#20 Back at home

"Young lord, what should I tell Lord Phoenix?" Ichika asked me when she was already in her stealth.

"Tell him that I wasn't scared of the thugs and just hatefully glared at them without shaking, then someone, namely you, helped me. But tell him that you didn't reveal yourself in front of me. That should be enough. Also... don't speak to anyone about what had happened today...I hope I can trust you in this, after all, you are the first person and only person to know this about me." I said with a small smile.

"Y-yes, young lord! I will be going first." She said and I felt air next to me blow in an unnatural way which only meant that she already rushed towards our mansion.

I should get back too...I already threw away that broken sword and cloak so everything should be okay.

When I arrived in front of the gate to our residence, guards immediately welcomed me and let me in.

...

"I'm home." I said aloud out of habit but my mother still came to greet me which totally surprised me. After all, this is an extremely big mansion so there is no way she would hear me...Ichika must have informed her.

"Sweetie! How was it outside?" She asked me with a worried expression.

"It was fun!" I said with a bright smile. I always played an innocent and cheerful child in front of my mother so I kept my act.

"? Did...anything in particular happen?" She asked with a slightly confused expression when she saw my smile.

"?! Um...Nothing you should worry about, mother!" I raised my eyebrows in surprise but quickly tried to calm myself, of course, all of this was just an act to truly show that "something" really happened.

"...I see. Do you want to play with your mother, sweetie?" She muttered with a slightly sad expression when she noticed my reaction but then she immediately asked me with a loving smile.

...I need to train and I don't want to postpone it. Not to mention that it would be slightly waste of time. I can spend some time with my mother but I will have to start slowly reduce it to show that I am growing up. After all, I have been told by Ichika that I will probably have to do something with Aiko once I hit my 10th birthday...she won't be much surprised if I start to play with her less and less. But matter regarding Aiko...I really hope Ichika was just joking or she is just mistaken, even though kids develop much faster here, I won't do anything with 12 years old girl.

"Um, I am sorry mother but I am too tired to play. But I have bought a gift for you!" I said and stuffed the earrings into her hand.

"?! Y-you rascal, I gave you that money so you could enjoy some delicacies and not to buy me a gift!" She scolded me but there was still a smile on her face and it looked like even tears would start to fall from her eyes.

Maybe she feels guilty for knowing what father was planning...now that I even bought her a gift she must feel really miserable. Did I make a mistake?

"Mother, I bought those earrings with my own money." I said with a serious expression when I saw her tears

"W-what? Where did you get-" She wiped away the tears in her eyes and asked me with a confused expression.

"Please trust me, I have never done anything that would tarnish our house's reputation. I earned that money myself." I said with an extremely serious expression while I was on my toes, wiping away her tears.

"Hihi, I guess you won't tell your mother the details, right?" She giggled when she saw the sight before her and asked with a forced smile.

I nodded with a helpless smile and a pleading look in my eyes.

"*sigh* Looks like my son is already becoming mysterious. There is no need for you to ask for my trust, you will always have it! Now go back to your room and get some rest, sweetie." She said with a genuinely happy smile and gently flicked my forehead.

----Jun's office----

"Is that all?" Jun asked but no one was around him, it looked like he was talking to thin air.

"Yes, Lord Phoenix!" Ichika's voice resounded in the room out of nowhere.

"...Why do I get a feeling that you are hiding something from me? Did anything happen to my son?!" Jun raised the pressure around him, making it harder for Ichika to breathe normally.

"Nothing happened to the young lord, I assure you!" Ichika said with a strong and resolved voice.

"Ichika...Do you remember who helped you when you were at the bottom? I have raised you almost as my own daughter, therefore I know how you behave. Even though I can't see your expression right now, just from your voice I am aware that something happened. You aren't talking about the "young lord" only in a dutiful tone. Your tone when you mentioned my son was full of respect which shouldn't be possible, respect can't be gained just with a name." Jun said disinterestedly while sitting at his table with a crossed legs and stirring his tea in the teacup.

'...A-after seeing the young lord's performance today, I completely forgot about Lord Phoenix. He is not someone who can be easily tricked...but maybe it's just because of me, still, his deduction skills are absolutely amazing. But still..."You are the first person and only person to know"..."I hope I can trust you"...I won't betray the young lord's expectations!' Ichika thought and started to shake a bit under Jun's pressure but when she remembered Akashi's honest words, she resolved herself and stared straight at Jun with new strong eyes.

