A small child could be seen hunched down, and his feet making as little contact with the snowy stone-paved road.
*Huuh*
A cloud of smoke came out of his mouth as he exhaled.
He rubbed his hands together and fixed his red scarf to make sure it covered his entire neck.
The wool gloves and the furred coat over the thick clothes he wore did barely anything to combat the cold seeping through his bone marrows.
He put his hands in front, and barely managed to catch a crystal snowflake falling on his gloves. It was a beautiful, lacy, full hexagon shape.
However, he couldn't fully take in its full beauty as It melted down moments after he observed it.
'I guess you don't call a region the north if it is not at least this cold.' muttered Eldric, faintly surprised by the degree of coldness.
He looked further in front of him, and he could see the massive, thick walls that marked the spacious perimeter of the Armsworth estate.
But more precisely. He looked at the large black iron gate that would inevitably inhibit him from going any further. The little space between each bar gave to little Eldric the impression of prison bars…
He hadn't thoroughly thought about his supposed escape, it seems.
Eldric was currently taking a tour in the Armsworth garden. Although a strange thing he noticed was how the roses and bushes were in full bloom— despite the freezing cold.
He assumed they must be some sort of special flowers and plants to be able to survive.
Eldric rubbed his gloved hands yet again and shoved the falling snow off of the bench he planned on sitting on.
By the grace of the usual aristocratic pride; even the bench seemed impressive in Eldric eyes. It had a beautiful iron and wooden design, the flowery iron design curled around the large wooden plank from the top to the bottom, reaching all the way to the floor; serving as a makeshift foot stand for his feet.
Eldric sat on top of the bench and began to swing his little feet as he fully took in the breathtaking scene in front of him.
*Huuh*
He began to childishly play with the 'smoke' clouds that came out of his mouth.
"Young master, what are you doing?" suddenly piped in Epine.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that Eldric was scared deathless by his maid's brisk appearance.
For Eldric. Epine was by far the biggest mystery that he had yet to even begin solving in his new life— too many things don't add up with her.
Strangely. The feeling of waiting to uncover her secrets didn't necessarily stem from an issue of trust.
He just wanted to know more. She was the person that accompanied him the most on this new journey.
"Epine… Why can't you just pop in like a normal person?." he rebutted as he fully took a look at her.
She was still wearing the same conservative maid uniform. However, her raven hair wasn't styled into a bun anymore; it flew down instead.
"I apologise, young master. Nonetheless, I can't help but find it weird that you'd be here," she pointed out.
Epine came rushing when she couldn't find Eldric on his bed when she went to wake him up. She had a tendency to always assume the worse scenario...
Eldric rolled his eyes." I know you know why I'm here…. We talked about it just the day before, remember?"
Epine shook her head, signalling that she didn't recall it.
Both she and Eldric knew that was a shameless lie. But no one commented on it.
Eldric hummed and just shrugged his shoulders." Well, I guess you are simply not as good as you think you are…" Eldric said nonchalantly.
Epine's mouth twitched when she heard. Despite noting that reaction, Eldric continued nonetheless. He wasn't even looking at her in the eye, making it seem like he was talking to himself.
"I thought you said you were some famous warrior..." he paused for a few seconds, his little arms tapping his chin in 'ponder'.
He balled one fist, only to hit the open palm of his other hand. He had the expression of someone experiencing an epiphany."— maybe that was a lie?"
Epine naturally knew where her young master was heading with this; she was not stupid. Despite that, Eldric guessed one thing correctly, she was a very competitive person.
That was one of the major reasons why she took her maid duties very seriously.
She wouldn't have it any other way.
Her ego kept getting bruised the more her young master kept hurling borderline insults her way.
She couldn't wait to beat hi— assist him in training again.
Eldric couldn't see the malicious smile forming on her face… Otherwise, he might have remembered what happened the last time he had done something similar.
"I mean, come on! What could a group of peasants do to such an unparalleled fighter such as the great Epine." he flailed his arms around for added effect.
"Simply ludicrous!" he shook his head at such a supposed ridiculous notion.
" Well... That is assuming the only thing you can do is beat a defenceless child in the name of training is what the great Epine can do…." he mercilessly added.
Eldric knew something was wrong when he said that last line. But he just shook his head at the end.
'Meh. What could possibly go wrong.' he asserted to himself.
It seems that was the last straw that broke the camel's back for Epine.
"Of course, I can accompany you to the town," she said calmly.
That calm expression didn't sit well with Eldric. He knew he was above average when it came to trash-talking, but it shouldn't be that easy— it never was.
Especially considering how she vehemently expressed her disapproval the earlier night when they had this exact talk.
"Is that so?" he tried to hide his unease with an open question,
Epine nodded." Yes, young master. Isn't that what you wanted of me?" quizzed Epine with a head-tilt.
"Right... That's indeed what I wanted," he hesitated to answer that question somehow.
He couldn't stay huddled in the safety of the large Armsworth estate… It was already his fourth day. Eldric needed to know what was going on beyond the pretty bird nest he had been in.
And well, despite what he said, the person he currently trusted the most was indeed Epine. She would be the perfect person to accompany him.
Eldric looked back at the mentioned estate.
'It would be more appropriate to call it a fortress…' he chuckled.
The castle stood bold beyond the mountainous horizons. It was built with large equally proportionate grey, sturdy-looking stones amidst the snowy lands. Such contrast was truly fascinating.
The massive stairs lead to the humongous iron door that served as the entrance. Multiple towers overlapped and supported each other.
The middle tower: the largest one; served as a watchtower in case of emergencies. On top of each tower was the Armsworth flag. The vaulted ceilings had multiple weapons stabbed along them, giving somewhat of a savage appearance.
The early morning darkness and the slow-falling snowflakes only accentuated its appearance.
Eldric thought it looked like something out of a horror story. All that was needed, was a brilliant thunderclap to complete the scene.
"Let us head out, young master." Epine's voice stopped Eldric from further admiration.
"Of course."
He was excited to see what lay beyond the iron gate of the Armsworth gardens.