Chapter 5 – Adult Knowledge

Only a few minutes had passed since I shouted, my face still burning as I wondered exactly what Sebastian had taught Ren that day.

I decided the only way to get a clear answer was to ask him directly. So, taking Ren by the hand—still visibly confused by his own question about having a partner—I marched back to the study with him, barely containing my anger.

When I opened the door, I found Sebastian sitting behind the desk. He was calmly writing something while holding a steaming cup of coffee in his other hand, as though nothing unusual had happened all afternoon.

“Ren, please wait outside for a moment,” I asked, gently pushing him into the hallway before closing the door behind me.

Sebastian looked at me with that calm expression of his that sometimes irritated me beyond belief. Before I could say anything, he spoke in an almost cheerful tone, as though he were announcing the day’s weather.

“Starting tomorrow, you will be responsible for teaching the young master proper manners. I will continue instructing him in magic, swordsmanship, and some basic mathematics.”

“Just what have you been teaching this poor child?!” I exploded, feeling the heat rush to my face. “I don’t want to watch him fall into a life of lust and become one of those disgusting nobles who only care about taking advantage of women!”

Sebastian raised both hands in an attempt to calm me down.

However, before I could shout anything else at him—something exaggerated, most likely, I admit—I opened the door again and yelled at Ren to forget everything I had just said.

It had been a mistake.

I hadn’t said any of it.

Then I closed the door once more, breathing heavily.

“Siena,” Sebastian said.

This time, his tone had changed completely.

There was no trace of the lightheartedness he had shown only moments ago.

He was serious.

Far too serious.

“What I’m about to tell you is no joke. This comes directly from a request made by his parents.”

I froze.

“That… That can’t be true,” I tried to deny, even though the seriousness in his expression told me he wasn’t joking.

“It is,” he replied.

He placed his cup on the desk and folded his hands in front of him with a solemnity I rarely saw from him.

“Considering how quickly young Ren is progressing, it wouldn’t be strange for many people to approach him in the future or attempt to take advantage of his position. Lord Edric and Lady Elira would think this entire situation is madness, but…”

My face grew even hotter, this time from a mixture of embarrassment and anger that I didn’t know where to direct.

“But that isn’t the most important thing I need to tell you,” he continued.

His voice dropped, as though the walls themselves might be listening.

“There have recently been problems involving a terrorist organization. According to the latest reports Lord Edric received, they appear to have discovered the young master’s existence.”

Those words finally extinguished my anger, replacing it with something far colder.

Something I recognized all too well.

“Lord Edric considered several ways to keep him hidden,” Sebastian continued, “but none of them were viable in the long term. He fears that, sooner or later, they may attempt to abduct him.”

He paused briefly.

“And not only that. He fears that, because of Ren’s bloodline and development, they may try to use him as some kind of… source for producing more descendants with the same potential. In other words, they would turn him into a human weapon, forced to reproduce under their control.”

A knot formed in my throat.

“Considering the way the young master is developing, it is, unfortunately, a fairly likely scenario,” he added, genuine regret in his voice. “That is why Lord Edric submitted a formal request to the nation, asking for greater protection for his son.”

Sebastian fell silent for a few moments before continuing.

“But the council had another idea in mind. One he didn’t expect and, to be honest, doesn’t fully agree with.”

“What kind of idea?” I asked, although part of me had already begun to fear the answer.

“They want Ren to have several wives and produce children with women from different noble families. That way, they would ensure the birth of powerful warriors for the kingdom’s future generations. At the same time, they would bind Ren—and his power—to the political interests of several noble houses at once.”

My stomach churned.

“They will almost certainly make the official announcement on his birthday,” he continued. “After that, the national council will probably begin evaluating candidates considered suitable to bear his children. Ren’s opinion—or even that of his parents—may not carry much weight in the final decision.”

I remained silent, unable to find the words to respond.

Every sentence Sebastian spoke felt like another weight being placed upon me.

“That is why,” he finally said, with a warmth that contrasted sharply with everything he had just explained, “Lord Edric’s true request was this: before Ren’s birthday celebration arrives, we must do everything we can to help the young master form a genuine relationship based on mutual love with someone he chooses for himself.”

His expression grew even more serious.

“Before everyone else decides his future for him, leaving him without any voice in his own fate.”

My legs trembled slightly.

I placed a hand against my chest as I tried to process everything I had just heard.

A five-year-old child was already carrying the weight of an entire nation deciding his future, his body, and his descendants, as though he were nothing more than another piece on a political board far greater than he could possibly understand.

