The night that came after Kael’s blunder was filled with tension. The castle sheltered ever vigilant guards, seizing control over every inch of the castle grounds. There’s no forgiving another attack, the Earl already said his orders.

Kael couldn’t move out of his room. There are guards now situated outside the door, and outside the window. It’s as if the Earl didn’t want him to get out at all, like he was a prisoner. He surrendered to the outcome of his mistake, and spent the night trying to sleep.

But he wasn’t able to. His routine for these past months destroyed his body’s rhythm. An hour passed, and his mind was still conscious behind his closed eyes. The tiredness didn’t get to him at all, which upsets his already troubled self.

At some point he gave up on sleeping. He instead started thinking about what he should do next. Throughout the day he didn’t get to plan anything, as he distracted himself from the guilt of what he did. Now that he was reminded of it, regret almost registered on his face.

Meanwhile, the Earl was with his four servants discussing what become of their separate investigations. Of course, no one got to the bottom of who attacked them as there’s no trace of any damage at all. They didn’t even know where the magic hit, making any investigations useless.

“My lord, can I say something?”, Cadell said.

“Speak”

“There’s not a trace of anyone during our inspection”, Cadell said. He continued with a slight hesitation. “Would it be possible that a stray spell hit the walls?”

“My lord, if I may”, Elalios interrupted.

“Do you have another idea?”, Lord Gideon asked.

“As you said, my lord”, Elalios looked at Cadell. “We couldn’t just shrug off what happened. There are nobles still against his lordship”

“I feel your concern, Elalios, but we couldn’t waste so much time over nothing”, Cadell paused. “We have five mages on our side, and his lordship is a master mage. Ho-”

“Do you doubt the power of Lord Gideon, Elalios?”, Osbert said interrupting Cadell.

The Earl looked at Osbert, the latter excusing himself from the discussion.

“Continue”

Cadell bowed at the Earl, and continued. “As I was saying, how much of a threat can several mages be?”

Elalios couldn’t argue, but his doubts still remained. Somehow, Osbert was smiling in triumph. The Earl looked at Seqina, and he gestured her to come forward.

“I apologize, my lord”, Seqina said. “If you allow, I will observe the mages”

“Let me observe the nobles as well, my lord”, Osbert said.

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The Earl allowed both of them in their investigation. He concluded the discussion, and walked to Kael’s room. He was greeted by the guards, who opened the door for him. The child looked asleep, at least for him, so he closed the door, and proceeded to go to his room.

----------------------------------------

‘Why? It’s way past midnight. Did he actually suspect me?’, Kael thought as he heard the Earl coming to his room.

The door just opened, and then was closed again after a minute. Kael suspected that the Earl already found out that he did it, so the Earl was checking if he’s still in his room. He didn’t know how the Earl found out, what matters is to get out of the castle as fast as possible.

Next day morning, Kael was accompanied by four of the guards, each standing a meter away from him. As he thought, the Earl will not let him escape. The only time where the guards separated from him was when he’s in his room. But once every hour, a guard will knock on the door and he will need to answer that he’s there.

He was frustrated. He can’t do anything to make any progress. His already limited choices were further limited by the Earl’s command. It seemed to him that he will not get out at all. Then, he remembered that there are two things that helped him in anything he does. His past life was a bit difficult, but his family and his magic were the things that made it easy. As of now, he can’t rely on his family, but, he can rely on his magic.

And so, he meditated, more focused than before. Every restless midnight, he meditates. A week passed and his power doubled, but after reaching twenty units, he reached the limit. It took him two weeks to reach it. His body will not let him do what he wanted. Not at all.

Then the Earl announced something, a month after the incident. He was summoned to the battlefield. He commanded the guards to intensify security while he is away.

Midnight of the same day the Earl departed, Kael was alone with his mind. He settled on the “safest” time to escape. He must escape before the Earl returns.

He considered flying past the wall, but without enough mana to conceal himself, he will only stick out like a sore thumb. The alternative is underground, to dig a hole below the castle walls. It was a desperate measure, but he decided on it anyway.

However, before he can do anything, the guards must be dealt with first. He thought of Seqina and her magic potions. There might be something she made that can induce sleep. Everytime Seqina feeds him, he will look at her potions. It intrigued Seqina, which was exactly what he was aiming for.

“Do you like those?”, Seqina asked. She handed the various potions to Kael after the child admitted his curiosity. “This is a healing potion, this is a mana potion, this is…”, she went on and on as she explained the purposes of the potions to Kael. She thought he wouldn’t understand most of what she said.

Little did she knows, Kael was learning fast, digesting basic potion knowledge that he didn’t have when he was Lucien. Then, she said something that caught his attention.

“This one is a sleep potion..”

‘That’s it, just what I needed’

Kael became distracted in his thoughts. Seqina was still talking about the potions, but he can’t hear her. Nevertheless, he was filled with hope once again.

He thought all the possibilities, the things he can finally do once he acquired the potion..

“Kael?”, Seqina broke his focus.

He put up a nervous smile towards Seqina. Seqina thought that he got bored, so she stopped the conversation, and apologized to him.

Before Seqina left, Kael snatched the sleep potion. Seqina didn’t notice, walking out of Kael’s room. What he got should be tested first to make sure he had the right thing. He hid the potion in the corner of the room, blocked by a table. He put a drop on his index finger, and returned to his bed.

Then, he tasted it.

“Oh..”