’I actually caught it.’
Alex stared at his own hand, he could not believe it.
It should not have been possible. Catching a strike wrapped with mana with bare hands was impossible. A hand that tried it would be crushed.
And the system had been clear. His core was sealed. He had no mana to reinforce his body.
So by every rule of this world, his hand should have been broken.
But he felt nothing.
’Unless there was no mana in it to begin with.’
His eyes narrowed.
’But I can’t be sure.’
That was the real problem. He couldn’t sense even a trace of mana. For all he knew, a river of power could have been flowing through his brother’s arm, and he would never have noticed it.
’So maybe I was lucky. Very lucky.’
A bead of cold sweat slid down the side of his neck.
Daniel’s face had changed.
The shock was still there, but it was draining away fast. In its place, something else was rising.
"You..."
His voice shook slightly.
"You dare to lay your filthy hand on me?" Daniel hissed. "You, who can’t even gather a drop of mana? You mean nothing in this world, and you dared to stop something I wanted to do."
"I’ll teach you a lesson, Alex."
He wrenched his arm.
The sudden force nearly tore it out of Alex’s grip, and Alex had to let go. Daniel yanked his hand back to his chest and rubbed his wrist for half a second, where Alex’s fingers had left five angry red marks.
Then he stepped back.
Alex did not know how to fight. Not in the way people did in this world. But he had spent twenty two years watching films, and he had a good eye for the way a man’s body prepared to hit.
Daniel had those same movements right now. His right arm folded in toward his ribs, and the fingers of his right hand curled slowly into a fist.
’He’s going to punch. Right hand.’
Alex knew he could not dodge. His only option was to try guarding it.
He lifted his left arm by instinct, Daniel’s fist shot forward. As it drew closer, Alex saw something that made his stomach drop.
The air around the fist was bending.
It was a faint shimmer at first. But it grew thicker with every inch, swelling and pressing outward. The sound of it reached him a heartbeat later.
’That’s...’
’That’s mana.’
This time it was real. There was no mistaking it.
’I’m so fucked.’
Then the punch landed.
BAM!
It struck his forearm like a hammer hitting an anvil.
The guard crumpled instantly. His own arm was driven back into his face, and his face was driven back into the force behind it, and the whole world exploded into white. He felt the impact in his teeth. In his skull. In the very roots of his hair.
Alex slammed into the side of the mattress, and slid down onto the wooden floor in a heap.
"Young master!"
Lena’s voice tore through the room.
It was high, cracked and desperate, and it sounded very far away.
Alex lay still.
The ceiling spun above him in slow circles. His left arm lay across his chest, numb and heavy and humming with pain. A deep, pounding ache was growing along one side of his face, and something warm and wet was filling his mouth.
He turned his head weakly to the side.
And spat.
A mouthful of red landed on the floorboards beside the bed. The taste lingered, bitter and metallic.
Footsteps sounded above him.
A shadow fell across his face, and Daniel stood over him, shaking out his right hand as if it had been dirtied.
His voice was cold and bored.
"Is that it?"
He tilted his head.
"After all that talk, you couldn’t even block a weak punch."
He let out a short, thin laugh.
"That was barely a tap, Alex. I wasn’t even trying. And you’re bleeding on the floor like a dog."
He took a step forward.
"Get up."
Alex did not move.
"Get up, scum. I’m not finished with you. I’m going to make sure you don’t forget today for the rest of your miserable life."
Another step.
He raised his right fist again, and the faint distortion of the air began to gather around his knuckles.
Alex forced his eyes open. He tried to push himself up with his good arm.
It trembled, and gave way.
’Damn it... Move. Move!’
Daniel’s shadow grew longer. His fist drew back.
And then, from the doorway, came a small, polite sound.
"Ahem."
It was a cough.
Daniel stopped mid-step.
He turned his head slowly, irritation tightening his face.
"Hmm?"
The woman with the green eyes stood in the doorway, exactly where she had been standing since the beginning.
"Young master Daniel," she said.
"What?"
His tone was sharp and impatient. He did not hide his annoyance.
She did not flinch. When she spoke again, her voice was smooth and graceful.
"Lord Edward summoned both of you several minutes ago. He has been waiting in the grand hall since then."
She paused for the shortest of moments.
"If you delay any further, I fear his displeasure will fall on you both."
Daniel’s fist remained raised, trembling slightly. His eyes were fixed on a point somewhere in the air, and Alex could see him thinking.
Then Daniel clicked his tongue.
"Tch."
He lowered his hand and shook the stiffness out of his wrist. Then he looked down at Alex.
A thin, cruel smile crept onto his face.
"Lucky you."
He straightened his sleeve.
