A castle as big as a mountain stands tall above civilization.

The castle was probably 800 meters tall. Complete with columns and towers that seemed to be trying to reach the sky.

Beneath it, countless rows of buildings made up a huge, magnificent city.

There were countless cobblestone streets that looked complicated and winding but neat, as if a city that came from a dream or perhaps the dream had become a reality.

There are no words that can describe exactly how magnificent the capital of the Eradel kingdom is except a holy city blessed by the gods.

There were many races other than humans living here. Some have long ears and some have furry tails.

Although a minority, they filled every corner of the capital when one looked at it from the top of the castle.

"Would I die if I fell from a height of 200 meters? Moreover, climbing the ladder is quite tiring."

Maric muttered something incoherent as his eyes looked out the window.

He was currently in a large room that seemed to be built for giants.

There were thousands of people attending the party in the royal palace. They were all nobles invited by the Royal family.

Looking to the side, Maric then tried to whisper to Tina.

"As I told you last night, try to make friends with little girls from other noble families."

"It's tiring, but it's fun because they like to praise talented people like me."

"Good, keep doing that."

Regardless of what method Tina might use to make friends, as long as it was smooth, Maric would not mind anything.

He then grabbed a drink and cake from a nearby table to approach the few noble children gathered around.

"Oh... Maric, listen to this. He has an interesting story about his family on the Southern border."

"Really? I want to hear it."

While drinking and eating the cake in her hand, she heard the noble boy talking.

"The cities in the south are filled with non-human races, and since we are close to the Versace kingdom's borders, we have the best quality of livestock, some of the processed meat in this feast also comes from our region."

"That sounds really marvelous. I also really like the warm clothes that come from the south."

The southern noble boy then boasted.

"Of course, we can survive the winter with warm, furry coats. It's the pride of our noble family because other regions can't possibly have it."

"I'm starting to become envious, I'm just a capital noble who has no territory."

Hearing that, Maric then tried to join in.

"Capital nobles aren't so bad, you guys also have tons of good food here that I've never tasted before."

The noble children along with Maric slightly nodded their heads indicating that they all agreed.

There wasn't much Maric could say, he just had to follow what the children were talking about while waiting for some topics where he could join in.

This was quite tiring for Maric as he didn't really like crowds, it might not be a problem if it was only for an hour or two, but if these parties and social activities lasted for almost half a day, he would also reach his limit.

Maric occasionally grabbed a drink from the table that seemed to be filled with more sugar.

The drink went into his mouth and then down his throat. Some of the noble children near Maric noticed that.

"Ah... by the way isn't Maric from a noble family on the border?"

"Yes, you're right... I'm from there."

"That's great... I heard that the children of the Northern frontier nobility are taught magic from the time they are young. Is that true, Maric?"

"Yes, since our territory is close to the Empire, we do learn it."

The eyes of the noble children near Maric lit up slightly.

"You must be very stronger than us."

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But even though they said that, there were also some who didn't seem to like it. They were noble children from the southern border.

"There are no non-human races in the North, right?"

Realizing the uncomfortable feeling that was directed right in front of him, Maric answered briefly.

"I did see non-human races occasionally, but those were usually from royal knights on duty, after the war ended, I never saw any non-human races around me again."

"Eh... so you guys are exactly the same as the rumors I heard, the nobles who don't accept non-human races in their territory... it's the same as the people from the Empire, disappointing."

'Gosh, do the children of the southern nobles really need that much recognition? He's even trying to bring down noble groups from other regions to make himself look better.'

Children are much more honest than adults.

With this evidence, Maric could assume that it seemed like the southern nobles weren't very well recognized these days. So they had to have intermediaries so that their existence could still be considered.

While achievements were always the key to opening up a topic of conversation, there were also other ways that those who planned to catch her attention could do so. And that is, of course, making other nobles' mistakes the topic of conversation.

That way the opportunity to build relationships between nobles could have been formed without them realizing it.

This is quite valuable communication knowledge that can be a double-edged sword.

Maric also did the same thing or he also had the same goal as the southern noble children, but since Maric had already planned it, he decided to use a more subtle approach so that someone might not be able to realize it. And it had almost worked so far.

'I still haven't found a strong enough motive for the other nobles to ally with the Noir family. Moreover, I'm quite mentally exhausted right now from talking to so many people while thinking so hard.... Alright, I'll go get some fresh air.'

Maric quickly placed the glass onto a nearby table and then quickly left the crowd.

.....

A place that is quiet and away from the crowds, usually around the balcony of the royal palace.

It was one of the few places large enough for one to look up at the moon.

The moon and stars floated in the sky with quite a beautiful luster.

Although this was an unfamiliar place to Maric, but for some reason he heard the sound of an animal perched nearby making him familiar.

"Owl?"

An owl with jet black in every feather was looking at Maric.

"Little buddy, I haven't seen you in a while, how did you get here?"

It was the same owl Maric had seen before.

Maric went over to grab the owl.

And for some reason that Maric didn't know, the owl didn't move away from Maric.

"I don't have any meat or mice in my hands. I'm sorry that I can't feed you this time."

While stroking the owl's head with Maric's bare hand, he tried to heal his mental tension that was currently getting out of hand.

Maric smiled sweetly at the black owl before opening his mouth to complain.

"Solitude is indeed a wonderful and frightening sensation. I don't really like crowds, but as a human it's necessary."

Maric now tried to recall what he had experienced.

He kept digging through every memory he had, but he only remembered a small part of it. Mind control has made Maric try to mature.

He knows that this is the only way he can live a normal life. Even in the past, right when tall buildings with cars on the highway could still be seen by Maric.

