"3.2.1, ready or not, here I come." said a white-haired boy with a mischievous expression on his cute face, which still had some baby fat and red eyes that held a glint of innocence in them.
He was wearing some blue shorts along with a white shirt and a blue vest, which all looked pristine.
From his clothes and vibe, it was easy to deduce that the kid was a noble.The kid was standing under the shade of a tree that was planted in the backyard of a massive mansion.
From the above scene, one could guess the kid was playing hide and seek, and the boy seemed to be the seeker.
Once he finished counting, the kid started moving around the large garden, checking every bush he came across, trying to find someone, but to the boy's dismay, he could find no one.
A maid was standing near the garden with a pleased expression on her face, watching her young master play with his friend without a care in the world about his surroundings.
She had brown hair along with chestnut-coloured eyes, making her quite pleasing to look at.
In her hands, she held a tray with a towel and multiple glasses containing a yellow-coloured drink that looked like lemonade.
"Hey Alia, tell me, where did those little rats hide? Are they even inside the garden?" the boy asked the maid with an annoyed expression on his face, due to failing to find anyone despite trying his best for the past 20 minutes.
"Well, young master, I'm afraid the game would lose its purpose if I told you that, and to answer the second question, yes, they're still hiding in the garden," said Alia with an amused expression on her face, seeing her young master's antics.
Seeing her refusal to help him, the boy had an annoyed expression on his face, which made him look cute.
The boy even considered breaking the rules and using mana, as he knew it wouldn't even take him a minute to find everyone if he tried.
However, just when that idea was taking root in his mind, he heard a rustle from a bush nearby.
Upon hearing it, the boy had a pleased expression on his face as he ran towards the bush where the noise came from, and upon reaching it, he started digging into the bush, trying to find the source of the noise.
After a few moments of digging, he found her, a black-haired girl with leaves sticking out of her hair and grey eyes that were a little moist, seemingly frustrated upon being the first to be found.
"Hahahaha, I found you,Lilly! see? I told you that you suck at hiding," said the boy with a teasing expression on his face.
"Shaddup William, you little cheat who tried to get Alia to help you." The girl replied with an expression expressing that she felt wronged.
"Oh well, I was just overestimating you; in the end, I didn't even need her help to find you. Now, how about you tell me where your brother is hiding and I'll come over to play with your friends for an hour?" asked William with an expression saying he already knew what her answer would be.
"Hmm," the girl said with a finger on her face, as if she were in deep thought."Make it two hours, and I'll do it," said the girl with a smile on her face, as if she didn't even care about selling out her brother.
"Ugh," said the boy with a frown on his face, but after some contemplation, he decided to agree, although reluctantly.
But before Lilly could sell her brother out, a boy with black hair and grey eyes jumped out of a tree nearby and said,"Hey, that's not fair. How could you sell your brother out like that?" Said the boy with an expression on his face, saying how hurt he felt.
"Well, brother, you were a worthy sacrifice for me to get William to agree to play with us," replied the girl with an expression showing no remorse for selling him out or for seeing his hurt expression.
"So just to clarify, I don't owe anyone my playtime; after all, the deal was only valid after Lilly told me where Zack was hiding, but since he came out on his own without her telling me, the deal is void," Willaim shot back with an amused expression on his face, feeling glad to not have to be forced to play with those nobles.
"Hey, that's not fair," Lilly shot back, tears welling in her eyes and a hurt expression on her cute face.
"Well, life isn't fair, little Lilly," replied William. His face still had an amused expression.
"Hahaha, that's what you get for trying to sell your brother out," replied Zack with an amused expression at his sister's being punished for trying to sell him out.
While the children were busy with their playful banter, a maid stepped into the garden and shouted, "Young master William, young master Zack! And young lady Lilly, please come inside the house; lunch is ready.".
Upon hearing her, the kids decided to reluctantly agree and go inside, but not before grabbing the lemonade from the tray Alia was holding and drinking it.
Upon stepping inside, the kids were greeted by a lavish white room with a marble floor.
The walls were decorated with a bunch of photos containing William and his family.
