The rest of the meal passed in tranquility, after finishing the meal Aldous returned to his room, took a book and sat on his bed to read it, as the minutes passed, he occasionally turned the pages of the book, however, the slight frown on his face indicated that he was not very concentrated in reading.
After a while he stopped reading, closed the book and placed it on a nearby desk, on it were carefully arranged other books, covering various subjects such as etiquette, horsemanship, the art of war and geography; there were also some manuscripts rolled up and bound with golden silk threads, some quills and ink for writing, a pile of blank parchments, and maps of different areas, some crudely drawn while others a bit more refined.
Those are some of the materials he frequently uses in his studies, though most of the books for lessons are supplied by tutors, Aldous has a few more, a few from the Blackstone house stock and others of personal property he has sent out to buy in the city's markets.
After putting down the book, looking at the materials on his desk his frown relaxed as he sighed and walked to the window of the room, from which he looked out onto the now empty training field with a complicated expression that showed a tinge of worry and concern.
Aldous feels really uneasy at this moment when he thinks about the trip he is going to make abroad, usually he does not leave Blackstone Castle very much, whenever he wants something from the markets he only has to ask the servants for it and because he likes reading he does not usually go out for walks; He also does not like to interact with other people more than necessary, and even in the castle he only talks to his father when he asks him something and with the servants when he gives them orders, this is not due to a particular reason, but simply because his personality is like that, he likes tranquility and enjoys solitude.
It has been two years since he arrived at the castle and his presence has caused a moderate disturbance throughout the county, mainly due to his status as an illegitimate son and the count's attitude towards him. Under normal circumstances, a bastard child of a nobleman is not a matter of importance, after all, there is much debauchery and promiscuity among the nobility, but his case was different from the usual, in the first place, his mother is to date unknown, no one knows whether she is a commoner, the noblewoman of some other family or a simple servant, this fact has been a mystery of which many speculate, Then there is her sudden appearance, until two years ago nobody knew of her existence, in fact there are some people who assure that not even the count was aware of it, since two years ago Aldous arrived unconscious and in a pitiful state to the castle, in an accident caravan and accompanied by some wounded people with a letter addressed to the count where it was indicated that he was his son and nothing more; At that time, apart from Aldous' golden hair and the letter, there was no other evidence that he was actually the Earl's son.
The incident became even more confusing and caused further agitation because the survivors of the caravan in the following days began to get sick and suffer from different symptoms that included lethargy, headaches and nausea, and although the doctors at the castle checked them they found nothing wrong with the diagnoses, but what really alarmed people was that they all presented collective amnesia regarding what happened on the trip, besides having the impression of having been in a village and having accepted an important assignment, the rest of their memories were blurred, they did not remember the name of the village, nor who gave them the assignment, nor did they seem to know what happened in the middle of the trip and why they were injured, apparently they somehow managed to get to the castle and although they did not remember much about the boy who remained unconscious they were concerned about his condition and had good will towards him.
There were many discussions about the matter in question and various opinions about it, but in general people thought it was all a farce or some hoax aimed at house Blackstone, while it was thought to be strange that it was all too elaborate to be a lie, no one believed that Aldous was the son of the count because the situation itself was ridiculous, not only did he appear out of nowhere but his origins were completely unknown and apparently untraceable because of the supposed amnesia suffered by the members of the caravan.
While many thought that the Count was going to execute the apparent group of liars, the sequence of events exceeded everyone's expectations, the Count who had kept silent all that time gave the caravan members a job in the castle and declared that he was going to recognize the young man who arrived with the caravan as his son, and while there was some opposition, due to Count Blackstone's prestige and power in his territory no one openly objected.
Ten days after the incident Aldous awoke from unconsciousness, but his condition was different from that of the other survivors, he showed no unusual symptoms except of amnesia, but his case was even more disturbing because he apparently remembered nothing besides his name.
When they observed that he also had the same eye color as the count some people began to wonder if it was true that he was their son, although most still maintained a skeptical attitude. Because the Count had already made it clear that he was going to recognize him, he received exhaustive medical examinations but the diagnoses were normal, in a short time he was given the surname Blackstone, and to everyone's envy and surprise the Count's attitude towards him was particularly good, although because of his personality and position he was not very affectionate, Throughout these two years he always paid the most attention to Aldous and did not allow the slightest offense against him, due to Aldous' apathetic personality people in the castle categorized him as a conceited and arrogant person so some less tolerant servants showed discontent or subtle acts of disrespect towards Aldous, but without exception they were all brutally whipped and imprisoned.
Since such acts made clear the count's attitude towards him, people inside and outside the castle started to change their attitude and tried to be friendlier, though for Aldous none of that really mattered, he kept to himself most of the time, whether it was reading books or studying his lessons, and he would like to continue enjoying his days this way, but, standing by the window as he looked outside his expression darkened as he remembered the dreams he has been having and that figure whose face he still can't make out, Aldous whispered in a barely distinguishable, shaky voice.
"I, I don't want, I don't want, I don't want to remember, I don't want to remember the past, I'm afraid, it's safer to forget, but I can't forget you, is it really you?"
Not noticing him at all as he stared dazedly outside, in tune with his emotions the light behind him grew dimmer and dimmer and the room became gloomy and suffocating.