"At his own funeral, the devil grins, loving best the shock that sins."

Date: 18th Tempestia, 1763 (Starday)

Time: 11:00 AM

Location: Railan's Dorm Room

Kalkin's POV:

"Yes, Master, by your orders, Mr. Bernert and young Miss Liya have settled in their room at service quarters. I have also looked into local some elementary schools for Miss Liya and given Mr Bernert some options, and once he decides which one he would like her to go to, we will finish the process of finalizing her admission."

"Good, Farkas, also, have you asked other servants about their family needs and if they have young children and if they would like them to be enrolled in similar schools, doesn't matter the age, if they want or if their child wants them, we can have the accommodation!"

"Yes, Master, I have properly conveyed your message to others, however, they didn't seem very enthusiastic about it!"

"What do you mean, Farkas, do they not want their children to learn?"

"Master, if I can be honest, what you are doing is something very unique, praiseworthy, and commendable, however, we servants of households or in general, the commoners, do not have the right to send our children to such institutions of learning, we can only give them basic knowledge of conversation and some day to day stuff but nothing else"

"Hmm, ..." Aww, Man, I forgot, how can I be so careless, how could I miss this, the setting of this world is medieval fantasy, aww man, I should have been more observant!

But this is something, I cannot allow, knowledge is something that should be imparted to all, irrespective of their background at least the basic or primary education. But it is also something, I cannot do openly until I have sufficient backing from nobles or strong people! Hmm, what to do!

"I understand their concern Farkas but isn't it true that nobles sometimes bring teachers from other places to teach their servants some guidance and the way of the noble households?"

"Yes, master, you are correct," I could see a smile forming on Farkas's Face!

"Then Farkas, I am sure you understand what I am about to say next, right!"

"With due respect, Master, I would still love to hear you out and issue me an order"

"Farkas, I want you to gather me a group of the finest teachers or scholars, basically people who are willing to spend their time teaching the manners of Braveheart household to the young children of my household staff, from basic posture training to knowledge of sciences, ask them to not worry about their payment, however, make them sign a contract that restricts what they can tell other people not part of the household!"

"Sure, Master, will do!"

"And ya, take Cerci's help as and when you need it!"

"I understand, young Master!"

"Aria, are you around Cerci?"

"Yes, Master, I am with her? Do you need me for anything?"

"aren't you supposed to be around me as I am the one you are bound to?"

"I can reach you, anytime you want me so what's the worry, master, besides, me and Cerci are best friends, I love hanging out with her!"

"Ahh, forget that I asked this question, bring Cerci over here! if she isn't doing anything important!"

"Sure, will do, Master!"

( A few moments later!)

"Yes, Master, you called for me!" said Cerci as she bowed down after Aria teleported her.

"Cerci, there is no need to be so formal, after all, I am your student when it comes to dealing with investment, and other financial matters!" She regained her posture after bowing!

"Cerci, are you ready for the event tonight at the Stormgarde Mansion?"

"yes, Master, I have already packed important stuff, Aria can just bring them here as and when you decide to leave!"

"Well, at least having her around is somewhat useful" I could feel daggers pointed at me as I felt Aria's growing presence behind me! I decided to change the subject of the conversation!

"Cerci, did you look into the business idea I discussed with you that Prince Salem brought over, what do you think?"

"Yes, Master, as per your suggestion, I looked into it, I find the prospect of this venture to be really interesting, I knew you possessed your father's business acumen, as you detailed the idea that Prince Salem told you and your vision for its future, I couldn't help but admire your intellect young master, you are ready to take back the command that Sir Simon granted me the honor to take care of" As she said this a spark of energy and relief flooded in her eyes, however, Cerci, I know I am still not ready to face those money-hungry people!

"I am still not ready, Cerci, continue monitoring those business partners of my father, let's be patient for now!"

"As you say, Master!"

"I called you here because I wanted to know did you started gathering information about this venture in regards to how treacherous are those seas, the survivability rate, and other stuff though I don't doubt anyone, I just want us to be careful, if you understand what I mean!"

"Yes, Master, it's absolutely alright, there is nothing wrong in being careful and vigilant Master, especially when dealing with financial matters, and that too of such scale, while Prince Salem personally won't be keeping any details from you, due to his pure nature, however, there is a chain of command that even he cannot bypass when dealing with matters like these and often the ground reality is vastly different to what is portrayed and written on paper. Even Sir Simon would travel in disguise at times to verify the reports as well as your grandfather and ancestors as well, Master. You are just following the long tradition of your family."

"Thank you, Cerci, I knew I wouldn't be able to hide it from you, I didn't want to say anything to Prince Salem as he was so excited but the initial report he gave me about this project didn't seem alright to me and that's why I wanted you to take a look at it. Have you sent anyone there to confirm?"

