There was a pause as Damon's mother pondered what Kerron had just said before she replied in an even, measured tone.
"I appreciate the offer, Mr Stenbrig, but I must decline. It is true that the manor is old and the furniture outdated, but you see, I am quite the romanticist for history. I quite enjoy the majesty that such age brings to the building. As for the maids and the guards, there is no need to trouble yourself. I may only be a daughter of the Marlow family, but we are quite wealthy, there is no need to dip into the royal coffers just for me."
Kerron was unperturbed at her response.
"I must insist your highness. It is a matter of pride for the royal family and for the kingdom. To refuse it would be to refuse your son the right to those coffers you speak of. And pardon my offense, but surely you do not wish for others to whisper about him turning his back on the kingdom out of pride for his mother's family?" He asked.
He was as sly as Damon remembered, but Damon's mother did not skip a beat in responding.
"When you put it that way, I must accept. I will have Alan discuss the details of our funding and expenses with you. We have kept a string of account books, and I trust that you can use them to recompense us on what we have had to spend over the years." She responded.
Kerron paused for a moment, nodding his head slowly before replying. He had not expected her to respond so forcefully, but he took it in stride.
"That is for the best, but I will have to ask your understanding in a small adjustment. I have no doubt that Master Carlington has served well in his capacity as your butler, unfortunately, however, he is one of the staff members deemed unfit to continue on in his role. After-all, the sate of disrepair is telling, and the issue with your funding should have been spotted and addressed by him months ago. I have no qualms in you keeping him as your personal butler, but for all affairs of the Manor, he simply won't do." Said Kerron, smiling once more at the Queen.
Damon felt his mother's grip on him increase in frustration. It was to be expected. This level of shamelessness was hard to come by.
Kerron knew full well that the cause of the disrepair as well as the root of the poor finances was the first Queen, but he still unabashedly laid the blame on Alan.
If Alan was replaced as head butler, Queen Ariel would find it much more difficult to maneuver in any capacity, as her finances would be laid bare for her opposition to see and control.
Regardless, she quickly corrected herself, loosening the grip on Damon and trying to keep her even tone when responding.
"That is where we will have a problem, Mr Stenbrig. I am sure that you are well aware of the court's ruling regarding the management of my Manor's affairs. If I recall, you were present on the day that I appointed Lucia as my son's attendant and accepted William as his bodyguard."
This made Kerron pause slightly and surprised Damon. He hadn't been aware of any special stipulation regarding William and Lucy.
"Of course, your highness, I am quite aware. However, that and this are two separate issues. My reach will not extend to the personal care of the prince, but the Manor and the upkeep of it are resources of the Kingdom, and fall under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom." Said Kerron after some thought.
Lady Ariel did not respond, she simply waved her hand, releasing a pulse of mana and a few seconds later, Alan shimmered into the room.
"My lady." He said, bowing to her.
"Alan, if you please, could you repeat the stipulations of my selection of Lucy as my attendant."
"Yes." He said.
"You accepted that your choice of bodyguard would come from a short-list provided by the Kingdom, and your flexibility would only be picking one out of the three individuals they proposed. You accepted that in the case where those you selected where to prove incompetent, you would be judged as requiring further training in such decisions, and you would hand over the decision process to the governmental board whilst you underwent such training. The period of training was set to perpetuity, with it being rescinded only after such a time when you demonstrate an improvement in selection ability."
As he spoke, William clenched his fists and Lucy trembled. They, like Damon, were unaware of such a precarious deal. It showed exactly how much trust the Queen had put in the two of them.
Alan continued.
"In the case that your judgement was deemed correct, then, in all matters pertaining to the person of Prince Damon Solis Aristum, you would retain absolute freedom of choice, in perpetuity, with the only exception to this being his Majesty the King."
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Damon grit his gums.
In order to allow Lucy to become an attendant, his mother had made some sort of agreement with the court – though it was clear that the court was representing the faction of the first Queen. Whatever the true details of the agreement were, Lucy and William performing as they had, had resulted in Queen Ariel gaining back a lot of her personal influence.
It was strange to Damon, as he knew that the first Queen was an obsessive planner. She would not have taken such a risk if she had not been sure.
That could only mean that she had some knowledge of Lucy's state before the awakening.
Could it be that what happened to Lucy's mana veins was related to the first Queen's faction? From what they had done to Damon, it was definitely clear that they had the ability to tamper with mana-veins. If that was the case, how exactly was the Marlow family involved?
