My eyes opened up at the sight of the curtains being raised, the rays meeting my gaze and causing my head to thump.
I waved at the maid to stop, watching her bow before excusing herself.
While supporting my body, I pushed myself up till I was sitting upright.
Touching my face, I could feel a bandage over my right eye, but whether or not my eye could actually see again, I wasn't quite sure.
I hopped off my bed, standing in front of the mirror, dressed lazily in pajamas.
Even though I had vowed to escape mediocrity, my life always seemed to be at the center of it.
"So it wasn't all a dream huh?" I muttered quietly, head cast downwards as the thumping slowed down relatively.
"What wasn't?" Jem asked, making her way towards me as she pushed my room door open.
She was still dressed in her night gown, her tiny form almost too big for the dressing.
"Huh, what are you doing here Jem?" I asked, surprised both by her question and appearance.
She pulled me to the bed, ignoring my question and jumped on my lap, dragging both of my cheeks as she stared at my face with squinted eyes.
"Uncle Fil said you got injured during your training, Jem wanted to check if you were ok" She responded, addressing herself in the third person as she shrugged off my looming grasp.
"Little miss, come back here, the young master has to rest" Martha scolded, fuming in a confused rage as she walked towards me and Jem.
She was the oldest maid in our estate and also had children of her own, hence, why she was appointed as head maid and Jem's personal caretaker.
"It's fine, Martha" I offered, signaling her to let Jem be, as she reached out to grab her.
The troubled look on her face was now more relaxed, but had grown completely into discontent.
"You spoil her too much, young Lord" she warned, rescinding back to the door, picking up Jem's shoes as she left.
She stopped when she reached the door, as if she had forgotten something vital, scratching her short, black hair almost immediately.
"I'll have Natasha bring up some tea" she added, closing the door behind her, a wry smile on her face.
"That would be nice!" I bellowed, hoping it would reach her ears before she shut the door totally.
Jem was humming a song the entire time, tossing my hair over and over again.
I dragged one of her cheeks playfully, before telling her to turn around so I could weave her hair into locks.
Her auburn hair, was even more lustrous and beautiful than mine, leaving me astonished each time I touched it.
We were the only pair of siblings with our mother's hair, unlike the rest who had inherited Romelis's dominant jet black hair.
She shuddered when I reached the last part, giggling as her teeth became visible.
"That tickles" she pointed out, checking the braid I had made.
I proceeded to tickle her for real and watched as she laughed over and over, jerking mildly.
It was a new experience for me, since I didn't have younger siblings back on earth, born at dead last.
"Dad has a visitor" she said, pointing at the door as she stopped laughing. I too, stopped what I was doing and peered into her eyes before questioning her.
"How did you know that!"
She looked at me, amazement written all over her face causing me to move back like I was at fault.
"The spirits told me" This time she was pointing at thin air and I began to wonder if daytime hallucinations was a good thing for a five year old.
Instantly though, a memory surfaced, one of Milo's about Jem's ascension ritual.
The priest had made mention about her possible affinity with spirit magic. She was born with a B rank class and was bound to be the second genius mage of the family, a rare thing even in this world of magic.
It made me proud just to be called her brother, but slightly concerned by her growth.
"Jem can make you listen if you want, no?" she offered, clasping my hand tightly as I felt a rush of mana envelope my senses, it was as if I could hear the voices of hundreds of creatures.
"Just listen to Jem's voice, big brother" Her face was laden with worry the moment she saw me wincing in pain.
I looked at her face and smiled, breathing deeply to help me relax as I felt the rush of noise calm down exponentially.
She chanted a spell quietly, closing her eyes after, as flickers of light revolved around us, they were dim and small like fireflies gathering, but it was beautiful.
A collage of colours sifting through the air and spaces between us.
She gave me a squeeze, prompting me to focus so I followed suit, shutting my active eye and immersing myself totally in the sixth sense.
I could hear voices, conversing about something but I couldn't make out what it was yet, but gradually the words began to make sense, and then something unique happened.
Like with a VR headset, I began to see everyone in the room, Romelis was speaking with a short, stout man constantly dabbing sweat off his face.
