Waking Up (2)

So my week's confinement… has been way better than I expected?

When that terrifying woman told me not to expect any special treatment, I figured I'd be receiving prison like foods and boring clothes, but everything's been so extravagant!

This is what it means to live with a golden spoon!

Each and every meal has been more delicious than the last, and I was almost certain they had begun catering to my tastes. Whenever I mentioned how I liked a particular dish more than the others, I started receiving more of it, or things very similar to it. The servants didn't ask any questions, they just observed and listened to my every request.

However, I did find any attempt at conversation quickly thwarted. When I started to grow especially bored of not having anyone to talk to, I tried to strike up conversations with my servants. But all I received in response were short, clipped answers, obviously prepared to please me and nothing more. It was like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall, and I quickly gave up.

So, I got the sense that the servants here didn't really like me all that much. They treated me with respect, presumably because I was of high status, and never did anything out of line. But occasionally I would catch a glimpse of what looked like pitiful disgust on their faces before they quickly masked it with a guarded smile. It made me wonder even more about what the previous owner of this body was like.

I didn't make any attempts to hide the fact that I had become a completely different person. It didn't matter to me whether anyone knew. Even if they were to somehow figure out I'd really transmigrated here, what would they do? Burn me at a stake? I could just deny all claims and have them charged with insanity in my stead. After all, a golden spoon meant I not only had money, but power too.

All I wanted out of this new life was to live in peaceful and comfortable solitude. So far, I was succeeding, but I knew that it would not last much longer. Soon, my confinement would come to an end, and I'd probably have another encounter with that heinous woman. I had to figure out a way to make sure I no longer had to deal with any unpleasant family members.

In my old world, I didn't have a very large family. The people I was closest too had either passed away or moved halfway across the world. And I had been very poor.

Sure, I could try to find a way back to my old life, but did I really want that?

All I had ever craved was the ability to do whatever I pleased whenever I pleased. And this felt like the perfect opportunity to achieve that. Besides, would I ever succeed in finding a way back?

That no longer mattered. I had decided to live here, in this new life. I did feel a little bad for the previous owner of the body, but I had no way to remedy the situation. I didn't know how to give it back, and who knows if he'd even want it returned?

I shook my head to get rid of useless thoughts. I had made up my mind, it was time to focus on the now.

One thing I had discovered during my confinement was I not only had the ability to call for delicious snacks at the drop of a hat, but I also had full access to the estate's library. I began frequently asking for history books, both on my family, and general world history. The servants always seemed shocked by these requests, but they did nothing but retrieve the books for me.

Through them, I learned I was correct. I was very wealthy, and very powerful.

The family I belonged to was called the Hessians. We were one of the five great families, as they were called. We were the five families directly under the imperials. Meaning, we handled most of the countries socioeconomic affairs. Below us were the minor families, that rallied under each great family depending on political standing.

The imperial family was large. The emperor was allowed to keep as many concubines as he wished, and as a result, his number of children expanded to twenty-two. Upon reading this information, I nearly chucked the book across the room. I was disgusted by the patriarchal reality of this world. It made my skin crawl.

Furthermore, each great family supported a different prince as candidate for the throne. At the moment, the Hessians remained neutral. Apparently, we were notorious for waiting until the last stretch of the competition, before extending our support to the candidate of our choice.

It was a brutal political scene. Nobles fought left and right to extend the influence and power of their prince candidates, so that in turn, their own stature would be enhanced. If a prince candidate was chosen as next in line for the throne, it guaranteed the future success of a family.

So far, the Hessians had chosen the correct candidate for the past three hundred years. Meaning each prince we backed with our support, ending up becoming the emperor. It was a shocking revelation.

If that really were true, it meant that our family was the most powerful in the empire, right after the imperials of course.

I was sure my eyes were sparkling.

How much wealth we must possess!

But my smile quickly faded into a serious frown. Because with all that power comes responsibility. What if I end up swamped with work because I'm duty bound to preform politically?

I set down the history of the empire book I had been reading, and picked up one on the history of the Hessians. More specifically, it was a map of our family tree. It listed every single one of our descendants back thousands of years.

I flipped to the near back of the book where the names of the current generation were recorded. I had learned my new name after hearing the servants refer to me.

I was Isani von Caron Michael Hessian.

I rather liked the name Isani, though I chose to ignore my middle names.

I ran my finger down the list of names and found mine recorded under Carian von Genial Wane Hessian, and Serina Fray Hessian. I assumed they were the names of my mother and father. But there was a deviation after the Serina name, one indicating a death. After her, the name Gillian was recorded.

So my mother had died, making Gillian my stepmother, the woman I'd met earlier. The same one who had slapped me across the face. I had found it strange that we seemed to bear no resemblance, with her sharp green eyes, and auburn hair. I had just assumed I took more after my father.

According to the records, Gillian had given birth to a daughter after marrying my father. The little sister she mentioned before, I was sure. And my biological mother had given birth to two sons before me. I was a middle child.

Normally, this would be a hindrance. Most middle children received little to no affection from their parents, which brought them great distress. But for me, that was the best news I had gotten all day! No attention was exactly what I was hoping for, and I was a third born son! Succession in this world fell to the most talented of the males, but I had no intention of putting up a fight. My brothers could duke it out while I sipped margaritas on the beach! Did they have margaritas in this world?

