Chapter 3

After making sure that he was presentable enough, Gian took the mirror and looked at his face one more time. Gian feels weird wearing these expensive clothes once again. He got used to wearing old and shabby clothes when he escaped and live as a poor commoner in the countryside.

"Shall we go now, Young Master?"

Gian nodded his head as an answer. The butler had set one hand on his stomach and reached his other hand out in the direction to the Marquis' office. Gian took the lead and the butler was following him from behind. Gian purposely walked slowly and secretly looked at their mansion. It was the same mansion where he lived for twenty-two years before the execution of his family happened.

Every time a maid or servant saw him, they all stopped from what they were doing and showed their respect for him by bowing their heads. Gian was getting uncomfortable with it so he walked a little faster to avoid them. Before he traveled back in time, Gian was already thirty-two years old and was living as a poor commoner. He earned his money by making an ink made of tree bark and selling it in the market for a low price.

Whenever a noble passes by, Gian will bow his head to give respect to them. He already removed in his head that he was once a noble and now give his respect to others if he still wants his head to be attached to his body. But now, Gian was back when he was still a noble. It was quite uncomfortable for him to see someone bowing down their head at him.

"How old am I?" Gian suddenly asked the butler.

The butler faltered a little with his steps when he heard his Young Master's question. Since the butler entered the Young Master's room up until now, the butler noticed that he was acting weird today. His every action was stiff and lacking self-confidence. His young master was acting like a different person today.

"You are currently sixteen, Young Master."

"I see."

Gian did not ask more and continue walking. After a few turns, he stopped in front of his father's office. The butler knocked on the door and announced that he has arrived with the young master. They heard a baritone voice inside telling them to come in. The butler respectfully opened the door and let Gian enter first. A man was sitting on the desk while busying himself by signing a handful of documents.

The last time Gian saw his father was when the royal guards were marching towards their mansion. At that time, the people inside the mansion were scattered everywhere. The maids and servants were panicking. Some tried to save their own life by escaping the mansion while they still can. The old maids and butlers who served the Cres Val for many generations decided to stay and be loyal to their masters.

Frederick Cres Val, the Head of the Cres Val family and Gian's father, was determined to stay in their mansion. Many people urged him to leave while he still can, but he was determined to stay and proved to the Royal family that the Cres Val family was innocent and will never leave their mansion.

Gian decided to stay with them. But Frederick had another idea for him. He did not allow Gian to stay with them. He wanted Gian to leave their mansion and to stay alive. Gian obviously refused, but Frederick was firm with his decision.

And for the people not to recognize his son in the future, Frederick destroyed Gian's face. Frederick shattered a glass vase and made a huge slice on Gian's face. When he fainted from loss of blood, Frederick instructed a footboy to send Gian to a small clinic in the countryside to treat his wound. That was the last time Gian saw his father alive.

When he woke up after being in a coma for a week, Gian heard from the townspeople that no one survived in the extermination of the Cres Val family and the Royal family set a new rule to never mention their name ever again. He felt a lot of different emotions at that time. His father did not even let him say goodbye to them. Frederick cruelly instructed him to stay alive and Gian needed to live all by himself in this cruel world.

Meeting his father who was still alive in front of him, different emotions swirled in Gian's chest. Frederick stopped what he was doing when he noticed that it was too quiet. He saw Gian looking at him with pursed lips. He quickly feels concerned about his second son.

"Are you feeling okay? Should I call a doctor for you?"

Gian tightly pursed his lips and shook his head to answer his father. Frederick was still worried about his son, so instructed the butler to fetch a glass of water and call their residence's doctor to check what's wrong with his youngest son. Gian has a weak and feeble body ever since he was a child. He was not allowed to do any hard training such as sword practice and horseback riding. If he does any extreme training, he will faint and will suffer from a high fever for days.

"Sit down for a while. Your face looks pale."

"It's really nothing. I just had a hard time sleeping last night." Gian lied.

"I see. I will ask Butler Del to make you a chamomile tea later. It will help you to sleep better at night." Frederick said.

"Thank you for your concern." Gian said in a low voice. "What do you want to discuss with me, father?"

"I want to discuss with you the arrangement of your studies." Frederick said. "I want to ask about your opinion if I will just ask your professors to come to our house and teach you with all the things you have to learn just like the usual arrangement."

Gian remembered this setup. This was the same scenario that also happened before. His father asked him if he wanted to be homeschooled and Gian said yes. But after a year, he regretted that decision. Gian learned that a huge scholarly competition was held in the academy and only the student who attends the academy was eligible to enter the contest.

Because of his weak body, Gian can only do light hobbies like reading, studying, and writing. When he was seven years old, Gian indulged himself in reading a lot of books. Then sooner, Gian got an interest in writing different poems and short stories. When his family learned about his hobbies, they supported him and build a huge library and a small office just for him.

"Father, I want to attend the academy."

Frederick was surprised when he heard Gian's response. Frederick was familiar with his second son's temperament. He does not like to mingle with other people so always minimized his contact with people as much as he can. So knowing Gian wanted to study in the academy was really surprising for him.

"Are you sure? You know that we can always send your professors here so you do not have to be in a classroom full of people."

"Father, I want to experience studying with other students this semester. It can also help me to create a realistic plot for the story I am writing." Gian said as an excuse.

"I see." Frederick gets silent for a while before nodding his head. "Let us talk about it again later. We should carefully think about it since it also concerns your health."

After some minutes of talking with his father, Gian said that he has something to do so he left his father's office. Gian let out a sigh and put his hand on his chest. His heart was pounding so hard as he talked with his father. Never in his wildest dream that Gian can talk with his father again.

Gian really wanted to give his father a hug, but he decided not to do it because he does not want his father to think something weird about him. For Gian, it has been years since he last saw and talk with his father. But for Frederick, he just saw his second son last night. When Gian wanted to go back to his room, someone called him from behind.

"What? You are just going to ignore me? You did not miss me at all?"