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Leonandra Estate (one week later after Fiorello's death), Alexander's Room

"This is what happened, Master, but..."

"Yeah, yeah. I am such a peach. Now sit down. You look like I died."

"But..."

"No buts!"

Alexander interrupted her, seeing she didn't expect him to be this mangled up. Even her retelling of everything that happened was forced by him since she was too agitated the moment she came into his room.

Fortunately, she calmed down, but Alexander wasn't. Outwardly, he looked calm, but inwardly, he had been restless and frustrated since she returned, telling his Mother the news of what had transpired. He wanted nothing more than to cry in happiness as his anxiety about Fiorello returning and trying the same schtick as before was fully lifted off his shoulders, bringing Alexander the best sleep he had since he was injured.

For how much Alexander tried to play everything off, there was always a pressure on his chest, constantly nagging the edges of his mind that dangers could be reoccurring, a trait he brought back from the military and his deployment to war zones.

Regardless of Alexander being joyful, there was also a particular emotion he rarely felt, one of inadequacy. Even though he saw himself as a winner as he denied him the prize of Patricia's head, he paid heavily for it and didn't like it.

Yet, everything felt very different when he saw Ocilia after a week of her being questioned. He was proud and angry at her for many reasons. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he looked at what Ocilia was looking at, not wanting to sit down.

Alexander turned to Patricia, seeing her staring daggers at his disciple, "Don't look at her like this. She is my disciple, got it?"

Patricia sighed, "I am sorry, Ocilia. It's nothing against you. It just..." She clenched her fist and showed her fangs, "...I wanted to torture him and let him feel real pain by first ripping his fingernails..."

Alexander interrupted her, "See? She is such a reasonable and nice girl. Now, sit down. We need to talk."

Ocilia came forward and bowed down at Patricia, "I am truly sorry, Ms. Patricia. I wanted nothing more than to do the same, and it wasn't my intention to kill him. If you don't believe me, I put the protocol made by Noriken in my Master's cabinet of other documents. Everything written there is confirmed."

Patricia relaxed slightly, "Don't worry, Ocilia. I understand that the situation you were in needed you to hurry and all of this without much planning. Killing him like this was a tragedy in itself, but what can you do? It is much better than letting him escape, so for this, you have my eternal gratitude, and thank you for finding his head and tail in all the chaos. Even though he was overly proud of his beauty, seeing him like this makes me somewhat feel better."

Ocilia nodded, "Of course, and I want to thank you for looking after Master."

Patricia smiled honestly at her, "My pleasure."

Alexander frowned, 'I am surrounded by crazy fuckers.' He became a little frustrated, "I said sit down and you..." he looked at Patricia, "... never mind." He wanted to say that she should stop being like this in a joking way, but she was truly happy after a long time, which he could understand. Her brother tried to kill her, and him running around free would make everyone go insane. Yet, seeing how cheerful she was because of someone's death was a bit too much for his taste.

Ocilia brought a chair to the bed and sat down beside them, "Yes, Master? Do you have any more questions?"

Alexander looked at her more closely, and she looked proud. Seeing him looking at her, she straightened herself up. She wore her best attire for today, being a little too apparent what she wanted, 'Merits, huh?'

His Mother came to him after Ocilia informed her about everything. She didn't visit to retell the events but asked him if he wanted to give out the merits or if she should do it. Alexander obviously wanted to do it since he slowly adapted to this world and understood that a Master should always reward his disciples for exceptional achievements. It would feel wrong to him if he gave up the responsibility to his Mother.

He became serious, "Ocilia, I think you are a moron who shouldn't have got into such a dangerous situation for something like a runaway fugitive who would be either way hunted down by all of Moorgrel..."

Alexander could see how her face slowly changed from a smile to almost holding back her tears. However, he continued with a smile, "Yet, you are my moronic disciple and came out alive with the head of the bastard. You showed something which made me proud to have such a disciple, even more than before, which I thought was a matter of impossibility..."

Ocilia, again, looked stunned, "With this in mind, for your great accomplishment, I will obviously merit you greatly. As such, what do you want?"