“There is something else you need to know,” Sebastian added.

For the first time during the entire conversation, his voice wavered slightly.

“That terrorist organization… This isn’t the first time they’ve operated in these lands.”

Something inside my chest froze before he could even finish the sentence.

“They are the same people who attacked your village, Siena. The same ones Lord Edric fought that night, all those years ago.”

For a moment, the world seemed to stop.

The memories of that night—the flames, the blood, the screams, and Edric’s wounded figure barely managing to remain standing with the support of his sword—came rushing back all at once.

It was as though they had never truly left me.

“Are they… the same people from that night?” I finally managed to ask, my voice trembling as I clenched my fists at my sides.

“It’s possible,” Sebastian confirmed, his expression grim. “They are most likely the same people, or what remains of that organization after all these years.”

A heavy silence settled between us.

I felt a mixture of rage and fear that I hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

It was an ancient flame I had believed was finally under control, now returning with an intensity that surprised even me.

Perhaps realizing how deeply his words had affected me, Sebastian approached and placed a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me.

“Everything will be all right for him,” he said in a gentler voice. “He is still young, and I’m certain great things await him. If he continues progressing like this, he may even surpass his own father someday.”

I nodded, although I wasn’t entirely convinced.

“You must be prepared for whatever decisions the young master makes from now on,” he added. “And if we manage to locate and neutralize that group in time, there is a genuine possibility that we can prevent this future from becoming Ren’s reality.”

He looked at me firmly.

“We may be able to keep him from living beneath the same shadow you carried for so many years.”

Something inside me suddenly ignited.

It was a different kind of determination from what I had felt moments before.

Something deeper.

Something far older.

If the same people who had destroyed my home, murdered my mother, and nearly taken Edric’s life that night had now set their sights on Ren, then there was no possibility in this world that I would simply stand by and do nothing.

Perhaps sensing the tension that had overtaken the room, Sebastian attempted to lighten the mood with a joke, as he often did whenever conversations became too heavy for his liking.

“Although, now that I think about it,” he said with a mischievous half-smile, “if you looked at it from another perspective, young Ren might consider you as a candidate for his future harem as well.”

“Sebastian!” I protested, feeling the embarrassment climb up my neck again.

Although, deep down, I appreciated his attempt to lighten the mood.

That was when we heard a shout of pure astonishment from the other side of the door.

“A HAREM?!”

I threw the door open.

Ren was standing there, completely motionless, his eyes as wide as plates.

He had clearly heard far more than he should have.

“It’s time for you to go to bed!” I shouted, feeling as though the heat had never left my face. “You have to wake up early for your lessons tomorrow!”

Still visibly stunned by what he had just heard, Ren obeyed without protest and practically ran down the hallway toward his bedroom.

I watched him leave.

As the sound of his footsteps faded into the mansion’s darkened corridors, I made a promise to myself with every ounce of determination I could gather.

I would never allow anything terrible to happen to Ren.

Not while I was still alive.

It didn’t matter if the enemy turned out to be the same one that had once taken everything from me.

Part 2

I sat near the entrance, still processing everything Sebastian had told me that day, while my mind—with its annoying habit of organizing everything as though it were part of a game system—began evaluating every possible class I could choose during my ritual.

To be honest, I wasn’t trying to brag, but in my previous life, I had been the leader of a fairly well-known guild in my favorite game.

I knew exactly how to evaluate advantages, synergies, and complete builds before committing myself to a class.

So, as I sat there with the cold slipping beneath my coat, I began reviewing each option in my head.

If I became a marksman, I thought, I could focus on improving my accuracy over time.

And who knew?

With the knowledge I possessed from my previous life, perhaps I could even encourage the creation of firearms for private use someday.

That would be revolutionary in a world like this.

If I became a swordsman, I continued, I could actually look like a proper knight.

Or perhaps even a real hero.

And why not name my sword Excalibur?

Honestly, that sounded pretty good.

The idea of becoming a mage filled me with genuine excitement.

Considering my interests, it would probably be the perfect choice.

I could search for books and grimoires—assuming they even existed in this world—and use them to improve my techniques.

And now that I thought about it, Sebastian was probably a mage.

That would explain how he had summoned that fireball the other day.

As for a caster, I wasn’t entirely sure what that class actually meant.

Still, judging by the name, perhaps it involved some kind of summoning.

Familiars, maybe?

That sounded interesting.

