...
Alexander's room
A small puppy wolf-kin with snow-white fur sat in the middle of his room as candlelight fell on him from all sides. The shadows moved erratically around him as towers of books encircled him like he was about to get beaten up by all the novels he didn't read for his book reports and now wanted revenge.
Even though he had a soft cushion, his buttocks started to hurt as the tail always got in the way somehow. It was weird having one as it was partly mobile but also not. Even asking how to position it correctly only got him odd eyebrow raises. He deserved it entirely, though, as he always forgot that he wasn't human anymore, and how he sounded came over as if the tail was something useless. So, he tried to figure it out by imitating his siblings. It worked partly.
Regardless, his tail wasn't even his biggest problem at the moment. After the side effects of the Natural Break disappeared, his unbelievable sense of smell stayed. Even now, as he read through the books, he could've sworn that after skimping through some and laying them to the side, he blindly knew where every book was if he followed only his nose.
While reading, it annoyed him immensely as he now could smell every servant who walked past his room. So, he could barely concentrate on the content, but not like he needed to.
The books he read were mainly about the System, as he was hellbent on collecting as much information about it as possible. Yet, they weren't even close to what he wished for. Thus, even though distracted, it was all primarily written like biographies with some information sprinkled in, here and there.
He wanted to have a guide explain everything. Like the walk-through many video games had: Put your [Free Stat Points] first in ten [Strength] and five in [Spirit]. Afterward, run twenty times against the wall while crouching. This should bring you the skill [Ultimate Spell Of Death].
This was his ideal. However, what he realistically wanted was a simple explanation of the System with some coherent examples. Still, instead, he got antic books written by his ancestors and some pompous scholars who explained the System through philosophy, ethics, and morals.
While Alexander wasn't against such subjects as they were vital for society, most of the stuff was crap he was reading. It was so far away from his ideals, to the point that it felt like they were hundreds of years away from even touching the era of Enlightenment.
However, it made sense to him as Nobility and Royalty ruled and, by this, put their unfounded garbage opinions over others, not even acknowledging other points of view or reflecting on theirs.
In the case of the System, they decided, for example, what a proper Legacy was. Besides the apparent supremacy arguments that weren't even coherent in following appropriate reasoning when arguing, they also saw themselves through this as better people as a whole, justifying their rule. Alexander had terrible ancestors.
The best example was how they praised their specific [Divinity Line], the [Demon Anhiliation] one. It was one of the Leonandra household, and they tried to paint it in the best light possible while not including the negatives that came with it.
He remembered Narsiz talking about what happened with him and Lorient. She almost injured him heavily because she became volatile through the [Divinity Line]. In that sense, a disclaimer or some reflection on the negatives would be appropriate for future generations who could read it to prepare adequately.
He closed the book and inspected the cover. Little to say, the outside was pretty much the same as the inside. It was highly pretentious and made Alexander cringe. There was a picture of one of his ancestors sitting in a pompous chair, wearing a golden cloak with their emblem.
However, besides the trash he read about their superiority and why it was natural for them to rule the masses, there was also literature that did what Alexander wished for - a guide. Even though it hit the same note as the other pompous assholes, it was much more preferable to the other nonsense as it tried to be more objective.
Such books were partly for children's education and partly for the parents on how one could get their Leonandra [Divinity Line]. After reading through some of them, it became apparent to Alexander that nobody had any fucking clue.
Some advice was essential, like acting as a noble would put one closer to the ancestor who first acquired the [Divinity Line] as he was the most dignified by their accounts. The reasoning made sense since if one wanted the specific [Divinity Line] another one had, copying them was probably a good start. Alexander took the advice with a pinch of salt, as seeing how Lorient acted while getting the [Divinity Line], it wasn't something absolute. Evidently, some chance was involved, and many more factors probably played a more significant role than what was described.
Surprisingly to Alexander, there were some better short guides, but those didn't write about their [Divinity Line]. They mainly discussed how one could get a [Divinity Line] specialized in administration. It was mostly a hyper-specialization as they pointed out that high [Reading], [Writing], and [Mathematics] skills were needed to get it while having their fighting skills as low as possible.
