I woke up as the sun began rising. I groaned as I turned to the window and tapped my ribs. They felt better, but I still needed some medicine. I looked over to my bed and saw that Alex was still sleeping.
I got up quietly and went over to my closet to change my clothes. I took off the blue shirt that Andres got me and shoved it to the back of my closet before taking out one of my suits. I put on the shirt, vest, jacket, and pants.
After changing, I walked to my desk and took my notebook back to the couch. The whole experience with the hunters made me realize that I needed to modify my plans. I'd have to dedicate time to sword-fighting and combat, but I also needed enough time to make money and start companies.
And while I'm on the subject, making a medical or pharmaceutical company would be my best bet for making money. With scientific knowledge, synthesizing simple drugs like morphine, aspirin, or antibiotics wouldn't be difficult. The potential for profit, however, was immense.
I wrote down all my ideas, and sketches for the drugs, and polished up some of my old designs.
"Someone's wide awake," Alex said as he got up and yawned.
"How was your sleep?" I asked, finishing my drawing.
"The best in the past week," Alexe admitted with a sigh as he got up. "Come on, let's go get breakfast."
I closed my notebook and tossed it to my desk. "I'm gonna head to the infirmary first."
Alex smiled cheekily. "Do you want to see something I learned?"
"Sure, why not?" I got up from the couch. Alex gestured for me to go close to him. "You might want to stand back."
I took a step back and narrowed my eyes. Alex's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as sweat started to form on his head.
Nothing happened for ten seconds before a circular portal appeared in front of us.
"Huh, neat trick," I patted him on the shoulder. "Now will this go to the infirmary."
"It should," Alex said, taking a deep breath.
"Should?" I questioned.
"Eh, I get it around half the time."
"That's reassuring," I told him as I stuck my hand through the portal. The temperature felt around the same, so it was at least inside the house. I stepped through the portal, and thankfully I landed in the infirmary."
"Wait for me!" I heard Alex say before appearing.
I looked around for anything useful. There was a large variety of pretty much every plant and cream. I took a few of the creams, hoping that they didn't have any side effects.
Alex was wandering around the infirmary with child-like fascination. He was poking a lot of the plants and sniffing them.
"I'm done here unless you wanna risk eating unknown plants," I said, grabbing his attention.
"This room smells weird," Alex commented before walking towards me and making our way out of the door. I lifted up my shirt and began applying the cream to my ribs. They stung for a while before turning numb.
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you feel better?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, it doesn't hurt when I walk anymore," I admitted to him as we continued our walk to breakfast. I stopped by a bathroom to wash my hands.
We made small talk, mostly me asking about what he did over the last five days. Alex kept telling me about the portal magic he learned and some sword tricks.
When we arrived at the door of the dining hall, our conversation abruptly stopped. Particularly due to the echoes in the hall coming from our other siblings. Alex looked at me, reassuring me that everything would be alright.
I inhaled as I opened the doors. The scene from the last time I was here played in my mind, overlaying over the image from my eyes.
Mirroring last time, their conversation stopped as they turned their gazes over to me and Alex. Alex's shoulders immediately slumped forward and he began breathing heavily. In hindsight, he probably should've walked in first.
"You're back," Dominick snarled out.
"Wow, you're like a detective or something."
"And you're a moron," He snapped back. I stuck my tongue out to irritate him. He grumbled before going back to eating. Like sheep, Leah and Addison followed his lead and ate as well.
I took my usual seat and began eating. Alex took his seat but kept darting his eyes between me and Addison, his usual talking buddy. I nodded my head to him, and he looked conflicted before starting to talk with Addison.
They were all avoiding me like the plague. I was in my own world while eating.
Suddenly, the door opened and an old man wearing regal clothing walked through. It was my father. Everyone from servants to siblings turned their heads to look at him. The servants bowed as the man slowly walked to me.
"Father," I said, nodding my head.
"We need to talk," He said sternly as he looked at me with a penetrating gaze. I returned it and we stayed staring at each other for a minute.
Finally, I looked away and sighed. "No fun conversations start that way," I got up from my chair and followed my father as he walked away from the dining hall.
