It’s been a week since we got back from Haidran and a few things have changed, Phillip has been treating me more like a friend, he’s been… Well, he’s getting better at it, he actually uses my name now which was a bit weird, since it’s the first time I’ve heard my name for over a season.

He doesn’t use it in front of the other humans though, but I don’t mind it, they would probably get angry at him or something…

And he’s been asking about what I like and if I actually want to go with him when he goes to do his training thingy. Sometimes I go with him and watch him but I normally stay in his room and try to read, I’m getting better at reading to, I can read almost half of the picture book that he gave me.

He also told the other humans to give me nicer food too. I’m really happy to have better food than I was getting before, but it’s not as good as the food I got when we stayed at Haidran, but I won’t complain, at least get to eat three times a day here.

Right now, I’m standing in front of a mirror in the washroom looking at my reflection, seeing what I look like in my new clothes.

I wasn’t expecting my clothes to be as colourful or well-made as the ones I’ve seen other humans wearing, I know that the clothes that the butler human had given me before were made quickly and weren’t that good, I’m pretty sure that they were pillowcases before they were clothes too.

But I was surprised to see that the clothes Phillip had gotten me were much better than what I thought I was going to get, I was even more surprised that he got four sets of them, they feel so much nicer than my old clothes and they also look nicer too.

My shirt and pants are a light grey colour and fit me much better than my old clothes, I also have gloves now too, they’re dark brown and they also let me hold books easier too, which is nice.

There’s also what Phillip called a jumper, he said that it’s for me for when it gets colder, it’s black and feels like the fluffy red blanket that Phillip gave me.

And while they’re all good clothes, I wasn’t expecting to get a cloak though, which is what I’ve been looking at the most.

It’s black with a slightly shiny picture of what Phillip told me was a griffon on the back of it, Phillip said that it was embroidered silver though and not a picture, and he also said that the griffon was his family’s emblem. I think I like the cloak the most out of all the clothes that I got, it can wrap around me and it even has a hood too.

When I finish looking at myself in the mirror I walk over to the door and knock on it and step out of the way like Phillip told me to do when I was finished putting my new clothes on.

It takes a moment for the door to open but when it does, I see Phillip. He looks at me for a bit before he asks me.

“You’re looking much better now, do you like them? Do they fit all right?”

I nod my head and say.

“y-yeah, I like them a-and they feel nice. i like the c-cloak the most though.”

"Well, I'm glad you like them." He says with a smile as he steps away from the door.

I stand there for a moment, looking back to my old clothes, wondering if I should get them and when I ask about them he says that it’s fine, I nod my head and then I walk over to my chair and climb up onto it.

By the time I’ve climbed onto the chair and sat down in it, Phillip’s already sat back down in his chair and is looking at me, he’s still got a small smile.

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(Jerald’s Pov)

I’m on my way to Sir Daniels study with the post, I’m currently sifting through the letters seeing who sent them, putting the less important ones closer to the bottom of the pile.

A few from Haidrans shops, likely bills. One from some woman called Jen-something. One from the local Knight Watchman, probably about the increase in bandit activity.

As I continue sifting through the letters I pause, seeing one with the stamp of the Magi addressed to Sir Daniel… I make a mental note to put that at the bottom of the pile.

I continue walking and sifting through the letters. One from the local village elder. Oh, one from Merry, he’ll be happy to hear from her, so I best put that on the top of the pile.

It doesn’t take me too long to finish sorting through the letters and now I’m standing in front of the door to Sir Daniels study, I briefly look through the letters, double-checking that the letters are sorted before I knock on the door.

After a moment I hear Sir Daniel shout through the door.

“Come in!”

I open the door and walk into the study and see Sir Daniel writing something, he pauses what he is doing and looks up at me.

“Sir Daniel, I’ve brought the post.” I say as I walk over to his desk and place the letters down.

“Ah wonderful, anything important?” He says as he picks up the letter on top, looking at it briefly before setting it aside, likely saving it for later.

