It would've been embarrassing if the current matters hadn't erased that concept from her mind.
Lilia slowly picked herself up from her spot in the grass and began taking measured steps towards the house.
While hanging out wet clothes to dry, she had heard something resembling a Sonic Boom, and then her employers shouted for their son.
Almost immediately, she broke into a run, however, her poisoned leg gave out after a single step. Her momentum threw her body towards the ground.
It was soft enough that she hadn't broken her nose, so there was that at least.
She would wager some people would have found her action either funny or confusing. Of course she knew she couldn't run, and she had never even attempted to do so in the three years since she was injured.
'Is Rudeus okay? I'm pretty sure Paul's family doesn't like him, but I doubt they would send an assassin after his child.'
If that child had been assassinated, she would probably be fired.
She had been fired from her previous job because she had let an assassin get close to the princess she was guarding.
Having lost her ability to fight competently, she had taken a job that only required her services as a caretaker.
Aside from watching their child, Paul and Zenith Greyrat didn't need her around.
And she doubted bringing up the past to Paul would have any effect on him if he had just lost a child.
'Maybe his pride would convince him that any danger should've been handled by himself. And hopefully, Zenith is so crippled from sorrow that she would require aid.'
As she began thinking of scenarios where she kept her job. Her mind wandered towards Rudeus Greyrat, the child she had been caring for since he was born three years ago.
Aside from occasionally being absolutely still and quiet, like he was sleeping while being awake, he was just an ordinary child. A bit on the fussy side perhaps, however he was quick to behave or be comforted.
It was rather amusing. When she was receiving midwife training, she had been told her demeanor would unsettle children.
Time and time again, she would be told her face and attitude would have to change. That children could intuitively assess the emotional state of their caretakers, and she needed to at least act as if she truly cared for them.
Still, she made up for her faults with her sword skills, so after losing that she was crippled in more that one sense of the word.
Nevertheless, she had managed to get a job, and it was one removed from the political playground.
Rudeus Greyrat didn't seem to dislike her detached nature. In fact he seemed uncomfortable being showered with the silly displays of love he received from his parents.
'… I would prefer that he be unharmed.'
For some reason, more than she feared losing her job, she feared him losing his life.
After healing her son, Zenith followed Paul as he carried their child up to the second floor, she was constantly asking her son if he felt okay.
Rudeus had mumbled that the pain was leaving, then he just sniffled a bit.
They eventually arrived at the storage room, where most everything was tossed around. Paul looked around the mess, and as he did that footsteps echoed behind.
Right after Lilia walked up to them, Paul handed off his son to her, and then started investigating what happened.
"Lilia, are you okay?" Zenith asked the maid.
"Forgive me, I tripped." Lilia's outfit and face was marked with dirt.
She went on to clarify that she heard a loud boom and their shouts, and had attempted to run, but her leg gave out after a single step.
"Is everything alright?" She ended with a question.
"Yeah." Paul called out while he was examining the broken wall. "It was just a broken bone or two."
"That's not alright, Paul!" Zenith disagreed with her husband. "Rudy, how are you feeling?" She asked once more.
"F-fine." Her son mumbled.
She could see his hands tightly clenching the fabric of the apron belonging to the maid holding him.
Something indescribable itched at her brain. "Do you want me to hold you?"
He shook his head. "N-no, the pain is gone now."
She hadn't asked if he wanted to be healed, but it was clear that was what he thought of when it came to being held by his mother.
Zenith felt her hands twitch. She wanted to hold her son, the boy she gave birth to. However, whenever she held him, he would throw fit and struggle to escape her arms.
From birth, Rudeus was fussy except when he was held by the maid.
His first word had been the maid's name, and then the names of his mom and dad. His first steps had occurred under the maid's watch. He was constantly requesting the maid to be the one reading to him at night.
"Ma'am, is something wrong?" The maid asked, having noticed her employer had entered a trance of sorts.
"Huh? Oh, no, sorry. Everything's fine, I'm just worried if there were hidden wounds I hadn't healed."
Her Healing Magic was intermediate ranked, so she knew she wasn't all powerful. It wasn't uncommon for an adventurer to succumb to internal bleeding even after being healed.
