Maria Von Teren (II)

Maria looked at Alton with a worried look on her face “Sorry for not telling you before.” Alton smiled and replied, “No problem we will talk later about this for now let’s finish the ceremony first.” Maria smiled and then they both looked towards Aldwin and he nodded looking at them with a smile. Aldwin once again turn towards the crowd and asked in a loud voice “Is there anyone who wants to object now is Maria still not good enough for the Teren family name?”

Hearing this all of them stayed silent because they didn’t want to make an enemy of the Count, Countess, and also Maria because without the support of the Teren family she was able to reach the 3rd Star Elementary Mage in her late twenties so with the support of the family she will become even more powerful.

Aldwin nodded and then looked at Alfred and said “Let's start the ceremony.”

Maria hearing this started walking towards Alfred but this time alone because Alton, Aldwin, and Aria had taken their seats and were now watching the ceremony.

Maria reached in front of Alfred and got on her one knee and, Alfred extended his hand towards her head closing his eyes and then started chanting some words. This was Maria's baptism which every noble must have before the age of twelve which was compulsory for all the nobles, after a couple of minutes Alfred opened his eyes and turned towards Aldwin and said: “Count the baptism is finished.”

Aldwin nodded while getting up from his chair and then walked towards Maria and then said “The Ceremony will start now.” Hearing this two servant one holding the box which had all the crests which Maria will be getting on her official dress and the other had a metal card with Teren Family logo on one side and Alzonian Empire logo on other side with a parchment walked towards Aldwin.

The Servant carrying the card and parchment said in a loud voice “Miss Maria from now on with the order of the current house lord of the Teren family Aldwin Von Teren you will be adopted into this family and become his daughter and will be given the surname Teren. Do you agree with this?”

Maria stood straight and said with confidence “Yes I agree.”

Seeing this Alton was so happy that his eyes were getting watery but he controlled them and kept looking at Maria. When she agreed Aldwin nodded and then the servant moved closer and presented the parchment to Maria she took it and signed the parchment and then dropped a drop of blood on card which binded it with her.

As the paper was signed and the card was binded Aria got up from her chair and moved towards Maria and then one by one started the Royal family, Teren Family, and Rank Crest which was a star made out of iron with three of its edges having a bead while the rest were empty which signified 3rd Star Elementary mage on her formal wear. When Aria finished she hugged Maria and then went back to her seat and then Aldwin pointed to Maria to stand next to him and then said “From now onwards Maria will be my daughter and part of the Teren family so I want you all to respect her in the same way as you guys do the rest of the family.”­­

Aldwin's close retainers nodded and said “Yes Master” but the others were silent so seeing this Aldwin asked once again “Am I clear?”

They were brought back from their thoughts and said “Understood Count.”

Aldwin smiled and then turned towards Maria “Maria from now on this is your family and your people.”

Maria's eyes started getting watery and then her tears started flowing and her cheeks started getting wet but these were tears of happiness. Maria nodded and said, “Yes Count I will not let you down.”

Aldwin looked at her with an angry expression “Count??” Maria understood what was the reason behind Aldwin's expression so she quickly corrected herself “Sorry Father.”

All the people were astonished to see this because the Count they knew never showed these expressions for anyone else other than his family so if he was showing this means that the count cared for Maria so they can never treat her as a maid anymore.

Then Aldwin turned towards the crowd and said “Maria will also be leaving with Aldwin today so you will not be seeing them for some time.”

All the people had gotten their hearts ready that Aldwin was going to say something shocking again so this time they were not really caught off guard but still they also wondered why was the Count sending his only son and now the adopted daughter to the North but they stayed silent.

Aldwin smiled and then continued “That’s it for now please enjoy the food that has been prepared for you all.”

All the people were divided into groups and then started talking about different things so Aldwin once again turned towards Maria “Let me introduce you to all the important people who I and Aria trust and if you need help in the future you can always ask them for it.”

Maria nodded with a smile and then followed Aldwin. Aldwin and Maria started walking toward where Aria, Alton, where they were talking with other people. As they all saw Aldwin they said “Good Morning Count.”

Aldwin nodded and then said, “Maria these are my most important Allies and their family member.”

Mark stepped forward first, “Good Morning Young Miss my name is Viscount Mark Von Jamil and I am the head of Jamil house and am the same age as Count so you can call me Uncle Mark if you want and this here is my wife Elena Von Jamil and daughter Lisa Von Jamil.” Maria bowed like she always did when she was a maid and said, “Nice to meet you.”

The smile on all of them disappeared but after a second it reappeared and then Aria walked towards Maria and took her hand in hand “Maria now you are the daughter of a Count and not only that you are also the daughter of their master so you don’t need to bow to them that much just a slight as a respect for elder will work.”

Maria understood the mistake and was ashamed and answered “I understand.” The smile appeared again and then James said: “Young Miss my name is Viscount James Von Tigger and I am the head of Tigger house I am older than Count and Young Master and others call me Grandpa James so if you like you can call me that my wife has passed away but my son here is called Noah Von Tigger.” Alton saw Noah for the first time today in this life he was different from his father he had a good height and stature with blond hair and brown eyes which he got from his mother he was the same age as Maria, his aura was of a fighter scared a lot of people but still he was a good man.

Alton still remembered that Noah died because of one of schemes his Uncle and he was a hard working young man.

Maria nodded and said, “Nice to meet you, Grandpa James.” Then Liam stepped forward and said, “Young Miss my name is Viscount Liam Von Tensyi and I am the current head of the Tensyi family you can call me Uncle Liam as I am younger than Count I am sorry my wife Emma Von Tensyi was not able to come today because she is expecting so I will let her meet you some other day.” All the people were looking at Liam because no one knew about this so Liam said “I also got to know yesterday.” Hearing this all of them started congratulating him and then Maria nodded and said: “No problem Uncle Liam please take care of your wife.”

Wendy stepped forward and then said “Young miss hello my name is Viscount Wendy Von Starlette and I am the head of the Starlette family you can call me Wendy” Wendy turned towards Aria and said, “Sister I thought you were my sister but now you took a good mage in your family if you had told me I would have taken her as my successor.” All of the people were laughing because Wendy didn’t get married and so she didn’t have an heir and was looking for one but now she missed one person who had the potential to be her heir. Wendy turned towards Maria and said, “I will make you my heir and all the resources will be yours what do you become my daughter rather than Sister Aria’s.”

Maria was shocked hearing this and hurriedly declined to see Maria all worked up all of them laughed and Aria said: “Maria no need to be so worked up Wendy is always like that she is teasing you.” At this Maria was ashamed and then they all started talking about different things but at the party somewhere else a person's eyes were deeply etched on Aldwin and the people around him and this person was none other than Edwin as he said: “He forgot about his nephew but took a maid in the family.”