The next day, something different happen. To be more exact, it is something that did not happen. Deverick did not come out of his room. This is weird because normally, he looks forward to breakfast. In fact, he wakes up earlier than most of the family members. Many of the servants often have seen him walking to the house library in his pursuit of knowledge. Yet today, the servants did not see this daily scene. Curious at the change, the servants wondered if Deverick has decided to finally act his age and get more sleep for once.
As the other three family members ate, they tried not to be bothered by the sudden change. Lia quickly finished before preparing for her school day.
"Bye mom, Bye dad. I will see you after school." Lia waved as she entered the black lambo owned by her family. Wait, a lambo? Yes. On Adnea, the development of technology is very strange. For the commoners, they have the most basic tool. They use normal hand tools, make everything by hand, and barter with metal coins. The best form of transportation a normal rich family can afford is a carriage pulled by horses.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are the mages. These powerful beings in the eyes of commoners and have items beyond comprehension. The way they act makes them seem like a different species. Instead of using coins to pay, they wave their crystal cards around. Rather than a normal carriage pulled by horses, they ride these metal shells that move around by themselves.
To sum everything up, the commoner's technology level is around the medieval period while the mages support technology that a normal commoner can't even fathom. Why the big difference? The ability to use mana. With mana, many feats that are deemed impossible can be achieved. This though, does not mean mages can discriminate against these commoners.
In Coger, the rules of mages are quite strict. A mage should be treated with respect by the commoners but a mage can not use their power to bully those weaker than them. Every person deserves a chance to live a good life. The mages also know that their luxury depends on the hard work of those that are weaker than them. Think about it. Who would be happy working for pretentious pricks that abuse their powers? This developed way of thinking is part of the reason why the Coger empire developed so well.
For the commoners, there is also the hope of moving up the social ladder. As long as any of their children have the ability for magic, the government will fully support them in all schooling-related expenses until the end of high school. For universities, it will have to depend on their ability to determine how much support they will obtain. As Sophia explained to Deverick, this is a society of merit. As long as you have the ability, it is not hard to move up in standing.
As Faulkner and Sophia watched Lia leave, they turned to each other.
"How big is Deverick's existential crisis that he changed this much?"
"We just need to give him space and support him in anything he wants to do."
*sigh* "You might be able to take the wait-and-see approach, but as his mother, I can't"
"That's fine. We care in different ways. While children are young, they are closer to their mothers. When they get older, they will realize the silent care of their fathers."
Unable to refute Faulkner's claim, Sophia walked away and called for Beatrice.
"Beatrice."
"Yes, my lady?"
"Bring some food for Deverick and check on him."
"Understood."
Beatrice, carrying a tray of breakfast, knocked on Deverick's door a few minutes later. "Hey, Deverick. This is Beatrice. I brought some breakfast."
Some rustling was heard behind the door before Deverick opened the door.
"You can set it on the table."
"Are you sure you are ok?"
"Yes." A calm answer. Too calm. Even emotionless.
After placing the tray on the desk, Deverick shut the door.
Beatrice came back to Sophia.
"How was he?"
"I don't know. The only time he talks a lot is when he is curious or monologuing his thoughts. Other times, he just gives short answers. This makes it really hard to get a read on him."
"Yeah. He is like that. Sometimes I forget his age if it weren't for his cute appearance." Sophia admitted. "Like the way he tries to be mature while still looking so innocent. Oh, my cute darling. Just thinking about those eyes..."
The first part of her speech sounded serious. Then it just turned into a mother gushing over the cuteness of a young boy. If Beatrice wasn't confident in her master's ability to manipulate people, she would think Sophia has a thing for young boys. Why confidence in Faulkner? Because people often disappear with no traces when they offend him. And the scarier thing? He doesn't even need to lie to make people think a certain way. Just imagine what happens if he decides to give it his all.
Sophia on the other hand is also no normal woman. Think about it. Will a normal woman be able to catch the attention of the Black Schemer?
Of course not. Although Sophia does not have the cunning of Faulkner, she still has a title. Those who have a title are not to be trifled with. What is a title? To a commoner, they will answer with "A nickname the people agree to give someone for a grand feat." This though is not the case in Adnea. A title is something unique to an individual. It is not given by the people but by the world. For accomplishing something that no one has achieved before. Basically, they achieved the impossible. Their very accomplishment redefines the foundation of what is possible.
A pioneer of sorts. To some, obtaining a title can be easy. For others, impossible. It really depends on what feat they are aiming for. This also means there are different ranks to titles. Similar to the ranks of mages, the grander sounding the title is, the more unbelievable the feat. The point really is to do something no one has achieved before. This though, does not mean a plain title means someone is weak. Let's put it this way. All titled people are powerhouses, but not all powerhouses are titled.
