In a grand palace, with its towering walls and massive size, it was evident that this was not something accessible to many. In one of the spacious rooms furnished with exquisite furniture and adorned with the finest carpets, there lay a bed big enough to accommodate four people without feeling crowded.

A young man slept alone there, showing signs of luxury from the place he slept in to the clothes he wore, his figure leaning towards obesity, and his smooth skin indicating a life of indulgence without much effort or strain. At first glance, he could easily be categorized as a pampered young man.

The young man raised his flabby arms above his head and opened his mouth to draw in more stale air in the closed, dark room. He opened his sleepy eyes but showed no haste in getting out of bed.

"Hey, servant!" the young man called out loudly, without warning.

"Yes, m...master," a young girl dressed as a maid entered.

"Are you joking with me? How many times have I told you not to show your ugly face in front of me?" the young man snapped as soon as he saw her.

"B...but, sir..."

The girl attempted to explain herself to the young man, but it was futile given his foul mood.

"Are you still standing in front of me, you pest? Get out of my sight! You have no right to stand in my presence."

In response to the young man's words, the girl lowered her head, her expression unclear, then quickly left the room, running. Although he didn't see her face, he knew he had made her cry.

"Damn her and her kind. She ruined my mood because of this parasite."

The young man clenched his teeth, his face red with anger, as if he might faint at any moment from his negative emotions towards her. From this brief interaction between them, it was clear that he had a problem with this girl.

"But wait, why did I summon the maid in the first place?... Never mind, that pest has angered me greatly. I feel unwell. I need to take a nap."

The young man was about to continue his second round of sleep, but his stomach grumbled with hunger.

"...Right, now I remember why I called for the maid."

"Servant!" he shouted again.

"Yes, young master," a mature woman dressed as a maid entered, expressionless, waiting for her master's command.

"And here's another useless one appearing before me. At the very least, your small mind should be able to understand my words."

Without any attempt to conceal his thoughts, he said it loudly enough for the woman to hear, yet she didn't flinch, not even a muscle moved on her face, or at least that was her expression. She was well-trained, appearing as if she hadn't heard him at all. Thus, no one knew exactly what she was thinking at that moment.

"Your orders, young master."

"Bring me breakfast quickly, for I need to replenish my lost energy."

"Yes, sir."

She replied with a bow and swiftly exited, her expression changing from neutral to disdain, muttering between her lips.

"Worthless pig."

She hurried along the corridor and on her way, she found a girl sitting in the corner, her face hidden between her arms. It was evident she was crying, but instead of comforting her, it only fueled her anger even more.

"You fool, what are you doing here? Didn't I order you to clean the entrance of the palace? How many times have I told you to be around there?"

"I-I'm sorry, mistress Baya. I'll go quickly."

The girl jumped up in fear, responding without thinking, as if it was ingrained in her to obey. Without even wiping her tears, she ran off again, this time towards the palace exit.

Baya, the summoned maid, watched the fleeing girl with a sigh of regret.

"...This is futile. I must expel this girl from the palace quickly."

"Only if I bear a male heir for the master and bring him an heir, no matter how useless, it's impossible for it to be worse than this pig," the woman muttered with sparks of anger flying from her eyes. It seemed her patience was nearing its end.

Meanwhile, back in the luxurious boy's room, after the maid had quickly left, the young man found himself , his mind wandering , staring at the ceiling.

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"What should I do today? Should I study a little?... But what's the point of studying and learning trivial things like politics, war strategies, mathematics, and philosophy? It's all too easy for me, and I can learn it in a short period with my genius..... Well, I'll just postpone it to another day."

The young man paused his self-talk for a moment, as if he was seriously contemplating matters in his life before continuing.

"And what about physical training?... Well, I've trained a lot four days ago, and that should suffice for another week... Probably every man's dream physique."

The young man agilely jumped out of his bed to look at himself in the mirror... or at least attempted to jump agilely. His muscle-deprived body prevented him from performing any acrobatic movements. Nevertheless, he wanted to see his reflection, but quickly noticed that the mirror reflected nothing but pitch darkness.

"What's up with this dumb mirror? Why isn't it showing my reflection?"

He then finally grumbled that the reason behind it was the closed windows and doors of the room, preventing daylight from entering, despite it being midday.

"Should've told her to bring me lunch instead of breakfast... Who cares about that anyway."

The young man returned once again and stood before the mirror, admiring himself. Smooth black hair cascaded down his shoulders, inherited from his father, while his wide blue eyes resembled the clear sky, inherited from his mother. His skin was smooth and delicate, inherited.... from his prolonged stay in the mansion. With a good proportion between the eyes, nose, lips, and eyebrows, his facial symmetry was undeniably handsome.

He smirked arrogantly at his reflection, but as his gaze traveled down to the rest of his body - broad shoulders, sagging arms, flabby stomach, though not excessively, it was clear he was relaxed to the point of lethargy - his face turned gloomy, and the arrogance quickly faded.

"Whether it's mental or physical effort, there are followers who do it for me. After all, I am the eldest and only son of Sumai Stoneheart, the first. Vite Stoneheart. I will surely become the ruler of this province, then it will flourish during my reign, and I will rise economically, politically, and militarily, and then..."

As the boy indulged in his distant dreams, likely never to come true, he was interrupted by a knock on the door, cutting the thread of his dreams.

"Come in."

"Good morning, young master," said a cheerful young maid with a bright smile.

"Ah, it's you, Sina? Is breakfast ready?"

"Yes, young master. I made sure it was ready as soon as you woke up, so as not to waste your precious time. Just give me the order, and your breakfast will be here immediately."

