3

284 AC

Be this point, there wasn't question or rumor around the castle about my difference, it was a fact, just like the sun shone warm lights in this fucking chili northern part of the world, everybody knew it and were intelligent enough to not call on it, either for free of my father, or worse, fear of me...

Even if I didn't do anything terrible to them, I always projected respectful air to servants and guards, respectfully not weak-willed, as the last thing I needed to be seen was naive when I tried enough to shed that child's naivety away, I know that if I wanted to change before shit hits the fan called cannon, I needed respect from the start, so there wasn't any question just why some people looked at me as the reincarnation of some hero from the Age of Heroes, or being Blessed by the Old Gods, or some other sorcery or magic play, it wasn't like I could end these rumors, I could try, but if I learned something from my past life, it was the more I would try to squash these talks, the more they would spread, it was like fucking hydra...

Better not risk it bitting me into ass later in the life, at least like this I could be seen as accepting? I don't know, the minds of these people were still a little foreign to me...

That said, the year I spent with Wolkan was fortuitous, my knowledge of North houses increased enough to not myself into a fool if the need arises, this year we are to get into the more Southern part of the Seven Kingdoms, something I little dread because just seeing the primitive map of the houses, told me that where North has few noble houses, the South has at least fucking hundred or more, just remembering the names would bring me aneurysm...

But back to my current situation, as I said, even if I tried to be seen as the friendly heir of the lord, just to make sure I wouldn't be poisoned or something, and make possible future rumors about me being just and kind lord, I was met with a wall, a wall called fucking Bolton eyes, that no matter how I tried, always looked fucking cold, and not speak about my tries to make my smile look good, we don't speak about my smile being good...

Fucking Bolton genes...

So, now that even throughout my tries, maids are being skittish and fearful, and fucking guards that are more double in size of me, saluting me as if I was fucking Lord of this place...

Now, all I can do is to wait and see how any of my idea that should help peasants of this place for better lives are seen as something shoddy or worse, atrocious because, of course, these fucking people in this place were too superstitious for their own good, so of course just because I looked evil I must by evil...

Not that im saint of something, I just think im much better human than the fucking rest of Boltons...

I know, I know, that isn't exactly a high bar...

Still, I had my fourth name-day after me a month or so, and after a lot of arguing, asking, and most annoying, I was able to make my father to agreed to fasten my sword training, not that I was permitted, I know that I could damage my child body if I started serious training so soon, something Maester's and Lords knew too from experience, but I was able to make my father agree to a simple footwork training, just to make my body get accustomed to these movements, and maybe I was able to get the order to woodworkers to make me a small and light wooden sword...

So, that is how these days went, in the morning, I was awakened by the maids, got something warm to eat, tried to make maids eat with me, and utterly failed, got my lessons in sword footwork by the Master-Of-Arms Rickard Trone, then came lunch, after that came my lessons with Wolkan, and then I had some three hours of free time before bed, which I mainly used to either read or bugger servants with questions about their lives and responsibilities and then came sleep, that said, thanks to being the heir and all, I had one immensely advantage.

And that was I was able to order, or rather, nicely ask, with my terrifying face, some maids to sleep with me, nothing naughty, I was too fucking young for these things, I knew they were cute or had mature charm enough for me to fuck them if I could, at least intellectually, but my body just didn't have such desires, for now, all I wanted was something warm to cuddle in this fucking cold...

I could say that at first, the maids were terrified of me, but after a week of this, the maids who slept with me told their friends that all I wanted was a cuddle, something any child wanted, which was good, as this was the first time, they probably saw me as an average child that just wanted his mother, even if I will never say it, so these maids who slept with me, took this as a free nap paid time, and somehow, someday I could overhear how the maids even fought about the chance to sleep with me, it wasn't just because they could nap in noble bed, which was much better than theirs, but because they thought that the closer they could get to me when I was still a child, the better their future...

Something I could accept as accurate, after all, feelings were born like this, even if platonic, but I already made a choice not to get feelings into my decisions, hopefully, I would stay like that, another reason I did change the maids often as I could, but still chose the ones with good looks...

Another point, or if it could be taken as one, was that I had already met another character from the shows, the psycho Myranda, daughter of the kennel-master, something I need to visit in later stages, as dogs, would be an excellent addition to Bolton forces, dogs, not a rabid dogs as Ramsay so loved, what I wanted was K-9 dogs, professionally trained, but not fucking primal, something I knew would be quite hard, still, I hopped...

But back to Myranda, she was old as me, surprise, surprise, and not surprisingly, she was a child, so anything other than playing with her, hopefully creating fanatic follower or subordinate, needed to wait, still, I made time to play with her from time to time, something that again being seen as positive from the castle folks, not much by father who asked me what I was doing, with me saying that I needed to nurture loyalty, making father look strangely at me, but then he nodded his head, and said that I shouldn't spend TOO much time with smallfolk as that could be seen as a bad thing, to which I answered with a nod of my own...

Another handy thing I learned was that the farmers actually utilized a two-field system, which I knew could be upgraded into the three-way, innocently asking Wolkan about it bore fruit, as month after I saw some farmers in father's office, I didn't know how far they went, but Wolkan's oh so innocent questioning of my idea, made me think I was able to make them try it, as I answered what I knew, which wasn't much, in last life I was average city guy, so farming gone beyond me, but I still had the idea of how things should work, and I had trust that Wolkan with the help of the farmers could find a way to correct my idea...

At first, I was surprised how quickly they wanted to try it, often reading from novels and fics about how farmers or blacksmiths didn't like it when someone got into their way of doing things, but then, I think that the mostly barren Bolton lands, could make few farmers desperate for the hope of new work doing things...

Another worry of mine was spies, as I wanted to hold these secrets close to me until I realized that the sole person I should seriously fear was Wolkan, who served Citadel, hopefully, he wouldn't share our findings without my father's permission, and knowing father, he would soon instead try first to get some benefits from Stark's or others before sharing this method, so I knew that father would protect these secret's for Bolton family sake...

I already tried to sketch things like better plows and other farming or mason tools, but it was so fucking hard, all I could hope was that I could visit the castle blacksmith for help or advice, better take Wolkan with me, but for that, I had time, not much, but I still needed to show how I arrived to these ideas, so visiting construction sites, and farms were in order, I could say I took these ideas from my ass, but...

I wanted to be seen as a genius, not a fucking possessed spirit or reincarnation, both had stigma on themselves, but genius or savant? These were better prospects for me...

So that was the same reason I something played with children from castle servants, or just done something stupid, being seen as a genius Blessed by the Old Gods and taken seriously from childhood because of my intelligence and Bolton face was much better than being seen as somebody's incarnation...

God, was it tiresome playing with children in my age group...

So there went my reputation and farming-mason uplifting, I had zero inclination to introduce this world to gunpowder, why would I bring something with what the peasants could overthrow me?

"--Ilod!"

Haaah...

"Myranda, there you are!"

"--Ilod play?"

How innocent she is now, I wonder what happened to make her into the psycho she was in the show, with her cute inability to even pronounce my title Milord, still, I put on a smile, something which strangely enough didn't make Miranda, or other children scared of me, not like adults, was it that childhood innocence I heard about?

"Very well, let's play Miranda."

"Ya! Play!"

Myranda grinned, showing me her missing teeth, hm that made me remember the pain of gaining my teeth...

That fucking hurted like a bitch...