I need a bottle. Where's the ale?
I looked around the filthy room in search of the one thing that had brought me comfort these last few months.
"Three years! Three YEARS I've tried, but nothing worked. Maybe I really am hopeless. My own mother left me here, and now the only friends I have are these bottles of ale surrounding my bed. Hahaha!"
My tears fell to the dirty sheets around me, reminding me yet again that I was no longer the young master of a noble house—House Lucien.
Maybe this was for the best. The exam would be in three days, and I still couldn't perform a single spell—not even the basic ones. I awakened my mana three years ago, but I still couldn't do any elemental magic.
I thought I was a genius. My mana awakened six months before the official awakening ceremony, but everyone who awakened after me could already use magic. My control over mana was second to none, but what good was that?
I suppose I'll find out next week. Where is that girl? "Claudia!"
Footsteps echoed from outside the bedroom, and a calm, indifferent beauty stepped through the door.
"You called for me, Second Young Master?"
"Why act all reserved now? Next week, on my fifteenth birthday, I and my siblings will be tested alongside the other noble children. Truthfully, I'm not optimistic. Make arrangements to send me to my mother's estate. By then, I'll no longer be allowed in the main house."
"Don't lose hope, Young Master. Who's to say what the future holds?"
"I don't need empty hope, Claudia. My family values ability above all else. An incompetent drunk like me has no hope of living peacefully if I stay here. Go. Don't start lecturing me."
Claudia's lip quivered.
Every young master of House Lucien was assigned a personal maid at birth. They were to serve for life and couldn't be reassigned. She had grown up beside me and genuinely cared. Even if she could leave, I doubted she ever would.
I may never understand her fully. Everyone else had distanced themselves from me, yet she remained. Was she assigned to monitor me? Was this my mother's doing? My siblings'?
I stood by the window, watching the gardeners in the courtyard. The carriage had been parked outside the mansion for days. I thought to myself, I only have a few more days to appreciate this view.
I turned from the window and left the bedroom. Most of my staff had been reassigned. The ones I did see now served my siblings. They looked at me with nothing but scorn. I suppose they wouldn't have to concern themselves with me much longer.
Still, I couldn't help but marvel at the mansion's design. I'm no poet, so I can't describe what makes it so pleasing, but these corridors—these polished floors, the intricate pillars, the paintings—they make one feel like they're walking through a god's dwelling.
I exited the mansion and called for a carriage. The driver gave me his usual look of disgust. I troubled him weekly whenever I wanted to enjoy the fine wines produced in our territory.
"Don't look at me like this is something new. Six months have gone by with me making this request every week. After this, you won't have to deal with me anymore."
"Hmph."
I got in the carriage and watched the scenery change around me. After this, I would most likely be moved to my mother's estate in Brenner. I was her greatest shame, after all. She'd keep me hidden away.
As for Father...
Let's not think about something so depressing. I should say goodbye to the old man at the tavern. After everyone else was threatened by my family to stop selling me ale, he alone still found something for me.
Before I knew it, we arrived in town. The coachman told me to get out in his usual dismissive tone. I wasn't bothered. I told him to wait about thirty minutes while I bought something to take with me after I was dismissed from the house.
…
It was a short outing. I returned to the family house through the main doors and ran into my third brother, Charles. I never thought he was particularly impressive appearance-wise, but he always carried himself with pride. Our eyes met. He quickly turned away, as if I wasn't worth his time.
I had long since grown used to this treatment. Though all of us siblings were around the same age, we were born of different mothers and raised with different values. No one here had a healthy concept of "family."
I approached him, and he spoke before I could say anything.
"You'll be gone by next week. Father can't even be bothered to look for you. What a good riddance it will be."
His words passed through one ear and out the other. I couldn't even pretend to be surprised. I continued on, reached my room, and shut the door behind me.
I waited.
My fate would be decided in just a few days.
My eyes closed as I drifted into what might be my last peaceful night in this house.
The dream began just as they usually did: jeers, whispers, gossip. My parents no longer concerned themselves with me. I drowned my troubles in some nameless bar in town.
But this dream felt different.
I was aware that I was dreaming.
I looked around, but I couldn't make out a single face. The figures carried themselves like those from my memories, but their faces were all shrouded in shadow.
Then I heard the sound of a chair dragging across the floor.
I focused my gaze in front of me.
A completely unfamiliar figure sat across from me—holding a pair of dice.
It rolled the die and I saw no number pop up.
They were completely blank.
It then spoke to me.
"Emory I presume."
I wasn't aware this wasn't a simple dream.
I tried to reach for it's face to satisfy my curiosity.
It but my hand and was reluctant to let go.
I flinched back into my chair and saw it's face shift.
It was evaporating.
"Why don't you listen to me for a little bit. This may be the pivoting point in your fate."