Deal Between Cousins

Eos was seated before the brother that was obviously hung over from the previous night, "Lisa, get the Young Master some hangover tonic from the doctor." Ordering Lisa who silently curtsied and quickly went to retrieve the requested item. Eos and her brother relationship were more akin to cousin since they shared the same bloodline through their fathers. As the two were alone in the silent room albeit it from the occasional groan from the young master who was suffering from the usual hangover, but he wasn't overtly having tantrum. Whilst waiting for the hangover tonic from the maid Eos picked up the teacup that was on the table. The warmth of the tea was comforting in the slight chill of the morning that plagued Eos as it seeped into her skin. The rhythmic chime of the grandfather clock that was echoing through the room which only aggravated her cousin's headache.

Lisa had finally returned with the hangover tonic in hand which the young master had impassively took from her before chugging the tonic down his throat. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as the pain of the hangover began to lessen as the time continued onwards, "As I told you yesterday, I want to learn estate management." His posture wasn't the slouched like he usually did but it showed from potential for a decent worker, "I will do whatever it takes to learn everything." He bowed his head signalling his willingness to learn but also surrendering himself to Eos to control and manage.

Eos gently placed down the now empty cup on the table, "Before we even proceed with anything at all, answer me this." Crossing her non-dominant leg onto of her dominant before she leaned against the back of the lounge chair, "If we were to start with this arrangement of mentor and mentee relationship what would happen to the Monciaux estate?" She began with a simple question which could easily give her an idea of her cousin.

His posture immediately slumped depressively as he interlocked his fingers with each other, "First of all, my mother would flip out and go on a rampage so that we won't associate with each other." He released a laboured breath as he continued to think about the other possibility beside his mother who had always known to have a hot temper especially against Eos and her own position, "The servants might see that I'm finally having a better turn for life and expect me to be the heir on the Monciaux Dukedom." He honestly spoke of the potential future that would unfold if he would start acting as the heir.

Eos hummed as he got a good outlook of the potential future that would occur for the Monciaux family, "You got the basic layout correct but you are forgetting a few pieces." Taking the empty cups and tonic bottle to represent all the powers, "After you are reinstated as heir your mother will be a hindrance in the management in the household, the people who thought that you posed no threat will focus their attention on you and your reputation." These factors would come into effect immediately which in turn would also affect his future beside all the glory that came with being the heir presumptive.

He was surprised to see that he had forgotten the dangers that came along with being the heir. But this only sparked his determination to be an independent person rather than the person that he used to be, "I'm still willing to learn!" This caused Eos to sigh in helplessness but also seeing this as an opportunity to lessen the workload that she was already doing but she wasn't as willing to deal with more people.

Eos stood up from her seat as she walked to the door that led out to the corridor, "Follow me to the library." She walked down the hall walking to the second floor where the Monciaux's extensive collection of books in their own in-house library, "I don't have time but you're going to need to learn the basic before starting anything related to the Dukedom." Eos immediately when to the aisle which had everything related to estate management that she had used during schooling years. Running her finger along the spines of the well-used books that she was familiar with that she memorised to heart as she began pulling out books. Soon there was a pile of books that were half the size of Eos as she placed them in front of her cousin had a dawned expression on his face from seeing the pile.

He took the first book in the pile before opening and seeing the small font of words that streamed through the entirety caused him to immediately close the book, "I have to read all of this?" He was quite scared at the mere thought of reading something that he didn't enjoy.

Eos nodded as she began pulling out more books flicking through the content to see if was suitable for him, "Yes, I expect you to finish reading them by the end of the week." Seeing that the book that was in her hand was difficult in concepts for her cousin she placed it back into the shelf, "Reading all of this material is nothing compared to the endless amount of paperwork required by a person in authority which including and making decision which an affect every aspect of the estate if you don't know the basic." He flinched at the thought of having to complete the task that was given to her, but he immediately began opening the book and reading it.

Eos then returned to her office where she continued to do paperwork which was a continuous thing in her daily life. Fortunately, there wasn't much to do for the day and she began making a quiz to test his knowledge and whether he was able to retain any of the information. But that would be at the end of the week.

___________

The day quickly passed as Eos was busy doing her work and she was finally finished with appointment with a messenger from the Boisgenas Dukedom. A single sheet of paper laid before Eos who gently blew at the ink that had yet to dry from the pen that was near empty to the point that it was useless. The last few lines of words were faint but still legible, "You can return back now." Confirming the ink was dry and that it wouldn't smudge from it trip back to the Boisgenas House Eos folded the piece of paper, "Be careful with your trip back." Slipping it into an envelope and sealing it with a wax seal of the Monciaux Dukedom. The messenger nodded his head, tipping his hat as he began his return trip.

Once the messenger had left the premise of the Monciaux Dukedom Eos interlocked her finger together and stretching her back as fatigue began to settle on her body. It was still in the afternoon, but she still needed to test her brother who was probably waiting for her on the library. Lisa immediately took the paperwork that was remain on the table to see that the pile was little which meant that the Eos could rest early for today, "My Lady, do you wish to have a relaxing bath today with some bath oils?" Following behind Eos who was heading in the direction of the stairway where the library was. Eos nodded as she pushed against the doors where she walked in the direction of the study hall which was at the centre of the library.

