I opened my eyes, not well rested at all.
I could still feel the pulsating muscles in my legs from running and doing push-ups. Though the sensation wasn't there but I could feel as if it was.
My night had been quite eventful.
As I broke my body completing the tasks given by the 'system', hoping to not lose the functionality of my lower body, I did some experiments.
I have been interested in Lucid Dreaming for a while now but never actually had the pleasure to experience it for myself. This occasion served the purpose well.
I looked around to see where I was. It was my room in the Vespertine estate.
So, we did make it back through the teleportation scroll.
My large room, which is actually quite convenient, was glowing with the luminous morning light coming through the similarly large windows up to the ceiling.
I could see a glimpse of the Vespertine Forest outside my window, whose perfect colors could not be imitated by any illusion magic.
I sat up on my bed. My head rang a little. Must have been because of all that blood I lost last night.
Ting.
[YOU ARE AWAKE]
[SKILL: 'WILL TAKER' HAS BEEN PAUSED]
[WILL: 'I WILL BECOME A KNIGHT!' HAS PROGRESSED]
[PROGRSS RATE: 0.3 %]
[ASSIMMILATING PROGRESS REWARDS]
[ASSIMMILATION COMPLETE]
[STATUS WINDOW]
[NAME: KALTES HERZ VESPERTINE]
[AGE: 5]
[TRAIT: PSYCHOPATH (NEGATIVE)]
[TITLE: THE ONE WHOSE NAME IS 'COLD-HEART']
[SPEED: 10 (COMMON) +1]
[STRENGTH: 14 (COMMON) +1]
[INTELLIGENCE: 45 (RARE) +1]
[CHARM: 32 (RARE) +2]
[MANA: 764 MP (TRANSCENDANT) +3]
[POTENTIAL: ERROR]
[SKILL POINTS: 0 (CAN BE USED TO INCREASE STATS)]
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.
[NOTE: STATUS WINDOW REPRESENTS YOUR ABILITIES IN A NUMERICAL FORMAT FOR YOU TO REALIZE YOUR CAPABILITIES.]
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[SKILLS]
[COLLECTOR OF NAMES (LEVEL:2)]
[WILL TAKER]
[WORLD EYES (INCOMPLETE)]
Another bombardment of these messages welcomed me to the realization that what had happened last night was indeed real and not the result of my stupor while injured.
The wound on my back was nicely patched up and bandaged. I didn't feel stuffy either, my body had been wiped clean. My clothes were changed too.
It must have been Diener.
Diener, the butler of the Vespertine Duchy. He had served my father before me and is loyal to the point of annoying. He is old but his abilities never disappoint. I could say his habit of wearing the same pair of dark green boots every day could be the only annoying thing I can imagine in Diener.
I picked up the golden little bell on my right-side table. A couple of rings brought a knock on the door.
"Young Master," an old but condoling voice said. "May I enter?"
"Yes," I said as I got up from bed.
An aged man in prim proper black and white suit, white rusty hair that has turned to that from blonde and seriously 'out-of-the-place' dark green boots entered closing the door behind him.
"Has father returned, Diener?" I asked looking at his hideous boots.
He opened the wardrobe and took out a fresh laundered set of clothes and laid them on the chair near the giant mirror next to the wardrobe.
"I'm afraid the Master has yet to return, Young Master," Diener said, approaching me with a freshly prepared warm water basin that a maid just brought in.
"What about Licht Einar?" I asked before closing my eyes as Diener wiped my face with the wet towel. You could say he's too soft-handed for a man as he wiped my face as if it was made of glass.
"Young Duke Einar is resting in a guest room in the manor," Diener said putting away the basin and fetching the white pirate shirt I usually wear at home. "He's well but has minor injuries on the head and around the neck."
As Diener dressed me, I stood still. It's noble etiquette to imitate a doll when being dressed by servants. It's to show the doll-like beauty and calmness of the person. Quite redundant for violent and abusive lords, I'd say.
"What do you know, Diener?" I asked as I sat down on the large glided couch towards the centre of the room and picked up the papers ready to be read on the table in front of it.
"Young Duke Einar named Countess Schwein before passing out," Diener said, pouring hot steaming tea into a white gold lined cup which he placed on the table. "I can conclude what has happened, Young Master. How do you wish this to be reported to the Master?"
