Lucas didn’t explore much as much as he could’ve after meeting Nerine. Still with his constant trips with Batain, he’d memorized a good chunk of the castle. Yet that was all it was: memory. He hadn’t paid much attention to room numbers, only using his as a reference for when he asked for help.

The fact it never crossed his mind wasn’t too strange considering his age. Hell, he hardly remembered the point of room numbers with their lack of relevance in most of his lives.

But it was particularly weird that no one had ever mentioned it to him.

‘’Probably thought I was too young.’ He thought, running his eyes across the doors. His parents hated when he went exploring.

Huh, he hadn’t even thought about that. The most important thing this whole school bullshit offered was freedom from his parents and an environment he could explore and grow in without going too far.

His thoughts wandered over to Regis. He didn’t know whether to thank the man or be suspicious of him. While he appreciated the opportunity he was trying to give him, Lucas didn’t know Regis and Regis didn’t know him either.

Their two meetings couldn’t have given him enough information for Regis to decide that his grandson was ready. All he knew was that Lucas was a smart kid with the ability to “stop” people with his eyesight. Well, he guessed that comparatively, he was a genius but it didn’t matter if he was too young.

He turned a corner to see a woman walking in his direction. She had long blonde hair with dark streaks in it, and a pleasant face, with the highlight being her full red lips.

However, her most striking feature was her height. Lucas noticed that the height gap between men and women was a bit less at least among nobles but it was odd to see anyone at this woman’s height. Just eyeballing it, she looked about 7’0 (2.13m) tall.

She looked down at him before offering a smile that, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes, was beautiful nonetheless. It looked like they were about to just walk past each other before her eyes briefly flashed.

“What’s your name?”

‘What, no hello?’ Lucas inwardly grumbled before answering her question.

“Lucas Cazenarch.” He didn’t have the luscious blonde hair of the Cazenarches so it was best he include that he was part of the family.

Suddenly, he felt a wave of mana overtake him. It was thick to the point he almost couldn’t breathe. However, just as quickly as it covered him, it vanished. “Interesting” was all she said as she smiled and walked away.

Lucas couldn’t help but have flashbacks to when he met Batain. Did they all just think it was ok because he was family or would they have done it to just anybody?

Immediately after Lucas had the thought, he corrected himself. He knew Batain well enough to know the guy didn’t care about familial bonds.

It annoyed him to dismiss the event but he didn’t even know the woman’s name. Also, she hadn’t really harmed him. In fact, Lucas suddenly felt a missing sensation from his face. His burns had vanished.

Once he got back to his room and was sure he could move around, he’d planned to call a maid to take him to a doctor, but now that was needless.

Still, it irked him to be utterly powerless in situations like that.

Following the room numbers, he began recognizing small oddities like a specific plank mismatch that let him know he was near his room.

Just as his room was in sight, the wood below him started contorting, trapping his feet, just as he was about to take a step.

The result was him falling over just as the wood released its hold over his feet. He only barely managed to catch himself.

He looked down at the ground before realizing this was clearly magic at play.

His mama sense revealed a trail of mana that actually led behind him. He turned, hearing chuckling, setting his eyes on a masked man.

Despite the mask, it was obvious who it was, just based on height. There was no way there could be two people in this one castle this short.

He wracked his memory for the man’s name but came up short.

“Who are you?” It was the only thing he could really come up with, while edging his way back to his room.

“So now you want to be docile. Well, it’s too late.” The man walked over to him.

Seeing this, Lucas immediately began running but just as the man said, it was too late. The wood planks trapped him.

Lucas began trying to burn the planks but they were immediately snuffed out by a bit of water. A blast of wind hit the man but dissipated upon reaching him. He could feel the grin on the man’s face and fury overtook his mind.

Unbeknownst to him, his eyes took on a vibrant blue as he activated his ocular ability. The man immediately stopped though Lucas remained trapped.

He mentally cursed the fact he was still too weak and young to fight back against the man. Burning the planks below him, he walked over to the man and pulled his mask off, revealing he was, indeed, the man who’d led Lucas to Regis.

Oddly enough, his face wasn’t frozen like when he’d used the ability on the men in the cave, but, rather, it was blank.

‘Go fuck yourself.’ Lucas’ rage began to quiet before being overwhelmed by shock.

The servant took his pants and underwear off before trying to contort himself into positions that simply weren’t possible.

Shock turned into brief understanding. “Stop.”

Immediately, the man stopped.

“Hit yourself.”

At the first punch, he saw the man’s eyes flicker and Lucas suddenly felt a massive hit to his stamina, as if he’d just finished running a marathon.

“Stop hitting yourself.” Once the dwarf stopped, Lucas began uncontrollably laughing. It was perfect. He was in a state of complete unconscious obedience to Lucas. It felt like a second wind after all the tedium and pain he’d experienced so far.

