New Normal [Part 1]

Several weeks after Wayne's death, Rubellia fell into a new routine. She had returned to living in the manor as she did before she married Wayne. Though now, she had a proper room and was not made to stay in the servant's quarters.

Originally, the plan was for her son to stay in the room with her, but apparently the young lady requested that he be placed in a servant's room joined to her own. No matter how hard Rubellia thought, she could not fathom why the young lady took such an interest in Lucius, but it was good for him.

The kingdom as well as its ally nations had paused forced conscription into the military for Marked Ones, and opened avenues for them to really participate in society. They could now become adventurers and attend schools…though the suddenness of the change was sketchy to say the least.

Prior to these changes, all that she and Wayne could have hoped for Lucius was to make it to the age of fifteen where the conscription took effect…now he had other options.

Though it was always possible for him to avoid conscription by being directly brought into the service of a noble house, like what ended up happening anyways, that was not a future that she and Wayne could count on for him.

Rubellia sat on the edge of her bed. It was large enough for two people and every day, it felt more and more empty. Every night, she would sit and think about the past…the beautiful rose petals that Wayne had scattered on the steps of her parents' home when he asked for her hand…his handsome smile twisted into nervousness, fear, and love when holding Lucius for the first time…

"I miss you so much…" Rubellia whimpered as she once again cried herself to sleep.

*****

Richard sat in his study and sighed for the fifteenth time in just as many minutes. The documents in front of him were the same ones that he had read a few times already thanks to him being distracted.

Something told him that what happened with Wayne was the wrong solution. In essence he had traded a strong, loyal warrior who was a Master Rank and traded him for a boy with an unpredictable and unknown mark as well as had Compatibility with Forsaken Arts.

Ever since the boy's recruitment as a personal attendant to his daughter he had failed to activate his mark. From the accounts of Rena, Thomas, and Lucius himself, it seems his abilities have two sides. It was very rare…but some marks have multiple abilities.

Essentially a mark was a symbol from the ancient demon language. That power, ability, or sometimes…concepts…that those symbols represented, told you the power the mark possessed. For example, a mark that said 'fireball' would allow the user to use that spell, even if they have zero magic capability.

Sometimes these symbols had inverse definitions. Like a language whose letter said one thing when read normally, but said the opposite when read upside down.

It was that last one that seemed to be the mark on this boy's hand. Everyone present remembered that Lucius had called out an activation phrase for the mark before using it's ability, which was also unique.

Activation phrases were used in magic and skill activation, but not usually with marks. That was why a warrior might say "Blade Arts" before saying the skill, or a mage might say "Flamma" before using a fire spell. A mark usually has no requirements, so a mark of fireball, the user would literally just say "fireball" or sometimes, not even say anything at all.

Only exceptionally powerful marks required activation phrases…so regardless of what the mark said, it was clear that Lucius had a lethal-grade power. The reason Richard was sighing while thinking about this was that he had settled the boy into a training regimen that was designed to help him activate his mark.

Nothing was working though. No matter what they put him through, it resulted in nothing, and it was clear the boy was still trying. Many times he would return from his training pouring sweat and covered in bruises. He certainly did not lack for effort.

Though, even if he did not awaken his mark's abilities again, he was at least still getting formal weapon training. Of course, he could not find someone to teach the boy about Forsaken Arts skills and styles. Hiring someone like that would besmirch the Petra family name merely by association.

Lucius was exempt from that rule since he was a Marked One. He was not viewed by society at large as a hireling so much as a possession or a tool, and tools themselves did not inherently possess honor.

Another thing that bothered Richard was that his daughter seemed rather…taken with her new attendant. When he was not training, he was by her side. She even demanded he be placed in the servant quarters connecting to her room. There was nothing Richard could really do to stop her, as having quick access to Rena was certainly something that a personal guard would have…but still it did unsettle him a little.

Thankfully the boy did not seem to care one way or another. He seemed rather unsocialized even for a commoner and did not seem to take notice of Rena's behaviors. Rather he seemed to view it as just some quirk of nobility. Rubellia also attempted to assure him that Lucius was a good boy and would do nothing to violate Wayne's final promise.

Being reminded of Wayne's words and promise of his son's service did help calm Richard a little. While Lucius was surprisingly hard to read, he was very clearly a fiercely loyal boy and if that loyalty could be redirected to his daughter, it would be great for her.

Richard quickly returned to his documents. In front of him was a letter confirming that a messenger from the Royal Academy in the Capital was arriving to test his daughter for her magical Compatibilities…

"Huh…guess I should test the boy too. We only know of his currently useless mark and his Forsaken Arts…he might have talent in magic." Richard mumbled