Chapter 11: Tempest Manor
Six years passed since the day Ashoka was named.
He no longer had to experience the shame of having his nanny replace his diapers, but it was still difficult for him to imitate the attitude of a child.
Thanks to his twin, Blondie, he got to know how the children behave, so he just copied whatever Blondie did.
But even that was difficult as Ashoka was developing very quickly compared to blondie, for example, Ashoka was able to talk when he was just six months old but to not surprise his mother and grandparents, he had to keep it a secrete until he was one year old because that's when blondie started to utter the words.
He wanted to live a laid-back lazy life so, he didn't want to attract the attention of others by giving them an assumption that he is a genius so he tried his best to act normal like a blondie.
But there was a problem.
It was that even Blondie was considered a genius considering his incredibly fast development, be it mentally or physically.
Blondie was able to swing a sword at the age of three and Ashoka who didn't even know the first thing about this world copied him and started to swing the sword too.
That's where the problem started.
The maids and servants who saw the incredible growth of the twins started to spread rumors.
The Genius Twins of Moon goddess.
That's what the people started calling them.
And of course, the rumor didn't manage to escape the ministers who had eyes and ears everywhere in the Empire.
Thus both Blondie and Ashoka were sent to the Tempest manor three months later.
'I want to escape from this Tempest Manor already.'
The Tempest Manor.
Located at the far eastern side of the Empire in the province of Ujjain, was a castle built for the education and protection of the Emperor's children.
All the princes and Princesses who are selected by the council of ministers in the royal court are sent to the Tempest Manor, for the education of their potential next ruler in Kingship.
The children cannot take a single footstep outside the Tempest Manor until they turn ten, to protect them from assassination attempts.
'What kind of madman would try to assassinate the Emperor's children?'
Ashoka thought.
But in actuality, there was a certain case around 50 years ago when someone had attempted it.
A group of rebels had attacked the castle, and 7 young princes who were the siblings of the current Emperor ended up getting killed.
However, the very next day the entire rebel army was annihilated, including every family member and the extended families of the servants, and disappeared into the annals of history.
Ever since then, it had been a tradition and rule within the royal court to have every chosen talented child of the Emperor to remain within the Tempest Manor until they became 10 years of age.
'I'm so bored.'
The atmosphere in the Tempest Manor was indeed worthy of its name.
It was located at the peak of Mt. Kamet, which was presumed to be the tallest mountain in the world. As its name suggested, a tempest was surrounding the castle at all times, during all four seasons. The rain, gales, and lightning constantly affected the mountaintop.
'This place isn't suitable for a child's emotional growth at all, what hell were those old ministers thinking, to be sending the still young children here?'
Currently, there were six children residing in the Tempest Manor including Ashoka and blondie.
His 10 other siblings had all either exceeded the age of ten or weren't selected due to their lack of talent.
It may seem like a shock that the emperor had 16 children, but it was common among the rulers to have multiple consorts and many children.
Besides 16 was only the number that was counted with his queen and concubines, the illegitimate blood of the Emperor ran deeper than that.
Anyway, Ashoka and his five brothers, the 5 elite knights protecting each of them, their nannies, and the other 10 servants that looked after the manor were the only people occupying the huge Tempest manor.
"Ashoka!"
As soon as he heard the voice calling him, Ashoka's frustration and irritation increased exponentially.
The boy calling for him with that annoying voice was Sharath Maurya.
He was older than Ashoka by two years.
"Why are you alone without your incredible Twin? Did you two break up? Kuhaha."
And the other brother who was mocking him was Hayara Maurya, who was one year older than Ashoka.
They were both brothers belonging to the same mother, although, like Ashoka and blondie, both were children of a concubine.
From what Ashoka had observed till now, both of them were the literal explanation of Assholes.
'These annoying brats.'
Ashoka thought as he turned around to face them.
He had not a single good memory of the brothers in the past years they were together.
They had bullied him and Blondie from the movement they entered tempest manor, although Ashoka could beat up some kids with his adult memories whenever he wanted, he held back thinking that it would cause him more harm than good.
As Ashoka didn't react to their mockery, the brothers continued to harass him.
Hema, Ashoka's nanny, had temporarily left the Tempest Manor today.
The brothers had been eagerly waiting for this day to come and had no intention to let Ashoka spend the day in peace.
"Oi, we're talking to you. Where is your cry baby twin?"
The brothers had begun to torment Ashoka and blondie from the first day they entered the Tempest Manor.
It had started off as some light harassment that Hema wouldn't notice. Some examples were locking the door when Ashoka went to the bathroom or pouring a bunch of salt in his soup on Blondie.
But afterward, it began to escalate.
Day by day, they were increasing their daring acts.
Nonetheless, Ashoka had endured the harassment in silence.
But Blondie, who was a weak-willed child from birth became their perfect target.
They bullied Sudhatta since he was weak-willed and found joy in it.
But they weren't satisfied with it, the glaring eyes of Ashoka annoyed them so much that they decided to change the target today.
The brothers approached their younger brother Ashoka with large strides trying to intimidate him.
And the same time blondie appeared.
"What are you two doing!"
He screamed in a weak voice.
---***---
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone