14 Chapter 14: Letter
His room was as gloomy as ever.
The broken window was still not covered up, and he stood there for less than a few seconds before turning around and walking down the hall, with him the sounds of "clanking" followed him from the cane.
He passed the parlor where he had met Mr. Kilga and stopped in front of a door close to it.
'This should do it,' he thought.
Kilian opened the door, seeing a large spaced room that was neatly kept clean, even though it had no occupants.
The tapestry was mostly white, with one wall covered in a big wall painting, portraying some sort of battle between two mages.
Kilian placed the cane on a finely decorated wooden table, got in the chair that matched it, and looked around seeing nice furniture and a big bed, that was covered in soft pillows and linen.
Yes, this would do for now.
He would no longer hide, and he would take what he could get before leaving this place.
Stella showed up at the door that was still open, entering as if it had always been her Master's room, bringing him a stack of books.
"I got these from the main library".
A lot of titles ranging from History to more detailed works about the different noble houses were laid in front of him.
'Stella really is hardworking,' he thought.
He gave her a bright smile, a small reward for her continued support. He would have to treat her to something good soon.
However he needed money, it was his most pressing matter, to be able to get away from here, and still live somewhat comfortably, and for that, he needed a plan.
A business or income in some sort of way that would sustain his and his allies' lives.
He could not expect Dante and Stella to follow him if he could not provide for them at least.
However what he was lacking mostly was an education, he could not expect to earn any money when he did not know how society worked in this world.
Magic was a huge influence, not science, so even if he brought some knowledge from the modern world he lived in he wouldn't know if they didn't already have a simple magical solution for the same need.
Kilian looked up at Stella.
"Could you bring some books about the functions and history of magic?"
Stella looked bewildered for a bit, then nodded and left the room.
Kilian had this one itch in the back of his head. He had felt some sort of power or interference within his body the night of the Gentleman's club and the night before when he was falling to the ground.
Not even the glass shards had seemed to cut or pierce him, even though it had been scattered across the ground where he had landed.
Since then he had had this stirring feeling of strength and vitality in his body, as if something invisible was covering his limbs, helping him to move and ease the pain.
He only needed his cane, because the muscles under his feet were not fully developed, and he needed the support to walk properly.
Magic.
To his knowledge, the only explanation must be magic, but he had not yet encountered any magic since arriving in this world.
He thought back to the night when Lucien was flung across a garden, he had seen an invisible power, move a man instantly.
The memories of the Young Kilian, only contained faint visions of his brothers using magic to bully him, but it was nothing like what Kilian had experienced, and the memories were vague as to what it had felt like.
Dante walked into the room, bringing a cup of tea for the young Kilian.
It seemed as if he had been given a proper set of clothes, a uniform that was befitting a personal knight of House Heathgrave.
The ranked position of a personal knight was almost that of the commander, as they were regarded higher in status compared to the normal knights under the commander.
From what Kilian had gathered so far from the books Mr. Kilga had brought him, a personal knight could be viewed as someone who was blessed by The Lady.
Under the eyes of The Lady a knight would prove their loyalty to serve one master exclusively, and in return was regarded as the most trusted aide, receiving the blessing of The Lady.
Kilian looked him over, admitting Dante was handsome, and his eyes lingered on the calloused hand trying hard to place down the delicate teacup as if Dante was afraid to break it.
It did look comical that someone with that kind of huge muscular body was trying desperately to serve tea to his Master, and Kilian gave him an encouraging nod.
"Did you steal this from the kitchen," he asked, half as a joke.
This was the first time he had tea besides the day he was entertaining Mr. Kilga in the parlor.
"Yes," Dante replied simply, and Kilian realized if a man like him walked into the kitchen and took something, who would have the courage or even strength to stop him?
'Maybe days with better food are to come,' not even maids would easily be able to dismiss a personal knight's order, regardless of who he was serving.
Kilian sipped the tea, enjoying the warm feeling spreading in his body. It was slightly sweet, and he closed his eyes letting the taste fill him. It had been a while since he had tasted something decent.
"Dante, have you ever heard of people using magic, years after being confirmed they have no mana?"
He licked the remaining tea that lingered on his lips and looked up at Dante catching him in watching Kilian intently, the curious eyes darting away from Kilian's lips.