She became stunned and quickly changed back to her proud and happy-go-lucky attitude while Alexander smiled at her.

Nothing Alexander said were empty words. He was angry at her for hunting him down but also proud of getting his head. It was also true that he was, from day one, incredibly proud of her. She was reliable, loyal, and talented. There wasn't anything he couldn't wish for more, and now, he got more. Even though he didn't say it, she brought him a peaceful mind, and for this, he was thankful and wanted to show it.

However, he luckily stopped reprimanding her before he fell into one of his tangents. In the end, she was not only a piece of work he put countless hours and gold into teaching and cultivating but also somewhat like a friend. Alexander could survive the emotional distress he felt for another couple of years easily, but she had only one life.

He decided, 'After I am recovered, I will put this moron through the wringer.'

After a good minute, she nodded, "I know what I want."

Alexander tried to move his tail into a question mark, which looked more like the letter C in beast-kin dialect, "Yeah, tell me. What do you wish for?"

Ocilia looked at him intensely, "I want my siblings to be your disciples."

After some silence, Alexander became confused, "Yeah? Go on."

Ocilia wasn't better, as she was also visibly confused, "What?"

Alexander tried to clarify, "I mean, this is a given. I know your little brother and sister..." He turned to Patricia, who was observing them with a smile on her face, "...they are quite the cute pair, hehe..." He turned back to Ocilia, "...give me something else. I would take them either way if they ask."

It was an awkward silence, only broken by Alexander, "So?"

Ocilia also was kind of confused, "I... don't really know what I want else."

Now, Patricia interjected, obviously thinking that Alexander wasn't handling it well, which irritated him slightly, "Well, do you want gold? A greater status? Better accommodation? Something Alex doesn't give but would then."

Ocilia tilted her head again, "Doesn't give me?"

Patricia nodded and moved away from the bed, staying up and smiling proudly, "Yeah! I have a little experience since I have retainers myself, so I can maybe help?"

Alexander shrugged with his tail, "Sure, go on." At first, he found it annoying, but after some thought, knowing how other nobles treated their retainers and what kind of merits they would give would be helpful for the future.

She nodded at him and back at Ocilia, "So, how much does Alex compensate you? You don't get paid anything because you live here, right? As much as I heard, it is usually the case with disciples."

Ocilia looked at Alexander askingly, who just shrugged with his tail, "You can say it if you want. I don't care."

She looked back at Patricia, "Well before we made the..." She looked back, askingly at Alexander, who rolled his eyes, "...you can trust her. Just talk freely."

Patricia suddenly straightened up when he said it, her tail going haywire, 'Huh, I thought she knew that I could trust her? Not like she didn't see the paper herself, and I think having her here while a toddler can kill me is already assuring enough that she is trustworthy.'

Besides her being somewhat crazy, she was, in the end, comforting and entertaining him day in and day out. Yes, she was a little bit over the top when it came to certain things, but Alexander knew worse, and being weird was only a matter of time until he acclimated to it. Even his Mother told him that what she did was relatively normal, so it was a problem that probably came from himself.

If he ignored all her eccentricities, her personality was actually one of a truly good person who was worried about him and tried her best around him. Because of this, she slowly grew on him, and having her as a trustworthy friend felt more right by the day.

There was also the weird situation that she was an actual child while he was much older mentally, but it was not like he could change it. Since he also didn't want to do anything weird and only have some fun, it should be fine in his mind, especially since all the other adults treated him much more appropriately, always looking at his status as a noble, which was annoying.

Ocilia nodded and said, "Well, I made one small gold coin per month, and now I make one large one after we started to make the paper."

Patricia flinched slightly and looked at her more intensely, smiling a little nervously, "Excuse me, I think you misspoke. You probably meant silver or rather copper, right?"

She shook her head, "No? Why? I get a large gold coin per month."

Patricia tilted her head, "Wait? Do you pay for the food and rooms?"

Ocilia shook her head again, "No? Why?"

Patricia turned to Alexander and looked at him, astounded, "You pay her so much?!"

Alexander raised an eyebrow, "Yeah? Did you ever see her workload? Organizing and rewriting my stuff is like Outer Circle."

