Damn Reincarnation

have to visit the main house for their every meal.

“We are here,” said Hazard.

The carriage stopped, and Ancilla patiently waited.
The door should be opened by a person outside.
Impatiently opening it herself was the far opposite of the dignity that Ancilla pursued.

Opening the door took only a few seconds.
She had never felt annoyed about it or thought it took too long, but this time….

‘Have I not slept very well? Why do I feel like Hazard is terribly slow today?’

The door soon opened.
It was because Hazard felt Ancilla’s annoyance, so he quickly got down from the carriage and escorted Ancilla.
As she got down, she could feel the cold air.

“Oh, my…” Ancilla trembled as she tightly grabbed onto her coat.

‘She is too cute!’

In the training area of the annex, Mer was standing in her soft outer garment.
On the other hand, Eugene was topless as he was sitting in front of Mer.
He didn’t seem to mind the cold weather.

“…What is he doing right now?” Ancilla dumbfoundedly asked.

“He is meditating,” Hazard calmly answered.

“I can see that.
I am asking why is he meditating outside in this cold weather without any clothes?”

Ancilla also came from a prestigious warrior family.
Therefore, she had learned several martial arts since she was a child.
Still, she didn’t really understand why he would do such a thing in this cold weather.

“If he wants to do it, he should do it alone.
How could he do such a thing with a young child?!” Ancilla clenched her fists, trembling in anger.

“Lady Ancilla!” When Ancilla and Hazard got closer, Mer beamed as she waved her hand.

The sight! Ancilla grabbed onto her heart without realizing it.
The memory of Ciel and Cyan calling her ‘mommy’ for the first time came to her mind.

“What brings you here this early in the morning?”

“Hmm.” Ancilla controlled her expression right away.
Mer’s face was pale as she looked up, but Ancilla knew that it wasn’t due to the coldness.
She also knew that the adorable girl wasn’t a human, but a familiar that had lived for hundreds of years.
Therefore, Mer never felt cold.
However, those things about Mer aroused Ancilla’s maternal love. So what if she didn’t feel the cold? The only thing that mattered right now was that the wind Ancilla could feel was cold.

Clearing her throat, she wrapped the highest-quality scarf around Mer’s neck and said, “…I came here to talk about how to greet Eugene’s important guest, since she is visiting today.”

“She isn’t really an important guest.” Eugene opened his eyes. “It’s not worth your attention, Lady Ancilla.
Besides, she is just a guest I invited personally…”

“Your guest is the Lionheart family’s guest.” Ancilla glared at Eugene. Meanwhile, her two hands were busy wrapping the scarf around Mer’s cheeks and ears. “And how could she not be an important guest? I can’t agree with that.
Isn’t she Aroth’s White Tower Master?”

Melkith El-Haya’s letter from Aroth had arrived last night.
She wrote that she would visit the Lionheart’s main house today, since she was now ‘ready.’

“Well, she is…but she is visiting for personal reasons.
So if you could open the warp gate…” Eugene trailed off.

“I can’t do that.
As the second mistress of the Lionheart family, it is my duty to greet the guests.” Ancilla had no intention of backing down regarding this matter.
The relationship with a celebrity like a Tower Master was something that couldn’t be bought.

Of course, there was the Red Tower Master, Lovellian.
She often met him, since he was Gilead’s acquaintance and he had visited the Lionheart house every year after he had participated in the bloodline continuation ceremony.
Now, besides the Red Tower Master, she was also going to meet the White Tower Master.
Even if the meeting was started by her foster son, Eugene, the meeting could turn into the beginning of a relationship with the Lionhearts depending on how she handled this meeting.

‘…The White Tower Master, Melkith El-Hayah…She is the only woman among the five Tower Masters.
Wait, how old is she?’ 

Ancilla got lost in thought for a moment.
If her memory served her correctly, Melkith was already over 60.

‘But I heard that she is still beautiful.’

The Red Tower Master, Lovellian was actually also a grandpa, but he looked like he was in his twenties.

‘I do take care of myself, but it’s nothing compared to magic.
I won’t have a problem for at least a decade, but after that, I may have to use magic…’

“Lady Ancilla?” Mer’s voice brought Ancilla back to reality.
Surprised, she looked down at Mer.
Tightly wrapped in the scarf, Mer’s big eyes were sparkling.