If I became a warrior, I would probably end up ridiculously muscular, like an indestructible wall of steel.

Or at least, that was how I liked to imagine it.

And what about a thief?

I didn’t know whether it would be the most original class, but I wasn’t willing to dismiss it entirely.

I could think of plenty of useful things I might accomplish with those kinds of skills.

Unable to decide, I continued repeating every option in my head without settling on any one of them.

Then, while thinking about the word choose, my mind automatically jumped to the second comment Sebastian had made earlier that day.

You will have to choose a partner that day…

How am I supposed to choose a partner at my age? I wondered, genuinely confused.

But wait.

What if I had misunderstood him?

Maybe the word partner referred to something else.

A combat partner, perhaps?

An ally?

A close friend?

Or had they really meant that I was expected to have an official fiancée at my age?

Lost in those questions and trying unsuccessfully to connect the ideas, I failed to notice that Siena had already arrived at the entrance with the carriage.

When she approached me, the words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them.

“What did he mean about me having a partner?”

The moment I finished speaking, I realized what I had just asked aloud.

But it was already too late.

Her face completely red, Siena grabbed me by the hand and dragged me back toward the study.

Once we arrived, I heard her open the door with a level of aggression I had rarely seen from her.

A few seconds later, I found myself being pushed back into the hallway as the door closed in front of me.

I stood there, completely bewildered.

What was that all about?

And why did Siena get so angry, anyway?

As always, curiosity eventually got the better of me.

I quietly approached the door and pressed my ear against the wood, trying to hear what they were discussing inside.

I couldn’t understand much.

Their voices were muffled and broken.

Still, among the fragments I managed to catch, I heard a few isolated words.

“Terrorists.”

“Siena.”

“Descendants.”

And finally, one particular word remained echoing through my mind with unexpected force.

Harem.

At first, I didn’t think much of it.

But only a few seconds later, the word struck me with all its strength.

Am I going to have a…?

I didn’t even finish forming the thought before the word escaped my lips.

“A HAREM?!”

Completely absorbed in my thoughts, I barely noticed Siena throwing the door open and ordering me to go straight to bed.

I obeyed with almost no resistance, running toward my room while my mind remained trapped on that single word.

When I arrived, I threw myself onto the bed.

However, I almost immediately stood up again and began pacing in small circles around my room, desperately attempting to reconstruct everything I had overheard.

Without realizing it, I discarded every other important word—terrorists, descendants, whatever else they had said—and focused exclusively on one.

Harem.

Could my position as the son of a hero eventually lead me toward that kind of… lifestyle?

I couldn’t deny the possibility.

But I couldn’t accept it completely, either.

Still, if I ever did have one… would I even be worthy of something like that?

I mean, in my previous life, I had never formed any genuine romantic attachment to a woman.

Would I even know how to make one woman happy, let alone several?

Probably not.

Then should I begin taking lessons in proper etiquette now?

It was a possibility.

But what if these hypothetical girls only wanted me because of my position as the son of a legendary hero?

That was entirely possible as well.

I spent more than an hour walking in circles and asking myself increasingly ridiculous questions.

At some point, I ended up rolling around beneath the bedsheets without realizing it, only to stand again and continue the same cycle of unanswerable thoughts.

Finally, I stopped in front of the window and stared at the cold nighttime landscape beyond the glass.

Then it’s possible that, someday in the distant future, I’ll end up with a harem composed entirely of noblewomen, I told myself, attempting to sound convincing.

I wouldn’t mind if they wanted to take advantage of my political position. After all, everyone is always looking for some kind of benefit.

For a moment, that conclusion satisfied me.

It had sounded fairly reasonable inside my head.

Or at least, I wanted to believe it had.

But almost immediately, I reached the exact opposite conclusion.

No. That wouldn’t be right.

It could damage my family’s reputation.

Besides, how was I supposed to keep several girls happy when the only women I had ever properly spoken to were the ones who had raised me since I was a baby?

Leaning against the window frame, I eventually accepted that it might be best to stop thinking about the matter for now.

I remained there, watching the frozen landscape stretch beneath the moon’s pale light, until I suddenly sneezed.

The following morning, I awoke in Siena’s arms.

She was holding me with a genuinely worried expression.

Apparently, I had spent the entire night in front of the window, completely lost in thought.

As a result, I had caught a rather severe cold.

Damn this weather, I thought, feeling the weight of the fever pressing against my eyelids.

Sometimes, I really hate this world.