A tall figure stood against the looming towers as he began scanning through the shelves, looking for books that could aid his learning, "Ah, Eos you've arrived." He took the books that were already in his hand to the table nearby, "I'm ready for the test." The tables at the study hall have been provided with writing material since many people who came here were many officials and student in the family.

Lisa pulled out the chair for Eos to sit but she was quickly stopped as Eos sent her away to run an errand for the later appointment, "Young Master, you will have twenty minutes to finish the quiz." Pulling the first paper from the pile began she sat down herself in front of her cousin, "Ready and start." The silence immanent as the sound of pen and paper echoed throughout the study hall. To bide the time, Eos went to one of the shelves where all the sciences were, and she began shifting through the books to see if any of the book titles would pique her interest. A pine-coloured book with golden coloured typography on the spine of the books immediately caught her attention. Amongst the neutral toned books that were either book that were either in the colour spectrum of red, browns and oranges and occasionally there would be a rare book that was colourful such as the book that caught her attention.

Eos slipped out the book out of the shelf. The sweet musky smell lingered in the air as it wafted into her nose, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the dust that caused her to sneeze. Wiping away the remaining dust that might cause another bout of sneeze would be disastrous for Eos. She slowly walked back to the table, skimming through the contents of the book to check whether it would be an interesting read, that where her cousin was at still trying to complete the test with invigorating focus. As she seated herself at the table flicking through the large number of contents that listed all the flora in forests native to this empire or introduced through trade.

After the list of contents, there was a page that was folded in which was a map pinpointing all the location of native and foreign plants in the empire. Some were beautiful, some grotesque and other quite unusual in appearance. The first category was the native flora in the empire which started out with the tall tree zone that were easy to identify especially the fruiting trees, however, some fruiting tree bore fruit that human aren't meant to consume. Next were the middle zone which consisted of all the sapling and bushes were there were plenty of edible and inedible plants. The lower middle zone consisted of all the bushed which would cover most of the forest floor making it difficult for normal people to traverse such an area without prior knowledge. The herbal layer included the flowering plants of spring which would flourish when the tree leaves hadn't grown in, taking away the essential light. Finally, the ground layer where all the moss, lichen and fungi had claimed their home against the dead matter of the upper levels.

After the map showcasing all the potential locations of flora did the reading began there were pages dedicated to each plant but the most interesting of them were the ones that had medical benefits or were edible. Each plant was given a detailed illustration marking out their main features and the ideal habitats environments where they flourish. A gentle cough alerted Eos from her reading space, "I'm finished with the test." Her cousin handed the completed test paper to Eos who immediately when to correct any mistakes. He stared at the opened book that was besides Eos but didn't find that it would be interesting especially compared to the book that she had recommended him to read over the week, "I just realised that I have never called you by name before." His mind began wandering over his past as he realised that he never called Eos by her name to which caused Eos to pause her focus on correcting his test.

Eos paused before she quickly finished the last few questions that she had to correct, "Well you aren't obligated to call me by my name anyways." Her role was strictly to serve the Monciaux House even if she were to be married off to another household as she would still need to provide reports, "Anyways, your test results exceeded my expectation seeing as they weren't high, but you passed." Her brute honest immediately inflicted her evaluation of him which wasn't high to beginning with especially with his reputation well known to high society.

He could only feel like a stinging pain in his chest from hearing such honesty, but it was simply the truth since he had never taken his academics seriously as much as this point in his life, "Will I be able to do it?" He was seriously contemplating his sudden reformation and whether he should continue to follow through his motivation of become someone important.

Eos sighed as she pushed back the marked test back to her cousin, "To be honest I don't know." Spinning the pen in her hand intertwining them in between each finger before catching it in her palm, "But the future hasn't unfolded as of yet so I can't predict your future so climb high and see what the future holds for you." Seeing that he had passed the preliminary test that was assigned to see whether it was worth the time to invest into him. The test result honestly surprised her quite a bit, but it proved that he would be able to lessen the workload.

Eos returned to the same shelves from the previous books that had been engraved in her head. She began to carefully curate a selection of books that could give him the best possible knowledge to be equipped for any situation regardless of any occupation if any happens in the future, "Why is it that you came to the Monciaux House?" He began to question Eos' existence and purpose to the Monciaux seeing that he knew only the surface of Eos' situation, "Why can't you called me by my name anyway?" He didn't know anything much about the Dukedom despite being born into the bloodline which only showed that the duke saw him as a failure.

Eos placed all the books on the table and though the content wasn't as much as previous the content was much more extensive in term of the comprehension needed, "I'm a vassal essentially." She responded curtly as any type of discussion of her circumstances was simply off the tables, "Young Master the only reason you really need to know why I can't call you Silas is because I'm a vassal, one to serve. We will not divulge into the matter and that is the end of this discussion." Eos released a frustrated breath before she realised, she had spoken too far. She turned her head apologetically before leaving the study hall.

Silas was stunned by Eos' sudden aggression but decided to back off seeing that continuing with this topic would only turn ugly, "I'm sorry." Those words were the only thing he could muster but unfortunately Eos would not be able to hear those word as she had already left.