As the days go by, I find myself growing attached to the comfort and companionship offered by Jake's household. But deep within me, a nagging voice reminds me that our journey is far from over, and the mysteries surrounding our parents and this world are yet to be unraveled.
…
The next morning, I wake up and feel my days are so delightful. This is my first time living in a big house. However, I feel like I shouldn't feel this comfortable as I have things to worry about.
I woke up in the morning and looked at Elijah who was fast asleep beside me. I try to wake him up by shaking his body and he is reluctant to get up.
Finally, Elijah and I get downstairs after finishing taking a shower while wearing new clothes from Jake. The butler, Mr. Byron said that these clothes belong to Jake's children. Most of them have grown up and are not fit enough to wear it.
If Jake is 30 and already has grown up children, I wonder to myself at what age that he married. But I heard the King is greedy for power and his ambition to maintain a peaceful country led to his children being wedlock at a young age.
Surprisingly, the clothes fit our size and are really beautiful.
As we go downstairs, I look upon the table that is already filled with the meals for breakfast. As I sit down at the dining table with Elijah, I can't help but feel a sense of gratitude and warmth. The hospitality shown by Jake and his household is unlike anything I've experienced before. The feeling of being cared for and welcomed into a new family fills me with a mixture of happiness and unease.
Elijah's eyes widen with excitement as he takes in the array of food. His innocent joy is contagious, and I can't help but smile at his enthusiasm.
Mr. Byron, the butler, moves gracefully around the room, ensuring that we have everything we need. I'm still not entirely used to this level of service, but I appreciate the effort that's being made to make us feel at home.
Jake enters the dining room with a friendly smile, his presence commanding attention. He takes a seat at the head of the table, looking genuinely pleased to have us there.
"Good morning, Oruvan. Elijah. I hope you slept well." he greeted us with a smile.
"Good morning, Mr. Jake. Yes, we had a restful sleep. Thank you for your hospitality." I thanked him properly.
"Good morning, Uncle Jake! The food looks so yummy!" Elijah answered cheerfully.
Jake chuckles at Elijah's excitement and nods appreciatively.
"I'm glad to hear that. Please, help yourselves. There's plenty more if you want" Jake invited us to eat without hesitation.
While having a conversation, Mr. Jake spoke out his curiosity to my peculiar appearances.
"I know this is going to be rude, but how can you look so mature despite your age?" His question did not surprise me because I get it many times for every adult that see me but maybe I should tell him the truth.
"Well, I'm more comfortable like this. I understand that I'm not behaving like other 6 year old children, but I think I'm just used to it." I can't tell him that living alone with my brother without my parents really teaches me a lot to be independent and change me completely.
Besides, my physical body is a toddler but my mind is an adult. The least I can do is to talk politely.
"I was already taught at a young age by my parents and they admit I might be a genius. I hope you don't mind if I look weird to you."
"Chuckled. Yeah, sure. I don't mind at all. It's just that I am not wary to see a kid talk fluently with a great table manner as you in my life." Jake smiles in happiness.
"Well I guess that's true. It is uncommon to see well-behaved children like myself," I agree with him in my own thoughts.
On the table, I continue to have conversations with Jake and get to know him better. I just realized that her wife is absent because she is having a trip to the Rivertide with his two youngest children. He told me that he has 4 children with 2 at the academy and living in a dormitory.
I also tell Jake about myself and Elijah on how we ended up in the forest. I told him a made up story about my parents being a forest keeper and both of us found him accidently.
He also explained to me the story behind his situation at that moment. He told me that he was hunting in the forest for his leisure but he got lost with his group.
However, I may know something that he doesn't know.
The truth is that Jake being an illegitimate son of the king is both good and bad. Despite him being rich and living in wealth, there is always someone targeting him. He is not truly safe as his other brothers are trying to compete with him for anything. The king married to the Queen has two princes and a princess. Meanwhile, there are four children that were born from his concubine. His status as a the Royal Duke is threatened when his siblings tried to compete with him or rather to make him disappear, live or dead, they want to take his spot as the Royal Duke.
I learned this truth from the insight about this world that Master blessed me with.
Despite knowing that, I can't tell him that because he still does not know that there are many eyes on him. He should not trust people easily, even his workers.
Our conversation ended as we finished our meals and the maid took the dishes plate away. I am still not used to that.
Jake got up and told us that we can do anything we want to. However, I immediately stopped, to talk about something with him.
He said that he can spare time for me before he gets to work.
In the living room, I sat by his side and spoke my mind to him.
"I'm sorry for taking your time, but I really have something to say." I apologized to him first.
"Are you concerned about your parents? It's fine if you want to go back home." Jake try to figure out what's in my head.
Jake still doesn't know about my parents. He only thought that I was living in the forest with my family.
"If not, you can stay here as long as you want." He has another guess.
"Maybe I could stay here for a couple days. I'm actually having an errand at the capital." I told him my intention to go out and walk around the Capital.
"That's great. You can go out if you want. I will tell Byron. Next time, if you need my help, just ask for it." Jake offered his help to me.
"Sure. Thanks for your offer, Mr. Jake."
As I get the offer from Mr. Jake to live here for a while, maybe I should take my time to gather some information about my parents. I also asked him about using his study room to read some books and he told me he didn't mind if I wanted to go anywhere in his house. Maybe he underestimated me as I was a kid and thought I wouldn't know how to read.