Yet, even in those books, there were notions that commoners wouldn't be able to attain valuable [Divinity Line]s for many reasons. Some were reasonable, like they wouldn't have the resources available to train their children. Others were not so reasonable, as they spouted something about being since birth intellectually superior and chosen by divinity as they were nobles.
These morons were not wholly wrong in that aspect and also aligned with Alexander's guesses. If one hungers their entire life, the legacy will probably reflect it if going by common sense. So could one of their [Mystic Skills] mirror their living situation and try to find suitable solutions like creating food or making the body less dependent on food or water as something like a better reading or arithmetic skill would be useless for them. It was always in terms of perspective on how useful certain things were, and [Divinity Line]s weren't excluded from the process.
There were no absolutes, and Alexander was sure about this, even though by instinct. Sadly, even though it was helpful to the individual and maybe their close ones, it was mainly useless to society as a whole. So the notion they sometimes wrote about how there were proper [Divinity Line]s and not was ridiculous to him and grinding heavily on his sanity, but they were partly right even if he found them unsympathetic.
If beast-kin were like humans, this meant that they were social animals, which could achieve incredible things if working together. Especially with something humanity on Earth only dreamed about, like the system. So, he ignored the current and past mindset and immediately made assumptions about the important information, 'Is it more predictable than not?'
Through the little he read, his hypotheses, if valid, suggested that the system, or whatever was behind it, acted with specific rules. He could decode and write those down for others to follow and achieve an incredible society if they were somewhat deterministic, but the data he could lean on were little.
Alexander started to bite his nails as he thought more about the last book, trying to find a kernel of importance in the self-aggrandizing manifesto of a pompous asshole. Still, the moment he recounted the content, it irritated him. It wasn't even that his ancestor was arrogant, this he could somewhat ignore, but the combination of self-importance while bringing no solutions to the table annoyed him massively. Even if his ancestor saw commoners as lower beings, he could've helped acquire his offspring at least a powerful [Divinity Line] with a more detailed breakdown, 'Fucking loser, probably thought he was hot shit.'
However, from the previously read dozens of other books, he knew that a good portion of nobility thinks like this. For them, being a noble means precisely this. In the end, helpful guides or not, almost all reiterated that it was all because they were nobles and their privilege to rule commoners gave them the [Divinity Line] they had. Yet, there were some other interesting opinions that his ancestors spouted.
Some pointed at genetics but only called it bloodline. However, they presented it as being isolated from everything, which was untrue since genetics and environment couldn't be isolated. Still, Alexander also thought as someone with knowledge from Earth, so such mistakes were reasonable to make. Also, he didn't believe it was a significant factor since his Father was a commoner by birth and had nothing to do with the Leonandra [Divinity Line]. Yet, they had Lorient, who had some version of it.
Nonetheless, he wasn't too sure about anything anymore as it was a new world where the laws of nature were probably defined differently, which also meant that genetics worked differently. It annoyed him since the topic was so exciting, but he had no real resources to learn from. So, he did the most logical thing: Ignore it till he had more information.
After he was done reading through the book and reflecting on it, he came only to one conclusion, 'Trash.' He threw it towards the pile he declared as such.
He knew he would get a younger sibling and wanted to educate them. As such, it wouldn't help if there were books where his ancestors spouted idiotic things as facts. So he decided to put it into some basement to rot.
After he threw it, a butler, whom he saw at the tea party some time ago, came over and said worryingly, "Mr. Alexander, this is a book written by one of our ancestors. Please be careful."
Since Alexander was freed from his anti-mana collar, he was allowed to train again but much less intensive and more responsibly. Even though he promised to do it, nobody bought it.
Thus, Alexander now had a butler appointed by his Mother who would enforce breaks regularly. He did it by putting an anti-mana collar on him. To say that it didn't annoy him would be a lie. However, he was already in a bad mood for some time, since the tea time they had when his Mother revealed she was pregnant.
It was not because he would get jealous if he got a sibling. No, it was that he feared that someone else like him would pop out of his Mother. While it could be a blessing if someone like him were to be born, it could also be the absolute opposite. He wanted to change the world but also knew how many radical idiots existed on Earth.
