“...”

  Lucius opened his eyes early in the morning. Stretching across the bed, he drove away the numbness that clung to his limbs.

  He got up, went to the bathroom, removed his clothes, and sank into the bathtub, which slowly filled with water up to his neck. Once again, he remained there until the water began to warm.

  Leaving the bathroom, he got dressed.

  “Hm…? Young master, you’re already awake?”

  As Lucius was changing, Mira—who had been sleeping while sitting on a chair in the corner of the room—woke up. Rubbing her tired eyes, she swept her gaze across the room until it stopped on Lucius. Since that day, by order of his father, she had been glued to him at all times, even while he slept.

  I don’t think he’s paying her enough for this.

  Lucius shook his head.

  “Is it time for breakfast already?” she asked.

  Lucius nodded.

  “Would the young master like me to… bring the meal here?” Mira asked hesitantly.

  Lucius turned his gaze toward her. Every day she asked the same question, and every day his answer was the same.

  After finishing getting ready, he went down to the dining hall. When he arrived, he found his father already seated at the table.

  Acknowledging Lucius’s presence with a nod, Cédric watched as he took his seat and waited for the other family members.

  It didn’t take long for them to arrive, and once everyone had gathered, the meal began.

  There wasn’t much conversation during breakfast. Lucius assumed his presence still placed an unnecessary weight on the atmosphere, making everyone hesitant to speak. The exception was Helena, who, by talking about events from her day, tried to maintain a sense of normalcy at the table.

  Satisfied.

  After finishing his meal, Lucius nodded to everyone in farewell and prepared to return to his room.

  Mira must have used that brief moment of freedom to eat her own meal, because when Lucius left the dining hall, she was standing in the adjacent room with food still at the corners of her mouth and a slightly breathless expression.

  When Lucius pointed it out, she hurriedly wiped her mouth, embarrassed.

  “What are we going to do now, young master?”

  Lucius pointed toward his room, and she nodded before following after him.

  Back in the room, Lucius changed clothes again—this time into lighter garments that allowed for easier movement.

  Once he was done, he went down to the training field, where Elliot was already waiting—most likely not for him.

  When Elliot noticed him, he frowned.

  “...Lucius, what are you doing here?”

  Lucius pointed at himself, then at the training field.

  Somehow, Elliot understood what Lucius was trying to convey, which only made his expression darken further.

  He scratched his head, clearly wanting to say something but not knowing what.

  Lucius found it amusing. He had never thought of Elliot as the type to show this much consideration for others. Perhaps he had been mistaken.

  While Lucius and Elliot stared at one another—one unable to speak, the other unsure of what to say—Alex and Camille arrived together at the training field.

  “Huh? Lucius?”

  “What are you doing here?”

  They spoke at the same time: Alex’s question filled with surprise and confusion, Camille’s cold and sharp.

  Lucius frowned and repeated the same gestures he had made to Elliot, this time directed at his siblings. Alex didn’t seem to understand. Camille did—and her response was to narrow her eyes in irritation as she turned to Elliot.

  “Professor, what is the meaning of this?”

  “Ugh, you ask me, but—”

  Elliot turned back to Lucius.

  “Lucius, didn’t His Excellency speak with you about your training?”

  Lucius nodded.

  “Then what are you doing here?”

  Lucius repeated the same gesture again, saying he had come to train.

  That only made Elliot look more troubled, Alex more confused, and Camille even angrier.

  “Why are you doing this?” his sister asked, her voice icy.

  I came to train.

  That was what Lucius tried to convey with gestures, but Camille interrupted him before he could finish.

  “Stop it!”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  She slapped his hands away forcefully.

  “Stop. I don’t want to see this.”

  Lucius frowned, trying to repeat the motions.

  “I said stop!”

  Her voice was hard, cutting. Alex tried to step in, but only stammered incomplete words.

  “Do you think this is some kind of joke?” she continued. “Showing up here, pretending everything is normal?”

  Lucius’s silence only seemed to make her angrier.

  “You can’t even speak properly and you think you can train?”

  She laughed—a short, humorless laugh.

  “No. You’re not training. Not today, not ever. Didn’t you hear what Father said?”

  “Camille—”

  “And you stay quiet!”

  She shot Alex a furious look before turning back to Lucius.

  “Get out of here, away from—”

  “Camille!”

  Elliot’s hoarse voice cut her off. In a tone that allowed no objections, he ordered the two siblings to begin warming up by running laps around the training field. Then his gaze returned to Lucius.

  “You. You’re coming with me.”

  Without giving Lucius time to respond, Elliot grabbed him by the arm and began walking toward the mansion.

  Lucius glanced at the hand gripping his arm and frowned, but his expression soon returned to normal as he decided to follow his instructor.

  Elliot practically dragged Lucius all the way to Cédric’s office.

  “What happened?” Cédric asked, staring at the two of them with a stoic expression.

  “This is a matter between you two,” Elliot said, giving a slight bow. “If you’ll excuse me, Your Excellency.”

  With that, Elliot left, leaving only Lucius and Cédric. They stared at one another in silence for a long moment before Cédric repeated himself.

  “What happened?”

  Lucius remained silent for a few seconds longer, then finally spoke.

  “I… went… to… train… he… didn’t… want… me… brought… me… here…”

  His voice was still strained and hoarse, swallowing some of the words, but he was certain he had conveyed the situation clearly enough.

  That did not please Cédric. Not the way Lucius spoke, but what he said.

  “I thought we had already discussed this. You will no longer attend training. Your focus should be academic studies,” Cédric said, his eyes narrowing.