"Good job, Sina. Despite being a woman, you're the most useful person in this palace to me. Keep up the good work, and I will surely reward you someday."

The boy spoke as if he were a person of great stature, still lost in his previous dreams as he spoke to her, hence adopting the tone of leaders and kings.

"Really!? I mean, yes, young master, you can rely on this humble servant."

"Good, now go and fetch the breakfast."

The smiling maid happily bowed, though she had worked in this palace for years, she had never received any acknowledgment from her young master. She thought he had finally noticed her diligent work, unaware that these words she cherished were merely a theatrical performance in the boy's mind as he indulged in his dreams and wanted to apply them in the heat of the moment.

.

..

...

After lunch or dinner, or whatever was on the young man's mind, he decided it was time to...

"Work? I have no work. What about studying or training? Of course not. So what do I do?? Well, let me just lie down on the bed and see what I can do."

And indeed, the young man went to his bed and lay down on it, pondering what he could spend his time on in a good way. However, as soon as a good plan for his day came to mind, he quickly dismissed it. This happened once, twice, thrice, and four times until he found himself once again in the world of dreams. He had slept without executing any of the plans he had envisioned in his mind.

And so the seconds passed, turning into minutes, and the minutes into hours. The young man showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. When one of the maids came to knock on his door.

"Hmm? Oh!! Who? Where? Why??". The young man rose up, surprised, not knowing where he was, then quickly remembered.

"Oh... Hmm... Seems like I was tired today."

He opened his mouth wide to draw in the stagnant air of the room, which had now become quite stale.

"Who is it?"

"Sir, Mr. Somay invites you to dine with him."

"My father? Tell him I'm busy and bring dinner to my room. I'm hungry again."

The maid felt helpless at the young man's response, but she didn't respond to his words.

"Sir."

"What is it?" The young man shouted, lacking patience.

"Sir insists on dinner with him."

"Don't you understand what I told you? Tell him I'm busy."

At this moment, the maid truly wanted to cry. The head of the family had anticipated this response from his son and had instructed the maid on what to say in such a situation. However, this was only a threat to the young man. Since she was the one conveying the message, the anger he would feel from this threat would be directed at her.

"Either my professional life becomes a hell with a young master seeking revenge on me for words I never said, or I get fired from this job for not obeying the master's words... I just want to cry over my luck."

The maid cried out her dissatisfaction within herself.

"Sir, if you refuse dinner with him, he will cut off your monthly allowance for the next three months."

"What!!?"

Although the maid was speaking from behind the door, she couldn't help but step back from the sudden raise in volume. Then, quickly, the door opened and the young man stepped out. The maid would have been mesmerized by his handsomeness if it weren't for the expression of intense hatred he directed towards her.

"I'll remember your face, woman."

He said this and then went towards the main palace hall where guests were received, leaving behind the maid whose face turned pale and tears gathered in her eyes as she wondered:

"Should I resign now, or should I see if I can bear his directed hatred?"

.

..

...

"Finally, my handsome and talented son has come. Come and sit in front of me, dear son. I've missed having dinner with you"

Ignoring his father's words and his happy, affectionate glances, the young man sat in the farthest seat from his father, which prompted the father to object.

"There are plenty of seats at this table. Why don't you sit somewhere else?"

The dining table was huge, accommodating more than ten people, so the distance between the two was far, which didn't please the father, who longed for his son. Of course, the son ignored him once again and clapped his hands, signaling to the maids to start placing dinner on the luxurious and well-set table.

The father smiled helplessly, not attempting to persuade his son again. He already knew that his son was angered by being forced to dine with him. The father leaned back on his chair with resignation, noticing his son watching the maids with interested eyes.

"haaaah"

The father sighed in resignation because he knew his son well. He understood that the apparent interest in the servants was solely for the food they carried. This was the only thing that seemed to capture his son's attention. Neither discussions of horsemanship, nor intellectual pursuits, nor the establishment of political connections interested him. Even women didn't seem to hold any particular appeal for him.

'Is this the end of the Stoneheart family?'

This thought terrified Somay even more than having a useless son. If his son was not fit to rule, then he, the father, would bear the family's burden longer until a grandson was born to raise him better to become a ruler. But what if...!!! Then, that would mean nothing but the end of his family.

"How are you, my son? How are things going at the Royal Academy?"

"We're on break now," his son replied without shifting his gaze from the food being placed before him.

"Y.. yes, that's right.... So, what are you doing during your break?"

The young man frowned upon hearing this question. He didn't want to answer that he spent most of his time thinking before falling asleep.

"Father, it's time for dinner, not talk."

With this kind of talk, he signaled his father to stop talking. And as soon as the food was placed, he began to eat quickly, as if he wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

The father smiled sadly without bothering his son with more questions. He knew that this behavior was a lack of respect towards him, and that this talk harmed him and his reputation without benefiting him. Nevertheless, he decided not to punish his son. His reaction in this situation was wrong, and he didn't know where this decision would lead him later on, but still, he didn't take any action.

The dinner ended as if it were a funeral rather than a family dinner. There was no exchange of conversation, no laughter or argument, just a disturbing silence. Even the maids, who had nothing to do with it, didn't feel good at this dinner.

"I'm done with dinner now and I'll return to my room."

The father saw his son distancing himself from him without even bothering to look at him, let alone exchange conversation with him, so he didn't say anything to him and let him do what he wanted.

.

..

...

"This has been a truly exhausting day."

The young man threw himself on the bed as if his energy had run out. Anyone who saw him would truly believe that the young man had a tiring day.

"Well, let's rest from this day and decide tomorrow what I should do."

The young man quickly found an excuse to spend the rest of his day without doing anything. But he didn't know that this night would be the last night he would enjoy.