After talking a lot with Narsiz, he knew that a prolonged and carefully planned transition was the best plan to get him to where he wanted to be. Ultimately, he wanted a stable system that could endure outward and inward pressure.
Yet, he knew of enough crazy nazis and commis who would rather see the world burn than have their favorite authoritarian utopian system, which he despised wholeheartedly.
There was also the problem that most of the commoners weren't educated and couldn't even write or read. So, someone coming in and talking about utopian ideologies, which promised unlimited wealth, would indeed find appeal by the populace, and this would, in turn, destroy all his plans. He would be fortunate if not killed.
First, he doubted that their household could hold against the crown if they found out that someone talked about killing all nobles and even less if it was some loudmouth idiot. Second, even if it were an idiot, they would probably level up as he did and quickly become revered as a genius. So them trying to change everything by themselves would become more probable. It was a horror scenario to try and control such radical morons who didn't care about longevity and realities.
Alexander knew such a scenario was unrealistic, but it wasn't impossible. Therefore, something in his mind permanently drew all the hellish scenarios he knew from Earth. All he could do was hope, wait, and calm down in the meantime, which helped as time went on, 'Please, God, don't let her uterus be a portal to my universe.'
"Mr. Alexander?" He came out of his thoughts after hearing the butler's voice again, 'Okay, calm down. Now, concentrate on what is in front of you. If nothing works and the person is truly someone insane, there will be more than enough solutions.'
He looked at the butler, a butterfly-kin with beautifully colored and patterned wings. His appearance was meticulous. No wrinkle, no small dirt down at his pants, nothing. It was like he was the picture book of what one would think a servant looked like from a noble.
Alexander answered while tilting his head, "What? Sorry, Aro, I had dirt in my ears, y'know?"
Aro's antenna twitched slightly out of annoyance, and he repeated himself, "Mr. Alexander, I asked you to be please more careful with the literature since our ancestors wrote it."
Alexander looked at the last book he threw to the side, with the cover which had the pompous idiot on it, and shrugged, "This is nothing more than waste. It is full of incoherent information which can't be proven or disproven while our dear ancestor really liked to be bigoted against commoners."
Aro looked slightly confused but held onto his demeanor, "But this is your ancestor's work, Mr..."
Alexander interrupted him, "Don't worry. It will be somewhere achieved, and it will stay as a great example of how not to write something..." He remembered the cover, "...I also hate the cover."
Aro was stoic, but Alexander swore he saw his face scrunching up at how displeased he was. However, he didn't say anything and was cleaning up the trash pile.
Alexander took the next book, hoping it would be something more factual. While he started, he remembered that Aro would probably put them back into their previous place, and he really didn't want this, "Bring them back to the library, but we need to reorder everything there. I don't want this garbage to be taught to my future sibling."
Aro broke his stoic self and frowned very strongly but nodded ultimately, obviously unhappy that Alexander was reordering the whole library, for which he got the okay from his Mother. Nobody truly used it except for some weird romance and drama novels, for which Alexander cared little. So he knew that his Mother only allowed it to distract him from training with his mana, which he was fine with.
However, he was not okay with having trash lying around there openly. The last thing he wanted was for his younger sibling to get their hands on some disgusting stuff and learn from it. The author was lucky that he didn't burn it. Alexander also saw some value in it, as future historians could use those writings as a reference for the mindset of nobility at certain times.
Was this his mentality from Earth that he judged so strongly his ancestors for their views? Probably. Was there also some Earthen cultural aspect which he find much superior to this one? Absolutely. Nothing was worse than distinguishing people's status, as he also experienced discrimination. He knew many promising youths who gave up on improving because of such societal mindsets. It was maybe illogical, but humans were like this.
He himself climbed the ladder to success while others started much further up, yet he didn't care and wanted to be the same as he knew that this was the only way to get out of the dump, which was his life. Nobody would care if he whined and blamed everyone around him, even less his younger siblings, who needed a better life, which he wanted to give them.