Kilian ignored it and was more curious about an answer to his question.
He couldn't help asking, as he was too eager to get any information he could while waiting for Stella to bring back more material on the subject.
"No," Dante took barely a second before responding.
"There has never been a situation like that, not with mana that is used for Magic, you either possess it or you don't, though everyone has some mana to some degree, even if very little".
Kilian felt dejected and decided to wait for Stella to come back, this was not what he had wanted to hear, but there was nothing he could do.
Kilian stared down at one of the books on the table, grabbing a title that had a picture of a golden eagle on the front.
"I see," he replied giving up on the thought for now and continued to flip through the book.
The eagle had gotten his attention, as it looked like the eagle part of the Griffin that he had seen on the medallion in his new memories.
The house the insignia belonged to, was that of House Castillon, a duke's house in the south from what he had read so far.
"But it is not uncommon for inherited skills."
Kilian stopped reading, looking up at Dante.
"What?"
Dante knew he had gotten his Master's attention, and continued with the little knowledge he had about the topic.
"I do not know much, but there are rumors that the dukes of this country were blessed with skills, something only for their lineage, but no one has heard or seen anyone who has had it, so it is more like a folktale."
"A skill," Kilian repeated slowly.
"Yes, and the common trait for these skills, was that it was not magic, or at least was not used with mana, like other magic users."
Kilian pondered for a moment, that the Count's family would not have any inherited skills based on their noble title being below a Duke.
It could explain why he didn't have mana but had still felt something, however, he didn't know how to trigger it, and worst case, it could be it was not even his own power, but someone who had protected him from afar.
Kilian sipped some more tea and decided to tackle one issue at a time, starting to read through the history of House Castillon.
He wanted to see if he could find more information about the Dukes' houses, for now, hoping there may be some more information about these...skills.
It was evening when Stella came back, bringing more books for Kilian.
This time they were subjects to the different kinds of magic that existed, and from what Kilian gathered, it seemed it was not just nobles who were able to use it, but even common folk had magic to a certain degree.
'Then why had he none at all?' Kilian looked up at Stella.
"Can you use magic?"
Stella hesitated then brought her hand out, turning her palm up and with a small verbal enchantment, a small ball of water appeared hovering a few inches above her palm.
The phenomenon was incredible to Kilian who had never seen magic before in person, and quickly took her hand forgetting it was rude to grab a lady like that without permission.
Stella blushed, but did not seem to mind Kilian being this close to her, and watched him as he studied the water by slowly trying to poke at it.
"No wonder they call me useless."
He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but even the two people in front of him couldn't say much to refute it. It really was uncommon for someone to have no mana at all, not even a little.
It also seemed that there was no known way to gain mana unless already born with it, so there would be no way for him to create a mana core of his own.
A small sigh escaped his lips, and he sat back in the chair. Maybe someone really had been helping him, but he could only explain him getting out of that fall without injury to the use of magic, and had secretly hoped he had awakened it in some way.
A maid stood in the door, rooted to the spot as if she refused to step past the doorframe to enter the room.
"There is a letter for… the Young Master"
The maid made sure to address Kilian properly, as Dante loomed over her, scrutinizing her every move while stepping over to receive the letter from the maid.
There was a slight pause, before Dante turned, walking over and placing the letter on the desk before Kilian.
Kilian was sure he saw Dante sneer and looked down to read the sender's name.
"Lord Rayden…".
He opened the small letter, which contained only one sentence.
"Let's dance at the Yule Ball".
Kilian read it out loud in a low voice, confused at the message, and remembered how Rayden had mentioned something about a dance at the Gentleman's Club.
The message irked him. This man simply just enjoyed toying with him.
Also, why would this man invite another man to dance in such a public setting, it seemed like social suicide.
"Stella get me some stationary… please."
The maid soon after brought stationary to the desk, and Kilian wrote a very simple reply, giving it to Stella to have it delivered back to Lord Rayden.
He sat in his chair with a smile, he was not going to accommodate this guy, who seemed to be on a mission to mess with Kilian.
In another house in another part of the country, a letter was delivered soon after. The sender had used a magical bird to transfer the letter to the recipient's staff, and it was brought to Lord Rayden, who opened it.
Rayden smiled, seeing the lazily written reply from the young Count.
"Let's not".
