Sky sat on the bed overlooking the window, lost in thought. He will serve Sir Nightbride for the rest of his miserable life. Is this what he wants? Does he have to stay here against his will? These thoughts ran through his mind as he admired the bustling city in all its glory. Then, a thought occurred to him, what would've happened if he wasn't taken in by the Nightbride estate? He would've ventured out of the forest without knowing where to go or what to do. But, in this case, he was more fortunate than he initially thought. Even if his freedom was taken away, at least he had a roof over his head and food in his stomach. Well, the food had to wait until later, but regardless, he was in a good position.
He tried to take off his bracelet, but it wouldn't budge. He suspected he could use the darkness attribute to disintegrate and escape right now, but that would have to wait until he could carry his own weight. He simply needed to endure and find an opportunity to break free. He wasn't sure how long he would be here, but he was determined to make the most of it.
Sky sunk further into the bed, and the atmosphere darkened. He was still physically weak and mentally drained from his time in the small dungeon in the Heavenly Inn. Falling asleep was as simple as closing his eyes.
The sound of three loud thumps against the door woke Sky from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and made his way to the door, peeking out of the keyhole to see who was outside. A short maid with blonde hair and blue eyes was standing outside with a food tray. Sky quickly undid the lock and opened the door.
"Good morning, Sky. I brought you some breakfast." The maid said with a smile.
The fragrance of the food made Sky's stomach growl, and he quickly grabbed the tray and brought it into the room. Sky left the door open with the maid standing outside, watching him devour the food. He was a little embarrassed about how he presented himself, but regardless, he hadn't eaten in days or weeks. Who knows how long he was in that dungeon?
"What's your name?" Sky asked between mouthfuls.
"My name is Clara. I've been tasked to guide you to the gardening equipment after you eat." Clara said with a curtsy.
"It's nice to meet you, Clara." Sky said with a smile, feeling much better after eating. He was ready to get started on his new life, even if it meant being a servant.
Sky walked through the dark narrow hallways of the estate, following the young maid. He had no idea where he was going, but he figured finding the garden couldn't be too hard. They eventually made their way outside to a shed behind the mansion. Clara opened the door and gestured for Sky to go inside.
"This is where we keep all the gardening equipment. You'll find everything you need in here." Clara said before leaving.
Sky looked around the small shed, seeing all sorts of tools he had never seen before. There was a general-purpose worker's uniform folded for him to use. He quickly changed into the clothes and grabbed random tools which he thought looked interesting. Working as a gardener for his first task was something he had never done before. He wasn't sure what they expected, leaving him with all these tools, but he would still try. The tools he took with him were a spade, a hoe, a rake, and a pair of shears. He walked around the side of the mansion where the garden presented itself. It wrapped around the whole manor, except for the back. The back of the estate had nothing but a stone ground and a shed. So he figured the best place to start was the front.
"What are you doing?" Vincent called out to him from the entrance of the estate.
"I'm going to start gardening." Sky said with a smile, not really knowing what else to say.
Vincent wore a nice suit exposing his broad shoulders. His black hair was slicked back, and his emerald eyes seemed to pierce through Sky. He looked like he had just come back from a business meeting.
"I see. You can start with weeding the garden." Vincent said before walking away.
"What's weeding?" Sky asked, but Vincent was already gone.
He supposed he would just have to figure it out himself. He had never gardened before, so rather than using tools, why couldn't he just use his nature attribute instead? He hadn't exercised it in the physical world yet, and his new title allowed him to commune with plants. Something he hadn't tried yet. He sat down on the ground, placing his hand in the dirt. He closed his eyes and focused on his nature attribute.
He immediately felt a connection with the earth. He could feel the life force of the plants around him and even sense the creatures in the soil. He started feeling the intent of the plants. It was overwhelming how many there were, and he could only focus on one at a time. All the plants were complaining. At least, that's what he could gather from listening to each of them individually. Although the title says he can commune, that's not entirely true. He can push his will onto plants so they can understand him, and they can do the same. There would be a transaction of feelings and intent. He hoped the more he practised, the more he could understand the plants.
He started with the plant in front of him. It was a blue flower with long stems. It was feeling stressed and restricted, so Sky focused on the etherlines surrounding it and found something strange. A parasite-like plant was latched onto the blue flower, sucking its life force. Sky focused on his nature attribute and pushed his will onto the parasitic plant. The plant let go of the blue flower and started to wither away as Sky guided the nature attribute within it back to the blue flower. Finally, the blue flower bloomed brightly, and its stem straightened.
He was exhausted from using his nature attribute for the first time, but he felt a sense of accomplishment. Part of him knew that it was best to keep quiet about his attributes since they would make him a target, but he also wanted to help these plants. He decided to be as subtle as possible about it. He grabbed a random tool from the pile he created and used that to hide his work. He looked around and saw that many other flowers in the garden needed his help. So he got to work, helping as many plants as he could. He wasn't sure how long he was at it, but by the time he was done, the sun was setting, and he was covered in dirt. During this time, Clara visited with a tray of water multiple times throughout the day. She would bring him a small apple and other snacks to keep him going. She seemed like a kind girl, but Sky knew better than to trust her.
Sky made his way back to the shed to return the tools. He saw Vincent waiting for him with his arms crossed.
"I see you've been busy," Vincent said with a smirk.
"Yes, I've been 'weeding'." Sky said, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"I can see that." Vincent said, "But you missed a spot."
He pointed to a small weed in the corner of the garden.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have missed it." Sky said as he made his way to the weed.
"No need to apologize. Just don't let it happen again." Vincent said before walking away.
Sky guided the nature attribute from the weed to the nearby plants and made his way back to the shed. He was tired, but he felt a sense of accomplishment. He had helped the plants and completed his first task. In the shed were folded pieces of clothing. It was a suit similar to what Vincent was wearing. A plain black and white suit with a long coat. There were also new shoes and socks. He changed into fresh clothes and considered, 'Staying here won't be as bad as I thought...'.
"Sir, may I come in?" Vincent asked after knocking on Sir Nightbride's office door. A place where he was often found.
"Come in." Sir Nightbride said, not looking away from the papers on his desk.
"I have information on your new servant."
"Oh, yes. The boy." Sir Nightbride said, finally looking up from his desk. "What have you found?"
"He was found walking out of the Belvoir Forest eleven days ago. He travelled a couple of hours before coming across two individuals-"
"Do you know who they were?" Sir Nightbride interrupted.
"No, Sir, that information was redacted by Tera's House."
"Tera's house? Very interesting... Continue."
"He was supposedly killed by the two individuals who left shortly after." Vincent paused, expecting his master to ask questions, but none came. "He was found by the Galfeld house alive, so they took him to the black market where we bought him."
"Do you have information about what happened in Belvoir Forest?"
"No, Sir, he simply left that forest in rags. I was told he was identified by the two individuals because of those runescript patterns on his arms."
"Those didn't look like any runes that I recognised." Sir Nightbride said sternly. "Anything else?"
"Yes, Sir, today he used an attribute to rid the weeds in the garden. I couldn't determine whether it was the earth or nature attribute, but considering he is human, it should be the former. He was trying to hide it while gardening.
"Interesting," Sir Nightbride said, his voice laced with excitement. "Make sure to keep an eye on him. He may be more useful than we thought."
"Yes, Sir," Vincent said before leaving the room.