"By Empre, Medard, what's wrong with you? What was so weird that you smiled like that?" Nathan, the 5th son of Regis Cazenarch, sighed, looking at his friend.
He knew his friend had a strange quirk where he'd grin like a maniac when facing something that truly interested, surprised or scared him. Generally, when anything was stimulating enough, he'd start grinning. It'd gotten him into a fair bit of awkwardness before with people taking the instinctive gesture as rudeness or something worse.
"It's a matter of the soul." Medard's voice held a natural gravitas yet that only made his words even creepier to Nathan. It was another quirk of his that Medard typically used the phrase when talking about something of extreme importance to him.
Nathan frowned, side-eyeing his partner. "What exactly do you mean?"
"Your nephew, I think he's golden." He held the most serious expression on his face when saying that.
Nathan put a hand on Medard's shoulder stopping him. Medard, who had been relatively deep in thought while talking, frowned at the sudden contact, and looked back at Nathan. It was very rarely that his easygoing friend had such a strange expression, in general, let alone when facing him.
"Is there something wrong?" His mana sense covered their near vicinity but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.
"What exactly are you trying to say, Medard?" Nathan had a peculiar tone.
By now, Medard grew annoyed at the constant requests for repetition and elaboration. "I think your nephew has a golden soul."
Nathan inwardly sighed, taking his hand off the shoulder it didn't quite fit on. Medard never fully explained himself unless stopped and forced to. Nathan had gotten an answer for the pointless encounter but still, he continued to pester him. "What's a golden soul? And why the hell did you stare at his mom like that?"
"I could've sworn I told you about this." Medard started. However, seeing Nathan's confusion, he continued. "To be honest, I'm not too sure what it implies either, just that it's supposed to be special. I was only able to see it due to these eyes. Also the woman clearly assumed the worst of me. I saw it."
Nathan chuckled, before disguising it as a cough. Then he remembered what he just said and then raised an eyebrow, prompting Medard to elaborate on his eyes. He'd heard Medard say stuff about his eyes being special or something but he didn't grasp how it was relevant.
"They allow me to see into one's soul and the truth for what it is. In place of his soul, I saw a resplendent gold light."
Nathan nodded before continuing to walk with his friend, in silence. In reality, he was still curious about what "the truth" was and about his eyes and about souls but he was sure he'd receive a vague answer, something he could imagine a storyteller saying, that would leave him with at least one more question.
After a minute, he spoke up again. "You wanna go to the brothel later tonight?"
"Don't you have a fiancée?"
"No, she called off the engagement after she found out I went to a brothel."
"..then sure I'll come."
Meanwhile, Lucas had picked up a short little history book, from the library. He hadn't really focused on learning the history of Empre, the world he lived in, and his tutors hadn't told him anything really extensive about it, so he gravitated towards that section once he entered.
His mother, after the encounter of the two random men leaving the library, decided not to let him out of her sight, also picking out a book to read, though obviously one more advanced.
Lucas had already tried picking a particularly detailed book, and only gotten a minor headache from all the words that he couldn't understand.
About half an hour later, he flipped past the last couple of pages of credits, grinning. A small smile on Emelie's face appeared when she saw how seemingly happy her son was to read.
That wasn't the real reason for the grin though. Lucas had finally found his purpose. For sure, it would be a difficult one, but it was perfect.
The book didn't go into too much detail but it told him everything he needed to know. At some point in time, the entire planet had been ruled by one nation, one empire. The true name of said empire was long lost, with varying interpretations of what it could be.
Because of this, the empire was simply called Empre, and due to the power it once held, the planet also received that name. However, eventually as all empires did, it collapsed. This, strangely enough, was not the fault of the leaders of said empire.
The world itself split apart.
There had been one supercontinent, which abruptly split apart into what seemed to be three continents. Some argued that there were actually more separations and therefore more continents and they simply hadn't discovered them yet.
With the thousands of miles of distance, it was nearly impossible for the empire to manage its territories and they devolved into chaos. This would've happened on its own simply because of the separation but it was made millions of times worse by the catastrophes and natural disasters that occurred as a result of the split. Hundreds of millions would die and in the chaos, gods would rise.
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Lucas was amused by how the book described them. Power-drunk baboons that used their relatively minuscule talent to claim the title of god.
It became a common thing to see, and it was apparently still prevalent even nowadays. People would cultivate their magic to a relatively high degree, becoming powerful. Once they got enough power, they'd begin appealing to the peasants who knew no better. What sounded better, an uncaring nobleman or a god?
Very few fully recognized that these gods were simply humans, and even fewer fully recognized that a 'god' was much more uncaring than any man.
Soon, the sentiments would spread until the word god became meaningless, simply meaning a powerful piece of shit. On the other hand, Empre would become more and more sacred. People longed for the stability of prior times.
It became these human titles that truly meant anything. To be a king was to be a true god. To be an emperor was to be a step above that. Of course, putting yourself above a god was blasphemous, and so anyone who tried to call themselves emperor was usually jumped on and eradicated.
