Crown Guard Family Daily Life

Karya had gained another student.

Although people said that herding one sheep was herding and herding two sheep was herding too, in reality, Lux and Sona needed to learn entirely different things.

Lux had naturally awakened an affinity for Light Magic. It was a special type of Elemental Magic, and its cultivation followed the principles of Elemental Magic. Light Magic was characterized by overwhelming force and the might of heaven, belonging to the school of firepower superiority.

Sona was Ionian, naturally closer to the Spirit Realm. Moreover, considering her naturally blue hair, Karya had reason to suspect that she might possess a small amount of Vastayan blood. Thus, what Sona needed to learn was music theory, performance, enchanting spells, and control over psionic energy.

In Summoner's Rift, the standard damage items for AP mages were often highly similar. But in Runeterra, even among Spellcasters, the paths each person chose and the knowledge they studied were utterly different.

Therefore, apart from being able to teach them together, Karya needed to prepare two complete lesson plans and teach each of them according to her individual talents.

Of course, this was no challenge for Karya. The knowledge reserves of the Strongest Silver-Tongued Champion were more than enough to teach two students, or even twenty or two hundred!

Besides, students were batteries to Karya. He exchanged knowledge for magic power, and the stronger Lux and Sona became, the more nourished he was. Everyone won!

Karya was not the only one who was happy.

After hearing about Lux's gains, Ogesha, the matriarch of the Crown Guard family, was also delighted.

At dinner that evening, she unusually praised her daughter in straightforward terms.

"That was the Buweier family!" Even though she had already heard the full details from others, Ogesha's tone remained filled with disbelief. "And my darling became friends with her the very first time they met... Lux, your performance has made me so happy."

"Sona is a very gentle person." Having received her mother's praise and approval, Lux was secretly delighted, but on the surface she remained calm and indifferent. "I'm also very happy to have gained such a friendship."

"Lux, Lux, Uncle Xin Zhao told me about it," Garen said. Seeing the focus of dinner shift to his little sister, he could not resist sharing some of what he had seen at Dawn Citadel. "Sona is Ionian. What do Ionians look like?"

"Ionians look normal." Her brother's brainless question nearly made Lux roll her eyes. "Uncle Xin Zhao is from Ionia too. Does he look any different from us?"

"He's incredibly strong!" Garen said as though it were obvious. "You can't imagine how outrageous the equipment he uses for training is. Even Jarvan and I together can't lift it!"

"Then you might be disappointed." Lux shook her head. "Sona isn't that strong. If I had to put it one way, she's better at music."

"But you're not good at that either!" Garen still looked highly interested. "How did you find something to talk about with her? Or did you learn to play an instrument at some point?"

"I only know one piece, the simplest Grand Heroic Hymn in G Major." Lux replied with a smile and a calm tone. "I suppose... I accidentally learned it when I was trying to repair that music box after it was broken apart."

Garen instantly realized which music box Lux meant. He stiffened on the spot, falling completely silent.

For some reason, Garen felt that ever since he had begun training under Xin Zhao, his little sister had become harder and harder to understand.

She had been so easy to fool before, hadn't she?

Ogesha's gaze also shifted toward her troublesome son. Clearly, Lux's words had reminded them of Garen's "destructive power."

Twelve-year-old Garen was at the age when his energy and destructive power were at their peak. A brat in the throes of adolescence could cause all sorts of trouble!

Lux's words reminded Ogesha that she absolutely had to make Garen behave himself. Judging from the current results, even training under Xin Zhao was not enough to completely expend his excessive energy.

"Miss Sona will be visiting our estate tomorrow." With that thought, Ogesha withdrew her gaze and spoke up as though casually. "Garen, mind your manners. I don't expect you to behave as properly as your sister and earn everyone's praise, but I at least hope you won't recklessly cause unnecessary misunderstandings and trouble. Understood?"

Although his mother had continued calmly eating her salad while saying this, Garen felt a chill rise from his spine and shoot straight to the top of his head.

