Arthur wanted to explore the castle, as even though he had the memories clearly in his mind now, none were of the castle. That mean't the original Arthur hadn't explored the castle at all, mainly staying to himself. After exploring for a while, Arthur discovered a beautiful garden on the estate. It was secluded and peaceful with a small waterfall at the centre. It had 3 aligned benches on each side of the garden, except for the entrance side. Beautiful lilies and roses bloomed all around him. He sat on one of the benches, needing to think over his new plan.
'I know of the Terian Island from my past life. It could be said the warriors from Terian can rival the personal army of the Emperor. They elite soldiers cannot compare to the elite warriors from Terian. Though it was a small-medium island, it couldn't simply be taken over. The island hand natural protection against outsiders, jagged rocks in its shores that could rip ship hulls and strong currents. Not to mention their biggest protection, the island was a mountain. Terian people had built and lived inside the mountain for centuries, fortifying the only entrance into their kingdom.' Arthur recalled, laying back on the bench and taking in the calming atmosphere.
This knowledge of the future, a great weapon, was now his to wield. He realised that conquering Terian Island by force would be a fool's errand. Instead, he would earn their respect and loyalty, turning his father's trap into his own kingdom.
Suddenly from behind him, strange sounds were heard.
"Mhmmm…"
Arthur turned his head slowly towards the sound. A young woman, just a little older than him, was holding a straw basket and was making her way to the small garden where Arthur was.
"Oh yeah, that's the good stuff." She said to herself as she casually strutted in without looking up.
Arthur, looking closer at the short girl, had a better idea as to what she was doing here. She had long blonde hair and she was stuffing her face with sandwiches. Her complete attention was at her basket which seemed to be filled with food. The girl sat down on a bench with a sigh of relief. This was her favourite hiding spot, the secluded garden was unused by the Ravenna family and no one really came here. She would come here at lunchtime and eat in peace. She had no idea that Arthur was sitting there.
'Her uniform… she seems to be a trainee mage for our family.' Arthur watched the girl, his memories recalling her identity as an orphan brought into the barracks to train as a mage to be a part of Ravenna's Night Wolves. The Night Wolves, were simply group of elite trained mages that protected the Ravenna house. They normally worked in collaboration with the White Wolves, the elite trained swordsman group to deal with issues in the county and deal with other issues.
"MHM… that's so good!"
He watched as the girl happily devoured the sandwiches, and made weird noises.
"Ahem." Arthur made a noise to bring her attention to him. The girl quickly looked up, her cheeks were stuffed with food like a chipmunk. She froze as her eyes met his, a look of shock on her face. With her mouth full, she could only stare, unable to speak or move.
Suddenly she started choking on her food, coughing and hitting her chest, her face turning red. The girl's eyes were now wide with panic and fear as she couldn't breathe. Arthur stood up immediately but looked apprehensive. He was very confused as to what just happened, but went around and came from behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach. Arthur then performed the Heimlich manoeuvre, forcefully pushing and jerking his hands upwards into her gut, which made the girl's face even more red with pain and surprise. The sandwich piece shot out from her mouth, landing with a wet plop on the luscious green grass below as she gasped for air.
Arthur retreated, trying not to get any of those pieces on himself. The girl sat down, dangerously close to getting her uniform sullied. She was breathing heavy, trying to calm down, but she was still extremely red because she was flustered.
She was wondering who this boy was. He seemed a few years younger than her but was very well-dressed and carried himself with an unusual authority for someone his age. His scarred face and snow-white hair were very strange to her; she had never seen him before, despite working as a apprentice mage here for a year.
"Sorry… may I ask who you are?" She looked confused.
He replied, "I am Arthur Ravenna, the Marquess's son." Bella was shocked to hear this, as the young master was known to be weak and rarely seen.
'I didn't think he would look like this…'
Her face turned even redder with embarrassment as she stood up straight and bowed deeply.
"I am sorry for disturbing your peace, it's just that… no one comes here usually."
"What's your name? I assume you're a mage." Arthur said, trying to make conversation.
"It's Bella sir. I'm a apprentice mage, part of the Night Wolves." She said. "We are the mages who are tasked to protect this family, and we work together with the White Wolves…"
"I see, well thank you for your hard work." Arthur said and then proceeded to leave.
There was no point staying because he intended to explore the estate, not sit in one spot, ruminating on his plans. Plans could only stay just that, plans, unless action was taken.
'Besides, I should let her eat in peace. This was such a awkward moment.'
"Excuse me! Young master, did you know… you have a mana heart. I can sense it." She called out to Arthur in a excited and aloof manner.
He stopped and turned back to her, a look of surprise on his scarred face. He couldn't believe she had probed his body with her mana to see inside him. 200 years from now, this would have been a unforgivable sin. In his past life, people weren't allowed to pry into one's secrets other than being given permission by that person.
"You probed me with mana…" Arthur said, now he had a slightly irritated expression on his face.
Naturally he wanted to secretly reach at least 2 mana circles in his mana heart, so he could at least defend himself if something went wrong. This outcome was unfavourable as her alliance was naturally to his father, being a part of the Night Wolves.