Don't Bother

Azares threw himself on the bed. He was exhausted. These past five days, he hadn't rest and eat. Luckily, his struggle paid off. Even though he was tired, his mood was exceptionally good. So. his consciousness quickly started drifting away, a second later he finally closed his eyes to sleep.

He murmured sleepily, 'Soon, I will leave'

...

Azares went to sleep for two days straight before he got up. He stretched lazily near the window of his room. He might have looked sluggish like a cat, but the eyes hidden between his bangs were alert. He moved from one direction to the other, continuously changing posture.

'One, two, three ... there are five in total'

'Ha', Azares scoffed

'At least, two high-grade knights and three middle-grade'

The abandoned manor was located in the center of a damaged garden. This garden itself was in the shape of a circle, with no flowers or bushes. Only a thick lush of grass. It's not weird to say that you'd easily be cornered inside the manor.

One high-grade knight was stationed near the front door while the other situated himself on the escape door at the back. The rest of the knights were either on the right side or the left. They didn't do a good job covering themselves, Azares knew that. Since they didn't bother to be cautious, he could easily determine their position and rank. Though, even if they are better than this, Azares wouldn't have a problem detecting them.

'These people underestimated me'

The fact that he was being monitored means Eugene suspected him. Eugene should have been aware that Azares's strength is high enough to deal with a swordmaster aura.

A normal noble household would throw a party immediately if they knew their descendant was so capable. But Hayndal was not normal.

'That's because it's me. The unwanted child'

'I was supposed to be a weakling with no power whatsoever. When the news came out about my status which will soon be revoked, I deliberately showed him my strength. Smart people would know I have something up in my sleeve'

That's why Eugene didn't say anything. Judging from these people's careless actions, they must be sent here without a specific order. Probably, just to report everything Azares did in the manor to Eugene.

That was as expected.

'Father knows nothing about me'

'He is careful'

The first time they met, Eugene cruelly sent Azares away. Then, the second time they met, Azares didn't give a damn about Eugene. This father of his must be confused by now, Azares thought. As soon as he was abandoned at 13 years old, he received no education at all. Not to mention, swordsmanship. It took only five years for Azares to build his foundation as a knight and grow until he was as strong as now.

Logically speaking, Azares could be said as a genius. However, Eugene wouldn't be able to believe it. If Azares was a genius, he wouldn't be neglected. So, Eugene was looking for another explanation about my current situation. He might be wondering whether the last time was just a bluffing or real power. Even so, Azares didn't care. It should be enough to act as nothing happened.

After stretching, Azares went on his routine as usual. He bathed, dressed up, and spent his time reading books he borrowed from the Hayndal's library. A week passed by just like that.

Azares's life was the same as before. Peaceful and relaxing. Though, there are several things that changed in his daily life. There is this servant who always delivered his meal at a regular time. Jin, the servant, was a greedy person. He swapped Azares's meal with his meal because Azares's meal was still considered extravagant for someone like him. Azares was aware of this but didn't make a fuss. Simply because he was too lazy to do so.

Yet, Jin's attitude suddenly changed three days ago. He didn't swap the food. He also became more polite. Azares conjecture was, 'He got caught, huh?'

The knight who caught him must be a nice person. Azares nodded thoughtfully.

While in fact, the knight reported this accident to Nos since the first day he knew about it. However, Nos who didn't think it was a big deal, tossed the accident to the back of his mind. Then, sometime later when Nos was serving the duke, he accidentally let it slip. Eugene was very angry. Most of all, he felt guilty.

Indeed, he wasn't aware of how the servants treat Azares. Still, He is the young master of Hayndal. Even if Eugene felt Azares was of no use, he wouldn't actually abuse him. He would only ignore Azares. Now that he had figured out the servants' actions, he needed to correct them.

At the same time, Nos was deep in thought. He was bewildered by the Duke's demeanor. Eugene had already sent the paper to cut ties with the Third Young Master to the Emperor, so why bother now correcting their manner? Nos sighed tiredly. Nobody could guess what is going on within the Duke's mind.

The second different thing that happened was the abandoned manor became shiny. Shiny which means, clean and sparkling. When Azares was bored and couldn't handle the pile up dust, he would spare some time to clean the manor. But now, he didn't need to. He just woke up early one day and found the servants quietly tidying up the manor.

If this was the last kindness Eugene could think about, so be it. Azares too was satisfied. It looked like his father still had some conscience left.

Azares hummed contently. Holding a book in one hand, he walked towards the study room. He looked around and felt even happier. The atmosphere was quiet and breezy accompanied by warm sunlight. It was a good day.

That's it until he met Nos. In the hallway close to the study, Nos intercepted him. Azares could guess that Nos was waiting for him as Azares would often go to the study at noon.

Nos bowed, "Young Master."

"Why are you here?"

Nos peeked a little at Azares countenance before answering. Seeing that Azares was in a good mood, he went on, "Your Excellency the Duke wants you to train with the knights."

"Train?" Azares eyebrow shot up. He smirked.

"I don't want to."

"Thats.." Nos hesitated. Previously, he could talk to the Third Young Master with ease. Now though, Azares temperament was difficult to read and the Duke's attention toward the Third Young Master was on the rise, which made it difficult for him to deal with Azares like before.

"Pardon me Young Master Azares. It was a direct order from the Duke."

"He said it was necessary for you to train since you will participate in the subjugation."

'Ho. Would you look at that'

Azares chuckled. He moved a little to the side and continued to walk.

"I already said I can take care of myself. No need to bother."

"But-"

"Leave." Azares glared coldly at Nos which sent him shivering a little.

"I understand, Young Master." Azares didn't say anything, he immediately left Nos alone.

Azares had the urge to laugh. Train? There's no way the Duke was so merciful to let him train with the knights. There were more or less 2 weeks left to prepared for the subjugation. Training in such a tight schedule wouldn't help much.

Eugene was most likely getting impatient. He sent his subordinate to monitored Azares, but Azares didn't do any particular things every day. With the excuse of training, Eugene could easily determine Azares' rank.

Azares' eyes glowed with a golden hue. Disciplining the servants and disciplining the knights were completely different things. Servants might change with a slight pressure coming from above. But knights?

They were strong. They were a prideful bunch of people. They were only loyal to their master. For them to treat someone with respect, then that someone must either be powerful enough to subdue them or smart enough to win them. Although there were also some special cases in which one didn't need to have that many qualifications, it rarely happened in this Gerand Empire.

Sending Azares who technically also their master but was known as a weakling, was like sending Azares to a group of predators.

Azares paused for a moment. He was beginning to felt uncertain. 'Does the Duke want to test me or torment me through the knights?'