"If there's one thing I know about this family, it's that we're bloody rich," Francis couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Staring up at the grandiose library room, the young boy's mouth fell open in wonder and amazement. It was exactly how he'd picture a fantasy-historical library to look like.
With a high ceiling and millions of books placed on tall shelvings and bookcases surrounding the room, combined with the unique designs on the walls, the room was no short of grand.
However…
Francis coughed and scratched his cheek, "Where do I begin?"
He underestimated the library.
No, rather, he didn't expect everything to be so…big. Maybe it was because he himself was very small that everything else seemed gigantic to him.
'Curse this tiny body of mine…' he thought with a pout.
"I suppose I'll start from here," Francis stood in front of the nearest bookshelf. His eyes scanned the various titles and stopped at the end.
Pulling out the book that caught his eye, Francis grinned.
[History and Politics by Arthur Falcon]
'Well, this would be a good one to start with,' he thought. 'Hmm, the language is different from any other in my world but I can understand it just fine. Probably one of the perks of transmigration.'
Settling down on the floor, he began flipping through the pages.
[Thousands of years ago, Kronos, the God of Creation and Life, blessed the barren world giving it nature, animals, and humans. His wish was for the world to develop and prosper as a place that all could live and grow in, as told by the first prophet of Kronos.]
'Seems like the typical background story if you ask me.'
Francis flipped to the next page.
[Celeste, the God of Nature and Kronos's sister, gifted humans mana cores which allowed them to use and manipulate mana - the energy that is found everywhere on this land.]
'So that's how they came to use magic…interesting.'
There were only two deities that governed this world; the God of Creation and Life, and the God of Nature. Several temples were erected around the continent in reverence of the Gods. And every hundred years, a prophet was chosen as the God's messenger to humans.
All this information was found in the book.
Francis didn't care for the small details but just kept in mind the main points. Once he read through the first chapter which told mostly about the world's beginning and the connection with the Gods, he moved on to the second chapter which was about the land itself.
'So it says here that there are four continents; the Western, which is the one I'm in, the Nothern, the Eastern, and the Southern.'
He skimmed over the parts detailing the different geographies and climates before he finally came to the section that gave a brief overview of the kingdoms in each of the continents.
'There are two kingdoms in each continent making it eight kingdoms in total. The kingdom I'm in is…'
Francis paused.
Huh?
"Renaldie Kingdom?" His face morphed into confusion. "Why does that name seem so familiar?"
Wait a second.
Francis suddenly had an epiphany.
'Kronos…Celeste…four continents…Renaldie Kingdom…'
"Isn't this the world of that otome game?!"
He finally figured it out.
****
"Young…master?"
Emily noticed a lump underneath the bed covers. Reaching out, she gently tapped it.
"Young master? Is something the matter?"
"...no."
Wiggling out of the covers, the seven-year-old rubbed his face and said, "Say, Emily, can you tell me the date today?"
"The date? Oh, well it's the twentieth day of the fourth month on the Kronos calendar."
"I see."
Tilting her head, Emily asked, "Are you sure you're feeling alright? I don't want the Young Master suddenly relapsing."
"For the hundredth time Emily, I'm perfectly fine," Francis stressed. "Anyway, now that I've recovered, what will my schedule be like from now on?"
"Well, you'll begin tutoring next week and then you'll start learning swordsmanship the following week. Of course, other children would also be learning about mana but…"
She didn't finish her sentence causing Francis to look up at her with confusion.
"But what?"
"Young master, you don't have a mana core, remember?" She seemed hesitant to continue further. It seemed this subject was a touchy one for the old Francis.
The current Francis however was left in shock.
'No mana core?! Doesn't that mean I can't practice magic or sword aura?' He barely kept up his poker face. His mind was a mixture of chaos and despair.
"R-Right…"
His voice trembled as he spoke.
Emily immediately scolded herself for speaking so bluntly to him. How could she be so insensitive?! The Young Master must be wallowing in hurt!
Kneeling by the bed, she quickly apologized with her head tilted downwards. In a frantic voice, she said, "Forgive me for speaking so bluntly Young Master! I am truly sorry! I-I didn't mean to say it like that!"
Taken aback by her sudden gesture, Francis temporarily shifted his mind away from his worries and patted her head to comfort her.
"You're overreacting Emily. I'm not offended," he said. 'Just incredibly shocked.'
A sniffle was heard and Francis withdrew his hand to stare at his maid in confusion.
"Are you crying?"
'Did I say something wrong?'
Looking up, Emily's eyes were red with tears streaming down her face.
"Y-You are too kind Young master!"
'EH?!'
Francis was now incredibly baffled at the sudden change of events. Was this maid of his always like this? She had hardly ever expressed her emotions quite so boldly as this before. Perhaps this crying mess was the true Emily?
As the maid stayed kneeling on the floor wiping away her tears, Francis rubbed his temples in exasperation.
'This new life of mine seems to be too stressful.'
****
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Francis had taken it upon himself to fully adjust to this world and immerse himself with knowledge about it.
He also now knew the reason why he was always alone in this mansion.
His lack of mana core.
As the son of a noble family, it was naturally expected of him to be better than commoners in all aspects. However, when it was discovered that he possessed no mana core after he was born, his father had thrown him away and sent him to live in this mansion by himself with a couple of workers.
The Prime Minister had no use for a child that couldn't wield magic.
On top of that, Francis had been born with a weak constitution making his father despise him even more.
The only ones that cared for the boy were the workers in the mansion.
The current Francis was very grateful that he at least had them on his side.
He wasn't the least bit bothered that his family neglected him. It's not like he hadn't experienced such treatment before.
Recalling his past life, in some ways, this one was better.
Though in both lives he was abandoned and neglected by his biological family, this life gave him a different kind of family.
Emily, his maid. John, the chef. Henry, the gardener. And many more.
Slowly, Francis (Tanaka) learned to open his heart and connect with those around him. He had been forced out of his comfort zone but was slowly being cured of his negative view of the world around him.
He did suffer from withdrawal symptoms after not playing video games in months but those too disappeared in the span of one year.
For the first time ever, Francis felt happiness and joy outside a video game.
And when he finally understood how happy one could be without game characters and planned plots, he received a sudden message.
[Ding! You have successfully passed the test and are now permitted to bond with the 'SYSTEM'. Do you accept?]