The next morning dawned soft and bright, with the garden still fragrant on the wind. But today, a different kind of excitement buzzed through the household:
Aren Vale, the living legend himself, was going to school.
Specifically, he was accompanying Elara and Mira to visit their classrooms, something he had promised — and something that had somehow managed to make the entire estate whisper in awe and nervous laughter.
Selene smoothed the girls' hair lovingly, making sure their uniforms were perfectly neat.
Elara looked more serious than usual, checking her satchel three times. Mira practically vibrated in place, already scheming how to show off her grandpa to her friends.
Aren stood by, golden eyes soft, dressed not in the heavy mantle of the Grand Duke, but a simple black coat that still somehow made him look like a figure from a myth. His raven hair caught the morning sun, and the subtle aura of power that clung to him like a second skin couldn't be hidden, even when he tried.
When they arrived at the prestigious school on the estate grounds — a place built under the protection of the Vale family for the education of noble children — the reaction was immediate.
Teachers straightened so quickly they almost snapped in half. Students froze mid-play.
Parents, guardians, and staff alike seemed to shrink away, bowing low and whispering like pilgrims before a sacred relic.
"It's... Grand Duke Vale..." someone gasped under their breath.
Aren's golden gaze swept the courtyard, and though he offered a faint, polite smile, the effect was the same as a royal decree — a dozen children burst into tears simply from the pressure of his gaze, while others dropped their books and scrambled to pick them up.
Mira, giggling, grabbed his hand and tugged.
"Don't scare them, Grandpa!" she whispered loudly.
"I'm not doing anything," Aren said helplessly, letting her drag him forward. Mud from her shoes splattered on his coat, and when Mira tried to wipe it off with her sleeve, she accidentally smudged more dirt on his cheek.
A collective gasp swept through the courtyard.
The Grand Duke — the man who fought Demon Lords and Dragon Emperors — allowed a tiny girl to wipe mud all over his face and smiled like she had given him a priceless treasure.
Teachers whispered furiously behind trembling hands. Some looked ready to faint.
Elara, trying very hard to look proper and composed, tugged Mira away by the ear and gave a formal bow to her grandfather. "Sorry, Grandpa," she said stiffly.
Aren just laughed, a rare warm sound that echoed over the silent courtyard, and placed a large, affectionate hand on Elara's head. "You're too stiff, little knight."
Elara's cheeks turned pink.
They first visited the administration office.
The director — an aging man with a trembling mustache — bowed so deeply he nearly toppled over.
"It is... it is our greatest honor, Your Grace! We are — we are truly unworthy—"
"I'm not here as the Grand Duke," Aren interrupted gently, though even his gentleness seemed to make the walls tremble. "I'm here as a grandfather."
He signed a few papers necessary for visitors, though the secretary's hands shook so badly that Selene had to intervene with a few soothing words.
They toured the grounds next. Everywhere Aren went, the crowd parted like the sea before him.
Students stared.
Teachers whispered prayers.
And yet, between his towering presence, Mira bounced and tugged him along, narrating everything:
"This is the library! It's super boring!"
"This is the canteen — it smells weird today!"
"This is where Elara fell off the swing but didn't cry!"
Aren followed, a faint smile always on his lips, nodding as if she were describing matters of state.
Eventually, they split up to visit each classroom.
Aren sat through Mira's art class first, watching her proudly present a crayon drawing of him with comically huge muscles and an actual crown on his head.
The teacher stammered and stuttered through her lesson, visibly sweating every time Aren turned his gaze toward her.
Later, he joined Elara in her literature class.
Elara sat ramrod straight, her eyes bright and proud when Aren entered.
The other children barely dared to breathe.
Aren sat quietly at the back, watching Elara's serious expression as she answered the teacher's questions perfectly. When their eyes met, she smiled — a tiny, shy smile she hadn't let anyone else see.
At lunchtime, they ate together under a tree outside.
Aren had packed small treats for them with Selene's help — simple things like fresh fruit and little cakes. Mira sat on his lap, babbling nonstop about her day, while Elara leaned against his side with a small but steady weight that told him without words she felt safe there.
"This is the best day," Mira sighed dramatically, clutching a cake in one hand and his coat in the other.
Aren kissed the top of her head.
"For me too, little one," he said, voice low and full.
Across the courtyard, teachers and students watched them — the feared Grand Duke, the living legend — covered in cake crumbs and flower petals, holding two little girls like they were his entire world.
Somewhere deep inside, the myth of Aren Vale shifted that day.
Maybe not for the whole world, not yet — but here, in this small corner of peace, he was just a grandfather who loved with every breath he had.
And nothing could have made him prouder.