"I asked whose idea was to let a demi and a runt in my house?! I went away for a few days and you lot have already dragged in filth!"
The man walked forward, his balance slightly off kilter, bottle swaying in his hand sloshing with a pale green liquid.
Reinhard, with a stone-faced expression, stepped forward and put a hand on his heart, greeting his father before he could give attention to Felt and Subaru.
"Greetings to you father. It was I who brought Felt-sama and Subaru here. It relates to a matter assigned to us by the royal gua-"
"Shut the hell up. You think you have the permission to explain things to me? And don't call me that. I'm not your damn father."
Reinhard, having expected this already, tilted his head down a little. It still hurt even though he knew what Heinkel's response would be.
"Very well..."
Just as Heinkel was about to chew out his son more, a voice rang out much to the group's surprise.
"Oi! Who do you think you are to say that to Rein! Don't think I'll let you bad mouth my friend however you want!"
Subaru stood up from his seat, shooting a nasty look to Heinkel as Subaru's tail thrashed around as if it was showing the boy's anger at the man.
Narrowing his eyes at Subaru, he pointed his bottle towards both him and Felt.
"Just because the monster brought you here does not mean you both are welcome."
"And who the hell are you to decide that?!"
Seeing both Subaru and Reinhard being insulted angered the golden haired girl as well, so she joined in.
The situation, getting out of hand, prompted Carol to chime in before it got worse.
"Dear guests, please sit back down. This is the Lord of this manor, Lord Heinkel Astrea."
She went next to Heinkel and bowed her head slightly before speaking.
"These two were brought by Reinhard-sama to reward their service to both the Astrea household and for successfully fending off an assassin after Felt-sama."
"This runt and the boy fended off an assassin? I find it hard to believe, Carol. Any assassin worth their salt wouldn't have lost to...this."
Heinkel narrowed his eyes in slight annoyance towards the two, his temper still high but getting calmer by the minute, unbeknownst to him.
Before he could think of more poisonous words something washed over him and carried those thoughts away leaving a dull headache in his mind. He turned with tired eyes to Carol before he started a slow walk from the room.
"Explain to me their purpose here Carol. They can stay here...for now."
Carol bowing her head slightly followed him out of the room , closing the doors with a dignified glance to the guests.
Silence reigned in the room for a bit before Reinhard looked towards Felt with a guilty expression.
"I apologise for my father, Felt-sama, Subaru. Please don't take his words to heart."
"I-Its alright Rein you don't need to apologise for him. That jerk is responsible for his own actions!"
Felt stomped around the room fuming at Heinkel as well. He embodied everything she hated about Lugunica, a drunk incompetent noble living off of the wealth of his lands and with the audacity to call them filth.
"That asshole deserves punishment!" Felt zoomed past Reinhard, her hair flowing in the wind before immediately stopping beside Subaru, her hand immediately on his head, having to stand up on the chair to get there.
She sighed as anger left her body as she gave him head pats, still glaring at the door Heinkel had left from.
"Damnit big bro. Your head is just too soft."
Sensing the tension of the room lowering, Reinhard allowed himself a small smile and walked over to his friends.
"Please Felt-sama, it is true that my father is harsh...I ask you not to judge him too harshly as he's not a bad person. And well..."
It is my fault that he became like this anyways, thought Reinhard, flashes of his childhood and the events that led up to this passing through his mind before just as quickly vanishing as he found himself fighting Felt's hands for the right to pat Subaru.
Confused at how quickly the situation had gone from tense to comical, Subaru yelped in embarrassment crying out loud.
"Why is this my isekai power?! Instead of Excalibur or a gun I get this?!"
Whining with no real sadness behind it the two laughed at him while his tail swished around rapidly, his head getting the treatment it deserved.
Flam and Grassis smiled softly in the background at the trio's behaviour, being happy that the new guest was being well accepted while Grimm eyed them to start clearing the table, smiling in his own right seeing Reinhard truly happy for once.
The sky turned amber as the hours passed and the people of the mansion retired to their rooms, the staff cleaning and doing the final chores before retiring for the night themselves.
A lone man walked through the hall, nothing in his hand but a key and some flowers.
Undoing the locks and opening a light blue door slowly, he took a deep breath and walked in slowly, closing the door behind him.
"Louanna...I'm here dear…"
Heinkel walked to her bed, sitting at the edge as melancholy filled his voice.
