The Little Helper

As Mack and his escort got closer to the house he noticed what looked like a man in his late 30s though it was really hard to tell someone's true age due to the mana that was coursing through the body. He had light brown hair with a touch of gray. His face was long and Chiseled and he looked insanely strong. Mack could see the bulging muscles under his clothes. "Is that the head master" he asked the commander

"It is my prince. An intimidating fellow isn't he" said the commander with a chuckle

"Oh…yes definitely. Who's the little kid though"

"Unfortunately I don't have all the information so you'll have to wait till we talk to the headmaster."

Mack nodded his head and looked back at the little boy. His hair was as black as the abyss and his eyes were of the bluest blue he'd ever seen. As they reached the porch of the house he noticed that the little boy had freckles on the bridge of his nose, and his cheeks. He was small so Mack estimated him to be about three years old maybe extremely early four but that was doubtful. But what really caught his attention was the sadness presented in his eyes. The boy look like he would burst into tears if he looked at him wrong. "He must be the headmasters son" thought Mack "but why would he bring him to work with him"

"This is where we leave you my prince. Remember what I said. You will always be our prince no matter what" he said. With that he turned and started the journey back to the castle.

Mack turned to look at the headmaster and noticed that the little boys mouth was open wide in total shock "If his mouth opens any more he'll swallow his own head" he thought. He approached the man and bowed in respect like the books he read said to do when a commoner meets someone in a position of power. "It's a pleasure to meet you in the flesh headmaster Stone."

"The pleasure is mine my prince." He responded

"I no longer have that title sir so you are not bound by any rules to address me with it" said Mack with his head down. "Theirs only one prince now" he sniffled. Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of his brother back in the castle. He saw the shadow of the man approaching him and felt hands under his arms and then he was lifted of the ground. He instinctively wrapped his legs around the man's waist and tucked his arms in between himself and the man's chest. He accidentally looked the man in the eye. He immediately averted his eyes while apologizing profusely. Mack closed his leaking eyes and laid his head on the man's massive chest. And waited to be spanked because that was the punishment for servent kids when they disrespected someone in charge of them.

"Calm down child, your not in trouble for making eye contact. Even though you've had your status, title, position, revoked, and are branded a commoner till death. I wouldn't feel right striking your bare bottom" he said as he rubbed Mack's back in an attempt to comfort the boy. " just like the commander of the Royal guard, said, you will always be my prince, no matter what the council says"

"Thank you headmaster" said Mack in a small voice. He was embarrassed because he started crying again. this time in front of people. Just then the little boy that stood some distance away spoke.

"You're breaking the rules old man" said the little boy "you can't show any type of favoritism towards him. Or treat him any differently then you would a regular commoner"

"how was I showing him favoritism" said Stone

"He made direct eye contact with you. He needs to be taught that it's unacceptable. His previous titles shouldn't even be taken into consideration. He's not a prince, he's just like everyone else now, and should be treated like everybody else. What would you do if your students saw you do this? They don't know that he used to be A member of the Royal family. All they would see is their headmaster treating a commoner better than you treat them. Half of your students have noble statuses. I can't wait for the day he meets them. I'm gonna sit back and watch as they beat the living hell out of him, maybe for just staring at them wrong or not greeting them with enough respect. Your preferential treatment of the coreless trash is going to cause an uproar" The little boy yelled till his face turned red

"I have heard just about enough out of you boy. How dare you speak to me that way? Headmaster stone put Mack on the ground again and walked to the little boy. He grabbed the boy by his ear and dragged him over to a bench where he proceeded to spank him. Ignoring the wailing protests of the boy. Once he felt the boy learned his lesson he stood the crying kid in front of him. "Don't you ever talk to anyone like that ever again. Do you understand me boy" the little guy nodded his head while continuing to cry. "Now, I think you need a nap" he said as he stood up and walked inside. "Oh, Mack you can come in and make yourself at home this is your house after all." he Said over the crying protests of the toddler in his arms.