Ultimately, he could somehow make friends through various means. After being done with studying, he would have a safe and good-paying job. Now, though, he was killed and reborn as a noble, meaning he could give those people who were at their lowest, like he was, what they would need to reach a much higher standard: Fair chances.
Maybe not everyone would become someone great, but he would be happy if he could better their lives by providing opportunities they could take and work toward a better life.
Such thoughts made him excited and giddy till he read the next book, 'Oh great, another pompous moron.'
...
Hours Later
Time flew by, and it was time for another break. Alexander stood up and stretched his young body, but it looked like he was around fifty.
Melina came over and stood before him while he tried to reach his toes. She glanced at him like she wanted something, "Melina, how may I help you?"
Alexander was confused as she started to fumble her hands. Usually, she acted very professionally. He cared little for conduct, but it was odd for her to be nervous, 'Is something going on? She got a little chubier. Hm, maybe she is pregnant too and needs some days off?'
"Mr. Alexander... do you need assistance in your research?" Yet, she confused him even more with what she said.
However, after a moment, he looked toward the mountain of books he needed to read, 'Oh? Maybe she wants to help me and is insecure about it?'
Alexander looked back at her joyfully, "Sure! Do you want to help me? I am always in need of a helping hand."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Melina would typically help occasionally, but she would mostly do menial tasks. Since she wasn't interested in reviewing the literature or learning from him how to do research, he wouldn't pressure her since it wasn't also her job.
She shook her head, looked at the door, and carefully raised her voice, "Come in, Ocilia!"
Clank
After the door opened, Alexander saw a young spider-kin come in who was no older than seven or eight. She looked the same as Melina, only more petite, 'How cute!'
She was very well dressed, and because she was so young, her upper eyes were much more adorable when they changed their colors. Alexander wanted nothing more than to take her and feed her till she was a round blob.
Ocilia walked toward Alexander and tried to follow the etiquette he saw on Aro or Melina but couldn't as it was visibly too much for her. She stopped suddenly, and her eyes became teary as she looked toward the ground, probably forgetting what to do next.
Alexander couldn't help but smile widely, 'God, this is so cute.'
Clank
Aro came back and noticed the spider-kin duo. His usual stoicism changed into anger immediately as he glanced over them. He stood like a pole while clenching his white-gloved hands into fists, ready to throw them out and certainly have a talk with Melina.
Alexander waved toward Aro before he could do something drastic. As he walked over, Alexander peeked at Melina. She became as nervous as her daughter, seen in their upper eyes, repeatedly changing their colors.
As Aro was close, Alexander gestured to come close so he could whisper into his ear, which he did, "Don't frighten her, or I will make sure you clean Larry's clothes for the next week, got it?"
Aro pinched the place between his eyebrows and nodded at him casually. Alexander could honestly understand him if he wanted nothing more than to use him as a football. He was his Mother's personal butler and someone in a high position at their estate, and now some brat was commanding him around. However, he really didn't want him to frighten a child because of some stupid etiquette.
Alexander nodded with a smile towards Aro while whispering, "Thanks..." He turned toward Ocilia and pointed toward a chair, "Come, I get what Melina wants to do, and I need some assistance for sure, but let's have a chat first."
It suddenly made so much sense to Alexander why his maid talked with him about her daughter when he was chained to his bed for hours. However, he wished she would be more direct since the last thing he cared about were her daughter's oh-so-great drawings of farm animals, with which she talked for an hour.
At first, he assumed that she wanted to introduce her as some partner. While it sounded weird at first, it was also a new world. While he had no idea if he could marry some ordinary commoner, he didn't say anything to her since he was thankful for every conversation while sick.
Now, though, Alexander threw all previous thoughts out and tried to remember if Melina told something interesting about her other than having the basic academic skills [Writing], [Reading], and [Mathematics]. After another moment, he ignored it as he could teach her without problems. All he needed was that she was someone diligent.
Alexander waddled toward his chair and gave Melina his help-me-up look. Seeing it, she came running and sat him on a chair.
While Alexander tried to get comfortable as he wasn't acclimated to his fluffy tail, he also analyzed Ocilia, who sat across the table, opposite to him.
