Solomon arose from his bed that very morning feeling quite delighted.
The sun was already high in the sky, and a gentle breeze drifted through the open window of his room, causing the curtains to sway softly.
He was gradually becoming more familiar with both his new body and his new life.
Though looking into the mirror for more than fifteen seconds still broke his heart, he could confidently say that he was making progress.
He spent an hour practicing magic before heading down to the courtyard to work on his sword swings.
Afterwards, he settled beneath a large tree and stretched out comfortably beneath its shade, appreciating the vast sky overhead.
Birds chirped softly among the branches above him while servants crossed the courtyard carrying baskets, documents, folded linens, and supplies for the day ahead.
A pair of maids hurried past with cleaning equipment while several guards rotated shifts near the gates.
The world had never seemed more colorful.
“I wonder how long this peace can last.”
The thought escaped him quietly.
He would be going to the academy soon.
And from there, he would gain access to the wider world.
He was almost eighteen.
That meant he needed to start thinking about living alone.
At least, that was what people did in the book once they reached adulthood.
Solomon decided that he would worry about that later.
Right now, there were more immediate concerns.
The academy.
The special targets.
His murderer.
The goddess.
There were too many things to do and far too many questions that still needed answers.
His system hadn’t given him a quest recently, and surprisingly, he didn’t mind.
The future could wait.
Everything could wait.
For now, he simply wanted to enjoy the beautiful day.
“Someone’s soaking up the sun, I see.”
A familiar voice teased him.
Solomon didn’t even bother opening his eyes.
He already knew it was Silvia.
“Academy in a few days.”
“Ah, I get you.”
He heard the rustle of fabric as she sat beside him beneath the tree.
The grass shifted beneath her weight and a few loose leaves drifted down from the branches above.
“Though I don’t think the sun can do anything about your sword skills.”
“There you go again talking about swords.”
“Because I have a little brother who likes slacking off.”
“No.
Umm…
I practiced for an hour.”
Solomon pouted and crossed his arms.
Silvia raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t we agree on an hour and a half?”
Before he could answer, she leaned over and pinched his ribs.
“Ow!
Ow!
Silvia, no!
Please—ahh!”
Solomon immediately curled up in self-defense while trying to pry her fingers away.
His legs kicked uselessly against the grass as he attempted to escape.
Silvia laughed.
The servants nearby quietly averted their eyes, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.
Though judging from their expressions, they were thoroughly entertained.
A few of them exchanged knowing looks before returning to their duties.
“Hey, I like this new change in the young master.”
“I totally get what you mean.”
“Before, he was standoffish, but now he asks about our day and stuff.”
“Makes me glad I’m employed here.”
“Exactly.
And the young miss looks better these days.
The dead look in her eyes is gone.”
“Yeah, it always felt like someone had torn out her soul.”
They continued chatting amongst themselves while carrying out their responsibilities.
Some swept pathways, others trimmed hedges, while a group of maids carried fresh flowers toward the mansion. Find the original chapter at g.com.
For a brief moment, the estate felt less like the setting of a novel and more like a living home filled with ordinary people.
The servants continued to discuss back and forth while carrying out their duties.
Their voices gradually faded into the background, blending with the sounds of rustling leaves and distant footsteps moving throughout the estate.
Meanwhile, Solomon had just been hit with a serious, totally unexpected, completely out-of-the-blue question.
“Do you think relying on people is weakness?”
The words caught him so off guard that he immediately opened his eyes and turned toward Silvia.
She wasn’t looking at him.
Instead, her gaze remained fixed on the bright blue sky above them.
Before he could even think about the question, let alone answer it, Silvia suddenly shook her head.
“Never mind.
I was just curious.”
She brushed it off so casually that Solomon almost thought he had imagined the question altogether.
Almost.
The cheerful atmosphere from earlier quietly disappeared.
An awkward tension settled between them.
The birds still sang from the branches overhead.
The breeze still drifted through the courtyard.
Yet somehow everything felt different.
Solomon shifted slightly against the grass.
He wanted to break the silence.
“Haven’t seen Father yet.”
Silvia’s expression remained neutral.
“He’s around somewhere.”
“And Mother?”
The effect was immediate.
“What do you mean?”
Solomon blinked.
“I was just curious.”
Silvia’s face contorted with anger.
Her jaw tightened.
The fingers resting on her knee slowly curled into a fist.
The warmth in her expression vanished so quickly that Solomon nearly recoiled.
