Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Kyon hid at the training ground and focused on the information he had just received about the most basic element: pure energy / pure force / inner energy / spiritual will. Call it what you like, the essence is the same.
It was not easy to understand what was in his head. Kyon released the energy from his soul to manage the channel, adjust its thickness, length, angles, and all that jazz, just like he did in the mine.
He assumed that an average person should understand it intuitively in the form of enlightenment, but he didn’t like this spontaneous method at all. Kyon was not used to relying on coincidence or some mysterious talent he didn’t even care about.
Time went by, but no one popped into the training ground, which was good.
Kyon was still trying to match the piles of incomprehensible neuron bundles with common sense. They had absolutely no logic. He could as well use the method of error and trial… Even Synergy did not particularly contribute to the quick assimilation of the facts, and the basic grade of pure energy was considered to be the easiest of them all. It was not so easy for the average to reach enlightenment… Acquiring the main and only grade of pure energy usually depended on chance, luck, and talent.
A whole day went by in unsuccessful but necessary attempts to master the basic grade of energy. It was already evening.
Apparently, heaven decided to show some mercy to Kyon: the little bitch had never arrived to finish him off.
His stomach started acting up again, making loud rumbling like a mammoth. Kyon pressed his hands to the stomach and pulled a face. He urgently needed food. His recovery froze. It was no good. He had to go hunting or something. Since they were not going to feed him, Kyon had to get food on his own.
Walking around the garden and hesitating to enter the mansion, he suddenly noticed Anna telling off a servant in the distance. The ashen man bowed to her, begging not to punish him and vowing to do better next time. In the end, the good-natured maid gave him one last chance. The servant fell to his knees in tears. Anna snorted contemptuously and headed for the mansion.
Kyon summoned up all his courage and caught up with the maid. He caught her attention with neutral “excuse me,” and when Anna turned around, he talked to her with his dignified lisping:
«Lady Anna, I wanted to thank you for not punishing me when you found me walking without permission in the mansion. You see, I was looking for the bathroom…»
Anna could not help staring at his toothless bloody mouth, his swelling blue eye, a pale complexion that could be seen in rare places free from bruises and hematomas. However, she quickly put on an icy look on her face and answered in an impassive voice:
«No need to thank me. It would be worse if someone had to clean up after you at the training ground. I could tolerate a moment of your presence in the place where you weren’t supposed to be… Speaking of which, what are you doing here?»
His stomach rumbled. Kyon bowed his head and sighed:
«I’m sorry… Everyone has completely forgotten about me… or maybe they never remembered. I’ve been sleeping on the ground. I haven’t eaten for more than two days. It’s out of the question to get any health care… I don’t blame lady Juno if she thinks I deserve it… But… I’m sorry.»
Anna’s heart sank with pity, which was rather unusual for her, but her mind kept whispering: you can’t help him in any way, you have no right to change his fate.
Kyon sobbed and sadly slouched back to the training ground without waiting for an answer. It seemed that his plan had failed. He would have no food. All his crocodile tears had instantly disappeared, leaving him with cheerless prospects. He was shackled in the cage with the beast in Juno’s disguise.
Conflicting feelings tore Anna apart. Compassion for someone who was in a low position was unacceptable for her but… The poor fellow’s life was a living hell. What should she do?
She had no idea and left quietly, her shoulders drooping.
The dark-haired maid had been watching that charade silently. She tapped her foot, visibly displeased, her arms crossed. The slave didn’t only break the rules, he dared to talk with her sister. Anna had always been silly, gullible and over-enthusiastic, always too close to bending the rules.
Anyway, Anna ignored the voice of reason humming in her head and decided to help the unfortunate slave. She took the remains of pasta in the kitchen and carried the tray to the training ground, looking around with a thievish look. What if someone would see her? Her position was too high to bring food to anyone but her masters, after all.
It was very unusual for her to give in to the new feeling so close to compassion and help someone who was not worthy even of her glance… But why should she follow the rules when she could follow her heart?