At that moment, even Garen, who was not fond of thinking, realized how important this visit was.

"No problem!" Garen held up both thumbs. "I'll show everyone the responsibility and sense of duty expected of an older brother!"

"You mean the responsibility of blaming your bedwetting on your little sister?" Lux casually stabbed him again. "Or the responsibility of breaking my toys and being unable to put them back together, flipping the chessboard when playing with me, and hiding cards when we play?"

Lux calmly listed Garen's "glorious achievements," making him slide almost completely beneath the table. The worst part was that all of those things had really happened. They were undeniable dark chapters in his past, and even an adolescent Garen could not face such humiliation.

Seeing Garen's face turn completely red, Peter, who had been the head of the household in name, finally cleared his throat.

"Ahem, that's enough. Garen is a boy, after all. There's nothing wrong with being a little lively at his age..."

"What do you mean, that's enough?" Peter's words did not end Ogesha's lecture. Instead, they added fuel to the fire, making her raise her voice. "Do you want to sit by and watch Garen become someone just as unpopular among the nobles as you are?"

"I—" Peter had never expected that his casual attempt at consolation would draw the fire completely onto himself. "How am I unpopular...? The king trusts me, so naturally I must repay that trust with loyalty!"

"And the result is that nothing you propose at the Noble Council gets approved!" Ogesha seemed to have prepared for this as well. "Silvermine City suffered a frost this winter. And what happened? At the Noble Council, Irondale and Freljord, each of which suffered less severe frost than Silvermine City, received tax reductions, while only our Fief still had to pay taxes in full as usual!"

"Paying taxes is a noble's duty..."

"But reducing taxes when disaster strikes is one too!" Ogesha said helplessly. "Darling, politics isn't about fighting and killing. Politics is about human relationships and worldly wisdom. Everyone knows that our Crown Guard family can fight, but aside from when there's a battle, who ever thinks of us?"

"It's not the same." Peter stubbornly shook his head and reached out to take his wife's hand. "Darling, I know maintaining and managing the entire family is difficult, but we are the Crown Guard. We are the Crown Guard who protect the kingdom. The core of nobility isn't seizing benefits for oneself. It's gathering responsibility onto oneself, because—"

"Because that is a noble's duty!" Ogesha looked at her husband, who was nearly forty yet still possessed a startling sharpness like a sword, and finally could not help sighing as she finished the second half of the maxim she had heard countless times. "It's all my fault. I must have been blinded back then. Why did I choose such a foul-tempered, stubborn man?"

"Heh heh heh." Peter rubbed his wife's hand and fell silent, chuckling foolishly. After a long while, he looked toward his son. "Still, Garen, your mother is right. You're far too reckless. You need to be more careful from now on!"

Garen had only just managed to crawl out from beneath the table when he was suddenly called out again. The bewildered adolescent could not understand the love between his parents, an old married couple. He instinctively felt stuffed and sickly sweet, with a little grievance mixed in.

Having no choice, he nodded as he stood up. "I'm going to move around and help digest my food!"

As for Lux—she had already slipped away when Ogesha began talking about politics.

Seeing that neither of her children was eating anymore, Peter cleared his throat. "I'll go check on Garen. He seems to have been training too much lately. It wouldn't be good if he injured himself..."

"Too much? He's at the age when his energy is overflowing. You don't need to fuss over him!" Ogesha snorted, stressing the words about overflowing energy. "Now, go take a bath!"

"I spent the whole day in meetings at Dawn Citadel. I'm a little tired..." Peter sensed where this was going and quickly released his wife. "So today, maybe... I could skip the bath...?"

"The more tired you are, the more you need to wash." Ogesha took the initiative and grabbed her husband. "Come on, you're coming to our room with me!"

Lux obviously knew nothing about the little game between her parents after returning to her room. She changed into her pajamas and lay on the soft bed, looking somewhat melancholy and troubled.

