Together in the abyss [EDITED]

The next day I woke up with renewed energy after the hard work of searching for Livia in the slums.

"It was worth it though"

Livia will be a very powerful ally in the future, if I train her well, taking advantage of her special constitution and immense talent.

"She could be stronger even than in the novel."

-Toc Toc

"Y-young master, are you awake?"

But the first thing will be...

"Go ahead."

"Y-your breakfast is ready."

Him to gain his trust.

"Good."

I got out of bed and walked over to her.

"You know the way?"

"Yes, don't worry"

She said as she leaned over

'She's very nervous'

No wonder, they suddenly brought her in from the slums and made her my personal maid

"Last night she must not have processed the situation very well since it was so sudden"

But now that she had time to think about her current situation she became nervous, after all, if she makes a mistake she might get thrown back into the slums

Despite being smarter and more astute than a normal kid her age because of her life in the slums, she is still a girl of only 7 years old this situation jeopardizing her future is something she will inevitably get nervous about

"Alright, lead the way."

I told her as softly as possible and with the best smile I could muster, I think it worked because she no longer seemed so tense

"Y-yes, this way"

He turned and started walking towards the dining room. As we headed there I tried to think of some topic to talk about.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Huh? ah, yeah, I slept really well, I've never slept on anything that soft before."

"I'm glad to hear that, how was breakfast?"

"Absolutely delicious! I'm not lying when I say it was the best thing I've ever eaten in my life...Ah, s-sorry, I got a little excited."

She said with a nervous expression 

"Haha, don't worry about it, on the contrary, I'm glad to hear you're having a good time."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a candy I had taken earlier.

"Here."

"Eh? b-but"

"Take it as a reward for completing your first task as my personal maid."

"But we haven't yet-"

Before she finished her words, she looked in front of her and could see the door leading to the dining hall

"Eh? Are we there yet?"

That struck him as very odd, when the maids showed him the way this morning he found it much longer.

Suddenly he felt something grabbing his hand and when he turned to look he saw Arthur placing the candy in his palm

"Congratulations on completing your first task, you did well."

He said with a radiant smile on his face, this caused Livia an unfamiliar feeling, it was the first time she was congratulated for doing something, it was also the first time she was given a prize

"Go ahead and eat it, you earned it."

"Thank you..."

Livia gently removed the wrapper from the candy and popped it in her mouth. 

"...Delicious."

It tasted even better than the breakfast she had eaten in the morning, she also felt a slight happiness and warmth as she ate it

Arthur looked at this with a smile on his face.

"Well, that was a good first step."

For the time being I am going to opt for a reward system to gain his trust, when he does something right I will give him a reward, like a piece of candy or whatever he asks me for.

This way he will not only gain more confidence in his work, but we will also get closer as I will be the one giving him the rewards. 

And what better reward for a child than a delicious piece of candy?

"Hehehe, that's a perfect plan"

I laughed sinisterly in my heart.

"Ah, wait a minute"

"What's wrong?"

I stopped Livia who was about to open the door.

"When we get inside, things might get a little noisy, but don't worry and stay close to me"

Livia looked confused by my words but nodded her head anyway.

"Alright I will"

"Okay."

After the warning she opened the door and walked in to see my delicious breakfast on the table.

This time it wasn't soup, it was fried eggs with sausage and some salad. 

I cut off a piece of sausage and popped it into my mouth, the servants began to sweat, sure of what would happen next.

-Crash

The plate fell to the floor, shattering and scattering its contents across the floor.

"Pugh!"

I also spat out the piece of sausage that was in my mouth and put on a disgusted expression as I spoke to the servants

"This tastes disgusting, if the chef ever makes something this disgusting again, I'll cut off his hands so he'll never cook again!"

"I-I'll bring another dish right away!"

One of the servants said and ran into the kitchen to fetch me another dish.

Livia who was behind Arthur observing the situation was confused.

'Disgusting?'

She had tasted the food at the manor and it definitely wasn't disgusting even if she ate what was now on the floor she would still find it delicious

'Maybe for the nobles it would taste disgusting'.

She used to eat the things she found in the trash or on the floor not caring if they were dirty or full of bugs, but nobles usually eat delicious things every day so things she considered delicious might be disgusting to nobles 

But that was not what puzzled her the most.

She looked up and looked at Arthur who now looked like a completely different person compared to before.

'If I make a mistake...will he treat me this way?'

This thought terrified her and made her sad, but then she looked at Arthur again and realized something.

"He doesn't seem really angry."

She had an exceptional ability to recognize people's feelings and intentions, she used this ability many times in the slums to escape from dangerous situations or to get away from certain people

And now that she was looking at Arthur carefully she couldn't sense that he was really angry.

'But then why is he acting like this?' 