Getting an idea, Lucas barely managed to stop laughing. “Go and tell my grandfather that you attacked me.”

When the man began trudging with his pants around his ankles, Lucas began giggling again. “As fast as you can.”

Seeing him start sprinting, Lucas keeled over. He couldn’t tell whether he truly found the event funny or if it was a sort of release of melancholia and bile that he’d stored up.

The boy walked to his room, reaching up to unlock the door and enter. It felt like a weird thing to be doing as a kid but it was much better than being confined by whenever his parents were in.

Lucas sat down on his bed to relax. He felt exhausted even though it hadn’t been more than an hour since he woke up. ‘I should go eat’, he thought, struggling to keep his eyes open. This eye ability really was a last resort. It left him on the verge of falling asleep.

‘What should i call it? Actually, wait, does it even need a name? ‘never seen someone use a name when they do a spell.’

His thoughts steadily devolved as he drifted into sleep.

He woke up to what sounded like a thundercrack, but once he’d gotten up and rubbed his eyes, turned out to be knocking.

He opened the door to see a maid just about to deliver another knock. She’d been a perfect picture of anger but once she saw his appearance, it shifted to fear.

“I have to get you washed up” was all she said before she picked Lucas up, walking over to the bathroom. He was about to protest when suddenly, his brain caught up to the rest of his body.

Outside was clearly sunset and his stomach barking at him was simply more proof of that.

‘That nap fucked me up, huh.’ He saw his reflection in the mirror and there were lines and imprints of the bed and some part of his body on his face.

The maid stripped him before quickly washing and then drying him. His mind flashed between annoyance and satisfaction but he ultimately didn't protest as she dressed him and combed his hair. Immediately after, she began walking him out of his room, holding his hand.

He let her drag him for a couple seconds before something suddenly clicked. He was supposed to go to some ceremony. He didn’t know what time the event was or what time it currently was but he supposed it didn't matter, and let the maid pull him.

After a minute or two, they stepped into the throne room, greeted with the sight of over a dozen blonde heads. There hadn’t been much chatter but the little there was decreased as well.

“There you are. Your parents said they tried to wake you but eventually let a maid handle it.”

Lucas looked up to see Regis. He looked to still be in the same position Lucas had left him in in the morning.

His parents sat on the side, quietly talking, before they saw him. Lucas walked past a couple of his supposed aunts and uncles to go sit with them.

“No, come up here.”

He looked at his parents, but they didn’t tell him anything. Instead, they both held intermingling looks of pride and fear.

After he walked up to stand by Regis, he looked down upon his various family members.

“I’m sure-”

Suddenly, the door to the throne room opened again, revealing yet another man with blonde hair. Lucas had no idea who he was but nearly everyone else had, at the very least, a small reaction.

“Welcome, Leroy. I’m glad you decided to attend.” Regis was the only other person with no real reaction.

‘Do people in this universe not believe in moving out after they become an adult?’ It suddenly hit Lucas that most of his aunts and uncles were adults yet still lived in the castle with their father. Even in his various reincarnations, he didn’t remember one time where he hadn’t started to live on his own after a while.

That had only been a passing thought though as he realized everyone parted for the man.

However, Regis ignored it, continuing.

“I’m sure most of you have realized by now the point of this ceremony. You all have interesting ways of obtaining your own information. Nonetheless, to be clear, Lucas Cazenarch, son of Sebastian Cazenarch and Emelie Cazenarch, will be attending the Beaudoin School. However, more important than that, and I’m sure all of you realized this-”

Leroy finally got to the throne, walking over to Lucas.

“Leroy, you know I let you do as you like but this is more important than you.” A frown chiseled its way onto Regis’ face.

Lucas couldn’t read the man’s expression. It wasn’t entirely blank but more like a trained and controlled non-expression. Even his eyes were dim but focused on Lucas.

Leroy Cazenarch walked behind Lucas, placing his hands on his shoulder and back. The two looked like brothers rather than uncle and nephew.

“You can continue, father.”

Regis’ frown deepened. “What exactly do you want?”

“The same thing you wanted all of us to do once you called us all together.. or am I mistaken?”

Leroy sounded like a well-made dark chocolate bar tasted. His voice was rich, smooth, and deep, complementing his appearance in a way that’d make him a popular gigolo.

The Count’s frown remained the same, but ultimately softened as he looked down at Lucas. Looking back at the crowd, he finished what he’d been about to say. “Lucas is a Golden Soul. He’ll progress much faster than the fastest of you.. likely even faster than me, and he will go farther than any of you ever will. As such, I will make him my heir. The trial will be to be the boy’s Regent instead.”