Both Sasha and Charles nearly choked, while Lucas' brow unconsciously twitched. As for the subject in question, an approving smile appeared on Celestina's face as she nodded, as if to say this young girl had some good sense.
"Eris, don't be rude to your great grandmother!" Sasha hurriedly scolded, unsure what this powerful Matriarch of her family would say if she somehow took offence.
"Great grandmother?" Eris tilted her head slightly, seemingly confused as she asked, "Great-grandmothers are older than grandmothers, right? But aren't grandmothers supposed to be old? This lady looks younger than you do, Mom."
Had it been any other situation, Sasha would have immediately whacked her disrespectful daughter's head for daring to call her old, but given the strange circumstances, she simply let it slide this time.
In the end, it was Charles who explained, "Eris, do you remember how we told you that powerful Cultivators live longer lives than we do? Your great grandmother is very, very strong, so she naturally looks younger than she is."
"Exactly, my little descendant," Celestina finally decided to join the conversation, "Although your mother and I may look similar in age, I am almost 10 times older than she is."
Lucas raised his brow as he observed this rather interesting conversation. At first, he believed that his Master would be sensitive about her age, but now it appeared that while she liked being directly or indirectly called young, she wasn't bothered about being called old either.
It was a whole new paradigm for the young boy, who had, up until now, thought all women hated being called old except for the true grannies he had met. Thinking about it now, though, Celestina was probably 4 times as old as even the oldest grannies in town, so Lucas quietly tried to adapt.
As Lucas was mulling over such inane thoughts in his head, something happened that caught everyone in the temporary infirmary by surprise.
Celestina knelt down in front of Eris, staring her straight in the eyes for a moment, before she actually lowered her head and said, "Forgive me for calling you a coward before, Eris."
There was currently no one in the Town Lord's Manor who didn't know who this fiery red-haired, silver-armoured woman was, so seeing her lower her head to a mere child, her own great granddaughter at that, and offer an apology, was shocking to say the least.
The only one who seemed to be unaffected was Eris herself, who just nodded and said, "It's okay, Great Grandma. I forgive you."
Charles was sweating buckets now, while Sasha once again felt the urge to smack her daughter's head, but out of consideration for Eris' condition, she tamped down this impulse once more.
After lifting her head, Celestina met eyes with Eris again and saw nothing but pure innocence in the young girl's gaze, as if it was perfectly normal for her to apologize after doing something bad.
The nonchalance with which Eris acted soon drew a peal of laughter from Celestina, who felt that despite her presence here being the result of an unmitigated disaster to the kingdom, it had been well worth the time and expense of rushing over.
She had come across not just one, but two extremely good seedlings, children worth nurturing for the future.
Smiling widely, Celestina asked, "Would you like to become my Disciple, Eris?"
While Eris and Lucas didn't react much to this sudden ask, several of the adults in the room nearly lost their balance and fell to the floor.
Sasha was shocked that her daughter had so caught the eye of her grandmother, while the two Sea Establishment Realm Spirit Doctor Apprentices who had accompanied the General here were caught wondering, Disciple? Is the Matriarch finally going to take an official Disciple?!
If the two Grade 0 Spirit Doctors knew that Celestina had already taken a Disciple, and this was her second recruitment effort today, they might just have passed out from shock.
As for Eris, she actually scrunched up her brow at this question and remained silent for a time before shaking her head, "I don't want to."
"Eris!" Sasha finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted, intending to scold her daughter for her ignorance and make her take her refusal back, "What are you thinking!? Accepting the Matriarch's offer will allow you to reach far greater heights than you ever could staying here in Redwood Town! In time, you might even be able to restore your arm if you follow your great grandmother!"
"But…" Eris seemed hesitant as she lowered her head and muttered, "If I follow Great Grandma, I'll have to leave Mom, and Dad, and Luc… and all my friends behind, right?"
Having almost let slip her true feelings, Eris was now blushing slightly as her eyes unconsciously darted over towards Lucas.
The adults didn't miss this, of course, and they all had to work hard to not grin meaningfully.
Sasha and Charles also felt warm in their hearts hearing their daughter wanting to remain with them, but they also knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Eris to change her destiny.
If Eris remained with then, while there would surely be less danger and adversity, her future prospects would be extremely limited, especially considering her new condition.
