As I contemplated on these irrelevant things, I couldn't help but think back at the conversation we just had.

"I'm gonna keep you as a pet! I like having you around, I think you're entertaining!"

The young daughter of a duke had just proudly declared that she was going to keep me as a pet. I mean, considering my status in life, living in the slums and fighting for scraps, being the pet of a powerful noble is much better, however, I still had conflicted emotions.

"I'm gonna go talk to Papa now. Milin, please wash him so he doesn't stink, ok?"

"Yes, young miss"

As the maid agreed, the girl then turned her head and faced me.

"Then, I'll see you later... uhmm, come to think of it, what is your name?"

The girl tilted her head with silver blonde hair, and touched her lips as she asked.

[Cute!]

I thought to myself,

[No, that's not important right now! What do I tell her? I can't give her Ryouma's name, that stands out too much, but the boy didn't have a name either! What the heck do I tell her?! Do I make up a name??]

As I sat there racking my brains for a solution, the girl suddenly spoke.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! I'm asking you what's your name! I already introduced myself, it's only right that you introduce yourself too!"

The girl pouted as she crossed her arms.

[Cute]

I unconsciously thought so again,

[Wait!! Now's not the time for that!]

"Forgive me, young miss.. but this one doesn't have a name"

Both the girl and the maid were bewildered by my statement, as could be seen by the looks on their faces.

"For as long as I can remember, I had dwelled in the slums, I've never had anyone call me by any name, most of the people there would just call me boy, or trash, or other things"

The maid looked at me with distrust, perhaps she was questioning whether I was telling the truth or not, but the young miss was, strangely enough, looking happy.

"Hooh? So you don't have a name? That's great!"

Surprised and confused by the statement of the girl, I tilted my head and asked her.

"Young miss, what do you mean by that?"

The young girl grinned, I could see the glint in her sapphire blue eyes, that were as deep as the ocean. She then proudly puffed up her chest and pointed her finger towards me.

"That's great because this way, I get to name you! Just how you would name a pet!"

[Ahh, so that's what she meant]

I turned to the maid for help, but she only looked at me with eyes of sympathy.

[I guess she won't be able to help huh, I just hope this girl doesn't give me a weird name]

As I resigned myself to a quirky name the girl began muttering to herself.

"Hmm.. Berthold? No.. Balud? Nah, Sebas? No, too common. Hmm.. Lyle.. Lars.. Leek.. hmm.."

The girl looked as if she was deep in thought, to be honest I quite liked the names she mentioned, but it seems she wanted something else.

And then, suddenly, her face lit up as if saying "eureka!"

"I got it! I found the perfect name for you!"

As she said that, I prayed to God(s) that it wasn't something weird.

"Your new name will be Larc!"

"..."

"..."

Both the maid and I blankly stared at the girl.

"Larc, young miss?"

"Yeah! What's wrong with it?!"

The girl placed her hands on her hips as she took and imposing attitude.

"Nothing, young miss.. but, why Larc?"

"Hmmm.. I don't know, it sounded right"

The girl shrugged as she answered my query,

"Okay, so from now on, your name will be Larc"

"By your will, young miss"

"Lady Juliette! Call me Lady Juliette from now on!"

"Forgive me, Lady Juliette"

The girl smiled, satisfied by my answer, she then turned towards the maid.

"Bring him to the main house after he gets cleaned, okay? And don't make me wait too long!"

"Yes, young miss"

"Good! And you, Larc, be sure to properly clean yourself, you stink!"

"My apologies, Lady Juliette, I will thoroughly clean myself"

"Ok, good!"

The mere mention of a bath my heart skip a bit. Frankly, the sticky feeling and smell of my body had been bothering me for a while. My other self was former Japanese man, so it is only understandable that the love for bath has been engraved in me.

I felt the cold gazes of the people Milin and I passed by. Apparently, this was the worker's lodging. Most of, if not all the people in here were servants of House Carmine.

The scene before me reminded me of a contemporary play I had once watched, it depicted knights in medieval times. I had wondered whether I had been transported to the past, but then I remembered the existence of magic and monsters in this world.

As I was glancing at the people we passed by, I noticed that some of them averted their eyes when our eyes met, while the others were looking at me without any restraint.

I understood full well the bewilderment they felt as they looked at me. The worker's lodgings was a place not fit for a small child, much less a dirty one.

We walked a good distance before we arrived at a small space behind the worker's house. It had an open air feel and a small well with a bucket.

"I thought you were taking me to a bath?"

I asked Milin as I looked at the pitiful bucket before me, more than that, the water seemed cold.

She simply looked at me with contempt

"Don't speak to me so lightly, even if I'm a maid, I'm still from a noble house"

Apparently, a low ranking noble in this world can send one of their daughters as a maid to a higher ranked Noble's house, as some form of training or something, it was considered a great honor to them it seems.

