Rio who was trapped in his nightmares reliving the nightmares, he thought that he forgot. The 32 days he spent trapped in his body going through every moment of that pain again.
It was just as that clone of Nashi said, the nightmares he was having now were actually memories playing in front of him again, just like the time when he first died or when he saw Rio's memories, But the difference now was he could actually feel stuff again. So instead of watching a movie, he was living in it.
There was a 50-50 chance of it happening with either Rio's memories or Shiva's. It was his bad luck that he got the sad side of stick.
_
Myra who stayed in the next room all night as per Artemis's order, came to call Rio for breakfast.
Knock - Knock
After knocking on the gate a few times, and when she didn't get any answer. Myra used her token to open the door.
[ As same as the servant quarters, every room where Duke's family stays had many powerful arrays placed on them. To stop any assassin or other people from entering without permission. So without the token with a certain mana signature no one could open it. Breaking these arrays or bypassing them without attracting any attention is just a fool's dream. ]
When Myra came inside she saw Rio still asleep on his bed covered in blankets. She went ahead and opened the window curtains and then pulled his blanket but Rio still didn't had any reaction.
Myra gently shook Rio's shoulder, trying to wake him up. As he stirred, she noticed that he was drenched in sweat and tears stained his cheeks. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to approach the situation.
"Rio, wake up." she said softly, gently shaking his shoulder.
Suddenly bolted upright, Rio's eyes wide open with fear and anger. He swung his arm wildly, nearly hitting Myra in the process.
"Leave me the fuck alone" He barked.
Startled but quick on her feet, Myra jumped back and raised her hands defensively. "Rio, it's me." she said calmly, hoping to snap him out of his nightmare.
Rio blinked rapidly, looking around the room as if unsure of what was happening. "What... what's going on?" he muttered, his voice hoarse.
"You were having a nightmare" Myra said, trying to keep her tone as gentle as possible.
Rio slowly began to calm down, his breathing returning to normal. He looked up at Myra, his eyes still lost.
Rio took a deep breath and nodded, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to... thank you," he said, his voice still shaky.
Myra nodded back, relieved that he was finally coming back to reality. "Of course. Shall I help you get ready? It's almost time for breakfast."
"No, I'll be fine. Inform mother & Amy that I'll be having my breakfast in the room today." said Rio, hoping to get some time alone.
Myra looked at him and nodded her head. "Ok. I will be outside, so if you need anything call me." With that Myra bowed and turned back to leave.
Rio lay back on the bed as he watched Myra leave. He looked at the ceiling and thought - 'what the hell was that. It looked like I was back on earth'
'is this some kind of aftereffects as that guy said'
'But what can I do now.'
Rio closed his eyes and the scene of her funeral started playing in his head again. He opened them again and with a loud sigh, thought -
'so much for starting fresh in a new world.'
_
Rio got up from his bed and walked towards the bathroom, no maids or servants were assigned anywhere near him aside from Myra. So he had to do all his little chores himself unless he wanted to have Myra take a peek. A 30 year old guy getting help for bathing by a 20 year old girl - that would be embarrassing.
A small chuckle came to his lips at the funny thought. But his face still had that coldness to it.
_
After a quick shower, Rio had a light breakfast. Which somehow wasn't as tasty as yesterday's, but that is to be expected since Chiron is in prison, probably having the time of his life.
'Well looks like, Blake's need a new chef. There was someone good at cooking in the plot _ Should I get her to work for us.'
'Nah, I should probably take care of my nightmares and Noah first'
'Both are the problems which would annoy me everyday if not solved early'
'And my best bet, to fix both of them together, is probably the awakening and the world system'
'If I take care of Noah, I can avoid events resulting in my certain villainous doom & after awakening, even if the system doesn't help with my brain, if I'm strong enough I won't need to sleep daily thus reducing these nightmares.'
'not the permanent solutions but the best I got'
With his thoughts about future actions planned out he looked at Myra, who was clearing out the plates and dishes from the table.
"Have you gathered all the ingredients from the list?" Rio said.
Myra looked at Rio and was surprised to see the calm look he had now, totally opposite of the vulnerable side he showed when he first woke up an hour ago.
'I wonder what kind of dream he had' she thought but didn't find it important enough to question, knowing he won't tell anything to her even if she asked.
"Yes, but are you sure about the recipe. Even master was worried after learning about the ingredients. There are some books which are known for having some false or half information, maybe we can _ ." Myra was voicing her worries.
But Rio just shook his head and cut her off - "You guys can try all you want once I'm done with it. And as for the information being a lie, you don't have to worry about it."
[As translation of singular books depended on luck & opportunities - the person who did it, will always be the first one to get the rewards, if he chose to use that knowledge. If that book turned out to be a trap or contained half truths, then that's their luck too. It's all a risky move but people still do it, cause no one can ignore the allure of a great gift that transcends common sense.]
"As you wish young master" Myra said. It was only her job to warn him. Besides with the treasures Duke house has, there would still be no life threatening risk for Rio even if he ate all that directly without making a potion.
"And Myra, go to the Belmont family. I need you to buy me a slave of theirs. Her name should be Megan Levette. She has short red hairs and should be around the age of 18-20." Rio spoke, this time in a much more serious tone, and watched as Myra's face had a surprised look and eyes which were probably scrutinizing him, hoping to ask for a reason. And before she could ask, Rio continued - "And you don't have to worry, I'll talk to Mother about it. So you should just make the preparations."
Myra still with her doubting gaze looked at Rio and when she noticed he had no intention of continuing or explaining anything else, she just nodded and said - "Fine, I'll send a letter."
But Rio shook his head and said in an authoritative tone, no longer acting as her friend or student but as the future heir of this house - "Maybe you didn't hear clearly what I said Myra. I want YOU to personally go there and bring her to me. I don't care how you do it, but I need it done as soon as possible."
Myra who for the first time saw him acting like this was surprised, but as a trained shadow , just nodded her head.
After saying this Rio stood up and started walking out. He needed to explain all this to Artemis and talk about his awakening, he also needed to get permission to visit the prison.
It was time to free his shadow and let her be of some use.
'Fuck my luck for being this shitty.' he thought as he kicked the floor.
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A/N - I'll post a long chapter tomorrow or 2 short ones - don't cuss me for saying nothing special happened today.
Plus any guess who's the new slave girl ???