Chapter 195: Meeting The Abates (1/2)
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Quinn sat in an elaborately decorated lounge inside Palazzo Abate, sipping on a delightful strawberry cream soda. He was sitting across Dolion Abate, who had a slight smile on his face the entire time.
”So, Dolion,” started Quinn, ”I don't know much about the Abates other than that my mother was from the family. I was quite impressed by the door system through which I arrived at the estate Dolion Abate — Mr. Thorn tells me that Abates have it spread throughout the country.”
”It's one of our family's greatest accomplishments,” said Dolion, ”it took time, decades to slowly and carefully build the gates into the very essence of Italy — till this date, our family makes sure that the Abate gateway is properly maintained and when needed, new doors are added.”
Dolion paused for a second before continuing, ”You know that Aria was my sister, right.”
Quinn nodded. ”When I heard that you were the patriarch's son, I clued things together. My mother was the oldest daughter; as such, your older sister.. .. that makes you my uncle.”
”That's right, but you don't have to call me that,” said Dolion; a faraway look appeared in his eye, ”she was my favorite sibling, you know. Aria was the only one who played with me when I was little and was the only sibling to write to me when I was at Salem.”
”She sounds like a sweetheart.”
”She was an angel, the best of our family,” said Dolion, nodding, ”you never knew her, did you? If I'm correct, you were.. .”
”I was barely one.”
”I'm sorry to bring that up. It must be painful for you.. . .”
Quinn lightly shook his head, ”It's alright. I don't remember my parents.” He then again sipped on his beverage and began looking at the symmetry in the interior.
Dolion gazed at Quinn. He didn't like his dear late sister's son that much — not since he had found that he could use Legilimency.
Legilimens — they were scarce even in the world of mind magic practitioners. For every hundred Occlumens, there was one Legilimens. Even among those who were able to enter the world of Legilimency, only a very few were able to get past browsing an unprotected non-magical mind.
Dolion knew that Quinn West would undoubtedly be trained in Occlumency as his sister, Lia was, and as was every child of old families. But never would he have thought that Quinn would be a Legilimens and.. . .
'He has trained in it,' he thought. The sense he had got was strong — it was too strong for it to belong to an untrained Legilimens. 'This could be a problem,' he thought.
”How's your family doing?” asked Dolion.
”They're quite alright, all of them. Though I would say they work a bit too much — they need to find a good work-life balance.”
”The Wests have been thriving, which means that their hard work is paying off.”
”What can I say; the business is in good hands.” Quinn set down the empty glass down and gazed at Aksel sitting in the far corner of the lounge before speaking to Dolion, ”Are we waiting for someone? If not, I would like to move on with the day — Rome is a beautiful city, and I would like to see what it has to offer.”
Dolion felt pride about Quinn being so excited about seeing his hometown but didn't know how to think about Quinn wanting to leave Palazzo Abate so soon after his arrival. But before he could say something, the door to the lounge opened, and an old man dressed in traditional robes entered. He had a cane in his hand, but other than that, he looked healthy for an old man.
”Buon Giorno(Good morning),” said the old man to particularly no one as if it was a habit.
'He must be really old. He's clearly much older than grandfather,' thought Quinn.
Dolion stood up and greeted the old man back.
Quinn wondered if he should get up too. When he looked to the other side, he saw that even Aksel had stood up. He looked back towards the old man and Dolion to see that the old man was staring right towards him.
'I guess I should get up,' he thought. He stood up and walked towards the old man. ”You must be Brio Abate,” said Quinn.
”I'm your grandfather,” said the old man — Brio Abate.
”Technically.. . biologically.” This man was his late mother's father and the head/patriarch of the Abater family.
”You're my grandson.”
”As I said, biologic—”
The old Brio suddenly grabbed Quinn by the back of his nape and performed with a zealous double cheek kiss. Quinn's instincts almost made him snap the man's hands, but his reason reminded him of Brio's identity and age.
”You're my grandson,” said Brio matter-of-factly.
”Okay, if you say so.”
Brio looked Quinn up and down, taking him in, ”You've grown quite a lot. The last time I saw you were but an infant.” It was before Quinn's parent's death. ”You have grown up to become quite a fine boy. I have heard about you.. .. your work, last year at your school, was mighty impressive.”
”It was, wasn't it?” smiled Quinn, but all he could think was when Brio would remove is his hands from the back of his nape.
”You're still wet behind your ear and already doing so well. The future of Wests is bright,” said Brio, finally letting Quinn go.
”My sister is the future of the Wests,” said Quinn, ”I'm just having fun at school.”
”Rubbish.”
”If rubbish means superb, excellent, outstanding, then sure, it's rubbish.”
”A girl can't handle an empire as big as that of Wests.”
”Lia can; she can handle it better than my grandfather.. .. better than my father ever did.. .. and most definitely better than me.”
The young and old stared at each other. Neither was willing to back down from their beliefs.
”I do not agree with you, boy. But I like you — family is more valuable than anything else,” said Brio.
”I also disagree with you; I've no opinion of you yet; but, I do agree that family is important,” replied Quinn.
Dolion decided to interject into the conversation and spoke, ”Quinn said he wants to go around Rome to see the sights and the people.. . .”
”Of course, the boy can go where ever he wants,” laughed Brio, ”but not before we have lunch together. everyone wants to meet him.”
”Alright, let's have lunch,” smiled Quinn.
As they were about to exit the lounge, Quinn felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Aksel, who leaned in close and whispered, ”We will go out after five in the evening.”
”We don't have to wait that long,” said Quinn, ”we can wrap the lunch up quick and go for the rest of the day.”
Aksel stared at Quinn for a second before speaking up, ”You obviously don't know much about Italian meals.”
”What?”
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- (Scene Break) -
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It turned out that when a large number of Italians gathered, especially if it was a family gathering, the meal went on for long, for a very long time.
”You were wrong,” whispered Quinn into Aksel's ear.
The bodyguard leaned in and whispered back, ”What do you mean?”
”As things are going, we're not going to leave here by five.”
”They are just excited to meet you.”
”That's an understatement,” said Quinn looking at the sheer amount of people sharing the long dining table with him.
Suddenly a heavily Italian-accented English called out to him. Quinn turned to see a beautifully dressed middle-aged lady with a very homely feel standing beside him with a plate.
”Quinn dear, you should eat more. Here have some more,” she said, replacing his empty plate with another one. On it was another serving of the main course — Agnello A Scottadito, which was grilled lamb ribs in English.
”Don't mind if I do,” smiled Quinn and dug in. Only the people close to him knew how much Quinn ate — his appetite was unusually large for someone of his size. His daily magic usage made it so that he needed to eat a lot to replenish the energy he had spent.
The lady was happy with Quinn digging into the food. But then she gasped and giggled when a pair of hands circled around her waist.
”The boy appreciates good food,” said the man to whom the hands belonged; his voice contained boisterous laughter. He was a tall man with a portly belly; his brown hair were swept slick back. He wore a printed shirt, with the top few buttons open, clearly displaying his hairy chest.
The man was Cesare Abate, the oldest son of Brio Abate, and the homely lady was Bianca Abate, Cesare's wife.