Nebbie woke up with a yawn. Next to him was the Head Maid Mary, despite no longer needing a nursing maid she had insisted they continue to share a room in the event his father tried anything, and try something he had many a time over the past several years.
Mary woke up as soon as Nebbie tried to crawl over her, even thought today was his and his sibling's 11 birthday, the age signifying they, as nobles, would soon enter the world of education, Nebbie had barely grown at all, he was roughly the size of a suitcase, as such Mary had no trouble carrying him around even to this day.
Seemingly to prove that point Mary easily picked him up and brought him to dresser, She pulled out a Red robe that looked suspiciously like a dress and handed it to him, an attempt to insult him from his father, as he had the Demon Lord seed he was treated like a mage, and since mages wore robes his father had given him Molly's hand me downs at about the time his siblings had all started out growing him. They were all just Dresses and they all knew it, but no one said that to his face at the very least.
Nebbie took off his pajamas and Mary gave him a once over, he knew what she was about to say and hoped she would just once not say it, but say it she did.
"You're growing into a fine young lady," She chuckled, Nebbie angrily took the dress before responding.
"It's not my fault Demons all look so….elegant," Despite being clearly marked a boy at birth, the older Nebbie got, the more feminine his appearance became, His sister Hanna however, thanks in no small part to the blossoming of her Warrior seed, had a fairly masculine build, resulting in the two often being miss-gendered by the visiting nobel's. Him having to wear a dress as a cruel joke and her having to wear manish attire for her warrior training certainly didn't help the matter, although it did help the two bond over their shared annoyance at the dress code forced upon them by their father.
Mary made her way to the door and stood at the ready as Nebbie climbed atop their shared dresser and looked out his tiny window to the outside world, he could see many noble's arriving, Eric had made many friends at social gatherings, both Hanna and Molly had a handful but most kept their distance , mostly because the both of them had, more than once, hit a kid for mocking Nebbie's appearance behind his back, one such time it had even been Eric who had been the one to get hit.
Being named first son and heir to the throne Eric had grown up to have a 'holier than thou' attitude, towards just about anyone and everyone. He even talked to their parents like they were beneath him, the fact that their father agreed with him only served to make the matter a thousand times worse.
It was known across the kingdom that at least three of the children had been born with Seeds of Power, only Hanna and Molly had been able to make theirs blossom.
For Hanna to Blossom the Warrior Seed she needed to do one of two things, successfully win a fight, or master a sword, She had Blossomed at the age of seven at the first party she had ever been invited to after challenging the child of the noble who was throwing the party to a fight after he poured his drink on Nebbie as a way to earn favor with the future hero Eric.
Molly had blossomed her Mage Seed at the age of nine, Her Seed had apparently only one requirement, she simply needed to master a single spell, she had Blossomed when she mastered the levitation charm, her motivation had been to try and get the notoriously stone faced Nebbie to smile at her puppet show, he hadn't had the heart to deny her that victory.
For the Demon Lord seed to blossom forth Nebbie needed to do one of three things, murder someone who had a clean soul, have a Demon swear to him it's loyalty, or stab a Hero.
To Blossom his seed Eric also had to do one of three things, do something Heroic purely to do something heroic, do something kind for kindness sake, or stab a Demon Lord.
Eric had been unable to blossom his Hero's seed due to it requiring a heroic deed or kindness, something the self imported boy seemed incapable of doing.
Their father had tried setting up scenarios for Eric to blossom, and everytime Eric had indeed taken the opportunity, only to fail due to his reasons not being based in heroism or kindness but in showing others just how much better he was compared to them and using the act as little more than bragging rights.
Nebbie personally didn't much care to make his Blossom forth, an unblossomed seed of Power still gave it's holder powers if they trained hard enough, and keeping his unblossomed meant Eric couldn't cheat his way to the title should he ever find out that Nebbie had a seed, blossoming simply gave the holder all skills it held at a medium level instead of starting at level one and training it up enough to actually be used.
Looking out the window Nebbie couldn't care less about the visiting nobles, as an adult man reborn as a child he found the idea of mingling with children kind of creepy, and so had found his friends in a different place.