She was obviously prepared for today. Her clothes, which were made out of linen, were simple but clean with some small self-sewn patterns that looked like their household emblem, 'Melina really is pandering to me... these sewings are looking quite new and really good. I will ask her later to make some for me.'
Alexander smiled at her and tried to be more approachable, changing his tone to be soft and friendly, "Tell me a bit about yourself."
She became more nervous and didn't speak up. She was obviously confused by Alexander's standard interview question. However, he also noticed that she looked slightly to the side after looking toward Aro, who stared into her soul with his stoic gaze.
While Aro wasn't threatening her, probably because he listened to Alexander, he nonetheless had some heavy air around him, 'Dude, really? She is a child.'
Alexander wanted to send him out but couldn't. He was watched nonstop, and even this situation was probably already quite problematic as she was allowed to approach him without any guard inside the room. With this in mind, he felt bad for her, but she was fortunate that Aro listened to him and didn't throw her out immediately.
Since she didn't answer, Alexander leaned back and tried another approach to ease into a more casual talk while trying to be as non-threatening as possible, "Don't be nervous. Let us start with something easy. What is your name?"
Ocilia looked down and fumbled nervously with her hands, like her Mother did as she became his maid at first, stuttering in a soft but high-pitched voice, "O... O... Ocilia."
Alexander hoped she would look at him sometimes when she looked up from the ground and be at ease because he was pretty much a puppy and should be equally cute and non-threatening as her.
He tried to look her in her eyes, moving his head slightly down while asking, "How old are you?"
She looked a bit up into his eyes and down again very quickly. After a short moment, she answered without stuttering, "I... am... eight."
Alexander always had something for little kids as they were so pure, 'So cute! Like a little doll!'
"Your Mom mentioned that you like reading and writing. Is that true?"
Ocilia just nodded and kept silent. Aro frowned and looked away while Melina was visibly sweating buckets. All Alexander could take from their behavior was that they had a stick up their ass. He would probably already cry if he was ever in the same position as her at eight.
He suddenly noticed his dilemma, 'What the hell do I ask an eight-year-old? Well, she should be 11 to 12 on Earth's time frame, which makes it not much better.'
Tell me, what is your plan for the next five years? If you were a pencil, which color would you be? Describe yourself in three words. What is your weakness?
Alexander scratched his head as he was already annoyed by the situation and his fuck up. He wasn't much better and had already made a big mistake with his first question. So, he decided to go for it, 'Fuck it.'
The whole room was shrouded in an awkward silence till Alexander broke it with an unexpected question, "Do you have any interest in an apprenticeship?"
He could see how Aro's eyes bulged out of his head. He raised his voice slightly in panic, "Mr. Alexander, you can't do this! We don't even know her qualifications!"
Alexander waved his hand in dismissal as he was already annoyed by how he acted toward a child, and now a grown-ass man wanted to demean her, too. He had nothing of it, "She gets her qualifications from me in the first place. This is why you call it an apprenticeship and not a job."
Of course, there should be some prerequisites an apprentice should have, but he believed that with Melina as her Mother, who was obviously pushing her, she could at least become a good assistant, even if she had no interest in research as a whole.
Aro opened his arms and was clearly irritated, "Mr. Alexander, a noble giving the daughter of a maid an apprenticeship, such an honor should only be reserved for the most..."
Alexander interrupted him through his sudden laughter, "Haha..." Aro looked confused at him, so he tried to calm him down as he understood where he came from. So he pointed at Ocilia, "She has a year of the trial period. If she does not like it, or I find her unsatisfying, we stop it - easy as that, no bad blood or anything."
Melina and Ocilia looked very happy, and they both were almost crying while smiling joyfully. Alexander, though, scratched his head in confusion as this whole situation was bizarre to him, 'Damn it, I just can't understand what is so special about being a damn noble and even less being an apprentice of one.'
Before he could try and think about it this further, Aro was attempting to change his mind, "Mr. Alexander, listen pl..."