On the other hand, if she went with Celestina, there was no telling just how high Eris could climb even if she never managed to restore her right arm.
Meanwhile, Celestina glanced over at her First Disciple and observed him blushing a bit as well, averting his gaze to the side. Seeing this, the experienced lady thought to herself, Forget a few years, it seems this brat is already breaking little girls' hearts.
Shaking her head, Celestina smiled and explained, "If that is your only concern, then there's no need to worry. Your parents will be coming along with us, and your little brother here has already become my First Disciple, so naturally you won't be separating from him either."
Hearing this, Sasha and Charles were quite confused, with the former hesitantly asking, "M-Matriarch, what do you mean by that?"
"Just as I said, when I leave here eventually, you'll be coming with me," Celestina turned her eyes towards her granddaughter and said cryptically, "After all, everyone here is already family, no? There's no other explanation for having shared… certain secrets with them, is there?"
Sasha instantly felt a shiver shoot up her spine as she realized that her grandmother had already realized she had taught both Eris and Lucas the Flowing Flame Art.
Only Direct Descendants of the Balfour Family could learn the Flowing Flame Art, that was one of the key articles of the Family Law, and the punishment for breaking this rule was almost always execution.
A family's core Cultivation Technique was one of, if not the most precious treasure a noble house possessed, so sharing it with outsiders was absolutely forbidden. The only way to be certain any leaks were contained was to kill all outsiders who had learned the Art, and all those who had dared to leak it to them.
Charles also quickly understood the implications of the Marquess' words, so he didn't dare to raise any objections. Even in his own Newton Family, the punishment for leaking their Cultivation Technique was being crippled, making it impossible to cultivate again.
As for how to explain all this to the Drax Family, which the Newtons technically served, Charles wasn't too concerned seeing how he was just a countryside Baron whose territory had been ravaged by disaster.
Not to mention, the one who would be intervening was the Matriarch of the Balfour Family.
The Drax Family was an Earl-rank household, so they were by no means poor or weak, but there was still no comparison to the Balfours.
While multiple complex thoughts swirled around the heads of the adults, Eris was simply delighted and nodded, "In that case, I'll become Great Grandma's Disciple!"
Coming back to her senses, Sasha quickly knocked her daughter's head and chided, "Come now, Eris, be polite! Greet your Master properly!"
"There's no need for that," Celestina cut in, "We can take care of all the formalities later. For now, we have other issues to address."
Turning back to Eris, Celestina continued, "Slowly circulate your Cultivation Technique and stabilize your breakthrough, but don't use that… special method."
Eris immediately gasped, "How did you… I mean, I don't have any…"
Before she could go any further, Eris covered her own mouth with her hands. She had been told repeatedly to never expose the new cultivation method to anyone, yet her great grandmother, and now Master, had somehow discovered this secret!
Sasha, Charles, and Lucas all felt like face-palming while Celestina just smiled.
Poking her Second Disciple's forehead gently, she scolded, "Here is your first lesson. Don't lie to your Master, and don't underestimate her."
Knowing she was busted, Eris meekly nodded before closing her eyes and beginning to circulate the Flowing Flame Art in the traditional manner.
"Gah!" Eris suddenly screamed and collapsed as a shooting pain filled her body.
""Eris!"" Charles and Sasha shouted, frightened out of their wits that something might be wrong.
Celestina also frowned and quickly reached out, placing her hand on her new Disciple's wrist and scanning her carefully with her Soul Sense.
A moment later, after Eris stopped sweating profusely and was able to sit up, Celestina muttered quietly, "I should have known it wouldn't be that simple."
Standing up, Celestina ordered strictly, "Eris, until I tell you otherwise, you are not to cultivate at all, understood?"
"En" Eris nodded weakly, not raising any objections as she could still feel her entire body stinging all over.
Celestina nodded then turned to the others and declared, "Newton boy, you stay here and watch over your daughter. As for you two, come with me. It seems there are a few more things we need to discuss immediately."
Having said what she needed to, Celestina didn't wait for a reply and walked out of the infirmary.
Charles was too worried about Eris to care about being called a boy, not that it would have mattered anyways.
As for Sasha and Lucas, they exchanged a glance, the two of them feeling anxious about Eris as well, but still quickly moving to follow Celestina.