"Lord Phoenix, the young lord is perfectly fine and he doesn't have any trauma from that event!" Ichika said with a decisive voice.

'?! What the fuck happened?! How come she resists so much? She always softened when I mentioned her past but now this matter regarding my own son...' Jun thought with a shocked expression and wide-open eyes.

"...Since you don't want to tell me, fine. I wanted to make you Akashi's personal bodyguard anyway. Seeing that you respect him so much as to defy me, at least it makes me confident that you will keep him safe. Now go away...I still have work to do." Jun said and waved his hand at Ichika to leave.

After Ichika left...

"What are they planning? Are they planning to create new assassination units? But even if they do, it will take a few more years before they will be able to move this plan into action. Not to mention that funds are pretty low due to the small skirmishes with the Revolutionary Army. The Empire is slowly losing its light and glory, I hope my son will be able to lead this country into its former glory and make anyone tremble just by looking at our territories" Jun muttered with small breaks to sip on his tea while reading the documents on his desk.

'? To think that this tea was prepared by the 8 years old kid...Akashi is really lucky individual, heh' Jun looked at the teacup in his hand with a surprised expression and then thought with a small smile across his face.

----Jun's office END----

"So how did it go?" I asked when I sensed someone entering my room.

"Well...Lord Phoenix suspects me but he brushed it off for now. I am sorry, young lord." Ichika revealed herself and apologized with a regretful tone.

"Good enough, I already suspected my father to see through you. I just wanted to see if you would tell him everything or stand firm even after facing his pressure" I said and released a sly smile.

---

'...Forget it...both of them are monsters! They are predicting each other but I have a slight feeling that the young lord is winning the contest by quite a big margin.' Ichika finally lost it and shouted inside her mind while she watched Akashi's sly smile with a shocked expression.

---

"Young lord, how can you be so experienced in fighting?" Ichika asked with a curious voice.

Ichika could no longer resist the urge to ask this question, huh?

"I have no experience with fighting against Danger beasts. You could have noticed it by how easily I got injured by that overgrown turtle." I said with a forced smile while showing her that my left arm still has yet to fully heal.

"Then what about humans?" She asked while focusing her entire attention at me, not to miss any of my words.

"Heh, humans? I see that as a Turn-Based RPG game." I said with a creepy laugh and judging by Ichika's reaction, it probably made her feel chill down her spine.

"...Turn-Based...RPG game?" After she recovered, she repeated my words with a confused voice.

...Right, I forgot about this detail.

"Let's just say that you have a figure of yourself on the chessboard and on the opposite side, there is an enemy. You have numerous moves to choose from...Defend, Attack, Use item, Escape...These moves are further divided into smaller moves such as Parrying, Blocking, Dodging for the Defend move just as an example. I simply find it entertaining to think about what my enemy will choose to do next or what items he can use...and I find it even more entertaining when I can completely counter his choices and see his shocked expression, huhehe." I got so absorbed into my explanation that I spoke about it as just entertainment.

"..." Ichika was completely speechless and just watched me with wide-open eyes, I could also see that her jaw dropped down under her mask.

...I hope they have at least a chessboard here or this entire explanation will be completely useless...hmph! I thought with a darkened expression while glancing outside from the window in my room.

"But that doesn't matter...I got too absorbed into my explanation. What I wanted to say is that I use my head during the fights..." I said with a silly smile while scratching the back of my head.

---

'...I definitely don't want to fight with the young lord...never! ever!' Ichika swore to herself that she will never try to fight Akashi, no matter the circumstances.

---

"Anyway, don't forget to inform your friends about that noble family with a Blue Dragon as insignia. No need to rush things, so just tell them to keep their eye out on them." I said after I jumped on my bed.

...I missed you so much!

I thought while I was "cuddling" with my pillow but soon enough, I noticed something strange.

"Yes, young lord. ? Is something wrong?" Ichika acknowledged my order and then she probably noticed my strange expression so she asked me with a curious tone.

...This smell...It's not what I remember from today's morning.

...Is this-? Dark blue medium-length hair...Aiko.

"Hm? It's nothing..." I answered Ichika's question with an absent-minded expression.

What was she doing in my bed?

?! Don't tell me!!!

Horrified expression appeared on my face and I quickly jumped away from the bed.

"Y-young lord?" Ichika was completely confused by my actions but I ignored her for the time being.

I slowly walked up to my bed and started to search for any...wet spots on blankets but I couldn't find anything.

...I really hope she was just taking a nap here. I wouldn't really mind it as long as she wouldn't do anything else here.