Determination.

*Knock* *Knock*

Light, concise, knocking sounds made their way to Eldric's ears.

He started panicking, he didn't know how to react. His arms went up and down in pure anxiousness.

''Young Lord Eldric, may I come in?" A smooth, melodic feminine voice declared its presence from behind the door.

That only made poor Eldric even more distressed.

'Young Lord? What is she even saying? Is it some kind of role-play?' He immediately shook his head at that foolish idea.

All it took was looking down at his childish body.

Eldric simply had no idea how to act like a 'Young Lord'. Heck, it was the first time in his memory that he walked.

He decided to just sit on the luxurious chair. The table appeared to be fascinating at that moment.

For some reason, he kept staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe.

Eldric sat up as straight as possible and mustered up his deepest possible voice. He said regally, crossing his legs. ''Come in."

The regal image in his mind crumbled when the voice that came out of his throat was not the deep, commanding voice he imagined, but a squeaky and childish one instead.

This whole scenario would have rendered all middle-aged mothers into a squealing mess due to the cuteness overload.

The woman, as entrapping as her voice, entered the chambers. She appeared to be in her early twenties at most.

She wore a conservative maid uniform, resembling the Victorian variant. It consisted of a long black dress that tightly stuck to her figure, doing nothing to hide her curves. Over it, was a frilly white apron that dropped to her ankles. She used a white waistband as a simple decoration.

Her raven dark hair was styled up in a bun, with some strands falling on her shoulders. The woman's skin was almost as white and smooth as Eldric's. Her luscious lips were thinly knit together as she bowed.

She displayed the perfect maid attitude.

The maid's perfect poker face was shattered when she saw her Young Lord sitting on the chair, fiddling with his arms as he bore a hole through the table; he was acting as if nothing was wrong.

The Young Lord Eldric, the same child that was always weak and frail ever since 'that happened'. The same one that needed potions and magic ingredients to simply survive.

She rushed to his side and kneeled down on one knee to match her young lord's eyes. She grabbed his small hands.

Likewise, she was treating them as if they were made of glass, afraid to damage them. "How are you doing, Young Lord Eldric?" She asked passionately… She hoped to get a positive answer.

Her previous line of work made it all too easy to pick up the changes that occurred in her young lord.

Behind that seemingly harmless smile of his lay a deep sense of vigilance and recoil. His eyes no longer shone with the innocence of children.

Her instincts kept telling her.

Eldric was confused, he couldn't help it. The way that he was being handled was all too similar to how he was treated before.

He didn't like it, not one bit.

He decided to answer that question the way he always did. With a slow nod, and a happy smile. He hummed, buying as much time as possible.

Little Eldric needed some answers, and he needed them now.

A sudden jolt of pain assaulted him as a myriad of memories ran through his mind.

'Oh, the irony.' He chortled bitterly at the jest fate seemed to present to him.

"I have never felt better, Epine." He said, flexing his arms, the wildest of grins decorating his face.

Epine wished she could capture that moment forever.

'Young Lord Eldric looks truly happy. That reaction cannot be fake.' The maid had multiple ideas going through her head. Her face was completely flat-lined, despite her inner struggle.

She got up gracefully without any wasted movements. " I'm sure Lord Armsworth would be most pleased with your sudden recovery. Is there anything you need, young lord Eldric?"

Eldric's mind raced as he considered what to say, but he ended up simply shaking his head.

Epine looked one last time at Eldric. He sent her his brightest possible smile, showcasing all of his teeth.

A smile that couldn't be faked.

"I will be going now." She bowed deeply.

'Right. There is no need to think about it. Younger Lord Eldric is still the same one I swore to protect. This time— I will let nothing endanger him.' She thought as the door closed behind her. A dangerous light in her eyes.

As soon as Eldric heard the door closing, he was relieved of all the tension he had accumulated during that conversation. His shoulder sagged in relief, and a sigh he didn't know he held up escaped his mouth.

Epine just sent multiple warnings to his radar. The way those dark spiral eyes gazed at this soul sent shivers down his spine.

"From one crippled body to another, huh? Eldric Armsworth…" He swung his legs around. The chair was too tall for his body.

"Although, I guess not so much of a cripple anymore," he alleged, looking at his swinging legs.

He was left alone to process what small information he got from his memories.

It wasn't looking good at all from what he saw so far.

The most important fact was this world had magic. No sleight of hands magician, street performer mumbo-jumbo.

—Actual magic.

'I can vaguely recall some pictures of my mother in this life performing magic to entertain me.' Eldric kept searching for more details, but to no avail.

The moment children turn 5 years old in this world. They get brought in at the church to have a chance at some sort of magical lottery. Your life entirely all but depended on what sort of 'Blessing' you got. And there were all sorts of blessings.

For nobles, however. It was a privilege rather than a necessity.

No longer a child in mind; Eldric could better process the memories he received.

"Turning frail and weak days after apparently getting the noble Armsworth's most sought out blessing is simply too convenient…" He judged.

His mother Aria also followed him only months after. Yet that same 'sickness' led to her demise.

Eldric naturally should not have held any feelings towards something that happened in a past that he wasn't a part of. That was the most logical thought process.

But Eldric was never good at being rational when it concerned his family.

No matter if Aria couldn't replace his sweet mother Clara deep in his heart. There was no denying the waves of love that this body harboured for her.

Eldric was denied a mother figure in this life; is what he thought.

A normal chance at life is what Eldric hoped for. An extraordinary chance is what he received.

But that didn't change the promise he made to himself and to his parents.

"I will aim for no less than the strongest. The sky is the limit." He raised his hand in the air; promising to make full use of the opportunity he was given.