Several months had passed since Ryan, or Winfred, as he was now called, had spoken to his father, Lord Victor Emerdine. During that time, Winfred spent his days playing in his room, pacing the hallway outside his room, and talking to his mother. His father, Victor, seemed to visit him occasionally to check on him because when he was asleep, he often faintly heard the sound of the door opening and someone entering. Winfred assumed it was his father, but he did not wake up to talk to him because, for some reason, he felt very sleepy.
"Young Master Winfred, it's Nina. May I come in? It's time for your breakfast."
"Oh! Nina! Yes, you may come in."
"Excuse me."
Closing the children's book he was reading, Winfred approached Nina, who entered the room carrying a food tray with breakfast. In addition to playing with his toys, Winfred also kept himself busy reading children's books from the bookshelf in his room. The strange thing was that the letters in these books were different from those in his previous life, but Winfred could understand the essence of the stories in these children's books.
"Oh? Reading a book again, Young Master?"
"That's right, Nina. The story is funny...hehehe."
While setting the table, Nina casually struck up a conversation with Winfred. Indeed, Nina is Helina's daughter, whom she had told his mother about. As Helina had said, after completing her training as a maid, Helina immediately called Nina to work as his caretaker. With the help of his mother Olivyn, Nina was able to work at House of Emerdine, accompanying and caring for Winfred when the two women were not there.
Her soft and polite tone of voice, short black ponytail, bright brown eyes, short-sleeved maid uniform, apron, and knee-length skirt, Nina according to Winfred was very capable if she managed to pass the rigorous maid training and get hired here. After setting the table, Nina began tidying up Winfred's room by changing the baby crib sheets, picking up any toys that were left out, and arranging the books on the bookshelf. Sitting on a small wooden chair, Winfred ate the food that had been prepared, holding the spoon with his small hands. Today's breakfast was porridge with pieces of meat and several other dishes such as diced sweet fruit and a small piece of cake.
"Thank you for the meal. Nina, please tell the Head Chef that today's breakfast was delicious."
"Hm, Young Master is always like that."
"Hehehe... there's nothing wrong with telling someone the food they made was delicious, right?"
"Very well, if that is what Young Master wishes."
After tidying up the room, Nina approached where Winfred was sitting and tidied up his eating utensils. Nina quickly and deftly tidied them up, then lifted the eating utensils onto the tray and put them away.
"Then, Young Master. Please wait a moment while I take this to the kitchen. Is there anything else you need?"
"Hmm...in that case, after this I'd like to take a walk in the garden! I want to see the beautiful flowers!"
"Understood, Young Master. Please excuse me."
"Thank you, Nina!"
While bowing slightly, Nina left Winfred's room while carrying the tray. After making sure Nina had left, Winfred breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the open window of his room. Upon reaching the window, he rested his chin on his right hand and leaned forward while looking at the view outside. For the past five years, he had been trying to act like a normal child even though he was actually an adult in his late twenties, because he didn't want to be considered strange by the people around him. Winfred also knew that the world or environment where he lived now was similar to a medieval fantasy, with social status such as nobility still dominating and a lack of modern technology such as televisions, fans, refrigerators, smartphones, and many more.
Still lost in his thoughts, he also wondered whether his rebirth in this world was connected to the tesseract, the hourglass, and the intense heat he had experienced. The last time he felt that heat was when he spoke directly with his father, since then he had never experienced it again. He wondered whether the symptom appeared randomly or if there was a specific trigger, and as for the tesseract and the hourglass, he himself had never seen either of those objects again in the past five years.
"Pardon me, Young Master. Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we take a walk, then?"
"Oh!? Are you done, Nina? Let's go!"
Waking Winfred from his reverie, Nina finished her chores in the kitchen and went into his room to invite him for a walk in the backyard. Winfred took small steps toward his bedroom door and left his room, followed by Nina behind him. Winfred thought today was a good day for a walk outside.
***
As a nobleman, Winfred lived in a huge three-story mansion. The mansion was divided into several wings, such as the central, western, and eastern wings. Each floor had its own function. The first floor was generally used as living quarters for the servants, while the second floor was used for dining, such as the family dining room, and for entertaining guests. Meanwhile, the third floor is generally used as the residence of the Emerdine family. Of course, the mansion also still has many other functions and rooms that Winfred does not know about for now. The House of Emerdine also has many facilities such as a library, training hall, garden, kitchen, and armory, each of them managed by trusted personnel through a very strict process.
Behind the Emerdine mansion was a large garden equipped with a storage shed, a fairly large greenhouse, and a small orchard. Winfred walked toward the large garden with Nina following behind him. The journey from his room on the third floor to the ground floor and then to Emerdine's garden was quite far for his small body, but he was excited because this was one of the few opportunities he had to walk outside the mansion. The large garden had a fairly high fence around it, surrounding the garden as far as the eye could see. In front of the main fence of the garden was a medium-sized guard post, inside it there is a knight to maintain security and monitor anyone entering or leaving the garden.