Patricia turned back to Ocilia, "Okay, wait. I remember you are a mage, which is very astounding and respectful, so Alexander is probably holding back knowledge from you, right?"

Ocilia started to chuckle, "Hehe, not at all. You can find everything rewritten by Master and edited by me for all the different cases of mana usage freely in the library."

Patricia was silent momentarily, only to ask again, "What do you mean with mana usage?"

Before Ocilia could look again at Alexander, he had had enough of this stupid secrecy since it wasn't even anything he wanted to keep a secret, "I can give everyone who wants it the chance to use mana. However, because of some technicalities, they can only use it in specific ways like Ocilia..." He wanted to demonstrate it to Patricia, "...can you show her?"

Ocilia nodded and conjured a little thread and turned it after a moment into braided bread while Alexander commented, "Ocilia learned her mana abilities through her racial skill. While she can use [Mana Sense] freely, for a reason I don't know exactly why, her spells can only be cast through her threads."

She gave Patricia the bread, who took it and stared at it silently for a good minute. Only then did she turn around to Alexander, exasperated, "You can give everyone mana skills?!"

Alexander shrugged with his tail, "Yeah, why? Do you want some? I maybe found a way to make it possible for everyone who hasn't gone through legacy since it is usually the case..." In the next few minutes, he explained to her in detail how he would give others mana skills. Especially now, he deemed it essential, as he barely avoided death, to spread the information to as many as possible so it wouldn't die with him.

After he was done, he started to explain his new method, "Now, though, I want to try something new. It's something like building a room filled with mana and one without any. I want to try and see if it works if one changes from one to another while meditating if they could get the normal [Mana Sense]..." He looked at his disciple, "...sorry about that. If it works, it kind of sucks for you since you are already stuck with the thread magic."

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Ocilia shook her head, not even a little disappointed, "It's all fine, Master. Because of you, I received great abilities in the first place. It's already like a dream come true."

Alexander nodded at her, "Then it's all fine. However, don't run around the underworld anymore. I want you to build the rooms for this experiment, all right? It should be..."

Before he could continue giving her the instructions, as he was itching to see if it worked, Patricia interrupted him, "Alex, wait! Can you stop changing the topics constantly?!"

Alexander flinched with his tail, "Yeah? We can try the new way with you if you want. No need to scream at me, though."

Patricia opened her arms, becoming visibly more frustrated, "That's..." She inhaled and exhaled strongly, calming down, "...I am sorry, Alex, but this is an outstanding achievement, and you just told me so casually."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, "I trust you, don't worry. It's not like I would tell it to everyone." While he wanted to give everyone the mana skills, he also knew it was wiser to first give it to people he could trust. Otherwise, if he gave it to someone shady, he would die immediately afterward, and his method would be gone forever.

Patricia blushed slightly and nodded, "Fine. I will hold onto the secret."

"Great, so do you want to have mana skills too?" He turned to Ocilia, "...come later or tomorrow again so we can plan it out, all right?"

Ocilia nodded, becoming more straightforward, "Of course, Master, but what about the mana sto..."

Patricia interrupted her before she could end the sentence, "Wait a second! Let's all first decide on the merit, okay?"

Alexander's tail shrugged, "Sure."

Patricia looked back at Ocilia and asked, "So, gold is probably not of any concern to you and even less knowledge, but what about your accommodation and your family?"

"My Mother is my Master's headmaid, and my Father is helping produce the paper. We all have more than enough space."

Patricia started to saunter through the room, visibly trying to think of a solution. Alexander found it fascinating, 'Huh? I wonder why she is trying to help so hard? Maybe she is really a good friend, huh.'

Yet, after a minute, she looked at Ocilia and sighed, "I have nothing. You already get everything on a silver platter, but there is something non-material. You can..." She turned to Alexander, "...have a promise from your Master for a favor..." She turned back to Ocilia, opening her arms, sounding serious, "...it sounds very casual to commoners, but a favor for nobility has a lot of weight to the point where you can ask for anything, even sparring your life for horrendous acts. It goes as far as that, should Alex not be able to do it, the Lady or Lord must accept whatever you want within reason."

