With a month to go until Scarlet's coming of age ceremony, Felix kept up the work schedule with improving his spell repertoire. He knew that he wouldn't be able to just sit around forever, at some point he would have to put in some work for the Belrose family and have to leave the manor, or something else would happen. As usual, staying alive was the best choice. To that end, Felix spent the entire month constructing the Earth Movement spell. It took so long because as it turns out, moving quickly through a bunch of solid matter without dying, whether through force or suffocation, was actually quite difficult, so it had a large number of nodes, and was considered a lower upper-grade earth spell. Felix didn't regret the time spent even one bit, as he could now freely pass through dirt and un-hewn rocks and stone, at a speed roughly equivalent to his sprinting speed.

Felix tried having Hope buff him with the Blessing of the Sky God, but unfortunately, although perhaps not surprisingly, it could only buff his speed under the open sky, not underground. Even so, Felix was very satisfied, as he finally had some mobility. It still had many restrictions, however, such as the fact that he needed to be in direct contact with the earth, and his ability to sense things underground while moving at speed was still limited - although it was unlikely, Felix had a small chance of accidentally coming out in midair in an underground cave or something. So Earth Movement could never be compared to a godly spell like Flight. Still, it was a major help.

Regarding his time spent training in dark spells, Felix continued to work on spells which dealt with the soul. He completed the Soul Projection spell, the same one which was cast on him at the Queen's dinner back during his brief stay with the military, and was used to evaluate the souls of slaves, the Slave Transfer spell, which allowed him to transfer ownership of a slave from one master to another, and the Soul Chain spell, which had the effect of giving his slaves a "pull" on their soul, which compelled them to move in his direction, acting as a kind of long range summons if a slave was further away than he could directly communicate to them, which appeared to be about a distance of half of a kilometer or so after some testing. He tried using it once on Hope and she said it was fine so long as she moved towards Felix, but moving away made her feel really uncomfortable, like her body and soul were being pulled apart from each other.

Arboro informed Felix that it really would pull her soul out of her body and drag it to him if she resisted too long. He didn't want to try it out.

Felix took some time to go out into the city of Belfast one day and bought Scarlet some perfume. He still had the perfume he brought from Gurnkey, of course, but that was more of a sentimental gift, while what he bought in the city was very high quality. Even though he already gave her a gift in the form of turning her elemental affinity from metal into darkness, a couple more small things wouldn't hurt, after all.

Finally, after a month, the day of Scarlet's coming of age ceremony arrived. Hope made sure to scrub him to absolute cleanliness and forced him into a bunch of pompous and fancy-looking clothes, saying that it wouldn't do at all if he disappointed Scarlet at all. He could only begrudgingly agree. Felix wasn't used to fancy clothing at all, in this life or the last. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"Is this really such a big deal? I awakened my magic in the back of a cart after being illegally conscripted to fight demons and just ate an apple to celebrate." Felix muttered to Hope, as she put the finishing touches on his outfit.

"Yes, it is." Hope began with a huff. "The noble houses treat awakenings as a very big deal, because the grade of the next generation of mages determines the strength of the house in the future. No one can know how strong or what element a young mage will be before they awaken, so if it turns out well for a house, then their rivals and allies will use the opportunity to build good relationships, and to flatter them while they're still young and naive. If they turn out mismatched to their house, it can be a good chance to build an alliance through a marriage proposal to get an elemental match. And if they turn out weak, well, then they have gained intelligence on the matter, and can make other plans, while using the opportunity of the ceremony to fraternize." Hope explained. She also finally finished fixing his collar.

"There!" she said, looking him up and down. "You finally look halfway presentable as a gentleman for once." she praised him, with a smile that clearly showcased she was proud of her work.

Felix looked in a mirror. He barely recognized himself with his poofy, deep blue and frilled clothing. But whatever would make Scarlet and Hope happy, he supposed.

"How many guests will be attending?" Felix asked.

"Probably a couple dozen. The other houses, even though they will only mostly be baronies, baronetcies, and maybe a couple of knighthoods, likely won't send anyone too important unless they have other business. Except for House Tinnit, I expect. They've always been the staunchest ally of House Belrose, so they may send their Young Master to attend." Hope mused.

"House Tinnit? I've never heard of them even though I've been here for a couple of months. Where are they based, and what do they do?" Felix asked.

"Well, as you know, House Belrose is located in the northwest of the kingdom. It's roughly three hundred and fifty kilometers from here to the northern ocean. And that is where House Tinnit is based, in the port city of Alamack, on Tinnit's Bay, which is a natural port. We handle growing crops with slave labor, they handle shipping the crops, and slaves, throughout the kingdom's waterways. With such a mutually beneficial business relationship, both houses have naturally grown to have quite close ties." Hope explained.

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Felix nodded. That made sense. "So what element do they specialize in?" he asked.

"They specialize in water, of course. Seeing as how they make their trade trading on all the rivers and oceans, and live in a port city. Specifically though, because they're the northern water house, they tend to focus more on the aspects of ice and snow. The other major water-based house in the east of the kingdom, House Haisen, they tend to focus more on pure water spells, since their region is warmer." Hope explained.

"And what is their noble rank?" Felix asked.

