58 Königsberg

Austria, November 1st 1796

8:10 PM

When Lukas arrived to the dining room, everyone was already sitting at the table in order to start the dinner.

Tobias smiled. "You are finally here, Lukas. Please, take a seat," he asked.

Lukas nodded his head. "All right," he answered.

Lukas then went ahead and took a seat beside Violett, which made her blush slightly.

Lukas sighed internally. 'This is gonna be awkward, unfortunately,' he thought.

Tobias raised his brow, still showing his smile. "Did anything happen? Violett? Lukas?" he asked.

Lukas shook his head. "No, Uncle Tobias," he answered.

Tobias then looked at Violett in order to get an answer from her too.

Violett hesitated a bit but then she shook her head. "N-No, dad," she said.

Tobias then widened his smile, then. "Very well, then, let's start our meal," he said.

The dinner was going normally, Lukas was really enjoying the food, and it was even within the diet that he had to follow.

So, in the middle of a conversation where Elias was complaining about having to go to the party, Tobias decided to taunt the member of the Hügel house.

Tobias tilted his head with a smile. "You should be happy to be in that party, though, Elias," he said.

Elias raised his brow. "What do you mean with that?" he asked.

Tobias kept smiling as he leaned forward. "Well, I bet that no member of the Hügel house has ever been to such an important celebration," he said.

Lukas raised his brow. 'Well, it was good while it lasted,' he thought.

Elias clenched his fist on the table and then took a deep breath. "That's no good reason for me to be happy with that," he simply answered and kept eating.

Lukas looked subtly at his father. 'Well... nice job,' he thought.

Tobias's smile immediately disappeared from his face, he seemed taken aback, and even a bit frustrated by Elias's answer.

However, he didn't give up. Tobias took a deep breath and, once again, showed his usual, innocent smile.

"Well, that's true," Tobias said. "However... tell me, is there any other member of the Hügel house who was invited? I guess there must be a reason for that," he finished with an obvious smirk this time.

Elias immediately clenched his fists and glared at Tobias with an angry face, which even exerted some pressure on him.

"Yes... there is a reason for that..." Elias said.

'Oh, shoot, he's gonna explode. I gotta solve this,' Lukas thought.

"Do you want to know the reason for that?! That's b-" Elias was interrupted by Lukas.

"I was invited too," Lukas said.

Both Tobias and Elias looked curiously at Lukas.

"W-What?" Elias asked.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. " Technically, I'm also a member of the Hügel house... and I was invited to the party," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Elias immediately calmed down and the pressure he was exerting on Tobias immediately vanished.

Tobias immediately hid his wide smirk as he widened his eyes. 'W-What?!' he wondered.

When Tobias looked at Lukas, he saw the boy showing him a quick smirk, which made his blood boil right away.

Out of anger, Tobias grabbed his hose and squeezed it. 'Th-This brat!' he thought.

"Ex-Excuse me," Tobias said as he stood up. "I shall not be out for long," he said, and then he left.

Elias laughed for a bit and then focused on his dinner again.

Lukas sighed. 'Why did I even help this dude?' he wondered.

Lukas then shook his head and also went back to focusing on his dinner.

Meanwhile, Violett looked at her father with a confused expression.

After that, she looked at Lukas. "L-Lukas?" Violett asked.

"Yes?" Lukas asked while he was cutting his food.

"...What happened?" Violett asked.

"...Well, your father must know it better than me, it was him who left, after all," Lukas answered.

Violett shook her head. "N-No, that's not what I meant. I felt... a little hostility back then," she said.

"I am sure it was just your impression," Lukas lied.

Violett didn't look convinced, but she still nodded her head. "Okay," she said.

After a while, Tobias came back to the sit at the table. "Sorry about this," he said with a smile.

Lukas raised his brow. 'Why did this guy want to taunt my father so much? I'm starting to think that he's kinda right about hating a few people from the Von Neumann house,' he thought

The rest of the dinner went smoothly and without major concerns. After everyone was done eating, everyone went to their room.