Of course, that had never happened to any of her patients. But that didn't erase the risk, especially not when panic for her son's well being had flooded her mind.
However, he seemed to be doing fine. And unless she was mistaken, she could've sworn her spell had changed mid-cast.
Although she had a talent, she had hit a wall while adventuring in her development, and so she stopped attempting to advance. And instead she focused on refining her fundamentals.
When healing her son, it had seemed like her spell had evolved while she was casting it. She had been too focused on the feeling of her Mana at the moment, but she was certain she had glimpsed the next step in her development.
Zenith looked away from the boy being carried by the maid.
Her Healing Magic, if she didn't focus on the sensation of the spell she had just casted, she was certain that it wouldn't ever advance.
It was rather bizarre, the logical side of Paul's brain needed a moment to catch up to his instinctual side.
One moment he had been maintaining his sword skills, when a variant of a Wind Magic explosion shattered the peaceful atmosphere.
He had felt his energy surge through his body, he was prepared to rush and swoosh.
And in the next moment he had leapt across the yard and caught his falling son.
His brain couldn't comprehend what type of magic beast could have snuck into the house and attacked his son, especially not one that had gone undetected yet possessed this kind of explosive power.
As a mage appeared on the second floor, he almost felt ready to fight her. However, his logical side reminded him that Zenith wasn't any good with Wind Magic.
If she had attacked, she probably would've used Fire or Water Magic.
And then he kicked the entire line of thinking out of his mind. His nerves had just been crossed in confusion, there was no possible way his wife would ever harm their son.
After Zenith healed up a broken arm, Paul led them inside and to the second floor. He handed Rudeus off to Lilia as she appeared, and then began investigating the scene.
He didn't find any traces of magic beasts, or anything really that could explain what had happened.
He felt his gaze shift over to his wife, she appeared unbothered and focusing on something else.
For the first time in years, the steel sword in his hands felt heavy.
Most of the pain had dissipated already, but his nerves still felt on edge.
He was Rudeus Greyrat, and as a child he couldn't be perfect, so he indulged in his emotions. And right now he was sulking that he had failed to properly cast a spell.
"Rudeus, can you tell me what happened?" His new father had spoken in a serious tone he had never heard before.
Obviously the fact of him using Magic couldn't remain hidden forever, and the chance it could be discovered was always high.
"I-I just the words on the book and… and then I was in pain."
Unfortunately, he hadn't imagined a scenario where his magic was discovered from his spell harming himself, so he lacked an in-depth excuse.
His new father blinked, his eyes appeared to shift around as he digested what he just heard. Eventually, his gaze landed on something off in the corner and he went to retrieve it. "This book?"
He nodded. "S-sorry for making a mess."
"No, no, it's fine, I'm just glad." Paul sighed heavily and his entire body relaxed. "Just glad you're okay."
"Wait, what?" Zenith blinked as she snapped out of her trance and her brain processed what she had heard. "Rudy, did you seriously do this?"
He sheepishly nodded. "Yeah. I'll help clean—ah!"
"Yah! That's my boy!" Zenith had yanked him away from Lilia and held him up with pride.
The rest of the event was just a few back and forths of asking him whether he really used magic and how he had done so.
And unless it was just his imagination, when Paul had asked him how he had learned to read, he could've sworn he saw Zenith give Lilia a rather nasty glare.
Regardless, he answered by claiming that he was just repeating some of the matching words from the storybooks.
Which got Zenith even more excited.
The matter was resolved when his new parents declared he couldn't practice magic again, not until they hired a magic tutor for him. And In the meantime, Lilia would be teaching him how to read and write.
And Paul would also start teaching him how to use a sword.
His new parents had argued for a while before they arrived at a temporary compromise, and so whatever their child was better at, he could pursue a future in that field.
…
…
It was about a month later that his magic tutor arrived.
And contrary to his parents expectations, it was a rather short girl with blue hair dressed as a witch,
She introduced herself as Roxy.
AN: If I were a better writer, I would've added another 300 words from Roxy's POV as she arrived.
I hope I conveyed the current moods of the characters in a reasonable manner.
