A maid was walking through the long and luxurious corridors of a mansion.

She had white colored hair with a lock that covered her left eye, every step she took was refined and straight, from her neck hung a luxurious necklace with a purple gem that matched her beautiful purple eyes that had an intellectual sparkle, and her face showed no emotion whatsoever.

If you were to ask anyone they would tell you that this maid's appearance was far superior to that of the average women, yet the servants of the mansion did not look at her with eyes of admiration, envy or lust

"it's her"

"Shh, don't look at her, do you want to get yourself killed?"

Fear, hatred and despise

Those were the looks she received from the servants.

The reason?

It's very simple

The master she serves personally, Arthur Reclesia, the empire's biggest bastard, spends his time drinking, harassing commoners and nobles with little political or monetary power, a lazy sloth who has barely attended the swordplay classes taught by the family. While his older brothers are renowned political officials, generals or strategists, he just spends the family's money on jewelry or unnecessary luxuries.

And the maid who is now walking through the corridors is always by his side supporting him in his misdeeds and fulfilling all his orders without any hint of doubt, if Arthur asked her to hit a child in front of his mother just because he bumped into him, she would do it without hesitation.

That plus the fact that she always has a stoic expression on her face earned her the reputation of an unfeeling puppet who only follows orders.

Livia stopped in front of a large, beautifully carved wooden door and knocked gently.

-Knock, knock

"Are you awake, young master?"

"Come in."

A deep, masculine voice echoed from the other side, receiving confirmation, Livia opened the door.

Inside stood a young man with deep red curly hair and golden eyes, his body was shapely and he had a warm smile on his face, if anyone saw his appearance, they would automatically dismiss all the rumors as false

"Your breakfast is ready."

Livia said bowing slightly

"Very well, let's go."

Arthur stood up and walked over to Livia to give her his now common pats on the head. Livia who received the pats had a slight smile, if the people outside saw the supposedly emotionless puppet put on this kind of expression they would be deeply shocked

"Tell me today's agenda"

"Yes."

Arthur said as they walked towards the dining room.

"You have history, geography and combat strategy classes, after that you have fencing practice and then..."

Arthur listened attentively even though he wasn't going to do any of those things, but he asked anyway just in case there was anything important

"And lastly..."

"What is it?"

Arthur wondered at Livia's strange pause.

"Sigh~ today you will meet Princess Beatrice Velvet, your fiancee."

She said with a more somber expression than usual, and although no one could notice this, Arthur could clearly notice it after spending so many years together with her

"I see...finally the day has come eh?"

Beatrice Velvet, one of the heroines of the novel and also my fiancée, today is the day we are to meet for the first time

"This should be interesting"

I said with a smile as I entered the dining room.

As usual all the servants lowered their heads when I entered, I sat down at the table and ate my delicious breakfast without making a fuss.

I stopped doing it mainly because I found it very annoying to have to shout and make a fuss every day having to make up new insults to say to the chef, so I stopped doing it at some point.

I finished my breakfast quietly and headed outside with Livia to "lounge around."

The commoners who crossed me were leaning at a 90° angle not daring to look at me or make any noise with cold sweat pouring down their faces, mothers were hiding their sons and fathers were hiding their daughters, lest I take an interest in them and end up taking them as my concubines

"Is it wrong for me to feel some satisfaction at their conduct?"

I didn't know why but the fact that they bowed to me and showed me so much "respect" made me feel good

"Maybe deep down I'm a bad person?"

.

.

.

"Na I don't think so"

 

How can someone as nice as me be a bad person?

If I'm a bad person then everyone else is a bad person.

"What the fuck are you looking at, asshole!?"

"Eeek! nothing, please forgive me!"

Said one boy as he rested his head against the ground.

"Hmp! I thought so"

"Ack!"

I said and then literally walked over him and continued on my way.

"Yep, I'm definitely not a bad person."

After walking for a while longer, I walked along with Livia towards an alley and at the end of it there was a bar with the name "Golden Liquor".

This is a bar that I ordered to be built with the excuse of having a place to drink what I want with the women I want, it would be like a place to have fun. Absolutely no one besides me is allowed to enter. If anyone else tries it will be stopped by a magical barrier that can only be deactivated by my mana signature and other security measures that cost hundreds of gold coins.

Many people saw it as a waste of money and a complete foolishness that only served to show how rich I was, clearly they didn't say it to my face but it was evident that they thought so.

Which was just what I was looking for

I walked into the bar and turned on the lights, there was no one inside except for a large number of bottles of wine and whiskey of the highest quality.

But I ignored all those expensive drinks and walked over to one of the walls.

-Click

I pressed one of the bricks and it caved in with a *click* and the next moment a secret door opened.

"Hahaha, I still get excited every time I see it."

"You truly did a perfect job young master."

"You helped too"

When the bar finished being built, together with Livia we created this secret room with our own hands, it was really a challenging task, I had to study and read a lot of books about architecture, magic mechanisms and so on.

