“Did you sleep well, my lord?” Nazir said as soon as I left my room and Arthur asked, “How long have you been waiting here?”

  “Probably a couple of hours,” I replied before Nazir and Nazir chuckled, “It's my job and I like it.”

  “Do you really like being around me all the time? Don't you ever get bored?”

  Nazir smiled, “My lord, when you realize I am bored you give me something to eat or something to do, like pouring your potions and poisons into flasks.

  I suppose the only thing I can ask for is…

  I can eat other things than chicken."

  “Do you like watermelon ?”

  “Yeah I like watermelon.”

  “Alright.”

  We walked to the balcony for breakfast as Ophelia had told us, the view outside was even sweeter in the morning. Especially as the downpour had slowed down, the castle was filled with a strange smell. As the sound of the rain continued, we were making our way down the hallway when we met a young man with short blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a fine white shirt and clearly older than Ingrid. I think he was one of Ophelia's children. And when I called out to him to say hello, he didn't even look at me and said, “I don't care who you are,” and then he quickly bumped me on the shoulder and kept going. And my eyebrows really furrowed in anger. This was not how I was going to start my day.

  “Arthur, Nazir, whatever happens, don't interfere,” I said in a low voice, and then I called out loud to Ophelia's son.

  “I would have expected better behavior from the son of a kind woman like Lady Ophelia,” I said, and when he ignored me, I immediately went for the easiest way to anger a big brother, no matter how kind and respectful I was, I could always easily turn into a toxic monster who had spent his life playing competitive games.

  “Not only your mother, but especially compared to the good time we had with your sister last night, it was a really awful meeting.” And that's when he stopped walking and looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and I continued with a smirk on my face.

  “Speaking of her, I have to say, if I had known there was such beauty in this castle, I would have come here sooner, and not only her looks, I have never met a lady who used her hands so well.”

  He turned toward me, looking at me with an expression that he thought might scare me, “If you say one more thing about my sister, I won't care that you're a child,” he said, and my smirk get wider, “Why are you angry? You shouldn't keep a jewel like her here, the amazing taste I got the moment my lips touched her-” his quick steps turned into a run and he was about to punch me when I avoided his attack with a step and grabbed him by the wrist and slammed him against the wall after strengthening my body with ki.

  After the corridor shook and there was a loud thud as he hit the wall, a lot of guards suddenly surrounded us and as he slid down the wall and sat down on the floor, I looked at the marks on the wall. I think I was underestimating ki a bit, but it didn't matter, he deserved it.

  I approached him and after wiping the blood from his mouth with the handkerchief I had taken from his shirt, I asked, “What was your name again?” He looked at me for a moment, his hands shaking, and then he murmured, “Isaak.”

  With a smile on my face, I took his hand, shook it and said, “Nice to meet you, I'm Altevia.” Then I stood up.

  “ By the way, you should try the pritzels your sister made, they looked delicious,” I said, and we went to the balcony while the guards rushed to Isaak's side to help him.

  The balcony was a rectangular space with a covered top, and we could see, smell and hear the rain falling, but it wasn't touching us. It was a bit cold, but it seemed like it would be very nice to have breakfast in this atmosphere.

  In the center of the balcony was a long, rectangular wooden table. Sergius, Ophelia, Ingrid, Mira and also the other brother we hadn't met yesterday were here already, he was sitting at the head of the table. When I sat down for breakfast I found out that this brother's name was Levi von Silberhafen, he was the oldest brother and his father had died about 2 weeks ago, so he was the new duke. And since we hadn't received any news, this is where we found out, Ophelia was the one who sent a reply to my father's letter.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Levi didn't seem very friendly, but at least he was trying to be nice to us, although I could tell he was pretending by the way he kept looking at his mother and avoiding eye contact.

  There were some of Ingrid's pritzels on the table, by the way, and she was very talented.

  After breakfast, while my cousin and Mira were getting ready to leave with the men from the ocean to look for the artifact, I asked Ingrid to show me around the city and I thought she would refuse but she accepted.

  In the Silberhafen's carriage, me, Ingrid, Nazir and Sir Malte, Ingrid's knight in full plate armor, went to the city of Argensir. The city was really amazing, especially seeing mostly just humans around gave me a strange but familiar feeling. Ingrid showed me around a big market inside the city and a museum with drawings and statuettes of old lords and artists. At first I couldn't believe how many of the things I saw were not kept privately in the lords' homes but were on public display, but then I realized something. In terms of art, I was in a country that was very close to modern times regarding ideas and perspectives. The rosarium and the demon nobles usually preferred to keep such works in their homes, because of their egos.

