Chapter 11: Success!
Soon it was a new day. His back didn't hurt anymore. But when he saw the scars left on his beautiful back, he felt bitter.
'Did that maid perhaps have a cursed mouth? She said I have a smooth back. And now I look like this.'
He lazily put on some clothes and decided to go out and get some fresh air. After that maid was sent to prison, no one came to his service. So he had to do everything alone. Even the food didn't come to him. Because of that, he was starving last night.
As soon as he woke up, what he heard was his stomach crying for food. He rubbed his stomach and got up to see him worn out just because didn't have one meal.
After he put on some easy clothes which were not too tight and stuffy, he thought all done. But when he looked in the mirror, he saw a big mess on the top of his head.
"Fuck! I forgot I have long hair."
He cursed early in the morning. It took him a few minutes to realise he had to be careful of his words. He was an 8-year-old child. But his words didn't sound like they came from an 8-year-old.
"I have to be careful."
He muttered and thought of what to do with this hair.
'Easy! Let's just cut it."
He rummaged through the table, but he couldn't find anything to cut his hair. Disappointed, Henry lazily grabbed his hair and tied it up with a ribbon.
'It's ugly.'
He looked at himself in the mirror and said.
"Should I just ask Martha to help me? What if that fu-duke punishes her for helping me? Agh! I should just kill him."
He hissed and turned back to open the door. But someone opened the door from outside.
"Ah...Young master, from now on I will be your personal maid. My name is Neila."
Another beautiful woman bowed to him and said politely.
Even though he knew it was common, he still couldn't get used to elders bowing at him. It felt very odd. He didn't like it.
"Thank you. Can you help me tie up my hair?"
After a few minutes, he found himself with a pretty face. His long black hair was tied up properly into a high ponytail. The long-sleeved and properly buttoned shirt in all white gave his face brightness. He looked into his brown colour eyes which he found enchanting. He couldn't deny it, but he looked a lot like that fuc- no, that duke.
That duke also had those same brown eyes. Even though he was not a good person, Henry still had to accept the fact that the guy was a handsome middle-aged man. He looked domineering and elegant at first look, but rotten on the inside.
While the duke had short hair, only Henry had such long hair as a male in that mansion. But he saw that healer Arthur also had a little long hair but not as long as his.
"Neila, can you help me cut my hair short? It's getting on my way."
Henry looked at Neila's reflection in the mirror and asked without turning back. At first, she seemed surprised and hesitant. Maybe she did not dare to cut a noble's hair. But then she nodded and said she will follow his every order.
"Thank you. Then can we do it now?"
Henry took a look at his properly tie-up hair. But he really wanted to get rid of that.
"I am sorry, young master. But you will have to get permission from the duke."
'I would rather struggle with this every day.'
He just gave up cutting his hair like that. He changed his mind pretty quickly and said no need. As he said he didn't notice the maid, Neila sighed secretly.
Henry had no special plan in his mind. First of all, he had to gain a better understanding of the things in this world. So what was in his mind was to discover new things and be aware of the threats. So he could live peacefully.
When he stepped out of his room, he met Ricarda face to face. Maybe she came there to visit him. She was holding a food basket in her hand while Martha was following her with another food basket.
"We are going to the garden to have our breakfast. Why don't you join us?"
Ricarda didn't hesitate. She looked at the food basket and said naturally despite the fact she had to train a lot to talk very casually to him.
It was not a matter of hunger. He just didn't have any interest. He only wanted to find solutions to save his life. But it was a good chance to get along with her.
"Is it okay? I am afraid the duke wi-"
"He went out for business. He would not come back for two weeks. So don't worry."
In the end, Henry followed them when Martha said that the so-called father was out of the mansion.
Martha and Neila folded a mat on the ground and placed the food on it. They were in an empty grass field surrounded by a rose garden. It was such a view, they couldn't focus on that delicious food. The red roses were covering almost every leaf in that bush.
"It's beautiful and very peaceful here."
When Ricarda offered him a sandwich, Henry couldn't keep his happiness. He felt this garden was a different world. That mansion was very huge and luxurious. But for anyone who lived there, it was like a prison in hell.
"I thought you didn't like the outside world. But this is not the reality outside the mansion. It is very hard to survive. You might never understand it."
Martha and Neila didn't join them. They sat under a tree a little far away from them and let those two get along since they could rely on each other in the future.
"From the way you are talking, I can see you must have a lot of experience. I don't actually know anything about the outside."
Henry chewed on the sandwich and said seriously. Even though they didn't realise it, their conversation was very serious and both of them looked like adults who had gone through many traumas.
"I see... You do look like a Noble."
Henry originally had a noble look. His facial fractures and skin looked very rich and well-treated. He looked very fair, anyone could feel like Ricarda felt.
While they enjoyed the vision and meal, they didn't know how much time had passed. But they talked very rarely during that time. But it made both of them let go of the unfamiliar feeling of each other. Both accepted each other as good siblings.
It was a success.
Ricarda was very friendly to him.
'Success! I hope this time she will not kill me.'
Henry celebrated his victory in his mind.
Chapter 12: What Is 'it'?
If there is a place where all the information gathers, where could it be?
The library.
Where all kinds of information are written, protected, and maintained properly.
Henry planned to go to the library next. After he came back with Ricarda, he didn't hang out with her all day. He went to the library with Neila.
