Lexia had a long dream.
In this dream—at least near the end, she found herself latched onto a huge and sweet candy overflowing with warmth—her impulse prompting her to bite and suck.
A slippery-warm ticklish sensation aroused Kevin awake from his sleep, followed by an obscure sense of suffocation.
Reluctantly, he opened his eyes.
It took a moment for Kevin to process his awkward predicament.
Lexia lay prone on his chest, her little arms wound around his chest while she nibbled away on his neck. That slippery-warm sensation was her lips folding on his neck, and her little tongue occasionally running amok on his skin.
The moment he made sense of the matter—Kevin rolled to the side in a vain attempt of wrestling his body free as on the contrary, it startled Lexia awake.
Thud!
"Ouch!"
"Owie!"
Lexia's head knocked hard into Kevin's chin—the latter almost biting his own tongue as he retreated to lean against the headboard, rubbing his lower jaw with a bit of discomfort.
Lexia also sat up, rubbing the painful spot on her head with both hands—her expression an adorable yet sour mess, a trace of translucent saliva leaking from her lips that she had yet to notice.
The siblings exchanged a speechless look for a while. Then, Kevin's expression swiftly softened, erupting into laughter thereafter.
Kevin didn't notice it, but an inconspicuous bite mark sank into his skin, slowly yet surely healing away as the two joked around and prepared to leave the room.
…
"The messenger departed from town this morning," said the head steward—even though he was the only servant as of yet, not counting the kitchen staff. He attended to Kevin and Lexia at the dining table. "It should be roughly two weeks until he reaches the lord count's castle, but I suppose he might have already dispatched a telegram to lord count."
"I need you to start recruiting laborers for the mining efforts, and from those, I will choose some people that we can help train into personal guards for the castle," Kevin said after a moment of thinking.
It was ridiculous that they had no servants or subjects working under them, but it was understandable that they'd leave if they felt like the family had no future.
A noble family with no male descendants to carry the lineage was a family at the end of its ropes.
"Spread propaganda that the second young master had allegedly risen from the dead after contracting a vile illness. With the grace of the gods of wisdom and magic, he wasn't simply revived from the edge of death; he had also awakened as a mage." Kevin helped slice some bread and bacon for Lexia while talking, smiling faintly as he helplessly reached with a white napkin to wipe a mustache of hot milk on her face.
Lexia obediently leaned forward with a pout, inhaling the natural odor on Kevin's hand subconsciously—something even he didn't particularly notice as he continued his dialogue, "The count had already spread the word of my unfortunate illness hence the cold shoulder we received from our subjects, let us make use of this chance with a dramatic divine intervention; they love these kinds of folk tales the most, these peasants."
Kevin's sense of human life and its value was already distorted from his previous upbringing, let alone the traditions of feudalistic society and its political intrigue.
Getting things in motion should take a while. Since Kevin had nothing better to do, he decided he might as well set up a stern body-build regime for himself—although he was technically on the path of becoming a mage, that's not something to be done in three to four months' time which coincides with the deadline for the winter grace period.
He didn't feel particularly secure fighting in a war without personal strength to at least protect himself, and he had the feeling that the count will play some dirty tricks in the shadows to target him directly or indirectly by taking swings at Lexia; his only considerable weakness at the moment.
The more the fusion of his soul, his predecessor, and the mysterious dark orb carried out, the more influenced he was by the sentiment of his predecessor.
These four siblings had quite a good relationship as their political awareness was almost nonexistent.
Seeing that Kevin was about to leave the table, the head steward spoke up with a hint of hesitation, "Young lord—forgive my impudence," he then asked, "wouldn't it be helpful to get yourself a wife? What about the second or third daughter of a viscount?"
Kevin froze in the animation of standing up—it was quite comical if I may say.
That's right—he forgot about the most convenient means of establishing connections in the feudalistic world; marriage alliances.
His animation lagged for a moment before he stood up swiftly and began fixing the rims on his sleeves. The clothing fashion of this parallel world was way behind the modern era.
One world advanced in technology while the other developed in magic, causing a notable regression in civilization.
Of course, Kevin was unsure of the timeline distortions—his predecessor wasn't much of a sophisticated erudite.
"I don't want to get married!" Lexia huffed to the side, her eyes pleading and watery.
Lexia was thirteen this winter.
Although young, she understood what it meant to get married, and she definitely didn't want that.
Kevin smiled wryly, why on earth would he wed his thirteen years old sister? That's preposterous!
Before she was of age—according to his cognitive conscience; eighteen years old, marriage can wait aside.
As for himself, he was already a man in his late twenties anyway so it didn't matter if his physical age at the moment was sixteen.
"Don't worry, I won't force you into anything against your will," Kevin comforted Lexia and gave the head steward a look, "I'll think about it by the next winter, don't confuse our priorities."
The head steward hesitated for a bit, suddenly slapping his forehead, exclaiming, "Old me! About yesterday's discussion in the study—I remember that the count proposed to take the young lady's hand in marriage to his eldest son, which was rejected by the late baron…"
Lexia was frightened, shrinking back into her chair with a pale face. As for Kevin, a look of disbelief plastered on his face.
"Are you saying he's driving away all of the males in the line of succession to get his hands on her?" he pointed at Lexia while asking, his voice betraying his confusion.
Hah! Don't joke around like that! Kevin inwardly shook his head, but his vigilance increased nonetheless.
After muttering to himself in a voice audible only to himself, Kevin fetched a long black trench coat from the side and walked away, leaving four words behind.
"I'll ruminate over it."
…
Sharp winds whistled, and snowflakes whirled along the rhythm of Kevin's fluttering coat as he descended the roadside downhill.
The baron's estate included the high hill and the surrounding land but it was pretty bleak. At the end of his line of sight, he could see the borders of the baron estate's territory surrounded by a low wall and a metal gate.
After thinking for a while, Kevin circled around to the rear end of the hill where a few trees made for quite the picturesque scene—foliage dense with white snow providing an area of cool shade.
"This spot should be okay," Kevin muttered, a mental map of the town in his mind to establish a daily jogging routine that would end up with a meditation session in this spot.
Kevin always felt like it was efficient to experience strained exhaustion—both for the body and mind. Since he found himself a typically secluded location for future meditation, it was about time for some public exposure to rowdy up the public propaganda.
However, Kevin didn't reach far before he heard muffled shouting from behind. Turning around, a small ball of white fur was running over.
Looking closely, it was Lexia in thick layers of winter clothing.
With a wry smile, Kevin shook his head and waited for her to arrive before the two proceeded toward the town while holding hands. Evidently, Lexia was very excited to go outside, or perhaps she was simply finding some excuses or distractions for her little mind
After a fifteen minutes walk about, Kevin stepped foot into the familiar yet unfamiliar streets of Riverside Town…