“Oh my God.” Maxineirah could not help but to blurt out when she read the first entire letter from her Brother Maximillian because she could feel him bragging and boasting through his letters.
She sent her Brother Maximillian jars of tea leaves and in bulk at that. It was impossible for him to finish it all by himself even if he drinks it every day in a month when she just sent it last two weeks ago. It would at least take him two months to finish it all if he drinks it twenty-four hours a day.
Of course, her brother would say that he forgot to share it with his friends because he really does not have any close friends right now in reality. Or maybe, he just does not want to share since it was from her?
And she was not convinced that he just stumbled upon such rare purple pearls. Her brother might have demanded someone to go fetch rare pearls in the deepest part of the sea without regards to the diver/s’ life/lives. He might have even threatened them in the process.
Maximillian sure knows how to brag about his achievements. It was no wonder that her brother got on the top since he already read almost all of the books. If it is just intelligence, no one could ever surpass her brother Maximillian
Maxineirah paled after reading the letter’s third paragraph, containing her oldest brother’s money. Maximillian was willing to empty his account for her. She was frightened a bit and her nape’s hair stood up as if a cold and bad air passed. Better not to joke nor speak about it to him for all of her brothers have twisted minds. He might really turn it into reality.
Kathelina was in front of her, embroidering a handkerchief for her to use. She could see what sort of expressions her Young Mistress was making and it was quite entertaining. She could tell right away what were the (absurd) contents of the letters just by looking at her face.
Maxineirah read one of Maximo’s letters next.
‘Hello My Adorable Little Sister,
I am just fairing well here. My grades may not be the best but it is better than Maxlein’s. I do not want to graduate so early because I want to be with you in the academy so I am taking things in a normal way. You will also be here next two years, right?
Last week, I went outside the Academy to buy something and on the way back, I saw an Elf in the alleyway being hunted by outsiders. I did not plan to interfere but he pleaded with me to. He was quite weak so I helped him out and reported the illegal hunters to the Bureau. After that, he bothered me for six days straight, begging me to become my loyal subordinate and so, he took an oath in my permission in the end.
I hope I did not bore you with my story. I sent you a gift given by the Elf from their territory along with the letter. I am sure you will like it a lot. You can check it out later.
-Maximo Freiston Deene Levyne Zachrono-‘
As expected, her Brother Maximo’s letters were shorter than the rest of her brothers.
Maxineirah was glad to read Maximo’s letters. It was the shortest out of all the letters she always received.
Maxineirah turned her head in the corner of the room where new few gifts from her brothers, sent together with the letters, were stored neatly. She saw the longest gift she had.
She immediately knew that it was from the Elf territory because it was wrapped in a leaf that never dies even if it was cut from the main branch and it was emanating a faint magic of an Elf. The leaf was big enough to cover the entire stuff.
“Kath, can you fetch the longest gift for me?” Maxineirah asked and Kathelina willingly obeyed and gave her what she was looking for.
Maxineirah unwrapped it carefully and saw that it was a precious, expensive, and rare staff that was made from old branches of elfwood, nurtured for hundreds of years.
Elfwood is the strongest wood there is because it is sturdier than any normal steel and mithril but it can solely be found at Elf’s territory.
Truly rare that it was even coveted by many people.
Their mouths gaped after seeing such beautiful staff.
There was a vine snaking in the body of the staff, its head has five small branches, curved elegantly to protect the floating small orb inside it.
Even Kathelina recognized the special kind of wood because that was how famous the elfwood was that both commoners and wealthy people know about it.
Although there were different tribes of Elf all over the world, wherever they lived, there would always be elfwood trees.
Staffs made from elfwood woods were so sturdy that they could manage to contain or store mana orbs with high density of mana.
But why would her brother send her something like insignificant staff to her? Perhaps, Maximo felt some bits of mana from her? Or was he simply telling her to learn magic instead?
Kathelina took the staff away with care as Maxineirah picked up the next letter that came from Maxlein, it was a little crumpled but everything was fine.
‘To My One and Only Baby Girl,
I came downtown again, the place I have been visiting recently. The one I mentioned in my previous letters? My teachers bored me so I skipped some of my classes again but you need not worry because I will catch the grades I missed in the examinations and outdoor activities. Anyways, there was so much to see in Parache’s downtown, they did not bore me at all. Once on Wednesday, there was a group of thugs who wanted to make me look like a loser so I had to beat them up all by myself, barehanded. Of course, I won, but I think that was not the end of it. I did not think that they came from such a large group and they were quite cumbersome to deal with so I went straight to their leader and defeated him instead to cut the trouble.
