Chapter 249: What’s going on between you two?
While the family was having their reunion, the waiter arrived at the scene with hesitant steps.
"Excuse me, Sir," the waiter said, trying to keep his tone respectful. "We are receiving complaints from other customers."
"Oh, I apologise for that," Vlad replied. He took out a few silver taels to pay for the food. "We are leaving."
---
After leaving the restaurant, the family took a seat on a bench in a public garden. Plants shaped like various animals adorned the garden, with several pieces of playground equipment placed around it for children.
Edren, Elaria, and Chloe settled on the bench while Vlad sat on the ground in front of them.
As expected, the parents initiated the conversation, asking if life at the academy was treating them well.
Only after learning that their children weren’t being bullied at the academy did they ask about the sudden growth of the two.
Just one and a half months ago, the two had been sixteen-year-old teenagers, but now they had grown into such a striking young pair.
Chloe was still recognisable at first sight thanks to her unique hair colour, not to mention that she still had a hint of teenage innocence on her face. She was only nineteen, after all.
The change in Vlad was more dramatic. His facial features had become strikingly mature, with no hint of the boy he once was. He already looked like a man in his early twenties. Even his hairstyle had changed.
"My children have grown up so fast," Elaria murmured, placing one hand on Chloe’s face and the other on Vlad’s.
She looked around, making sure no one was watching them.
"Come closer," she whispered, a hint of secrecy in her eyes.
The duo moved closer, curious about her sudden seriousness.
"Edren, cover us," Elaria told him, her tone serious.
Edren leaned forward on the bench, making sure his broad body shielded Elaria from view.
Elaria opened the bag that Edren had been carrying on his back. From the deepest part of it, she pulled out two small pouches and placed them in Chloe’s and Vlad’s hands.
"Mom, this is..." Vlad asked, raising a brow.
"Open them only after returning to the academy," Elaria whispered. "It isn’t much, but it can help you for a few months."
With his sharp senses, Vlad could already sense what these simple cloth pouches contained. Each one held a gold tael and a few silver taels.
Elaria’s voice turned proud as she continued, "I don’t want my babies to be looked down upon by noble children."
"Just focus on your studies. Don’t worry about the money," Edren stated, his back facing the trio, his arms crossed. "Your parents have your back."
Both Vlad and Chloe’s hands trembled, the weight of these pouches feeling heavier than any sword they had ever held. They weren’t foolish. They knew Edren and Elaria had already given their life savings, the two gold taels, when they sent them to the academy.
Now, only one and a half months later, they had come with such an amount of money again. There was only one possibility.
"Mom, did you sell your necklace?" Vlad demanded, his eyes narrowing.
Elaria’s brows twitched, her eyes turning sideways. "D-don’t be ridiculous. Why would I sell my precious necklace? I just had this money saved for your marriage..."
Her words stopped mid-sentence as she looked at Vlad.
He shielded his eyes behind his hand, but the tears betrayed him, slipping through his fingers and tracing warm paths down his cheeks.
"Dad gifted you that necklace on your wedding," Vlad’s voice came out low and broken. "Y-you said it was more precious than your life."
Elaria gently patted his head and replied with a warm smile, "Nothing is more precious to me than my children."
"Mama, we can’t take this—"
"Thank you, Mom," Vlad said, cutting Chloe off mid-sentence. He wiped his eyes and formed a reassuring smile on his face. "We will use it well."
Chloe’s eyes lowered. She realised she had been about to disrespect her Mama’s efforts by rejecting the money if Vlad hadn’t stopped her just now.
"We will use it well, Mama," she murmured, tightening her grip on the pouch.
"Our kids have really grown up," Edren chuckled, placing one hand on Vlad’s shoulder and the other on Chloe’s head.
After a few minutes, Edren grabbed his massive bag from the bench, rose to his feet, and told Elaria, "Dear, we should leave now."
"You’re leaving already?" Vlad asked, rising to his feet as well.
"It has already been a week since we left home," Edren explained with a sigh. "Another week to return. I can’t leave the farm unattended for so long."
Elaria clearly seemed reluctant to leave just yet. It hadn’t even been an hour since she had met her children. But if they stayed any longer, it would be dark before they reached the nearby town.
"Mom, Dad, the families of academy students are allowed to use the Teleportation Array for free," Vlad lied with a straight face. "Stay with us for the night. You can directly teleport to Barton tomorrow."
Elaria and Edren exchanged surprised glances. Those expensive Teleportation Arrays that cost a fortune for a single use were actually free for academy students and their families?
"But staying a night in Velarum will be more expensive than our entire journey," Elaria shook her head, still reluctant.
"Don’t worry about that either," Vlad said, holding Elaria’s hands. "Renting a room at the inn for a day or two is free for academy students here."
Another lie with a straight face.
Chloe also stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around Edren’s waist and looked up at him, her chin resting against his chest.
"Stay with us, Dad, please."
Edren released a low gasp. "Dear, we must stay the night now!" he declared.
Elaria gave it a brief thought. Since their stay wouldn’t cost their children anything, there was no reason to refuse.
"Okay," she agreed.
"Yay!"
Edren, Chloe, and Vlad celebrated simultaneously.
---
After leaving the garden, Vlad first decided to book a room at an inn where they could spend some proper family time together.
While they were walking along the busy street, Elaria and Edren couldn’t help but notice that Vlad and Chloe were being suspiciously awkward with each other. They would steal glances at each other, only to blush faintly and quickly turn their gazes away.
Elaria slightly elbowed Edren and pointed at the duo with her eyes. Edren merely blinked with a playful smile, knowing what was going on.
As they entered a towering building of tinted glass, Vlad told his parents to wait on the sofa in the wide, open hall while he booked the room at reception.
Chloe was about to follow him, but Elaria told her to stay with her.
She made Chloe sit beside her on the sofa while Edren gave them the needed privacy for a girls’ talk, taking the seat on a sofa placed opposite from them.
"What were you two about to do in the restaurant?" Elaria asked, leaning closer to Chloe.
A faint blush spread across Chloe’s cheeks, her fingers tightly tugging at her skirt.
"What’s going on between you two?" She probed further which only deepened Chloe’s blush.