So it turned out we weren't as bad off as I'd thought. I guessed there was some sense in that. Mother was a Celestial Knight, a great woman of important background, who could kidnap or force a Runemaster to record the basics for her son who was yet to be born.

  By logic, we couldn't have been that poor. I didn't know the entirety of this planar system's economy, but I doubted whether a woman of such strength would have trouble coming up with some considerable wealth through sheer effort.

  The question was, then, why we bothered to hide in a little world for seven years? Why go through the trouble when we had a mansion waiting for us in a giant city? That and dozens of house staff ready to spread red carpets and bring an endless amount of food to my doorstep the second I waved one of my fingers.

  I considered bringing this up to my mother before I discarded the idea. Mother was clever. It seemed she'd made certain plans long before I was born. She would've told me if there was anything I should know. So then, she must be waiting for the right moment to illuminate the unknown stretch of our familial history.

  That was what I thought.

  I didn't linger too long on that part of the equation.

  Instead, I found myself pondering different things.

  Good things.

  Rich things.

  I had a life to live, hadn't I? With such ample resources, I might as well play the role of a Young Master for a while. I mean, we all dreamed about it at some point, right?

  Right.

  I called a maid to my room. Told her to fetch the cook for me. When she did, I found myself staring at a middle-aged man quite plump on the sides. He had that look about him. A master cook, no doubt.

  Without leaving out a single detail, I explained to him the process of cooking a cheeseburger. I told him about the bread and the patty, the pickles and the sauce, everything.

  Then I sat waiting in my new, giant bed.

  ……

  The basement complex wasn't a simple, one-room affair. It consisted of a complicated system of different chambers, rooms, halls, and wide, spacious fields carved in solid-looking stone, two arena rings with their boundaries etched with rune-like inscriptions.

  These were, of course, not runes, but magical symbols that harnessed the ambient mana and shaped it in accordance with the spell forms. Some of them gave the stone inner endurance. Some others granted it a resistance to fire and water and so on. There were even some that acted as air filters, to my understanding.

  At least that was what Belfray told me in our first visit to the basement.

  He was a good man.

  Really.

  "Most secret of them all, of course, is the Runic Chamber hidden behind a set of special measures. It all starts with this old thing here," Belfray said as he pulled out an ancient-looking key from his pocket, looking greatly proud of himself as he gestured at the back wall of one of the inner rooms with his hand.

  I watched him with curiosity as he stepped near the wall, kneeled down and brought the key close to one of the stone blocks the whole wall was made of. It was on the lower end, by the corner, and when the key tapped thrice on its surface a grinding sound echoed deeper inside.

  Then the stone block pushed the other one to the side, and a set of others moved in unison as they revealed a hidden door.

  "The craftsmen who worked on the project were the most capable of their respectable fields. They ensured us of the quality of the materials and the work, but most importantly the discernment of the undertaking. We took our own measures as well, of course. There's wisdom in taking that extra leap. You can never be too cautious about these things, isn't that right, Young Master?"

  "Right." I nodded blankly, to which Belfray gave a little smile. With his silver hair and pristine clothes, he might be the perfect image in flesh of the word butler I had ever seen, and I'd watched no little history shows back on Earth.

  There was a silent grace to the way he carried himself, and a certain mystery. I wasn't naive enough to believe he was just a butler. A Grand Marshal wouldn't depend on a simple man this much. He must be a man of some means, and I could tell he wasn't afraid of her unlike the rest of the staff.

  So I followed him through the door. We stepped into a narrow corridor, its walls adorned with torches that went alive with docile flames. Another door welcomed us at the end of it, but this one didn't have a keyhole. It instead had a small part jutting from its middle, just big enough to place a hand.

  I waited for Belfray to do his magic, but instead, he beckoned me closer to the door. Under his gaze, I hesitantly placed my hand on that little platform. A sudden wind tickled the unders of my fingers, and it was with a loud click that the door opened before me.

  Interesting.

  I had never seen magic in practical use before, since our little world had seemed to lack that sort of thing. Here, though, magic seemed like a staple of everyday life, being used from light bulbs to hidden measures like this so-called Runic Chamber.

  Moving on, we trudged across another corridor, this one ending with a flat wall. Belfray indicated one of the side stones with a look before giving me the key. I tapped thrice to that side block and waited. It wasn't long before the wall caved in, allowing me to see the spacious room ahead.