There was not a single member of the manor staff Nebbie couldn't pick out by name, seeing that most of them were attending the party as waiters and waitresses, he was just checking who was out parking carriages.
"Looks like Mordecai got carriage duty again," Nebbie noted as the mountainous man easily got the horses to follow him without much hassle.
"He does wield a fairly sharp tongue towards your brother," Mary noted as she walked over and easily Picked Nebbie up just as Mordecai picked up one of the more stubborn horses in attendance. Nebbie made no attempt to complain, as Mary was unlikely to respond with anything other than telling him they were very nearly late.
Mary took care to hold Nebbie with something akin to dignity, as they walked out of the basement and made their way to the Backyard, where the birthday for four was set to be held.
Surprising neither of them James glaring at them from the front door, he wasn't about to stop Nebbie from attending his own Birthday party, after all there were witnesses and that'd make him look bad, but Nebbie knew from experience that the longer James bottled up the hate, the worse the cork would hurt when he finally popped.
"I'll miss you when you leave," Mary informed Nebbie curtly, trying to ignore the glare being sent their way.
"I'll probably come back," Nebbie replied in a dry tone, while alone he would be lively with Mary and his mother Zoey, but anyone else would usually get a dry short response. Although his sisters had managed to break him a few times.
Mary met little resistance as she passed through the old kitchen, currently filled with staff using it as a break room as they prepared for the party.
"Good evening my Lord," Nebbie waved in response at the enthusiastic call from the room as Mary passed through. He heard someone call him adorable as they exited out the side door and walked along the path to the main kitchen.
Mary soon broke off and made her way to the Gazebo, where a number of nobles had gathered, Mary stopped short and Set Nebbie down before bowing to him.
"I'll return for you once the party ends," She ensured him before leaving to do her her job as head maid and make sure everything was in its proper place for when the adults began wandering around the mansion to judge the master and mistress of the house, a tradition of sorts for the attending parents to entertain themselves.
Nebbie waved goodbye and headed to the same spot he always stood at during his birthday, being given several happy birthdays, albeit only one person called him a sir,"
Nebbie arrived at a tree overlooking the party, parked himself in the shade, and stared out blandly at the party he was now trapped at.
"Oh wow," A Feminine voice called out, Nebbie looked over, and then up a little, at his sister Hanna, who had apparently been standing on the other side of the tree waiting for him, "Look who's late, by almost a full minute, you take longer to arrive every year,"
"Challenge accepted," Nebbie replied bluntly.
"No," Hanna complained, stomping her foot into the ground as she spoke, "Don't show up later, if you keep doing that you'll eventually stop coming at all!"
"Sounds like a plan," Nebbie shot back.
"He's doing it again," She complained, calling upon her accomplice, Molly, who had silently come up behind Nebbie and was already braiding his hair.
"He's just playing with you," Molly said sweetly, before adding in a not so quiet whisper, "You now how shy he gets around strangers,"
"Lies," Nebbie shot back as he watched a piggly man and a stick bug of a woman laugh about some nonsense or another.
"What are you gonna wish for?" Molly asked as she undid her braid and began redoing it, attempting to solve her lifelong conundrum of how to style her brother's hair.
"Height," Nebbie informed blandly.
"Same wish as last year hu?" Hanna asked as she put her back to the tree, "Every pack has a runt, and I guess that's you," Hanna laughed, eyeing Nebbie with a side glance, seeing if he'd bite back any.
"Hm," Nebbie replied.
"Profound as ever," Hanna noted, pondering what she could say to rile him up, it was far from a secret to her that their father wanted to, and had tried to, get rid of Nebbie, and she wanted to toughen him up for the day where her father got away with it, of course he'd just need to survive a few days, obviously she'd track him down with ease.
Hanna gave a cocky laugh, and Nebbie knew her child mind was coming up with how she'd rescue him from the wilderness, even though she had no idea how to track a rabbit across the yard, much less a Nebbie lost in the world. He felt bad knowing the day would likely come where he got lost, and Hanna would be forced to face the fact that she had no real way to help, he imagined she'd probably throw something, lots of things, heavy things.