I could tell by their tone that they were discussing something very important.
"That makes it the fourth carriage this week huh"
Romelis didn't seem shaken by the news, rather he just stroked his chin quietly, staring at his desk in front of him.
"It's clearly a power struggle sire, we have to act now" The guest stressed, leaning towards the patriarch as he dabbed his face with a handkerchief once more.
"Calm yourself, Julius. We cannot launch a counterattack when we don't know who's firing first. " Romelis cautioned him, sipping the tea that Martha had brought in.
"But we're losing more products each day, the journey to the riverine trade union has been arduous on our workers and we can barely pay them now since we're not making profits anymore. " Julius fumed, gauging his rage in the presence of his superior.
Even though his size wasn't something to compliment, the grace in his presentation was somewhat different.
His attire seemed to be sewn with very rich fabric as the ends of his black coat had a red linen around it, signifying he was among the administrative ranks of the county.
I didn't know the reason for their conversation but I could tell already from a few statements that the county was suffering loss in transporting food products.
Judging by how tense Romelis was each time Julius spoke, meant that it had been going on for a while.
"So they plan on overthrowing the patriarch huh?"
If that were to ever happen, I would lose my status as a potential head and also as a nobleman, bringing me once more to the level of a commoner?
'No way!'
Even though I wanted to barge into their conversation and demand an involvement, I couldn't.
All they would see was a weak thirteen years old with no strength of his own.
'I guess we've got an agenda then Milo' I thought, grinning at the plan I was coming up with.
I paid attention to the rest of their conversation, mostly speaking about the royal gathering that was in six months.
Julius seemed excited about it, since he had been personally asked by the patriarch to accompany him for the first time.
He left soon afterwards, his carriage already prepared for him, giggling like Santa as he waved at Jem and I.
I just ignored him and proceeded to the other side of the manor, where the knights trained.
Just a few yards from the main garden, the training hall was situated in the farthest part of the manor since the sounds from the knights training, might inconvenience the main family.
The building was larger than the training room I had used with master Fil but it was quite similar by design.
A rose field laid before the door, beautifying the entrance. I plucked one, smelled it and hung it in the armour of the guard that stood outside, smiling mischievously.
Since I was taking a break from magic and I needed to act about out current dilemma, swordsmanship was the only viable form of solution.
There would be times where I would have to defend myself, and I couldn't do that without learning how to fight first.
"Captain Secrust, can I speak with you" I asked, beckoning on the captain of our knights order to come with me, as I stepped into the hall.
There were roughly about sixteen knights in the hall, excluding the captain and males servants that were tending to the equipments.
They were all young men, some barely older that Frederick, who was fifteen.
"Oh, if it isn't the young Lord!" Secrust smiled as he turned to face me, bowing briefly to show respect.
In terms of build, I could only describe him as huge.
His beefy six foot four figure towered over me as he walked towards me, a sword flung on his waist, clothed primarily in red armour.
Our house crest was at the center of his breastplate; an eagle lifting up a snake in the air.
He the insignia of the knights order on is shoulder and a black robe hung from under it.
It was quite the same as the one Milo was born with and I couldn't even argue with the choice of taste, since it was undeniably badass.
He pulled off his helmet when he got in front of me, exposing his short brown hair and a scar on his chin.
Two things that seemed awfully dominant among the men of this manor.
I could tell by the wrinkles on his face, that he was already nearing his forties but his form had not diminished in the slightest.
"I want to learn swordplay" I spoke finally, staring him right in the eyes as he looked back at me, shocked at what I had said.
"Are you sure, young Lord?. Swordsmanship is more physically imposing than magic casting. " He stated, folding his hands as he revealed the chewing stick hidden in the corner of his mouth.
'This body is fourteen not dumb old man!' I yelled in my head, feeling the urge to smack him.
" Yes I know, that's exactly why!" I affirmed clutching my fist as I raised it towards my face.
It was exactly as he said, I needed something more physically challenging if I wanted to grow stronger in a short time.
"Besides, this body is way too feeble for my liking!".