Damon raised his arms parallel to his body as Lucy attended to his collar.

"I think it looks good like this." He said.

"Wait just a bit more, Damon, let me adjust the tie." She said.

"I really don't understand all this fuss. I think I'm presentable enough as is." He said.

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to tell Aunt Ariel to take some of those books away. It's bad enough that you can read so well at your age, but it's so creepy hearing a three-year-old talk like that." She said, shaking her head.

"Or you could just try reading some more." Whispered Damon.

"What?" She asked, narrowing her yes.

"Huh?" asked Damon, choosing to avoid getting into an argument with her.

At three years old, Damon had managed to secure himself quite a bit of freedom by putting on the appearance of a genius. He had started walking at seven months old, and started forming words and sentences by the time he was ten months old. About a year ago, when he turned two, he showed interest in reading, and now, at three, he was very well read.

His mother had been overjoyed, to the extent of getting him a tutor. The progress he had made in reading since then had quickly caused a buzz throughout the capital.

"I thought so." She said, moving her attention to fixing his sleeves.

"Anyway, just bear with it for a bit, you have look perfect today."

"I look perfect every day." Damon replied.

"Of course you do!" Lady Ariel's voice preceded her as she walked into the room.

Damon was a little taken aback as he looked at his mother.

She was wearing a well made red and black dress that had intricate golden lacing. Her hair had been styled and fell in bountiful waves about her shoulders. Even her jewellery was a step up from usual. She was a necklace adorned with huge ruby, and her earrings were of similar design.

"But today you have to look extra perfect." She said.

Damon smiled at his mother.

"You also look extra perfect today mother." He said.

"Why thank you Damon." She said, chuckling.

Lucy finished adjusting his clothes and stepped back, observing her handiwork.

"Are you sure we can't dye his hair blonde?" She asked.

"He's perfect as he is." Said Lady Ariel, shaking her head.

"Damon, are you excited for today?" She asked him.

Damon looked at himself in the mirror as he responded.

"It's just another day."

There was an awkward silence as Damon turned to see the back of his suit.

He wore a miniature version of a soldier's black trousers, boots and military jacket. Unlike the standard, however, his jacket was adorned with an intricate red lace pattern, and his shoulder pads were silver with silver tassels. On the back of his jacket, the Aristum house crest was stitched – a black lion head on a burgundy field.

"It's not just another day Damon, you get to meet your father today!" Lady Ariel said.

Damon nodded at himself in the mirror, still examining his suit.

"I think the inspection is more important than anything really. You all may say he is my father, but he's a stranger to me." Said Damon.

This wasn't really an exaggeration. In both his lives, his father had been absent. He had never seen the man before, his father had been away at war or on campaigns. Even when his mother had passed away, his father had not returned.

"I understand you may feel that way, but he will always be your father, Damon." Said his mother.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He really did not understand where his mother's fondness of his father came from. The circumstances of their marriage were strange enough – the first Queen had given birth to a son and an heir, the Kingdom was stable and there were no economic issues. There was no political or economic reason for the marriage. But if it was a marriage out of love, why was his father so cold to Damon and his mother?

"Plus, your father has written to me, and he is looking forward to seeing his son!" She said.

This was a little surprising to Damon, but thinking it through, he realized that his father had probably received reports that Damon was extremely intelligent. The interest the man now showed in him likely stemmed from there.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to meet him." Said Damon.

His mother gave a helpless smile at his response and decided to just shake her head and move on.

"Alright children let's make our way to the study. We have a meeting with Mr Stenbrig before the king arrives."

The three of them groaned at this but made their way to Lady Ariel's study.

The study was a room of considerable size, with high vaulted ceilings. Tall, narrow windows let in a soft, muted light. The windows were framed by heavy velvet drapes, richly colored in deep burgundy that were pulled to the sides.

The room held a sturdy wooden desk at the center. On the desk sat parchment scrolls, quills, and inkwells that were meticulously arranged where Lady Ariel and Alan would work. On the other side of the desk, a few books were stacked – evidence of Damon's growing presence in the study.

