Chapter 2

YUON'S P.O.V.-

Beaten black and blue with no ability at all, Yuon was depressed and unwilling. But then there were startles and murmurs. His ears were hurting. Those noble young masters were fleeing that was what he could see from the slits. A young man wearing a silver armour was standing in front. Without saying anything, the man bent down and from who knows where pulled out some bandage rolls and started wrapping his arms. The sudden sharp pain rendered him awake and he was able to clearly hear the sound now. His eyesight was slightly clear too. Then, in his surprise, entered two people. One was clearly a girl of 2 or 3 according to her body structure yet she was wearing a hood and only her fair chin could be seen. She was clearly an important person to the lady behind her, who was wearing the palace maid's uniform. They didn't say anything and just watched the bandaging indicating that they were the ones who saved him.

Soon after he heard something incredible when the bandaging was finished. "Do you have a home to go back?" A sweet crisp voice interrupted all his thoughts before they could even begin. He was astonished and shocked. If he doesn't have a home, would she take him away? For a second, he didn't know how to react and just stared wide-eyed at the source of the voice. Slowly his mouth opened, "No... I don't have one." He was an orphan. When he was 5, he went for an ability check in hope that his conditions would improve. He was ecstatic when he learned he was a magician but soon after some months, he was slowly unable to detect the magic in himself. Unable to find a use, those who revered or flattered or gave work to him immediately threw him out to streets. From then on, mocking, insults and beatings became part of his daily life until today.

"Then come with me." The girl's clear voice made him aware that it wasn't a dream. Someone was really taking an initiative to help him in whichever way it was. But was this little girl really this capable? He couldn't help but doubt a little. After all, who would take a useless person and provide him a free meal? "Miss, you can't…" The lady behind the girl interjected. "But I want to, and he doesn't seem a bad person." The girl probably didn't know that he had been under many unwarranted charges. He may bring her harm.

Just as he raised his hand to gesture a deny, the same hand was grabbed by a pair of two little soft hands. And sparkly pale blue eyes were right in front of him. He was speechless. Finally, he heaved a sigh as he blinked, "Fine… I will go." The little girl's eyes reminded him of his mother. She had the same sparkle in her eyes even though she was an adult. And he had never been able to reject those sparkles in the eyes.

With a jerk, the girl pulled him up from the ground. Yet when he took a step, he stumbled and fell. Fortunately, into a pair of soft arms. His head laid on her shoulders and his arms draped around her. He could see her side face. Round big eyes, small nose, soft pink lips and white pale skin like marble. This little girl was born to be a beauty. Then, he felt his cheeks pinched by those soft hands. Very painful! The girl giggled and then patted his head. He felt as if he was being treated by an elder. It was too much.

Before he could say something, he was hauled over the shoulder of the silver guard and brought away from the alley followed by the little girl and that lady. A carriage was outside with an insignia on it. If he was correct enough, it was the royal guard's insignia. Was this little girl a part of the royal family?

He didn't have much spirit left in him and soon lost consciousness. The next time he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a ceiling. The touch in his hand was very soft. He was lying on a bed. It was truly too comfortable for him and he never felt so since his parents died. The room was wooden with a single door and a window adjacent to it. It was bright noon and the sunlight was coming straight from the window. A small table with a jug and a glass on it was beside the bed. Sitting up, he looked at his own clothes first. They were now palace servant's uniform. Then he poured himself a glass of water. The water was fresh, no doubt. He stood up from the bed and moved to open the door to look outside. But before he could touch the handle, it was opened from outside. It was a slender teenager of 13 and from his clothes, he turned out to be a palace servant. "Oh! Young boy, master told me that you should rest these two days and she will soon give you a job to do. Don't worry, you are very blessed." Sure enough. No free meal in this world. The palace servant came in with a tray of chicken soup and some bread. "What's your name?" "Yuon…" He smiled, put down the tray at the table and patted his head. "Master said to tell you about this place, so you don't get into trouble. Listen carefully." He really wanted to know what this place was and who was this big brother's master and perhaps it was that little girl, and so he focused.

"This area is the servant quarters of the palace and although you are a servant, you are under direct command of the master. Hence, if anyone dares to bully you, you have enough ability to fight back. But don't start a fight first yourself or the punishment for that is not something the master can stop as it would be unfair to the other party. There are rules in this palace that shall be strictly followed. Just follow them and try to recruit less trouble or not trouble at all if you could. And if you can read and write, I think your prospects should be big and would assist master very much. Well, can you?"

"Yes, I can but I neither read nor touched any books in a year. I wonder if I can do well?" He hasn't read in a long time and he felt his skills were getting rusted. The big brother, the teenager place servant, smiled. "No worries. I will send you a book on palace rules in the evening. If you can read it, then you are capable enough." Turning he went away but stopped before going out the door. "The palace's princess is the treasure of the king and you must never provoke her." Was the princess that dangerous? He didn't know.

He drank the chicken soup and felt satisfied for a meal that was so hard to afford some time before. Finished eating, he climbed and sat on the bed cross-legged, then closed his eyes. In the dark, he saw nothing yet only felt a thousand sparkles of dark gold with specks of purple on it around him. As usual he tried to suck up those sparkles but after entering his body, he couldn't find any of them in the body. Distraught, he opened his eyes when he heard a knock. Looking outside, it was evening. Probably, the person with palace rules book came. Once again, he went off the bed and opened the door. This time was a middle-aged lady who looked cold. She eyed him up and down a few times, then uttered a humph, put the book into his hand and turned away without saying anything. She seemed very scary if he hadn't seen even more scary things. He didn't like that old hag, who knows what's the problem with her. He opened the palace rules book and started reading.

When he was aware of it, some one and a half hours had passed. This book was too detailed. What should you do when you meet the king, the queen or the princess? Where you shouldn't go? Where you can go? Palace etiquettes and other things were all in this book. Rather than a palace rules book, it was much more like an investigatory report on the palace making one wonder just who made it.