“YOU USELESS WRETCH!” 

Another servant dressed in slightly fancier clothing than me stomped up to my face, grabbed me by the collar and kicked me in the stomach. OWWW IT HURT! My breath got caught in the hit and I was coughing to relieve the choke. And then he kicked me again. 

“I GAVE YOU ONE TASK AND YOU USELESS PIECE OF TRASH COULDN’T EVEN FINISH THAT MUCH!” 

And he kicked me again.

My stomach hurt so much, I could already feel the bruises forming. I couldn’t catch my breath in the midst of the beating. After several more rounds, the boy finally settled down. My frail body collapsed onto the floor. The boy approached me one more time. That’s it! I’m not just going to let him abuse me like this. I’m the Master of the Enchanted Library. Let me show you what I got- 

I swung my hand back and hit him with all my might and imaginary pride as the Master- the boy caught it with ease. He grabbed my fist, looked me straight in the eye, smiled and kicked me with all his strength. I passed out.

Mental note; Physical strength : Zero. 

……..

-ZING- My head hurt so much. 

“....ka…..” 

Who is that? My ears are still ringing, I can’t hear well. 

“Kai! Kai! Can you hear me? Kai!” 

Oh, it's Charlotte. I opened my eyes to a young maid standing in front of me. She looked like she was wrapping my bruised hand in bandages. Her eyes were filled with concern and heartbreak. 

“P- Please… leave. Please… Leave!” 

She looked at me shocked and confused. She wanted me to confirm that what I just said was a joke but I was being very serious. Her being around me is definitely not a good idea. I cause her so much trouble and it’s worse on my conscience if she stays. Although this was just the start of our new friendship, I don’t want to put my only friend in danger. So it’ll have to be ‘goodbye’. 

“Kai, what are you talking about?” Her voice was trembling. 

“Just GO! Leave me alone!” I tried to sound as convincing as possible, and I think I succeeded this time. Felix filled me in about my current job and how much Charlotte has helped my life in the Duchy. Charlotte is an incredibly kind person and her future holds many promising events for her. They may not be luxurious but a girl like her can dream about getting married one day. I don’t want her dreams to be put to risk because of someone like me. I apologise to Charlotte for treating you like that. My words may sound harsh right now but I wish I could tell you. If gratitude ever existed in physical form, I’d give you the largest piece. 

“Leave!” I spoke with arrogance and ungratefulness, and this time Charlotte left the room quietly. 

I cleaned myself up and got dressed for work. After a small piece of bread from the leftover breakfast, I headed off towards the library. The Duchy has two separate sections; the main building which covers more than half of the Duchy and one small piece of land towards the north of the Dukedom with an average sized mansion. The abandoned mansion is a long path along with a forest border away from the main building. My task is to rearrange the library of the north mansion. The current head of the Dukedom wishes to remodel and gift the library to his daughter. And hence, this place needs to be cleaned before the young lady’s birthday. 

The straight path to the north mansion is actually longer than the multiple shortcuts through the forest. Thanks to Charlotte, I have a good idea of the map of these forests. The stale bread was hard to enjoy especially while you’re hiking. I continued walking through the shortcut until I was stopped in my tracks by a cat. And not just any cat but the one that “teleported” right in front of eyes in the library that night. 

The majestic creature was covered in dark black fur with a little patch of golden fur on the front of its head. It looked at me straight with its gem-like green eyes. I stood staring at the cat for several minutes until I heard some familiar voices pop up behind me. 

“Oi! You twerp! Get out of my way!” He pushed into the tree and laughed at my stumble. 

These ass****s! 

“Hah! What’s this! A cat?” The boy tried to reach for the cat but before I had realised it, I was standing in between them. “Awwwwww, the trash boy has a soft spot for cats!” Almost immediately, the boy’s facial expression became disturbingly ominous. His intentions were clear to me and I was not going to let that happen. I strengthened myself. Okay, I failed physically, but I should at least have magical abilities right!” 

The boy lunged straight at me and I wished in my heart for every- or any kind of magic to help me in this situation, but this plan was also a failure. I grabbed the cat close to my chest and once again the kicking rounds began. After a number of kicks the boys got tired and left the two of us. 

“Ughh- are you okay little cat.” The cat jumped out of my arms, turned its head at me and looked at me with disgust and hatred. It must’ve hated me grabbing onto him so abruptly. After a few more scoffs, the cat walked away from me. It took two steps until it burst into blue flames. 

It teleported. This time for sure!

I dragged my aching body through the first and reached a completely separate building from the mansion. It looked a lot more neat and warm than the mansion across the path. This was the building Charlotte and I ran away from last night. Looking at the surroundings around me, the beauty of this place was definitely one of a kind. 

I dusted off the dirt and walked into the building. Similar to the Enchanted Library, the books reached a number I would fear owning. One side of the building had full shelves that were perfectly organised and the other side was covered in book piles and empty shelves. Judging by the progress, it’s safe to assume that I’ve been tasked with cleaning this building. Although the book piles were tall and unfashionably scattered, the piles themselves were organised. 

“Ancient texts and the Forgotten languages.” 

The last thing to check was whether I had an aptitude for ancient languages. I opened the book to find the pages written entirely in symbols and less in words. (Math be like) I flicked through its pages until I came across a piece of paper placed in between the pages. The paper didn’t say much; 

“Turn it upside down and read from left to right.” Is this supposed to be for me? I turned the book upside down and reopened it from the left hand side. I turned the page over to see the results- THUD! 

Someone’s here! 

I turned around to find the Head Butler standing at the door. 

“Hello young man, a word please.”