Damian was busy in his room, absorbed in the latest fascinating book he had found in the library after his daily 'education,' when he heard a knock on his door and was interrupted.
"Yes, come in," he called out.
Just as Damian said, a middle-aged man with a white beard entered the room.
"Young master Damian, is your new home to your liking?"
"Yes, Thomas. It is the same as the last one, I guess," Damian replied.
Thomas' face slightly twitched seeing the boy's face and amusement hidden in his eyes upon hearing his unorthodox answer.
"I am here to remind you about the betrothal ceremony tomorrow morning."
"Ahh right. I will be there," Damian nodded.
With that, Thomas nodded and left after giving a small bow.
"So they are doing it huh?" Damian sighed.
He had assumed that the marriage was going to happen after a decade or so, once he had proven himself as a worthy candidate. But for some reason, they seemed to be rushing this engagement ceremony as soon as possible.
As for the Genius Lady Lucian Goldilocks, she still despised him. Over the past two months, she had treated him as though he were invisible—much like all the teachers. But Damian didn't mind this, in fact, he much preferred this, especially compared to her glaring anger and hidden frustrations that she had initially shown.
To be fair, just like every other person, she thought that he was a dimwit, so her anger and frustration were rather understandable. Yet, surprisingly, she had never even once voiced against the decision or even lashed out at him for just magically appearing in her life from the sky to be an eyesore. She simply accepted it in silence despite her higher-than-mountains attitude.
He had to admit, she was surprisingly more mature than he had expected for her age.
The next morning, a swarm of maids rushed into his room, bustling around until he was dressed in the finest, silkiest garments one could find. Then they guided him to the main hall, where nobles and their representative had gathered.
As he entered, everyone's eyes turned to look at him, as if scanning him from head to toe. Thankfully, Thomas was there to step in, standing by his side before leading him to one corner of the hall to await his soon-to-be fiancée.
Damian hated the thought of being tied with such a young girl—he was 22 for heaven's sake. But then again, ever since his arrival into this world, his life had never really been under his control. He was just drifting along as the currents led him, waiting for that perfect chance to jump out of this sinking ship.
Soon, Lady Lucian appeared, dressed in equally ridiculous clothes as his and stood beside him. The Baron, who Damian assumed was the speech-giving golden-haired man, seemed rather pleased with the occasion and glanced at him with a smile in between his speech.
After the speech came to an end, the two kids exchanged their golden rings. Lucian Goldilocks played her part perfectly and could possibly win the Oscar with all her lady acting. She looked so innocent with that smiling face but only Damian knew who she was—a wooden sword-wielding devil. If this farce went on much longer, tomorrow's sword training was going to be extra tough.
As the ceremony concluded, the two were left on their own after enduring all the congratulations from the guests. Realizing that this was his chance, Damian grabbed a glass of some colorful juice and slipped straight outside to find some privacy he had been robbed of since he opened his eyes this morning.
Though Lucian noticed him leave, being surrounded by her fellow lady friends, she didn't say a word.
After reaching the outside garden, Damian sat down in a quiet spot which was hard to come by even if someone came to take a stroll. The juice was nice, unlike anything that existed back on Earth. Since he was all alone anyway, to feel a bit more relaxed, he loosened the clothes around his neck.
While he gazed at the stars in the sky, Damian's mind wandered, thinking about the recent discovery he had made regarding various solutions, which would get their mana absorbed into the mana stone.
It was actually a simple concept if one thought about it: only the weak ionic solutions would get their mana particles absorbed by the mana stone. Solid things or even those with strong atomic bonds such as water would remain unaffected by the larger mana source such as mana stone.
Maybe if there was a large enough mana stone could change that, but even the fiercest monsters only possessed a fist-sized mana stone inside them. And so, that possibility seemed slim. Still, the good thing was that his Truthseeker had leveled up twice while testing all these solutions and coming up with this theory.
Just as Damian began pondering over other possibilities for stronger mana attraction methods, he heard numerous voices in the distance, getting louder as the people got closer to his position.
"There he is! Fiona, you were right, he was indeed hiding outside!"
A high-pitched voice called out from the middle of a group of kids around Lucian's age. Of course, Lucian was among them, two girls were holding each of her hands as they led her to him. It was evident that the voice belonged to either one of them.
"Damian Sunblade, we meet at last!"
Another kid's voice rang out, this time it was from a group of boys standing next to the five girls.
"Do it, Adrian! You said you were going to challenge him, didn't you?"
Damian glanced over at the boy, Adrian, since the fellow nodded and looked at him with fire in his eyes.
"Damian Sunblade, your family might have schemed this marriage, but I won't allow it. The beautiful and brilliant Lady Lucian deserves someone much better. That's why, when she comes of age, I will ask for her hand myself and challenge your right to her."
The crowd of kids nodded, all eyes looking at Damian as if expecting some kind of rebuttal against the young master Adrian's 'bold' claim.
Damian, however, wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the ground and hide in it. Why hadn't he gone blind before he had to see this day? A bunch of 8-year-olds were bullying him!!
But outwardly, he kept his composure. These brats were the sons and daughters of influential nobles of the north. Making any of them cry could cost him his head before the daybreak.
And so, Damian simply said, "Ah… Sure…"
"That's it? He just declared that he will take your fiance, and that's all you have got to say?"
"What do you expect from this fool? Look at him, even his clothes aren't right," one of the girls next to Lucian, who seemed to be the root of this drama, asked or rather demanded an answer. Another chimed in with a well-timed insult.
Damian ignored the troublemaker and asked Lucian herself.
"Does my lady favor Master Adrian?"
She seemed a bit startled upon hearing his question. Up until now, she had been too busy struggling to free herself from the clutches of her two overeager friends, only to fail miserably.
"Uhm… Yes…" She seemed a bit hesitant but answered correctly.
She was smart enough to know that she couldn't say no since that would mean dishonor towards Adrian's family, especially not in front of everyone, so there was only one answer. And truth be told, she probably even preferred this rather good-looking young master to Damian, who was 3 years younger than her.
"Well then, what can I say? I wish you good luck, Master Adrian!"
Damian said, breaking the silence that had enveloped this corner of the garden. Everyone stared at him, shock written on their faces, they were probably looking forward to seeing the young master put the 'loser' in his place.
While everyone was busy thinking about what had just happened, Damian, the genius, spotted this chance of escape and grabbed it. He slipped out of the place and headed back to the back of the villa, where the lighting was very dim and rarely anyone would venture.
But just as he reached another place to sit in solitude, he heard a rustling behind him. Turning around, he found Lucian Goldilocks standing there. As usual, he ignored her and headed towards the large rock on which he could sit at last.
"Why? Why did you do that?" she asked, discomfort evident in her voice.