Chapter 4
“Young master Doyle, that was a splendid oath! I can already see how happy Master Zeno, Alan and Milady Serena are from your oath! My grandfather Sebastian is also here and has already said how impressive and gallant you were during the oath. This day will be in my heart forever.” (Ballad)
I have been surrounded by praise and weird looks after the entrance ceremony ended and I left the hall. The one giving me praise right now—which is kind of building a lot of tension in my body—is Ballad, the grandson of Sebastian, the head butler of the Aghinis house. He is a boy with dark gray hair and brown eyes just like his grandfather. His father, Mold, is the right hand man for my Father right now.
Ballad is the one who accompanied me without ever leaving my side. He is a good friend and has blind trust in me; I am truly glad he stayed by my side until now. In my middle school era, when I was still the mean Doyle, there were some people who accused me and tried to get me to apologize for what I did—which was totally right—but Ballad came to my rescue and said . . .
“Young master Doyle is just showing us how arrogant we are right now, and only by disciplining us through successive beating can this happen. You want him to apologize for this generous act of wasting his most precious time on us lowly people? Learn some shame!” (Ballad)
They were completely false and groundless claims, but without him there, I think I would’ve already died by other people a long time ago. I am truly glad that he is still by my side.
(Though the fact that I did this in order to get rid of my death flag is something I will never tell him.)(Doyle)
I never thought that this many people would be happy at the fact that I had reflected and apologized for the trouble I did, though this happened only because I have the mind of an adult and the body of a teenager. I know I schemed to make people see me this way, but my feelings of trying to become a better person in everyone’s hearts are true.
If they knew of my thoughts of telling them I was reflecting to make them see my good side, I believe they would call me two-faced. But I will never say it, since they do not know and there is no reason for them to know. I only used this opportunity to show everyone that I am reflecting and have changed; this is a necessary evil (or can it be said as an opportunity?) given to me by the G.o.ddess.
Well, I guess I was somewhat two-faced in my previous life, but I had the acting ability and the mental skills to do it. Thus, I had conducted my life into the greatest play. I was living quite smoothly until the truck came, but it is not like I did something wrong to say I was just living. So, let’s leave it at that.
“Even so, when did you learn to do that so well? The sight of you giving respect to the king and bowing down completely while having a n.o.ble aura around you was majestic, if not G.o.dly. You have shown those fools who have always mocked you and looked down on you a sight that they will never forget. Now, no one will say that you are not worthy to inherit the t.i.tle of the duke of Aghinis. I am so proud to serve you…” (Ballad)
Do not think bad of me for wanting to run away from Ballad; the crowd he was attracting was too much, even for this large room. The entrance ceremony ended without any problems and went to the next stage of entering the school. The parents and children were given 3 hours to spend time and have a moment with one another. This was because when someone entered the high school division, they would not be able to meet their parents for the next 3 years. There are certain exceptions—such as holidays and other things—but they would be studying or training for the future most of the time.
I went straight to the dorm since, according to my oath, I would not see them until my graduation and after I had become someone will not bring mud to the name of Aghinis. So I had to stop the overly excited Ballad from bringing my parents to me and requested him to deliver them a message from me. I do wish he would go to his family and have fun with them though. Do not misunderstand; it is not like I hate Ballad, I am just quite bad with these kind of people.
I could have done a lot of other things, but let’s avoid the troublesome stuff for now and relax in my room. The time I had to relax was very short as the said person came in with gusto. Of course, he did not slam the door. Ballad came back to me and said he gave them the message, which is good, but what about his parents?! We walked to the lobby and continued talking there while he explained why he did not go to his parents on the way.
“If young master Doyle—who loves Milady Serena so much—is not going to meet her, then I will not meet my parents too; a subordinate must be completely loyal to his commander.” (Ballad)
This was a very thoughtful moment of him. I also love him as a subordinate, but right now, I wish he would just go see his parents.
Ballad took a chair to sit down on the side opposite of me and started to do a machine gun talk of praising unlike the usual despair talk you see1. Even though I have the memories of my previous life, I still have the memories of this one as well. So I will say this, How the h.e.l.l can he find so many things to praise? How much do you like me, Ballad?
Actually, I wonder why the princess, my parents, Meryl and Ballad himself trust me so much. On what grounds? I know it’s thanks to their love and affection that I am still here and living though, so I am grateful for it.
Ballad is still praising me and drinking tea…this has not stopped for entire 30 minutes. I start to focus on other things since it still does not look like he will stop. I start to make other plans and reflect on what to do from here on.
To summarize the results of today’s events, it was a great success; the oath achieved most of the goals I had set for today and if I am to believe the king’s word, the death flag on Doyle should have broke as well. I am actually wondering if it went out too well. But, right now, I am going to focus on the positive and be happy about it. I went from -100 to 0 in one day, so it is all about additions to my points now.
I believe this will not be that hard; as long I as stop my foolish behavior and rebellious att.i.tude, I should be able to score points in my favor. Also, as Doyle’s body is close to cheat level, it is not a dream to become the top of the school with some practice with the sword.
(Ok, I am going to aim for the top in this school.) (Doyle)
In my previous life, I was quite normal. Other than Kendo, I was a fairly normal child that got hit by a truck. But I am Doyle Von Aghinis now. Although I cannot inherit the holy spear or follow my mother in the path of recovery magic, all my other paths are limitless. Thus, I want to become a hero in this life; someone who can receive all the praise Ballad is still giving me—it has now been 1 hour…
Besides that, I have to keep my oath; I will surpa.s.s my grandfather and parents to become a greater legend than them. I have been spoiled until now, but I will atone with hard work and diligence this time. Fortunately for me, Doyle is blessed by the world and the G.o.ddess with good luck. Thus, I have no fear.
“The Skill [Blessing of the world] was given to me. With this skill, it seems I will be able to master with ease whatever magic or ability I have apt.i.tude for.” (Doyle)
This kind of skill allows me to use any magic I have apt.i.tude for and raise their levels quite high. It also seems to allow me to be beloved by the G.o.ds and spirits alike; as expected of the son of a hero and the saint. Perhaps, Doyle’s destiny has always been great from the moment of his birth; he just hadn’t noticed it. This does not seem to be loved on a level of personality or skill, but rather in terms of soul or existence.
I seem to be living in a sweet and kind world from the moment of my birth.2
I wonder if it was the will of this world and the G.o.ddess that gave me my previous life’s memories. If you are asking why I think this, that question would be the same as asking “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” I will stop thinking about it for now.
Since I live in such a gentle and warm world, I will do my best to help the people of this world with my own two feet from now on. I will stop being spoiled by it and repay for all it has done for me through my actions.
“—Doyle.”(Prince)
The person who called me right now is definitely one of the people I have hurt along with the world.
“Your highness…”(Doyle)
The voice I thought I whispered apparently resounded in the lobby and made everyone look at us.