That useless boy made things unnecessarily complicated. How much stupid do you have to be to trust the servants of someone who just got betrayed by one of them.
It baffles me how simple minded the Einar people are.
"It was Behan," I said. "Report to father that Behan betrayed and was killed."
I sipped the tea as I read the morning paper. The headline was quite interesting.
'Countess Agatha Schwein was attacked by unidentified assailants while returning from Vespertine Cathedral after attending the funeral of the Grand Duchess Himmel von Vespertine. Her injuries include an amputated arm and severe poisoning. Investigation says that a mana-draining spell was used on her and then she was attacked. Currently, she's receiving treatment at her estate…'
So, she lived. How distastefully admirable.
Ah, Diener's tea is indeed the worst ever.
"As you wish, Young Master," Diener said. "What do you wish to do for today?"
"I'd like to rest after I visit Mother…," I said, pausing and thinking for a while.
Ah, Himmel died yesterday. I don't need to go to her room and give her company now.
Habits are indeed scary things.
"Take me to where Licht is staying," I said. "I'd like to have a word with him."
"Yes, Young Master," Diener said, putting away the empty tea cup and opening the door for me. "This way, please."
I walked behind Diener through the hallway into the corridors leading to Licht's room. The manor looked the same. Other than a few servants passing by now and then, it was as vacant as always.
I don't understand the people's words when they said that the home will feel empty now. It didn't seem much different than before.
Diener halted before a door and knocked on it.
"Please, come in," a meek but haughty voice said from inside. I had no need to confirm whether it was Licht. The way he said 'please' politely to the butler proved his identity itself. It's noble class to use arrogant speech with one's servants to keep the status in check. Licht, however, is too kind for his own good.
"Young Duke Einar is a very kind boy, I'd say," Diener said with smile opening the door for me. "Do forgive him for slight mistakes he's making, Young Master."
I entered the room where Licht was still sitting in bed reading a book that Diener most likely provided him.
"I'll take my leave now, please enjoy your talk," Diener said receding to the door.
"Take care, Mr. Butler," Licht said as Diener left to which he received a smile from the old man.
I sat on the chair near the bed as I addressed Licht.
"How are you?" I asked
He looked down, a little embarrassed and said, "I'm fine. I'm not hurt as much as you. It's shameless of me to be lying in bed like when you're already walking around. How is your wound?"
I looked at the bandages on his neck and his slightly darkened eye bags. He must've had nightmares last night.
"I'm well," I said. "Father and Duke Einar will return by afternoon today. And…"
"Schwein!!" Licht shouted as he interrupted me in my sentence. I must say this boy has no line of respect. "What happened to Schwein?! We need to tell Grand Duke Vespertine and father about what happened!! They must punish her for what she has done!!!"
"No," I replied to his fiery-spirited opinion.
He looked quite baffled and confounded. With the simple mind he has, this must seem so strange to him. But being foolish doesn't mean you can just be excused for making mistakes. And being the foolish child he is, he must not have noticed the signs yesterday.
"Why?!" he shouted.
For heaven's sake, I have now affirmed that Einar people can't talk without screaming.
"Why you ask," I replied calmly. "There are number of reasons. Say, what do you intend to tell father about last night's incident?"
"That Schwein attacked us to kill you!" (Licht)
"Well, what proof do you have that she did?"
"Proof? Why do we need proof if we are telling the truth?" (Licht)
"If our fathers intend to do something against Schwein, they need proof that provides conviction that it she DID attack us. What is your proof?"
"Well, we are injured?" (Licht)
"That can be easily passed upon Behan. Saying he did that."
"What about the people who saw Schwein get into the Vespertine carriage with us?" (Licht)
"What people? No one saw Schwein entering with us. It was raining and there was thick mist everywhere. Nobody would know for sure even if they did see us."
"What?! There must be someone!! Well, then what about Schwein's arm? How will she answer that?" Licht seemed quite oblivious to the fact that most of the injuries upon us and Schwein were made by Behan.
"It's already out in the newspaper that Schwein was attacked by unidentified assailants last night. Her injuries, INCLUDING THE ARM, have been recorded there, so it's no longer of use," I explained to him.
