The stone glowed around as much as your average LED bulb. I wonder how well I fared.
“Mana intake, average aptitude.”
“Grahahaha the boy is already doing better than me!”
My father roared excitedly. It seems he was pleased by the first result.
“Go on Julius, onto the next one”
I was then handed a red stone. It glowed just about as much as the green stone, if not slightly brighter.
“Mana storage, average aptitude”
It seems that minor light fluctuations don’t influence the final judgement of the reader.
“Though it's nothing grand, the average aptitudes will help to complement whatever your unique branch will be.”
My father added with the same loud and booming tone.
Next I was handed a white stone. It seemed to be the stone for mana output and manipulation.
Yet again, my aptitude was determined to be average.
My father was relatively calm despite the results that were nothing of note for noble standards so far, albeit perhaps slightly disappointed for not seeing anything groundbreaking.
That's because my results were just about expected so far.
Still there it is again, that off feeling I’ve been getting since coming over to this world.
Next I was handed a dark grey stone, and at this my father’s eyes lit up
“That's the aptitude stone for mana processing. It's the branch that has been the specialty of the kingdom’s nobility for decades and the reason for our dominion over the central continent. Go on son, I’m willing to bet we’re in for a surprise.”
With those words of encouragement, I was handed the dark grey stone and it…..glowed as brightly as an LED bulb
“Huh? Oh um, mana processing, average aptitude”
The old man said, surprised, almost doubting his own eyes, but his reaction was nothing compared to my parents’. Their eyes, their demeanor. It shifted completely.
Across history, the kingdom’s nobles never had really good mana channels for manipulating mana or mana organs for mana storage. What they did have was exceptional brains, that lead to extreme levels of processing power. My father didn’t mind my previous average results and was even slightly pleased by the average results because I was not really meant to be anything special in those branches, but for a noble, the firstborn of Duke Ronwen no less to have only average computing power?
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Maybe he wouldn’t have cared too much if I scored a ‘unique’ on any of the other branches or even at least an above average, but that wasn’t the case here either
“Esteemed master, are you absolutely sure about your measurements?”
My father asked with a slight shake to his voice. My mother was right beside him, shaking slightly and refusing to look at me.
“Yes there is no mistake, Duke Ronwen”
“I see”
My father replied in a flat tone, all the excitement and boisterous laughter drained from his body.
“Then he is no son of mine, or yours, right Adrianna.”
“That's correct I don’t know who that child is”
Ahh now I get it, where that off feeling came from, why their “sweet and loving” gazes never felt warm to me. They were different from the parents of my past life. It was conditional on that fact that I could bring honor to the noble family.
Now that I’m a stain to the name, I’m nothing to them.
“Julius Ronwen, no Julius you are hereby stripped of your noble title and exiled from this household. Guards take him away”
Just like that huh? It was that easy for you to just get rid of me. I could see it on their faces too, they weren’t hiding any hurt for exiling me or any other hypocritical feelings like that. They simply wanted me gone and they felt no remorse in leaving a 7 year old to fend for himself.
Before I could say anything in protest, a sack was put over my head and I was dragged away from the main hall.
—-
—-
I felt myself being dragged away and into a carriage. As I was thrown onto the floor, I heard a familiar voice on the seats above me.
“Young master, can you hear me”
“Lucia is that you?”
How fitting. Lucia was the maid that's been assigned to me since the beginning, of course she’d also oversee my last moments as a Ronwen.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to help you in your situation young master, I’m sure you understand why.”
Lucia was a lady that was raised to serve the Ronwen household ever since she was young, it's natural that she would prioritize her loyalty to the household rather than to a kid she only raised for a while.
“Yeah, I’m not stupid, I understand.”
“But on account of our 7 year partnership, I shall brief you on your current situation. As a stain on the Duke’s lineage, he’ll be erasing all traces of you from the family registry. The Duke deems it an affront to noble pride if he were to kill you and spill the blood of his own flesh and flood so instead he plans to bring you far away from his domain, to the slums on the outskirts of the kingdom. From all the books you’ve read, I’m sure you know what that place is like, correct? The duke wishes for you to die there, whether the causes are natural or not.”
“Here's some final advice as your caretaker. It's unlikely that you’ve learned Ronwen mana arts since the tomes are locked away even more zealously than the temple’s holy scriptures, but if by any chance you do learn mana arts, keep a low profile and don’t let it be known.”
“Most especially, don’t let anyone find out about your aptitude. Its low by our standards, but incomprehensibly high by most. Unless you want to undergo a fate worse than death, guard the secret with your life.”
“Um thanks, I’ll keep that in mind”
The advice she gave was much appreciated, barring some common knowledge, but the tone she said it with, it's like she was conversing with a stranger she felt some slight pity for.
It's kind of expected that she would treat me this way, but it still hurts a bit you know. She was the closest thing I had to a mother in this world but even she would turn a blind eye to my struggles the moment she was ordered to.
Damn it, damn it, damn it…..I’m still alone.
I'll survive, I swear I'll survive until this all just becomes a bitter distant memory some day.