|3rd POV|

The people look at the training ground in awe. Duke Astras looks at the people and asks his butler.

"What is happening, Sebastian?"

"Ah, it looks like Young Master Mathias is currently training."

"Training? That should not gather this much attention, no?"

"You might look at it for yourself, my lord."

Duke Astras looks out the window and sees his youngest son doing a movement that an expert can only do. He can see Mathias moving the spear as if it were his hand and striking the training dummy with a flurry of thrusting and even slicing attacks.

Duke Astras widens his eyes when one of the knights asks for a spar, and he sees his son agree with this spar. He can see the fight start with a fast battle between them. The knight uses twin short swords and his slim body build to dodge all the incoming attacks and then do a counterattack.

However, instead of dodging and retreating to create a distance between the two of them, Mathias charges forward and twirls his spear. Mathias does not only use the tip of his spear but all parts of the spear. With the irregular length of the weapon, the knight cannot defend against the relentless barrage of attacks from Mathias. It looks like the knight is not used to fighting against a spear user who does not care about the distance between them. This is the first time he fights a spear user who fights this close against someone holding a short sword.

After fighting for a couple of minutes, Mathias manages to throw one of the short swords using the butt of his spear and uses his leg to kick the other one away. Mathias then twirls his spear and puts the pointy part of the spear in front of the knight's neck.

"What a great spar."

Duke Astras nods his head and smiles a little. Mathias might not inherit the throne, but he knows that if something happens to his other sons, Mathias can inherit the throne without disappointing him.

Cornelius van Astras smiles at what his son has accomplished for the first time in a long time. Both of them happen because of Mathias.

"Sebastian"

"My lord?"

"Help me pick a territory for Mathias to govern. He has already proved himself that he is a great fighter, and now I need him to prove himself as a great lord. His blessing is related to fighting, so he will not be looked down upon by the others who see martial might. The only thing he needs to do is to use his training in politics and stewardship."

"Of course, my lord. I shall help you pick a perfect place for the growth of Young Master Mathias."

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I release a sigh and look up to see the knights still training. While I get the power from my template, I still need to train my body, as the real value is in the skill it gives me. Even then, I am still grateful that it increases my strength because I could not do what I have done just now.

I get up from the ground and wipe the sweat from my forehead. I get up and return to my room. Today is a tiring but fruitful day for me.

When I reach inside my room, I take out my card and look at my progress.

[Template: Hector of Troy] [Progress: 7%]

It is not a lot, but now I know more about how to increase the progress bar. Other than doing what the character I copy does, I also increase it through training in what they are known for. In this case, it is spearmanship.

I take a bath and put on some formal clothes. As much as I want to continue to train, I cannot do that. I need to perform my duty as a son of a Duke, and among them is to attend a tea party with the other noble children.

I hate this kind of thing. At least the tea and snacks that will be served are delicious.

~~ Sometimes later ~~

I take a sip of my tea and smile a little at the delicious taste of the tea. Since I reincarnated into this world, I started to appreciate the taste of tea.

"How is it, Mathias?"

I look at the beautiful young lady in front of me and smile.

"It is indeed delicious, my lady."

"Fufufufu~ Please call me Angela, Mathias. I have yet to get married, you know? I do not deserve the title lady just yet."

"Of course, Angela. Anyway, the tea is delicious. The tea has a beautiful fragrant smell when you boil it and it has a pleasant aftertaste after you drink it."

"Right? I am glad to buy this tea."

"Where do you buy this tea?"

"Fufufufu~ That is a secret, Mathias. However, if you want, I can give you the contact of my supplier."

Ah, this is that kind of talk.

"Sure. Please provide me with the contact of the supplier."

A favor, huh? I'd like to know what kind of merchant has a connection to the Viscount family. Well, I do not mind getting the merchant's contact with this kind of tea. I like tea, after all.

"Thank you. I will not forget this, Mathias."

"It is not a problem, Angela. Anyway, how are you? How is the family?"

"We are doing great, Mathias. Because of your help, our family managed to get out of the winter."

The Nelson Viscounty has a hard time when their harvest is not as good as they thought it would be, and they need to borrow money from our family. Sadly, my father was not willing to help them.

However, I decided to help them by giving them a loan from my personal money. As a son of a Duke, I have an allowance of the income of a Baron house. That is a lot of money that I did not need. Because of this, I decided to invest in my father's vassal.

Anyway, after loaning the money they need, I get the income from one of their mines for two years in exchange for me not applying interest if they can pay the money back in a year.

They are truly desperate to give up an iron mine that gets me much more profit than what interest I will give them.

"It is not a problem, Angela."

"Fufufufu~ You are the same young man I met in the past. Kind and willing to help others."

"What help? I get profit from your mine, Angela."

"But you decide to sell the ores from the mine to us at a lower price, half of the market price. We are still making a profit from it, you know?"

I cannot tell them I did not have a connection to sell all the ore from that mine, and I am too lazy to get a merchant willing to sell them for me. Getting a favor from a Viscount is a prize, after all.

"Meh. That is good for you, then."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Angela Nelson – The first daughter of Gerrald Nelson|

I look at the young man in front of me curiously. Mathias is not like any other children of Duke Astras. He is kind, even though he will not admit it, and he is hard-working. At age fifteen, he already had a steady income from all the businesses he had created.

His biggest business is Astras Vodka, a strong drink many commoners like to drink at night. People already called it Man's Drink, for only a real man can drink strong alcohol without coughing. The second business he created is Astras Whiskey. Unlike Vodka, Whiskey is for the higher class people like rich merchants and nobles.

I still prefer wine, but I also like the taste of whiskey.

Because of this, many Noble Lords want to marry their daughters to him. The only downside is that he is the third son instead of the first son and the heir to Astras family.

That is the reason why my father wants me to seduce him and make him part of our family. This is also part of how my father wants to pay our family's debt. I know I am not the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, but I have something many of those people did not have. I have my intelligence and blessing that will help Mathias in all of his everyday activities.

The only thing I need to do is to make him like me.

"Hey, Mathias?"

"Hmmm? What is it?"

"Do you want to go to the garden?"

He looks at me for a few seconds before nodding.

"Sure. Let's go"

Great! The first step to my plan is going great.