Noble adoption wasn’t something that was done on whims. It would have been much easier if Kamil was a noble child, but he wasn’t. Him being sort of a half noble complicated things for the Fenchel house. It would get done eventually. The preparation was going to take some time. That was all.
While waiting for the official adoption, Lord Fenchel was going to evaluate him as much as possible before making his final decision. His first impression on Kamil was exceptional. Add in the fact that he looked exactly like his younger self meant that there was even a possibility that he was going to skip adoption and proclaim that he was just a bastard who he would now legitimize. In fact, he was leaning toward the legitimized bastard route which would require some more crafty paperwork but it would meet far less resistance from retainers and the likes in the future. This would take time because they would need to create an entirely fake life for Kamil, a fake mother who never even existed, a fake childhood, fake everything.
The adoption route would allow a marriage between Kamil and Icilia. The legitimized bastard route would force Icilia to be either married off to a noble or be removed, the latter being a better option for future.
Once Kamil was recognized as a legitimized son, Lord Fenchel considered a possibility where he would marry Kamil to one of his illegitimate daughters. Two of them were around Kamil’s age. This would greatly displease Lady Fenchel however.
Overall, it would take some time for the decision to be made because there were a bit too many options.
Meanwhile, Kamil was to be trained in combat. All male nobles must be able to defend himself. Thus, combat training was a requirement. That was just an excuse however. Lord Fenchel wanted to see Kamil’s further potential. Elias Hunt proved that he had academic as well as magic potential. The next was combat potential.
Noah Harder, the guard captain of Lux, entered a training ground. It was a square ground of reasonable size with four training dummies lined up on one side. There were two archery targets in a corner. An open-top barrel was by its entrance where loose swords were gathered. About ten people could easily fit inside with enough space to spare. At the moment, there was no one.
Following him, Kamil, too, entered the ground, looking around somewhat timidly.
“Sir. Kamil,” Noah told him. “This is your first day, so I won’t go far. Pick a weapon of your choice and we will trade a few blows just to see where you stand.”
Noah was clad in a half-plate armour. His helmet was off, revealing his charming short blond hair with blue eyes.
Inspecting the barrel, Kamil picked up a short sword which impressed Noah.
Kids tend to pick the biggest weapon they could get a hold on. This child is wise, he thought.
Unknown to Kamil, Lord Fenchel was observing the playground from a higher location. Elias Hunt was with him.
Anyway, Noah drew his sword and so did Kamil.
“Come!” Noah exclaimed, but Kamil gave a silent protest.
“Come!” He repeated. Again, Kamil stood still.
Why should I? I am already at a disadvantage. You come, Kamil thought.
Meanwhile, Noah thought Kamil was too scared to attack him. Thus, he dashed toward him instead in the end and swung his blade at him. Kamil looked as if he was going to block the swing. However, upon the clash, he slid his short blade downwards, effectively deflecting the power of Noah’s slash and pushing Noah’s body forward. He got down, posed to dash forward and did so through the gap between Noah’s legs. In progress, using the sword hilt, he smacked Noah’s family jewels.
“ARRRGH!” A high pitched painful scream filled the training ground as Noah dropped his sword and slowly knelt with both of his hands covering his private part.
“Where could he have learned that?” Elias remarked. “He seems used to fighting.”
Lord Fenchel folded his arms. “The lad grew up in Laufeld. It’s entirely possible that he may have fought against weak monsters occasionally.”
“Possible, and it seems he is used to dirty fighting which does support your theory.”
“Dirty fight or not, it does not matter in a real battle. Only survival does,” Lord Fenchel said with a smile on his face. “I’d rather see him survive than die fighting honourably.”
“If this was a real battle, Sir. Harder would be dead at this point indeed,” Elias remarked.
It took several minutes before Noah could even stand. His face was deeply pale. He looked like he’s about to puke.
“W, well, done. Sir ... Kamil.” He barely got the words out.
“You should have worn full plate armour, sir,” Kamil replied.
“W, where did you learn ... such a trick? If you don’t mind me asking.”
As a former hunter, Tom had to pull whatever tricks to defeat wild animals. Sometimes, the easiest way to defeat a male wild boar was its family jewels. Additionally, Kami’s relatively small 6 year-old body made it perfect for that course of action in this training fight.
