A Gift

The Rohde's Villa has ample space for guests to come and rest for the night. Almost every medium household has a bedroom for guests. People are not willing to travel outside once the sun sets in, especially since the duchy has no thick stone walls towering around it to fend off the deadly creatures that come out at night.

Thus, it was natural for the Prince to come and sleep for the night. With him are his personal bodyguards. Their leader was a tough veteran, age almost forty, and had received Allknow's second gift. His given name is Daras from the third-ranking noble family of the Iron Kingdom, Radilon.

Due to the conflict between the Duke and the King, the Third Prince came with a strong escort. If Daras had his focus on serving the church and not the art of war, he could've been a Priest right now.

In general, the strength of a person is determined by many factors: their martial level, physical strength, mental fortitude, combat experience, the Gifts they receive, the strength of Imbueds they possessed, and the number of scriptures they have consumed.

Some of these factors are a given like martial level, physical strength, mental fortitude, and combat experience. These things are what devout followers of the church lack as they focus more on serving and worshipping the fairies, demigods, and the Deities. Meanwhile, warriors who go out and participate in war and even in skirmishes developed this.

On the other hand, the devout followers of the church would have more access to powerful tools like Imbueds and especially, the scriptures for their service.

Depending on the strength of the Imbued they possess, a follower might easily kill a fighter even though they lack combat experience.

For example, if Grandpa Frodo waved the Mountain Sword against the Prince's escorts who wield normal weapons, he would dominate the battle. Well, to be fair, Grandpa Frodo is a rare case who has enough physical strength to wield the Mountain Sword.

However, even those secluded devout followers could gain physical strength with the use of scriptures. But that's for another topic.

In other words, if a fighter were to have access to Imbueds and scriptures, their strength would soar.

Hailing from a noble family, Daras had absorbed numerous scriptures and possessed few Imbueds even though he is more active on the battlefield, and not in the church. Together with his second Gift, he might have the power to contend with a priest.

Thus, Prince Frederick felt secure in the Rohde Household. If that's not enough, Duke Rholes is known for his benevolence. If not provoked, he wouldn't fight anyone. The Royal Family is aware of this and that's why even though the King had enmity against the Duke, he still sent one of his sons to his younger brother-in-law's duchy. If that's the case, bringing someone like Daras there even seemed overkill.

Well, that's because the King wasn't wary of Duke Rholes in particular, but someone else...

After dinner, Eid went straight to his room. The day was tiring for him, but not in a bad way. He jumped onto his bed that could fit five more people and looked at the golden mark on his forearm. It wasn't that glossy yet unlike what he saw with his father and mother.

"So, we missed it?"

Allknow is anything but tardy. That fairy connects with the person the moment they turn sixteen of age. From what he knows, Eid would hear a second voice in his mind telling him he received a Gift once the connection with Allknow is established.

Until now that the day is ending, he had yet to hear any second voice, just his own thoughts.

There are two possibilities. First is that, like what he said, they missed his birthday. After all, he came from a poor family who didn't have a real home. He was born with no records in the city hall. All he knew is that he was born in the second season of the year. Eid was pretty confident that he was born in the year 5128 though. Today's year is 5144 so the math checks out.

There's an Imbued out there that could determine Eid's real birthday. However, Imbueds that could see a person's origin is too rare that only a King could access them and unfortunately, they have a bad relationship with the King.

'That fucker...'

Eid frowned upon remembering the King's face. However, there's really no point in hating an absent person.

Shaking his head, Eid reassured himself that at least the blessing was not late. If he was to be blessed after making the connection, there would be a lot more process and hassle to give him the Nobility Mark. Fortunately, the Nobility Mark stays for about a year before vanishing if it didn't detect the connection.

The only problem is the second possibility: he had already turned sixteen but didn't unlock the connection, or, he had yet to turn sixteen but still wouldn't unlock the connection. Either way, Eid's fate would be sealed, and the Rohde family would need to continue their efforts to keep protecting him from the other noble families.

Although his foster family is okay with that, Eid is not. There's no way he would want to continue burdening his family.

"Is something troubling you, Young Master?"

"I'm just thinking about what will happen if I don't unlock the connection..." Eid entertained the idea.

"If the young master can't unlock the connection, I think no one can. You are the strongest person I know."

"Hmm..."

Wait, who is he talking to? Eid didn't think too long, he already knew who it was. In the dark corner of his room beside the window, Toko was there, just standing.

If it was anyone else, they would've screamed for they thought it was a ghoul that got inside their room.

"... Toko, thank you for worrying, but you can go back to your room now..."

"I..."

"Is there something you want?"

Eid sat up. He did feel like Toko was acting differently today. She's always silent. Well, that's normal for her but in front of Eid, Toko is usually quite talkative.

After a moment of silence, Toko formed her resolve and spoke, "Umm... if I'm not being intrusive..." She lowered her gaze while her cheeks slightly flushed red.

'If I'm not being intrusive... huh...' Eid had his thoughts about this but didn't say them out loud. He didn't want to make Toko feel awkward. Also, it's not like he minds it, he's used to her behavior.

Toko's stepped out of the darkness with her hands behind her back. Biting her lower supple lip, she slowly walked towards Eid and when in front of him, she kneeled on one knee as she raised her hands and lowered her head. On top of her palms was a white box enveloped by a red ribbon.

"C-can the young master accept this servant's gift?"

Eid can see Toko's hands slightly shaking. It seemed she was very nervous.

'Maybe, she thinks I will not like it?'

He sighed. He had been with Toko since his early adolescence but somehow, he couldn't change her attitude toward him. She seemed to look up to him too much. If it's possible, Eid preferred she drops the respect.