"It follows then, Mr Stenbrig, that unless my husband personally requests any different, the maids who will be serving my son's person, and the bodyguards who will be protecting him, are under my jurisdiction." Said Queen Ariel.
Kerron stood quietly, tapping the floor with his cane.
Eventually, he responded.
"Of course, my Queen. It seems that I overstepped in my passion to serve. In that case, I will retire. Please have Mr Carlington send me the financial reports, I will review them."
Damon's mother smiled at him and nodded.
"I will do so." She said.
Kerron, bowed at her.
"I will take my leave then." He said.
"You may go." Said Queen Ariel.
As Kerron turned to leave, he paused and fixed William and Lucy with his oily smile.
"Ah! Lest I forget, I will arrange for your tutors to report to the manor by the start of next week." He said to them.
"Mr Stenbrig." Said Queen Ariel.
"I believe we just concluded that staffing is under my jurisdiction, so you need not bother yourself."
Kerron turned and bowed to her once more.
"I wouldn't dream to overstep your highness, but I must clarify. You said yourself that you have jurisdiction over all matters regarding your son's person. The training and mentoring of Royal attendants, however, fall sunder the jurisdiction of the government. As these two attendants are not your son, it seems that it falls under my management to decide on their tutors and training schedules."
He bowed once, more, turning and leaving the room, his cane making a light tapping sound against the floor with each step he took.
"He is right my Lady" said Alan, chagrined.
Lady Ariel sighed and she turned to Lucy and William.
"I am sorry children, but that is out of my control. For you, Lucy, I can give personal lessons to supplement your learning, but unfortunately, there isn't much I can do to help William."
"Thank you Aunt Ariel, I promise I won't complain even once, no matter how long or tedious or boring it gets!" Said Lucy. Her eyes will still wet with the emotion of finding out how much her aunt had risked in securing her custody.
"Will it affect the level of sword master I am assigned?" Asked William.
Lady Ariel shook her head.
"No. There will be scrutiny surrounding someone as talented so you, so they won't send a useless instructor. The real issue is that whoever they send will double as a spy for the first Queen's faction and will serve to try to pull you over to their side."
William nodded at this and answered firmly. "Then there is no problem. No matter what happens, I will forever serve your son. As long as they are teaching me what I need to learn, I will listen to the lessons and ignore everything else."
Damon's mother smiled at this.
"Good." She said.
"Alan, please escort the two of them downstairs, it's time for me to feed Damon."
For F#*?s! sake Damon thought.
__________________
Later that evening, as he lay in bed, Damon finally felt his veins healed enough to attempt True-Sight. He activated his ability and examined himself.
Name: Damon Solis Aristum
Race: Human
Age: 0.5 years
Height/Weight: 2ft 8 inch / 8.8 kg
Level/Class/Sub-Class: Level 0 / -- / --
Title: Second Prince of Aristia
Stamina: F (Low)
Speed: F (Low)
Strength: F (Low)
Durability: F (Mid)
Agility: F (Low)
Mana: E (Low)
Aura: --
Remaining Stat Points: 0 (35)
Innate Abilities: True-Sight (A), Mana Sensitivity (Pinnacle)
Class Abilities: --
Sub Class Abilities: --
Miscellaneous: Mana Control (D), Mana Circulation (D), Mana Threads (C)
Remaining Ability Points: 0 (14)
Truly a fortuitous encounter.
Whatever the strange mana orb was, it had had an amazingly positive effect on Damon. His durability had increased slightly – probably because of the damage and healing. More importantly, his mana had gone up an entire tier. At not even 6 months old, he already had E grade mana!
His mana sensitivity had gone up from S rank to pinnacle. This explained why he had felt as if there was a higher concentration of mana particles around than he previously did. It wasn't that the composition of mana in the room had dramatically changed – it was that he was much more sensitive to it now.
This would prove to be more and more of an advantage as his levels advanced.
Not just mana sensitivity, but his mana control, mana circulation and mana threads had all gone up a rank.
Tentatively, he activated a mana thread. He found that it was much easier to move the mana around his body, and the thread formed much faster. More importantly, he felt unburdened. Normally, activating a mana thread put a little mental strain on him.
Curious, he tried to form a second mana thread, and to his glee, he succeeded. Two mana threads at once!
Whether this was a result of the better sensitivity, control, circulation, or the improvement of the skill itself, he wasn't sure.
Laying in his cot, Damon decided that he would spend the next few weeks at the very least just on testing the new limits of his threads.