“Other than the letter from Merry and one from the Knight Watchman, no nothing too important.”

“Ah that’s good then… And what about that one on the bottom of the pile?” He asks as he picks up the next letter, he probably noticed the quality of the Magi’s letter compared to the rest of them.

“Ah, that’s a letter from the Magi, no doubt asking for a donation. Or proclaiming Phillips a demon… Again…” He looks at the letter like it’s a piece of filth. And to be honest, I agree with that sentiment…

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“Really? Well, I guess I'll just burn it or something later." He says as he opens the letter from the Knight Watchman.

“Is there anything that you need Sir Daniel, or shall I take my leave?”

“Ah yes, I’d like to ask you about how Phillips been doing, I’ve been too busy this week and haven’t had much time to talk with him.” He says while he reads the letter.

“There’s nothing much to say really, he’s still pushing himself in his training and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. The only noticeable difference in his routine would be that he has been spending his spare time with that kobold of his.”

“Ah yes, and there hasn’t been any problems with it, has there?” He asks as he puts the letter down, giving me his full attention.

“No, none that I know of at least, he seems to be training it well enough. Though he did buy some rather expensive clothes for it.” He pales slightly after hearing that.

“Oh God… How expensive were they?”

“They were thirty-two silver.” He sighs as he seems to relax and says.

“You had me worried there for a moment, that’s easily within his allowance, I thought you were going to say that he went over his allowance for a moment. And honestly, he spends more on those odd books of his, compared to them that’s nothing.”

I withhold a sigh and say.

“Yes, I suppose that you’re right and that isn’t much, for you.”

“I thought I was going to have to tell Annabelle that Phillip went over his allowance again. Although, I admit that is a lot to spend on a slave for something as simple as clothes for a slave.”

“Yes, well, he seems rather fond of the creature.”

“I’ll say, he’s been too relaxed around it, Annabelle’s been complaining about it after Sam told her that Phillip let it sleep in his room at Haidran, hell, I almost fired Sam for letting him do something so damn stupid until I remembered we were talking about Phillip.”

I hesitate for a moment before I ask.

“If you’re that worried about it then why don’t you get rid of it?”

He sighs as he leans back into his chair, the letter all but forgotten at this point.

“I did think about it, but ever since I got him the damn thing, he’s been less focused on that whole Knight business, don’t get me wrong he still does his training, he just… He seems less focused on it, if only a little since I got him that kobold, surely you’ve noticed it too right?”

“You’re right, I have noticed that he has been a little less focused on his training recently, but what does that have to do with keeping the kobold?”

“Because it’s the most he’s ever been distracted from being a damn Knight and it might be a way to convince him to drop that stupid dream of his.”

“How…”

“I… Have no idea, but it might be a chance to change his mind about it.”

“You’re just grasping at straws because you don’t want to be the one to tell him that he can’t be a Knight, aren’t you?” I say dryly. And from that guilty look he’s got I know I’m right.

“Fine, but can you really blame me though? Wouldn’t it be better if he decided that he didn’t want to be a Knight anymore and then I tell him that he could never have been a Knight, would that not be better than simply crushing his dreams?”

He asks in a tone that’s borderline pleading, as if this is his last idea and he’s looking for me to tell him that it’s a good idea, and the thing is, it’s not that bad of an idea. If it wasn’t one of the first things that we tried…

“We’ve already tried to get him interested in other things, it never worked. Why would this time be any different?”

“Because he never showed even the slightest interest in anything we tried getting him to do, the only thing he ever took any interest in other than training to be a Knight is reading those old and obscure books.”

“That may be true, but where could this interest lead him? There are only so many things that an interest in slaves could lead to, and I rather doubt that Annabelle would like her son to decide that he wanted to be a slaver over being a Knight.”

He sighs after hearing that, before he suddenly gets an all too familiar look that screams ‘bad idea’ and saying.

“Maybe… Just maybe we could encourage him to spend time with it and use it to try and distract him from his training, so much so that when he comes of age he's simply too weak and far behind in his training when compared to the other candidates!”