"Neila, it will take some time. So you can go back and do something else."
Neila left without any complaint. After she left, he just kneeled on the ground.
'My god! This is the coolest place I have ever seen. I want to live here every day.'
Just a bookworm thing. He was addicted to books. But he never read any entertaining books. All he read were educational books and that was what entertained him. Sometimes Rexy would show a disgusted look hearing him talking about frogs and something out of blue.
That place was like a paradise for him. It was the biggest library he had ever been to. The book racks were tall enough for him to not notice the end of them. Around him, it was all books. He felt like he was in heaven.
He was sure he would find everything he wanted here.
"But how am I supposed to get the books from that high?"
He looked up and saw it was an impossible thing to do. But then he remembered that this world had magic. So there must be some kind of magic there too.
"Come here."
He just randomly called. But nothing came. He sulked and sat on the chair placed next to him. As he thought again, he just randomly shouted out some more nonsense.
Finally giving up, he thought about what he wanted to know. But there are many. He couldn't choose one.
He had to know about Ricarda's abnormal change in her eyes. Last time, he had the chance to ask it herself. But he was a little scared. So he just threw that idea away.
"I should first observe the details about myself. Let's start with this family. The Bryxton family."
What happened next was totally unexpected. He just looked up because he heard a sound. Above his head there were exactly 14 books flying. He just stared at the flying books and then started counting them. As he stretched his hand, the closet book landed in his palm. Very gentle!
That was enough for Henry to get obsessed. He landed all the books and thought about what happened there.
"So cool! It's like a searching application. As soon as I said what I wanted, the books came by themselves. So cool!!!"
After laughing alone for a long time, his cheeks started hurting. He pinched them and picked the first book.
"Bryxton Curse?"
He felt really bad about the title. Out of all, why did he have to pick up such a book?
"Am I cursed?"
The only thing he understood was it. He gulped and flipped the first page but only to see a picture of a beautiful woman.
"No name?"
It was recorded as her name was originally No name. He didn't know whether she didn't have a name or her name was actually No name.
"Agh! What is this?"
He confusingly flipped to the next page but threw it away screaming. He had not much idea about what was coming next. So he just flipped it casually.
What did he see?
It was just a picture. But it was a picture of some kind of strange creature.
The first thing he noticed was a head. Then he saw it clearly. That thing had not only one head but also four heads. Each of the heads had the same features but different expressions. All the faces look alike other than those expressions on them. All the heads are owned by females. All the heads had long hair too.
But what was so terrifying about it?
Their body.
All of those heads had one body and that was also not a human body but a strange body he had never seen. It had one human hand on the left. On the right side, it was a human leg instead of a hand. The picture didn't include the lower body. It only stopped at the belly button of that thing. There was a dog head right in the middle of its chest. It had its mouth open and in the picture, it looked like something was falling from its mouth.
He was a little shaken but was not scared. But when suddenly that dog's head opened its eyes, he almost died out of that sudden fear. And it even blinked. He was terrified and he threw the book away as he screamed. But no one heard him.
"Fuck! What was that?"
He gasped for air and looked at the book hesitantly. He still wanted to read the rest of them. Since this world was full of magic, he thought it might be magically created to make the pictures look realistic.
He gathered his energy and picked up the book again with trembling hands.
He took another book and covered the picture as soon as he picked up the book again.
Then he read the paragraph under the picture.
"This is 'it'. 'It' was born because the people had done too many sins. So god sent 'it' to destroy those burdensome people in Bryxton. 'It' became the curse of Bryxton where many dukes died horribly before they reached their 18.
The curse follows all the future dukes and kills them before they reach 18. So be aware, all the Bryxton future to be dukes! Run away! So 'it' won't kill you."
Henry put the book aside and took a deep breath. He didn't know why he was very shocked by this paragraph which was utter nonsense from his perspective.
However, in this magical world, he felt like it wouldn't be impossible. Because the original owner also died, he himself also died before he reached 18. So somehow what the book said was true. But he didn't want to believe that. But he still had to believe it. For the first time in his life, he regretted reading a book.
He shouldn't have searched for those things. Then he wouldn't have to know those things and suffer thinking about them all the time.
But he still flipped the next page, closing his eyes. Then he slowly opened his eyes and peeked through his fingers slowly as if then it wouldn't be scary.
The next picture was not actually scary. It was a boy who looked a little similar to his father, the duke. That boy was young and looked very happy in that picture. It was obviously not that guy, but someone else.
Under the picture, there was something written.
"Felix- the elder son of fifteenth duke Bryxton.
He died on his 14th birthday in his bed. When people discovered his dead body, his heart had been plugged out. But the examiners later found his heart near the Bryxton Lake with a knife stabbed into it. Like that, another young life was taken away by 'it'."
The more Henry read the more unbelievable he found it was.
"Heart plugged out? But later found it near the Bryxton lake along with a knife?"
He didn't intentionally recall that scene. But the scene automatically flashed in his mind. He recalled how that strange-looking Ricarda stabbed through his heart. He thought if she also plugged his heart out. But who knew? He was already dead at that time. How could he know what she did afterward?
Things were getting more and more mysterious. He flipped to the next page and saw a familiar face.
"This guy, huh! Then why is he still alive?"
He looked at the young man in the picture and said with a disgusted look.
"The youngest son of the fifteenth duke Bryxton."
"Let's see what this says about you."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
2 Power
stone 
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