  Set upon the back wall of the room was a giant bookshelf. That was the first thing that welcomed me inside. Rows upon rows of books sat waiting in silence while a pair of couches were laid just before it. It looked like one of those book-reading spaces you'd see on old blogs, except instead of a fireplace this room had a circular light bulb that radiated warm, yellow light.

  There was, as expected, a study desk stacked with empty papers and generous amounts of ink, with pens and rulers accompanying them in perfect symmetry. When I moved closer to it, I found the cushioned chair before it was a little big for my size.

  "Things are moving rather quicker than we'd thought," Belfray said. He must've seen the look in my eyes. "You weren't supposed to entertain this room until you're ten years old. I'll tell the staff to fetch a more appropriate—"

  "No need," I cut him off, then gave him a smile. "This is perfect. I'll grow into it soon, anyway."

  "Wise words, Young Master," Belfray said. "You're indeed growing faster than many of us initially presumed."

  I stared at his face for a while, trying to understand whether this change in expectation was a good thing or not. His words, coupled with everything I'd learned until now, showed me that a Runemaster was expected in this strange family. It was either that, or it could be that Mother gave them her word right after my fated meeting with that one corrupt Priest.

  Either way, I was seen as a genius. No, I was a genius, one way or another. The fact that I was a grown man trapped in a child's body didn't change anything. I had long years ahead of me, and new resources to tap into.

  The trouble was, I wasn't quite sure how I should handle the living. As in, I didn't know how to act around real people. Should I try to go for a seven-year-old role play even though I had little experience in that field? I mean, I did plenty of role play in some MMOs, but often the case was I was either a gorgeous woman or some brute with a giant sword.

  Acting like a child – such a creepy thing – had never crossed my mind.

  But then, I supposed, I wasn't quite what you'd call a normal child, either. Mother said it best. I was a curious little devil too clever for his own age. That made me what, a monster? Even if that was the case, I wouldn't call it a big thing since my mother was the Butcher of the Dawn. Mysteries there might be, but I was sure that sort of nickname would leave a mark on one's children.

  Acting cold could work, but did I want to be cold with my own staff? Belfray looked like a good man. Old and respectable, no doubt, so maybe I could give him something to work with.

  Right.

  I had to find the balance. Ask too much, then I'd be treated as a spoiled brat too troublesome to deal with. Ask too little, then they'd be saying I was a cold, aloof kid. They could even blame Mother for that. So, the balance was key.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Speaking about the key…

  "Will you give that key to me?" I asked, since it was important. "There's no other way to get into this room, right?"

  "You're right, Young Master. I'll give Grand Marsh— Lady Morwind a spare one, so you can be at ease." Belfray cleared his throat after that, then stepped around the couches and pointed a finger at the bell hanging from the ceiling. "Give this a swing if you ever find yourself in need of service."

  "Oh, Belfray," I said, smiling up at that little bell, feeling some tears welling behind my eyes. I'd been poor for too long! Now, finally, I got to live. "We're going to have so much fun."

  "Pardon, Young Master?" Belfray inquired with no little amount of confusion.

  "Nothing." I waved him off. "Do we have anything to eat? Something sweet, please, 'cause I feel like working."

  "Of course. I'll fetch something right away."

  "Thanks, Belfray," I told him with genuine appreciation.

  ……

  I found a strange joy in working with runes. Odd that, really. Inscribing nonsensical characters on empty pages should've been deadly boring to my ADHD-fuelled brain. For some reason, however, I fell into a trance whenever I spent more than five minutes on a particular sequence of runes. Then, when I opened my eyes, hours would've gone by in a blink.

  My soul energy was fully on display as I jotted down a series of characters on rich, thick paper. This was an important part of a wanna-be Runemaster's training. I was, by Master Gerard's words, nearing the golden age to grow my soul energy reserves, and I'd planned to take full advantage of that.

  By my estimation, I'd need another month to truly begin inscribing Grade 2 Runes. It wasn't that I couldn't do it right now. If I could take a few days, I was sure I could complete a Grade 2 Strengthening Rune, but right now, my training wasn't about completing runes. I had to focus on becoming better at managing my soul energy.

  It was a fickle, slippery thing. Not only that, it was growing way faster than it should, meaning every week or so I had to spend an entire day just to get used to the sudden increase my reserves experienced without me noticing.

  By itself, it wasn't a big deal, but lately it was doing a number on my little body which proved a weak companion to my robust soul. Back in the day, I could use all my soul energy without sweating, but things had already changed. I was sure if I used every ounce of my reserve right this instant, my body would give in before I even crossed the halfway point.