Halfway through the route, I realized we were going back to my room. "So is this kind of conversation," He looked at me and raised his eyebrow. I shrugged as we continued down the path.
We finally reached my room. We both walked inside and he closed the door rather loudly. He turned around and looked at me. His usual neutral expression was replaced with one that was full of concern.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
My eyes narrowed at that question. I only told one person in this house what happened, and no one else heard me.
"How do you know what happened?" I asked.
He looked down in shame. "I was worried when I heard you left. So-"
"So you stalked me."
"In a sense, yes. But look what happened. Tell me that it wasn't for the best."
"That's why the hunters got banned!" I exclaimed as the pieces of the puzzle came into my mind. "I was wondering why they would kick them out. They were good business, but you paid them off."
"I take it you're good enough to be outraged," He said, starting to move to my side. "I was afraid that you wouldn't fare well due to not having mana. But it seems I was wrong."
He ruffled my hair. "You did well for yourself all alone."
I was feeling conflicted. I didn't know if I should be thankful that he helped me from the hunters, or angry that he violated my privacy. But one thing that I didn't expect was that he was treating me like a son. Unlike my mother, he looked out for me.
"Thank you for caring," I said somberly before clenching my fist. "But please respect my privacy."
My father opened his mouth to retort but closed it when his eyes saw my fist.
"Okay," He said softly. When I examined his microexpressions, I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. He started walking around the room, trying to find something to change the conversation to. He started walking to the piano.
"I never knew you learned to play piano."
"I need some way to pass the time," I replied, passing off my new sudden ability.
"Is that so?" He commented. "Can you play a song for me?"
I sighed and began making my way to the piano. "Any request in particular?"
"Whatever you are willing to play," He said. I took a seat and stretched my fingers. My father seems like a war/patriotic guy, so I began playing the Star Spangled Banner.
The only noise in the room was the familiar anthem. I continued playing the best I could with my small hands, and I thought I did pretty well. When I finished, father clapped.
"That was beautiful," He complimented me.
"Thanks," I said, almost emotionless. Another silence followed with just us sitting there, existing.
"Is there anything you want to ask me?" He asked. "I feel like I'm leading this conversation."
I stared at him before a smile came on my face. A way to end this shithole of a conversation.
"Why do you feel guilt?" I asked. His entire body twitched.
"Pardon?"
"Do you know the five stages of grief?" I asked. He shook his head.
"Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. You've never made an effort to talk to me before. Not once. Until today, after I got outed and put in the lowest caste, disappeared for a week, and got my ass beat. And with all the attempts at bonding, you're around the acceptance stage. So the question is what grief, or guilt, are you trying to process."
Father stared at me. His eyes and expression hardened. "What happened to you? No eight-year-old should be capable of … of that."
"Getting disgraced out of society will do that to you. I have to make up for no magic somehow," I said. Our faces were polar opposites, my smiling face opposed to his hardened and defensive face.
"Still, no eight-year-old is capable of that," He mumbled.
"I'm an overachiever," I said. "So, are you going to answer the question?"
"Perhaps when you're older," He said, shaking his head. I was about to push more to try and make him leave, saying he just called me mature. But what happened next led to a chain of events that was a godsend to me.
A loud bang was heard in the distance. Immediately, the door opened and one of the guards came in.
He bowed down. "Lord Henry, demons came through the portal in the forest near the estate.".
"Demons?" He asked. "Are you sure? We have a peace treaty."
"Yes, my lord. Your presence is needed down."
"Are they violating the treaty?" Father said softly, trying to think. He rose up from the seat and looked at me. "We'll talk some other time. Don't leave this house, I'll send some guards for you."
He began running out of the room, no doubt to go towards the battlefield. When he left the room, the lock clicked. I was left alone in my room. This moment made me realize that I was changing.
I understood human emotions and behavior extremely well. However, I didn't use my knowledge to get what I wanted. I always just kept it at the back of my mind to make them feel better.
I was changing into a manipulator.
I didn't really have anything material to gain from getting my dad to back off. I just wanted him off my back.
Was this the price of my deal? The price for tricking god?
Or was it this new society? The society that spat on me, disregarding any potential I had?