Ziel slowly opened his sleepy eyes. Today is the 15th day of the purple moon on the holy calendar, and he is now 15 years old. Unlike his previous life, Ziel now had gray hair. He is 180cm tall, and his skin is a bit pale.
The thing that stood out the most about him was his crimson eyes. Before he reincarnated, his eyes were brown. Because his old power awakened in his new body three years ago, Ziel's eyes suddenly turned crimson.
Another visible thing from his figure was the burn on his face shaped like a magic circle piled with aura seals. It happened because his body couldn't contain the power, and he had to seal it by force. Unfortunately, the seal was unstable at the current state of his body, and the result was that mark on his face. But it will disappear with time and training.
"That dream again, huh..." Ziel muttered while looking at the ceiling of his room.
He quickly got up from his bed and prepared to clean himself and start training. The training referred to here is training to become a servant.
Suddenly the door to his room opened. The one who entered was a middle-aged woman in a maid outfit. The woman's name is Anna. She has golden yellow hair in a bun. She is Ziel's adoptive mother and the butler of the Argaint Kingdom's castle.
It is said that Ziel was found when he was a baby in an abandoned house when she took shelter during a heavy rain after she returned from the Aurelia Kingdom. She also got Ziel Grisel's name from the letter she found with Ziel.
"Ziel, you're awake right?" Anna asked Ziel.
"Yeah, I just woke up. What's wrong with you, Anna? You look in a hurry today?" Ziel asked Anna, who suddenly entered her room without knocking first.
Ziel thought it was unusual for Anna to act in such a hurry. He remembered there shouldn't be anything important today.
"Huh? Did you forget Ziel? Today is the selection of new servants for the nobles and the royal family." Anna was surprised because she had told Ziel about this event yesterday.
"Ah, I just remembered it was held today. But it doesn't seem to have anything to do with me. Who would choose a servant with a sour face like me?" Ziel answered flatly.
Anna felt a pain in her chest after hearing Ziel say that. She already thought of Ziel as her son. Even though his face was disfigured like that for some unknown reason, Anna still loved him.
"You must prepare yourself for the servant selection because Princess Aishia will be coming to the event with Princess Freya!" Anna said excitedly.
"Princess Freya? Isn't she the princess of the Aurelia Kingdom? Did she come to pick a servant too?" Ziel asked because he didn't understand Princess Freya's purpose.
"No, King Elrick is having a meeting with King Leonida. Princess Freya came with him. Princess Freya is also Princess Aishia's childhood friend. So she came only to accompany Princess Aishia. Both Princesses are gorgeous, Ziel. Hehe..." Anna laughed teasingly at Ziel.
"Is that so? There's no way I'll be chosen to be their servant. It's none of my business either. Alright, I'll prepare myself first. " Ziel shrugged his shoulders like he didn't care about that.
"Okay, I'll wait for you outside." Anna was sad to hear him say that.
"Yes." Ziel only answered briefly.
Anna rushed out and closed the door. As soon as Anna came out, Ziel immediately got ready to shower and dress. He didn't forget to take the mask from his 'space storage'.
The mask was plain white with no holes and only had patterns on his eyes. The mask looks ordinary and is not made of metal, wood, or plastic but is made specifically of bone, dragon bone, to be precise. The mask was an artifact that would conceal the mana and aura leaking from his face and eyes.
He wore the mask so others wouldn't see the mark on his face. Even when Ziel talked to Anna without wearing a mask, he had to close his eyes because his eyes sometimes glowed. After all, the power he was sealing was unstable.
"Haaah…" Ziel took a deep breath and put the mask on his face. Then he immediately came out of his room and there Anna was waiting for him to come out.
"Are you ready?" Anna asked excitedly.
"What am I ready for?" Ziel asked back, slightly tired.
"Of course for the servant selection! This is your chance, Ziel! Please don't be pessimistic! Your abilities already surpass other young servants!" Anna tried to encourage Ziel.
"Even if my face is like this? They will run away while I serve them." Ziel said while pointing at his face.
"Haah...Just go straight to the place where the event is being held. The venue for the event was in the garden behind the castle." Anna sighed and pulled Ziel's hand towards the servant selection venue.
"Yes." Ziel nodded slightly in response and walked after Anna.
Dozens of young servants came flocking to the garden behind the castle. The event will start at lunchtime. So at least there's still plenty of time to prepare. But they had already gathered in the garden behind the castle, which meant that this event was significant to them.
"Ooh, who's coming? A bad-looking servant who dreams he will serve the nobles." Suddenly someone threw sarcasm at Ziel. He's a boy Ziel's age with yellowish gold hair, yellow eyes, and quite handsome. He is taller than Ziel, with a height of 185cm. The boy's name was Reiner. He is the biological son of Anna. But from the way he spoke, he didn't like Ziel.
"Reiner, what did you say!?" Anna asked in a slightly angry tone.
Ziel just silently heard his words and didn't even look at him. But Anna, who heard it became angry.
"What did I say, mom? What I said is the truth, right?" Reiner asked the friends behind him with a smile.
"Yeah yeah, that's right!"
"Yes!"
The young servants who came along with Reiner answered it. They were Reiner's friends. But hearing that made Anna even angrier.
"Reiner, stop it! You'd better prepare yourself to serve the nobles later instead of thinking about others. Are you sure you are worthy to serve them?" Anna said seriously.
"Tch, you always help him! Is he more important to you than me? Let's go from here! This will only spoil my mood!" Reiner clicked her tongue in displeasure.
Reiner went with his friend to the servant's preparation area. Anna approached Ziel and patted him on the shoulder to calm him down.
"I'm sorry for what Reiner did. I hope you don't think about it too much." Anna said weakly.
"You don't have to worry about that. Rather than that, shouldn't you also prepare to welcome the nobles and royal families as butlers?" Ziel shook his head and reminded Anna of her assignment.
"Yeah, you're right! I was just about to say it. Alright, you can prepare yourself at the place where the young servants gather. I will go to arrange the senior servants first. Good luck today, Ziel!" Anna said cheerfully and left Ziel alone in the place.
"Hopefully..." Ziel answered nonchalantly.
Anna walked hastily towards the senior servants' quarters to prepare herself for the upcoming nobles and royal families. Ziel went to where the young servants were gathered and just stood quietly in the corner of the place without saying anything.