Xidriel stretched his arms and groaned softly as his stiff body finally got to relax.

For the past two days, he had been perusing the library in the Seymour mansion as he was forced to remember the important details and inner working designs of the gramophone and the disc records from his old life he once read out of boredom, all because Amon got really curious about it.

While Xidriel only planned to make it for himself to get some ambient music playing in his room at night, Amon had other plans with it, seeing that it’s a new and unknown market to tap into and had requested Xidriel to draw a mock up for the device.

He could’ve simplified it by drawing the finished product instead of mapping out the details, but he feared the other party might find it a little confusing.

He doesn’t want to be held liable for anything that might go awry during its creation.

Collecting the papers scattered about the table, Xidriel glanced out of the library’s windows.

Wisps of clouds littered the blue skies, and the cool air outside made Xidriel crave a cold, strong caffeinated drink.

Sadly, no one had ever heard of coffee in this part of the kingdom so he resorted to asking the butler for stronger tea, to which the chef in charge of Xidriel’s meals had to personally intervene once he heard about it because that would clash with his medication.

It was quite the experience, being berated by a well-built chef and given something else for his well being. Xidriel instantly folded the moment he saw the dark expression on the chef’s face, as he knew better than to argue with someone who is in charge of his food.

It also reminded him of that time he got berated by his cardiologist in the past after seeing the terrible results of his 2D Echo test.

Xidriel sighed, wanting to get out of the Seymour mansion as soon as possible to get away from that overzealous chef.

The door to the library opened and a maid politely walked up to him to inform him that the people sent by his grandfather had arrived and were waiting for him downstairs.

Gathering his stuff and stowing them away into an envelope, he followed the maid down to the first floor waiting room.

There were at least six people in there, five of them wearing the livery of the Sternberg knights and the other one seemed to be a junior butler, whose light brown hair was longer than Xidriel remembered.

Xidriel didn’t recognize four of the knights, making him wonder if his grandfather had hired them recently or if he had sent a few from his personal guards.

The tallest knight stood up once Xidriel entered, prompting the rest of them to do the same.

He has fair olive skin and short brown hair, his body much more developed compared to his fellow knights. His plum irises locked on Xidriel, his brows tightly furrowed with a complicated expression.

He politely bowed in greeting. “Young master.”

The other knights followed suit, with the junior butler stiffly doing it a heart beat later.

Xidriel rubbed the back of his neck as he turned his attention to the tall knight and the junior butler. “I’m glad you guys still recognize me…”

“We have been serving you for eight years, young master.” The knight replied with a flat tone. “It’ll take more than a magical dye to fool our eyes.”

Xidriel uneasily chuckled at that as he gestured for everyone to be at ease. “I still have some things to attend to for the next two days. Zain, Noé…you guys rest up first and enjoy your stay in the Capital.”

The junior butler named Noé only squinted at him suspiciously, his crimson irises probing Xidriel’s face. “You’re not planning on running away, are you, young master?”

Xidriel sighed. “No, I’m not…I’m only meeting with someone for a commission…”

“That’s what you said to me when I tried to stop you from sneaking out.” Noé pointed out, making Xidriel flinch guiltily.

×××

“I suppose a high ranking noble like you wouldn’t go out without escorts.” Amon said as he removed his reading glasses, while Xidriel was shown into his office by his secretary. “However, don’t you think this is too much..? Isn’t the Meister overreacting by being this overprotective?”

Xidriel chuckled half heartedly at that. He had tried to dissuade them from coming with him to the business district where Amon’s main headquarters is located, yet failed spectacularly when Noé firmly planted himself by the door and refused to budge.

In the end, all six escorts went with him in the borrowed carriage and two horses from the Seymours. Both Zain and Noé stayed in the carriage with Xidriel, while two knights sat up front with the coachman, and the other two trailed behind them on the borrowed horses.

Noé and Zain had come into the office with Xidriel, as they were his personal aide and knight, and the other four waited outside by the lobby, aware that they were attracting attention due to the Sternberg livery they were wearing.

“No, no…they’ve come to pick me up and escort me back home.”

Amon hummed thoughtfully at that as they both sat down on the couches to discuss business. Xidriel handed over the envelope to him and Amon quietly perused its content.

Xidriel, having nothing to do, looked around the spacious and well decorated office one would expect from a businessman in a fantasy world: hardwood flooring, paintings hanging by the wall, bookcases filled with what he assumed to be sales reports, a heavy oak table and a comfortable chair and several lamps powered by magic stones inscribed with runes.

He had discovered over the days he was idly staying in the Seymour mansion that the things inside it were not powered by electricity, but of magic stones instead. He found it oddly fitting yet impractical at the same time because they have to consistently mine for the magic stones to keep up with the demand.

He knew, growing up in a mountainous region, that those stones aren’t going to spawn infinitely. However, he’s not confident enough if he could emulate the discovery of electricity in this world; he shortly convinced himself that it’s not his problem since he would probably be dead by the time people have exhausted the mines.

The one thing that he didn’t expect from a person like Amon is him having a pot of forget-me-nots by the window, as he didn’t seem to be the type to care about flowers.

Xidriel turned his attention back to Amon when he heard him put down the papers he was reading.

“Is it possible to make it?” Xidriel tentatively asked, noticing the frown on Amon’s brows.

Was it too complicated? Did he not draw it properly?

“The box is doable.” Amon replied with a small smile. “The disc, however, needs further analysis by the engineer.”

Xidriel’s face brightened up at that, catching everyone in the room off guard.

Both Noé and Zain were used to his overly polite smiles and occasional grumblings that seeing him like that was astounding, with half a mind wondering what happened to him over the six months that changed him.

As for Amon, who was his companion for a handful of days, compared him to a flower finally blooming after a storm.

“Then, for the downpayment for this commission…” Xidriel said, his mood slightly deflating as he glanced at Noé. “Um, Noé…how much did my grandfather give for my allowance…?”