Alexander interrupted him by gesturing with his hand. He looked at the stressed-out butler, and his wings glittered heavily, which was similar to the eye-color changing of spider-kin or the tail wagling of wolf-kin.
Alexander smiled at him slightly, "Aro, first, let me finish my point..." He actually already ended his point but saw that Aro needed more reassurance, so he needed to try and convince him as having some weird spat between servants because some child became an apprentice was something he didn't want at all.
However, Alexander also needed to clarify, "However, even if I am open to discussing with you your worries, it doesn't mean that you can force your opinion onto me and forget your manners. If you have such a big problem with some little girl learning from me, talk with Mom or Dad. I bet Dad is great to discuss with."
He became pale instantly, "I am sorry, Mr. Alexander, please keep going."
Alexander actually liked to have such a discussion when people screamed at each other. Still, since it did not concern Aro or anyone else except him, he needed to put his foot down. Thus, he dropped his Father's name to shut him up, as he would back him up immediately. His Father didn't care about noble conduct, standing, or anything in that sense since he wasn't a true noble.
They also developed a strong bond after some dad-to-son sessions or what others would call torture. His Father somehow understood his stubbornness, which was great. On the outside, he appeared rough and unempathetic, but in reality, he was very friendly, lovely, and someone you could depend on if you truly needed someone.
Too bad that he was already gone, getting his military in order, but he should be back in a couple of weeks and then stay for not long before going to the East for the demon run.
Alexander now fully understood his siblings, especially Sarah, as they walked around the estate depressively. The emotion he felt was something he had buried a long time ago, but it came out again. He cherished it, 'I hope he comes back safely.'
Alexander came out of his short-lived thoughts and looked at Aro. He liked him but also not really. It was weird to describe as he was only dutiful and doing his job. Yet, even though his Mother's butler was very strict, it should be easy to convince him that Ocilia was not some assassin.
For this, Alexander needed to be proactive and show that he fully understood his situation. So, he decided to act before them on some things that were either way inevitable—putting the discussion with Aro on hold till Melina and Ocilia were gone.
He looked at his maid, "Melina, go to Nori with Ocilia. Tell him about the situation, and tell him she should probably go through some stuff, alright?"
Melina nodded happily and took Ocilia quickly, leaving. However, before she left entirely, Alexander yelled, "Hey! You didn't answer me if you want to become my apprentice!"
Ocilia stopped, and her eyes almost popped out. She quickly returned to Alexander and kneeled before him, putting one hand on her heart and the other on her knee.
Her action made Alexander smile, 'Isn't this the knight's pledge? What is she doing, haha.'
Alexander chuckled while Melina blushed heavily out of embarrassment. After an awkward moment, where she didn't say anything, she slowly stood up, probably realizing her mistake. Her whole face had the same color as a tomato.
At the end of the little comedy act, she only nodded toward him and quickly left the room with Melina.
Clank
After the door closed, Alexander turned to Aro and looked at him. Saying that he was disturbed would underplay his appearance: Full of repulsion, fear, and confusion.
Alexander opened his arms and became serious, "Aro, I know what you feel, but please try to rethink it. I am sitting here alone and need a ton of help. My maids have neither the skills nor the interest..." He pointed his index finger at him before he was about to say something, "...and yes, interest is vital for the work I do."
Aro sighed and rubbed his temples. Alexander pointed toward a chair where he should sit down. It was a typical Earthen practice, unheard of in this world, especially for nobles, but he didn't care. He was a puppy, and he believed his cuteness could allow him to break etiquette for years to come.
Aro nodded, knowing of his antics, and sat down. Alexander gestured to him that he should start. The moment he started, his voice appeared to be full of honest concern, "Mr. Alexander, I think this is a bad idea."
Alexander was surprised that he stopped but wanted to be more open since Ocilia was gone, "Hm? Give me reasons, please. You can talk freely as I am open for critique."
He nodded and straightened himself, "Thank you, Mr. Alexander. It is not befitting of a noble... no, let me rephrase it. Of a very talented noble to have the daughter of a lo..."
Before Aro could continue, he saw Alexander's glare. It was very well-known in the estate that he had some strange ideas about servants, even weird for the Leonandra household, who were much more open to them.