I look him dead in the eye and say in the driest and most deadpan tone I can manage.

“What a wonderful idea sir, I can’t possibly see any way that this could fail, truly, this is one of your finest plans to date, possibly even surpassing the time you tried to invade that Elven fortress. Through the main gate. In the middle of the day.”

“We agreed to never speak of that.” He says rather quickly.

“Oh, did we? It must have slipped my mind, Sir.”

He sighs and looks slightly resined before saying.

“Anyway, it can’t be that bad, the worst thing that can happen is he figures it out and gets mad at me for a few weeks.”

“Sir, do you really think that he wouldn’t notice something off if you do that?”

“He might be perceptive, but he’s still just ten Jerald and even if he figures it out when he gets older, if all goes well, he won’t care about it by then.”

“Okay, but the thing that worries me the most about this ‘plan’ of yours, and what should worry you too, is that he figures it out in a year or two from now and pushes himself to make up for it all the while hating you for trying to, seemingly out of nowhere, trying to sabotage his dream.”

He sits there silently for a few moments, before sighing and saying.

“I know… But to be honest Jerald, I’d rather he hate me and be alive, than love me and die trying to achieve some impossible dream. I ran out of ideas a while ago, this is possibly the last chance to, at best, have him decide to do something else that’s not as dangerous as being a knight, at worst, him hating me but failing to meet the physical and martial requirements to be an Apprentice Knight. And even if he somehow manages to meet the requirements, at that point he’ll already hate me so I may as well just forbid him and be done with it.”

I… Have no real words for that, I just stand there, thinking on what he just said. I must, reluctantly, admit that it’s not the worst idea he’s had, I don’t like it.

The whole thing hinges on whether Phillip will notice what he’s trying to do. Sir Daniel knows his son well enough to know this is a complete gamble, he knows that Phillip’s rather observant, especially so, for someone his age and that he may very well figure it out.

But he might not though.

If this ‘plan’ does, somehow, workout though…

I sigh and say.

“Well Sir, it’s not your worst plan, and while I don’t like it, it’s up to you whether you do this or not.”

He looks at me slightly surprised and asks.

“You’re not going to try and convince me not to do it?”

“No Sir, I’m not. You’re his father, so it is up to you whether you do this or not. I just hope you think it through and talk to Annabelle about it before you decide what you’re going to do.”

“I’d rather keep Anny out of this, if Phillip does figure it out, well he’ll at least have her.”

“And she’ll kill you if she finds out about this ‘plan’ that you’ve got.”

“I know… I must admit, I was honestly expecting you to try and dissuade me from doing this, why aren’t you trying to do that? It’s what you usually do when I have these sorts of ideas.”

I hesitate for a brief moment, before sighing and saying.

“Because Sir… Because we’re not children anymore. It’s up to you how you and Annabelle how you raise your children, not me. And if I even tried, you’d still do it anyway.”

He sighs and says.

“I know, it’s just odd that you didn’t try at all. But I suppose you are right, he is my child and no matter what you would have said I would have done it anyway.”

I stand there for a few moments, watching him as he slowly starts to read the letter that was all but forgotten.

I move towards the door to leave but as I reach for the handle, I hear Sir Daniel ask.

“Could you do me a favour? Could you not tell Annabelle about this, like you said, she would kill me if she found out.”

I turn back to look at Sir Daniel and say.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll just count this towards the other favours you still owe me.”

“Great, well, I don’t suppose one more will matter that much by now.”

“Oh? You didn’t keep count?”

“No, I lost count years ago, why?”

“Because, until just now we were even.” I say as I walk turn and walk through the door, as I shut it I hear him yell through the door as the hallway suddenly heats up slightly.

“DAMN IT! YOU DIDN’T TELL ME YOU BASTARD!”

I can’t stop myself from having a small smile on my face as I continue my remaining duties for the day, but to be honest, I didn’t try that hard to stop.