Restoration advise

Hey guys.

I’m VERY new to cast iron. My mother-in-law used it for the first year or so of my relationship with her daughter, then stopped for unknown reasons. I’ve been interested in starting my own adventure with it since.

I recently purchased some pieces from resale stores which were in fairly rough shape. YouTube, friends, and most recently this sub-which I only just joined- showed me how to work toward restoring them to use. After two weeks of rather lazily working on it, I bit the bullet today and started the seasoning process with flaxseed oil. After two rounds in the oven, I noticed that the pieces I’m working don’t have a solid black appearance like you’d find from the store. I wasn’t able to get a decent picture of it, but it really looks more like there is a layer of rust under the seasoning- a deep red-brown that hides if you catch it at the wrong angle. Is this normal enough that I shouldn’t be concerned, or do I need to start over?