Aro cleared his throat, "Ahem, I am sorry. I meant to say of a servant without any showable skills, like Melina's daughter. Standing for a noble is very important, and with what kind of people they would surround themselves, especially a talented individual like you, Mr. Alexander."
After Alexander read all the literature he deemed rubbish, he understood Aro much better where he got his perspective from. Also, the talks with his servants and siblings helped a lot, too. While he loved nothing more than to be more casual, it wasn't reality, and he would need to follow the current system while trying to bend it as much as possible to reasonable degrees.
So he tried to argue to the best of his abilities, "Aro, I understand clearly your point and am aware of my position..." Aro began to brighten up a little, "...however, I need an individual I can trust who is also hardworking and interested in what I do. Everything else can be learned..." Alexander smiled proudly, "...especially by someone with a [Teaching] skill who also successfully completed the first test."
Some points were lies, but there was also some truth to it. Alexander wouldn't be comfortable with having some middle-aged dude as an apprentice who wasn't part of the estate but had prestige. Ocilia was the daughter of his personal maid and, with it, bound to the estate and would have much more loyalty toward him.
There was also the point that he liked to teach as he did in his previous life while volunteering, 'Teaching was always fun, and with a couple of Earth's theories, I am sure that I can make her into someone great and with it a big help for me.'
Aro's face scrunched up, "Mr. Alexander, please think your decision over. We can surely find a much more satisfactory and more proper apprentice. Your teaching will be more useful then."
Alexander raised an eyebrow as it was actually a good argument. However, his stubbornness didn't allow him to back down now, especially after giving the okay to Ocilia and seeing her all happy.
He looked into his rainbow-colored eyes more intensely, "Aro, I understand you and the noble conduct, but try to think differently. If I can make her very accomplished, she will already be part of our estate and will almost surely be the most loyal servant you could imagine, but what will happen if I take an apprentice from, let's say, the Rosé estate?"
Aro was initially silent, but after a few minutes of thinking, he looked at Alexander and replied solemnly, "I think I know what you want to convey, Mr. Alexander."
To bring the point home, Alexander happily continued, "There are actually multiple points. The one you probably got was that the apprentice could leave at any point or be unloyal to us and use the knowledge against us sooner or later."
Aro nodded and waited for Alexander to continue, "It will also be like having a spy in our ranks. Couldn't the apprentice, even if security measures were in place, murder me secretly? I am sure there were such cases. With this, our household would lose, as you said, such a talented individual just because of the standing..." He opened his arms wide and smiled joyfully, "...which would be restored, or even increase, either way when Ocilia becomes a great asset, right?"
Aro crossed his arms and sat in silence, thinking everything through. He was probably trying to find an argument against Alexander's points. Alexander, though, was proud that he could convince him without using any skills as he was told that it was forbidden to use them against servants as he did already multiple times with [Charm] unknowingly.
After over twenty minutes, Aro came out of his thoughts and observed Alexander intensely. After doing so, he became stoic as before, accepting the situation, "Yes, you are right, Mr. Alexander, but you said something about a trial phase?"
Alexander nodded happily, "Absolutely. I will cancel the apprenticeship without any reason if she does not like it or I don't like how she conducts herself. Easy, right?"
"What happens after the year then, Mr. Alexander?"
Alexander shrugged and tried to take his perspective while providing him a clear conscience should she violate some weird conduct, "I would need to provide a proper reason to throw her out. So, even after a year, she would need to be on her behavior and give everything to not blamish my standing more. I should be fine, right?"
Clank
As the door opened, in came Ocilia and Melina, all looking like butterflies would fly out of their behinds. However, Alexander ignored them and turned back to Aro, who bowed and acknowledged his decision. Yet, he knew the moment Ocilia would give less than 100%, and he would be on his ass, urging to kick her out, 'Well, nothing is perfect.'
Alexander clapped his hands once and nodded, "Good! Please go to Mom and tell her about our conversation. She shouldn't have any problems with my proposed arrangement."