Hours went by. As lunchtime rolled around, Deverick is still in his room. Beatrice brought him food again. The same procedure was repeated. In fact, this procedure was repeated for a whole week. Nothing changed. Beatrice brought him food and removed the previous tray all while Deverick remained holed up in his room.
Sophia was worried about this. She decided that she has given him enough space and had enough justification to talk to him. So, today, Sophia, instead of Beatrice, brought food to Deverick's room. She knocked on the door and said "Deverick, is everything okay? Mom's worried about you."
Deverick opened the door, looking a little disheveled. "Hey mom, I'm fine. Why?"
"Well, you have been just staying in your room. You barely come out."
"Oh."
"Can I come in?"
Deverick walked away from the door. Sophia walked in and sat on his couch.
When she sat down, there are a few things that she noticed. Many sheets of paper were messily spread out on the desk. The tray of breakfast was half eaten. Another drastic change. There is no way someone who loves breakfast as much as Devercik would leave his meal half-eaten. Not the normal one at least. Then she realized something as well. The papers were messily spread out on the table. Why is this a problem? Because Deverick is organized. Very organized. In fact, one of the things he hates most is being disorganized. He hates the feeling of wasting time trying to find something important. A habit he got into when he needs to cross-reference multiple books for his studies.
"What exactly happened to him for him to change so much?" Sophia wondered to herself.
"Are you sure you are okay, Deverick?"
"Where did this come from, mom?" Deverick asked in confusion. To the worried mother's eyes, though, this looks like an attempt to cover his troubles.
"Well for one, your desk is a mess."
Hearing this, Deverick quickly scrambled to clean up his papers. He stacked his papers, straighten them against the desk, and picked up the pens that were lying sporadically on the desk. These frantic actions, though only confirms the fears in Sophia's mind.
"There mom. All cleaned up. See? Nothing to worry about."
Sophia, though, only paid attention to one thing. His response. He spoke longer than any other time she asked him questions. An unusual detail considering how quiet Deverick normally is.
*sigh* "I am just worried about what you are doing in your room. You hardly come out."
"Don't worry. I am just working on the task dad gave me." Another long response.
"Okay, dear. If everything is alright, I will leave you alone now. If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me. Dad can also talk about your troubles if you would rather talk to him. Beatrice as well. She genuinely cares about you."
As she finished her sentence, Sophia got up and walked toward the door. She closed the door without even bothering to listen to Deverick's explanation. She is confident she understands the situation exceptionally well. Deverick froze. He doesn't know how to react to this misunderstanding. *sigh* Deverick got up from his seat and locked the door.
"I wonder why mom thinks there is something wrong with me? She is talking as if I am depressed or having an existential crisis." Deverick said to himself.
Feeling weird about the interaction, he started analyzing the interaction. "The way she acted, the circumstances, and my behavior. Darn. She really does think I have depression from having an existential crisis. I guess this was how dad manages to manipulate people so well."
Deverick was speechless. Normally, his mom can analyze the situation quite calmly, but for some reason, when it comes to her children, she lets her emotions determine her thought. What a weird way to think. Deverick could never imagine himself using anything but cold, hard reasoning to rationalize his every action. Just the thought of losing control and doing something stupid or embarrassing sends shivers down his back.
"I really do wonder how much of my life is set up by dad though." Deverick pondered on the man that made him so rational.
"Is everything just a coincidence or does he adapt on the fly? If it is the first, he has to be the luckiest person but if it's the second, he is one scary fellow behind his silly mask." Deverick didn't know how close to the truth his random thought was at that moment.
"I really hope this misunderstanding clears up soon. I really don't want to deal with mom constantly thinking I am depressed. On second thought, this will probably happen for a long time since what I am doing is really strange." Deverick started rearranging the stack of papers and pens on the desk. He started spreading the papers out in a messy way and placed the pens sporadically around the desk.
If someone paid close attention to the positioning of the items on the desk, they would have realized that everything was in a similar position as before he cleaned it up. In fact, it is the same layout as before Sophia entered the room.
"And I would rather not show anyone what I am about to do."
He picked up a pen and started writing on the papers. One mark here, one calculation here, one drawing here, one rune here, a blot of ink there, shuffle these two papers around, add a paper here, make a fold there, a cut over there. A series of random actions. To any outsider, Deverick's actions are completely chaotic, but in his mind, a structure of order started to form. A structure completely unique to himself.
Qavren· Jun 3, 2023