"Master, I am your shadow, you don't need to worry about it, I have already sent a group of my people to take a look into this matter, and you can expect a report before tonight's event at the Prince's Palace, they will hand me the report when we'll reach there!"

"Well, then it's fine if you have already sent your clansmen there, then I am sure everything will be taken care of, finally I can now relax, everything is done, tonight I'll meet the Principal, discuss my concerns, get an official report from Prince Salem, and just enjoy the wonderful occasion" I relaxed finally on my chair, however, I could see both Farkas's and Cerci's faces filled with astonishment. I didn't understand why they were suddenly, like that!

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"What happened, why are you guys looking at me like this?" I couldn't understand! That's when my faithful AI Aria helped me out:

"Master, how did you know that Cerci sent her Clansmen to investigate, no one in the household except me and Farkas, know about this as well as she never told you, so how did you know?"

OOOHHHH, SHHHHHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT, I made a huge blunder, yes, why didn't I realize it sooner,

oh no!!! what should I do? now? How should I explain them?

Should I play it like a proper hero and say that I know everything and blurt all out, or should I act like a master in disguise, who pretends to know nothing but knows everything happening everywhere"

I doubt that either of them will work, well if I discard Farkas, who will believe everything I say, Cerci is trained to not believe everything, that's why she is my "shadow", she is trained to question, even Aria wouldn't believe it, then forget Cerci!

What to say, I just don't know! What should I do now, how should I defuse this situation?

Man, The Poker Face is keeping me calm but I cannot think of a way to explain it to them!

What to do now?

As I was thinking of an explanation,

"Master, I knew it, all this time you were pretending to be different, or dumb but now you have graced us with your true self, I am so happy that you finally trust us enough!" said Cerci, I just didn't understand what happened. Why is she saying all this? Exactly what's happening here? Although my face is calm due to THE POKER FACE being active, Farkas and Aria also seem to be in the same state of mind as I am,

Well, I think I should give her room to explain, maybe then I can put forward my thoughts and form a story, Well, I have read many fantasy novels in my life before, so forming a little story won't be that tough! I just need to make sure Cerci believes me, rest of them will follow!

Before I could ask her to continue, Farkas shouted, "What do you mean, Cerci, explain yourself, Don't you know, what it means for the master to know your secret, explain it otherwise, if any of your clansmen arrive even with a little ill intention towards the master, I won't just kill them, I make sure to tear every part of them with my fangs just to make a show out of it" Farkas, was immediately overprotective as he rushed to my side, he was full on wolf mode, I just didn't understand why it was such a big deal? However, the atmosphere suddenly changed so much, that I didn't have enough time to understand what was happening!

Even Aria rushed to my side, as she couldn't withstand the amount of killing intent coming from both sides, Farkas vs Cerci, I have seen Farkas in action but if Cerci is still showing such killing intent, I can only assume them to be on par!

At one point, we all were just getting ready to leave for the meeting spot with Prince Salem and now the atmosphere changed as if I am amidst a bloody battle!

Again, I choked on my words, the atmosphere was so heavy that despite my passive skill keeping me calm, words couldn't come out of my mouth!

I could hear myself exhaling and Farkas growling! Each growl made it heavy for me to breathe, Even Aria, my AI, was shaking as she fell on my lap

Before I could respond, in the blink of an eye, I saw Cerci's shoe flying toward Farkas as it hit him in the head,

Again, before I could understand, Cerci was sitting on top of Farkas and punching him down, as Farkas just tried to protect himself, she shouted, "How many times, just how many times have I told you I have left the BlackHorn clan, those are my loyal retainers, I have no connection left to the BalckHorns now, I am and will always be young master Railin's shadow and guard!!"

"Ok, Okay, OOKAY, I understand, I am sorry but you can't blame me, BlackHorns are notorious for working with anybody for money in the underworld, you need to understand that not all of your people are "your people" Cerci"

"You think I don't know that, I command them, I know them"

""OOKKAAYY, ...., I am sorry"

Just a moment ago, it was as if even breathing heavily could also cause something major to happen but now, it's just like two siblings fighting with each other, I am surrounded by eccentric people

It's like a total 180-degree shift in the atmosphere, but why is Aria still shaking now?

Again, before I could respond, I saw Aria, no I cannot call what I saw, Aria, it was THE devil, no, a small dragon breathing out the fire with Flames of frustration dancing in her eyes. I blinked rapidly, half-expecting her to sprout wings and start breathing actual fire, and for the first time in my life, I saw Aria shouting at Cerci and Farkas, and both of them just silently listening to her, as she said, "Both of you, you both made it so difficult for the young master, that much killing intent when the young master was in front of you, have you guys forgotten how to behave in front of the young master, Apologise, just apologize right away!"

