A mansion is huge. It can hold many rooms of different types. It had been a day since I arrived at my home. The first thing I learned when I arrived was insane after a few more explanations from Rits. It seemed my mansion wasn’t only filled with maids and butlers, but also mindless beings all made for the purpose of whatever the original body wanted.

  Inside my home was a dungeon filled with everything the original body created. The moment I even heard the word dungeon, I wanted to know where it was immediately, however, there was no one who knew where the dungeon was. It was only me who knew. But now that I was dead, there was no way I would know.

  At the current moment, I have no other things to do. The mana around the palace is much more abundant than outside. If the king told me I was not allowed to leave until he said so, then I’ll use the time I have to cultivate and practice. Of course, I don’t really wanna be a King. Well, at the moment. Well, I don’t really have a clear goal right now.

  “Thank you for telling me everything you know, Rits. Go fetch me a wooden sword, I wanna dance in this field of flowers.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.” He bowed and then turned around, but before he went off, I remembered something.

  “Oh, then also get me ink and paper. Also, bring the Head Butler and Head Maid alone with you. Well, if they were also like you, just bring the representative. They weren’t turned mindless, right?”

  “No, Your Highness!” He was caught off guard and shouted. Then he continued with his voice lowered with the lingering fear. “From what I remember at least, Your Highness.”

  “Okay, go on.”

  From where I was, I had a clear view of the palace walls and the gardens of the other mansions. At the edge of each garden were just an uneven plain of grass leading to the walls. It was a peaceful sight, beautiful and tranquil, all ruined by a stone wall taller than the mansions.

  I took a deep breath and walked out to the garden. Inside the tall flowers, I dug myself in and sat, hiding from the outside world only exposed to the bask of the sun. From the deep pockets of my clothes, I pulled out the diary of cultivation, opening the first few pages.

  Unlike what I had discovered on my own, it was completely different from what I knew. I cultivated through the absorption of mana into my dantian and compressing it as much as possible until it changed color and depth. However, the diary had more than just that. It included a breathing technique and a proper process of condensing qi inside the body, then much much more.

  The amount of information I was reading was about to explode in my mind. After reading when my eyes just looked at the text without absorbing any text, I stopped.

  The only thing that my comprehension could reach was the breathing technique. It was simple, so simple a baby could do it. So, for now, that is what I would do. The diary had a lot of different ways of breathing, including terrains and the vastness of mana in the air.

  Mana was rich in the air. Not as abundant as my first encounter, but more than the outside. Mana is absorbed in the body by inhaling it along with the mix of air. There is no manipulation of mana, nor any filtration of it. You just had to inhale, take the mana in, then exhale the air out. It was the process of oxygen to carbon dioxide, now with just mana.

  I spent the time waiting for Rits to come back cultivating. Taking a deep breath in, holding for 5 seconds, then releasing. There were more aspects to just terrain and mana that affected your breathing, it also had something to do with your own talent. Cultivating isn’t at all complicated, however, it does take incredible focus that would leave your whole body vulnerable if you aren’t too careful.

  Just as I was thinking that I only heard Rits calling me halfway through his sentence. “-uo, Your Highness?” That scared the living out of me and I jumped out of the garden immediately. My entire body felt exposed and naked. Just thinking about being dragged inside cultivation and losing my senses, then that happening immediately made me thankful they were not enemies. I could have actually died there.

  “Ahh!” I said, playing off my flimsy jump. “Head Maid, and Head Butler.” In front of me were two old men and a woman. They looked like they could be my grandparents. The head butler had a long white beard and long white hair in a ponytail behind his head, wearing a completely black suit. The head maid on the other hand was wearing a long oversized black dress that blocked her feet with curled white layers at the end and white vertical stripes all around. .

  “We greet His Highness.” They said in unison.

  “You can go now, Rits.” I struck my hand forward. “Yes, Your Highness.” He bowed before leaving.

  Then I walked to the table and sat on the glass chair, laying my arms on the table. “Why have you called for us, Your Highness.” Said the head maid, just as I was opening my mouth to talk.

  “There is only one reason I called you guys here, but beforte that, give me the paper and ink.” Just as I was handed the paper and ink on the table, I began to think about what I was planning to do. Will I, the crown prince, a noble, really have to write in paper an order that I wanted to say? Couldn’t I just tell the two people in front of me to do it, for me?

  At the same time, if writing that request, signing it in a way I don’t even know, then getting everything wrong, I would be criticised and I may even be exposed. However, if I just ordered these two, they can’t refute that, that’s just how it works. So in the spurt of a moment, once they had gone back to their normal posture after placing the ink and paper, I made a decision. “Go and process for all the servants to leave the mansion until I say so, also, give everyone an early 6 months of payment.”

  The two reacted in surprise. There faces exuded a reaction of disbelief. But what came out of their mouth was not the part I was expecting they were shocked at. The head maid said, “Sorry for my disgrace Your Highness.” She lowered her head like it was wrong for her to speak her thoughts. The moment she did that I realized just how rude Rits had been to me, or maybe these two have been here for so long that they fear me more. “-but are you sure about 6 months of payment?” She continued. Her hand was on her heart and her breathing came to a split halt.

  “Yes, is there a problem.”

  “No, Your Highness, we will proceed with it immediately.” The head butler replied.