Alexander sighed in relief, thinking that something like this sounded pretty good as it was also something she could use later on if she suddenly wanted something, "I am for it..." He pointed at Ocilia with his tail, "...want to have a favor from me?"

Ocilia stood up and immediately saluted, "Of course, Master! It would be an honor!"

Patricia also interjected, "My household didn't send a letter now, but we will also obviously grant you whatever you want. Such an achievement brings us great peace of mind, so just feel free to say a word, and I will write a letter to my parents."

Ocilia also saluted toward her but less cordially, "Thank you, Ms. Patricia." Seeing this, Patricia first raised an eyebrow but afterward smiled widely, "Good."

Alexander was the only one out of the loop at this scene, finding it overly tiring with all the etiquette involved. He was the type to give a handshake and promise, which he always held. All these little things were already annoying him.

He would need a lot of time to learn what he could say to whom and how, which reminded him, 'I get Anastasia later for a lesson. She is probably bored out of her mind.'

Ocilia looked at Alexander and said, opening her arms, "I want to bring something else to attention, Master."

He only raised an eyebrow, as Ocilia really changed in the couple of weeks she was gone. She paid much more attention to her manners and spoke more rigidly, 'I need to talk to her later about what exactly happened.' Something told him there was much more to this change as it wasn't natural.

"Sure, go on."

She nodded, "Without Quill, one of Aurum's colleagues and now also a servant, helping me, I wouldn't be able to survive and even less bring the head of Fiorello. He contributed to this achievement the most. I want to ensure that he gets the reward he deserves."

Alexander became a little curious, swinging his tail restlessly, as he already knew a little bit from the gossip about it. Quill was apparently part of this suicide rush, "Great that you mention him. He will also get greatly rewarded..." He suddenly wanted to find out if Ocilia's mindset really had changed or if it was a phase, so he asked in bad faith, testing her, "...do you think his reward should be larger or lesser than yours?"

Ocilia thought about it and shook her head, "I don't know. I can tell you everything that happened, but I can only say that without him, I would be dead."

Alexander observed Ocilia more closely and didn't like her aversion to decision-making. She seemed trapped in a mindset that set her up as a follower who would only do what she was told to do. Now, his question seemed less bad-faith as he got another idea to build on. He decided spontaneously to give his disciple more responsibility on which she could grow.

Patricia was about to say something, but Alexander didn't want her to muddle their conversation. Alexander slightly touched her tail with his, stopping her from saying anything, "Fine. You decide his reward from a favor to an unimaginable amount of gold or even becoming my close retainer. No need to rush your decision, though. Take your time and also talk with him."

Ocilia became visibly flustered and wanted to argue against it, but Alexander had nothing of it, as he liked the idea more and more, "No arguing. I know that you have ambitions, and those start with taking care of everyone under you. Do you know our financial situation? If not, ask Aurum. You are free to decide, and I will fully stay behind you..." Alexander smiled at her proudly, "...many would say I am punishing you, but I am giving you responsibility. Now, do you want just to stay my disciple or become something more?"

Alexander knew of her little aims from their talks. Even though Ocilia only implied it by talking about her dreams. She had ambitions and wanted to be a knight for some reason. He didn't know the exact reasoning, but he would help her wish come true if she wanted to become one.

Ocilia nodded and saluted again, now looking more nervous, "Thank you, Master!" However, she also looked proud, and her aura was fully enhanced, oozing to the brim with emotions of anxiety and superiority.

Alexander though interrupted her, "Please go to the others and tell them to come over. Depending on what you give Quill, I need to chat with him either way."

Ocilia nodded to Alexander, "Of course, Master..." She suddenly became silent and, only after a pause, became more flustered, "...should I also bring the others with me, like Ariana and Aurum?"

Alexander tilted his tail in confusion, "Why? It's been only a few weeks since he started, and it seems to be going fine."

Ocilia became silent till Alexander broke it, seeing that she wanted something, "Just say it. The worst that could happen would be a no from me."

She nodded, "I want you to meet Ariana."