“Are you trying to tell me you forgot our parents are divorced?” Silvia snapped.
Solomon immediately realized he had stepped directly onto a landmine.
His stomach dropped.
“I’m sorry.
It really slipped my mind.
A lot of things have been hazy recently.”
He hurried to explain himself, raising both hands defensively.
Silvia closed her eyes.
A deep breath entered her lungs.
Then another.
When she finally spoke again, her voice had softened considerably.
“It’s fine.”
A brief pause followed.
“Sorry for snapping.”
Silvia stood up and brushed several blades of grass from her dress.
The faint breeze caused her long black hair to sway gently behind her as sunlight reflected off the dark strands.
For a moment she looked tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Then the expression disappeared before Solomon could fully understand it.
Without another word, she walked away.
Solomon remained beneath the tree for several seconds after she left.
Guilt lingered in his chest.
He hadn’t meant to upset her.
The problem was that every new piece of information he learned about Solomon Ashbourne’s life felt like navigating a field of hidden traps.
One wrong step and someone got hurt.
Eventually he rose to his feet.
He needed some air.
Not long after, Solomon wandered through the estate.
He wasn’t genuinely searching for anything or anyone.
He simply needed a breather.
He had learned something new about Solomon’s past but had angered Silvia in the process.
As he walked, distant sounds echoed throughout the estate.
Knights trained somewhere beyond the courtyard walls.
Metal clashed against metal.
Stable hands directed magical steeds.
Occasional whinnies carried across the grounds.
Servants and maids moved between buildings with practiced efficiency.
The entire estate was alive with activity.
Solomon observed the knights, servants, maids, workers, and stable hands.
Each of them carried out their tasks diligently and flawlessly using routines that had long since become ingrained into their minds and bones.
On the surface, they appeared completely content.
Yet now that he understood desire suppression, he couldn’t help but wonder how many of them were genuinely happy.
Did they have a larger dream?
Did they want to see the world?
Achieve greatness?
He would never be able to know whether there was a shattered soul deep within crying out to him, and that realization hurt more than he expected.
It had always been easy to grimace and furrow his brows while reading the lines of his friend’s book.
Back then, these people had only been characters made of ink and paper.
But living day in and day out among them had taught him something important.
They all had their own lives.
Their own struggles.
Their own hopes.
Even if those things were never described on a page.
A servant carrying a basket hurried past him and offered a respectful bow.
Solomon nodded absently before continuing on his way.
Without realizing it, his feet guided him toward a strange yet familiar place.
The servants’ quarters.
The servants’ quarters were simple but comfortable.
A long hallway connected a series of small rooms, each furnished with only the essentials.
Inside, there was usually a narrow bed, a wooden wardrobe, a small bedside table, and a chair.
The walls were plain and painted in light colors, while the furnishings showed signs of regular use without being worn out.
Sunlight streamed through modest windows during the day, illuminating floating specks of dust drifting lazily through the air.
Oil lamps provided light after dark, though they currently sat unlit along the walls.
The rooms lacked the luxury found in the noble wings of the mansion, but they were clean, organized, and well maintained.
Though modest, the quarters offered the servants a quiet place to rest after long days of work.
“Nice decor,” he muttered.
He strolled through the area, occasionally glancing into open rooms before pausing in his tracks.
His gaze settled on a young man in the distance.
The boy looked roughly his age, perhaps slightly older.
Sunlight poured through a nearby window and illuminated the young man’s figure.
For several minutes, Solomon simply watched.
The boy moved around the room like a whirlwind.
One moment he was helping a maid carry laundry.
The next, he was assisting a gardener with moving supplies to a far corner of the building.
Then he was helping someone else entirely.
What caught Solomon’s attention wasn’t the work itself.
It was the fact that the boy did everything voluntarily.
Nobody asked him.
Nobody ordered him.
Yet he continued helping wherever he could.
And throughout it all, a massive smile remained plastered across his face.
A genuine smile.
Not a forced one.
Not a polite one.
A real one.
“How can he smile like that?” Solomon asked himself.
The question lingered in his mind.
Ever since arriving in Elaria, he had seen countless people living beneath invisible expectations and suppressed desires.
Yet the boy before him looked different.
He was brighter, freer and felt totally out of place.
For the first time since learning about desire suppression, Solomon felt something stir within his chest.
Hope.
A tiny sliver of it.
Perhaps he had finally found someone who could teach him something about this world that neither books nor the system could explain.
His curiosity immediately took over.
And Solomon found himself eager to learn more.