Nebbie chose not to inform his Sister she'd fail him in the end and just let her believe she was the hero of the story. Nebbie continued staring out at the party as Molly decided to try a bun, lost interest half way through, and then tried for pigtails.
Since three of the four birthday children were around the tree, it only made sense for the fourth to eventually show up.
"Siblings," Eric said in a very political sounding tone, "Thank you for attending my party,"
"Our," All three replied in near perfect harmony.
"Yes, yes, whatever helps you cope," Eric said, no vile or hatred in his tone, not even mockery, the boy meant nothing mean by his words, he simply believed they were the honest truth.
And as much as it annoyed him, Nebbie firmly stood by and refused to be bitter with Eric, it was their father who had guided him down this path, and judgment would only be served when Eric had enough life experience to no longer have that excuse, Nebbie hoped he would grow as a person, but was prepared to deck him something fierce if he chose to let their father guide his future without question.
"Look I'm a busy man, future hero King of the nation and all that, I'm only here because James begged I come, now as you know Zoey-"
"Do not call her by her name," Hanna said venomously, "She is out mother, refer to her as such,"
Eric looked at his sister, and promptly turned away, "Regardless, she'll expect a hug, please do remind her for me that I am far too old for such niceties, if you wish to be babied that if your problem,"
"Oh no," Nebbie noted sarcastically, "What a horrible problem we do have, how ever will we solve it," Eric was already walking away and Nebbie just shook his head.
"Great," Hanna muttered irritably, "now mothers gonna do that thing where she leaves to go cry and we have to pretend we don't notice,"
"I'm sure one day he'll give Mommy her hug," Molly smiled, "He can't pretend he hates them forever,"
"Drink," Nebbie stated profoundly, Molly undid his hair and Nebbie was freed upon the party, returning with a drink after wishing Dave, the man who maning the punch bowl because that was apparently too low a task for nobles to do themselves, a good day.
"Hey pintsize," A Boy said as he and a few others surrounded Nebbie, "Where are you sisters? Don't you need them to follow you around to keep you from getting stepped on,"
"Drink," Nebbie informed them as he drank from his cup, getting it slapped out of his hands in response, the Nobles who saw the exchange chuckled and talked about boys being boys.
"Hm," Nebbie noted before turning around to go get another cup, the boy grabbed the back of his red dress and pulled it back to him.
"Nice dress, your mommy get it for you,"
"Semantics," Nebbie replied casually, since his mom had indeed bought it for Molly, and it had been passed to him when he failed to grow when she did.
"Oh look at you, man of little words using big words, ain't that funny," The boy was probably under the impression that Eric would find it charming upon hearing his brother had gotten beaten up, in truth, Eric didn't care either way, so much so that Nebbie wasn't entirely sure if his brother actually knew his name or not.
"Stick," Nebbie replied with a smug smile, upon saying that the boy was smacked upside the head by a stick courtesy of Hanna. Nebbie was freed, and Hanna proceeded to beat three of the boys before letting them run away with the ones who had gotten away before Hanna could whack 'em.
"And once again, Hanna arrived just in time to save the day," Hanna struck a heroic pose, using the stick as a sword in her pose, "You may praise me now," Nebbie clapped three times and she bowed "Thank you, thank you," Hanna followed Nebbie, ditching her stick so she could get herself a cup and bring one back to Molly, as they were returning a few boys scattered away from Molly.
"Ah, your suiteres return," Hanna noted, "So what did they propose,"
"They asked me to give them my future hand in marriage," Molly noted casually, as it was common for nobles to set up engagements for their children before they reached schooling age, refusing that trend seemed to be the only thing both James and Zoey agreed on without any fighting, without a doubt due to their own marriage being araged for them before they had even been born.
None of their children, not even Nebbie, would be allowed to enter an arranged marriage, nor any marriage agreement, till the age of adulthood, which in this world was twenty one.
"Morons," Nebbie declared as he sat and took his spot back.
"Why would I need a husband?" Molly agreed "We can all just live together, when we're adults we'll be able to play all day, no more magic lessons, Hanna won't have to train all day, Nebbie can have a room upstairs!" Nebbie failed to keep his face stony at how simple, yet so very sweet, Molly's ambitions were.