Eid sees Toko as a faithful servant and an overprotective sister. In a sense, he loves her like how he loves his family. However, it doesn't seem like Toko gets that.

'She doesn't have confidence in herself. Well, whatever, there's still a lot of time to change that.'

Eid smiled and took the white box from Toko's small and white delicate trembling hands. Whatever is inside this gift will surely make him happy, he thought. Opening it, he saw the insides glitter somehow. However, it didn't seem to be jewelry. Eid took it out and realized that it was a pair of chainmail gloves.

"I've always seen the young master hurt his hands when handling his weapon sometimes. I've been wanting to buy the young master one, but such gloves don't hold to the Young Master's standards."

"You mean you made this yourself?"

Toko nodded. Before she could speak again, Eid muttered: "Wait,"

He wore the pair of gloves, and it fitted him as it had grown on his skin. It was extremely comfortable to wear and flexible. However, that's not the most baffling part.

"Is this... is this an Imbued!?"

"Y-yes..." Toko replied and a bead of sweat formed on her forehead, "It's Imbued with the connection of the Earth Fairy. Its durability is tenfold that of ordinary chainmail gloves."

"Did you... when did you learn how to Imbue?"

"... around a year ago, Young Master. I'm sorry for keeping it a secret. Since you taught me the theories of Imbuing, I thought that only Imbued gloves would suit you..."

"But you haven't unlocked the connection to Allknow, yet, right? Did you mean you used all your money on spirit crystals just to train and make this?"

Toko shook and nodded. As she was thinking that the young master will scold her for keeping it a secret or for wasting all her savings on buying spirit crystals, the young master kneeled in front of her.

"Young Mas-?"

Before she could react, Eid took her into a tight embrace.

"!!!"

"Toko... I couldn't ask for a better gift... thank you..." Eid said with deep sincerity. He felt like he was the luckiest person in the world.

"Y-y-y-y-y-!" Toko stuttered like a broken machine.

"Ah, sorry! I must've surprised you!" Eid released her. He wiped the beads of tear that formed on the edges of his eyes.

With a smile, he placed his hand on Toko's head and rubbed it.

"Thank you, again, Toko. Also, I don't know why you're saying sorry, I really love your gift and am excited that you learned Imbuing. People usually learn how around their thirties but you did it! You're such a talented girl."

Hearing her young master praise her, and together with the head-patting, Toko couldn't help but break her usual stiff expression. Relief and joy formed on her face.

"Hehehe... young master..."

Eid thought he saw a wagging tail behind her for a moment, but it seemed that it was just his imagination.

'Ahh, she's so cute...' Eid felt like hugging her again, but he restrained himself. That seemed to be an overstimulation for Toko.

Also, he remembered why he named her Toko in the first place. When he first took her in and fed her, she showed a happy face just like this. Eid was overwhelmed by her cuteness so he gave her the first and most adorable name he could've thought of.

'Years later, I still think her name is the cutest, no one can say otherwise!'

After this thought, Eid removed his hand, but Toko still had her joyous smile with her.

"With your gift, I don't have to worry about cutting myself."

"Hehe..." Toko proudly grinned.

Eid couldn't help but grin as well. Soon, he changed the subject.

"Let's talk about something else. I want to ask you something. Are you fine with us assassinating the Third Prince?"

"Yes!" Toko excitedly said but soon realized that she sounded too excited and closed her mouth with widened eyes. Then, she returned to her reserved expression, cleared her throat, and replied again, "I'll do whatever the young master wants."

However, the edges of her lips keep betraying her by lifting without her permission.

Noticing this, Eid inwardly laughed.

"Although the Priest is not with him, he still has that tough leader of the escort. What was his name again?"

"I think it's Dapas, young master."

"Ah, yeah, Dapas."

They were talking about Daras.

"Hmm, how confident are you about taking Dapas on?" Eid asked which made Toko think for a while.

"I must admit, young master, Dapas is extremely strong. From what I know, he's the second-in-command of the whole Iron Kingdom's military. It is said that Dapas could easily crush stones with his bare hands. I think I only have a sixty percent chance of assassinating him. If I fail on my first strike, that will decrease to ten percent."

If someone else heard what Toko is saying, they would definitely think she was either dreaming, joking, or crazy. While the third possibility might be true, Toko is neither dreaming nor joking.

"In a bad case scenario, ten percent is too little. But if worse comes to worst, what's your chance of escaping?"

"One hundred percent if Dapas doesn't have a Gift that will increase his speed."

"If he does?"

"Ninety percent..."

"Alright, we can do with that." Eid then thought, 'I'll make that into a hundred too.'

They were not talking from pure speculations but from experience. It's not the first time they will take on a person who had received their second gift.

Though this time is different since Daras is an elite in terms of combat and there's a huge possibility he has a lot of powerful Imbueds in his arsenal.

"Alright, I'll think about it. You can go back now, Toko."

"Yes, young master," Toko nodded, stood up, bowed down, and walked back towards the dark corner.

"I mean, back to your room, Toko."

"Ah"

Toko apologetically exited the young master's bedroom. But as she opened the door, there was a middle-aged man outside the room. However, after the initial surprise, Toko didn't react with hostility but bowed down instead.

"Master Rholes," she greeted.

"Hm?"

Duke Rholes looked at Toko and wondered why she was in Eid's room at this time of the night. After Toko excused herself, the Duke entered the room and closed the door.

"Eid..." He stood there and stared at his son.

Meanwhile, Eid was a bit surprised that he has another visitor for the night. Though, after a quick thought, he already knew why his foster father is there.

"... I hope you didn't get too excited and released it inside, right?"