Cookie

"Oof, crystal stag meat sure sticks with you. I'm still full and it's almost lunch." Zeph rubbed his stomach, then reached into the center console of the truck and grabbed a soda. Everyone went a little wild at the feast last night. They all over-ate and some over-drank. Eli made an all-natural hangover cure and gave it to all the adults earlier today.

"Yeah, but it was so good," Bernard pat his belly happily. They managed to pack up the camp and left an hour before lunchtime. The trip would take long enough for them to miss lunch, but no one minded. Everyone was still full of crystal stag steak. Right now, the old man was using the massage chair in his truck to help him digest.

Zeph decided to copy his grandpa, so he reclined his chair and relaxed. He could see the changing scenery out of the window. Rain was pouring once again. Bernard said that it would only get worse as the last month of summer was always rainy and stormy. Zeph started wondering about the seasons because of all the rain. Delving into his memories, Zeph searched for the relevant information provided by the learning gems.

The city of Asperitus, which Zeph and Bernard resided, experienced the same four seasons that the boy was used to. Winter, spring, summer, and fall lasted three months each. However, each season had something peculiar to it. Summer had the ending month of rain. Fall had two weeks where no wind would blow. Winter possessed a whole month were a phenomenon similar to the aurora borealis could be seen in the sky. Finally, spring had a day where the rain would fall slowly, similar to a feather gently gliding to the ground.

Bernard suddenly interrupted the boy's thoughts by opening a soda and loudly drinking it. When he saw that Zeph was paying attention to him, Bernard decided to talk about something. "I forgot to tell you something. Later this week, an old friend of mine from the capital will bring his granddaughter and stay with us for a while."

"Interesting….she's not here for any arranged marriage shenanigans right?" Zeph said as he took a sip of his lemon-lime flavored soda.

"No, he knows that I would have no patience for something of that nature. He's actually bringing her over because she will be attending the same school you are this fall. He'll be staying with her while she attends. I can't guarantee she won't try to get your attention though"

"Hopefully, she doesn't. I don't have any interest in dating someone right now, much less getting engaged. Given my…condition, I'm much more interested in older women. Still, meeting an old friend of yours sounds interesting. Speaking of which, you said something about me being bothered by the nobility and other mage clans. You said they would try to bring me into their family. How can they do that when I'm an heir to the Malston family?"

"You would still be bonded by marriage. After you were married to a member of their family, they would be considered allies to the Malston family. That in itself has several benefits, but you are the only other living Malston. They could use that as an excuse to 'assist' you in your noble duties, controlling you from the shadows." Bernard had a bitter look on his face.

"Speaking from experience, I take it?"

"Yes, young love ruined by the greed of others," Bernard sighed. "The young lady didn't stand up to her parents, and they used her to try and manipulate me. I ended the relationship, and the whole situation turned out poorly for everyone involved." The old man went quiet for a few minutes, lost in memories. When he noticed Zeph's worried look, Bernard tried to smile and change the subject. "My friends helped me get over it, especially the one you're going to meet soon." He took a sip from his soda, finishing the bottle.

"Cool, he sounds like a good friend. What's his name?" Zeph was more than happy to focus on something else. He did make a mental note to not talk about love problems with Bernard in the future though.

Bernard reached into the center console to grab another drink. "His name's Ronan Phillips. Nice guy, kind of competitive, and he'll definitely have a lot of stories to tell. Most of them are utter rubbish though. You'll get along well with them, they aren't conservative nobles. They are more active in the political scene than me, but they really care for the common people. I think he mentioned that it was this political stance that made them want to send Liliana here. By the way, Liliana is his granddaughter's name.

"I see. I'm not too into politics. But if it's anything like my old world's history, the conservative nobles want to keep all the political power while liberal nobles wish to give more power to the people."

Bernard's eyes widened slightly. "That's exactly it. So I take it that your old world had gone through a similar phase?"

"Yes and no. There were many countries with different political views. The country I came from was called the United States of America. We had conservatives and liberals as well, but they weren't nobles.

"Really, that's very interesting. All the countries we know of use an aristocratic form of government. Some with monarchs and others run by a council. Andronath, our country, is run by the Council of Magisters. Nobles gather to make policy and are given governing rights over territories, but must answer to the council. If you're curious about it, you can search through the information you downloaded."

"Maybe later, politics was never a subject I was interested in. Will that be a problem, now that I'm a noble?"

"No, the Malston family rarely has a hand in politics. It's been that way for generations. As for governing our territory, we leave it up to the City councils and local government. In fact, our province includes several cities and a trade port. Right now, Asperitus is the capital of the Malston territory."

"Good to know." The boy yawned. "I think I'm going to take a nap until we get home, is that ok?"

"Sure, no problem."

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When Zeph woke up, he was in his room. No one wanted to wake him up when they got home, so Bernard floated him to his room. Rin was sitting on his chest purring while she squinted at him. When he thought about getting up, the kitten hopped off his chest and onto the nightstand. After feeding her a steady diet of magic beast meat, Rin had gotten more intelligent. She was starting to understand Zeph's intentions from their shared bond. This worked both ways, as she was also able to communicate her intentions to him. Right now, he was feeling her strong desire to be carried to the kitchen and given a treat.

Zeph told the kitten to wait a bit, and he went to shower and change. Feeling refreshed, he took the kitten to the kitchen. There was a plate of cookies and a note on the table.

'For Zeph and Rin, love Alex, Bianca, and Eli. See you next Monday. =)'

He remembered Bernard mention that he would give them the week off when they got back. To his surprise, the three servants lived at the far end of the compound. There was a section of the property designated for employees. It was comprised of two large two-storey buildings. One was for male servants and the other formal servants. Eli and Bianca took up one house each, since most of the Malston estate was unused and there were only three servants.

Alex had a Room in the main house with Bernard and Zeph, but he often left on his days off to visit his grandchildren with his wife. Zeph was surprised when the dwarf said he had five children, three daughters, and two sons. When Zeph asked the butler about his wife, he smiled and started talking nonstop. This dapper dwarf really loved his wife, and he spoke about her as if they were still newlyweds. It was almost sickeningly sweet. She was a member of the city council and helped keep the Malston family in touch with the populace. Her name was Kevalia, and the two of them had been married for over 100 years. Needless to say, Zeph was gobsmacked when he heard that.

Zeph smiled. Even though they were employer and employees, everyone treated one another as if they were family. Lost in thought, the boy felt a breeze against his ears. He swiped at it, in case it was a bug. Then he felt another one, so he looked in that direction. Nothing was there. A gentle wind brushed his other ear and he turned in that direction. Again, there was nothing. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew across his face originating from the table. When he turned his head in that direction, he saw a small kitten sitting proudly in front of the cookies. A cute voice sounded in his mind. ~Cookie!~

The young boy stared at the fluffy kitten in utter shock. "Was that you Rin?"

"Nya." She meowed softly, but the voice rang in his head again. ~Cookie~

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