lie and call her husband a crazy man… but the fact is she couldn't do such a thing. "I didn't want you in because-..." A small blush formed on Karin's expression… "I actually had a cold back then, and the water mages said I'd probably faint during the birth…"
"..." The three family members deadpanned at their Mother. She did that just to avoid anyone looking at her in a weak state. Was their Mom so prideful she couldn't even show some weakness to close family members?!
"A-Anyways, it had nothing to do with twins! I woke up an hour after giving birth, and only a water Mage remained, holding little Louise and watching over me. He handed her to me, I asked him to tell you that you could come in, and end of the story. See? Nothing suspicious." The explanation made her husband groan and rub his nose bridge. Well, at least now he would have no problems with whatever they choose to do to the imposter-
"Hold on," Cattleya interrupted me, the narrator, as something struck her head, "If you were out cold for an entire hour… how do you know you didn't actually give birth twice and they took one of them and kept you with only a baby?"
"..."
The eyes of the Family widened up in realization.
Now cases of Noble babies being kidnapped? Those weren't usual because Nobles weren't weak at all, even a child with a wand is capable of killing a grown man if they shoot a fireball at their face, so kidnapping one of them usually ended up bad. But what if the situation is perfect for a kidnapping?
Keeping a baby of the Valliere family… one that could be used as a one way ticket to earn a lot of money when it grew up…!
Eleanore held her head as she tried to remain calm and consider this as the family just slowly losing it and making assumptions from nowhere.
Sandorion got ready to investigate all the Water Mages involved with Louise's birth and interrogate each one individually.
And Karin, of course, was in shock over the chance of actually having had a second daughter without even knowing of it… a Valliere she abandoned without meaning to…!
"... So, we were agreeing we'd first give a chance to this girl to prove her words of being Louise's daughter before deciding a thing, right?" Eleanore had her mouth wide-opened at the sudden change of mind from her Mother.
"Agreed." Sandorion was the first to answer.
"Definitely." Cattleya joined her father, leaving Eleanore as the sole woman holding some common sense in the room.
Did no one notice how specific this whole thing would need to be for the theory to be even somewhat close to being true?!
The eldest daughter slammed her hands on the table and stood up from her seat. "W-Wait! Mother, you seriously can't expect us to believe-!?"
"We'll go to the Academy and attend the Familiar Show, there we'll intercept Beatrice and get her side of the story. All of you clear your schedules for that day!" With her decision taken, Karin stood up from her seat and walked away, followed up by Sandorion and Cattleya, leaving Eleanore in the dining hall alone.
"..." She slumped back onto her seat and face-palmed… her family didn't just do this to her, this was all a joke, just a really bad joke… right? "Ugh… Founder, why?"
All of a sudden, a breeze flowed by the dining hall near Eleanore.
You suck~
"What? Who said that?" Eleanore looked around, "And-... Where did this wind come from!? I'm indoors!"
As Eleanore slowly descended into insanity, a playful God who died a long time ago decided to keep on tormenting her, if simply for how amusing this all was. Seems like messing with his descendant's spell bore fruits to his boredom after all!
AN: And thus, another chapter comes to a conclusion with the Valliere Family growing weary of their supposed new "Grandchild"~
I'll be honest, I wasn't entirely sure if I handled the last bit appropriately, even rewrote it a few times, but the lad I showed it to and asked on his opinion said he was laughing of it and found it funny, thus I'll believe in his opinion and hope you also liked it!
Now to answer reviews~
allison61509: You have no idea the headaches the two will be facing from now on XD
TMI Fairy: Oh, jolly, this one is long (And I love it OwO)
Beatrice is not making Mega BOOMs due to the different magical environment, she's simply... letting herself free after never having the chance to use any spell seriously. She grew up on Earth and thus had little reason to train her magic since tech did what magic does but better most of the time, so it's the first time she tests her limits... and she has the same destructive potential her Mom possesses too. Sadly for her and those around, she couldn't find out on her own. XD
I am not legally allowed to answer yes or no to Guiche's little Niche.
Yes, Tabitha has a twin and actually, that's what she's thinking... alongside the rest of Louise's family, because the concept of time travel is so alien to them they all prefer to believe she's being manipulated into thinking that by an outside force
The cure for Cattleya? I'll leave that in the air for now ;)
Don't worry, Saito's tastes shall be slipped eventually~ XD
And those are all the reviews I could answer to. I want to thank everyone who read the story and those that reviewed too, they mean a lot and give me motivation to keep writing this, which is good because this story amuses me and I want to keep writing it. :3
Thank you all for reading, thanks again to Fen-San for the new cover, and hope you all have a wonderful day, people!~
Shadic out.