Because I was making this secret chamber I spent most of my time here, although people didn't think it was strange and they only thought I was getting drunk or playing with some pretty girls, to keep that alibi I had to hire some actresses to accompany me, of course I paid them an extra amount so they wouldn't say anything.

If someone tells you that money doesn't solve all the problems it's simply because he doesn't have enough money.

If you wonder why the family didn't intervene or try to investigate what he was doing, the answer is very simple.

The family didn't care at all.

During the time that I lived in the mansion it seemed strange to me that during all these years no member of the family had come to visit me, it also seemed strange to me that I was living alone in that huge mansion. Then I did some research and discovered something interesting.

Arthur (meaning me) is the son of a concubine that the head of the family had, this would not be a problem in principle, the fact is that Arthur's mother was a commoner who ended up being chosen to become a concubine because of her good looks.

She died when Arthur was born and after that the family did not know what to do with Arthur, although his mother was a commoner his father was still the head of the family, so they put their minds together and devised the best way to deal with the situation

Take him away, take away any right to become the future leader and give him enough money and care so he wouldn't complain.

So he was isolated in that huge mansion where he spent all his childhood being taken care of by servants, none of his brothers cared enough to look at him, after all they are too busy accumulating achievements to become the future head of the family and his father...well, let's just say that at least he had enough decency to leave him the family name.

But now he gained some "usefulness" the marriage contract with the royal family is a tactic to gain more political power and also to be closer to the royal family, as the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, Arthur being the only one with the same age as the princess was used as a connection between them both

"Sigh~ poor boy."

For your family to see you only as a means to gain power is really sad

 

"But it's okay, they won't last much longer."

After walking down a flight of stairs I came to a large room that had nothing but weapons hanging on the walls.

Yep, you thought right, this was a training room.

I grabbed a longsword from the wall and Livia grabbed some twin swords, although she already mastered most of the weapons that were in this room, she seemed to especially like the twin swords

"Get ready."

"Yes."

I began to circulate mana through my circuit and my eyes glowed.

There are two ways to use mana, the so called mana heart used by mages and the mana circuit used by warriors

The mana circuit consists of creating a "path" where the mana can be transported more easily around the user's body, this allows an explosive improvement of physical abilities depending on how much mana you have and how strong the circuit is, but the mana being distributed throughout the body does not allow you to gather enough to cast powerful spells.

At the beginning I went to the classes I was assigned to learn how to create it correctly and when I got it I stopped going.

The heart of mana is totally the opposite, the mana is concentrated in a single area that is near the heart, hence the name. The mana being concentrated in a single area allows mages to condense it to cast powerful spells, but although they can improve their body with mana they do not reach the level of warriors, so they are as weak as a normal human.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but when you reach mastery in one you can overcome those disadvantages, there are warriors with so much mana inside their circuit that they are able to cast powerful spells and the same happens with the mages, being able to improve their body like a warrior without problems.

-Clank

Our swords clashed and we started the duel.

-Clank Clank Clank

Livia moved fluidly and quickly but her hits were powerful.

-Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank

Our exchange of hits was constant and uninterrupted as we moved around the room.

Livia and I were warriors with a mana circuit, warriors are usually divided into 5 levels

Novice Warrior: When the circuit was barely created, the strength is still that of a normal human and you learn how to use mana.

Beginner Warrior: Mana control is good enough to improve the body slightly and strength exceeds that of the average human.

Intermediate Warrior: A big gap compared to the beginner warrior, the control over mana is so good that specific body parts can be improved without problems and the base strength can surpass that of a beginner knight with his mana-enhanced body.

Aura apprentice: In this stage the energy known as aura begins to manifest, yes, mana is not the only source of power in this world although it is the main one, in the novel not much was said about this, or at least as far as I managed to read. The strength increases exponentially and you can be considered an elite warrior.

Aura Master: The highest point a warrior can reach, some of the aura masters were so powerful that they could cut mountains with a rusty sword, and that's not bragging, there are records to prove it.

Livia and I are currently at the intermediate level, just a few steps away from becoming apprentice aura masters, although I think it will take a few more years to reach that level, but even so it was incredible that young people of only 16 years old could reach such a level.

If you are wondering how no one noticed our power, the answer is in the necklace that Livia wears and the luxurious ring that I have on my index finger.

These are artifacts that allow us to hide the user's mana, clearly they are of the highest quality so people who don't know it only see us as normal warriors in the intermediate level.

 

After 2 hours of constant fighting we decided to stop.

"Ha...ha...looks like you've gotten stronger again Livia"

From the beginning Livia's growth had been monstrous no matter what area it was, combat, housework, cooking, she mastered everything absurdly fast.

"You also improved quite a bit young master"

"Yes, I still remember when I wasn't able to land a single hit on you."

Livia looked at the clock on the wall and said.

"We should be getting back now, Miss Beatrice won't be long in coming

"You're right"

With that we left the bar and headed to the mansion to prepare for the visit of my "fiancée".

***

"You look good young master"

Said Livia as she gave a thumbs up.