"Master Railan, I am so sorry, I have done something, I shouldn't have done, I am ashamed, young master, by your orders, I am ready to kill myself," said none other than Farkas.

"Calm down, Farkas, just calm down, no you are not doing that!"

"Master Railan, I too am equally responsible and want to apologize," said Cerci, as she regained her composure

Finally, I saw Aria, calmed down as she sat on my lap, Well, now that I think about it, Aria transforming into a dragon was a ridiculous thought, but in my defense at that moment, it felt almost plausible.

"Cerci, you should begin your explanation now, " said Aria, again, before I could say anything!

"As I said previously, I have been observing Master, and since his tenth birthday, he has changed. Recently, since his enrollment, there has been a total changeover in his personality, I am sure we all agree here, ", Farkas and Aria nodded in response, she continued, "He has mended his ways and just once I mentioned to him in passing that I have my eyes on those partners of this investment company, from that it really doesn't take much knowledge to know that I, Cerci am a BlackHorn and since I am his shadow, as I had previously disclosed this information to him in the same conversation, it isn't impossible to assume that I will be deploying my clansmen to gather information. I presented Young Master, with this little information, one in hopes of testing him, and second, in hopes that he will approve of my methods of gathering information. Seeing how open he is now with us, I can now assume that we three have his approval and trust. " She finished speaking, I was just sitting there dead silent, didn't know how to respond back!

As soon as she finished speaking, all three of them just looked me straight in the eye, as if they were waiting for me to do something, to say something, I had no other way, I needed to cook up some story here,

"Cerci, I agree with you and now that I have my utmost trust in you, I also want to share something that I have been hiding for a long time from you all, and this information shouldn't be revealed to any other person in any case whatsoever, and as soon as we leave this room, this conversation never happened, are you all with me on this?"

"Yes, young Master, you can trust us, " said none other than Farkas.

"Me too, Master, me too," said Aria

"Young Master, I appreciate you putting your trust in us, and I'll make sure never to do anything that betrays you, "

"Thank you so much, you all, so what I am about to say, might be shocking to you all, the thing is I think, I sometimes have visions of the future, "

"I sometimes see things that are hard to explain, some things that haven't even happened, some of them are hard to understand, others don't make any sense, it's like a mystery that needs to be solved"

"We understand, young Master, " they all said in unison

"Wait, you guys believe me, just like that?"

"yes, young master, we believe you, we had always assumed you to have a special trait of your family, you possess Madam Amelia's secret trait, we believe you," they all said in unison again!

Cerci, continued, "Master, while we understand that it is hard for you, we had already assumed that you will possess either Sir Simon's or Madam Amelia's special attributes, what is amusing to us is the fact that you are telling us about it now and the way you describe it, it seems that you do not have control over your ability and it just randomly pops out, which is also common and it seems that this ability also recently manifested as you are still unable to control it at will," she finished speaking.

Young Master, you possessing the traits of your parents, is one of the least surprising things we have seen, ever since we became part of the Braveheart household and accompanied Sir Simon" said none other than Farkas.

Well, I thought this might be a huge reveal and they would all go into disbelief or anything but it seems they are pretty chill about it, everyone seems so normal!

Well, what Farkas said actually makes sense if you think of what crazy adventures my father went to before he earned the title of the greatest explorer, still this kind of response is a little underwhelming!

"Master, while we cannot help you to master your special abilities or attributes, we can however, continue to work on your physical and magical stats, and ultimately by improving them, you will find it easy to improve your special attributes as well. Master, the information that you shared with us, is not that surprising for us, however, to the outside world, this information can wreak havoc and put unnecessary attention on you, which is the last thing we want, so as you said, this conversation never happened between us, " said Farkas, smiling.

"Master as you will continue to grow, so will the name of Bravehearts," they all said smiling.

A little smile also spread on my face, as I was with the people who genuinely cared for me, something that was missing in my previous life.

Well, then it dawned on me, didn't I just lie to them, well not technically since I know a lot of things that will happen in this world, a lot of things that I want to avoid, a lot of things that I don't want to happen,

"Master, isn't it time now to leave to meet with Prince Salem, "

"Alright Aria, bring all the things Cerci asked for, and let's leave for Stormgarde," I said rising resolutely from my chair. My voice, firm with newfound determination, echoed slightly in the room. The realization had crystallized within me, an irrefutable truth. I felt a strong sense of purpose that I must intervene, I am compelled to alter the course of events in this world.

This world, once belonging to the realm of mere fiction, where my favorite characters breathe and exist, this world is now my reality, and it all begins tonight with the Day of Celebrations.

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To be continued