Following the meeting with Aelfred, Solomon headed to his room to clean himself. Despite not having been directly involved in any of the fighting, the fire and smoke alone had tainted his current clothes with a pungent, ashy odour.
Thinking back to the previous few months, he found it quite funny. At first, he and the other three new men had always been confined to certain areas of the ninth floor unless supervised and they had always tried to find ways to escape their restriction. Now, with their freedom increased, they had almost been kidnapped.
After taking a warm shower and changing into a set of white robes with a gold-threaded hem, he made his way over to the 9th floor lounge which doubled as a dining hall. It seemed that when designing the place, Aelfred had not expected to be taking care of so many children, hence the lack of amenities and other related conveniences.
Fortunately, Aelfred did plan for having the occasional guest. Otherwise, the Meridion twins wouldn’t have anywhere to stay and the new men wouldn’t have anywhere to live or eat. Within the SCBRD, of course.
As he entered the lounge, he saw Lillian and the twins sitting around a table, while Alpha-1 busied itself to the side. They each had a dish filled with various different colours, both meats and vegetables, as well as fruits. Solomon went over to Alpha-1 and filled his own plate before joining the other three.
“Sol, this is Meric and Maritsa,” Lillian introduced, gesturing to them.
Both twins had slightly dark skin, similar to a permanent tan. Their skin was smooth and had somewhat of a milky brown texture. The twins both had hazel-brown eyes and blonde hair - if not for their opposite genders, they would have been impossible to differentiate.
At a glance, Solomon could tell that they were from the southern regions of Acremontis.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Solomon greeted in Montisian, neither too friendly nor too cold.
The twins nodded in response, echoing the greeting with fatigued smiles. The rest of the meal continued in mostly silence. Solomon was busy ruminating on the matters he’d discussed with Aelfred an hour before, while the twins were too hungry to properly divert their attentions elsewhere. Lillian was also quite tired - being kidnapped wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Once they finished eating, Solomon was eager to learn more about the two newcomers. Acremontis was far away and visitors were rare. Usually, only people on diplomatic or political missions, as well as merchants, travelled between the two. Considering the twins’ noble heritage, he wagered that they were part of a diplomatic group, though they were quite young.
“Would you two mind answering a few questions?” Solomon asked with a disarming smile, “If there’s anything unpleasant, you can choose not to answer.”
The twins looked at one another and non-verbally confirmed each other’s stance. Meric, the male twin, nodded.
“I’d like to know why you two scions of house Meridion are here in Biphrium, and why Baelmont of all places?” Solomon asked.
The latter question was what concerned him more. Baelmont was a city-state where the aristocracy had been and currently were losing influence and standing very quickly. The average citizen and even traveller could likely name famous Baelmontian scientists if asked, but as for nobles, only those who also happened to be scientists would be well-known.
For political marriages, nobles of Baelmont were never the first pick. Coastal cities like Balam, Vassa or Crinola were prime targets for merchants or those looking to set up trade deals, but it didn’t make sense for a trading party to bring children with them unless they were a seafaring merchant family, which the Meridions were not. More importantly, these three city-states were places where the aristocracy retained more power through the accumulation of generational wealth, their control over sea lanes and relatively independent militaries.
It was difficult for the CHE to exert as much control over Vassa than Caim, a landlocked central city-state. While many cities were embracing newer sciences and technologies, the Northernmost frontier and trade cities were able to rely on the developments of foreign countries to maintain their statuses. As such, the nobles had more power, while most scientists and researchers there were foreign hires or visiting scholars.
But the main point was that the Meridions would not have been here for trade or for research. So that only left political marriage and alliance.
“We were to be betrothed to Balam’s house of Balam,” Meric stated frankly, “But we were ambushed and prevented from meeting the Balam nobles.”
Solomon pursed his lips before replying, “And you managed to escape to Baelmont alone?”
“No,” Meric denied, “We were saved by our retainer, the guard captain of Meridion. He did not survive the journey.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Lillian comforted. It was likely that the guard captain wasn’t the only casualty.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Meric’s face was strained, while Maritsa seemed to be holding back tears.
“Our uncle was left behind. I fear that he has suffered an early demise,” Meric added.
Solomon’s eyes narrowed, but ultimately, he restrained the urge to investigate, allowing the twins to grieve. After some more words of comfort on Lillian’s part, Alpha-1 helped escort the tired twins back to their quarters.
“I feel that there is promise in investigating this matter further,” Solomon said slowly, as he folded his arms.
Lillian nodded affirmatively, “Just give them some time to heal.”
“Of course. There’s no hurry. Even if the gods sent an angel to inform me of the culprit, there’s little I could actually do but sit on it and wait.”
Lillian smiled and rested her small head on his shoulder.
“I was very scared.” She admitted, referring to the kidnapping, “Thank you.”
