Greetings, Mister Principal

Chapter 166: The Genealogy's Secret

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Over the past three hundred years, the Albione family has had a total of twelve generations, totaling eighty-five individuals.

Looking at the number of squibs, if the bloodline factor for the inability to awaken the bloodline is  recessive, it could indeed fit the three-to-one ratio, making sense from an observational point of view.

What truly puzzled Reiner was the distribution of hair colors.

Among these eighty-five individuals, only five had red hair. Excluding nine individuals who died shortly after birth without confirmed hair color, the remaining sixty-one had blonde hair. Even if one assumed that red-haired newborns were more prone to early death and included the deceased in the red-haired category, the ratio of blonde to red hair still didn’t come close to three to one.

The Albione family members with red hair included both males and females, indicating that this trait was not linked to gender inheritance.

After listing these numbers, Reiner opened the genealogy of Elymia.

Elymia’s father, William, and his three sisters along with George all had blonde hair. Going further back, William’s father’s generation also had blonde hair. By tracing the lineage, they had only one individual with red hair. This became the basis of Reiner’s inference.

At least, from this red-haired predecessor, Reiner could confirm that the Albione family had experienced the manifestation of the red hair bloodline factor in Elymia’s lineage.

If this red-haired predecessor didn’t exist, proving Elymia’s lineage would be much more challenging for Reiner.

“If red hair is a recessive factor and blonde hair is dominant, then this ratio seems to have a significant problem. Is it artificially manipulated or influenced by other factors?”

Reiner thought that some families might drown newborns to avoid recording them in the genealogy, but he quickly dismissed this concern. Even the scorned squibs were accurately and comprehensively documented in the genealogy. Individuals like Elymia, considered illegitimate due to suspicions of adultery, were also clearly recorded. The genealogy even included illegitimate children born outside the family.

It seemed that as long as one had Albione family blood, they would be registered in the genealogy. Reiner’s speculation was unlikely to occur.

Reiner picked up a pen and began annotating on the paper listing the names of the Albione family members from these generations. Below Elymia’s name, he wrote ‘aa’, indicating that she was a pure recessive bloodline factor type. Then, tracing back, he inferred that her parents should both be ‘Aa’ types; otherwise, Elymia wouldn’t be a pure recessive like this.

Next, he labeled Edward and Elymia’s two sisters with ‘Ax’. They all had blonde hair, but Reiner couldn’t determine if they carried the recessive bloodline factor.

Similarly, William’s two wives and his half-brother George were also labeled ‘Ax’ types.

“I can’t deduce anything this way…”

Reiner murmured to himself. The current information on hand only demonstrated that according to the laws of inheritance, Elymia might indeed be the child of William and Lady Martha, but it couldn’t confirm the matter.

To be honest, Reiner’s current research on inheritance was just scratching the surface of the iceberg.  Between peas and humans, there was a vast, insurmountable gap. Trying to solve the issue of bloodlines with just this paper was a bit too demanding.

But Reiner knew that this paper was inspiring enough to allow other mages to use it as a reference to design more experiments on different species in a short period of time. Eventually, the secrets of life inheritance would be revealed.

He didn’t intend to prove how the world’s genetic laws truly worked. Reiner’s actions were solely to help Elymia break free from the constraints she had set for herself. If she learned that her mother hadn’t betrayed anyone, Elymia could hold her head high and fight against her family. At the very least, she could escape the tragic fate of being abused by her own biological brother.

Elymia’s previous attitude towards Reiner and her family made it clear to him that she was not the kind of person who would easily succumb to fate. Rather, Elymia was a somewhat stubborn person. Once she set her mind on something, she would persist until the end, which was probably why she ended up in such a predicament.

After contemplating for a long time, Reiner was still clueless. Seeing that night had fallen, he decided to take a walk outside, hoping to gain some inspiration.

Dusk had faded, and after a day of scorchingly high temperatures, the ground of the Luna Nova Magical Academy still retained some warmth, the wind carrying a hint of summer in the air.

The streetlights in the academy gradually lit up, attracting small insects to hover beneath them, leaving ambiguous shadows.

Reiner strolled along the edge of the square, and in his mind, every person in the Albione family spanning hundreds of years appeared one by one, forming a colossal and intricate tree in the void. The family members were like fruits on the branches, emitting a faint glow.

Most of these fruits were dazzling gold, but a few emitted a mysterious red glow, unclear and elusive.

Reiner tried to find a thread in this towering tree but quickly felt overwhelmed and lost in it.

“Eat slower.”

At this moment, a voice came from the side and brought Reiner back to reality. He walked a few steps to find the source of the voice and discovered Fina feeding a cat under a streetlight with the extra stew from dinner.

The striped kitten buried its entire face in the plate, enjoying the stew. Occasionally, it licked off the gravy from its nose.

Fina squatted in front of the cat, watching it enjoy its dinner seriously. Only when Reiner approached did she realize.

“Mister R-Reiner…”

She stood up somewhat hurriedly, revealing a rarely seen flustered expression.

The kitten, however, showed no reaction, seemingly entirely absorbed in its world of food.

“I’ve seen you feeding it several times before.”

Reiner spoke, smiling, trying to ease the student’s nerves.

“Yes, I used to… back home. When I was at home… I once raised a pregnant stray cat. I don’t know when it started staying in the backyard of the tower. I fed it every day, and after a week, it gave birth to four kittens.”

Fina looked at the kitten happily enjoying its meal, speaking softly.

“However, before spring passed, the boys in the town found the litter of kittens. By the time I got home, it was too late…”

She didn’t continue, and Fina seemed to recall a sad memory, the lens of her glasses turned a bit misty as she turned away.

“They must have gone to a place without pain.”

Reiner recalled that during his university days, he had also fed stray cats on campus. Over a month, they seemed to form some kind of understanding. Whenever Reiner went to the usual spot, the cat would be waiting, as if anticipating Reiner’s arrival.

The story ended like many others. One day, when Reiner brought a can of food to the familiar spot, the cat never showed up again. Reiner didn’t know where it went or what happened to it. All he could do was pray that the little one had found a better life. Reiner’s own life returned to peace, as usual.

“Yeah, hopefully.”

Nodding, Fina suddenly thought of the topic of bloodline factors they had been studying these days.

“But speaking of it, although the mother cat had a mixed color, the kittens in that litter had various colors. There were pure white ones, ones with patterns, and even a completely black kitten. Now that I think about it, based on genetics, I don’t know what the father of those kittens looked like.”

However, this casual remark struck Reiner like a lightning bolt, leaving him standing still for a long time without moving.

“So, that’s how it is…”

Reiner muttered to himself. In his mind, countless fragments interwove, faintly forming a picture.

The towering Albione family tree burst into a dazzling light, and the red fruits in it shone like stars, exceptionally eye-catching.