Chapter 21 - Lucian's Priorities

'!?'

"Y-young master?!" Lily exclaimed, astonished as she caught sight of the figure just ten steps away at the turn of the corridor.

It was a small child.

To be precise... a rather plump small child.

He was undeniably chubby, his rounded form filling out a red suit that seemed almost too tight, each button straining against his belly.

Despite his childish appearance, which might have suggested he was only three years old, he bore an unusually mature look.

His smooth, pale skin radiated a nearly flawless glow, while his golden eyes and tousled black hair lent him a strikingly handsome appearance—one that could have been deemed regal, if not for his rotund figure.

"Y-young master?!—Please forgive me!" The maid stammered, bowing deeply in a 90-degree angle as her eyes fell upon the young master.

She was clearly flustered, tiny beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Although they all knew of his humble demeanor, the lessons drilled into her by the head maid made her instinctively lower herself before a nobleman.

The tremor in her stance was not born from concern over the young master or even the count, but from the fear of the head maid.

Indeed, everyone was well aware of the kind-heartedness of both the count and the young master; punishment from them was out of the question.

However, the same could not be said for the head maid, notorious for her harsh treatment of other maids and known to discard those who created a ruckus or spoke ill in the past.

'She finally became a duchess,' Lucian thought, paying little mind to the critical mumblings of the maid.

He knew they were telling the truth; instead, his attention was consumed by tidings he had followed closely over the past year.

Lucian had gathered this information directly through the Vorila and was far better informed than the maids babbling in the hallway.

To be specific, not only had the heir of the Liander duchy perished that day, but the Duchy of Ronen also found itself in turmoil, as their heir had been in the same carriage as Liander's and had met the same fate.

With the deaths of both male heirs, the new duchess of the Liander duchy was now Kassidy Liander, while the long-oppressed Ronen duchy, which had never held amicable relations with Liander, saw the advent of its new duchess, named Katherine Ronen.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Lucian.

He found himself in a position where he could do nothing against that woman who had now become a duchess.

She was far out of his reach, though the thought occurred to him that it wouldn't be impossible to get to her neck if he truly wanted to.

Shaking off those dark thoughts, he shifted his focus back to the present and addressed the maids.

"It's fine, just concentrate on your work.

I have some matters to attend to."

With those words, Lucian moved on, though his movements contrasted starkly with the image of his physique.

His bone density and muscle mass were robust enough to support his own corpulence, which made his gait appear deceptively normal.

"Phew~ I survived," Mir thought as she kept her head bowed at a nearly 90-degree angle.

A wave of sadness washed over her, for she had managed to evade punishment this time, feeling both fortunate and lucky.

Slowly, she began to raise her head, only to nearly gasp in disbelief.

"I survived—?!"

However, her lucky streak was about to take a turn for the worse.

Right in front of her stood the head maid, glaring intently and gesturing with her finger for Mir to come closer.

"Nope, curse my luck," she silently lamented, her face streaked with the remnants of tears, as she submitted to her fate.

Defeated, she moved toward the head maid, who promptly seized her hand.

Without missing a beat, the head maid delivered her ominous words:

"Lily, it will be your turn next..."

Gulp

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'I have become four years old, huh?' Lucian thought to himself as he moved through the corridor, reflecting on how it had been four years since he arrived in this world.

During this time, he had predominantly devoted himself to training, which was crucial; missing even a single day could expose his body to the harmful effects of mana.

Although he currently weighed over 24 kilograms (55 pounds)—a weight that could be considered overweight—he managed to keep it under control.

To be precise, the abundant mana in the atmosphere resulted in a higher absorption and conversion rate into fat than he could burn off through his efforts.

This caused him to appear somewhat chubby, yet his rigorous training had made his body robust enough to surpass the health of an average four-year-old.

It was essentially like he was carrying extra weight in the form of fat, while inside, his strength was vastly superior.

In addition to training, he spent a significant amount of time reading books to better understand the world around him.

Having learned the language of this place and grasped its intricacies, he was finally prepared to start plotting his next moves.

Initially, his priorities consisted of learning the local language, understanding the world, and ensuring his survival.

However, this list expanded to four priorities with the addition of revenge.

Now, he found himself in a position where he needed to survive while also planning his revenge.

Yet, that revenge seemed impossible at his current state, as his target was one of the top ten strongest awakeners in the Vendal Kingdom—Kassidy Liander.

From the information he gathered in volumes two and three, Kassidy played a pivotal role due to her immense strength.

However, he remained unaware of her true capabilities at present moment.

Even if he could somehow guess her true strength, he realized his best option was to prepare for survival and aim to join the academy that would enable him to grow strong enough to gain control of his mana.

In conclusion, before setting his sights on revenge, he needed to enroll in Valeria Academy.