It's hard to get along with children.

6 months into my plan I realized it was close to impossible for me to befriend any of them. My previous reputation as a weird person, combined with my poor talent, made them view me as permanent "trash". When I went to greet them they'd ignore me, and if I tried to hang out with them they would intimidate me with magic and force me to leave.

I thought about confronting them at times, but when someone threatens you by summoning fire in their hand leaving seems like the smartest choice.

On the bright side, my siblings didn't involve themselves with me at the moment, if I didn't talk to them they ignored my existence. I was a bit surprised at this, where was the so-called childhood bullying I heard read in webnovels. When I asked Fyn, the second son of the third wife, my younger brother by one year, he just snorted and replied, "As true Pendle blood, it's beneath me to mess with trash like you" as he shoved me out of the way.

I could sense this sentiment was gradually changing though, Thion, the older son of the third wife and older than me by 3 years, started looking at me like he was sizing up his future prey. I tried my best to avoid him as much as possible.

Other than my siblings, everyone else in the household had a cold attitude toward me. The servants in the household treated me politely but with a cold attitude. Trying to strike a conversation with them was similar to talking to a brick wall. Duke Pendle, whose name I later learned was Zalar, treated my existence like air.

A few months after I was deemed trash, my mother was pregnant and gave birth to another son. With a newborn hope in her life, she ignored my existence as well.

I thought it was interesting how fast I was discarded, I didn't mind it that much. Just as they viewed me as a tool to bring them glory, I viewed them as a tool that allowed me to age safely. From the start, I could never regard them as my real parents, my real parents are... well I wonder how they're doing right now.

The last two years weren't all that bad though, I had a lot of time to visit the library and learn more about the world. The most important thing I learned about was the existence of soul magic, the third branch of magic that was deemed taboo.

The only books that talked about soul magic in the library were history books, and all of them had the same few sentences. It was taboo magic that sacrificed the souls of the user, and it was eventually deemed taboo after being used in multiple rebellions that resulted in hundreds of thousands dying.

'There isn't enough information on soul magic just from these books, but looking at it from another perspective, if it was potent enough to fuel rebellions it meant that anyone can use it and it was powerful, it's worth trying to find more information on soul magic, I transmigrated so I should have a strong soul compared to others.' I thought to myself as I made a mental note on soul magic.

Unfortunately, it was close to impossible to gather more information on it. Although I could roam outside the castle freely, I received no pocket money from the duke, and if I openly asked about taboo magic it might be the end of me.

However, I did have a theory on how to learn more about soul magic. If it was illegal to use it, criminals would be the best people to ask, and the safest way to talk to criminals as a child is to talk to criminals in jail. Hence for the past year I got the nickname "Prison Boy". It was surprisingly easy to force the jailors to let me visit the prisoners, those employed by the Pendle family had to listen to the Pendle family, even if the one ordering them had little talent. No one in my family approached me about my constant visits to the prison, I guess it was too small a topic for them to even think about.

I still have yet to find out more about soul magic, but I'm hopeful about finding a lead at some point.

Regardless, the current situation isn't looking that great for me, I can't get close to my siblings and I have no real way to make money so I can't prepare much for escaping the dukedom - in my opinion, it was too early to prepare a specific escape route.

While I was leaving the prison after one of my daily visits, I overheard the guards whispering.

"He's finally leaving right?"

"Yeah finally, he comes here every day, does he want to be a criminal when he grows up?"

"What a shame for the duke's family, although most of their children are talented, they have to raise a bastard and a future criminal."

This small conversation shocked me, I knew who the future criminal was but I had no idea who the bastard was.

Upon forcing them to reveal the specifics and promising I wouldn't let this conversation be heard by anyone else, I heard a shocking fact. I had an older sister I never knew about.

After hearing about her general circumstances, I found it hard to stop myself from smiling.

'This girl is definitely going to be my ticket to safety in this house.'

Kasa, the bastard of the Pendle family.

I was going to befriend her no matter what.