Chapter 11

The couple did try their best on becoming the best parents. They gave four maids to take care of my needs and even gave my own room. There were times where Maria would bring me over to her bedroom whenever Albert was working overnight in his office. She would stroke my hair until I fell asleep. The rest of the days I would sleep in the room that they prepared for me. I would try to stay awake during the night and build up in my mana. Maria and Albert had always been dead set on trying to make me call them mama and papa. Sometimes that grumpy old man would come over to supposedly babysit me whenever Maria went for shopping and Albert was working, but that rarely happens. I have been trying to sway him to my side for a couple of months. This was one of the days that him and I were alone together. I needed to try to sway my way a bit.

I stood up and walked towards him. I was still a little bit wobbly. I put on a big smile and tried my best to act cute. I put my hands onto his knee, which made him look down on me with disgust. He kicked me away. I fell back on my own so I wouldn’t receive the full blow.

“Grapa.” I smiled again and walked towards him. I saw his expression soften a bit. He then closed his eyes.

“Grapa.” I swear I saw a wavering small smile on his lips. He was trying so hard  to hate me. I said it one more. “Grapa”.

I heard a squeal come through the door of the room. It was Maria. She must have heard what I had just said. Maria opened the door and revealed herself, even though we all knew it was her. I saw a proud and excited smile on her face.

“He called you grandpa, dad. He really called you grandpa.” She picked me up and swirled me around in the air in excitement. 

“Nothing that baby says or does will not make me change my mind about killing him two and a half years later. I will crush that little skull of his to pieces.” Maria tried to cover my ears by holding me close to her, but it didn’t really help. “Don’t get too close to him or you will really regret it. I don’t even know why you insisted on him.”

“Maybe because I’m not cold blooded like you. How can you murder a baby without even feeling pity on him?” The old man showed a hurt face. He, then, turned to me. He was angry.

“This is all because of you, you little swine. I swear to you, little brat, you only have a couple of years more to live.” After he said that, he stormed out of the room and slammed the door close with pure hatred. I looked up at Mariah to see her on the verge of crying. Tears were filling up her eyes. What came next surprised me?

“YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH MY CHILD EVEN IF I DIE!” She screamed and yelled out at him, so loud that it must have reached that old man. She fell to the floor and started to cry, really hard. “How...am I...even his daughter?...How can a person...be this cruel?”

There were running footsteps that were coming towards us. It was Albert. I looked up to see a pained face, looking down at Maria’s depressed figure. His hands clenched from anger. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Albert knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. He must have felt so hopeless.

“Mama.” Maria stopped sobbing and slowly looked up at me. She looked so shocked, and her tears were still streaming down. Her face scrunched up and hugged me tighter. She buried her head into my shoulder and started to cry more. It lasted almost the whole day. That night I slept with Maria, hearing some of Maria’a sobs.

Now, it has been two whole years since that day. My every night training never stopped. I alway try to train during the day as much as I can, so I could get my core at the first level of the beginner level. Every level had ten layers according to the books I have been reading here. There were beginners, intermediates, and experts. Apparently, the books didn’t say anything about what happens after expert level. Maria read me bedtime stories, so I was able to learn how to read.

Right now, I was training my core. I was almost there. I just needed to train just a little bit more, then I could finally acquire it. Just as I was about to squeeze my last bit of training into my core, the door opened. I opened my eyes to see a maid come in and bowed down.

“Young master, it is time for dinner. The duchess is waiting for you.” I nodded and got off my bed. As I walked down, I started to remember when the maids started to call Albert and Maria, duke and duchess, a year ago. Now I am used to it. I never thought I would be living with the duke’s family, well adopted. I still remember mom, dad, and Arthur pretty well. I did try to run away, but I was caught so many times. It was excused as sleep walking so many times. I even had a check-up with the doctor and he said it was normal for kids.

As I approached the dining table, I saw Albert and Maria talking and smiling at each other. “Mama. Papa.” When they heard me calling them, they turned towards me and gave me bright smiles. They were so much like my real parents. They loved each other and loved me unconditionally even when I’m not their real child. 

“Come and eat, Alex. Then, go to sleep. You look like you're sleepwalking already.” Albert gave me a little wink. 

“Ok, papa.” I gave him a smile back. “What are we going to eat?”

“See for yourself.” We had roasted chicken with a lot of boiled vegetables like carrots, peas, broccoli, and other vegetables that I didn’t know. Like I always like, I had more chicken than the vegetables. I tried to eat everything quickly, so I could go back to training. Once I was done, I stood up.

“Wait!” Maria took her paper cloth and came over to wipe my mouth. She gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and a quick hug. “Good night, my beloved angel!”

I walked out, leaving Maria and Albert behind to enjoy their dinner together.

“That boy is always in a hurry to sleep.” That was the last thing I heard before I reached my bedroom. I got up on my bed and started to concentrate. I could feel my core almost complete. When I reached the first level, my body felt so light and strong. I could feel mana in a wide range, especially in animals and trees that were close to me.

~~~

We were enjoying our dinner. Maria had been really happy ever since Alex came into our lives. He was what this family needed. Alex helped me realize how truly a father and I am sure Maria felt the same way. Alex left us just a minute ago, but we were feeling his presence gone already. He was always a bright and cheerful child.

“Everytime Alex leaves, I feel like I’m permanently letting him go.” Maria had a little sadness in her voice. “It’s almost time for the three years promise to be fulfilled. Dad also hasn't been here since that day.” 

“You should go visit him tomorrow and talk to him about Alex. Since he loves you, he might listen to you.” Maria looked up and smiled.

“You’re ri-” Just then, we all heard an explosion that shook this entire mansion. The servants started to evacuate and so did we. We looked around to find Alex outside and asked the servants, but he wasn’t outside. I looked back to the mansion. It can’t be, right?

“ALEX!” Maria tried rushing in, but the servant stopped her. The servants also stopped me from running towards the one person that made our lives so happy in the past few years.