"You're still not a part of this house, so this is the best you'll get. Your fate will be decided by the Duke, not by the young miss"

[So my fate is still to be decided huh?]

I thought to myself as Milin placed some clothes on the side.

"Wash yourself with that bucket, I'll put some clothes on the side there, once you're done, put them on and come back inside, and don't take long, the young miss will be waiting"

The clothes weren't in any way fancy, but they were far better than the rags I had on.

As Milin walked back towards the house, I started to disrobe myself. I removed the bandages that covered my body.

Although my wounds had almost healed, there were still signs of the bruises and abuse I suffered through. My thin body that were adorned by scars and bruises was a poor sight to behold.

I took the bucket and poured water over my head. It was very cold, but I endured it. I could see the water going down turning a different color. My hair had so much dirt on it, even I felt disgusted.

As I scrubbed myself with a small cloth, I could somehow feel relief. The dirt and muk I removed were quite a handful. Frankly speaking, the lack of soap still made me feel icky, but at the very least, the dirt had washed off.

After I finished cleaning myself, I put on the fresh clothes Milin had given me. The soft fabric caressed my small body as if it was my mother. For the first time since I came here, and since the boy's memory could remember, I felt comfortable. I was tempted to just go to sleep like this.

With that done, I went back inside the house, there stood Milin, tapping her foot on the floor with arms crossed.

"Took you long eno--"

Milin looked at me with eyes wide open,

"Is there a problem, Miss Milin?"

"Wha-- there's no problem! I was just impatient since you were taking too long!"

She sounded angry, so I didn't push the subject anymore. We then walked towards the main house.

Being lost in thought as we walked, I didn't notice that we arrived at a pair of big and imposing door.

Milin moved to knock, but before she could, a voice, or more like a tantrum coming from the inside, stopped us.

"But Papa! I want to keep him!"

The voice of Lady Juliette could be heard even from the outside.

A deep, stern voice answered her.

"Young lady, that.. boy, came from the slums, we don't even know who he is or who his parents are, he could be a criminal for all we know"

[... that's a bit harsh] I thought to myself, though I cant really blame him, I was pretty suspicious to begin with.

"But Papa! I found him! I found him, I saved him and now, I'm gonna keep him! And his name is Larc! I named him!"

"Juliette, please. Just liste--"

"No! No no no no no!! I'm not gonna listen! I'm gonna keep him!"

As Lady Juliette's tantrums became louder, Milin couldn't hold back anymore and finally knocked.

"My lord, Milin here.. I've brought the boy"

"Hooh! You see! He's here! You'll see now Papa! Milin come on here, bring him inside!"

The young lady's enthusiasm was quite obvious,

Milin slowly opened the doors and walked in, I quietly followed her inside the room.

The room was pretty spacious, actually, it was very spacious. There were large shelves on the sides filled with all kinds of book, two sofas faced each other with a table in the the middle.  In the back of the room was a large, beautifully designed desk filled with paperwork and books.

In front of the desk stood the young girl with silver blonde hair, and deep sapphire blue eyes, who proudly puffed her chest. Beyond the desk sat a lean man, probably in the middle of his forties, he had a strong build that looked as if he was a veteran soldier. His dull blonde hair had streaks of white mixed in them, as well as his beard and mustache. His deep blue ocean eyes looked at me, as if evaluating me. I felt small under the man's intense stare. His facial features visibly told me that he was the young lady's father, and that he wasn't happy.

"Good day, my lord. I've brought the boy here"

Milin did a curtsey as she gave her greetings to the lord of the house.

"Umu"

The Lord merely nodded and continued observing me.

I timidly looked around the room, there were two people who flanked the doors, they wore suits of armor which sported a golden dove over a rose on the left side of the chest, just like the one Milin had.

"Wha-- is that you, Larc??"

The first to break the silence was Lady Juliette.

"Y-yes, my lady. Is something the matter?"

"Hm? Oh, no! I was just surprised, you actually look quite good when clean!"

I didn't really know what to feel with those words,

"Papa! This is the boy I was talking about! Isn't he cute??"

Lady Juliette proudly presented me as if presenting a lost dog at her father.

The lord merely stared at me, and then at his daughter.

"... Black hair, huh. Plus almond eyes.. Boy, what's your name?"

The Lord's voice was loud and deep, I felt felt my stomach hurt, like I would be crushed by the pressure.

"What's the matter? Can you not speak?"

"Papa, his name is La--"

"Juliette"

Before the young lady could finish her sentence, the lord suddenly addressed her.

"I would like to talk to the boy, alone. Milin, go take Juliette to her room"

"Wha-- Papa! I wanna be here!"

"No. Go to your room, I will ascertain this boy myself"

Against her Papa's imposing aura, the young lady couldn't say anything anymore. She timidly followed the maid outside of the room, she glanced at me as she walked passed.