He lied, “I grew up in Laufeld where small games and weak monsters roamed. As a child, I had to rely on tricks.”
“I, I see... Impressive. Let us ... take a break.”
Noah quickly vanished from the ground, leaving Kamil alone. Taking a deep breath, he surveyed his surroundings. It was a walled training ground, and he noticed a tower, standing tall and overlooking the ground.
I am being observed, aren’t I.
He took no pleasure in being graded in the way he had been. He felt like he was being treated like some kind of an item. He had never been a noble, so he wasn’t familiar with their ways.
In the end, Noah never came back. He was found collapsed with bubbles in his mouth. It was somewhat of a comical scene where he was down on the floor with his hips sticking out in the air. Elias had to be called in order to quickly heal him back to full health.
Kamil met up with Noah the next day on the same training ground.
“I am so sorry!” He bowed deeply toward Noah who scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.
“That is fine,” Noah replied curtly. “More importantly though, let us never talk about this incident ever again.”
“Of course!”
Noah was in mid 20s and was actively seeking a wife. This event would do no good for him, he reckoned.
Clearing his throat, Noah inquired, “Now, Sir. Kamil. What weapon do you prefer? I realized we traded blows using swords but not everyone is specialized in it.”
You are asking that to a six year-old?
If could, Kamil wanted to try archery although he wasn’t sure whether he had the strength to use a bow at this point.
“May I try a bow?”
“A bow? Certainly.”
Then he brought him a long bow. Amused, Kamil looked up at him. The bow Noah got him was even taller than himself. In other words, there was no way he could even draw the bow. Hell, he could barely hold it in his hands even, let alone draw it.
“Sir, is there a smaller bow I can use?”
“Hmm, I am not an archer. I don’t know, Sir. Kamil.”
“There ought to be a training bow of some sort.”
“I see. I will inquire with a fellow knight and see what I can find.”
After half an hour later, Noah returned finally with a practice bow which seemed identical to the longbow he had brought previously but was half of its size.
“Thank you. Did you bring a quiver as well?”
“A quiver?” Noah tilted his head.
You’ve got to be kidding me... I guess knights train only swords, I guess?
“A quiver holds arrows,” Kamil explained. “I can’t use a bow without an arrow, can I?”
“Oh, right. You’d be correct, Sir. Kamil. Give me a moment.” Then he disappeared once more into manor.
Shaking head as well as sighing, Kamil facepalmed himself. After another half an hour, Noah returned finally with arrows.
It has been ages since the last time I held a bow and an arrow.
He was feeling nostalgia as he held a bow and drew an arrow. He caressed the bow and an arrow slowly with slightly shaking eyes and aimed the shot at one of the two archery targets on the ground. He let go of the bow string and the butt of an arrow.
Noah’s jaw dropped. “B, bullseye?”
A satisfied grin was on Kamil’s face.
I’ve still got it.
“The hell did I just see?” Lord Fenchel raised his voice, shocks in his eyes. He looked back at Elias who was standing a few steps behind him. “Did you see that?”
“Aye, milord. It seems clear, isn’t it.”
Taking his attention back down to the training ground, Lord Fenchel folded his arms, letting out a grunt.
“Too clear in fact. I have absolutely no doubt. I am thinking that we can debut him to society tonight, and no one will doubt my words that he is a legalized bastard.”
“You shouldn’t debut him that soon though.”
“I know that, Hunt. We need to do paperwork.” A short moment later, Lord Fenchel asked Elias. “Is he really my sister’s son?”
“Pardon, milord?”
“Is he really my sister’s son?” He repeated. “I feel like he is my son.”
Elias knew where this was going and he had to ask, “What do you plan to do with Lady Icilia?”
Lord Fenchel let out a grunt once more. “My son can’t marry my daughter, can they.”
“What will you do with Lady Fenchel then?”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Now, that is the big problem...”
“May I speak my mind, sir?”
“Go on, Hunt.”
“Lady Fenchel doesn’t harbour deep parental feelings for her own daughter. What she seeks is the power that comes with her position. Are you willing to guarantee her position as the first wife of the Fenchel?”
“I don’t dislike the woman, Hunt. I’ve been with her for more than half of my entire life. She knows me, knows the line, and doesn’t cross it.”
