Growing up in this new world was a blessing compared to the grim reality of Nancolle. Here, he could enjoyed delicious meals cooked by a mother he had never known before, provided by a father that he didn't have to constantly worry about how the money was earned.
When Kayn and his twin sister Kisara turned eight, they were entered into the local school. Unlike the schools back home, the curriculum here combined life skills essential for this lifestyle with basic arithmetic and language lessons.
For instance, his first life skills lesson involved learning about different edible plants. For his first assignment, he received a small clay pot, crafted by senior students, along with some onion seeds to plant in it.
On that day, his class consisted of around 15 scruffily dressed boys and girls and three children who wore neatly pressed shirts and thick cotton overcoats to stay warm during the harsh winter months.
Kayn had a been seated in between his sister and one of the more well dressed boys. He couldn't stop sizing the plump boy up.
'I bet that heavy coat must be a real burden on those young shoulders. How about you let me help you out friend.' He thought to himself while letting out a bit of a chuckle.
"What's wrong with you, are you gay or something?"
Kayn's shock was visible, had a boy the age of 8 or 10 years old really just said that to him
"Haha no, even if I was I wouldn't settle for an ugly, little shit like you"
Kisara, who overheard the interaction, burst out in a fit of laughter causing the now rosy cheeked boy to slam his hand on the table and jump up out of his seat.
"Do you even know who I am you worthless idiot, I am the son of Earl Gre..."
"Don't care, sit down before all that exercise gives you have a heart attack." Kayn cut off the boy as he turned his head away in dismissal.
Now the entire class had heard the interaction and was now included in this bickering and erupted in laughter which was quickly suppressed by Mrs Eldridge.
As she stormed down the isle between the tables, kayn rested his head on his hand looking away in defiance which only further added to her sour expression.
"Kayn, get out now and I don't want to see you back at school for the rest of the day! Your father is going to hear all about this!"
"Yeah, yeah, skip the part where the arrogant rich kid started it. I'm sure his deep pockets will win over your cold heart you old hag."
Mrs Eldridge was as equally as infuriated as the child now, her face glowing with rage and embarrassment which only increased with the ensuing roar of laughter from all the other children, which was promptly snuffed out by her scanning of the room.
Kayn got up from his seat with a moody bounce and sauntered out of the room while giving a sarcastic wave to the teacher.
Already the rich against poor prejudice had started and it was his first day.
Leaving the school he wandered the snow covered village while thinking on what he should do.
If he went home now then his parents would know he just got kicked out of school on his first day and that would cause one hell of an argument. Hopefully if he just stayed away for as long as possible they would calm down a bit.
After some thought, he came to the conclusion that it was his only option he tried to drum up a bit of his child like charm and headed to Aunty Ada's house.
Her house had less rooms than his own but that made sense as they only had a single child, however for a house with a single floor it was much taller.
One major difference between his house and Ada's was that everything was painted a vibrant orange color, in fact she was the only house in the entire village that had any color to it.
Just before he could knock on the door it shot open and he was snatched up by his overly enthusiastic Aunt.
"How's my favorite nephew doing!"
Her hug tightening like an anaconda constricting the life out its prey, turning Kayn's poor face bright red. He could feel the blood forced into his face making him a little dizzy.
"Doing great Aunty. You mind letting me go, I'm struggling to breathe here"
"Oops, sorry about that. I forgot how little you are."
Kayn's masculine pride getting a little scarred hearing those words.
He entered the home to see the familiar main room with the fire stoked and Sara sat on a thin red carpet with a strange design while reading a book. Everything in the house was strange, the curtains didn't match, there were strange abstract paintings scattered across every wall, even the dining table was carved and painted with strange symbols.
His cousin Sara was a couple of years older than him and the only interaction they had was at his birthday. She was a quiet girl, but he had heard from his mother that she was diagnosed with a terminal illness that left her little time to live life.
He gave Sara a greeting smile and nodded his head and in return received the same back. He took a seat on the chair next to the fire which warmed his frozen bones from wandering the snow covered streets.
Now that he was sitting across from her, he noticed the blue blotches on the left side of her face that were not there the last time he saw her.
He grimaced but decided not to mention them, seeing how she turned her face slightly to hide the blue marks.
While he had been told about her condition in general terms, the specific details had been omitted. It was a shame; whenever they talked at birthday celebrations, she was quiet, but still had a certain cheerfulness about her. Now, he realized it had all been an act.
"So, what brings you here?" Ada asked.
"Erm, well... I might have been kicked out of school on my first day for arguing with the Earl's kid," Kayn admitted while trying to hide his mischievous grin.
"So, you came here to hide away from your parents," Ada responded, not angry or disappointed but with a half-baked smile, as if she was used to this kind of thing.
"Fine, you can stay here, but you're doing Sara's chores as payment. And you can make me and your cousin a coffee."
Kayn sighed, cutting it off before it became too noticeable. Normally, he would complain about doing monotonous tasks, but this time he didn't mind. He glanced at Sara, who was engrossed in her books, and felt a bit of an internal smile at the thought of easing her load.
He got to work making some hot drinks, brushing up the dusty floors and wiping the dirty worktops. Each new part he cleaned made him realize how weird the décor was, everything had strange colors like a painter had gone mad with passion.
After some time Ada's husband barged in like a wrecking ball. He was an oversized brute with a braided beard that reached just above his belly button. Dark brown hair and even darker brown eyes, he was built like a gorilla with his muscles bulging. He was the epitome of physical masculinity.
He was covered in dirt and stank of alcohol and sweat, he stumbled in ruining all the hard work Kayn had just done cleaning the floors.
He sat on a chair next to his daughter and ruffled her hair lovingly. He looked out of place in a room with a short, skinny blonde wife and an even shorter, blonde, sickly daughter.
"I wish you would take your dirty shoes off before trapesing all over the carpet Harald!"
"Hey you big oaf, I just finished cleaning that floor!"
Kayn's resolve was unwavering in the face of the figure that would have normally terrified every other child his age. In response the man let out a belching laugh that could have shook the paint off the walls.
"It's been a while you scrawny little skeleton. When's that old man of yours going to feed you a proper meal."
His scratchy voice grated on Kayn's ears but it was a welcome one, it reminded him of the old drunks his father would drink with when he was a child back in Nancolle. After a short exchange of friendly banter back and forth Ada explained Kayn's situation to her husband.
"Ah it's no problem, I would get into fights with those pompous arsehole nobles and get kicked out of school all the time. I can't count the amount of times that I stayed over at Ada's house to give time for my parents to cool down so I wouldn't get my head bashed in. You'll stay here tonight son, you can sleep in the spare room."
Kayn had no intention of staying but Harald certainly wasn't a man to take no for an answer.