She couldn't figure it out, why act this way if you're not angry?

'Don't worry and stay close to me.'

She remembered the words Arthur had said to her before entering the dining room and decided to stop thinking about it, she wouldn't find the answer anyway

After a while, the servant who ran to the kitchen brought a new dish and this time I ate it all, it was delicious, although I prefer more the soup from the first time.

When I finished eating I went out together with Livia from the dining room, she had her head down and was playing with her hands.

"What's wrong?"

I asked her because she seemed to want to tell me something

"I, well..."

After hesitating for a while, she took a breath and asked me while looking at me

"Why did you do that? You weren't really angry were you?"

I couldn't help but put on a shocked expression as I listened to his words

Did he notice...he could see through my perfect performance?

A child could see through the mask that adults couldn't?

"Pff..."

"¿?"

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

"W-why are you laughing!? I'm seriously asking you!"

"Hahahahahahaha, I knew I was doing the right thing when I made you my personal maid."

I walked up to her and put my hand on her head.

"That's something I'll tell you when I trust you enough."

She looked at me with a shocked expression but I ignored it and kept on walking

"Come on, we still have things to do"

Oh, I'm coming!"

After that I spent the whole day showing her the mansion, the garden, the guest room, the library, etc., I also clarified some points about her new job as my personal maid and before I knew it it was already night.

"Well, that's it, it's time for the kids to go to sleep."

"You're a kid too!"

"Yes, but you are more of a child than me."

"What does that mean!"

During the tour of the mansion we also got closer and she was no longer so nervous when she talked to me.

"Good night"

"Good night"

We separated and I went to sleep tired from the long day.

After that the routine was more or less the same, get up, intimidate the servants, talk to Livia to improve our relationship, go out into the street and intimidate some children and repeat.

Livia was also doing well with her lessons, she absorbed the knowledge like a sponge and mastered it quickly, as she would expect from a prodigy.

So 2 months passed since Livia started working as my personal maid and I decided that it was time to start training her.

"I'm going to teach you the mana absorption method of the Reclesia."

"...That?"

"I'm going to-"

"No, I heard you the first time, that's why my surprised expression"

"Well now you know, shall we begin?"

"...Are you kidding!?"

"No, and don't shout, you might attract a servant."

"Do you know what it means to teach that technique to someone!?"

Livia's surprise was more than justified, only the most powerful families had special techniques for children under 10 years old to absorb mana without damaging their bodies, teaching these techniques to someone who is not part of the family would be like revealing the secrets of the family, which in the best of cases could lead to expulsion and in the worst, execution

"Yes I know"

"And you're still going to teach me?"

"Of course I will"

"...Because?"

"Because she trusted you"

Livia opened her eyes wide when I said these words to her.

"So... will you tell me why you always act like that with other people?"

During these 2 months in which Livia has been by my side I have been maintaining my role as a bastard all the time, and although I wanted to ask before, I didn't.

"No, I can't tell you yet."

"I see..."

Livia said with disappointment but there was nothing she could do, I want to be 100% sure when I'm going to tell him, otherwise

"She's not ready"

Neither physically nor mentally

When you include her in this she will inevitably face many dangers, it is best to prepare her enough so that she is able to defend herself and also when she is more mature.

"But, you're not very far away."

When I told him that, he looked up and smiled.

"Well! What do I have to do?"

With a new gleam of determination in her eyes she asked

I told him to sit in the lotus position and began to explain the technique.

"Breathe deeply, you have to clearly feel the mana in your body"

"Fu~"

Livia followed my instructions and put all her concentration into sensing her mana.

" I'm sorry"

"Very good, now try to manipulate him a little, don't try to force him, that will only hurt you"

"Yeah"

After 2 minutes, Livia's body began to expel a minuscule amount of mana.

"Now the last and most important step, listen carefully and do what I tell you to the letter, or else you could damage your body permanently"

"Yeah."

"Try to feel the mana around you, then use your own mana to collect it, do it in small amounts, when you feel that the mana you absorbed has completely worked with yours repeat the process as far as you can."

This technique, although it may seem simple, is actually very complicated, since it requires not only expelling mana from your body, but also controlling it to absorb mana from the environment. By doing this, the external mana merges with the mana of the body.

Children's bodies get hurt when they try to absorb mana basically because their flow is contaminated by mana impurities from the atmosphere, human beings absorb mana naturally without realizing it, and when you are 10 years old your flow is strong enough and abundant enough not to be affected by pollution.

But with this technique, although the increase is small, the flow of mana strengthens faster, allowing more mana to be absorbed in the future as the technique is practiced.

After an hour, Livia's body was soaked with sweat and she was panting on the ground.

"Very well done."

I told her as she gave him a bottle of water.

"Glup~ gulp~ Agh!"