“Then talk to her, guarantee her position, and propose removing the seed of chaos.”
Lord Fenchel went silent.
After the training, Kamil was introduced to a scholar whose appearance was a bliss to look at as male species.
“Greetings, Sir. Kamil. My name is Greta Brugg. I am here to teach you the history of our kingdom.”
Greta was wearing a robe, just like Elias did, but her robe was a fashionable one with a tight belt which clearly empathized a narrow waist. With a plump bump on her chest, in spite of wearing just a robe, she looked good. She was also a blonde with blue eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss. Brugg,” Kamil said with a bright smile.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6320/mUztsi.jpg]
She had a scrolled leather parchment with her in her arm which happened to be a map of the kingdom.
She explained as she pointed at Keviel, “Our capital is Keviel. It’s where our current king resides. His name is Karsten Egra.”
This was the first time for him to see a map showing the whole country. His eyes dotted around to see whether Bronn was there. He knew it was somewhere between Lyatan and Vedo.
Alas, the village of Bronn wasn’t there. He wanted to ask but had to swallow the question. As a child born after the unification, there was no way he would know the existence of Bronn. Instead -
“What happened during the unification war? I’ve heard about it.”
“Oh? You have?”
“Yes, Someone told me that I was born in the year the country was unified.”
Greta nodded along.
“You are six, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Whoever it was, he would be incorrect. The country was unified seven years ago. About a hundred years ago, there was civil war which ended in a truce as the country was divided in half. You see the river? The country was divided along the river.”
She went on to explain that the eastern Kingdom was called Egria before it was unified.
“What happened during the unification war?”
Was it bloody? He wanted to ask.
She paused as if trying to come up with a way to put it nicely or differently.
“Karsten the conqueror desired a quick resolution due to not wanting to invite further extraterritorial threats. The Siwen Dynasty has especially been a thorn for us. He..., ehm, conquered Lyatan and Vedo in quick succession and demanded a conditional surrender which Western kingdom eventually accepted.”
She was obviously glossing over details. Kamil knew that much at least.
“Did the king lead the army himself?”
“He did. Thus, he earned the nickname the conqueror.”
Wait a second... Does this mean the king is my target?!
He was getting goosebumps all over his body. This was getting complicated and extra hard.
Won’t killing the king make me..., like, a traitor?! If people find out, won’t they come after my family?
He folded his arms and grimaced.
I don’t know that, yet. The king may have led the army, but that doesn’t mean he was responsible for the Bronn massacre.
He sighed. If the king was indeed the one, how would he pull this? Perhaps, that itself may not be too hard. But how would he do the deed without anyone knowing...
Assassination, huh.
He furrowed his eyebrows. He absolutely did not want Grent and Vilma to get involved. They’d be executed at once if Kamil was found to be the culprit.
“Sir. Kamil?” Greta waved her hands in front of his eyes. Jolting, Kamil was brought back to reality.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Is something bothering you? You were making a serious face.”
“N, nothing, ma’am. I was just thinking about something.”
“I see. Well, let’s continue, shall we?”
Kamil nodded.
I have to bide my time. I cannot do anything yet at this age. I have to get stronger, and becoming a Fenchel noble will probably get me a way to find out who was behind the event.
Steeling with newly renewed determination, he listened to Greta’s lesson.
Meanwhile, Lord Fenchel was having a conversation with Lady Fenchel. Her face was pale.
“You cannot be serious!” She raised her voice with her hands shaking visually on her lap.
“Loukia,” He called out by her first name. “I guarantee your position. Nothing will change except that Icilia will be away.”
Away meant death.
“Why are you going this extreme for a boy that isn’t even yours?!” She exclaimed. “You are talking about killing our daughter!”
No one could fault for her losing her composure even if her daughter meant little.
“He is mine!” He, too, exclaimed in response. “He looks just like me, he has talents just like me! Let us be honest. Icilia is a spoiled child who hasn’t yet fully mastered reading and writing! She is ten!”
“That’s....!” Loukia tried to argue back, but there wasn’t really an excuse.
The truth was that Icilia wasn’t a fool. It was just that she ran away from tutoring sessions frequently by either throwing massive tantrums or just running away.
“That does NOT justify what you are trying to do, Edmund!”