"Father saved your teeth today. You should crawl to the hall and thank him on your hands and knees."
His gaze flicked toward Lena, then back to Alex.
"And enjoy your whore while you still can. The next time I find you in a state like this, no one will be coughing at the door."
He turned his back.
He walked out of the room without hurrying, his boots clicking steadily across the floor, and disappeared into the corridor.
Alex lay on the floor now, breathing slowly through his nose, his arm throbbing.
Lena scrambled off the bed, one hand clutching the cloth against her chest, and dropped to her knees on the floor beside him.
"Young master!"
Her eyes were red and wet, and her lips were trembling. A single tear had already escaped and run down her cheek.
"Why would you do that for me?"
Alex blinked up at her.
"I am not worth it," she said quickly, shaking her head. "I am only a maid. Whatever he said, whatever he did to me, I could have borne it. You did not need to... you did not need to..."
She swallowed.
"You are hurt. Because of me."
Her fingers curled tighter around the blanket.
"I do not like it, young master. I would rather have been struck a hundred times than see you lying here like this."
Alex stared at her and smiled.
It was crooked and a little forced. It pulled painfully at the cut in his lip. But he held it there, and he kept his voice steady.
"It’s fine."
Lena’s eyes widened.
"I said it, didn’t I?" He breathed out slowly. "I’m the master here. I decide what happens to you."
He reached out with his right hand and brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
"I won’t let anything take what’s mine. Nothing at all."
His eyes held hers.
"And you’re mine, Lena."
For a moment she did not move.
The words seemed to sink into her slowly, one at a time. Then, as if someone had poured warm water over her, the color rose in her cheeks, spreading all the way down to her collarbone.
She lowered her eyes.
"...Young master..."
Lena’s gaze dropped to his left arm. Broken.
Her breath caught.
She raised her hand slowly and held it over the injury, her fingers hovering an inch above the swelling.
She wanted to touch it. But she did not dare to press, afraid of causing him even a drop more pain.
"It is broken," she whispered.
"Yeah," Alex said. "I figured."
"I wish I could..."
Her voice faltered. She curled her fingers into a fist and pulled them back, as if burned.
"I cannot use healing magic, young master."
Her voice was thin and shaky. Her fist trembled against her knee.
"I am useless to you when it matters."
Her eyes were glossy. It was not self-pity. It was anger, aimed at no one but herself.
Alex sighed, and then he made himself laugh. It came out a little rough.
"Don’t worry about it."
"But..."
"It’s not that bad."
’It was absolutely that bad. But a real man would not admit to do that in front of a woman who was close to tears.’
This time he cupped her cheek.
Her skin was warm and wet beneath his palm. She leaned into it and her eyes closed.
"You’re not useless," he said quietly.
"You’re the reason I got up."
Her eyes opened. He gave her cheek a gentle pat, then let his hand fall.
"I have to go see my father."
She flinched.
"Young master, your arm..."
"I know. But he summoned me. If I don’t go, it’ll only get worse for both of us."
He held her gaze.
"I don’t want your name dragged into this."
Lena’s lips pressed together. She looked as if she wanted to argue. But after a moment she lowered her head and nodded.
"...Yes, young master."
She rose with the blanket still wrapped around her and hurried across the room. She gathered his clothes from the floor, found a plain dark coat in the wardrobe, and returned to his side. She slipped the sleeve over his injured arm gently, and fastened the buttons one by one.
When she was done, she straightened the collar.
"Please be careful," she said.
"I will."
Alex got to his feet.
His legs wobbled once, then steadied. The world tilted slightly, and he waited for it to settle. Then he started toward the door, cradling his left arm against his stomach.
"Lena."
He stopped and looked back over his shoulder.
She stood beside the bed, small and pale and holding the blanket tight.
"Wait for me here," he said. "I’ll be back."
Her eyes softened.
"I will be waiting, young master."
He nodded, turned, and put his hand on the doorknob.
’I’m not from here.’
The thought came quietly, and it settled heavy in his mind.
’I don’t know the people. I haven’t seen anything outside this room. Everything I know about this world is a handful of memories that belong to someone else.’
’And all of it was wrong in the first place.’
It had never meant much to him.
He had not come here for a throne. He had not asked to be born into a family of nobles. All he had wanted, from the moment the blue screen appeared, was the thing he had spent a thousand nights dreaming about in a cramped room on Earth. The thing every hero in every story he had read had been given.
Mana. The chance to be strong.
That was it.
’But now... I’m going to take back Alex’s life.’
’And Daniel... Daniel will pay for it.’
He turned the knob.
The door swung open, and the corridor stretched out beyond it.
’I’ll start with Elena.’
’Daniel’s personal maid.’