She drank the entire bottle in one gulp and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was harder than I thought."

"It will get easier as you practice it"

I told her as she patted his head.

"You did really well"

She stayed still receiving my pats, after 2 months with her I realized that she liked them quite a bit.

"From now on I will also give you some books on martial arts and weapons handling, I want you to train them secretly under my supervision"

"Why secretly?"

"I'll tell you everything one day, I promise."

"...Alright"

She said seemingly resigned.

"You better go rest, starting tomorrow I will start training you"

"Good..."

I helped her up and walked towards the door but she stopped before opening it.

"Hey..."

"What's happening?"

"If you don't mind me asking..."

She seemed a little hesitant to ask but turned to look at me.

"Why me? I mean...why did you choose me to be your personal maid? There are many other people who could have taken the position, people much more qualified than me."

This is a question I expected to be asked at some point, no wonder I asked myself, why would I, someone from the prestigious Reclesia family, choose a girl from the slums as her personal maid?

"The answer to that question is very simple"

Livia paid attention to my answer, seeming a little afraid of her as well.

"I just knew you were the right one."

I told him with a smile

She stood there with a shocked face for a long moment before speaking.

"Did you know? How?"

"A feeling, take it as a kind of instinct, I looked at you and automatically knew that you were the perfect choice to be my personal maid"

"Hey wait that doesn't make sense"

"I may not have it but that's what happened"

Livia was silent again for a while before sighing.

"Sigh~ it's okay, if that was the reason, I'm happy you chose me"

She said with a smile as she opened the door and left the room.

"Good night"

With that he left the room.

After a while I lay down on my bed while letting out a sigh.

"I wonder if this counts as lying to him?"

I told half the truth and half a lie

I knew she was the right one from the moment I saw her because I already knew who she was, that instinct was a lie to complement the truth.

"I suposs you are well..."

With that in mind I fell asleep

***

After that day I continued acting like a bastard to everyone I met except Livia, I mistreated some of the servants, sometimes I went out into the street and created a bit of chaos and at social gatherings I made sure to act the most unpleasant. possible. possible.

If I'm honest it was a bit funny, insulting a person knowing that they can't do anything to you is an intoxicating feeling, but I didn't get too carried away with that, in my past life I was too. successful, so I already had experience with this kind of feeling, so I didn't get carried away.

Livia and I secretly trained the method of absorbing mana every day, she advanced much faster than me but instead of getting nervous or feeling helpless I was very satisfied, having a capable servant is one of the best things you can do, I also gave him books with various martial arts and weapons handling techniques that he quickly mastered.

I don't know if it was due to training or just natural maturity, but Livia began to act much more seriously and control her emotions better, but sometimes when she reminded her of how she acted before she became quite embarrassed.

So 2 years passed

It was night, the full moon was shining in the night sky along with the stars creating a beautiful sight.

-Knock Knock

"It's me, young master."

Someone knocked on my door and Livia's voice was heard on the other side.

"Forward."

When I gave her permission, she came in and closed the door behind her.

"I am here as you asked me young master"

She said while bowing in an elegant and perfect manner, a total contrast to herself from two years ago, she also mastered all her tasks and performed them perfectly, being even better than the maids who had already been working in the mansion for several years.

"I called you here today to tell you what you've been waiting for for two years."

Hearing this, Livia raised her head and looked at me with a shocked expression.

"I hear it"

But she quickly calmed down and paid extreme attention.

"The truth is that I want to be kicked out of the family."

"!"

Livia was surprised to hear my words but she didn't say anything and she waited for her to continue speaking.

"The Reclesia family is not as fair and clean as you think, in fact, they are allied with the greatest enemy of humanity"

"You mean!?"

"Yes, hell."

Livia was surprised to hear the truth from the Reclesia family and I don't blame her, if it were known that one of the 3 shields of the empire is allied with demons, not only the empire but the entire world would go into shock.

"My plan is to act like a jerk so the family will think I'm not worth paying attention to, gain strength by taking advantage of that, and gather capable and reliable allies to help me fight the family."

"Then I..."

"If you are one of those allies Livia."

"So that's why I trained so hard..."

"This path will not be easy at all, we could die at any moment, you will most likely earn people's hatred and you will no longer be able to live a normal life."

I approached Livia and held out her hand to her.

"Will you jump into this abyss with me?"

Livia didn't hesitate for a moment, she knelt down and gently took my hand, the moonlight illuminated the dark room allowing me to clearly see her determined expression.

"Of course I will accompany you, young master, I could not have lived this life if you had not picked me up that day in the slums, I owe you everything, even my name, and after all, I am your personal servant, I have to be by your side at all times, right?"

"Hahaha, you're right about that."

After saying those words she kissed my hand as a sign of absolute loyalty.

I had already gained my first ally.