Damn Reincarnation

sense,” Evatar guffawed. 

* * *

Ancilla Caines, the Lionheart Patriarch’s second wife, started her morning early.

She usually woke up before daybreak, but she did not head out of the room straight away.
Although her husband, Gilead, and her lovely children weren’t in the main house right now, she wanted to maintain her dignity as the second mistress of the prestigious Lionheart house.

She had to always look perfect.
She especially could never show others her shabby face after she woke up. That was why Ancilla began to prepare all by herself, without the servant’s help, right after she woke up.

She took a bath, dried and combed her hair, did her makeup, and chose her outfit for the day.
Although she had no plans to go outside and no expected guests either, that did not prevent her from doing her best to appear decent.

After hours of preparation, the sun finally rose.
If the Patriarch and her children had been in the house, she would have had breakfast with them.
However, there were only Ancilla and Gerhard there right now.

She didn’t want to appear hostile, and she made sure she was on good terms with him.
Still, eating alone with him… was rather awkward.
Gerhard also felt the same way, so they rarely shared the same table.

Today’s morning was just like a usual morning — Gerhard in the annex and Ancilla in the main house.

With a servant accompanying her, Ancilla sat in front of the table and smelled the coffee in her cup.
A cup of coffee without a single grain of sugar and a plate of fresh salad were in front of her.
The ‘dignity’ Ancilla pursued included looks.
The clean diet and steady exercise were part of her efforts to show dignity as the second wife of the Lionheart Patriarch.

She didn’t only value appearance, however.
While the Patriarch was away, Ancilla managed all affairs in the main house, particularly the social events.

There were a lot of parties during the New Year.
There was a party hosted by Marquess Ragos next week.
The invitation said the party was to celebrate the new year, but Ancilla knew that the party was actually about showing off Ragos’s power.

It wasn’t rare for nobles to do this.
Most high-ranking nobles’ parties were about showing off their power.
The nobles kept each other in check by showing off in terms of both party fanciness and guests’ ranks. They also revised their relationships by checking who refused the invitations and who went to whose party.

“Marquess Ragos and Count Berid are having their parties on the same date.
They are being very obvious,” Ancilla snorted.

She received the invitations from both of them. As the most prestigious house in the Kiehl — no, the continent, the Lionheart clan could participate in any party.
The hosts were the ones who were fretting about Lionheart’s attendance.

‘Which party shall I attend…’ Ancilla joyfully wondered, and turned over the report after checking the guest list.

In this report, there was a lot of information aside from the party.
It was about the various rumors regarding Lionheart’s collateral descendants, from who got married and gave birth to children to…  

“Puhh.”

Ancilla spat out the fragrant coffee in her mouth.
The shocked servant approached, but Ancilla couldn’t care about the servant and her dignity as the second wife.

“…What’s up with this report?!”

Ancilla sprang right up from her seat, shuddering.
She went through the coffee-stained report multiple times.
Feeling dizzy, she collapsed back onto the chair.

‘What in the world is up with him… what has he done?’

The report also included Eugene’s whereabouts and status.
Yesterday, Eugene had come back through the Kiehl Empire’s south gate.

That alone was enough to astound Ancilla.
When had he left Kiehl in the first place? She knew that Eugene had left the Black Lion Knight’s castle.
She did not know his exact destination, but she had assumed that it was somewhere in the Kiehl Empire.

However, the report said Eugene had arrived at the Empire through the south gate.
South.
Samar Rainforest.
When? Why Samar?

That wasn’t it, either.
Right up to the south gate, Eugene had been escorted by the Great Zoran Tribe, one of the most powerful tribes in Samar.  

“And elves?”

She had no idea why Eugene got involved with the Samar’s barbarians in the first place, but now Eugene had also brought a hundred elves and three trees floating above their heads?

“And treeees?!”

Ancilla pinched her thigh, wondering if she was dreaming.
It hurt, which meant this wasn’t a dream.
This unbelievable report was all true.

Eugene had been escorted by Samar natives, leading a hundred elves, with three trees floating above their heads.
In front of the public, he had passed through the gate, stayed the night in the southern city, and arrived this morning at the warp gate in the capital Ceres…

The report was too ridiculous.

Ancilla belatedly came to her senses and first wiped the coffee on her mouth with the handkerchief.

“The carriage…Bring the carriage…”

“Lady Ancilla.”

The mansion’s butler hurriedly approached Ancilla.

“We received a message from the warp gate.”

“…What message…?”

“The warp gate in Ceres is requesting to be connected…”

“For whom?!”

“Master Eugene, my lady…”

Hunching his shoulder, the butler answered.
Ancilla moaned as she held on to her head.

“…What on earth is with that child?”

“Pardon…?”

“I haven’t received reports about him heading to Samar, so why is he coming from Samar?”

“Umm…”

“What is up with the elves? He didn’t just bring one or two elves, but a hundred of them? Where on earth did he bring those elves from in the first place? Of course, Samar! Why did he bring A HUNDRED ELVES FROM SAMAR?!”

“….”

“Why did he have trees floating above his head! Why is he doing those things in the open! Why would he volunteer to be a clown!”

“That…I’m not sure…”

“Let them do what they want!”

After yelping, Ancilla collapsed on her seat again.

“…Prepare the carriage.”

“Are you going to meet him?”

“Then shall I not meet him? Shall I not connect the warp gate and just ask him to walk?”

Regretting his question, the butler lowered his head without answering.

“How could he do that? That…that bas…that boy… mischievous boy!”

As she caught her breath, Ancilla clenched her fists.

 

“Oh my…”

After pouring out her anger on the butler, Ancilla gently smiled at Eugene who passed the gate.

“My…this is unexpected.
Are they your friends?”

She was burning up inside. Still, she couldn’t show it to Eugene.

Seven years had passed since Eugene had become an adopted son of the main house, and Ancilla had never lost her composure in front of Eugene in all this time.

“One, two…Oh, my…You brought so…many friends.”

“Are you angry?”

Eugene saw Ancilla's eyes twitch.

“Oh, no…Angry…Why would I be angry? There’s nothing to be mad about bringing friends.”

‘I think you are angry…’ Eugene thought.

Ancilla spoke too kindly.
Eugene threw a glance at the servants and knights behind Ancilla.

He met the eyes of Hazard, the captain of the second division.
Hazard slightly hunched his shoulder and moved his lips.

“Umm… They aren’t friends,” Eugene said, after glancing back.

Including Signard, a hundred elves were standing behind him.

“Then…who are they?”

“Families.”

“Families…? Eugene, I’m not sure what you are talking about right now.”

Ancilla held up her feather fan to hide the twitching corner of her mouth.

“Umm…they are more of neighbors…than families.”

“…You lost me.”

“Isn’t the main house’s forest wide?” Eugene asked innocently.

“…The forest is…wide. It has many trees.
And what are the trees over your head?”

“I’m going to plant them in the forest.”

“…Aren’t there a lot of them already? Why those trees specifically? Is there a reason for you to bring some trees floating above your head?”

“These are expensive and rare trees.”

“…That is nice. So, what do the elves have to do with the wide forest….”

“I’m going to let them live in the forest,” Eugene said as he awkwardly smiled.

The fan in Ancilla’s hand was crushed.