There were some things that bothered Lughys a lot.
Lughys honestly thought it was really strange that he hadn't run into Julius even once since the fiasco that had occurred on the boy's first day at the mansion.
Shouldn't the man be the major head of the house?
By the way, what about his wife; where the hell was Mariana at all?
Had she already begun to betray the poor, fair and honest Duke, who didn't deserve that kind of unfair treatment?
''.....''
Returning to his room in silence, after the disaster that had become his first formal meeting with the only present member of his new family — that is, Jasmine Barastrosa — Lughys found himself deep in thought.
'Luckily, although that housekeeper was weird, she took my doubt about the Duke.'
Silently, he thought, rubbing his chin with his finger, as if he were in some kind of detective series.
'It kinda makes sense that the reason he's absent is work, but what about the Duchess?'
The maid from before, who had intervened during the awkward situation established during lunch, was actually very kind in contrast to the oddities that were going through her head.
Without batting an eye, she utterly cleared all Lughys' doubts, as if teaching her own son things.
First of all, she explained in detail about Julius' duties as a Duke and that it was already common for him to leave so suddenly, only returning home after several days had passed by.
''Apparently, from what the Duke told us, the Emperor himself wished to see him on account of some troubles in the North of the country.'' Dorothy, the middle-aged woman, spoke up. ''I imagine he'll spend some time there, getting rid of bad guys, so don't worry about that.''
Patting the boy encouragingly, Dorothy also eagerly explained why Julius didn't visit Lughys in his room before he left on a mission.
She, for some reason Lughys didn't know, feared that the Duke's new son had taken that way of acting of Julius as some insult.
''The Duke says he knows you very well. Enough to trust that you would soon open up to us, overcoming difficulties after what happened to your family."
After that, she fell silent, as if she'd said something she shouldn't have.
As Lughys was a child, it was obvious that the woman would spare him a lot of information that was unnecessary or too heavy and difficult for a young man to handle.
Hence, the middle-aged housekeeper discreetly omitted several points from the things she recounted, leaving threads loose in various directions of the topics.
All Lughys could do was deduce the missing information, and he was more than grateful for Dorothy's help with his earlier doubts.
He now had a pile of knowledge about this world, both from his past life, after clearing WOF a few times — though not reaching 100% of completion — and from the things he continually discovered, in this second chance.
Trouble was, none of it explained where Duchess Mariana was, and what the hell she was up to in the first place.
"If Jasmine is the pinnacle of evil in the upcoming future, then the Duchess and her sister are the most disgusting things that led the girl to become who she was." Lughys muttered softly, turning the bedroom doorknob.
Opening the wooden door, his ajar window let the orange light of the afternoon sun bathe his pale face, guaranteeing vitamin D to the little brown-haired boy.
He put one of his small hands in front of his face, blocking the uncomfortable passage of sunlight into his eyes.
"If I can discover her plans before she carries them out and ends up betraying Julius, then perhaps fate can be changed." He continued the monologue, closing the door with a thud. ''It might even be possible to reverse Jasmine's villainous aspects. It's still not too late, I guess?''
Passing in front of the mirror as he walked towards his desk, Lughys was unable to stop his eyes from quickly landing on the person reflected in the object.
''...''
A rather thin boy, close to the scrawny point, with smooth, lean-looking cheeks, and slightly droopy blue eyes returned directly to his gaze.
Dead fish eyes, almost lifeless, surrounded by a slight layer of dark circles.
Moreover, thin, wet lips, on a pretty face that showed a blank, bland expression.
In addition to his clothes, which he had changed beforehand, and that were no longer as aristocratic or formal as before.
He'd worn a handful of casual clothes since he'd woken up — as they were more comfortable.
This was the new Lughys, whose consciousness was now that of Harlan Jiro.
'Losing myself in futile thoughts now won't help me at all. I need to focus on the important things first… Don't get carried away by foolishness and focus!'
He thought hostilely, berating himself for his wild thoughts.
When suddenly snapping him out of his worrisome trance, a metallic noise roared through his head like a beast.
Tin~ Tin~
{The 'Hope' is being permanently assigned to the user}
''What the hell?'' He said, exasperated. ''What the fuck is this now?''
As he contemplated that impressive sight, which somehow reminded him of several different novel and manga stories, he instinctively stretched his fingers weakly, every now and then.
For a moment, he swore those translucent scars on his forearm flickered slightly.
Surprised, he glued his dilated pupils to the organic rise in the limb.
{The 'Hope' has been permanently assigned to the user's body}
{The 'Hope' has been aligned with the system, previously absorbed by the user}
But moments after doing so, a strange electrifying sensation coursed through his arm, rising from the thin tangle of skin, making his hairs stand on end.
Desperately, he tried to grab the arm, in a failed attempt to somehow stop it, while continually fanning the member — but strangely, the sensation didn't seem to want to stop anytime soon.
Ding~
{Exclusive Gift Assignment Completed: Hope}
{Rating: 3 Stars Grade (Growth Type)
☆ The user can utilize some functions currently available in the 'Akashic System'.
☆ Initial use of system function will be limited temporarily to suit user statistics.
☆ Hope provides a link between various dimensions. When crossing the portal, entering the 'world of transcendence', the basic functions for 'Hope' were activated automatically.
— The user's past life memories have been partially restored;}
{Remember that this screen will no longer be displayed by the system after initial attaching.}
''E-eh? Since when does this story have a system to begin with?!''
Lughys screamed, alone, in that vast room, as strange golden words unfolded like serpents before his eyes.