  Weak, weak body. I needed to get stronger, and this time, I meant that in the physical sense.

  …….

  Belfray's POV

  I closed the secret hole through which I could see the Rune Chamber with much diligence, my fingers shaking with trepidation. Young Master remained undisturbed at his desk, but the same couldn't be said about my old heart.

  To even begin considering the capability of a Runemaster's entire potential, one must first address the unmistakable discomfort of being around one. Or rather, being around one who couldn't contain the absurdity of such power under one's flesh. It was then understandable that the maids would find it disturbing to cross eyes with a little child.

  Seven-year-olds hardly spook people in such direct ways.

  Grand Marshal was right.

  Young Master was a monster.

  I remembered a certain Gerard Henmay from the Redarion Dynasty, a well-known Runemaster who swore his allegiance to the royal family with such dedication that he'd closed his doors to the offers that might adhere to the greed of a human being. Safety, in his case, proved a much better motivator than the measly riches of coin and fame.

  Such was the fate of many Runemasters who got chased by nations; often to be used as warmongering tools for lieges who cared less about the means, and more about the results of each campaign.

  When we barged into his room on a summer night, it was fair to say his silence promised an inevitable speech to his patron about the measures taken in the name of his safety that failed him against the Bloody Mistress.

  We weren't brutes, however, as our visit was strictly academic in nature. We were only interested in his knowledge about the mysterious field of runes, and nothing else, though I daresay we'd given him much to think about after my Lady decided to take a more direct approach to convince him.

  Nowadays, word had it that he'd begun his training to become a Knight. Foolish dreams, of course, since he was well over a hundred years old, meaning that it had been some time since he'd missed the right time of bodily training.

  My point was that an established Runemaster wouldn't seem much on the outside and revealed their potential only when under great distress or during a live rune-inscribing session. To witness the latter was as rare as watching a world's end. The former, however, was an occurrence that I had the fortune to be a part of, for that particular night, Gerard Henmay was forced to shed the invisible layer that shielded his soul energy from strangers, and showed us the true matter lying underneath that small, shrinking body of his.

  What a sight it had been. To think an unassuming man like him had a soul that could rival the most monstrous of creatures of the worlds! I would've shivered had I not followed my Lady through a thousand wars, not all of them strictly against human-like species. We had bested our fair share of creatures and monsters of the worlds, and even entertained the idea of challenging the dragons.

  Watching a Runemaster practicing his sacred arts, however, was nothing like witnessing a scared man's misery. Young Master had turned into a being well above humans the second he dipped his pen into that ink bottle. He wasn't a seven-year-old child anymore. His presence had spread across the room, and I was left awed with muted silence as I watched this rare scene occur.

  He was a Runemaster.

  My heart skipped a beat as I considered the implications.

  Slowly, however, I clamped an invisible hand over my excitement and drew in a sharp breath. It was too early to entertain the future possibilities. Right now, all Young Master needed was time and peace of mind to further his studies. He was to be protected and cared for, fed and kept warm until he was of age.

  I stopped. My Lady told me that the Young Master's training would start soon. He would take personal lessons from the Bloody Mistress, which normally would be a subject of celebration for any promising talents in the Planar System. Only, I knew my Lady's tendencies and how harsh she could be when clothed in war-fashion.

  She was to teach her son, a seven-year-old child, the Path of Glory.

  I clenched my fingers into fists. Things were going to get rough.

  Shaking my head, I found my way inside the kitchen where the staff was busy gossiping about the recent happenings. All eyes turned to me as I kicked a heel to the ground, then Mary, the cook's aide, scampered to my side like a scared kitten.

  "General, any word—"

  "Cookies!" I growled down at her with strength. The more I thought about the fast-approaching training session the more my old body convulsed in ways that surprised me. "We need all the cookies and every sweet damn thing in this kitchen to be prepared for Young Master. Give him everything he wants!"

  "Right—"

  "And then give him some!"

  "Understood—"

  "We have to keep him fed!" My voice cracked by the end, but I wasn't ashamed.

  I was waiting for that child for years, and if my Lady wished to make a Knight out of him, then I would ensure that he had at least enough food to go about.

  "Why are you all looking at me like that?" I barked at the kitchen staff who had spent the last few years learning the ways of the normal world. It wasn't an easy transition, but that didn't mean I would forgive clumsy work in my mansion. "Get to work. Now!"

  "Yes, Sir!"

  ……

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