The room also contained a pleasing scent, which made sure to calm the nerves of anyone who stepped inside. It was also extremely clean, with not even a speck of dust in sight, which made one wonder just how hard it must be to clean such a massive room to such a degree.
However, none of the kids cared about any of that, as it was just a normal sight for them. Once the kids stepped inside, a bunch of maids came forward and made sure to clean up any sweat or dirt the kids may have accumulated from playing outside.
Once they were done, the kids made their way towards the dining room, where they were met with a golden-coloured room that had a giant chandelier on its ceiling, and in the middle of the room was a dining table with 12 seats.
Decorating the dining table were dishes and delicacies of all kinds. Sitting at the table was a breathtaking woman with deep black hair and emerald-like green eyes.
She had unblemished pale skin, which all combined to make her a sight for sore eyes.
The woman was wearing a light yellow blouse and had a red necklace in the shape of a fairy around her neck, which perfectly contrasted her green eyes and made her look even more stunning.
She had a smile on her face when she saw the kids approaching the table.
Upon seeing her, William had a wide smile on his face and ran forward, shouting "Mother!!" Upon reaching her, the boy jumped into her embrace, hugging her tightly.
"Awww! Did my little angel miss me so much?? " Said Myra with a delighted expression at seeing her son again after 3 days and how happy he was seeing her again.
"Of course I missed you, Mother. You and Dad were gone for 3 whole days. Also, is Dad back?"
asked William with an excited expression.
"Yeah, your father will be back soon; he just had some county matters to handle before he could come back," Myra replied with a happy expression.
Hearing her answer, William decided to take a seat on a chair beside her.
Seeing how different William acted in front of his mother compared to when he was with them, Zack and Lilly could do nothing but sigh as they took a seat on the dining table.A few maids were still standing near the entrance of the room in case their lords needed something.
They had a small smile on their faces, seeing the antics of their young lord."So how did your guys play time go?" asked Myra with a smile on her face. "William took 20 minutes just running around the garden trying to find us. He tried to cheat by asking Alia and was going to use mana till my idiot sister made a rustling noise and got found, after which she tried to sell me out," Zack said calmly, though his face still showed how hurt he felt upon almost being betrayed by his sister.
"Hey, just so you know, I only took so long trying to find you because I was bored, and it wouldn't be fun if I found you guys too soon. I only asked Alia to confirm if she still remembered the rules of not helping the seeker or not. Also, the only reason I didn't use mana was to make it a bit fair for you guys,"
William quickly replied, trying to defend himself.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure if you didn't use mana and not for my idiot sister, it would've taken you all day trying to find me,"
Zack quickly replied.Upon hearing this, Lilly quickly shot back, trying to defend herself.
"Hey, it's not my fault. Do you know how hard it is to stay crouched inside a bush for 20 minutes? In the end, I didn't even get William to agree to play with me and my friends because of my stupid brother."
Lilly said it with a hurt expression.Upon seeing the antics of the kids, Myra, with an amused expression on her face, said, "OK, enough about that. Let's all eat now before the food goes cold."
With a lighthearted atmosphere in the air, everyone started eating the food, which tasted extremely good and was fresh as it was made by the best chefs in the whole county.
Once they were done with the lunch, Zack and Lilly decided to go back home, as it was almost time for their classes.After both of them were gone, Myra took William to her room, where she chatted with him about everything she did with his father, cutting out some details that might not be appropriate for him to hear.
In return, William also told her about everything he had done for the past three days.
Once that was done, Myra said, "OK, enough chitchat. I'm sure you didn't just spend the last 3 days playing around with your friends, so why don't you come with me to the training room and show me everything you learned?"
"Ha, mother, you know me so well. I was just itching to show off a little in front of you." With that said, William quickly followed behind Myra to her private training room.
Once inside, William was greeted by a very spacious white room where the walls and floor were covered in white padding and the ceiling was covered in black padding.
Inside the room were 12 scarecrow-like training dummies; a little further along the walls were six golems, which seemed immobile, seemingly awaiting instructions to move. Upon entering inside, William couldn't help but think, 'It's been 3 whole days since Mother last saw me; it wouldn't be fair to her if I didn't show off a little as he removed a seemingly plain grey ring from his left index finger, which was suppressing his mana so he could play with his friends.