He realized that peace doesn't mean that everyone can be happy, social problems always come in every era.

Some unlucky students get bullied as an extra activity at school.

Some lead normal lives with friends around them.

Some are workers who get bad luck because they are not valuable enough in their company.

There are even some schoolchildren who make fatal mistakes that require them to be thrown into an orphanage.

The modern world is certainly not free from problems, despite the comforts of their predecessors, there are bad things everywhere.

Maric may be one of them, but he doesn't want to give in to bad luck and fate. He always works hard to be better, and always learns from the mistakes of others.

A little mistake could ruin his life, he didn't have anything valuable in the past so he wanted to grab it.

He doesn't want to make an issue of bullying himself despite being laughed at like a clown in a circus.

He didn't mind people being mean to him so he once had a run-in with the police because he was suspected of being connected to an illegal drug ring. Of course, Maric was acquitted because he didn't know anything.

But what happened, just because of the incomplete news people near Maric started to stay away from him.

He once questioned why the police were incompetent to hide the identities of the people involved including his innocence, but Maric eventually decided to forgive them.

After all, no matter how good or smart someone is, they are bound to make mistakes.

He also didn't mind the fact that his parents didn't want him to be born, which was probably why Maric was in an orphanage and thus close to the teachings of the church.

He was grateful for all the life he had experienced.

It was all for one reason. It was a belief that Maric would have a promising future for himself.

'So what? I was instead reincarnated into a world with swords and magic and lived in a region near the border, and to make matters worse, just a few years after I was born, a war soon took away most of what I had. It wouldn't have mattered if I was an innocent child, but I was aware of the situation I was in.'

Experiences in both worlds had made her realize that her life was far more horrible than she had ever imagined.

"I once planned to go to a top university, but those plans and dreams have just disappeared. Everything I did seemed pointless."

Maric continued to complain to the owl in front of him. He knew that the owl wouldn't understand what Maric was saying, but that was what he was looking for.

Some release needed to be released immediately.

"I want to pray and go to church."

Just as Maric said that, the eyes of the owl looked behind Maric. Maric immediately followed suit and looked behind him.

A little girl wearing a dress slightly older than Maric stopped her footsteps when she noticed Maric's presence.

The little girl seemed hesitant, so she tried to turn around. But Maric stopped her.

"Wait..."

"Aa..."

Trembling slightly at Maric's voice, the little girl in the dress hesitated even more about whether to go or not.

'It seems, it's not just me who likes solitude. That girl looks quite exhausted from the party, she's probably mentally exhausted.'

Shaking her head to correct the attitude to make Maric seem cheerful, she immediately extended a hand to the girl.

"Miss, it looks like you're quite exhausted. If it's okay with me, you can sit here."

Not forgetting, Maric immediately prepared a nearby chair to ask the little girl to sit down.

The little girl was still hesitant, but as Maric turned her head and gave the little girl some privacy, the girl with her slow steps sat down on the balcony chair.

Silence began to fill her surroundings.

Maric didn't mind, but he soon realized that the little girl nearby was starting to feel awkward.

'Should I leave this place?'

Soon, maybe soon. Maric's composure had not yet been restored, he had to stay here for a while longer and then socialize with the other noble children.

But even though silence filled Maric's surroundings, he still heard the small sound of a girl's breathing enter his ears.

That voice made Maric realize that he was not alone in this place. With some hesitation, Maric petted the owl while playing with his own mouth.

"Miss."

"..?"

The little girl near Maric turned her head towards him. Maric then continued.

"Do you want to try petting it? This bird's feathers are very soft when you touch them."

The girl's shoulders rose slightly in surprise. That reaction left Maric a little confused as he had kept his voice very low so that no one would be disturbed by it.

Which meant, the girl was probably not used to talking to a stranger like Maric.

"Haha... I'm sorry, not everyone likes birds, right?"

"No, that's not it..."

The girl replied briefly as her hand began to open. She made some sort of gesture as if she wanted to grab the owl in Maric's hand. Maric immediately gave it to her.

Now, the owl was in the little girl's hand. Her eyes looked blank with doubt, she then tried to stroke the head of the owl.

As the girl began to calm down, Maric tried to find an opening and opened her mouth.

"Although I sometimes see the owl coming to me, I don't name it. Perhaps the owl has its own name."

Without getting any reply, Maric then continued again.

"Ah, yes. Speaking of names, I still don't know yours."

Seemingly still full of doubts, the girl stopped stroking the owl in her hand as if frozen in time.

Maric then bowed and introduced himself.

"My name is Maric Sera Noir, a noble child of the North. You may call me Maric."

"Maric... Maric, yes..."

"Yes, my name is Maric. So miss, what's your name?"

The little girl immediately closed her mouth while trying to think of something. Once the girl seemed convinced, she then opened her mouth to tell Maric her name.

"My name is Nelia, just Nelia."

"No last name?"

"No..."

As the little girl stopped talking, the owl in her hand spread its wings and flew away. It was as if the bird knew what was happening now.

That was because Maric also clearly understood what was happening.

'In this royal palace, a little girl wearing such a beautiful dress is clearly a noble. There is no error in my judgment, this girl is trying to lie to me. But why?'

He knew, Maric knew. But he didn't understand why the girl was trying to lie. For nobles their family name is an honor to be proud of, very rarely or perhaps no noble child would hide their family name.

But there might be a troublesome reason behind it, so Maric now chose to follow what the little girl said.

"Nelia..."

"Lia.. I'll be happy if you call me Lia.. just Lia."