《Exiled Aristocrat》Chapter 01: Ronandt
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It's been about two years since that day or night, I'm not really sure.
I was sitting on a stool wrapped in a white towel, facing a large mirror, admiring my gorgeous reflection.
Ronandt was the name that was given to me in this world.
My father was the handsome blonde-haired and crimson-eyed young man from back then, and my mother was most likely the unconscious black-haired woman.
And I, as their son, had inherited the best physical traits from their genes.
Yes, I am extremely attractive. I'm not even exaggerating; I'm merely exposing facts. I inherited my mother's black and silky hair, as well as her exquisite facial features, and my father's crimson eyes..
I was still small, but I had grown steadily over the last two years. Despite my overwhelming masculinity, my black hair has reached my shoulders, giving me a very girly appearance. My hair was not cut because of a long-standing tradition that prohibits children from cutting their hair until their tenth birthday; as a result, my hair length reached my shoulder.
Is that all? Haven’t I forgotten something?
Well, there was still something I hadn't mentioned, assuming that I had once had memories but hadn't regained them. At this point, I'm perfectly content with the fact that they'll never return. I mean, I'm a child; it should have been normal for me to have no memory at all in the beginning. I admit that there are times when I wonder why or what exactly happened to cause me to be like this, but it was pretty much all, just some fleeting thoughts that surface now and then.
I have completely embraced this new lifestyle as a baby. I mean look at this reflection.
As I hugged my own reflection in the mirror, I innocently inquired. “Is it really acceptable to be this adorable?”
“What are you doing, Young Lord?” A female voice asked.
The voice came from behind me, and I could see her in the mirror. Behind me was a brown-haired woman in her early fifties holding a towel, she was dressed in a long and plain black skirt with a long-sleeved white blouse: a governess outfit. She came from the bathroom, in which I had taken a bath, which she had bathed me a few moments before.
That woman was Mathilda, or Maa as I’ve grown used to call her, she is the governess of this manor and is the one who has been taking care of me as far as I can remember.
I'm not sure about the specifics, but it appears that I'm not allowed to live with my parents for some reason. I've only met my parents once, only that time, which would mean that if I were a normal baby, It would have been considered that I had never met them at all. Maa looked after me for the first two years after my birth.
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It sounds very strange for me to say this but despite the fact that I never technically met my actual parents, I still could say that nothing was lacking in my life. In fact, I was treated like a VIP. I was raised in a massive manor with several maids and even guards, and I was fed whenever I wanted. At first, I was embarrassed by the amount of care I was given, but after two or three months, I became accustomed to it.
Despite having many other domestic servants in the manor, Maa was the only one to interact with me, who established this rule, her, I suppose. She was there when I was born, she must have been tasked to take good care of me. Every time, every day from the moment I awoke after being put to sleep that time, she has been there zealously overviewing me as if eagerly waiting for me to make a single faux pas to end my miserable existence, it was hell for me to pretend to be a normal baby.
“Ooh~ Nothing… Maa... There was just a stain on the mirror, it bothered me so I tried to wipe it off myself.”
And I almost forgot, In my short two years of adventure in this unknown land, I managed to catch up with the language.
“It would be if you took the habit of wandering around butt-naked. Please wear this. It's almost winter, you’ll catch a cold.” She said handing me a peignoir.
Oh yeah, I was completely naked.
Why? Would you ask?
Well, the towel I wore fell without me noticing, having noticed my magnificent reflection I absolutely noticed anything. I mean can you reproach from doing so when facing such a perfect appearance?
I put my peignoir on and came to Maa's side so she could put my clothes on.
Shameless!
Who? Me? I’m a two-year-old. I had nothing to hide and Maa has seen almost everything about my body. I had nothing left to hide.
Okay, I admit it was embarrassing at first to be naked and stuff in front of someone, especially a woman, but I eventually accepted myself as a perfect baby, with nothing on my body to be ashamed of.
For my family jewels and popol, I have no recollection of ever having one, but if I ever did, it was undisputedly bigger than this.
“Cute would be the perfect word to describe them now.”
“Describe what?” asked Maa with a plastic smile on her face.
That little thing I have pending between my legs.
