Result

Austria, January 18th 1795

7:34 PM

Johannes was staring at Lukas's test. He took a deep breath and looked at Lukas.

"Congratulations, Lukas, your final result is..." Johannes started.

Lukas, meanwhile, had his arms crossed and was showing a smug smile.

"...100," he finished with a loud sigh as he showed the sheet of paper that had Lukas's grade to the blonde boy.

Lukas finally widened his smirk even more and stretched his hand. "Please, I want the diplomas," he ordered.

Johannes clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, but then, he calmed down. 'I can't refuse, he won this bet fair and square,' he thought.

"Fine," he said as he nodded his head. He leaned in in order to fetch the diplomas. 'I had brought them only to tease this brat when he failed the test, but he actually made it,' Johannes thought.

"Which degree of superior learning do you want? Medicine, Law, or Theology?" Johannes asked.

"Theology," Lukas immediately answered. It was obvious that he had already thought about it.

Johannes raised his brow. 'Weird, I didn't think he was going to choose Theology. It's not like him to want to be a cleric. Anyway, I'll not question him,' he thought.

Finally, Johannes took the two diplomas out of a bag he brought and handed them to Lukas. "Here you go," he said.

Lukas smiled. "Thank you," he said.

"You have to sign here and also write the date of your graduation there, I don't know why you asked me to keep it blank," the brown-haired man said.

Lukas raised his brow. "What do you mean with signing? I am six years old, I can't write!" he said.

Johannes just clenched his fists as he forced himself to smile. "P-Please, Lukas, stop playing around," he said.

Lukas just showed a mischievous smile. "My bad," he said as took the quill nearby and started signing the diplomas.

Johannes seemed a bit hesitant to speak, but he finally did it. "Huh... I believe you know that you shouldn't tell this to anyone. Like I said the last time we met, what we just did is not properly legal, even though you did the graduation test," he said.

Lukas nodded his head with a serious expression. "Of course, I know. Don't worry, I will not tell this to anyone," he said as he finished signing the diplomas.

Lukas then watched Johannes for a bit. 'He's not a bad guy, I liked him. He's kinda dumb for falling for my taunting, but I don't dislike him, he's a bit like me, it is very easy to piss him off through taunting, even though I improved a lot in that matter recently,' he thought.

Lukas then showed a genuine smile. "It was my pleasure to make business with you," he said as he leaned forward and stretched his arm to shake his hand.

Johannes seemed a bit taken aback, but he hesitatingly shook Lukas's hand. "...Though I cannot say the same," he said.

Lukas chuckled. "Well, it'll be worth it for me, so be happy for it," he said.

Johannes raised his brow. 'Why would that even make me happy?' he wondered. "Why did you want a diploma so much? At your age?" Johannes asked.

Lukas hummed for a bit. "Well, I could just say: "I hate people who brag and think they're smarter than everyone because they have a degree and a diploma, so I just want them to shut up," and I'm not gonna lie, that's also part of my reason, but... I need this to gain a necessary credibility," he said.

Johannes raised his brow. "Excuse me? What do you mean with "a necessary credibility"?" he asked.

Lukas crossed his arms. 'I can't tell him anymore than this,' he thought. "Well, let's just say that I need the confidence of some people," the blonde boy said.

"But you know that if you show the diplomas with your age, they'll suspect, right?" Johannes asked.

Lukas nodded his head. "Of course, that's why I sent you a letter not to write the date of my graduation. I can falsify it whenever I want," he said.

Johannes sighed. 'How many crimes has this boy committed in just one week?' he wondered as he crossed his arms.

Johannes then showed a smile. "Lukas, I hate to admit it, but I liked to meet you," he said.

Lukas chuckled. "Yep, I am told that a lot... even though I'm expecting the day when it's going to be the other day around," he said.

Johannes laughed. "Well, not even Jesus was liked by everyone, don't demand so much from yourself," he said.

'You have no idea how much I am told that as well,' Lukas thought.

Lukas just nodded his head and jumped out of the chair. "It's pretty late. Would you like to spend the night here and leave early tomorrow?" he asked.

Johannes chuckled. "Thank you for you hospitality, but I really need to go home. I'm a busy man," he said.

'I wouldn't say that, though,' Lukas thought. "Very well," he said.

He looked at the bag that Johannes brought. "Can you lend me that just to take the diplomas to my room?" Lukas asked as he pointed at the bag.

Johannes quickly glanced at the bag and then nodded his head. "Of course," he replied, even though he thought it was strange.

When Lukas and Johannes left the library, they came across a lot of servants.

Lukas raised his brow. "What are you doing?"

A maidservant quickly answered. "Young master, we were worried! You were locked in there with a strange adult man for hours!" she said.

'...I would love to call them a bunch of idiots, but it makes sense,' Lukas thought.

"You are right, I'm sorry," Lukas said as he nodded his head.

A servant looked at the bag that Lukas was holding. "If you allow me, what's in there?" he asked as he pointed

Lukas quickly glanced at his bag and then looked back at the servant. "Just a few books the professor gave me," he said.

All the servants easily accepted Lukas's answer and they gradually walked away from the crowd.

