Since Vince couldn’t cultivate anymore, he decided to spend all his time in the library, learning as much as possible. He didn’t follow Hubert’s advice as he had already memorised most of the mansion.

He had to admit that working for the von Sideria came with its advantages. The sheer amount of information he could find here wasn’t something the Dawmonds could hope to compare with.

Since the von Siderias have been a noble household for way longer than the Dawmond, it’s natural for them to have accumulated a lot more wealth over the centuries. Even though not everyone thought so, books and know-how, in general, were one of the most important things that made up “wealth”.

Culturally wealthy families could nurture way more capable heirs by learning from the mistakes of past Cultivators. And the know-how was vital to produce alchemists and weaponsmiths.

Alchemist and weaponsmiths were probably the most important source of income for nobles. Not many walked the path of Alchemy, nor the path of Forging. And yet, every cultivator needed artifacts and medicines to advance on the road of Cultivation safely.

But this sort of information was considered a family’s greatest secret. Therefore Vince couldn’t access anything but the tip of the iceberg. The time he didn’t spend in the library was spent training his body, as he had no intention to grow older before continuing cultivating.

Three days later was finally time for him to start performing his duties. He woke up at sunrise, and he dressed up with his newly acquired butler outfit that Hubert had given him just the day before. While combing his hair in front of the mirror, he couldn’t help but appreciate his new outfit.

‘Most people I know would probably find having to wear such an outfit disgraceful, but I like it. I think its appearance suits me well. Hell, I might even start to get used to it.’

Having finished dressing up, he proceeded to exit the room, where Hubert was waiting for him. At least for the time being, the plan was to have Vince learn his new job during the morning while he’d serve his lady in the late afternoon. Therefore, Hubert merely led him to a room before leaving to perform his duties, but not before wishing Vince good luck.

Even though they didn’t see each other much and only had the opportunity to interact with each other in the evening, Vince and Hubert still managed to get along well.

As they walked side by side through those long and wide corridors, Vince couldn’t help but think about the young man that was at his side.

‘He sure is one loyal servant. It almost looks like he values his job more than his life. What an interesting fellow. I wonder if he’ll be able to stay by the little girl’s side, though. He isn’t talented at all when it comes to Cultivation. Even though I don’t know what level Estelle reached, I could feel a Mana Core inside of her when I saw her three days ago. Either she’s one of “them”, or she’s a monster. I can’t be sure which one of the two it is for the time being, though. In any case, with her awakening at such an age, there’s no way her family will allow untalented servants to be by her side.’

Having finished his line of thinking, Vince returned to the matter at hand. Since they had arrived at their destination, Vince stopped and gently knocked on the door in front of him.

Hubert and Vince parted ways there, as Hubert had other things to do. After a few seconds, he proceeded to enter the room.

The room was quite big for its purpose and had many desks, each with its own set of tools. There was a desk with a quill, an inkwell and piles of paper, a table with a tea set, a tiny kitchen, and more.

‘So they will teach me each duty one by one, huh. I better impress my tutor to be over with this training quickly. I need time to read all those books, after all. Even though I can now read faster than when I was a toddler, it’ll still require some time for me to read that many books.’

Inside the room, there was an old man with an outfit similar to the one Vince was currently wearing. Once he was done reading some papers, he frowned slightly and then shifted his attention to Vince.

“Welcome, my name is Sebastian. I was assigned as your instructor. There are some people with very high expectations. Therefore I’ll put my utmost effort into training you. I hope you will also try your best. By the way, what’s your name, little guy?”

“Good morning, sir. My name is Vince, and I’ll be in your care starting today. I’ll try my best to live up to the expectations.”

“Very well, we can start immediately. Today I’ll teach you the basics of tea making and the proper etiquette for serving it.”

“Sir, even though unwilling, I must inform Mr Sebastian that I was already taught how to do it. May I demonstrate?”

“Sure, but don’t expect I’ll go easy on you just because you are a kid. I’ll objectively judge this as if you were a professional butler already.”