"Karya." Lux unconsciously rubbed the hilt of her sword. Her deep blue eyes looked through the window at the brilliant starry sky outside. "What exactly is politics?"

"Politics? Why did you bring that up?"

"I'm just a little confused." Lux sighed. "Sona and I really are friends. We can hear each other's thoughts. But even Mother thinks this is a political activity. So many people are praising our friendship as a meeting of kindred spirits, but according to Sona, their emotions aren't mainly praise and envy. They're mostly jealousy..."

"That's politics!" Karya organized his thoughts. "Politics is the sum of social activities and relationships. It's a game people begin playing from the moment they're born, and keep playing for the rest of their lives."

"...It sounds complicated." Lux seemed somewhat disappointed. "I used to think that if I understood etiquette, I would understand all of this."

"Etiquette is merely a set of rules, like the basic rules of this game." Karya continued explaining. "But this game has never specified what victory is, nor does it have an eternal victor. Many people spend one lifetime, or several lifetimes, without figuring the thing out."

"Have you figured it out?"

"No."

"That's terrible." Lux shook her head. "Then I suppose I won't be able to figure it out either."

"Best not to figure it out." Karya suddenly laughed, then spoke with a solemn, chantlike cadence. "The thing Lux hates most in life is the infighting among Demacian Nobles, especially among young people in their prime. They could have enjoyed every happiness openly and honestly, yet they always put on stern faces and throw away every beautiful moment."

"...You're saying strange things again." Lux huffed. "How boring."

"All right, then I won't talk about that. Let's talk about your brother. Haven't you always been protective of him?" Karya's tone turned teasing again. "Why did you spare no effort mocking him today?"

"...That's because my stupid brother really doesn't like using his brain."

"I said the same thing about him last time, and you said I was talking nonsense. You said it was courage."

"..."

"But the way you mocked him sounded familiar. It was a lot like the way I criticize you."

"..."

"I'm truly moved, Lux. You've been diligently learning from the teacher you respect, and you've even applied it flexibly to your brother, afraid that he might slack off and be unable to keep up with you."

"..."

"And you understand your brother's personality very well. Rather than advising him directly, you used a sarcastic tone to say all this and motivate your unreliable brother, because you realized that this was how you yourself had been motivated."

"..."

"What a kind and thoughtful little sister. You truly possess a heart as dazzling and golden as your talent!"

Under Karya's completely unrestrained teasing, Lux, both embarrassed and furious, finally could not take it anymore. She raised her sword high and flung it, sheath and all, out the window. Her recent training had worked a little too well, and Karya sailed over the low wall before landing in the garden.

Then, just as Lux realized her mistake and hurriedly changed out of her pajamas to retrieve her sword from the garden, someone knocked on the door.

"Lux, your sword fell into the garden!" When she opened the door, Lux saw Garen's smug face. "Ha ha ha, so you can be careless too—"

"Thanks!" Lux could not help sighing in relief. "Uh, and sorry about what I said at dinner..."

"You promised not to tell anyone about the bedwetting, and I already gave you the candy." Garen had not listened carefully to her words. Instead, he thought he had grasped his sister's weakness. "So if you want your sword back, you have to say, 'Brother Garen is the best to me!'"

Then, just as Garen waited for his sister's praise, Lux's expression darkened.

The next moment, she grabbed and twisted, snatching the sword straight from Garen's hands. Then she slammed the door shut, leaving the baffled Garen staring wide-eyed at the bedroom door.

Was Lux's strength... a little too great?

"I think you're absolutely right." Back on her bed, Lux gripped the hilt again and gritted her teeth. "That Garen is a complete and utter idiot!"

"No." This time, Karya's tone became strange. "He's not an idiot. Trust me, he's just a complete blockhead."

☞ﾟヮﾟ☞ Recommended Tickets

☞ﾟヮﾟ☞ Monthly Tickets

Please, dear readers, take a moment to turn the final page and complete your follow-through reading. Those numbers are very important!

Thank you all!