"Why?..." He looked at Patricia, "...wasn't she an alumnus of Aurum and is working for him now? Did I miss something?" Patricia also shrugged, not knowing what was going on.

Ocilia shook her head, "No... she is also my girlfriend and wants to meet you."

It was silent until Alexander nodded with his tail, "Well, now it all makes sense."

Patricia was looking at Ocilia, and she became more joyful by the moment but did not say why, which Alexander decided to ignore, not knowing what was going on, 'What a weirdo... maybe she is also queer?'

Ocilia tilted her head, bringing Alexander out of his thoughts, "Why does it make sense?"

Alexander smirked at her, "I remember some guys hitting on you while you always avoided them like they were some disease..." Ocilia blushed slightly, but Alexander continued, "...however, I would like to first get well before meeting with more people than necessary..." He suddenly felt like an older Brother, wanting to clarify a couple of things, "...is it serious with her?"

Ocilia hesitated slightly but nodded. Alexander felt like having a deja vu, remembering when his sister and brother brought over every fling they had, making it out like it was their lifelong partner, only for them to break up weeks later.

Seeing his disciple, she was young, and it was her first partner, so he wanted to make something sure, continuing, not letting her answer, "I am asking to make sure you don't bring every affair you have with you into the estate. The last thing I want is to..." he was about to say something stupid, like meeting their parents. Still, he stopped himself, choosing a more appropriate example, "...meet all your affairs, wasting time. So choose wisely, got it?"

He didn't find any proper examples and wanted only to avoid the annoyance of having to talk with them. Memories of meeting up with the parents of his sibling's partners came to mind, and he immediately felt dread.

Ocilia nodded carefully, obviously thinking about Ariana. Yet, she had little time to think about it as Patricia came from the side to Ocilia, looking at her more intensely, "Ariana? Are you sure we can trust her?"

Ocilia became flustered, "Of... course, Ms. Patricia."

"You hesitated."

After a moment, she nodded, "This is true."

"Why so?"

"I already considered if she was a threat to Master or the household."

Patricia's smile became more vicious, "Would you bet your life on..." Alexander immediately interrupted her, "...stop it. If Ocilia says she is trustworthy, it's fine. Regardless of how I am now, I will receive visitors when I am well again, so there should be no problem."

She turned to him, slightly agitated, "Alex, I think you don't understand. You already almost died because of me, and I don't want you to risk your life again."

Alexander smiled at her, "Really? Even now, nobody can touch me besides my family."

Patricia tilted her head and smiled, "Fine. I think you should learn your lesson about self-preservation. Even though you saved me, I want you to stay alive, so how about a bet?"

"Oho, keep going."

Besides her crazy behavior and mundane small talk, she always tried to tell him how important it was to be on the safer side. Alexander understood why she did it since he acted like someone with a hero complex, only more suicidal. He couldn't even argue against it since she was right, so he only listened to her ramble on and on about this.

Patricia cleared her throat, smiling, "Ahem, I will slowly walk toward you and try to touch you. You can do whatever you want except use items, deal?"

Alexander liked it and wanted either way to test something, "Sure thing. What are the stakes." After saying this, he saw how Patricia smiled widely with her crazy eyes, 'Like my damn ex...'

"A favor."

Alexander tilted his tail in confusion, thinking it would be something more grandiose, which he would then decline, "That's it?"

"Alex, a favor means you need to do everything I need from you, so asking one is considered a massive deal."

Alexander trusted her as she didn't try to do something crazy to him except for those weird moments when she showed affection, "Fine, what do I get?"

She shook her head slightly, "Doesn't matter. I owe you my life, and anything you want, I would do either way."

Alexander shrugged, "Fine..." He looked at Ocilia, "...do a countdown from five, and..." He looked back at Patricia, "...you have 30 seconds. Deal?"

Patricia nodded while Ocilia became worried, "Master, maybe you think this through?"

He rolled his eyes, "Just do it."

She nodded and began to count, "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0."

Patricia walked forward slowly, "Alex, I don't know wh...." She suddenly stopped as an immense amount of killing intent attacked her, making her pupils shake in fear.

