Chapter 9 : A typical morning

He woke up early at dawn to prepare to do his routine.

He went to the training grounds then started stretching. He went and jogged around the area then did body maintenance exercises.

"299, 300." He counted as he took a deep breath, finishing his last set of push-ups this morning.

The dawn was breaking and he went to the laundry area.

There was a maid, with black braided hair, sorting the laundry.

"Good morning Camille." Roth greeted.

She was startled at the sudden voice and dropped the clothes she was holding.

She glanced at Roth, walked up to him and pouted. She had a round face with rosy cheeks touched with freckles. She looked cute because of her small stature, around the chest height of Roth.

"Didn't I tell you to knock first!" She complained as she creased her brows to look intimidating.

"Pfft" Roth chuckled. "You can't intimidate someone with that cute face." He teased as he continued laughing.

"You can't call someone who is older than you cute!" She pouted even more and started threatening him by curling up her fists.

"I'll hit you." She said seriously.

Roth tried so hard to control his laughter, the last time he teased Camille so much that she cried; he didn't want that to happen again.

He quickly removed his sweaty shirt and dropped it on Camille's clenched hands.

His upper body is well defined, unlike Raymond whose muscles are starting to bulk, he had a leaner physique.

"I'll stop then, OLDER sister." He stressed as he whispered near her ear and ran away laughing.

"You!" She was about to say her piece, but he was long gone.

"Roth…" Camille surveyed the area and made sure no one was there. She placed the sweaty shirt directly on her nose and took a very lengthy breath.

Roth ran while snickering until he reached the well on the side of the manor and took a cold shower to clean himself.

"Ah, I forgot to ask her class." He blurted while pulling using a bucket full of water to wash himself.

He got back to his room and got dressed in his butler's attire. There were still faint red hand markings on his neck that he noticed.

"Crazy girl, I was helping her. I'll pay her back someday." He said without malice as he smeared cream on his neck to hide the markings.

He went to the kitchen and saw the head chef and his assistant preparing the mise en place.

"Goodmorning Roth." Both cooks greeted him.

"Goodmorning. Roth replied.

"Breakfast ready?" He asked.

"Soon, you can wake them up." The head cook replied.

Roth strode towards the masters bedroom and greeted the maids standing on call. The maids greeted back with flushed smiles as they backed away from the door.

He knocks three times.

"Lord Glidal, Lady Lexia. Pardon my intrusion." He said as he walked in the door.

He saw the couple on the king-sized bed, under the sheets still heavily asleep. He neared the windows and drew the curtains. The morning sunlight beamed inside the room.

"Morning Roth." She slowly sat and greeted. She was wearing her one-piece night gown with one of the shoulder strap hanging loosely on the side of her arm.

"Good Morning." He replied as he retracted his gaze from her breast that was slowly being revealed.

"Food will be ready soon." He continued as he prepared to leave.

"Okay, we'll be there." She replied sleepily while she turned to her husband to wake him.

Roth quickly left the room as blood started to rush his male organ.

He calmed himself and went towards his next destination. Here, he didn't knock but barged in.

Raymond was sleeping soundly in a mangled posture. Roth silently closed in to the sleeping man and took out a knife. He placed it over the sleeping man's head and released his killing intent.

Raymond speedily opened his eyes and rolled out of bed, assumed a defensive posture while being drenched in cold sweat.

"Half a second faster than your best record, Raymond." He said while the knife vanished from his hand.

"Good morning." He continued with a bow and smile.

"Stop it! It's been almost a year since you have been doing this." Raymond complained.

"You know I can't. Lady Lexia told me to this as training for your awareness. This is my job." Raymond casually replied.

*Tsk* "Okay, so how was it?" Raymond asked.

"Two and a half seconds. If you have this pace, we will be done in a month." Roth assured him.

"A month more?" Raymond recoiled at the thought.

"Anyway, Breakfast is ready. Tidy up." He said.

"I'll follow." Raymond replied as he started stretching.

In the dining area, there was a long dining table. The cooks were there, waiting for him to position the food for the family. He took four plates, cups and silverware to arrange them neatly on the table. A basket full of fresh bread and a platter of fruits was placed in the middle of the table.

The Family started to come in one-by-one as Roth was standing there waiting to assist them in seating. Glidal sat on the main chair on the head of the table, while Lexia and Raymond sat beside him opposite each other. Roth, after helping them comfortably, sat next to Lexia. They gave their thanks to the Goddess and started to eat.