  After we left the museum we came to a big park and in the midst of our conversation by a fountain Ingrid asked me a question and I immediately understood why she had agreed to go out with me.

  “Do you know why your cousin and the other lady are here?”

  I looked at her silently for a moment before answering, “No, but I can come alone later if you like.”

  They didn't know why we were here but they seemed to suspect something, and Sergius didn't tell me, but it wasn't hard to understand: most likely the artifact they were going to take will have been stolen from the duke's territory.

  Ingrid averted her gaze, “You're too aggressive for a little kid,” she said and I laughed, “You never said no.” I noticed her blushing cheeks.

  “I don't know why they are here but I know they must be far away from the city, there are no dangerous monsters around here, right?”

  She looked at me and said “No.” and shook her head slightly, then I heard Nazir's voice, “My lord, if you are comparing this place to the demon lands, you don’t need to worry.”

  I turned to Nazir and he continued, “Some say that, ‘Every time the gods get bored and create a hideous creature, they throw it into the demon lands to test it’.”

  Like Australia?

  “So you needn't worry, my lord, Lord Sergius will be safe.”

  “But there are plenty of dangerous creatures here too, especially in the dungeons.” said Ingrid and I looked at Nazir again.

  “I really wonder how does a dungeon created?”

  “It varies, sometimes giant worm-like creatures dig tunnels, sometimes it happens naturally over years, sometimes a wizard finds a place like a cave and expands it.

  Also, there are some living dungeons. The spirits of dead powerful warriors and mages, if they are not devoted to any gods or for some reason are unable to enter places like Valhalla or the river Styx, can, over time, turn into a dungeon under the ground, using the stone, earth and weapons that have been buried and lost, Since these dungeons can contain some really great structures, many people can also say that the memories of the dungeon triggered the power of creation, but the last part is a thought that the gods might not like, so most people don't talk about it much. ”

  “That last one sounds interesting, but why would people want to go into those dungeons?”

  “Because at the heart of the dungeons is an artifact that is powerful enough to create and sustain the dungeon. It could be a weapon, it could be a piece of jewelry, a piece of clothing, an artifact, it could even be a musical instrument, but whatever it is, it is absolutely precious.” I sensed some excitement in Nazir's speech and as soon as I looked at him with a smile, he understood my question and said, “Yes, my lord, I have been in such a dungeon before.” He took out the runestone from the belt around his waist. This runestone was the stone that suddenly turned into a great sword when we were in the demon lands. Nazir gave me the runestone and asked me to squeeze it in my hand.

  I picked up the stone, squeezed it and suddenly it turned into a sword in the shape of Nazir's zweihander, with a clear emerald-like stone on the pommel. I was expecting the sword to fall out of my hand, but it was not heavy at all, it was so light that I would have believed it if they said it was made of cardboard.

  “Her name is Feather,” Nazir said, and added, ”Try throwing it in the air.” When I threw the sword into the air, it came down slowly, like a feather.

  “I can use the same effect on myself.”

  “So you jump...”

  Nazir nodded and I shook my head. It was good, I mean, if he was alone in the demon lands, he could have easily escaped. Still, he chose to stay and fight with us.

  I turned to Ingrid, “Does your house have an artifact?” and she nodded, “Of course it does, most noble houses have artifacts.”

  We continued walking in the park and I saw a statue of a knight, it was the only statue I had seen in the city, so I couldn't resist asking who it was.

  “Liam 'The Heathen', he has statues all over the country.

  Peasant, knight, heathen, legend, a very common and popular character among the people, I'll give you his book.” she said looking at the statue and then looking up at the sky. It was getting dark, we had been wandering for a long time.

  “We should go back.” she said and I nodded, I was getting tired too.

  “But there's something I need to tell you before we go.” she murmured, and I looked at her with a curious face.

  “I want to apologize for the last night, I was rude to you for no reason.

  If you still have the energy, I'd like to cook something together in the kitchen.”

  I stared at her in silence for a while as my eyes widened in surprise, “Are you going to answer me?!” she suddenly asked and I recovered and smiled.

  “Have you ever made pizza?”