Alexander's aura exploded. He trained it laboriously and wanted to know how strong it was by testing it out. Little to say, it was incredible, but the only problem was that he needed to concentrate heavily to have the desire to kill someone. For this, he imagined the one who killed him on Earth, imagining Patricia in his place instead.

It was mentally taxing. It was not like doing the calculations for alchemy but far worse: Emotionally. After every training, he would become slightly melancholic and wanted nothing more than to cuddle with someone. It was also much more challenging for him than anything else since he was someone who suppressed his feelings. Yet, for his training, he needed to show and emit them openly for everyone to see.

"Ale..." Patricia tried to say something, but he increased the killing intent even more. The air slowly became reddish as his pheromones reacted with the aura. She took a step back.

Alexander never avoided eye contact with her and was fully submerged in his imagination, picturing skinning him alive as he destroyed his life. Yet, he was brought out by his disciple screaming, "30! Master, stop!" Only then did he slowly calm down, trying to suppress his self-inflicted emotional outburst.

He looked confused at Patricia, who was shivering and barely able to stand straight. Her ears down and her tail between her legs, "Are you all right?"

She couldn't say anything and only stood there, looking frightened. Ocilia took a step forward and was also the same, only somehow could fight through, "I... Master, I think it was a little too much."

Alexander nodded with his tail and looked at Patricia worriedly, ignoring Ocilia since she seemed okay-ish, "Patricia, do you want to leave and return when you are better? Ocilia can take care of you."

Alexander didn't show it but was kicking his own ass, 'Great job, dumbass. You can frighten a child to death.'

The problem was that he never went all out, not even against his Grandmother. So, he thought that there wasn't much he could do, but this assumption seemed wrong. His only thought was that he wanted to try it out but never considered the consequences, only finding it exciting, 'Let's wait for what she will say. Probably run as far away as possible from me, which I would fucking do.'

After a minute, the sweat slowly dried up on her forehead, and her shivering almost disappeared. She slowly raised her head, looking toward Alexander, and saying barely audible, "Don't want to..."

Alexander frowned and actually wanted her to go as it would be healthier than staying with his dumbass, "Are you sure? You can come back whenever you want. No worries, I can't run away, hehe."

She nodded, obviously not reacting to his dumb joke, "Yes, I want to stay..."

Like this, there was some silence where Patricia stood in place, not moving. Only after some minutes did she straighten slowly up. She looked at Alexander, this time with an emotion he couldn't identify, "You won."

Alexander raised an eyebrow and burst out in laughter, "Haha! Who cares, actually? Not like..."

She interrupted him, "I care!" She stomped her foot and looked at him, partly frightened from before and partly angry, "Say what do you want!"

Alexander wanted to argue first against her, but the angel on his shoulder screamed in his ear to shut up and simply say what he wanted. She was distressed, so complying with her wishes would be the smartest way before she broke down in tears.

However, he had no idea what he wanted actually, which again brought silence. Only after a minute did he get a great idea, even though it was somewhat cheesy for his taste, "Fine. I want a painting."

Patricia frowned and became angrier, "Please don't joke with me! Bets are something serious under nobles, and I want you to also take it as such!"

Alexander already expected her reaction, "I know." It was a lie. He didn't know and didn't care, "You told me that you want to travel and paint landscapes because they showed the history of the land, right?"

Patricia became confused but nodded, her anger fading, "Yes?"

He smiled at her honestly, "I want a painting of the landscape that you find the most beautiful and fascinating, okay?"

He was a fan of such presents, made with passion and care, no matter how terrible they were. He even wore the poorly made socks by his sister, which she knitted him for his birthday for years. He also had all the bad drawings he got as presents from his siblings and archived them like they were his treasures. Such things brought memories back every time he looked at them, and it was something more worth than some costly gifts.

Patricia was momentarily perplexed, suddenly becoming flustered, "S... sure! I will paint you the best landscape you have ever seen and present it to you in three years!"

Alexander was happy and couldn't wait to see the gift, but what was more critical, he somehow could remedy his mistake, 'Good job Alex, you could actually fix the situation without going all out and doing a whole ass show. Just don't fuck up again.'