Chapter 17 – The Secret of the Legendary Phoenix

After spending another entire morning training with Sifu, I was completely in pieces. I had to limp back up those stairs, feeling like I hadn't in a long time. The old man stayed behind cleaning the place and let me go take a bath and have lunch.

Our routine continued like this for a week, with every morning starting as if Sifu was trying to kill me and me having to defend myself. He was always surprised by me, but no matter how well I dodged at the last second, it was still useless if I was too weak to properly defend myself with the body of a five-year-old.

"My son, I'm going to talk to Sifu about going easy on you. I don't want my baby getting all bruised up like this," my mom said, washing and cleaning some of my bleeding wounds.

"It's okay, mom. This is for the best for us, I also want to protect you," I told her.

She sighed. "You don't have to do any of this, you're just a child. You should be eating mud and..."

"Stealing candy..." I completed her sentence.

"If you know, then why aren't you doing it?" she said, pinching my nose.

Mom stood up. "I'll let you finish your bath now that I've gotten the excess blood off. You can play in the tub for as long as you want," she said as she left.

"Where are you going, mom? You always disappear to work, and I don't even know what you do."

She scratched her head a bit. "I need to help your aunt... and I've also returned to my old position here as a gardener."

"Gardener?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, but the plants your aunt asked me to grow won't just be swallowing small rats... it's better if you don't know what they can swallow. I'm creating plants that will be placed near the fences and serve as guards as well."

Gods! More of those crazy plants?

"I see..." I said.

"Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous. I need to take care of them until they can grow and become strong enough. Initially, we'll place them around the inner fence of this village, and then we'll put them in the forests near the fortress wall."

Mom came back, kissed my head, and then left.

"Who would dare invade this place? They have a village full of trained people, and in the mansion live assassin maids and even a panther..." I murmured to myself.

‘Squaaak!’ The little red hawk said to me as if somehow I needed to include him in that.

The phoenix chick usually stays close to wherever I go, but during these moments, he turns his back to me, and I don't know why.

"Want to take a bath too, buddy?" I asked him. "This tub is filled with hot water, it's really nice."

‘Squaaak,’ he said with his back still turned to me.

I went over and picked him up.

‘Squaaak!’ He flapped his wings desperately.

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I know he's stronger than he's letting on, but he's probably holding back so he doesn't hurt me.

"Are you afraid of water?" I asked, placing him on the floor, and he shook his head 'no.'

"Hmm... you haven't had a bath since I found you, you must be all dirty."

As soon as I said that, he burst into flames all over his body and then stopped.

"I guess you can just burn off the dirt..."

I look back at the tub.

This guy isn’t afraid of water… so why does he refuse to bathe with me?

"You're a smart animal… you must have your reasons, but I need to check something to be sure if it could be this." I go over to him and pick him up.

‘Squaaak!’ He starts struggling as I turn him over.

"I'm just going to peek underneath, I need to confirm something."

‘SQUAAAK!’ The phoenix chick gets agitated, pecking at my hand and flying away, landing on the floor.

He looks at me and hides under his wings.

I stare, realizing what was happening.

"YOU! Are you a girl?" I say, confused.

The little phoenix nods.

"I'm sorry!"

What a mess I made.

"I didn't do it on purpose, I swear. That wasn't my intention..." I try to explain to the little red hawk, but she moves away a bit.

"HAHAHA, it seems you've reached the age of chasing girls," says the goddess Athena, laughing from the tub.

"Shut up!" I snap at her.

I quickly look away, embarrassed.

That damn woman is naked in the bath! What a disgrace!

"Want to join me?" she asks seductively and sarcastically.

Ignoring her, I focus back on the little phoenix.

"I won't do that again, I understand you're a girl... I'm sorry," I say to the phoenix and turn back to the tub.

Thankfully, that crazy woman disappeared.

After the little incident, I leave the phoenix in her corner, still turned away from me, and get into the tub. It was such a relief after a morning of training, relaxing my body.

This is the life...

"Young master, I’ve left your clothes on the bed," a female voice says, opening the door.

I’m startled and sink into the water.

"Thank you, Martha," I say to the maid while covering myself.

She leaves, laughing and closing the door.

"I should have locked it…"

The little phoenix gives me a judging look as if to say, 'Now you know what I went through.'

"Sorry, okay? I didn’t know you were a girl…"

Martha is a very beautiful woman and oversees the other maids; she's like their leader. My aunt used to be trained for Martha's position, but after marrying my uncle, she chose Martha to fill the role.

I still have a lot to learn and understand.

My lessons haven't started yet; for now, my aunt and the other Legacies are busy with the chaos caused by the Wolves and dealing with the rest of the noble council as they discuss my existence.

I dive back into the water.

"At least I can enjoy the tub."

Katherine Evenhart:

After leaving my baby to take his bath, I exited the room with a heavy heart.

I can hardly bear to look at his little face.

I had signed the betrothal document alongside Margaery. Even though she is the head of the family, my consent was still needed. In the end, we signed it together. She also felt sad and guilty about what she did.

I couldn’t bear to see my niece engaged to a 37-year-old man either... by the time she’s an adult, he’d be almost 50...

A part of me was blaming and judging myself, but this was the only way to protect Nathan. We couldn't risk losing their future to people who would see them as possessions. Our current weakness was forcing us to conform to noble customs. No one would dare question the strange decisions of the Evenhart family marrying 'commoners' if we were at our peak. Without those two and the other former leaders of the Legacies, we were weak. It had only been almost six years since we lost everything... and the blow was devastating.

It wasn't just Margaery and I who lost someone important; it was all of us.

The entire territory felt the weight of losing its soldiers and especially the mages.

Our strength lies in agriculture, and without the mages, we can't meet the demand we had before. Our duchy had an abundance of resources. Water mages could tend to hectares of land alone and generate water to irrigate an entire region transformed for planting. We lost our main force that generated wealth for this place. Even fire mages were useful, as they, in conjunction with earth mages, fortified the soil and could keep it warm, enabling production even in winter.

Now everything is being done manually, and we rely mainly on the labor of smaller families and their mages. Our few remaining mages can't handle the entire territory, and even fishing has been affected. With water mages, a simple spell could push schools of fish into nets... now it's back to being done by hand.

Nathan, I'm doing this for you. Even though I've stolen your future, we will ensure things return to how they were before this crisis.

I still don’t know how I’ll tell you that you’re engaged… I’m sorry for not being a good mother.