Aro nodded and went out. However, he looked sternly at Ocilia and Melina on the way out. Ocilia twitched slightly out of fear, and Melina's eyes became bluish, indicating that she was also nervous, "Melina, later at my office." Melina nodded back at him, knowing that she would have some severe talk later as her behavior was unheard of.
Clank
After the door closed, Alexander observed the mother-daughter-duo for a little bit. He cleared his throat, "Ahem..." However, before he could start teaching, Ocilia suddenly kneeled again, this time on both, which was also the wrong conduct, and surprisingly opened her system window.
[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kiruschka/kiruschka.github.io/main/Chapter_12_Ocilia_1.svg]
Out of shock, Alexander immediately looked away, knowing that a system window was very personal, incomparable to anything he could take as an analogy from Earth. Yet, from the side, he heard Melina's solemn voice, "Mr. Alexander, a master should know the system window of their apprentice, and since she is willing to do this, there should be no problem."
Alexander sighed heavily, knowing it would be no problem if she kept it to herself, 'Argh, they are killing me!' While it was somehow cute, putting him into such a situation was also annoying.
Yet, as much as he respected her privacy, he was also curious. Looking at the system window, he could see that the skills were quite low-leveled, 'Is this normal? That can't be, right?'
Alexander looked at Melina in surprise and asked her, "Are these skills and levels the norm?"
Ocilia twitched nervously while kneeling, starting to look sad. At the same time, her Mother answered him, "Mr. Alexander, I can understand your thoughts, but it is very normal for commoners to have such skills and levels for this age. But I would also say that Ocilia is more talented than other commoner hatchlings..." After a short pause, she continued, frowning and probably thinking the worst, "...did you regr..."
Alexander interrupted her as he cared little for such things and even less about what she wanted to say. He was only surprised, and they took it as if he was disappointed, 'Well, after some months, you will forget it quickly after your levels shoot up, hehe.'
However, there were some exciting skills she had, "[Sign Language] and [Lip Reading] should be very unusual. How come you have them?"
Melina opened her mouth, but Alexander interrupted her beforehand, knowing she wanted to answer for Ocilia, "I asked Ocilia."
Melina nodded and walked to the side. Alexander wanted his new apprentice to overcome her nervousness, so he was okay with waiting for her to answer, 'One step at a time.'
After a good minute, she finally answered, looking like she really needed to give her all for this, "My Father is mute, so... to communicate, I learned how to... do sign language."
Alexander nodded, "Makes sense..." After hearing an interesting fact, he opened his arms and smiled at her widely, "...and don't be so nervous! Now close your window and get up. We have a ton of work to do!"
After a short pause and her looking at him nervously, he cleared his throat, "Ahem! Because you are my apprentice, I should give you some lessons, so how about mathematics? It should be fun! Now sit down, and let's start!"
Ocilia smiled slightly and stood up. Melina gave her utensils like a feather, parchment, and an ink bottle. She sat down at the table Alexander was sitting on, only opposite to him.
Alexander nodded at her and acted like a teacher, putting his index finger up, "First, we need some rules. The most important rule is, if you don't understand something, ask me and don't hesitate! You are an apprentice, so not knowing something or having trouble understanding certain things is normal..."
He inhaled and remembered all the students he taught while volunteering, who were too ashamed for him to clarify certain topics differently and, thus, didn't ask at all. He became much louder, "I repeat! If you don't understand something or it is unclear, ask! Do you get it?!"
Ocilia looked perplexed at Alexander but nodded nonetheless, which showed him the next problem: She had clearly problems speaking. Yet, he remembered that she said that her Father was mute, so he concluded that her daily life was probably mostly doing sign language, 'Well, it is a good explanation, but I need her to talk either way.'
Alexander sighed, knowing it would be hard for her to break certain habits, "Ocilia, you need to talk. Social skills are equally important for this kind of work we will do."
She nodded again, but Alexander just sat there and waited for her to say something, which she did after a good minute, "Yes... Master."
Hearing the word, he started to cringe, 'Why, Master, though? Urgh, a problem for another time.'
Alexander patted the seat beside him, "Sit beside me. I can't write upside down."
She sat down beside him, and so began their first lesson.