“I understand. I’ll begin immediately.”

Vince then started making tea and arranged all the sweets on a silver tray. Vince was confident in his Tea brewing skills and decided to astonish his instructor.

‘This tea is sweet. Many amateurs think that tea comes out well as long as the water is boiling, but in fact, that’s not the case. Only bitter teas brew well at near-boiling temperature, while sweet teas come out better at lower temperatures. This knowledge seems to be missing in any book I found here, so let’s astonish him a bit. The choice of which sweets to serve is also important. Serving sweets that are too sweet will only make the tea taste bitter. It’s better to have them slightly less sweet to make the tea feel sweeter. The sweets will feel slightly bitter instead, giving a nice contrast.’

Everything was done with sharp and confident movements. Any random onlooker could tell how experienced he had to be. It didn’t take an expert to get mesmerised by his precise technique.

Once the tea was ready, he laid the teapot on the silver tray and elegantly started moving towards his new tutor. After bowing briefly, he laid the tray on the table and started rearranging the teacups on the table, and finally poured tea from the teapot.

“The tea is ready, sir Sebastian. It’s sweet tea, so it’s better not to add too much sugar. I’d recommend one or two spoons.”

“Good on the etiquette. Let’s taste this tea then.”

Sebastian then gently moved the teacup to his lips and started slowly sipping tea to taste it well. After making a small gulp, he picked one sweet from the tray to judge the combination. Once he was done tasting his tea, he looked at Vince with a dumbfounded expression.

“You sure are good at making tea. I think we can skip this lesson, but don’t get cocky. You still have a lot to learn.”

‘Look how he’s lying with a straight face. He clearly never tasted tea as good as mine. Let’s see how long you’ll be able to keep that straight face old man, hehe. I’m going to thoroughly shock you, with every means possible.’

“Since you already know how to brew tea, we will move on. Let’s start with some etiquette, shall we?”

“Yes, teacher!”

Sebastian thus brought out a few books and started asking questions over customs among nobles, businessmen, and all kinds of traditions in specific contexts.

“What are you ought to do in front of a noble with a better Cultivation Base?”

“You have to treat him with the utmost respect, bowing deeply during the greeting and always humbling oneself in front of him. Even if he allows for less formality, respect is still a must.”

“Very well, then, what are you ought to do in front of a noble of higher status but similar Cultivation Base?”

“Bow slightly and treat with respect. That is the case also when possessing a slightly better Cultivation Base. Even though strength is universally acknowledged, background is just as important. Unless the disparity in Cultivation Base is at least three stages wide, it’s better always to maintain formalities.”

Sebastian went on and on with such questions for at least one hour, asking more challenging questions progressively. Too bad all the books he was taking the questions from had all been read by Vince thoroughly. He wasn’t the type to be unprepared on something as necessary as etiquette. Although many found it boring, it was still the basis to achieve a thriving social life, especially in noble contexts.

“Since you already are proficient at brewing tea and already know etiquette well, you can have the rest of the morning free as I haven’t gotten anything else ready. See you tomorrow.”

“Thank you for your teachings! See you tomorrow.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows twitched slightly after hearing the kid, but he couldn’t think that he was being made fun of seeing his innocent smile.

‘I can’t! Aahahhaha! Look at how much he’s trying to suppress his rage!’

Vince then left the room and made his way to the library while laughing in his mind. He then stayed in the library until it was time for him to serve his new lady.

‘I have to find out if she’s one of them. But I also can’t risk getting exposed if she is. What am I supposed to do in this situation? For now, I should probably only observe. You can never be careful enough, after all.’

He then returned the pile of books in front of him in its original place and exited the library. Everyone in the library knew who he was, so they didn’t even pay attention to him at this point.

Once he was in front of a tall double door, he gently knocked and called out to whoever was inside.

“May I enter? I’m Vince, the new attendant who is starting his job today.”

A childish voice resounded from the inside, replying to the newcomer.

“Welcome, Vince. You may enter.”