The gate creaked softly, and Kyon saw Anna appearing like an angel at his abode. Her thick blond hair was swaying slightly in the wind. The maid’s uniform fit her like a second skin. Her deep cleavage attracted glances like a magnet… All that had suddenly faded, paled, took a back seat compared to the silver tray in her hands definitely loaded with something edible! Long live acting skills and the eternal women’s compassion for all the unfortunate and crazy that never changed, no matter where in the world he was!
Kyon’s deliberately tear-stained face lit up with a happy smile, which made Anna miss a heartbeat. Her hands started to tremble. She tottered unsteadily toward Kyon when… Dinah, the dark-haired maid, jumped over the barrier and stood between her sister and the slave:
«What are you doing, sister?»
Anna backed away in confusion:
«Dinah, I… I’ve brought him something to eat…»
The dark-haired maid gave her an icy stare:
«This slave had broken the rules when he appeared in the mansion without lady Juno’s permission. He should have been killed a long time ago. And now you decided not to give a damn about the orders…»
«I know, but…» – Anna mumbled, trying to pick up the words to justify herself, but Dinah did not even listen to her. She snatched the plate from her hands and emptied it at the top of Kyon’s head. «No ifs or buts. We must strictly follow the rules and never let any feelings influence our decisions.»
Kyon froze in shock. The plaintive look on his face squeezed the fair-haired maid’s heart. She only wanted to help him, but she seemed to have made his situation only worse.
Dinah threw the last cold look at her sister:
«Clean up the mess as a punishment.» – She snorted contemptuously and went to the mansion.
Anna watched her leave, shook her head and muttered, trying not to meet Kyon’s eyes:
«I’m sorry, boy… It’s my fault…»
For the first time in her life, she apologized to someone below her rank. The whole situation seemed to be staged in the theater of the absurd. Her common sense had flown down the lane and far away. An indescribable discord reigned in Anna’s soul.
Kyon shook his head:
«Do not apologize, my lady.» – He brushed the remnants of pasta off his head, took the tray from her hands, knelt and began to collect the rest of the food from the floor and eat it blowing off the dirt. Food is life. Life was more important to him than petty honor and pride. And what is dirt? Strains of microbes? They are everywhere. It’s all relative.
Anna pursed her lips and silently left the ground with mixed feelings. Her life had been monotonous for more than five years. She was in charge of servants, cleaned the lady’s chambers, and read a couple of pages before bedtime. Day after day, night after night, everything was the same with no end to that. The boy came as a breath of fresh air. At last, some novelty in her life.
A servant sent by Anna took the plate and the tray away.
Kyon’s body ached and did not obey in certain places. It was dark in his eyes from blood loss, but a bit of food had given him hope of restoring his vitality. However, without mastering the pure energy, he didn’t have a chance to survive in these inhuman conditions.
Kyon desperately continued mastering pure energy. It was his only hope. Marina couldn’t help him yet… Anna wouldn’t risk her position anymore. He was alone, completely alone, forgotten and abandoned by everyone in the world. He couldn’t expect help from anywhere and had to rely on himself. For the first time, his imperial dignity was subjected to such intense stress. And yet, he did not give up.
The rest of the day and the following night were eventless. The spawn of satan in the guise of an angel never came to finish him off, which was tantamount to a miracle. Or maybe it was an extension of his agony.
And then the early morning came. Kyon felt a little stronger when he put the sound transmitter to the ear.
Surprisingly, Marina said that she would be there at seven in the morning. The sausage would come in very handy! It was his chance!
An hour later, Kyon called Marina again to double-check the time when he should meet her. He crawled out from the training ground and walked to the mansion without paying attention to the servants. If he was going to meet Dinah, so be it. He wasn’t meant to survive then. However, it was not his intention to come out before her bright eyes. He moved carefully, albeit with some effort.
Kyon seized a suitable moment and made his way into the mansion, mingling with three servants. The guard blocked his way at the entrance:
«Show your formation.»
Fortunately, his shaggy hair made it hard to figure out he was a slave. Unfortunately, the formation was required at the entrance to be recorded in the logbook. No one could come or leave just so.
Kyon cleared his throat, vaguely pointed his hand somewhere before him and lisped:
«The girl over there has come to give me something from Mr. Flitz if you please.»