———
“I originally sent you four to a school for two reasons. The first was that I have been very busy and have little time to take care of you myself. The second is that I felt you needed to get used to interacting with ordinary children of your ages, to learn social skills and to be able to integrate into society,” Aelfred explained, “But I now realise that you already have adequate social skills, so that’s a moot point.”
“I can also imagine how uninteresting that type of preschool education must be to you all, so I have decided to make some changes,” He added, “I will personally take responsibility for your education for the next several years until you are old enough to formally begin your higher education.”
“Now we need to set up some ground rules. You may only enter the lab under my personal supervision. You may not touch anything. You may not use any equipment. You may not…”
As he droned on, Aelfred noticed that the minds of the children had begun to wander, so he snapped his fingers a few times.
“Most importantly, you may not leave the building unless you have my permission. And no gambling. Aleister, Han, I’m looking at you two.”
The boys nodded. Even without his warning, after certain traumatic experiences, they probably wouldn’t go again. The lesson had been learnt.
Aelfred spent the next few minutes going over a few more rules before eventually turning to glance at the Meridion twins who were standing by the doorway in curiosity.
“As for you two, I have sent a messenger to visit your family in Acremontis. I have also informed members of house Balam. I expect to receive a reply within the next few months. In the meantime, you may feel free to participate in classes with these four.”
Han put his hand up and asked a question, “If we need to go outside, will we be receiving bodyguards?”
Aelfred shook his head, “No. You will not be allowed to travel far unless I am present, and I alone am enough to keep you safe.”
Han nodded in disappointment. Seeing this, Aelfred clasped his hands behind his back.
“We will revisit that specific question if the circumstances change, or when you are adults.”
———
Time passed and the six children grew up alongside one another in relative harmony. While homeschooled children often had difficulties socialising, Solomon and the others constantly had the company of each other. They spent time learning under Aelfred six days a week, taking general classes as well as learning more specialised knowledge from some of Aelfred’s close colleagues or students.
Aleister, the eldest new man by 1/4 of a second, quickly took an interest in physical sciences and engineering. By the age of 6, he designed and built his own bicycle. By the age of 10, he was already single-handedly capable of constructing a flying machine. He was so driven and talented that Peregrine directly reserved a place in his company for the boy once he was ready, though he had already secretly taken him on company tours more than once.
Han, on the other hand, had taken an interest in his own appearance. Of the four new men and the entire population of Baelmont, he was by far the best looking. He had androgynous features, a mixture of both beauty and handsomeness that stunned both genders alike. Aside from that, he was also interested in military strategy and modern weapons of war. He had been caught more than once with firearms and blades stolen from passing officers, soldiers and at one point, even the armoury.
Unlike his two ‘older’ brothers, Solomon had taken an interest in biology and genetics. He took directly after Aelfred and in many ways he was the old man’s direct disciple. Solomon had even worked with Aelfred on many projects over the years, helping design thirteen different species of flora and fauna.
Lillian was similar to Solomon. As the two new men with the closest relationship, she often took an interest in whatever he did, so it was no coincidence that when Solomon became interested in biology, she was close behind. Instead of genetics, however, she found her passion in nature and veterinary science. Many times, she would observe the effects of crossbreeding genetic hybrids, ever-excited to examine the viability of the offspring.
On top of their academics, Aelfred did not neglect their physical well-being either. He hired many martial artists and combat experts to ensure the new men had the skills necessary to protect themselves in a pinch. While he himself had been forged in the crucible of war, he had paid the price for that in his lower right leg. As his own creations, he naturally loathed to see them come to any significant harm.
As for the Meridion twins, the replies from both their home and Balam had returned with grave news. House Meridion of southern Acremontis had fallen into civil war, with both sides claiming legitimacy. The parents of Meric and Meritsa were unreachable, according to the messenger. The nobles of house Balam had also replied with a negative, claiming that they had not received any marriage proposals or diplomatic envoys from house Meridion.
As a result, the twins had no choice but to stay in Baelmont. While they did not possess the unnatural intellect of the new men, they had already received education from young, as all noble scions did. Though they did not excel as the new men did, they were just barely able to keep up with the rapid pace through intense hard work and self-study.
One day, while Solomon was reading up on a new hybrid species he was working on, Aelfred entered the room. The latter watched him study in silence, before ultimately deciding to take the first step.
“Solomon, come with me,” He beckoned.
The young man in question had long since noticed Aelfred entering the room. He placed down the papers and gave his mentor and creator a querying look.
“I want to ask you a question, first though,” Aelfred smiled.
“Be my guest,” Solomon gestured.
As the older man seated himself, propping his prosthetic leg and its big red ruby up on the other, he gazed at Solomon enigmatically.
“Do you believe in the gods?”