She, too, called him by first name. Things were really heating up.
“I will NOT stand by this!” She continued as she stood up. She was about to walk out but was stopped by Edmund as he grabbed her wrist.
“Listen carefully, Loukia. This is important for the house. I cannot imagine any bright future for this house with Icilia. Can you? Be brutally honest. Be objective.”
She opened her mouth and inhaled deeply as if she would bark but she paused with her mouth slowly closing. She couldn’t argue back. She, too, knew well what generally happened to a house when its leaders were spoiled. The history had plenty of cases recorded well.
“Be objective, Loukia,” He repeated.
Tears filled in her eyes. “Edmund, please don’t do this. Do not send away my only child,” She pleaded. “She is all I have. Yes, I do admit I haven’t paid much attention to her, but still she is all I have. What will I have left once she is gone? There will be nothing left in my life.”
Edmund couldn’t really argue back at this point. Instead, holding her wrist, he guided her to sit back down. He held her hands on her lap.
“I cannot see any other way,” He said to her after a moment of uneasy silence. “If you have any idea, I am all yours.”
He did not want to adopt him. He wanted to proclaim that the boy was his bastard child that he was going to legalize which meant a marriage between the boy and their daughter was no longer an option. It’d be a sibling marriage on the surface after all. No one was going to accept that.
“Marry her off,” Loukia told him curtly. “You owe me that much.”
It took a while, but Edmund eventually nodded. “Fine.” He nodded again. “Fine, I will find a suitable marriage partner for her.”
After that, Loukia walked out of the room. Edmund sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes. “Hunt,” He called out eventually.
In a corner, a space became distorted and soon formed into the shape of a man. It was Elias Hunt who was using an advanced water spell called distortion. It wasn’t an invisibility spell. It simply allowed one to blend into the environment, like chameleons.
“My apologies,” Placing a hand on his chest, he bowed lightly. “I misjudged Lady Fenchel’s feelings.”
“It is alright. There wasn’t really any other way anyway. It had to be done one way or another.”
“Milord, what will you do now? Will you marry Lady Icilia off?”
“What is your take on this, Hunt? Be honest.”
“To be brutally honest, Lady Icilia needs to vanish. However, you shouldn’t really deny Lady Loukia of her wish if you wish to keep her around.”
Edmund rubbed his temple.
He and Loukia loved each other initially when they were teens. It may have been an arranged marriage, but they did like each other. Alas, Edmund’s strong desire for a son strained their relationship to a point that they no longer slept together. They hadn’t shared a bed for over five years at this point. Even so, even if he was no longer sexually attracted to Loukia, it was good to have her around because she wasn’t actively plotting against him. It was one less enemy to keep eyes out for. He was young enough to remarry but there was no guarantee what kind of woman he’d get next. He’d rather stick with someone he had known for a long time.
“Fine, find a noble for her but a weak one that won’t pose any threats later.”
“Understood.”
Meanwhile, once Lady Fenchel arrived back to her quarter, she summoned her maid swiftly.
“You called, milady?” It was the same maid who talked to her back when she visited her daughter a while ago.
“Rid the boy,” She declared.
Nodding at once, the maid left the room.
Kamil was wandering around the manor, not because he wanted to explore or anything like that, but because he was lost.
“Shit, this place is huuuuge,” He remarked as his eyes darted around to find a way out. “This place is like a maze!”
The only thing he knew for certain was that he was on the second floor. The easy way out looked like jumping out of the window.
“Maybe I should do just that...”
He approached a window nearby and found it locked.
“Oh, great.”
It was this point that he happened to spot a reflection behind him. It looked to be a maid and her facial expression was dark.
“Wha-t -”
Just as he turned around to face whoever it was, he had to bend backwards to avoid a slash from a dagger. He barely avoided having his neck cut.
I am being attacked!
Going full alert, he pulled what he did to Noah Harder which was basically he got down and dashed forward to get away from his threat. It was a maid for sure. She had a dagger in her right hand. Turning her upper body around, she attempted to grab Kamil, but he was faster. Since he had no weapon with him, the only offence he had was magic. But, given he could cast barely one spell, it wasn’t going to be much of a help except -
“Spirit of wind, hear my request!” He exclaimed as he dashed forward. Glancing back, the maid was catching up to him with a dagger aimed right at him.