“Hmm.” Ancilla almost hugged her.
Marveling at her own patience, she stood up.

“It looks like you are done with your morning training.
Let’s have breakfast in the main house.”

“My father is still in bed,” Eugene answered. 

“There is no need to forcefully wake him up. Sir Gehard would prefer sleeping till noon to having breakfast at this hour.”

“Well, that’s true.” Eugene nodded. 

Ancilla’s breakfast was always simple—a balanced meal mainly consisting of vegetables and a cup of coffee with no sugar. That would be her breakfast if she was eating alone, but Mer and Eugene were joining her today.
The breakfast became so excessive that it was hard to call it breakfast.

Meat, meat, meat, and meat — meat dishes including pork, beef, and chicken were lined up on the table like a parade.

Eugene had meat for virtually every meal.
It was the same for Mer, too.
Aside from sweet and fluffy desserts, Mer liked everything as long as it was tasty.
Although the smell of these dishes was enough to upset Ancilla’s stomach, and she actually didn’t have any of them, she pleasantly watched Mer eating.

‘I have to recruit more cooks,’ Ancilla thought.

There were already plenty of cooks in the main house, though. Moreover, all of them were experts who could be called the best in the Kiehl Empire.

‘Cooks in the Kiehl won’t be enough.
Hasn’t Mer eaten nothing for hundreds of years? I’m going to feed her so many dishes that will make up for her time.’ 

Ancilla made a promise to herself.

* * *

Melkith arrived a little after noon.

“Hi!” After she walked out from the warp gate, she joyfully waved her hand in a frivolous greeting.
She was wearing a coat that almost covered her ankles, and the coat was so fluffy that it doubled Melkith’s size.
Ancilla had imagined a serious Tower Master, but Melkith was nothing like that.

“Welcome to the Lionheart House.” Ancilla didn’t lose her precious dignity, although she was perplexed.

Lifting her leopard-pattern sunglasses up, Melkith stared at Ancilla. “And who are you?”

“…I am the second wife of the Patriarch, Ancilla Lionheart.”

“Aha! You didn’t have to come out and greet me like this, I heard a lot about you from the Red Tower Master.” Melkith approached Ancilla, grinning. “I am visiting the prestigious Lionheart main house, wouldn’t it be rude to come empty-handed? So I brought a gift that I think would suit you, Lady Ancilla.”

“A gift… You didn’t need to do that…”

“Come on, don’t refuse. I think you will really like it when you find out what my gift is.” Leaning forward a little, Melkith whispered something to Ancilla, whose expression slightly changed in the next moment.

Clearing her throat, Ancilla nodded.

“What gift have you brought?” Eugene asked as he stared at Ancilla who was returning with the knights.

“A bottle of rejuvenating potion,” Melkith answered.

“Pardon?”

“Aside from the spirit summoning magic, the White Tower also deals with alchemy.
I am not really an expert in alchemy, but I have Aroth’s best alchemists as subordinates.” Melkith crossed her arm, bragging. “Actually it’s not really a rejuvenating potion.
It’s more of a skin care thing…still, do you know how expensive that is? We only deliver it to Aroth’s royal family.”

Their interest coincided.
Just as Ancilla wished for a relationship with the White Tower Master, Melkith also wanted a relationship with the Lionheart family.

“I grilled my alchemists to bring you this gift today.”

“What on earth is that?” Eugene asked as he tilted his head, but Melkith didn’t answer.

She just grinned.
“What’s the rush? You will see soon enough.
To be honest, I do want to show you right now.”

She lifted her head and took a look around the Lionheart’s forest.

“First… let me take you to the annex.” Eugene offered.

“The annex? Are you seriously asking a spirit summoner to leave this forest for a boring annex? Ridiculous,” Melkith murmured as she trembled.
The forest was so green that it was hard to believe the weather was cold today.
Mana was so abundant in the forest.
As a grand spirit summoner, Melkith could feel how ridiculous this forest was.

“I have never seen a forest with this many spirits,” Melkith quietly spoke as she lowered herself to the ground.
Not only did she contract the Lightning Spirit King, but also the Earth Spirit King.
Therefore, she could feel how many spirits were living in this land.

“…Can I live here?”

“No, you can’t,” Eugene answered without any hesitation.