Faust read it all with a few changes.
He told them his boon was the field of Absence. The limitation was that he could not activate his powers on his own for the first time. And he described the ability as a natural phenomenon of absence.
"Spirit of Absence?" One of the Channelers serving his father murmured, "So new spirits are still being born after all."
Duke Henric looked at him. "It still doesn’t explain his condition."
"No, it does." The Archon replied, her thoughtful expression focused on Faust.
"Your son was not the only person in the world afflicted with this disease. There have been others in the past. The limitation of not being able to activate the boon on your own is first of its kind. Your daughter’s ritual somehow activated this boon on his behalf and released the spirit of absence out of its confines."
"Are you saying it was the spirit within him that overwhelmed his senses so much he could not function properly?" The lady of the palace asked.
The High Archon nodded without looking at her.
From behind the crowd, Faust could hear his older sibling whisper,
’He is a Spirit User.’
’Did you hear that? I was the one who helped him!’
’They said it was by mistake!’
’Excuses! They can’t openly admit I figured out the cure no other Channeler could, so they have to say such things to save their face.’
The Channelers around him shifted awkwardly; his stepmother was so done with her children. The Duke eyed his children, then fake-coughed to hide his embarrassment and said,
"The Natural attribute all but confirms the spirit is divine in nature. There is nothing to worry about, after all."
"I would have agreed, Nephew, if it weren’t for the fact that no other divine spirit can sense your son’s spirit."
"Maybe it’s because of that field of absence boon of his." His stepmother added, "Essence just does not survive around him. It’s hiding his presence."
One of the knights said, "The tools don’t sense him at all. Some of the ones we tested were based on divination and reality-weighing mechanisms. Even if it is a spirit of natural law, it can’t break divine rules."
The Archon lady touched the grey metallic chains wrapped around her body. "This is the relic of the fifth tier. No matter how hidden, it reveals the natural birth order of all spirits, divine or profane. Even the abnormal spirits like Azimbador, which defy all logic."
Everyone standing around him suddenly grew quiet, all staring intently at the weird chains.
Only his stepmother asked the problematic question, "And what order is the spirit of absence?"
The Archon raised her head to look at her,
"None. It does not register his spirit at all."
The Duke glanced at Faust, then noticed his wife’s troubled expression.
"Enough," he said. "The spirit belongs to my son. He will be the one uncovering its mysteries when the time comes. For now, it is confirmed that Faust is truly my son and nothing else. I am grateful for it. That is all I wished to discover."
The High Archon spared one last glance at Faust and then looked away with a sigh. Then, in a single second, her face became warm and several years older as she smiled at him,
"Forgive us, child. It must all be terribly confusing and scary for you."
Before Faust could reply, a red blur rushed towards him and crushed him in a tight hug. It was his stepmother. Helena Dawnfire. Then two more people slammed into them, saying things like,
"I told you, all of you are being stupid. It was a master level spell. When will you learn to respect the genius in the family?"
"Weren’t you screaming when he spoke up?"
His older siblings. Zisel Dawnfire & Augustine Dawnfire.
That night, for the first time, Faust was allowed to dine with the rest of the family. Even the High Archon and some of her followers had joined us. It was a small feast to welcome him.
"Do you remember when Aug and I pulled you out in the garden, and we played till night?" Zisel asked.
Her big blue eyes were full of life, and her questions were never-ending.
"Yes, Father had you wash horses for a week. My favorite part was you screaming when the horse relieved itself on your foot."
"Hahahahahah!!!" Augustine pointed at Zisel’s shocked face and laughed so uncontrollably he almost fell out of his chair.
"Ah, Crapleg. I had forgotten about it; thanks for reminding Faust." His older brother said, wiping the tears off his cheeks.
Who laughs till they cry? These two were hopeless.
"It’s so unfair. Tell me something funny about Aug." His sister demanded.
Faust looked at Aug; he was mouthing the words, ’Don’t! I will pay you later!’. Fool, why would I care for money when everything was provided to me?
"Didn’t he once slip in the training yard, his face in the mud, and then blame it on the wind?"
"Hahahahah! Hahahaa... Mudface!! Yes, yes..."
Now it was his sister’s turn to laugh like a maniac. She went so overboard that she actually fell off her chair. It wasn’t even half as funny as she made it out to be.
The adults were busy with their own conversation, but once in a while glanced towards us and smiled. His stepmother especially. He caught her looking at him every few minutes.
They were all surprised to hear that he had retained an almost perfect memory since the age of five. His parents asked about just a few memorable moments and then let him be. His siblings, on the other hand, could not believe how detailed his memory was.
Faust himself was surprised. His mind was not like that before. He did not remember everything from Earth in detail; even the little he remembered was slowly fading away.
While messing around with his new siblings, Faust could not help but overhear the Duke and the granny talk about the king. He almost ignored the conversation until he heard the granny say,
"There is still time. He is just a kid. It’s a bad idea to push for it. Granting him legitimacy without a valid reason sets a bad precedent."