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  “Then, you may go.”

  Just as they left, I was thinking through my head about the many tropes of such situations where you can hear some things from the words of others. Like for example, I could go inside the mansion secretly and hear the servant's reaction to my orders. But, I didn’t feel like it. Whatever they feel, they will feel. Of course, I don’t really plan for them to be away for more than 6 months. Just right now I need to do something without anyone’s interference.

  “Hmmm, what do I do about food, laundry, and house cleaning though…?”

  ***

  Having cultivated till the sun set from the sky, I finally went inside the mansion to get a good rest and maybe even look if there was a bathroom. Just like before, when I went out of my room, there was no one inside, not even a single person greeted or met me. It was night, so they might all just be asleep.

  As I hold a plate in my hand I ponder where the kitchen was. I didn’t really need dinner anymore as just cultivating, also known as, sitting in a single place for an eternity, won’t really hunger anyone. The food wasn’t that delicious to yearn for more either, which was questionable as I was inside the palace.

  The mansion was vast, having two floors and the size of a three-story house and clearly having the label of a mansion as its width was more than 100 meters. I went around my house and entered every door I could see just to find the kitchen. Then, I was able to find myself in the hall of the servant's bedrooms. Each time I opened a door, there was not a single person inside.

  Then that made me think. Could they have already left? Already? Already?! It was an order and I didn’t really specify a time, but they couldn’t just move out in a day. That’s what I expected, but they exceeded my expectations by a long shot. It had really come down to it, I was alone inside a giant mansion.

  Thinking that, made my skin shiver and my hair stand. The lighting of this world was very dim, every corner was a shroud of darkness and the light was just a small fraction of the paths. I knew that I could probably kill a normal ghost, but it was still horrifying. I’m not scared of ghosts though, okay, I’m not.

  After a few more doors, I was able to find the kitchen at the end of the servant’s hall. It was a downward stairway into the underground supported by wooden beams. The kitchen was massive. It was double the size of a fast food chain’s kitchen. Tables were scattered everywhere, cluttering the room. Cups, spices, and many other utensils were on top of the tables. At some intervals, giant ovens made of mud were beside tables with a huge pile of logs on the other side.

  I looked for the sink with my eyes and then I was hit by my laziness. I placed my plates on the nearest table and left. I’m unlikable, unhygienic, and a piece of shit. What could I say, if people hate me, do so, just don’t make every living being hate me. Which was why, I still had to change my reputation inside the palace.

  Once I was out of the kitchen, I didn’t stop exploring the mansion. The main purpose was obviously to find a bathroom, but at the same time, there was no harm in trying to find more things. I could also find the dungeon that Rits talked about, though it probably won’t be easy. It could just be me over-exaggerating the original body’s capabilities, but if expecting too much from people in the modern world didn’t work, in this world, just the existence of the King and Orfield was clear evidence that it wouldn’t hurt to overthink a little, if not, a lot.

  “You gotta expect something to know something.”

  The kitchen was at the end of the corridor, so I went back into the main entrance. Now, I decided to go behind the stairway just to see if there were any hidden secrets. Behind the stairs was a single inconspicuous door in the middle of the back. There was no light at the back; just the chandelier light edged the sides.

  I entered behind the stairs, casting away the light on my body where only the beating dim hue of brown formed a door. Opening the door led me to see a small stairwell leading into a ray of light stuck at the bottom. The stairwell was only lightly lit, as most of the light didn’t even breach the first step at the bottom. Filled with sweat, I took a short first step inside. Then once my second feet left the ground floor, the door immediately slammed and a pain gushed over my head. There was a constant ringing like a rock was being shaken in a metal box.

  A few seconds passed and the ringing stopped. The pain disappeared like nothing even happened. I gained back all of my composure like I just hallucinated. Just from that shock I wanted to turn around and leave the room, but it just closed on its own, this place was definitely not normal. There was no way I would just let it pass.

  Because of what just happened, I made sure to walk down the stairwell slowly at each step. Once my second foot landed on the next step, I heard the sound of metal rubbing against stone behind my back. Horizontal metal bars covered everything behind me from the shape of the step until it reached the top. I wondered if that was a trap or a mechanism. Should I run or continue the same way?

  I hastily made the decision and took another step down, the same thing then happened. Then I continued again and again till I was at the last step staring at the vast underground surrounded by marble walls. The floor was made of smooth dirt with a large rectangular white line highlighted in the middle. There were racks made of wood laid across the left wall, where various weapons were placed.

  A sword, an axe, a bow, a blade, a spear, a halberd, a mace, a dagger, and any other weapons that I could not even think of. The entire ground stretched further than the entrance, estimating a length of 50 meters and a width of 10. On the other side were barrels stacked on each other. One of the caps of the barrels was slightly tilted revealing a bread-like texture inside.

  Once I had deduced that the underground was a training ground or a bunker to train when the world entered an apocalypse, I turned my attention to the thing behind me. The entire stairway that I just walked on was filled with metal pipes that probably had sharp endpoints that pierced through the wall. I could barely see the wooden door through the small gaps. After coming down the stairway, it was only in the middle that the light had highlighted the walls being filled with multiple holes.

  I took my final step and jumped down, turning immediately. Metal pipes once again jumped out of the walls and after a single second, all the metal retracted and the stairwell turned back into normal.