Lukas smiled at Johannes. "Sorry about this," he said.

"It's okay. I have had worse," Johannes said.

"I will walk you to the door," Lukas said.

"Thank you," Johannes said as he nodded his head.

So, the both of them walked to the door and Lukas opened it for Johannes to leave. "Please, if you need something, just let me know," the blonde boy said.

Johannes nodded his head. "Thank you very much," he said.

So, Johannes finally left.

Lukas then sighed in relief. 'Great, now I just have to keep these diplomas in a safe place,' Lukas thought.

So, Lukas darted to his room and kept the diplomas in the hidden spot inside his wall. 'It almost didn't fit. I'll have to create a new spot soon enough," he thought.

Soon, a knock on the door could be heard. "Come in," Lukas said.

So, Klara opened the door. "Young master, the dinner's ready," she said.

Lukas then glanced at his stomach, and heard it grumbling. 'Yep, I did spend a lot of time in the library,' he thought.

-----

Austria, January 18th 1795

8:05 PM

Lukas was laying on his bed and ready to sleep.

The blonde boy was staring at the ceiling, but he soon turned his head to the window on his right side.

The moonlight invaded Lukas's room, which made it possible for him to see a few birds on his window stool, making him smile.

After that Lukas rolled over and sighed.

He took the necklace that Father Schmidt had offered him on the day of his mother's funeral and started staring at it.

"Mother, I'm doing all of this for you. I swear, that I will bring light to this world at all costs," Lukas murmured.

Lukas kept staring at the small, green gem of the necklace and soon showed a serious expression.

-----

"WHY ARE YOU HESITATING, LUKAS?!" Karl shouted.

"I'm not hesitating! I'll kill," he said.

Soon, Karl started to feel killing intent coming from Lukas, which made him show a wide smirk. "Yes, yes! Kill him!"

"I'll kill... YOU!" Lukas said.

----

Austria, January 18th 1795

8:06 PM

"Even if I have to kill someone else... I don't care," Lukas murmured once again. His aura and tone now were very similar to Karl's.

Lukas then took a deep breath and kissed the gem in the necklace. "Good night, mother," he murmured and rolled over to sleep.

-----

Austria, January 30th 1795

5:00 PM

Lukas, Elisabeth and Ingrid were in the dancing classroom. Elisabeth seemed to have a sad expression on her face.

"Congratulations for knowing how to dance all the three choreographies, Lukas," Elisabeth said.

Lukas smiled. "Thank you," he replied.

Lukas then looked at Ingrid. "I will miss you," he said with a sarcastic tone, but he kind of was telling the truth.

Ingrid sighed. "Stop playing around, boy," she said.

Lukas smiled. "I am serious, I took a liking to the both of you. I can even say that I admire you," he said.

Ingrid was a bit taken aback, but then, she smiled. "Well, I can also say that I admire you. I am even grateful to you," she looked at Elisabeth.

Elisabeth raised her brow. "Yes, mother?" she asked.

"Can you leave us alone for a second, honey?" Ingrid asked.

Elisabeth was a bit hesitant, but she still nodded her head and walked towards the door.

When Ingrid heard the door closing, she started speaking. "Lukas, I hate to say this, but... thank you for making me realize that I was just using my daughter. It's an awful habit that many parents have nowadays," she said.

Lukas smiled. "No problem. I just said that because I have a life which is good enough for me to worry about my relatives. If I had a miserable life, I wouldn't give them so much value, I am sure about that," he said.

Ingrid nodded her head in agreement. "You are right. In very poor families, when a child dies, they usually think that it is just another mouth that they don't have to feed," she said.

Lukas nodded his head. "If I was born in a family like that, I wouldn't even bother trying to open your eyes," he said.

Ingrid nodded her head. "Your self-awareness is amazing," she said.

After a short break, Ingrid decided to speak. "You know, I was born in a very poor family. Fortunately, I was able to marry a rich man, even though he was not a noble. When my daughter was born, I promised that I wouldn't let her go through what I did when I was young, that's why I was trying to marry her to a noble" she explained.

"What about your brother?" Lukas asked.

Ingrid chuckled. "My brother is much younger than me. When he turned 8 I decided to hire a particular teacher for him and when he turned 14, I enrolled him on an university so he could have a good life," she said.

"It worked. Congratulations," Lukas said.

Ingrid nodded her head as a tear streamed down her face. "Yes... thank you," she said.

Soon, she started crying and hugged Lukas. "You shouldn't cry that much, it'll screw up your make up," the blonde boy joked.

"Sh-Shut up, you inconvenient brat!" Ingrid said as she sobbed.

Soon, Ingrid and Elisabeth bid farewell to Lukas. When the both of them left. Lukas turned and headed to his room.

When he entered his room, he laid on the bed as he stared at the ceiling. 'Now... I don't have anything else that I can do. I only need to wait for the war to end,' Lukas thought.

Soon, Lukas felt an anguish in his chest. 'What is wrong with me?' he wondered as he put his hand on his chest.

After that, tears started streaming down his face and the blonde boy began bawling helplessly.