Both guards looked at each other, turned around and saw a beautiful blonde approaching them. She was loaded with five savory sausages.
Kyon felt pleasant warmth spreading all over him at the sight of food. He waved to Marina to greet her.
Marina anxiously approached the guards, never taking her eyes off Kyon:
«Hello, Kyon. Here, I’ve brought everything you asked…»
The stunned guards bowed to the floor at once and barked in unison:
«Greetings to you, Lady Diana!»
One of them hurried to put his wrist to his lips:
«Lady Juno, your mother has arrived!»
Kyon was astounded. He cleared his ear with his little finger. What… What did they say? {Your mother? What the hell?!} Kyon looked around. What if the mysterious “mother” was hiding behind Flitz’s suckretary but no. The road behind Marina was empty.
Marina stood rooted to the spot. Was she somebody’s mother? Was it the reason why Flitz had forbidden her to approach the mansion? No, no… She didn’t think she had ever given birth to anyone. She would have remembered such a significant event. And Flitz was unable to reproduce.
Kyon’s heart sank into his boots when he heard painfully familiar quick footsteps. His eyes were filled with horror. The hope that the guards were just being witty had cleared like a morning mist. They did call Juno in there!
However, the young lady was in no mood for the slave. She kept her stare locked on Marina. The little demoness threw herself on Marina’s neck with a cheerful shriek. The sausages tumbled on the floor.
«Mom! Why didn’t you say a word that you were coming?! And why did you grow young again? New beauty medicine?! And… You’ve changed…»
Juno hesitated. The shape of the eyebrows was a bit different, a slightly different nose, a tiny difference in the corners of the lips.
Marina stood stock-still, unable to utter a word. Everything seemed to her like a crazy dream.
Kyon was the first to come to his senses, realizing that he couldn’t waste any more time. He had to grab the sausages before the situation cleared up (two pieces were rolling right at his feet) and run or rather limp to the place of his residence. He would think over the weird situation later. He had a vague idea anyway. Flitz had strictly forbidden Marina to approach the mansion. When she disobeyed his order, everyone took her for Juno’s mother, even the young sadist herself. It was doubtful that the real mother would become Flitz’s secret lover. It could only mean that Marina looked like the aforementioned lady.
Kyon was nearly crawling to the training ground when he was roughly stopped. Someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned around and let out a woeful groan. It was Dinah.
{Damn it!}
«What’s that in your hands?» – The maid squinted suspiciously.
Kyon kept silent. He was frantically trying to find a way out. How many times did this clingy bitch have to spoil his life?
«I am not going to ask twice. Where did you get the food? Stolen?»
«It’s mine. A friend gave it to me.» – Kyon lisped slowly, staring at her from under his brows.
Dinah was surprised to see the wretched slave’s eyes. His behavior changed more often than chameleon’s colors. The absence of his teeth pleased her. As for his friend, it had to be a lie.
«And now it’s all mine.» – Dinah took away his valuable provisions. The slave was supposed to have his arms cut off for theft, which she had in mind for the near future.
Kyon couldn’t take his angry stare off the maid:
«You can’t do this. The sausage is mine! My friend brought it to me, and I need it!» – The former emperor was grasping at the two sausages as if it was his own life… At moments like this, even one sausage could equal to a mountain of gold.
*bam*
Dinah’s little fist hit him right on the solar plexus knocking all the oxygen out of his lungs. His vision went black, his body got treacherously limp. Kyon collapsed to the ground. Weakness. There it came again…
«You dared to get into the mansion, miserable scum. You’ve stolen food, and now you are talking to me as if I were your equal? I guess it is time to get your limbs shortened.» – Dinah grabbed Kyon by the wrist. A dagger flashed in her hand.
Kyon panicked. Dinah would hardly deign to follow the rules of amputation. The prospect of dying of blood loss developed before him to its full extent. His mind instantly issued the first solution that he could think of:
«My lady Dinah, I know who stole your lingerie!»
Dinah’s grip weakened. She let the slave’s limb out of her hand.
«What did you say?»