I was getting sidetracked. But really, this was an ideal situation. Unless something crazy happened to my two older brothers, the rights of succession would never fall to me, which meant no responsibility! I was overjoyed.

But I really should have guessed it wouldn't be so simple.

When my week's detention finally drew to a close, I was summoned to eat dinner with the family. That sounded like something I really, really did not want to do. I preferred taking meals in my room, where I wouldn't get indigestion from an awkward atmosphere. But it seems I had no choice.

At the very least, perhaps I would find out about this supposed poisoning situation.

Before heading to the dining room, I was washed and dressed in my best attire, which I thought was unusual for having dinner with immediate family, but nobles were weird in a lot of ways. I found the frills and buckles of it all rather uncomfortable, but I decided to bear with it just this once. I needed to collect more intel.

When I was done getting ready, one of the servants led the way to the dining room, which I was grateful for because I knew absolutely nothing about the outlay of this estate, and it would be pretty damn embarrassing to get lost in my own house.

When we finally reached the room however, I was unusually nervous. I guessed it was the memory of being slapped across the face, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to interacting with these people. I had better ways to spend my time, like eating, or sleeping. But this is a necessary evil I thought and sighed.

I nodded my head towards the servant, and they opened the doors to the dining room. Immediately I was greeted with the cold, yet handsome face, of a man who I could only assume was my father. He had the same golden stare, and silver hair. Though his looked more grey because of old age than anything.

I observed the rest of the table as I made my way to my seat. To the left of father was who I assumed to be the eldest son, a spitting image of the head, and myself, though I hated to admit it. Directly next to him was the second son. He had the same amber eyes, but his hair was a completely different color. It was golden blond. I assumed that must have been our mother's defining feature.

On the right from father was Gillian, the woman I'd deemed to be my arch nemesis, all because of that one slap. And next to her, a girl, with once again, amber eyes but auburn hair.

They all watched me closely as I made my way to my seat beside the blond boy. I had a hard time believing he was older than me, because he was much smaller and scrawnier, but his cold gaze kept me from staring much longer.

I finally took my seat and the first sentence uttered at this table was, "You're late."

My eyebrow twitched as I looked at my supposed father.

"Apologies, sir. The maids took an especially long time picking out my outfit for dinner."

It wasn't a lie. For some reason, my servants made a huge fuss over the clothes I was supposed to wear to that night's dinner.

My father didn't seem too pleased with my response, but didn't push the matter any further.

"Honey," Gillian began, "Are you not going to address the elephant in the room?"

As yes, the poisoning. I glanced across the table at my little sister, who was quietly picking at her meal and refusing to look up from her plate. She looked terrified, and she was so young. What kind of kid looked like that at a family dinner? My mouth went sour.

My father cleared his throat, glancing between Gillian and me. He seemed hesitant to bring it up. I wondered why?

"Yes, it had been brought to my attention Isani, that you attempted to poison Mary."

I looked around the table at everyone's expression, and found the eldest son, Garret, grinning with pleasure. The second son looked no less smug. But Mary, the poor girl, still just cowered in fear.

It made me feel bad for what I was about to say next.

"Is that what Mary told you?"

Immediately there was outrage from Gillian.

"Are you accusing me of lying Isani?!" She shrieked, confirming my thoughts that this was all an elaborate rouse planned by her and perhaps my brothers, so that I would lose favor with father. Luckily for me, it was not my goal to be well liked by him.

Mary was shaking now, and I shook my head in disappointment.

"Not at all ma'am. I was simply wondering if there might have been a misunderstanding of sorts." I replied.

"A misunderstanding?" My father chimed in.

"Yes," I continued, "You see, I definitely did not poison Mary."

Gillian was more than outraged now, "LIES! All of it, lies! If you didn't poison my sweet Mary, then who did?"

"That I do not know, Madame. But I assure you, it was not me. Do you have any proof?"

The woman balked.

My father watched her.

"Isani asks a valid question Gillian. Do you have proof? I agreed to his solitary confinement upon your accusation, but I will need something concrete if we are to take further action."

Wow, what a cold thing for a father to say. I guess I wasn't liked by my family either.

Shaking my head, I returned to my meal. Eating while trying to appear calm. Gillian had nothing further to say, and so the subject was dropped. A few times throughout the meal, I thought I caught Mary staring at me, but she always looked away before I could catch her. I brushed it off.

Finally, the meal was over, and I excused myself as quickly as possible. That had to have been the most suffocating meal of my life, and I fervently hoped I'd never have to experience it again.

Considering how that meal panned out, it was obvious where I stood in this house. Being the youngest son, I'm sure I was the easiest target to eliminate. None of them wanted me as head of household, which made sense. What I couldn't understand was why Gillian seemed to dislike me so much. It wasn't as if she had a biological son she could put on the throne to the Hessian family, so why try to put me out of the running with such tactics?

I think the previous owner of this body must have been a very timid person, easy to push around, and the people of this family took advantage of that. In such a cut-throat political environment, I couldn't say it was unusual. Anything that could be viewed as a weakness would make me an easy target to practice on. Familia love was not something nurtured in a noble household. They were all just determined to reach a higher position, and I was considered a stepping stool to reach their goals.

I stopped mid stride on the way back to my room and let out a boisterous laugh. The servants around me looked on with perplexed expressions.

I didn't care. It was obvious what I needed to do now that I understood my situation.

I needed to run away from Hessian House.