Neither breeze of gust was going to be useful. He needed some sort of buff to his speed which was the specialty of wind. Spells were not set in stone. It was just that commonly known working spells were taught. He racked his brains to come up with a word that might help him run faster.
“I wanna run faster: Haste!”
Haste was also a common spell, but not for Tom who used only two basic spells in his entire life. He, as Tom, knew only three spells: Breeze, Gust, and Levitation. Why did he know the spell levitation when he couldn’t even cast it? Well, that was because he saw a wind mage flying around and begged the mage what kind of spell it was. It looked so cool to him at that time.
His feet began to glow in a greenish hue, and he was beginning to run slightly faster. Twisting his upper body, he pointed at the charging maid.
“Spirits of wind, hear my call! Blow that woman away: Gust!”
Gust of wind blew upwards, lifting her skirt and blocking her view for a moment. However, in spite of her vision being blocked for the moment, she did not stop and kept on charging forward. She didn’t intend on losing any distance.
Running out of options, he shouted his lungs out.
“HELLLPPP!”
Several doors opened with heads popping up, and a guard responded. The maid vanished already at this point.
She was an assassin, wasn’t she.
Huffing and puffing, he explained his situation to the guard who then took him to Elias Hunt.
“An attempted assassination?!” Elias exclaimed as Kamil explained to him what happened.
Elias’ office was small. Compared to Lord Fenchel’s study he had been to, it was one quarter of its size. There was his desk and a bookshelf on a wall. That was pretty much all it could fit in the room without feeling stuffed.
Fortunately or unfortunately, he had a good hunch on who might have ordered it. Taking Kamil with him, he went straight to Lord Fenchel’s study and informed him of the event.
“So, she has crossed the line,” Lord Fenchel spoke regrettably.
“What will you do, milord?” Elias inquired.
It was decided to send Kamil back to Laufeld for the time being while they’d investigate the matter internally.
Elias, about ten guards, and Kamil were on horses on their way to Laufeld. By horse, it was about three days away at a casual pace. Kamil didn’t know how to ride a horse, but Elias decided to teach him how on the way back.
“Unofficially, you are Lord Fenchel’s son,” He informed him while he was teaching him the basics of riding. “Right now, your official status is Edmund Fenchel’s bastard son with an unknown mother.”
“Eh? Unofficially, I am his son but a bastard son?” Kamil was confused.
“A bastard son is a child born out of wedlock. Nobles do not recognize them as their official children. They won’t go onto their family tree documents, either. That is as far as how we’ve gone with fake documents.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“If anyone asks, your mother has already passed away. You are being entrusted to Lady Vilma, Lord Fenchel’s sister for the time being.”
“Can I call my parents mom and dad?”
Elias shook his head regrettably. “You can no longer call Lady Vilma your mother and Sir. Grent your father. They are now Sir Grent and Lady Vilma.”
Kamil frowned, rightfully so.
“It is going to take a while for Lord Fenchel to clean up his house. I reckon a year or two at the most. Once that is done, we will call you back and recognize you as the official son of Lord Edmund Fenchel.”
“I see.”
“Now, once you are recognized as the official heir, Lord Fenchel plan to arrange a marriage between you and one of his illegitimate daughters.”
Wait, what? Hang on..., wouldn’t that be a cousin marriage?
“EH?” Kamil raised his voice.
“By your reaction, you do know what that means, don’t you?”
“A cousin marriage?”
“A smart boy, you are. It’s not the most desirable, but Lord Fenchel wants his blood to continue in some form.”
Well..., that’s one way to do it, I suppose... Hmm? Wait -
“What is going to happen to the daughter of Lady Fenchel?”
Elias patted his head, beaming a smile at him.
“Perhaps, Lord Fenchel is really right. You ARE his son.”
What?
“Don’t worry about us. Worry about yourself now. Here.” Elias handed a short sword over to him. “Practice and become stronger. We cannot officially send you any guards currently. Therefore, you must fend for yourself. We will inform the mayor about you though. He will do what he can but only discreetly.”
Kamil was excited to be able to go back to his hometown and stay with his family for the time being. At the same time, it was clear that there would be some form of bloodbath at the Fenchel house. It all depended on how far Lord Fenchel was willing to go.