[Day 15] (Continued)

Things are beginning to look unrecoverable.

I have spent all night here in my room, thinking and pondering what I should do in order to save myself from this situation, however nothing comes to mind.

There are no moves I can make to beat that man- not with the cards he has up his sleeves.

It seems like he allowed me to get comfortable without him only to show up at the worst possible time with even more leverage over my mother. She's completely fallen for his charms at this point, and I see no way to wake her from his trance.

Even if he breaks her heart, I doubt that she would cease her endless clinging to him. She is beginning to become obsessed with him.

I failed at proving that I am a worthy son, and now I find myself at a complete loss.

He brought home the hero of the country and made the claim that he would become my brother. I hate to admit it, but right now I am in check. No... perhaps I have already been checkmated but I don't even realize it. This man is much more intelligent than I originally gave him credit for, and he has cut off all options for me.

He first seduced my mother to turn against me by assisting her in her time of need, making her dependent on him. Then, he left the house for a week to find this so called 'hero', leaving my mother lonely in order that she may realize how desperate she was without him around. Finally, he arrived home with an asset that would most certainly give our household an advantage over other noble households- even more so than having the Indeterminant himself as the leader.

We now control the hero of the country, and we now hold the political leverage to use that against the other noble households.

I hate to admit it, but he has played well- not only against me, but against the other nobles, and even the king himself.

He has put our family into a good political position, he has raised his own popularity among the civilians, and if he wanted to he could probably form a faction and overthrow the king right now.

I can't fight against this man. He is far too manipulative for someone like me who isn't even considered a full adult to go against. I simply lack the power.

He pisses me off more than anything, but I need to make these next decisions calmly.

Do I throw aside my grudge against the fact that he and the hero are peasants, and try to work together with him? No... he doesn't care for me at all. He doesn't even see me as a pawn worth using. He only sees me as a toy to mess with. Even if I threw away my pride, he wouldn't work together with me.

What else could I do?

Get on the good side of the hero?

That isn't a bad idea, but I have a feeling that the Indeterminant will try to prevent me from doing that.

He seems bent against me for whatever reason... no matter what I do, I cannot think of a way to outsmart him.

Perhaps I should simply take the submissive stance for now? Agh... it pains me to be thinking these things. I was once a proud noble, and now look at how I have fallen... even to think about submitting to a bunch of peasants...

I should simply try to avoid them for now.

I have my exam tomorrow, and I shouldn't be wasting precious time thinking about things like this. If I get even a single question wrong, the other noble sons will be sure to mock me for it.

Perfection is expected of a noble. Anything less than the best is a felony.

I cannot shame our family more than it already has been shamed. While our political power has risen significantly as a result of the actions of the Indeterminant, our standing with the other noble houses has decreased significantly. As a matter of fact, we are likely despised by the others.

Even if they are doing what they can to please the Indeterminant, I am certain that they all look down on us as a ragtag group of peasants and nobles who hold no real ties to each other. There is no way they would accept so readily a peasant taking over so much power, but they cannot say anything against it lest they become his next target.

I will do some more studying before getting a good night's rest. I have to do well on this exam tomorrow.

----

[Day 16]

Today was awful.

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I woke up in the morning to the face of the Indeterminant, staring at me with a devious look.

"What's up little shit? I heard that you have an important test or something today? Well rise and fucking shine. Do your best out there, but I want you to always know that your efforts won't amount to anything."

"What are you doing in here? Get out!"

"Shhh... you'll wake your mother screaming like that... and I was just trying to be an encouraging father figure after my SON has worked so hard studying.... it would be such a shame if he were to go and take a test while being unsettled and made mistakes as a result of that..."

The Indeterminant left the room with a cold laugh and shut the door.

'This guy thinks he can just do anything he wants... grr... no... I have my exam today. I have to forget about him. I have to focus.'

I got up and ready for the day, and headed out early to the school. My father used to always tell me that a noble never shows up late to anything, and shoud always be doing his best to be on time. If I were to show up late, it would be a disgrace to my father, and to my position as a noble.

I arrived at the school to see a group of firstborn sons chatting about. I tried walking past them to enter the school grounds, however they stopped me.

"Ah! If it isn't Eric Harxeau, the son of the Harxeau family.... what's it like having that peasant as a father? Ahaha!"