  “I… want… to… train.”

  “But you won’t,” Cédric replied in a tone that admitted no argument.

  That forced Lucius into silence.

  Still… he found it amusing.

  At least now he’s no longer pretending.

  Pretending that he saw any value in Lucius’s abilities. Now, his father no longer let feelings interfere with his actions.

  But it didn’t matter.

  Lucius shook his head.

  “Do we understand each other?” Cédric asked, his gaze fixed on Lucius.

  There was nothing to say. Lucius gave a shallow bow, turned around, and left the office.

  “Ugh, y-young master…”

  Outside the office stood Mira, tucked into a corner of the corridor, her hands clutching the hem of her dress as she nervously glanced around.

  Ah, right. I forgot she was here.

  Without stopping, Lucius gestured for her to follow him.

  “What happened in there, young master? Did His Excellency scold you?” Mira asked as she hurried to keep up.

  It was nothing.

  That was what Lucius tried to convey through gestures. He wasn’t sure whether she understood, but when she nodded, he assumed she had gotten the idea.

  “So then, what are we doing now?” she asked again.

  She talks a lot.

  Lucius thought as he walked.

  He wasn’t used to people who spoke so much.

  No… that wasn’t it.

  Come to think of it, people in general probably talked a lot. He was the one who wasn’t used to interacting with others. In that sense, he was the strange one.

  Funny.

  The corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile.

  “Young master?”

  You’ll see.

  He conveyed it through gestures.

  After a short walk, they left the mansion and headed to the shed beside it.

  Inside, Lucius gathered several tools: hoes, pickaxes, axes, ropes…

  His arms weren’t large enough to carry everything, so most of the tools ended up in Mira’s hands. Her face turned red from the weight as Lucius handed them to her one by one.

  “Y-young master, do we really need all of this for…?”

  You’ll see.

  Lucius gestured again before picking up the remaining tools and leaving the shed.

  Within the family estate lay a small forest, a place rarely visited by the family.

  No… that’s not quite right.

  Lucius remembered that, long ago, he and his siblings used to come here to play. But that had been many years ago.

  In this forest, slender-trunked trees grew close together, their canopies filtering sunlight unevenly. The air was cool, heavy with the scent of damp leaves and wet soil.

  Lucius went all the way to the center of the forest and dropped the tools he had brought. Mira did the same, sighing in exhaustion as she stretched her back.

  Without wasting time, Lucius began to work.

  He first chose the closest trees, carefully judging the distance between them. He picked up an axe, adjusted his grip, and delivered the first strike. The dry sound of the blade biting into wood echoed through the forest, repeating in a steady rhythm.

  This is good.

  The sensation of physical exertion, of muscles screaming—how he had missed it.

  Tree by tree, he cleared space. He didn’t fell everything, only enough to create an uneven clearing. Thick branches were cut and stacked to the side, straighter trunks separated with care.

  Next, he took a hoe, cleared the ground, removed roots and exposed stones.

  Mira watched all of this in silence, which began to bother Lucius, so he ordered her to help as well. She protested, claiming that a frail girl like her wasn’t suited for such heavy labor, but after Lucius stared at her in silence for a few seconds, she sighed and picked up another hoe.

  At first, she struggled to follow his instructions, but over time she adjusted. With her help, the work progressed twice as fast, which made Lucius pause in thought.

  They continued working without rest until their bodies were drenched in sweat.

  After some time, a reasonably open area emerged in the middle of the forest. The ground was flattened in several spots, cleared of roots and knots. Roughly planted logs marked boundaries, and ropes stretched between them outlined simple paths.

  Perfect.

  Taking a few steps back, Lucius observed the result. It wasn’t pretty—but he wasn’t aiming for beauty, only functionality.

  Now…

  He pointed at some of the thicker logs stacked to the side and made a simple gesture to Mira.

  After a moment, she understood and, with a tearful expression, began dragging them to the center of the clearing.

  Choosing the straightest ones, Lucius dug deep holes with the hoe and set the logs into the ground, hammering them with stones until they stood firm.

  One by one, wooden posts rose. Some tall, others short, all arranged irregularly.

  Lucius tested each with punches and kicks, adjusting their position when the sound wasn’t what he wanted.

  Further ahead, he stacked large stones chosen for their weight—some left loose, others partially buried.

  Ropes were tied between trees and posts, creating lines at varying heights.

  In a more secluded corner of the clearing, he completely cleared the ground, removing stones and roots until only packed earth remained. He stomped on it several times, compacting the soil until it was as flat as possible.

  As his body worked, Lucius’s mind worked just as fast.

  Until now, he had always followed Elliot’s training method—a solid method, but one designed for those with talent.

  Since he didn’t have that, he had always searched for other answers. Books on basic anatomy, military scrolls, accounts from mercenaries and great warriors.

  Obstacles, unstable weight, restricted movement, continuous exhaustion… before, he had never had the opportunity to put these ideas into practice. But his father’s decision had given him that chance.

  “Haaah… I’m dead…”

  Mira collapsed onto the ground, utterly exhausted.

  By the time they finished, night had fallen. They had been so immersed in the work that they had even forgotten lunch.

  Normally, his absence at lunch would have been reprimanded, but because of the argument with his father earlier, Lucius doubted Cédric would mention it.

  That is, not if he knew what I’m doing.

  At that thought, the corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile.

  Now, looking at the result of his work, he felt the urge to start training right away. But he shook his head, rejecting the idea. The time of effort without results was over—training would begin tomorrow.

  “...Let’s go…” he said to Mira as they headed back toward the mansion.