“Oh-Nothing, nothing Maa. I was just talking to myself.”
“What?”
“The fact that there are people more dazzling than me,” I said jokingly.
“There are, believe me, and I would appreciate it if you refrain from being so narcissistic.”
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“Oh come on, it was just a joke.”
“Then refrain yourself from joking that way in front of other people. I don’t want the young lord to embarrass himself when he returns to his family's side.”
I should’ve kept it shut.
“I see. If I may add Young Lord, you’ve grown up really fast, even for a noble, speaking so well at this age shouldn’t be normal.”
“Noble? What’s that?”
When I asked those questions, Maa looked at me with a surprised expression on her face.
Did I ask something I should haven’t?
“I guess this is the first time you've heard the term noble. Do you recognize the term "Commoner"?”
“Euh… Commoner… like the word common, then I suppose commoner would mean something like a normal person or something along those lines.”
“It is more or less that.” She said without commenting any further, instead she asked me.“ What do you think nobility could be ?”
“Nobility? Noble… Maybe it means uncommon people, No~ to be honest I have absolutely no clue on what it could mean.”
“It is also more or less that. Young lord, nobility refers to a class of people who wield enormous power. They rule over humanity, and we commoners must fear and respect them.”
“You, commoner?”
“Yes, I am a commoner, as is Syrus, our butler, and everyone else in the manor.”
“And me?”
“You, Young Lord, just like your father and your grandparents are part of the Nobility. You are a member of the Aubrecht, the ruling family of our Duchy.”
“...”
“Aaah~ Sorry, a Duchy is a territory within a kingdom. Just imagine it as a small kingdom within a kingdom.”
I see a Duchy is it.
If my family is ruling over something like that, I suppose they are quite influential.
To be able to raise me here and like this, it made a lot of sense for my family to be quite wealthy, now that I think about it.
A manor like this, so many servants would be out of reach for the majority of families. I imagined my parents to be wealthy merchants or something along those lines.
Wait, there’s something missing.
And then it dawned on me. There was one person she never mentioned in all she had said.
“What about my mother?”
Maa's face immediately changed into a strange expression that I can't quite put into words in response to my question.
The woman from that day seemed to be in really bad shape. It's not that I had forgotten about her, but because I was so focused on being your average baby, I never had the chance to ask how she was doing.
I even braced myself for the possibility that she was no longer alive. After all, I hadn't heard anything about her since, I believe, my birth. Who knows, maybe I was exiled because I inadvertently caused a matricide.
Having not seen my parents since then, I've spent a lot of time pondering the various scenarios that could have resulted in me being what I am now: an exiled child.
The two most likely reasons I could think of for my confinement were:
One: I'm an illegitimate child, but shouldn't an illegitimate child be hidden on his mother's side?
Two: My father despised me because I had murdered his wife just by being born. That makes a lot of sense, but come on it was pretty unfair to charge someone with murder when all did was being born.
With today's information about nobility, I believe there is another plausible theory to add to these two previous ones.
Three: I’m here because my mother is a commoner; after all, Maa didn't mention her when she was discussing nobility earlier. But it didn't explain why she wasn't present at the time. Was my mother no longer alive? Was it because she wasn't a member of the nobility? Was it one or the other? In fact, it could even be both.
“Madam is—Young Lord, get yourself ready, we're going to breakfast. We'll talk about it another time.”
She then moved in closer and started combing my freshly washed hair. Not because it had to be done, but rather to avoid answering my question.
In any case, I must insist on it.
“What does she look like? What’s her name?”
I knew what she looked like, but I was never told what her name was.
“Barbara is her name, and your father's name is Luke Aubrecht. And as far as appearances go, she's simply gorgeous. I don't know much about her because I only met her for the first time not long before she gave birth to the young Lord.”
She then stopped combing my hair and began touching it tenderly.
“Do not be alarmed, Young Lord. I'm confident you'll be reunited with your parents one day. All you have to do is be patient..”
I could tell she was being truthful by the tone of her voice. Despite her overzealousness, I know very well that she genuinely cares about me and is not just her doing her job.
Let's not bother her with these questions anymore, for the time being.
“Yes, Maa.”
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