As they were walking, the youth who led the way was the one who started a conversation. His messy white hair made a strong contrast with his black suit, making him seem as if he had come out of some painting.

“Welcome to the von Sideria mansion, Vince. I’m Hubert, fourteen years old. You will share the room with me, and the other two attendants you will meet soon. In the morning you’ll have to wake up at dawn and start preparing for your duties. You were assigned to the Lady during the afternoon. During the morning, a senior attendant will teach you all the job basics. You only have roughly two hours after dinner as free time, then it’s bedtime.”

“I see. Since you are more experienced than me, may I ask what duties I’ll be taught?”

“Sure. First, you will be taught the easier ones, such as serving meals, brewing tea and managing time tables. Over time you will be required to learn more skills, especially considering your special status. Being the only one in a Soul Contract with the Lady, you will be tasked with all confidential activities. Therefore you will have to learn good etiquette and negotiation as such matters will often require to meet other nobles. Since you’re going to be the only one following her in the academy, you might also be tasked with helping the Lady with her studies and training. I’m not sure about that, though.”

“Thank you for the pointers. I was also told I’ll have two days to adapt. What do you suggest learning in this period?”

“You should try your best getting used with all of the main rooms, as the mansion is massive and it might get a bit tricky. Other than that, most stuff will be properly explained to you when the time comes, so no need to worry.”

As they arrived in front of a mid-sized door, Hubert gently knocked two times, before calling out to the ones inside.

“Fabian, Simon, I’m here with the newcomer. Come and welcome him!”

Thus, the door was gently pushed open, and another youth in his teens came out. He was roughly the same height as Hubert, but his build was way more muscular. His short black hair matched the black of the suit he was wearing.

After looking at the two newcomers, he showed some confusion which soon turned into a frown.

“Did we get tasked with babysitting? What the hell is this?”

“Fabian, don’t complain and just let us in.”

Tch. Fabian glared contemptuously at Vince but still moved to the side.

The room wasn’t huge, but it was clean and had a lively feeling to it. Two bunk beds were at the opposite sides of the room, still leaving plenty of space in the room’s centre. There was a big window on the opposite side of the door, and just below it two ample desks. The desks had piles of books all over them, and some papers here and there. Compared to the rest of the room, the two desks were way more unkempt—but this gave a sense of liveliness to the room.

Hubert proceeded to sit down on the edge of one of the beds, while Vince and Fabian stood standing.

“Where is Simon?”

“He hasn’t come back yet. He must be trying to pick up one of the maids once again.”

“I see. In any case, feel free to greet the newcomer. He’s going to be sleeping with us starting tonight.”

“Aaaaaaah? So you’re the newcomer? I expected someone a bit older to be honest. Why did they pick you, brat?”

“No idea. I was told it was Albert von Sideria, who chose me when I was still super young.”

“Quite the lucky one, aren’t you?”

“Depends on the point of view. I was bound with a Soul Contract, after all.”

“Aren’t you a slave then?”

“I’m not. The contract is actually pretty similar to a standard one. It simply implies that I die if I break its clauses.”

“I don’t get why they would do it like that… but it’s not my problem anyway.”

“I have no idea either. Well, it’s a bit late, but I’m Vince. I used to have a family name, but I don’t anymore, so just call me Vince. Because of a family tradition, I had to swear to serve Mrs Estelle for life.”

“I’m Fabian Grass, a direct descendant of the Grass Knight family. I was sent here to experience the lifestyle of high nobles. I’ll stay here for two more years.”

“Grass Knight family, huh. And you, Hubert? Would you mind telling me a bit more about you?”

“Sure. I’m Hubert, no family name. I’m the son of one of the maids serving here. My father… well I’d like you to not enquire about that. Unlike Fabian, I’ll probably be serving this family for my whole life. Not that I really mind it though. I quite like the lifestyle here.”

As Hubert finished introducing himself, the missing attendant finally entered the room. He brought alongside with him a staunch of alcohol. He was a tall and blond teenager, had his hair very well kept, but the same couldn’t be said for his clothing.