"How was Ray?" Lexia asked Roth.

"Better. A month more, then he will be fine." Roth replied.

"Mom, can you not tell him to do this? I could already sense killing intent properly." He complained.

"You need this son, it's for your own good. Your father also went through this. Right, dear?" She said while smiling at Glidal.

Glidal almost choked at this statement, he had a quick PTSD flashback when Lexia woke him up daily by summoning an ice spike under him while sleeping.

Glidlal coughed and cleared his throat. "Right son, you need this to get stronger." He assured.

The family happily chatted while eating their breakfast.

Lexia, looking at Raymond and Roth joking with each other, had recalled a memory in the past.

This was when Roth was 10 years old. He was studying in the Manor's library when he suddenly barged in the office where Lexia and Glidal was discussing the future of the village. His eyes were red and full of tears while he shouted that he didn't want to be a 'Dawnsteel' anymore.

The couple was shocked and confused at this situation. Then Roth showed them the history book that contained many records in which step-sons and adopted sons traitorously killed the rightful family heir in place for their own. Lexia and Glidal placated him and asked him if he'll ever do that. Roth, of course, said that he will never do such a thing, but was scared of the future.

This conversation was soon stopped at a compromise as Roth was too adamant on not taking the Dawnsteel family name. He will no longer carry the Dawnsteel name but needed to treat them as before, like family. Roth agreed. This was also time that he started to learn how a butler works.

Lexia awoken from this memory and asked.

"Both of you, what are your plans?"

"Nothing much, still the same for six months." Raymond replied.

"You still have time. Try to find something else interesting that may help broaden your options when choosing your class." Glidal said to Raymond.

"None, I think." He replied.

"He seems interested in Lilillan." Roth teasingly interjected.

The couple looked at Raymond amusingly.

Raymond felt that food suddenly got stuck in his throat and downed a glass of water.

"No! We're just friends." He said red faced as he stood up and went straight for the door.

"Roth, training grounds!" He shouted.

The three at the dining room laughed. Roth soon followed Raymond.

At the training field, Raymond was already warming up.

"Roth, why do you need to tell that to our parents?" Raymond complained to Roth.

"It's true though. You, slowly getting red faced when Lilian comes close. Too obvious!" Roth pointed out.

Raymond suddenly slashed his sword towards Roth.

"Oops." Roth dodged backwards.

"Shy, are we?" Roth teased again.

Raymond started a flurry of swings at him as Roth dodged continuously. Raymond stopped after a moment.

"Roth, get a weapon." Raymond ordered.

"Which ones for today?" Roth asked.

"Just choose one." He replied.

Roth confusingly scratched his head.

"You know I can't fight you evenly with only one."

"That's the point!" Raymond said hurriedly

"No."

A slash was swung that Roth needed to dodge again.

"Okay then." Roth reluctantly complied as he removed his tailcoat and tapped his storage ring. A sword appeared then he rushed towards Raymond.

He used the ground to spring him towards Raymond faster while he gripped his sword with two hands and swung it from the top. Raymond blocked this and was pushed back a little bit. After a breath, they quickly exchanged swings that made clanging noises that echoed in training ground.

Raymond, seeing Roth getting overpowered, he quickly charged with a stab. Raymond barely dodged to the side and counter attacked with a one-handed swing but it was quickly parried and his sword was sent flying. Realizing Raymond was about to check his throat with the sword's tip, he quickly summoned two daggers and threw it at Raymond's face. Raymond quickly moved his head to each side to dodge this unexpected assault. Roth, using this distraction, backed away to maintain distance.

"Roth, that's cheating! Only one weapon is allowed!" Raymond complained.

"You know I can't match you with only one. And besides, Lord Glidal taught us that in a 'real' fight, nothing is fair." He retorted.

Roth summoned a bow and unleashed a rain of arrows to Raymond. Raymond blocked the arrows while closing in to Roth. He swung at Roth with viscous combinations of slashes and stabs. Roth evaded these attacks narrowly while ran for his sword on the ground. He took his sword and threw it at Raymond's face making him block. As Raymond's vision was temporarily obscured, Roth rushed forward and performed a leg sweep. Raymond instinctively lifted his foot and skipped backwards.

Roth calmly picked his sword on the ground.

"Continue." He stated as he attacked Raymond again.