People simultaneously longed for the stability of an empire but would attempt to kill anyone who dared to form it. The contradiction of it was what made it humorous. Were these people waiting for some sort of messiah with infinite power to come and call himself emperor so that they could finally live a good life? One had to take steps towards that life as well, not wait until the 'right person' or the 'right time.'
Of course, these were the thoughts of Lucas, not that of the history book. These were thoughts too complex for children, even if the writers agreed with the sentiment.
This was the main relevant information on the world he lived in. It didn't give him a broad view of the world, mainly focusing on this continent, Ilute. But it was enough. It was perfect. Form an empire. That was exactly what he would do. Not some temporary one that got him deposed in less than a decade, but something people could see and associate with the long gone ancient empire.
This was his objective and it was about time he stopped screwing around and started completing it.
At least, that's what he was thinking when a vaguely familiar voice sprung into his head.
"Aw, look, Miss Didier, it's my nephew!"
Lucas looked up from his book to see the same little girl who'd taken the time to harass them just before Sebastian invited them in, enter the library with a woman behind her. Emelie also looked up, and a brief frown appeared on her face.
Miss Didier was a woman, seemingly in her late forties, with her brown- bordering onto-black hair in an ugly bob. Lucas could tell she'd been really pretty though when she was younger but clearly, age had taken a toll.
As for Celine, she looked exactly like Lucas had remembered her. He hadn't remembered her at all. She didn't have any definitive facial features that made her stand out, looking perfectly average. Even the crooked smile she had reminded him of quite a few sitcoms. At least her hair was perfectly done, not a single strand out of place as it fell down her neck.
Miss Didier, noticing and recognizing Emelie, bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Missus Cazenarch. Is that your child, Lucas?"
She nodded, prompting the woman to ignore Celine's noise and walk over to the child. Standing at approximately 1.68m(5'6), she wasn't too tall but she dwarfed Lucas who was still barely a meter tall.
"Good morning, Lucas. From tomorrow on, I will be your tutor." Her voice, to Lucas, was eerily well controlled, a perfect example of manners.
He nodded but snuck his mother a glare. He didn't need some chick teaching him 2+2; he needed to learn magic. She met it with a quiet look of amusement.
Sometimes, she forgot he was still only a child when he did things perfectly, with the intelligence and maturity of someone way above his age. Did he expect her to leave him alone all day, or maybe that she'd be watching him the entire time? At the very most, she could let him do whatever he wanted just for today. Then he'd go meet up with Batain, come back to his room, and that's where the tutor would collect him.
Of course, this relied on the idea that Lucas would follow this routine, but she'd make sure to talk with Batain about it. She'd found out on the walk to the library that it was really just Sebastian that he disliked and that he actually had a favorable impression of her. This was beyond hilarious to her, and she was itching to tell Sebastian, and see his reaction.
The tutor frowned upon seeing the glare Lucas thought he'd secretly gave his mother, but said nothing. It wasn't her place yet to educate him. Still, she inwardly sighed. This was what happened when a righteous bloodline like the Cazenarches mated with a lower one. They created disrespectful, disobedient, unruly children.
She conveniently ignored the child behind her who pouted at the sudden shift in attention off of her, and onto Lucas. That didn't last long, though.
Celine's kittenish voice rang out again, as she laughed. "Aw, he's even shorter than me, and look he's reading a little book. He's so cute!"
Lucas couldn't tell if she was being genuine or mocking but he didn't really care either way.
It was only then that Miss Didier noticed the book that Lucas was reading. Immediately, her opinion of him shot up. He was reading up on the great history of the world when other boys his age were polluting their minds with garbage like Parry Kotter. That much was worthy of praise. It also so happened that history was her favorite subject to teach.
"Though I'm not teaching today and was merely passing through, you can ask me any questions you have about that book in your hand. While good for basic learning, it is hardly adequate in explaining everything there is to know." She raised her head in the air, just a tiny bit, indicating a bit of pride in her knowledge.
Lucas treaded carefully. He didn't want to ask a question that would make bad of the ancient world empire, though most of his questions centered around it. Flipping through the book, he stopped on a specific page. "I do have a question. Right here, it says that the people of Empre could communicate over very long distances using mana. That was how they managed the entire world. Why didn't it work when the continents split?"
"Good question. The answer is that the systems Empre had in place were solely designed to be used in a singular place interacting at set distances. When the continents split, all the connections did as well, like cutting a piece of string." She was truly impressed by the question and would end up staying there for about ten more questions, answering any other the boy had, to the detriment of Celine.
He was intelligent, asking questions that were thought-provoking. He truly had strong Cazenarch blood within him.
"I will see you tomorrow, Lucas. Missus Cazenarch, your son is truly smart. You should be proud. Your house will never fall with such a boy."
At this point, Celine was ready to burst but the tutor finally turned her attentions back to the little girl. "Do you really think you can beat that Tiffany Assel if you don't learn patience? She'll do the exact same things I am doing, to get you angry."
Suddenly, all of Celine's angry momentum reversed, and she stared dumbly at her teacher, taking in the words, before nodding.
Miss Didier nodded in response before wishing farewell. "Keep reading, Lucas. I will see you tomorrow."
With that, the two left the library.