It has been three years since Alex was reborn into the new world. He is finally able to walk and talk, which he is very grateful for because being stuck as a baby sucked, well, besides his feeding moments, which he was saddened by when he grew too old for them.
Lucky for Alex, his mental capability was still that of a grown adult, so he was able to read books he found in his mother's library and study the history of the world and where he was born. He was born in the Lycian Empire, an empire that was on the west coast of the continent Lemuria. One of three known continents in this world. The Lycian Empire held the second-largest territory on the continent. The largest was the Republic of Thesia which was located near the center of the continent.
He learned about the empire's structure. In short, there are four regions, each located in different cardinal directions. He was living in the western part of the empire. Known as the home of the nobility, as many nobles lived there. The western region of the empire was home to many trade ports, which invited merchants to come there. There have even been merchants who have bought their way into noble status through trade. Alex lived away from the coast, as the Blackwood family was located in the forest region of the west, known as the Amatzia Forest.
The capital of the entire empire was a massive walled city called Lycia. Three walls surrounded the Imperial Palace at the center of the city. Inside the first wall were mainly commoners living there, while inside the second wall were mainly nobles who worked for the Imperial family and embassies of other countries. Lastly, the center was home to the Imperial family and some of the most important nobles.
Learning all of this was interesting to Alex since, before he died, he was an excellent history student. He loved learning things about this world since it was entirely new to him.
Alex was studying again today, learning about some of the recent wars in history, like the southern rebellion that happened 40 years earlier. The southern territory tried to rise up against the capital, to the hatred of the nobility. The war went on for three years before the South had to surrender. Alex was reading about it until his mother came to his room.
"Sweety, it's time for lunch; I made your favorite!"
"Really, you did, mommy?" Young Alex was excited to know his mom had made his favorite dish.
"I did; it's ready at the table for you." His mother said as she walked up to Alex's desk and leaned over his shoulder. She read the title of the book he was reading and sighed.
"Sweety, why don't you read some nicer books, ones meant for kids? Our libraries are full of them."
Alex laughed at this. He never read any of the children's books in the library, as he had no interest in fairy tales. "I don't want to read them, mommy; they just don't interest me, but these types of books do."
Anna, giving up on trying to convince her son, simply sighed and said, "Let's go eat."
The two walked from his room to the dining room, where all of the maids and his sister, Raven, were.
"It took you long enough!" Raven said while sitting impatiently at the table. She had a plate in front of her with spaghetti and a bread roll on it. This world's food had a lot of similarities to Alex's previous life, which he was thankful for.
Alex sat down on the chair next to his mother, who did the same. On Alex's plate were spaghetti noodles like his sister's, but instead of tomato sauce, it had garlic, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice, plus some other seasonings like parsley. On top of the spaghetti noodles were eight pieces of shrimp, cut up. This dish was called Shrimp Scampi, which existed in his previous world. Alex brought the idea to the maids, saying he got the idea of the dish from a book; however, each of them tried making it, and it didn't taste as good as Alex had eaten before he died. That was until his mother gave it a shot and made it extremely well. This is why he only lets his mother make this dish for him. After all, they say there's nothing like a mother's home cooking.
After Alex and Raven ate their lunches, Raven asked Alex if he wanted to go play outside, to which Alex agreed. However, they were not allowed outside without supervision, so the maid, Veronica, went with them. Raven had wanted to show Alex something she found in the woods. Veronica went with them in order to protect them from any possible attackers or monsters, so she brought her spear with her. Anna had made sure each of the maids was properly trained in combat techniques in order to protect her two kids, with each maid specializing in something different. Veronica was skilled with her spear techniques, Mary was talented with a rapier, and Eve was proficient in magic.
Raven led Alex into the woods, and after about fifteen minutes of walking, Raven showed him something he would never forget.
It was a beautiful waterfall, and the view was so perfect that it was as if it were straight out of a painting. A stream with perfectly clear water, the waterfall in the background, and mountains in the distant view. It was absolutely beautiful.
"I want this to become our spot, Alex," Raven had said, looking at Alex and grabbing his hand. "We can come here whenever we want and have fun together, as long as we have permission, of course," she said nervously, looking at Veronica.
"It's fine, just make sure you bring one of us maids or your mother with you." Veronica said it in her usual monotone manner.
"Sweet! So, Alex, what do you think? Do you like it?" Raven asked Alex, who was still taking in the sights.
"It's stunning; I wish I could come here every day." Alex said as he was taking in the view.
After taking a few more minutes to take in the sights, Alex, Raven, and Veronica headed back to the house. Raven is now extremely happy that she and Alex have their own place away from the mansion.
When they got back to the mansion, their mother asked where they went, and Raven told her. Anna agreed with what Veronica told them and asked Veronica to take her there tomorrow to make sure it was safe. Anna was very overprotective after all.
Afterwards, Alex went back to his room to study, however that waterfall stayed in his mind.
At about midnight that night, Alex snuck out of the house and went into the woods. He followed the same path that Raven showed him, and found himself back at that waterfall. The moonlight now glistening on the top of the water. The stars shining in the background. Alex had never seen a view like this. His in previous life he lived in the city and didn't do much traveling. He sat down leaning against a tree and just kept looking at the waterfall. Until he fell asleep under the stars.