Putting the flowers at the bedside he caressed her face, brushing a stray hair past her face.
She was as beautiful as the day he'd lost her, having not aged a single day in his mind or soul. The day his world fell apart...slowly and tirelessly becoming the wreck his life was today.
"I...I'm getting close dear...trust me. I'll find the cure to this...just... you wait for me. And as for him...he's fine as well. Found some "friends" today."
He scoffed but caught himself, not wanting to say much more about his "son" in her presence anymore.
Sighing, expecting no responses from her as usual he gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the room, the click of the lock softly echoing down the silent mansion.
He felt more sober than before and after he had yelled at the demi and the runt even the taste of alcohol seemed awful, his only respite in the present now working against him.
Grunting in frustration he drank a glass of water as he stewed in his own misery, going to sleep as he thought about what all Carol had told him about them both...
"It's a fresh new day and It's time for Natsuki Subaru to seize it!"
Subaru yelled out in excitement as he woke up, opening up the royal red curtains in a hurry, beams of sunlight hitting him in the face.
"Brings a tear to my eyes...Getting up at the crack of dawn. This truly is the new beginning in my story."
Subaru made a show of getting dressed and waltzing down the hallways, exploring and checking out all the cool things the Astreas owned. They weren't the Sword saints for nothing.
He gawked at the lavish paintings again and his eyes shined with awe at the cool sets of armour that were displayed against the wall, one day hoping to get a set of his own.
Walking down the hallways he greeted Carol who blessed him with a graceful smile and a pat upon his head, treating him like her own grandson as she sent him to where Felt and Reinhard were.
"Hey Rein, and Felt too! Hope you both had a good night yesterday."
Greeting them as he walked over, he sat down on the bench. Felt slowly banged her head on it up and down, groaning as Reinhard greeted Subaru and continued teaching her.
He spoke all about the history of Lugunica, the letters, the words, the politics, the royalty and all topics known to man as Felt and Subaru's eyes twitched.
"Big bro...save me…" Felt begged with an exhausted voice as Subaru himself grew weary of this lecture not even 30 minutes into the day.
"Rein... please stop...this is so boring."
Subaru begged dramatically, falling on his knees trying to plead the best he could.
"S-Subaru? These are important things. Not only for Felt-Sama but you as well. Now that you're fortunately here you should attend as well!"
A look of betrayal coming on his face, Subaru slowly inched his way closer to the exit silently cursing Carol for springing her trap and trying to make him study.
"No thanks, I'm good for now!"
"Big bro...where do you think you're going?"
Felt's silhouette lurked behind Subaru as she grinned, her red eyes shining with maliciousness as she grabbed Subaru's shoulder and pulled him back into the room.
"NOO! DON'T LEAVE MEEEE"
His screams echoed throughout the mansion as Felt indeed did not let go, using him as a human or in this case demi-human teddy bear, patting his head happily throughout the lesson while Reinhard looked at them in envy, sometimes wanting to pat Subaru too.
A few hours passed and a totally exhausted Felt and Subaru crawled out of the room, Reinhard's exhaustive lesson finally having ended as they went their separate ways for now.
Travelling through the halls Subaru passed a corner running into someone by mistake.
The other person cussed as they lost their balance and tried to stop falling, trying to get their hand on anything and finding something soft.
"Ah I'm sorry-!"
Looking up at the person who was now patting his head with a shocked expression on his face, Subaru felt a variety of emotions ranging from annoyance to anger as he saw none other than Heinkel.
"Oi! Stop patting me!"
Subaru yelled at him and pushed his hand away, not opting to talk to the man as he walked away.
"No wait Reinha-"
Heinkel held out his hand towards Subaru, a tear coming to his eyes. The moment he'd held and patted Subaru's head every single moment Heinkel had spent with Reinhard passed through his head...his time playing with Louanna, growing up, always being the nice kid...his kid...and he'd ...he'd been treating him so-so horribly...
Walking to his room slowly again, wondering what was happening to him, Heinkel closed his door, having many things to wonder about, and many things to decide during the next few days...
Who really was this kid...where did he come from...could he talk to Reinhard and...
He sighed lying down on the bed. Years of hatred could never be resolved so easily and Reinhard would likely not want him back anyways.
Taking a swig of alcohol again, no matter how much he hated it, he drank himself to sleep, the memory of Reinhard in his arms and Louanna hugging him behind his back, soothing his dreams...