The following day Henry’s magic lessons, which were still more akin to playtime with his mother and nanny, began.

“Henry, mana is the force that lives inside us. It can be changed into different shapes, like your toy cubes can be used to build a house or a fortress.” (Eleonora)

“Depending on what elements your body and mana prefer you can create different phenomena, but in essence they are all mana, just in changed forms. It is like the water in the pond. When spring comes it will change from ice to liquid, and when summer comes you will see that there is less water because it will evaporate.” (Anna)

“Yes nanny, mama.” (Henry)

The lesson continued, but the two mainly focused on explaining, in various ways, the change that leads the mana to become something different. As a person who went to high school, Henry could understand changes that happen to matter so this lesson was easy to understand, even to a person who knew nothing of mana. Henry also had a lot of experience with playing games with magic systems and could visualize converting mana into different elements.

“Henry, now we will try and see if you have any affinities you were born with.” (Eleonora)

She then took out a small box from her coat and placed it before Henry. When Eleonora opened the box its insides were revealed. What greeted Henry were 4 little crystals. Each had a different color.

“My lord, take any crystal. When you do, hold it tightly, ok?” (Anna)

Henry did as he was told and Anna continued to explain this experiment.

“My lord, please try to feel the mana inside you, the one you felt yesterday during the test. It should fee…” (Anna)

“Found it!” (Henry)

Anna was shocked as she did not anticipate Henry being so fast. It was no small feat to find the mana vein, even for a 6 or 7 year old talent, let alone a child who could still be described as a baby. She felt like this child might just be a great talent.

“Good my son, now try to lead some of your mana to the hand that is holding the crystal. Slowly imagine it going where you want it, it will follow your lead, it does take some time for most people, so don’t worry if you can not do it immediately.” (Eleonora)

This was no small feat to perform, but Henry had almost 2 years of experience with observing and manipulating his mana. Not that he could do as he pleases with it, but with time he mastered it enough to move it closely to the places he wanted it to go.

After a few minutes the small brook inside him slowly moved its course towards his hand. The crystal, that felt the presence of mana, slowly approaching it, lit up.

“Good job Henry, as expected of our child, you get the best grades. Now to see what elements are favored by your mana.” (Eleonora)

“The color should start showing soon.” Anna said with her eyes glued on the crystal.

Henry stood in awe of his achievement. He knew this was essentially child's play, but still, it was magic, the phenomenon that did not exist in his former world, the one he dreamt of using ever since he was a child in his previous life. Now he stood before a crystal filled with his own mana, an evidence of his talent and the fact that he will be able to use magic.

While Henry was overwhelmed with emotions the two women were happily smiling. The results were more than satisfactory after all.

“Henry it would appear you have 3 elements you are naturally inclined towards. Splendid my son, that is simply splendid.” (Eleonora)

Suddenly the door burst open as Alfred rushed up to Henry, hugged him and started throwing him up into the air. Henry was shocked and he even let out a small scream, but once he understood it was his father a smile appeared on his face. Anna and Eleonora smiled at this sight, but there was also a bit of anger on Anna’s face.

“My lord, you appear to have been eavesdropping on our lesson. Should you not be in your office behind the desk?” (Anna)

“Now nanny, don’t be so harsh on my husband, we are very excited after all, three elements, that is no small feat. In the end we want to spend as much time with our son as possible, so this should not cause the estate to fall apart.” (Eleonora)

“That is not the problem my lady, the problem is that he eavesdropped. Can’t…” (Anna)

As Anna was about to continue, she saw that it was pointless. The happy family of three was jumping around and celebrating their success. There was no point in ruining this family moment so Anna just stood there and watched them with a smile. What happened next made her tear up. Henry and Alfred rushed at her and started hugging her. She no longer felt like she was watching a family scene, now she was a part of that family and this made her heart be filled with happiness.

This scene continued on for some time but was interrupted by the maid who informed them that the lunch was ready.

***

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“Henry, will you come and play with daddy any time soon? The knights are also curious about it, you know. And Eleonora too, please join him, I haven’t had the chance to show off to you in a while.” (Alfred)

During lunch Alfred casually tried to get Henry to come over to the gym and spend time with him, it was plain to anyone that he was jealous of his wife hogging Henry for the morning. He wanted some father son time, a chance to show off his good sides to his one and only son.