"I bet he's lost his ability to think properly with the conditions he is being raised in. What a shame."

"Do you think he can even read at this point? Living around those peasants might have rubbed off on him to the point where he's become illiterate. Hahaha!"

I gritted my teeth as I walked past the three. I had no time for these games, and saying anything back would only show them that those statements bothered me.

Because they were true.

I knew that I was not fully prepared to take this exam because the Indeterminant was all I could think about.

I hated that man with such a burning passion that I wanted to strangle him, however there was nothing I could do. I need to just take this test, and hope that I am lucky enough to get a perfect score.

As if relying on something like luck could do something like that.

I took the exam that day, and there was one question that I didn't know how to do.

All of the questions were of course free response. There is no such thing as multiple choice when it came to noble examinations. Guessing wouldn't help me, but I tried my best to give a broad and vague answer that I could hopefully get considered correct.

"Look's like you were struggling on that test Eric. Is living with a peasant too much for you to handle?"

'As if you understood the horrors that I am going through... If only these guys knew how disturbing it is to live with someone like that man.... tch...'

The tests were graded later that day, and the scores were publicly posted.

Out of all the noble sons, every single one of them had received perfect scores.

Every single one except me.

Out of the 20 students who took the exam, I was the only one who got even a single question wrong.

It was not that the exam was easy- anything but. However the parents of these children had drilled into the brains of their sons to study day and night, and on top of that they were all geniuses of their own accord.

It was unfair that I had to compete with such high level competition in the first place, but this was the life of a noble.

We had to be the best, and if we weren't then we were not even worthy of the title of noble.

'Shit! Shit! I can't believe this! That one question! I can't believe I'm so retarded! How could I have missed it when everyone else got it correct!?'

Of course, I knew the reason well... but things were going to take a turn for the worse now.

It was now publicly known that our family was losing their status as nobles due to the Indeterminant. Even if our political power was higher, our prestige had taken a plummet.

Things were on the downfall.

----

[Day 20]

Oscar has been spending all his free time bringing various royal instructors in order to bring Kyle up to the level of a hero. There were knights who taught him to fight with a sword, intellectuals who taught him about academics, and mages who taught him how to use his magic. Apparently he has some sort of skill that allows him to read peoples intentions or something... I certainly hope he hasn't used it on me.

I admit that he has been training hard, but it aggravates me that he is so good at everything he does. Is this what it means to be the hero? Does one have to be a genius with talent in every field to become the hero in the first place? Or is it because he is a hero, that he has become such a genius?

How can he make so much progress after only a few days? He already defeated the captain of the royal guard in battle, and easily at that. His speed is unprecedented, and apparently that isn't even his specialty. He mastered the magic he is able to use after just a single day, and has already surpassed me as far as my studies are concerned.

He is to take the same exam I took tomorrow, and I can only hope that he doesn't get a score higher than mine- however I have a feeling he will.

My mother has completely forgotten about my existence and is always spending time with her new 'son'. I have completely lost any leverage I had within this household- including the title of heir. Yet, he seems to show no affection for mother at all! Does he not respect the class of a noble woman? Or is he too obstinate to accept someone else as his parent? I suppose peasants will always be peasants, unable to understand the higher things in life.

It is frustrating.

It is so excessively irritating to see someone else easily do what I have spent years mastering, and even more.

Why?

Why does the hero have to be here!?!

Why do I have to be compared to him!?!!?!!

Why does the Indeterminant take so much pleasure in my anguish!?!?! Is he not supposed to be the savior of humanity!!?!?!?! WHERE IS MY SALVATION!?!?!

I am going insane. If I spend another day in this household I might just lose it.

[Day 21]

I lost it today.

That brat took the exam and easily obtained a perfect score.

HOW!!?!

HOW CAN HE DO IT SO EASILY!?!?

I am locked up in this room, and I am not going to come out. I will simply sit here and study until my eyeballs pop out.

I cannot allow this scum to overcome me in even my best field.

He also apparently had a swordplay examination today, and he defeated 20 elite guards at once without sweating a drop.

He is too powerful in every way. Why does he get everything handed to him like this!?

Some people have to work hard to get to where they are, and apparently others just get things handed to them.

If that's how it is, then I will just work harder than him and become better than him.

I will make my mother acknowledge me even over that brat! I hope he dies trying to take on a demon lord or something!!!