"Hmm? Oh, it's Young Master Winfred and Miss Nina. Good morning, are you going to visit the garden again today?"
"Oh! Mr. Bernz! Good morning!"
"Good day to you, Sir Bernz. Yes, that's right, Young Master wants to see the garden again today. Are there any other visitors besides us?"
"Oh, I see. No, today it's just the two of you visiting."
The knight is Bernz, with his features dark orange hair, light purple eyes, wearing a cream-colored outfit covered with thin chainmail and leather mail. This was the third time Winfred had visited the garden and greeted Bernz. The knight is always on standby at the post, but in reality, the garden's guard duty is divided based on a rotation schedule, meaning there are other knights on duty at the post when Bernz's shift ends. Since Winfred always comes in the morning, he always encounters Bernz, just as he did on his previous visit.
"Hmm... Sir Bernz, why aren't you wearing armor? I thought Knights always wore armor!"
"Hahaha, you're right, Young Master. Knights do wear armor, but they only use it during major wars or emergencies. Besides, the use of full armor is under Lord Victor's supervision, so I only wear this light armor and carry a simple sword."
"I... don't quite understand. But that sounds pretty cool!"
Bernz explained the procedures in effect at the House of Emerdine while tapping the light armor he wore and the sword sheathed at his left side. Pretending to imitate the behavior of a child, Winfred said so and thought it was cool.
After greeting Bernz, Winfred and Nina continued their walk and entered the garden. When they felt they had gone far enough, Winfred stopped for a moment and thought about which part of the garden he would visit today.
"Is there something you want, Young Master?"
"Hmm... I want to see the flowers in the greenhouse!"
"Understood. Allow me to guide you there."
Inside the garden there were various plants and trees, and the outer part of the garden was planted with brightly colored plants that gave off a fragrant aroma. Occasionally, Winfred and Nina would encounter gardeners who were working to maintain the garden. Every time they saw Winfred, the workers would stop and bow to greet him.
During his visit to this garden, Winfred strangely felt familiar with the plants around him. The first time he visited, he thought all the plants on the outside were similar to the plants in his previous life, but he felt that there were no such plants in the real world. On his second visit, he tried the fruits grown in a small orchard inside the garden. In the orchard, Winfred found fruits similar to apples, grapes, and peaches, but when he looked closely at the color and shape of the fruits, they turned out to be different from those on Earth. He felt like he had seen these fruits and plants before, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them. He felt like he was experiencing déjà vu.
We're here, Young Master."
"Ooohhh! So many colorful flowers!"
From outside the greenhouse, colorful flowers were visible. Nina immediately opened the greenhouse door and invited Winfred inside. Looking around with an expression of awe, Winfred clenched his fists and walked slowly into the greenhouse. The fragrant scent of flowers and the strange cool temperature made him gasp in admiration.
"Hey! Hey! Nina, there are lots of flowers here!"
"Please be careful, Young Master."
As he walked further accompanied by Nina, Winfred looked left and right with every step he took. In his previous life, he had never seen these flowers before, but somehow they felt familiar.
"Do you know the name of this flower, Nina?"
"Hmm...hm...it is Starbode, Young Master."
"Hmm? It does look like a star. What about this one?"
"That is Plaset. It's commonly used for medicine."
"Huh...that's strange, it looks like a burnt stick. This one, Nina?"
"Deris, Young Master. The seeds are often used to make perfume."
"H-huh? W-what about this one?"
"Ohh, that is Mecio, used to neutralize bitter flavors. It's actually quite sweet. And next to it is—"
"Sweetmoon..."
"Correct, Young Master. It appears you have also read the flower encyclopedia."
Nina smiled softly, praising Winfred for his guess about a flower's name. No, that's not true. Winfred had only ever read children's books and had never touched an encyclopedia. But somehow he knew the name of the flower even though he was seeing it for the first time. After identifying each of the flowers, Winfred felt as if he knew everything about them, from their characteristics and uses to their habitats and origins.
"I- I want to take a break."
"Are you tired, Young Master? There's a small rest area nearby. Let me take you there."
A few seconds later, in the middle of the greenhouse, there was a large white round table with a pair of chairs around it. Winfred approached one of the chairs and, with Nina's help, sat down on it. Today, he felt a little strange. How could he recognize the names of flowers he had just encountered in this world? Trying to distract himself from these strange thoughts, he spoke to Nina, who was standing beside him.
"That's..right, Nina. Did you deliver my message to the Head Chef?"
"As per your instructions, Young Master, Head Chef Arren seemed pleased and grateful for your praise."
"I'm glad to hear that! By the way, Nina-"
Winfred stopped talking when he heard footsteps approaching where he was sitting. Sure enough, two people appeared in his field of vision and walked closer.