"Obviously we'll still have to Train," Hanna corrected "Nebbie doesn't have a seed, so we have to protect him when Eric becomes king, assassins will try to use him as a bargaining chip, but I'll be all like, wha, whap, take this, and a kick there," Hanna began kicking the heck out of some invisible assassins, and Molly helped her by making a few sticks float so Hanna could kick them.
"Hm," Nebbie replied as he sipped his drink, waiting for the cake cutting to start so he could enjoy what little time he had left not being at school.
Nebbie's wish was granted when they saw their parents approaching the party, both keeping close enough to keep up appearance, but far enough apart so they didn't have to touch one another. Once they entered the two split apart fully, James left to talk to the highest ranking nobles, while Zoey made her way to the cake so she could begin the cutting ceremony, once it was cut the birthday children would have a magic candle placed into their slice, and would each thank the guests for coming one at a time before blowing out the candle.
The day went by in a blur, Nebbie got his cake, thanks the guests, wished directly to the goddess who had put him in his current body to make him taller, and then proceed to space out as the day went by, gifts were handed out, and as per usual Nebbie, being the second son who, as far as anyone knew, had nothing special going on, received very little, if any, attention from the guest.
Nebbie was more than happy to leave his brother to deal with the attention, and the problems that would arise upon ascending to the throne, and enjoyed his cake, Zoey attempted and failed to get a hug from Eric, but it seemed after several years of it she had at least expected it and chose instead to leave him be and focus on showing her three other children who would accept her affection with attention.
Zoey hugged Molly, spent some time with her, hugged Hanna and spent some time with her, and then James got in her way.
"We should probably start wrapping up," He told her blandly, "Shouldn't overstay the party mood and-"
"Out of my way," She said in a flat tone, James let out a huff but moved, allowing Zoey to walk up to Nebbie, his bland face melted away instantly and he held up his hands with a smile.
"Ups," He demanded with glee, a command his mother happily complied to, being so small Nebbie was the only one of her children she could still carry around with ease, Pulling him into a hug and cradling him as she began walking around with Nebbie in her arms.
Zoey shared a few kind but empty sounding words with nobles, whose words were just as kind, but equally as empty. Zoey walked to the gazebo that had housed the cake and sat on one of the empty benches running around its edge, placing Nebbie on her lap as she did so. Hanna and Molly were quick to join them, Hanna holding in the excitement of a child who wanted to tell their mother something super cool, and Molly pouting at Nebbie.
"I beat up so many other kids," Hanna declared with vigor as Zoey bounced Nebbie with her leg.
"Why don't you ever smile like that when we play?" Molly demanded as Nebbie was visibly overjoyed.
"Ups," Nebbie replied merrily. Molly grumbled irritably at the response.
"I can't do that," she complained.
"I bet I can," Hanna declared as she hopped off her seat and held her arms out, "Nebbie come here let me give you ups,"
"Busy," Nebbie replied, Zoey chuckled softly at her children, Hanna trying to get Nebbie to come down, and Molly complaining that Hanna couldn't do it till she could, Zoey let her eyes wander over to Eric, who was currently talking to some of the other boys, most likely testing if any of them were worth keeping around.
Zoey looked back to her children that were around her and smiled, "I want you three to promise you'll do your best ok?" She asked of them, "You'll all be going to different school, and you won't be seeing me or each other for a while, but be strong for me ok,"
"I'm always strong mama," Hanna replied as she flexed her arms, they were large for her age but not by much.
"I'd rather be alone than have to go to school with Eric," Molly noted, earning a groan from Hanna.
"Don't…please don't remind me," She begged, her bravado dissipating at the reminder.
"I'll live," Nebbie replied as Zoey stopped bouncing him, and gave him a kiss on the forehead before setting him down and moving on to give Molly and Hanna their kisses.
"Remember the carriages will be arriving tomorrow at noon to take you to your schools, I won't be able to see you off due to my meeting with your Uncle," She muttered something in annoyance. As the uncle in question was the king, she couldn't refuse his request for a meeting, but she was still clearly upset she wouldn't get to see her children off before they left for their studies.
"Love you," Nebbie called out with a wave, his sisters parroting the sentiment as their mother walked away, smiling at their calls.