I was dressed in an elegant suit of a red color similar to my hair, black shoes and white gloves on my hands. Not to brag but in my past life I was an expert when it came to dressing well, I always made the most of every garment I wore.

"Young master, the princess is already here."

A servant girl informed me as she bowed.

"Very well, take me to where she is."

The maid began to guide me and Livia followed from behind.

We arrived at the gates leading to the garden and the servants opened it for me to pass through.

Then I saw her

Sitting at a tea table she was dressed in a simple white dress that made her look elegant, her long hair had a striking golden color as well as her long eyelashes that only made her beautiful blue eyes stand out and her porcelain skin seemed to glow in the sunlight.

Behind her was a maid with distinctly Asian features with straight black hair, something rare to see in the empire

"She's even more striking in person."

Although I already knew what she looked like from the novel to see her in person is a completely different thing

Our eyes met and she stood up and bowed along with her maid to greet me.

"Nice to meet you, Sir Reclesia."

"The pleasure is mine princess, you are far more beautiful than I had heard, as one would expect from the sun of the empire."

"You flatter me, Sir Reclesia."

"Oh please, call me Arthur."

After greeting each other we sat down and started chatting about unimportant things, of course, during the whole chat I was fawning over her and throwing compliments at her in a cheeky way, and even if she didn't show it on the surface, I knew it bothered her

Beatrice is someone who dislikes "fake" people so to speak, those who only treat her well and praise her for the simple fact of being the princess, not for being herself, trying to gain her favor at any cost just to increase their influence or political power, seeing her as nothing more than a means to gain more power

"Mr. Arthur, if you don't mind may I ask you a question?"

Here it is

"Sure, you can ask me anything you want."

"What do you think about the commoners?"

"The commoners?"

"Yes, I'd like to know what you think about them."

I pretended to think about my answer and then spoke.

"I think commoners are useful."

"...What do you mean?"

"Well it's very simple, without commoners we wouldn't have servants to take care of our needs, farmers to take care of our lands or women in the brothels. Although I consider them useful sometimes there are some who don't know their place and try to lash out against the nobility, don't you think it's ridiculous?, everything they have is because of us and in return they bite the hand with which we feed them, that's why it's best to let them know their place so they don't become arrogant later on."

 

Beatrice's gaze was getting colder and colder as she kept talking but I didn't stop.

"See the maid behind me?"

I pointed to Livia who was standing behind my chair.

"She was a slum child, I adopted her and made her my personal servant, although it was even because a commoner turned out to be very useful do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because she didn't question me, didn't ask and didn't refute, she just carried out my orders to the letter obediently, that's how I think commoners should act, after all, it's the least they can do after all we've given them."

When I finished speaking Beatriz kept silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"I see..."

She stood up and bowed slightly.

"I apologize, Mr. Reclesia, but there is some business I have to attend to at the royal palace."

"Don't worry, allow me to escort you out."

"No, no need, I already bothered him too much with my visit, the servants can show me the way."

After saying that he kept walking without looking back until he exited the garden, leaving me alone with Livia.

" Phew~ I made it perfect, even I was disgusted, sorry for what I said about you Livia."

"Don't worry about it."

I grabbed one of the sweets from the table and put it in my mouth, because I was talking I didn't get to taste any of them and I didn't want them to go to waste

"Mm~ this is pretty good, sit down and try some"

"But..."

"That's an order"

"...Okay."

Livia sat down in front of me and tried one of the candies, her eyes lit up and she quickly grabbed more, if I've learned anything from Livia after so many years with her is that she has an extreme weakness for sweets

***

Inside a slick carriage two women sat one in front of the other.

"I guess the rumors are true."

Although Arthur Reclesia is known to be a useless good for nothing, she never goes by rumors, if she doesn't see it with her own eyes then she won't believe it

"Looking at commoners only as useful tools, he's the kind of person I hate the most, like those corrupt and arrogant nobles or like my older brother"

"You can't marry someone like that miss Beatrice! You should ask for the annulment of the engagement, I'm sure the emperor will accept!"

Said her maid clearly worried about her master.

"It's not that simple Hana, although my father loves me very much he can't just break this engagement without any reason, we are talking about the Reclesia family, one of the three shields of the empire, if I cancel the engagement without a valid reason then it's like slapping them in the face, this could lead to relations deteriorating and the royal family losing power, that's something my father can't allow, after all, besides father he is also king"

"But..."

"Don't worry Hana, there are still 2 years left before we can enter the academy so we won't have to deal with him for a while."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Said her maid more calmly and they continued their journey talking about other things.

***

It was night and the moon was shining high in the sky, Livia was walking through the corridors illuminated by the lamps.

-Knock Knock

"It's me, young master"

"Come in."

Livia opened the door and inside stood Arthur in front of the mirror dressed in a glamorous white suit with a jacket of the same color hanging down his back

"Get ready Livia"

"What for?"

She asked visibly confused

"We're going to `Rose Night' the most famous brothel in the capital."

"...Eh?"