Shelves lined the walls, filled with leather-bound tomes and scrolls containing historical chronicles, legal codes, and philosophical treatises. A large, well-crafted globe sat on a stand in one corner, representing the known world.

Damon loved this room. Be it this life or his previous, he spent a good amount of time in here. Unfortunately for him, the room he loved was currently occupied by people he did not.

At the center of the study was a meeting area, consisting of two sofas facing one another, with a small wooden table between them.

On one of the Sofas sat Kerron Stenbrig, wearing his usual uniform with his cane leaned against his leg. Beside him sat a man that Damon hated even more than Kerron.

Beren Walters was a much younger official than Kerron. He wore a blue suit that fit him well and was not overtly gaudy in his clothing. He was a tall man with a stocky, muscular build and he had rowdy look about him. He had a close-cropped beard and mess of medium-length hair that was the same fiery red color as his beard.

Beren was a young noble from a Baronet family, but he had risen in station and standing recently due to his brash personality and bias for action. In a world of social proprieties and careful political maneuvers, he was a bulldozer who would act first and think later. This put him a unique position to be of use to the first Queen in handling some of her messier affairs.

Damon knew just how dangerous this man would become in future, especially as the first Queen gained stronger control over the courts and more and more of his actions would go unpunished.

It wasn't that he was particularly shrewd or strong. It was his unscrupulousness and his willingness to get his hands dirty that made him so effective at what he did. He would become known as 'Isabella's Hyena', as he was famous for refusing to let something go once his teeth were sunk in.

Beren was strongly tied to the future death of William. Damon was not sure what had happened, but early on, William would offend Beren and the latter would spend the next few years trying to bring William down at all turns.

Ironically, Beren's presence here right now was for the opposite. Despite his violent tendencies, Beren was a sociable man, and, coming from a lower noble status, the first Queen had dispatched him alongside Kerron to try to sway William away from Damon and his mother.

Officially, he was here as Kerron's deputy. Whilst Beren was generally boisterous and outspoken, he tended to hold his tongue whilst in the presence of Kerron.

"Good morning your majesty." Both men said, standing to bow towards Damon.

Damon nodded his head at them but frowned slightly as he noticed Beren's appreciative gaze towards Damon's mother.

A lustful idiot.

Kerron turned to his mother, pulling out a report that he had just concluded and handed it over to her.

"Reporting, your highness. We have completed our inspection of the premises. All things appear to be in order. Nothing can be done about the state of the building, but the cleaning is of passable standard to receive the King." Said Kerron.

He held a small frown as he spoke, as if the manor was in a state that was barely decent.

"Thank you, Mr Stenbrig." She said, receiving the report.

Kerron then addressed Damon, Lucy and William.

"I trust that the three of you are aware of the proper gestures involved in receiving the King? I am aware that you are young, and that this is the first time he has deigned to come here, but you must know that it is no excuse if you disrespect him through ignorance." Kerron asked them.

Damon ignored the hidden jabs in Kerron's words. It would not make sense for a child to see through it, so he instead asked a pointed question, using the innocence of a child as bludgeon to put Kerron in an awkward position.

"You mean my father will punish me if I can't bow properly?" He asked.

Kerron coughed slightly, at this, thinking for a moment before he smiled at Damon and responded.

"You must understand that this is the way things are. He is your father, but he is also the king of this kingdom. I am sure if he was visiting for the sake of visiting or to see and spend time with you or your mother, then all this would not matter. However, he is visiting for the sake of an official duty, so he is here today as the King, not as your father." Not one to be so easily flustered, Kerron replied to Damon, but his eyes were mostly on the second Queen as he spoke.

His words were clearly aimed at riling up Damon's mother. They implied that the King would not be here if it was not for an official reason, and if not for that, he wouldn't be coming today.

In the face of this insult though, there was not much that they could say, as he was not wrong. The first time that Damon was seeing his father was purely because of his mana vein investigation ceremony.

Damon placed a reassuring palm on his mother's dress. Kerron being so aggressive here meant that they had some sort of plan to derail the events of today, and his mother would need to stay calm to deal with whatever that was.

Honestly, Damon was not too worried. Their plan almost definitely hinged on him having damaged mana veins, so regardless, it wouldn't amount to much.