Am I not, your brother, so cool?
I heard you were brandishing your sword quite exceptionally so I was thinking of getting a good quality sword for you. I am still in the process of searching for a sword suited for you but I think it will take me a little too long so I sent you a dagger first to make up for it.
It was a dagger I got from the black market here -it was run legally so no need to fuss over it- I recognized that it was the handwork of a blacksmith dwarf at first glance so I immediately purchased it. The handle’s carving was pretty eye-catching and the materials used for the blade was truly of a high standard one.
You can stab anyone who tries to piss you, let me handle the aftermath.
Although I was a little against you, in learning the sword, know that I still wish for your success. Practice harder but take care of yourself, alright? I hope to spar with you soon once I get back.
P. S. If your guests act rude, do not hesitate to stab them with the dagger. Let Father handle the after-effects.
P. P. S. Do not tell Dad I was and am skipping my lessons.
-Maxlein Sydenham Chester Levyne Zachrono-‘
As the time went by, Maxineirah’s brothers started to call her different names. It was getting weirder and cringy in her ears.
Her Brother Lein seems to be bragging about his cutting classes, should he not be embarrassed about it instead? And even if she does not tell their father about it, she was sure that Maximus already knew the moment Maxlein left the Academy grounds to play outside since the Duke was monitoring his sons in a very peculiar way.
Also, Maxineirah could not just stab anyone if she got pissed because that was too harsh, how could a small child like her think of stabbing someone just because she got pissed by them? And it was not possible for her brother to handle things if she were to really stab someone out of nowhere (though she does not have any plans of stabbing anyone with the dagger no matter whatever happens), he might be talking about their father handling the matter himself in a sense.
“Oh my, it is time for your bedtime, Miss.” Kathelina said as she stood from embroidering and put it in its proper place.
Maxineirah looked outside the window and saw that the moon was almost at its peak. She did not notice the time because she was too absorbed in reading her brothers’ letters since their stories were entertaining.
Reading their letters was making her excited since she had not received any personal letters in the past except from Grenchant, her only friend or if she received anything other than that, it was always either about business or politics.
“Is it already? I will finish Maxillary’s letter first before going to bed, then.” Maxineirah replied while Kathelina was slightly opening the door of the balcony to make the high temperature of the -room because of burning woods, lukewarm.
“…Or you can continue it while sitting on the bed.” Kathelina suggested as she prepared her Young Lady’s bed.
“Good idea.” Maxineirah said as she stood up from the chair and moved to her bed.
Kathelina raised the blankets for her and fixed the pillows behind her to make her comfortable.
“Thank you.” Maxineirah said with a heart-warming smile that melted Kathelina’s heart.
“It has always been a pleasure for me to serve you, Milady.”
“I will prepare your hot milk. I will be right back, Milady.” Kathelina bid.
Maxineirah read the last letter that came from Maxillary.
‘Greetings, My Princess,
You know that it is my second year now, right?
We have this lesson for a week about . It is a lesson that teaches you whether a person is capable of learning and gathering mana and/or has a chance to even become a low-tier Magician.
Based on what I learned, I think you have the chance of having mana. How about learning about magic instead of swords? It will be safer for you, I am worried that you might get hurt and leave a scar on your precious body if you were to move wrongly. Please do not think that I do not trust your talent, it is just that I do not trust Maxwell and your visitors’ talent. I am not saying that they are talentless, they just do not live up to your level.
Anyway, my Prefects have been calling me to their offices because of the wit I am showing and some envy boys here are showing their insecurities. Not that I care though.
We had a demo field in the East, where the wide and wild forest resides. There are safe zones so it was safe for us to do activities, though one monster suddenly showed up when our class was about to end. Guess who defeated it while everyone was screaming? Of course, he is your amazing brother!
My performance was astounding that our Prefects kept on praising me and my fellow classmates were afraid of me for defeating it bare handedly.
Oh, have I already told you that I have mystical classmates? They are beautiful but you are still way more beautiful in my eyes that they can not be compared to you. They just have the looks but most of them are too weak compared to me.
I hope reading my letters does not bother you. I do not know what time you read my letters but do not starve yourself, get plenty of rest and do not go to bed late, ‘ayt?
P. S. I sent over the monster’s core to you. You can give it to the artisans to make some jewelry for you.
-Maxillary Deanshanger Gresford Levyne Zachrono-‘