In the following days, Brandon found himself under strict surveilnce, with his movements closely restricted. Although he could still use his magic to penetrate and sense the weapons around him, he refrained from doing so. He wasn’t sure what effect it might have on the weapons, and although he had many fws in his character, he still had some bottom-line principles.

  Dani, having been tricked by Brandon before, had gone from being a servant to a jailer. She maintained a cold, distant demeanor, making Brandon increasingly bored. As a result, he began to py with his cat, Flower, to pass the time, believing that consistent practice would help him refine his abilities. "Come on, Flower, let’s take a bath!" Brandon called as he brought the cat to the basin. Of course, Flower immediately darted away with a swift leap. This cycle repeated itself again and again, until Flower was panting heavily, her stomach rising and falling quickly from exhaustion. Only then did Brandon stop.

  Now more interested, Brandon began making new items to test Flower’s abilities: cages, sealed boxes, and other contraptions. He was eager to see how Flower would react to these tests.

  He pced Flower in a cage and held it over the basin. Poof—she was gone, having teleported out of the cage and darted away. He tried a box next, closing it tightly and knocking on the lid. Poof—Flower appeared atop the box, looking excited, and locked eyes with Brandon before disappearing again with another poof. Brandon shook the box, and inside, he heard a disgruntled meow from Flower.

  Dani, who had been watching Brandon’s antics with growing curiosity, couldn’t help but speak up, "What you need is a companion, a helper, not a pet to entertain you."

  Brandon smiled zily, giving her a dismissive look. "Mind your business," he said with a shrug.

  Dani sighed, observing his indifferent expression. "This is the North. You can’t stay inside the castle forever, and Flower will follow you out of it. What happens then?"

  She picked up a wooden ball and tossed it above Flower’s head. Flower executed a beautiful flip and caught the ball mid-air. "I’ve been watching you," Dani continued. "Whenever you train, Flower follows you. That’s good for her physical conditioning, but that’s not enough. Have you ever seen her py with a mouse or raid a bird’s nest?"

  Dani paused for a moment, hesitating over how to phrase her thoughts. "Before I came here, I heard stories about you," she began. "But..." She trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to continue.

  Brandon let out a derisive snort, "Idiot. A fool from the Winchill family, right? Whatever, just say it. I don’t care."

  Dani, though, pressed on. "So, the family doesn’t expect much from you. They just want you to live a peaceful life. Have you noticed how your brothers and sisters are trained?" She gnced at Brandon, who looked somewhat lost, and added, "You’ve been trained alone. You’ve learned alone."

  Brandon blinked, realizing he hadn’t given much thought to it. He had always been kept separate from the others. He had never really questioned it.

  "Even though you’ve behaved retively normally for the past year or so," Dani continued, "no one knows if that normality will st. Even after awakening your powers, it seems like you might have some potential, but your behavior is still strange. You often seem out of pce with those around you."

  Brandon bitterly smiled but didn’t respond.

  "They’re afraid to push you too hard, always worried you’ll break," Dani said, her voice softening. "Even your sister always makes exceptions for you."

  Brandon flushed with frustration, his face showing his irritation. "I really wish you’d cut me some sck, and just say less."

  Dani let out a deep breath, "You’re just... eccentric. You’re not sick, though." She took a step back, letting her posture rex. "I’ve observed you. You’re clean, organized. An idiot wouldn’t be like that. You’re just ignoring the world around you. You’re avoiding us."

  Brandon’s mind whirled as Dani’s words struck deep. He couldn’t help but reflect on what she said. He had spent so much time focused on his abilities and his isotion that he hadn’t even noticed how distant he had become.

  "Can I ask you something?" Brandon asked, his voice cutting through the tension. He was tired of passively listening to someone lecture him.

  "Sure, what is it?" Dani responded, her voice still tinged with concern.

  "You know, what you’re saying... probably won’t change anything, right?" Brandon's words hung in the air, blunt and full of truth.

  Dani’s eyes widened in surprise, and she almost choked on her breath. She stood up abruptly and walked away, frustrated by Brandon’s dismissive tone.

  As the door closed behind her, Brandon remained sitting still for a moment, then suddenly jumped to his feet like a cat. He spun mid-air, nding gracefully with a soft thud. He sighed to himself, "I know this world isn’t safe. Even if it were, I would have nothing to my name. The only thing I control, the only thing I own, is my body and my will. How could I not train myself?"

  He thought of his childhood training, which had focused on flexibility and physical agility. "While other children were pying with their toys, I was practicing my flexibility and strength. It was part of my training, a necessary process. In my past life, I didn’t have the autonomy to do this on my own—it was always with my parents' help. But now, it’s all up to me. I’ve never stopped training, even if no one can understand or see it."

  Brandon’s mind drifted, recalling the martial arts manuals he had studied in his previous life. It boiled down to a few key principles: proper technique, steady progress, and practice making perfect. The wisdom passed down over centuries, combined with modern science’s understanding of the human body, seemed like the ideal way to improve his physical form. But here, in this new world, everything seemed different.

  Brandon, in a rare moment of introspection, thought of the portly maids and the rough, barbaric knights in the castle. He wondered what they would look like if their bodies were dissected, revealing their true nature.

  It was almost ughable. He had always wondered how his life would turn out if he had decades of experience and the body of a young man. But now that he was starting over, he felt utterly lost.

  "Just like a child thinking about adulthood," he muttered to himself. "I used to wish I could go back and do things differently. But now that I’m here, it’s like I don’t know where to start."

  He turned to Flower, giving the cat a silent signal to guard the door, and began to stretch and practice his movements. As he did so, he found himself becoming more attuned to his body, gaining better control over his muscles. It wasn’t perfect yet, but it was progress.

  Afterward, he sat down and began to regute his breathing, focusing on reaching a meditative state. "Movement builds strength, stillness nurtures energy." These were the principles he had followed in his past life, but he had long abandoned them as work and time had taken their toll. Dani’s words had stirred something in him, and now every action, every breath, felt like it was being weighed by countless invisible forces.

  A sense of exhaustion suddenly overcame him, a deep fatigue born of inner loneliness. He couldn’t find the energy to care anymore, to hide his feelings.

  When Dani returned, she noticed immediately. Brandon was sitting there, looking as if he had weathered years of hardship, his body a silent testament to time’s passage. If not for the slow rise and fall of his chest, she might have mistaken him for a stone, worn smooth by the elements.

  Dani knelt down in front of him, worried, and gently touched his forehead. Brandon lifted his gaze slowly, offering a faint, tired smile. "You’re right," he said softly, "this is the North."

  After a brief pause, he repeated, "This is the North."

  "And Flower and I... we should see the outside world."

  Dani sensed the complex emotions in his words, as though he had been weighed down by something far deeper than what his words conveyed—something like the schor Sean’s endless sighs when he spoke of never returning to the Holy City.