Lukas was heading to his room when he heard Violett's voice with a shy tone. "Lukas," she called.

Lukas immediately turned and raised his brow. "Yes?" he asked.

"Huh... about what I tried to do in my room back then..." Violett said.

Lukas kept his brow raised. "What do you mean? You didn't try to do anything. Were you referring to the hug?" he asked

Violett widened her eyes and then blinked a few times. "N-No. Don't worry about that, forget it," she said.

After that, she showed a smile. "G-Good night," Violett said as she walked to her room.

"Good night," Lukas answered and turned back to go to his room.

When Lukas arrived to his assigned room, he nodded his head in approval. 'Not bad. I'm satisfied with this room,' he thought.

Lukas took off his coat and place it in his wardrobe.

After that, Lukas fell behind on his bed with a loud sigh. 'This was strange,' he thought.

'Why do my father and Uncle Tobias not get along at all?' Lukas wondered. 'Stopping to think about it, my father started hitting my mother back then after he met with Uncle Tobias... what in the world happened in that conversation?' he wondered.

Lukas then rolled over with a loud sigh. 'Damn, so many things could have happened, it's pointless to try to wrap my head around it,' he thought.

-----

Austria, November 2nd 1796

8:12 AM

Violett was walking through the hallways of the mansion when she came across Lukas.

"Oh, good morning, Lukas," Violett said with a smile.

"Good morning, Violett," Lukas replied with a smile.

Violett frowned as she looked at Lukas's hair.

"Huh... is it raining, Lukas?" she asked.

Lukas raised his brow and then shrugged his shoulders. "No, why?" he asked.

"Your hair is a bit wet," Violett said.

Lukas took a strand of his hair and pulled it until it was in front his eyes. "Oh, yeah, it's because I took a bath," he answered.

Violett tilted her head. "You... took a bath?" she asked.

Lukas nodded his head. "Yes, I do it everyday," he said, with a smile.

Violett rubbed her arm. "Don't you feel cold?" she asked.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Kinda, but it's not a big deal, I like feeling clean," he said.

After that, Lukas went downstairs in order to have breakfast, leaving Violett daydreaming.

'Lukas sometimes is a bit weird...' Violett thought.

When Lukas arrived to the dining room, Tobias and and Elias were already having breakfast.

Tobias smiled. "Good morning, Lukas. Do you know where Violett is?" he asked.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "She is upstairs, must be here in no time," he answered as he sat on the chair.

Tobias nodded his head in understanding. "I saw that you woke up early today. Are you usually like this?" he asked.

Tobias had seen Lukas doing physical exercise at around 7 AM through the window, which surprised quite a bit.

Lukas shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, I only woke up early today because you said we were leaving early," he answered.

Tobias nodded his head in understanding. "I see," he said.

Not long after, Violett showed up. "Good morning," she said.

Tobias smiled at her. "Good morning. Please, Violett, take a seat," he asked.

Violett nodded her head and then went to sit beside Lukas.

The breakfast continued without major problems and in the end, everyone was ready to depart.

Already outside of the mansion, the four of them were standing in front of the carriage.

Elias looked at Tobias. "Are you sure you don't want to go in your own carriage?" he asked.

Tobias shook his head. "No, thank you. I really would like all of us to get closer," he said.

Lukas raised his brow. 'Really? What I think is that you wanna taunt my father everytime you have the chance,' he thought.

Elias just sighed and looked at the carriage. Soon, Rambert showed up with a smile. "The carriage is ready for us to depart at anytime we want," he said.

Elias nodded his head. "Thank you, Rambert. We will be departing very soon," he answered.

Rambert bowed and then went to drive the carriage.

Tobias looked at everyone. "Well, shall we get in?" he asked with the smile he showed almost all the time.

So, the four of them got in the carriage and it started walking.

The whole trip went surprisingly well. Tobias did try to taunt Elias a few times, however, he just ignored it.

-----

Prussia, November 10th 1796

2:43 PM

Finally, after one week, the four of them had arrived to Königsberg.