More than anything, Richie leaned toward the third option. If you want to hide something well, put it in plain sight. The transmigrator had once picked up that principle from an old detective holo-film.
In the end, after another breakfast in Gerald's company, Richard addressed him:
"Dad, I've realized something."
"Yes, Richie?"
Gerald remained dry and cold, but his attentive gaze never left his son.
"Dad, I've realized that everyone needs rest and a hobby—something they can do to relax their soul."
"I'm glad, Richie, that you've come to that conclusion at such an early age. As for me, my hobbies are hunting, shooting, and fishing. I take it you'd like to join my hunting club as well?"
"Perhaps later," Richard replied tactfully. "Actually, I'd like to try myself as a magician." Noticing his father's puzzled look, the boy corrected himself: "Well, more precisely, I just want to learn a few tricks to amaze my friends."
"Hm…" The corners of Gerald's lips curved slightly, forming a hint of a smile. "A rather decent hobby, worthy of an aristocrat—so long as you don't intend to make a living off it, Richie, performing for the public's amusement like some sort of jester."
"No, no, Dad," Richard shook his head. "So… you approve?"
"Of course, Richie." The cold, affected indifference faded from the elder Grosvenor's face. He smiled warmly and patted the boy on the head. "You're free to choose any hobby you like. Or did you want to ask for something, Richie? Hire a magician to teach you various tricks?"
"Um…" Richie drawled thoughtfully. "Only for one lesson, perhaps. Maybe we could go to the circus,and while we're there I ask one of the magicians for a short lesson?"
"A circus?!"
Gerald looked at the child with a gaze that seemed to pierce through his little scheme. He realized that his son, in such a cunning way, wanted to go to the circus together with his father, but for some reason had chosen not to say it outright.
"Of course, Richie. We'll go to the circus. And as for the magician… mm… we'll think of something."
That very day, Mr. Grosvenor Sr. postponed his trip to the hunting club, canceled his son's lessons, granting him an unscheduled day off, and went to the circus with Richie.
The journey was long, since they had to travel to London, but Richard endured the hardship stoically.
The boy would remember that day for a long time. First of all, the transmigrator saw a live circus performance for the first time in his life. In his original world, the use of animals for entertainment had long been banned due to human rights activists. Zoos, for example, existed only in large, open formats with free-roaming animals—places where it was people who were enclosed, not the animals. Circuses, in the form they existed in this world, had died out. No, the name remained the same, but the essence was different. You couldn't see any animals in the ring. Acrobats perform with anti gravity safety rigs, which made them far less exciting to watch—because everyone knew with absolute certainty that nothing would happen if they fell, and so the heart-stopping thrill was gone. Only clowns and magicians remained as they had been before, but even their jokes were extremely tolerant and carefully measured. There was nothing like the freedom of a late-1980s circus. In the transmigrator's former world, it was impossible to imagine a clown pulling a spectator into the ring and making fun of them, for the spectator might feel insulted and sue the circus.
Second, in his father's presence, Richie managed to speak with a magician-illusionist and not only talked him into demonstrating a trick, but also persuaded him to sell some props. The price, of course, was steep. On top of that, the illusionist foisted off a rather battered set of equipment for simple tricks. Apparently, over the course of his career he had gone through more than one such set and was happy to be rid of the junk. In his good mood, he even supplied Richard with several well-worn books containing detailed descriptions of various tricks. Naturally, such books could have been found for sale, but Richie was far more pleased with these particular copies. After all, any manifestation of his mutant ability could now be attributed to some secret illusionist's technique that just happened to be written on the pages of a book.
From that day on, Richard never parted with a coin and a deck of cards. He deliberately demonstrated tricks to his father, to John, and to the servants, openly training his supernatural abilities. For example, he made a coin vanish and reappear, or levitated a playing card. The adults watched the innocent hobby of young Grosvenor with smiles on their faces; it never occurred to them that all the tricks were being performed with the help of supernatural powers.
Richard was happy, because now he could train openly and come up with new ways to use his newly discovered abilities without having to hide.
The only thing that saddened the transmigrator was the need to study—much like any schoolchild of his physical age.
(End of Chapter)
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