"House Tinnit is a viscounty. They're considered rather important because they're one of our major links to the merfolk, but they aren't particularly powerful, being a water house. They're mostly considered in economic terms when they come up." Hope explained.

"Are they particularly rich, then?" Felix asked.

"From my understanding, Master, they are at least on par with House Belrose. Which is quite a feat actually, considering House Belrose has a complete legal monopoly on the slave trade and grows many crops." Hope said hesitantly.

Felix thought for a moment. "I'm a bit confused. How exactly did House Belrose get a legal monopoly on the slave trade? Isn't there another major darkness house that's a Dukedom, House Duvain? I'm surprised they allowed House Belrose to have that." he asked.

"This... I don't know the specific details. I only heard that it was the direct order of the late king, and the current king has upheld it." Hope replied.

Felix mused over this for a bit, when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he called out.

The door opened, and in stepped Tobias, the older butler Felix had seen before. He seemed to be quite highly ranked among the slaves. "Second Young Master." he said, with a bow.

"Tobias. To what do I owe the honor?" Felix asked, waving his hand to allow him to rise.

"No honor, if anything, I'm honored the second Young Master would remember this lowly slave's name." Tobias said, rising. "The Master has entrusted me to hand this to you." he said, holding out his hand. In his palm was a small crest, which bore the symbol of House Belrose. It seemed the Earl had finished his crest just in time for this event.

"Hope, receive it." he ordered. Hope walked forward and received the crest.

"Anything else, Tobias?" Felix asked him.

"No, Young Master. The Young Mistress came into this world in the evening, at around eight at night, and so therefore the banquet has been set to begin at six in the afternoon, which is in approximately two hours. Please see that you arrive in the main hall in one hour to be present to help receive the guests." Tobias said with a bow, as he departed.

Felix frowned. "Ugh, they're going to have me receiving guests? I don't know the first nor the last thing about noble etiquette." Felix complained to Hope.

Hope giggled, and pinned his crest to his front. "Don't worry, Master. A quick explanation of your circumstances should do, and I'm sure many of the other nobles attending will see you as quite endearing. The first Young Master may be more noble in his countenance, but that actually makes him seem far away to many who will be attending, since he lords above them, as first in line to receive the Earldom. However, as you are both not the main successor to the Earldom, and not of noble upbringing, despite being a member of an Earl's household, I'm sure many of those within the lower houses will see you as more their equal than him, which will make you easier to speak to." Hope said.

Felix grunted affirmatively in response, and Hope rolled her eyes. She took some time to pretty herself up, putting on a fresh set of maid clothes, and after double-checking that Felix looked acceptable, and grabbing his gifts for Scarlet, they set off to the main hall, arriving a bit earlier than requested by Tobias. Leo was already there waiting, with Prudence in tow behind him, looking quite dashing in his dark black noble suit, with his hair slicked back, and his household crest pinned to his front. Felix noted that the leaves on his crest were golden, while his were green. He supposed it was probably because Leo was the first Young Master and the main successor.

"Leo, you look like a villain." Felix remarked in jest, looking him up and down as Hope followed behind him, as Vice and Virtue stood off at the side of the hall quietly.

"If a Young Master of a darkness-attuned slaver household is not a villain, I do not know who is." Leo responded with a smile.

"If I didn't know better, I would guess this ceremony is half about Scarlet, and based on how you look, half about finding you a wife." Felix joked.

"It seems you're beginning to catch on to how things work around here." Leo said, maintaining his same smile. Prudence lowered her head behind him.

"Oh, truly?" Felix asked in surprise.

"I know you don't know the first thing about the nobility, but indeed, the lower houses are likely to send many young ladies tonight to try and court me. And perhaps, one or two may take the opportunity to try and court you as well, once they find out about your existence. I suspect one or two of them have already found out about you through their spies that they have placed within our house already anyway." Leo said.

Felix was dumbfounded. "A noble Lady try and court me?"

"Indeed. If they cannot secure a relationship with me, a tie to house Belrose through you would still be quite a good catch for those households of the Barons and Baronetcies. And who knows what the future may bring, if disaster befalls me, seeing you become the new Earl may not be an impossible thing in the future." Leo explained, looking at Felix closely.

Felix waved his hands in front of him quickly. "No, no, no, I have no interest in becoming an Earl. I mean, I may take the position if it is forced upon me and the only way to preserve house Belrose, I suppose, but I'd much rather not have the responsibility, I think you're by far the much greater fit." Felix said honestly.

Leo studied him carefully for a moment. "Indeed. That is good to hear. Regardless, there will definitely be those who try for you. If any of them catch your fancy, feel free to respond positively. Even though you're a member of our household, your origins are rather quaint, so even a young Lady of a Baronetcy would bring much more legitimacy to your standing and peerage." he said.

"Err... well, I'll see, I suppose." Felix said, still a bit nervous at the thought.

"Oh please, Felix, be more aggressive would you? From how the maids talk about you, one would think you're the second-coming of the Lion of Alamack, slayer of women and shredder of hearts, endowed with the golden rod of the gods between your legs." Leo said smiling.

Felix looked at Hope, who turned her head away blushing, and not meeting his eyes.

He could only sigh in his heart as Arboro snickered in his soul.