A day had already passed. Noah sat quietly in the dining hall across from Robert, while the chef stood beside the table, politely explaining the steps of processing the rare ingredients and preparing them before serving. Meanwhile, Robert sat eating quietly and listening carefully to what he was saying.
"Why do you trouble yourself by wasting your time on these matters? I am certain that you have more important things to do, do you not?" Noah looked at Robert while waiting for his answer.
"Benefit? Have you ever thought about what it means to be a noble?"
His answer made Noah realize something important.
Whether in his previous life or today, the actions and decisions of nobles were irrational. Because of Robert’s actions, he remembered what he had studied about the French Revolution. The reality was that Louis XVI had not fallen because of the strength of his opponents, the organization of the revolutionaries, or their shrewdness. Rather, he was brought down by the nobles’ continued indulgence in luxury and their failure to properly suppress the revolt of the hungry.
The nobles continued boasting about the effort made for them and feeling that they were superior beings until they gradually adopted it as a way of life and a source for building self-importance in their social environment.
The idea might seem vague and meaningless, but while eating, going to the bathroom, even sleeping, and practicing random hobbies, a noble tried to impose his distinction through every possible way and means.
To a commoner, these matters might seem ridiculous, but for someone who lived a life that the majority wished for, the formation of such a sick personality became an accumulation of natural things without him noticing.
Back in the dining room, the chef faced Noah before presenting him with a luxurious dish of calf liver, then explained:
"Young Lord, this is a luxurious piece of black calf liver from the heights of the central plains, drained of blood and grilled at a moderate temperature so that you get a perfect intervention."
Noah raised his gaze.
"Drained of blood?..."
"I noticed that you are not disgusted by the smell of blood in food, so I summoned the butcher and asked him to prepare it this way. Which makes the smell less intense."
"You understood the matter even though I did not say anything... Interesting."
A calm smile appeared on his face before he began eating with interest. Neither the full table nor the rarity of the ingredients was what truly made Noah feel satisfied. What pleased him was the chef going through all this trouble for him, watching his smallest reactions so that he could serve food that suited his taste. This was truly what it meant to be a noble.
Even the servants lined up waiting for him made him feel a distinction greater than what the meat juices on his tongue or the delicious dishes gave him.
Noah did not need to dirty his hands or lift anything himself. The servants stood there, handling all the unpleasant tasks around him. All this balance gave an exceptional experience that made the individual feel distinguished and fed his confidence and self-conceit.
Noah looked at the chef with a smile.
"Well done. I understand why you are praised so much and why the head of the family listens to you quietly."
The chef bowed.
"The Young Lord’s words are worthy of the chef’s pride for the rest of his life."
After the meal ended, Robert summoned a private teacher to teach him various fields, starting with ancient myths and reaching the state of the world at the present time. Some of the lessons were useless, but the many interesting stories sometimes made the lessons lively.
While Noah ignored most of the details, he was interested in some of them. For example:
"Why does the blood of the Superior Bloodline turn blue?"
He had difficulty suppressing his question during his first meeting with the teacher. When he finally had the chance to ask it, the man gave him a look suggesting that he had heard an extremely stupid question.
But considering Noah’s identity as a noble and the high wage he received, he answered him with a smile.
"The blood of the Superior Bloodline turns blue because of the constant stimulation of the blood to produce mana, as it is extracted from the bone marrow. This causes continuous blood renewal and turns the color blue, which helps the noble use magic efficiently."
"Does this mean that all nobles are magicians?"
"Of course, but the limits of power differ according to the color of the blood. The more intense its blueness and the greater its shine, the greater the power of the mana it carries. It is not without limits, but it approaches that. Whoever possesses it is a magician and, therefore, a noble. I heard that some children of fallen noble families collect their blood and sell it in the form of mana potions."
All magicians were nobles.
Nevertheless, this fact was not what interested Noah most in his words.
"Can blood be turned into a potion?"
"Describing the matter as transformation is not accurate. Among all the liquids that a human can use, only the blood of members of the Superior Bloodline can carry mana. Therefore, every noble takes a quantity of his previously drawn blood with him when he goes to the battlefield, in case his mana runs out during the battle."
"Is this not similar to vampires?"
The teacher frowned.