He stood up and paced up and down the room, perplexed. He seemed to be putting great pressure on his obviously tiny mind to figure out a solution. The only thing he managed to realize though was that he was bare feet while doing so and hurried to put on some shoes.
He stopped for a moment and turned towards me with eyes shining like some jewel. At this moment he seemed so sure that whatever was in his mind was sure to be the answer.
"Mage!" he squeaked. "Schwein is a mage! We can contact the mage tower for a magic signature test!!"
It's almost funny how much within my expectations his answer was.
"But Schwein never used magic on us," I said.
"But the illusion magic on the ankle and the forest!" he yelled. I'm impressed he recognized the Illusion magic, but that was the extent of it.
How dull.
"Schwein used magic a total of three times," I said. "First, on her ankle to feign injury. Second, on the forest surrounding to make it appear to Schwein's estate. And third, to nullify the pain of her arm getting off."
I looked up at Licht.
"Among these three, not a single one was directly used on us. That's why we don't actually carry Schwein's mana signature on us at all. She even went as far as using illusion magic on the forest outside instead of the carriage windows, just so we wouldn't get her mana signature. She used up too much mana doing so and then struggled to fend off Behan."
Licht stared at my face, somewhat amazed, and then said with a cough, "So, now, what do we do?"
"Tell Father that it was Behan and explain his death as a failure of submission magic," I said standing up. "A lot of slaves have died before even actually betraying their masters because the submission spell detected treachery and misinterpreted it as a threat."
It's not like there was no way of accusing Schwein. The poison in my wound and Schwein's arm would've done the trick to claim a link.
But why should I do that?
I need a Guinea pig and one is in front of me. It's foolery to kill it.
Schwein needs to become the perfect lab rat.
"Okay!" he yelled in my ear coming near me. "So, what do we have to do now?"
He looked at me in a similar manner as a puppy that I used to have.
That puppy wasn't wary of humans and I usually kept him in my room. I called it Lepe.
It was stupid little thing that used to follow me around everywhere. One day, Ranke took me hunting with him. It followed me again and got trapped in the trap for hutting rabbits in the Vespertine Forest.
How foolish.
I watched it as it withered and squealed in pain. What interested me was that the look in its eyes never changed. It died pretty quickly and I fed it to my other dog which was bigger. It was a nice dinner for it.
"Let's have breakfast first," I said, walking to the door as Licht followed behind me. "We can wait for father and Duke Einar in the garden after that."
"Yes!! I can't wait to eat food!!" Licht shouted in the hallway, scaring the wits out of a maid passing by.
And on he went, dancing his way through the corridors.
Ting.
.
.
[SKILL: 'WILL TAKER' HAS BEEN USED]
[LEPE'S WILL HAS BEEN TAKEN]
['I WILL GROW UP TO BE STRONG, WOOF!' HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE WILL LIBRARY]
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[MORE THAN ONE WILL HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE WILL LIBRARY]
[UNLOCKING 'BOOKSHELVES' FUNCTION]
['BOOKSHELF-1(NAMES)' HAS BEEN UNLOCKED IN THE WILL LIBRARY]
[DESCRIPTION]
[YOU CAN ADD FIVE NAMES IN BOOKSHELF-1. THESE NAMES WILL ONLY BE INCLUDED IF YOU KNOW THEIR MEANINGS. THE PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES ARE IN BOOKSHELF-1 WILL BE PROTECTED BY THE SYSTEM UNCONDITIONALLY.]
[NOTE: DEATH DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES CANNOT BE PREVENTED]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD A NAME?] [YES] [NO]
I stared at the blue messages. Another useless 'Will' was added to this 'Will Library' place. I might lose more sleep tonight doing this second will too.
Well, not all things seemed useless. A 'Bookshelf' was in use now. Well, the function it has is not yet of very sound use to me. But I can keep witnesses and pawns alive in the future with its help.
Let's just test it out first.
I touched the [YES] and spoke the name I wanted there.
"Ranke," I said.
Ting.
['RANKE' HAS BEEN ADDED TO BOOKSHELF-1]
[RANKE WILL NOW BE PROTECTED]
These two were all the messages that came. So shall we test its functionality now?
'Poisoning Ranke's afternoon tea will be a good test,' I thought as I walked to the dining hall for breakfast.