Chapter IV

'Why is the father- his name was something like 'Not ruth' if I remember right… Ah. De-ruth. Odd name really.

Anyhow, I now know who I have become, and the names of the people around me. The father is Deruth. The stepmother was Violan, and the second child was called 'Basset hound' Er… something like that. The youngest was named after a flower. I think it was either Lily or Rose. Ron is… Ron and his son is named 'The cross vixen' or reverse that and you get 'Vicross'.

…

I'll admit that I can tell my way of remembering names is weird but really, that's one of my weirder ones, probably why I remember it so well. The author of 'Birth of a Hero' went into intricate detail on even smaller background characters and their lives, hence all the knowledge on the count and his family. I'll work on filtering through the facts later, for now, my 'father' looks quite nervous right now…

***

The count flinches when his eldest frowned as he approached from around the table. As the count tries to smile at Cale. His attempt at a smile faulters as he sees the frown on his son's face continue till Cale blinked and his expression fell flat.

"Why don't you sit with us, Cale?" The count asked as he waved his hand to the empty seat at the foot of the table, opposite of the count's seat. He tries not to speak too loudly as his son was probably quite hung over right now, as he patted his son on the shoulder lightly. He watched as his eldest nodded mutely, sat at the seat and started to eat. With a pleased smile the count then went back to his seat at the head of the table and nodded to the rest of the family as he began to eat and the others did the same once the count had begun to eat.

The count watched his son as he ate and practically held his breath as he watched the red-head begin to eat the sausages and eggs on his plate. Bracing himself to hear his son's angry voice insult the dishes and express dissatisfaction with the food as the count slowly enjoyed his own, very delicious meal. The food they ate this morning had been made in the second kitchen of the estate, the kitchen that is responsible for making Cale's meals and the food for the servants of the Western wing of the estate. The chef is the head butler's only son who is an accomplished chef and the only one that has managed to cook dishes that Cale would not immediately react negatively to. Thus the count assigned the man to be in charge of the red-head's meals.

The count nods his head to himself in satisfaction with the decision to have today's breakfast be made by Beacrox, he had had the thought that his son might join them for breakfast this morning.

He then looks up at his son, wondering how Cale was reacting to the meal only to be surprised as Basen dropped his fork in the middle of his meal.

Raising his brow in surprise at his son's unusual action of clumsiness, he looks where Basen's shaking gaze rested only to almost drop his own fork in shock-

Cale was-

He was-

Smiling?

***

Ah, I should probably school my expression so as to not be perceived as strange by Cale's family. A plain expression works.

I sit down after the count returns to his seat and I decide to wait on pondering everything until later seeing as there is such a grand feast sitting on the plate in front of me.

Large handmade sausage links paired with slices of bread and scrambled eggs, with small bowls of different sides surrounding the plate, one with a fruit salad, another with an actual salad where all the ingredients had been cut very thinly, even the lettuce.

The smell that came from the sausage, when cut, was simply heavenly. I couldn't help but smile at the spicy flavor as I enjoyed it and sampled the eggs on a piece of the fresh bread.

There was a clattering sound and when I looked up with a flat expression, I found Deruth and Basen staring at me with eyes wide in shock. The sound, I gather, is from the fork that the maid picks up from the floor next to Basen.

The young boy's cheeks flush in embarrassment before he quietly apologizes to the table as he is given a new fork by a different servant.

Deruth waves a hand, helping to diffuse the boy's embarrassment before turning his eyes to my own, with a trepidatious and inquisitive look in his eyes.

"I take it that today's meal is to your liking, this morning?" He asks hopefully but also with an edge of nerves like he was expecting me to throw my plate at him. Talk about pure lunacy, this is some of the best breakfast grub I've had in quite a while. No way, I'd waste such good food for some playground advent as a food fight. Back home on the farm, breakfast was a simple affair to take care of and then leave for work for the day so its nice to have such a lavish spread and time to savor it.

I just nod my head simply and respond with, "It's lovely." Before continuing to eat, I'd worry about proper etiquette since this is a noble's home and all…

But I could really care less, if it's an issue I'll just raid the kitchen for supplies and eat alone in my room. Speaking of, I should find where the kitchen is located after this…

Someone clears his throat and when the redhead looks up, he sees his father looking like a cross of both surprised and awkward as he speaks, "Is there anything you need, Cale?"

The red head tilts his head and takes a sip of his drink to give himself a moment to think before he replies, "Money." with a nod. The Henituse family is one of the richest noble families of the kingdom after all and Cale was far from a humble kid, asking for an allowance would hardly be a far fetched idea, not to mention it would be really cool to hold a lot of money at once…

Deruth nodded immediately like he had expected the answer. "Of course, I'll have Hans deliver by noon." He says, referring to the head deputy butler Hans, a protégé that Ron is training as the next head butler that assists the head butler when Ron has a lot to do or is tasked with leaving the mansion to follow the young master and make sure the redhead gets home safely.

Which is a duty that Ron has been assigned after a Henituse knight took two months leave for his 'mental health' after being verbally accosted the entire time he carried the eldest Henituse child home three years ago. The reason that the duty fell to Ron wasn't necessarily because he was better at being insulted or the like but that the insults wouldn't come. Cale never raised his voice no matter how drunk he was, when he was around his family or Ron. He would still throw wine bottles and slew insults but never attempted to physically harm them. Cale grew up with Ron acting more like a father than his actual blood father who drowned himself in his work, the red head never said it, but he had a quiet respect and dependance for the seasoned butler.

Deruth feels his brow twitch at the thought, it was far from a bad thing that Ron was able to be a pillar for his son when he himself had been emotionally and literally absent. But… Through all the fault being his own, Deruth really wished he was closer to his eldest. But for now…

The best way to become closer to his son is through baby steps, a large allowance should be more than enough to show his love to his son and his wish for amends… right?

Deruth saw the small smile that appeared on Cale's face at the positive answer and could hardly suppress his own in return. Feeling pleased with himself, Deruth nods and the meal is concluded peacefully a while later.

***

'Well, that was exhausting.' Was the redhead's thought as he walked down the hallway with Ron following behind at a respectable distance. 'I did my best to stay neutral but the whole family still watched me very closely. Something about my acting must have been off. If I look around Cale's office or chambers, he may have kept a diary or something that I could use to base my acting off of.' The redhead had a small thoughtful frown on his face as he walked down the halls, leisurely making his way back to his bedchambers. The seasoned butler followed behind, watching the young man's face quietly.

Cale stopped in front of his chambers and waited as Ron opened the room doors for him without much thought.

'Interesting, guess muscle memory and habitual movements stick around even when there's a different mind in the body.' the redhead tilted his head a little at the thought as he walked into his room and sat at the table under the window and then rested his chin on his palm as his elbow rested on the table.

A singular brow rose on the butler's face as he saw his young pup actually bow his head in thanks as the butler held the door open for the young man. The brow fell back to its benign resting place on the gentle man's head as he walked to stand just inside the room, beside the door, ready to receive any orders or assist his young pup should he need it.

A/N: I did make an oopsie with the mother-in-law's name. I called her Vivian when it's Violan. At some point, I'll go back and fix that. A bit of an abrupt ending to the chapter but I told myself to update this story at least once every month so here it is! I know I dance around with pov, hope that's not annoying. If it is, I can work on sticking for one pov per chapter and have overlapping content in the different chapters but then the chapters would be shorter, I'ma bit of a beginner author but hope to improve as I make this story! Thank you so much for reading, have a lovely day~