"No, I don't wanna take a nap. Please I'll be good I promise" he pleaded but it was no use

The headmaster disappeared up the steps with the boy still in his arms. Mack was in shock at the treatment the little boy got for just expressing himself. "i'll have to make sure I am on my best behavior at all times" he thought. A shiver ran up his spine at the thought of getting paddled like that. He walked in the open door and was amazed at the interior. He was expecting a rundown, one room shack. Not a two-story stone structure with beautiful hardwood floors. The first room he walked into was the foyer. This is where folks would hang their coats and takeoff their shoes. The next room he walked into was the living space. Hung on the walls all around the space were the heads of animals that were hunted by previous caretakers. On the left side of the room was a large wooden table with four chairs. On the right side of the room was a massive fireplace that he could stand in the middle of and still have room to swing his arms around and jump up and down. This fireplace was then surrounded by furniture of the highest quality. Most of the furniture were of darker colors that kind of matched the ambience of the room. On each side Of the door or giant windows as well as on either side of the fireplace. There was also a window over by the table on the left wall. In the middle of the room, you could see a set of stairs. The lead to the upper level on either side of the steps was another Doorway. One lead to the kitchen area. The other led to a room with a desk In the middle and books Lining the walls. The kitchen was fairly simple. There is a huge island in the middle of the room, where one could chop vegetables and different things. There was also a smaller fireplace in the room designed for cooking. The walls were lined with countertops and cupboards and on these countertops were different pots and pans and knives. Everything a cook would need. Mack was in exploring mode and didn't realize that Headmaster Stone had returned and jumped with freight when he turned around. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to Wander" he apologized

"no need to apologize, it's your house. What do you think of it so far? Not as shabby as you thought It was gonna be I'm sure."

"it's not as nice as the castle, but it's still pretty nice for a stable hands house" he replied. They returned to the living room and sat on the sofa.

"I'm sorry you had to see that" said stone "he was horribly out of line"

"But he's correct though. Which for someone of his age to know that at all is pretty impressive." He said "I do appreciate your respect Headmaster But you shouldn't treat me any differently than you would a regular commoner boy."

"I know I just didn't need him to remind me. I am truly sorry about all of this." Said Stone

"It's ok. It'll be good for me."

"That's the spirit. Anyway, little Tony is correct The students will not hesitate to teach you a lesson if they think you've disrespected them, whether you actually did or not. And the Noble students will not hesitate to use their status to teach you a lesson."

"do they come over here often" Mack asked but slapped his forehead. He lived near a stable. Of course they come over here.

"Hahaha yes they do quite often. This is where a lot of them practice riding."

"Thats fantastic" he responded " anyway, who's the kid"

"Now that's a story" he said " first don't let his appearance fool you. He's a lot older than you think he is. His son is a student at the Academy if that tells you anything about his real age"

Mack's mouth dropped open. did he just hear that correctly? " how can a toddler have a son?"

"it was the result of a backfiring age regression spell he tried to use on one of the instructors. Would you believe it if I told you he used to be the caretaker of the stables, and this used to be his house"

" Are you sure it was just an age regression spell. Seems a bit excessive if you ask me. How old was he like 40-ish?"

"45 to be exact" said stone with a raised eyebrow

"Had to have been something else in addition to the backfired spell. The strongest age regression spell that has been created is a three star and even then it could reduce somebody's age by at most 10 years even if it backfired it may double that which would've only reduced him to maybe be in his 20s"

"that's what we thought too but he claims it was just a spell" said Stone

"couldn't have been. He's hiding something big."

"that's what we're thinking too but he won't talk. Anyway, Tony has been tasked with helping you get acclimated to your new role since he is familiar with it." He said standing up and heading for the door. "Don't take any of his crap. He may talk like he's an adult and claim to be 45 but he is a four-year-old and will need to grow up once again"

"Wait…..how am I supposed to take care of a 4 year old. I'm not even sure I can take care of my self yet. Sure I've read a lot of books but that's different from actually doing it."

"he is pretty self-sufficient currently but there will come a time when he needs help. And the reason I say that is because his mind is regressing as well, but it is at of much slower rate. So you'll have time for him to teach you the role. have a good rest of your day" and with that he walked out the door.

Just then he could faintly hear Tony let out a wail "I don't think he's as self-sufficient as you think he is" he said to nobody in particular " great, now, not only do I have to figure out how to take care of the animals I now have to take care of a little boy. Maybe I should've decided to stay at the castle..."