“I would love to, daddy.” (Henry)

“Alfred, going so low as to even entice Henry with knights, you know boys all look up to them. Of course you should have your time with him, but as a talented mage he should use his mornings to practice some basic mana control.” (Eleonora)

“Then why not mix the two, you can do mana control training in the gym, and once it is done you can play with swords for a bit, how about it Henry? That way your mother and your father will have time with you, but also with each other.” Anna proposed a compromise that would be beneficial to Henry but also please his parents.

“Yes, I would love to spwend more time as a family.” (Henry)

His parents burst out in laughter at his little slip up with words, and Henry felt defeated by his tongue, once more.

The matter was settled and the operation “Family Time” was further developed by his parents and Anna.

***

Henry enjoyed his time with his parents. He had a lot of fun but also learned a lot about various weapons and mana control from them. The days flew by and now his 2nd birthday was slowly approaching.

“Henry, this year we plan to have two celebrations for your birthday. One will be our family, mommy daddy and Anna, while the second one will be a get together with the leading people of the estate. Do not feel pressured. There will be a lot of people, but they are all our friends so do not worry.” (Eleonora)

“And if you feel like it is too much at any point, just tell us, ok?” (Alfred)

“Yes! Will other children come too?” (Henry)

“Oh, of course, it would not be a child's birthday if there were no children and sweets.” (Alfred)

‘So the time of my social debut is approaching, I must do my best to make my parents proud and leave a good impression on my future subjects.’ Henry thought to himself.

“Young lord, starting tomorrow you will begin your etiquette lessons. I will be your teacher, as I was your mother's, of course if you so wish.” (Anna)

“Nanny Anna will teach me?” (Henry)

He was quite happy that a person he knew and loved would be the one teaching him and not some stranger who he knew nothing about. Unfortunately for Henry he did not notice the look on his mother's face, it was not fear, it was the look of a drained person. Eleonora was, as Anna said, her student. She never liked these lessons as Anna would turn into a knight commander or a strict overseer who would drill proper manners into her with no mercy. Of course she was never violent, but still, to a free spirit like Eleonora those lessons were worse than any battlefield she ever stood upon.

***

“My lord, today we will go over proper greetings, the first impression is the one people mostly remember you by. Because of that it is the start of any lords or ladies education in etiquette.” (Anna)

“Yes, I will do my best!” (Henry)

“Great my lord. Now before we start, we have some spies lurking in the shadows, so, as an extra lesson, let me show you how to deal with them” (Anna)

Henry slightly jumped up in fright as he knew that there were spies and assassins in all the games he played, and most of the time they went for nobles. Still his fear was unnecessary because he knew the two spies very well.

Anna slowly pointed her finger towards the door and then a splash of water hit something beyond the door. What followed it were a few more splashes and combined yelps of two people.

“Anna, please no more, we yield , we yield…” (Alfred)

As Anna, who was expecting this and came prepared, handed the two spies some towels she proposed a new arrangement.

“My lord, my lady, if you intended to spy on us why not join in on the lessons. From your behavior today I can see that I did not drill proper etiquette into you.” Anna spoke these words in a calm voice, but her eyes were burning with enthusiasm.

The look on the two wet spies faces said it all. They appeared like they ate a lot of sour grapes.

For some reason his parents did not spy or intrude on his etiquette lessons any more.

***

Henry continued his family time in the mornings and spent some time, everyday, after lunch with Anna learning more and more about proper noble conduct. He enjoyed both very much, but of course his mornings with his parents were his favorite time of the day. Henry felt immeasurable joy and gratitude that his parents were like this, and not Spartan like people. He felt shivers run down his spine as he imagined being drilled into nothingness.

Still, as the day of his celebration was approaching, so did Henry feel an increasing amount of pressure. It did not come from his surroundings but from inside him. He felt that the coming celebration was his chance to show his parents how he had grown and to also impress Anna with his social skills. He was to be a host of a noble banquet and, aside of what Anna had taught him, all his knowledge of such events came from tv shows and games. Still he knew that his parents and his nanny would be with him every step of the way, this made some of his worries go away.

***

A few days before the celebration his father and mother had a sour look on their faces, wondering what was the cause Henry stopped his morning workout and asked them for the cause.

“Mommy, daddy, why do you look so strange?” (Henry)

“Oh nothing honey, sorry to make you worry, just some things grown ups have to deal with, nothing much.” (Eleonora)

With these words Eleonora tried to reassure Henry and Alfred did his best to lift the atmosphere. Still Henry saw that his parents were worried about something. What did make Henry happy was the fact that his parents did their best to protect him. He vowed to do his best in this life to make these two, his loving parents, proud of him.