“Aaaah, why is my luck with women so bad? Oh, who might this little guy be? Hey Fabian did you get a maid pregnant and kept it hidden from me?”

“He’s our new roommate and colleague, you dumbass. Also, avoid speaking of those things in front of children please.”

“Our new colleague? Well, whatever. My name is Simon, what is yours, little guy?”

“I’m Vince. I’ll be in your care.”

“A well educated, cute child, huh?. Would you mind helping your colleague with some matters? You don’t have to do much. You just have to pretend to be my little brother.”

‘Does this guy seriously believe he can pick-up girls with such a method? Even if they were drawn in by the bait, as soon as they see that you are a womaniser they’re still going to run away, you know?’

Having also realised what his plan was, the other two shot him meaningful gazes. Hubert, as he couldn’t endure seeing a boy whose age wasn’t even in the two digits being used as a pick up tool, decided to reprimand Simon.

“Simon, you should stop trying so hard. I get you’re a commoner and want to get a wife of high status to live an easy life. But, even if the girl falls for you, I don’t think the girl’s family would approve of such a marriage. It would only work if you had a godly talent for cultivation, that you for sure don’t have as you still haven’t awakened at fifteen.”

“Why do you have to shatter my hopes and dreams every time? I’m a believer, and I’ll never stop hoping for the good ending!”

The three kept bickering for a while, and once their laughter died down, they prepared to go to sleep.

Hubert, remembering he had forgotten to, made Vince’s bed. It was the one on top of Hubert’s.

Thus, without giving it much thought Vince slipped under the blankets and prepared to sleep. Once the others had fallen asleep, he started pondering about a few things.

‘I shouldn’t reveal my Cultivation Base, no matter what. Thus, I’ll cultivate only at night while the three of them are sleeping. Four hours of sleep are more than enough for me, so I can dedicate night time to cultivation. During daytime I should prioritise going through all of the books in the library instead. Revealing an astonishing talent as an attendant doesn’t sound bad though, as I want to be over with the lessons quickly.’

Having decided on his next course of action, he started to cultivate.

‘I want to breakthrough to the Early-Noon Stage tonight and attain an Orange Core. Sadly my body will hit its limit for the time being. I’ll have to pause after this breakthrough, and focus on enhancing my body instead.’

‘Of the three down there, only Fabian is merely in the Early-Dawn Stage of the Awakening Realm. He doesn’t look very talented, so he probably won’t sense me cultivating. He might wake up the instant I breakthrough, but he shouldn’t be able to trace it back to me. But, as a precaution, let’s disrupt a bit his Mana Sense anyhow.’

Once he was sure that Fabian wouldn’t sense his breakthrough, he started to gather all the Mana in the surroundings.

The Mana in the room thus started moving in complicated patterns towards Vince. Sometimes it looked like a plant’s reverse growth, sometimes it just moved in fractal patterns. It was a sight to behold, and if one looked closely, one could notice how precise all of those patterns were.

‘Working on these patterns sure took a long time, but I’m sure they’re going to be useful. Using these, I have a way more precise control over Mana. I might be sacrificing a part of the vortex’ speed, but this way it’s safer and I can achieve better results. The only real drawback is the slow cultivation speed.’

After a good one hour, he was finally on the verge of breaking through. One would find it hard to be concentrated on such a monotonous task for such a long time, but Vince showed no signs of mental strain.

‘One more minute and I should breakthrough. The Mana concentration should be enough to condense an Orange Core.’

And, after one minute, as Vince expected, he broke through. He had gotten pretty good at reducing the aftermath to a minimum, so it merely caused a slight vibration in the Mana.

Fabian even kept soundly sleeping, as if nothing had happened.

‘I’ve made it. I’ll now focus on stabilising my Cultivation Base in the next few days, then move onto enhancing my body with Mana.’

Knowing he’d have to wake up in just a little more than five hours, Vince decided to sleep. He wanted to get a good night rest to prepare for the coming day.