Chapter 20: TBT: 20

Tim opened the door to the office without knocking and entered the room. Duchess Priscilla was sitting opposite to the Duke Wilhelm with a pleasant expression on her face. They were happily chatting about something, but stopped once they saw their son approaching.

“You called me?” Asked Tim, to the duchess who nodded and gestured him to sit beside her. “So, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing! Just wanted to talk to my son.” Priscilla answered with a giggle and Wilhelm just smiled, writing something on a paper.

“Well…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t waste your time.”

“As my mother you have full rights to waste my time.” Tim said calmly, falling back on the chair. “I was going to do nothing anyway.”

“You should do something. And why haven't you been practicing recently? It is your favorite thing to do right?” The duchess enquired as seeing Leon swinging his sword in the garden was a regular occurrence for her but for some days, he was not seen outside. He was just lost in the library for hours.

“Ye…Yes. I am just taking a break.” Tim grinned awkwardly, trying to fake something, which worked.

“Do whatever is good for you.”  Priscilla placed her hand on Leon’s shoulder as she spoke gently. “Well Leon, it is finally time for you to become a real Lord. Not just an honorary one.”

“You mean, I am going to Nortion?”

“Yes! Tomorrow a dawn.”

Tim shook his head in agreement. It was already decided for him to go to the barony named Nortion, where he would manage the land to get some real-world experiences.

And he too wanted some real-world experience to make his plan work and learn new things practically. There was nothing better for him to do anyway except sitting around, reading books.

“It will take two days for you to get there.” Wilhelm added. “Rest for a day and on the fourth day you will receive your aunt in the port.”

“She will land in Nortion port?”

“Yes. You will escort her back to the mansion. And let her stay there as long as she wants. Send her back only when she wants. No matter how many letters you receive from your grandfather, do not send her forcibly.”

“Why? Doesn’t she need to come here directly? She needs treatment, right?” questioned Tim, looking at the duke who carried a straight face. His joyful expression was nowhere to be seen.

“She hates father and it won’t do any good for her health to meet him.” Wilhelm gritted his teeth in anger. “Let her stay in Nortion and do whatever she wants. No restraints.”

“As you wish.” Tim nodded, asking no further questions, despite knowing his last question was left unanswered.

“Listen Leon, from this day onwards, you are a real Lord. So please, try to act like one.” The duke continued. “You have done enough of your childish games. Just stop and think like an adult. I know you can do it.”

“I will.” Tim really felt bad for the pained expression on Wilhelm’s face. He knew him just for a few days but the familiarity had given him enough evidence to show respect towards him, as if he was his real father.

Leon always disobeyed his father’s command and had created unimaginable chaos. But not anymore. Now Tim was in charge and history was definitely not going to repeat itself.

“Good. Go get some rest. It will be a long tour.” Priscilla finished her husband’s words with a cheerful look in her eyes.

---

Leaving the couple alone in the office, Tim went to his room where Sophia, Ruby, and another girl whom he had never seen before were packing things.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“The duchess told us to prepare you for the trip tomorrow. So, we are all here, preparing.” Sophia answered politely, putting down the all too familiar sword she was holding.

“All of you are coming?” Inquired Tim moving closer to Sophia and picking the blade from the table.

“Yes Lord. We are all your personal servants. Following you is our duty.” Ruby added with a proud grin on her face.

“Yeah.” Tim nodded. “And what have you been doing here?”

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“I am learning to cook, Lord.” Answered Ruby with an innocent smile.

“You know how to cook?”

“Not only she know how to cook, she is super good at it.” Sophia said with a toothy smirk placing a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Also, he knows how to use knives in a very professional way. I mean she can be a perfect assassin if you let her.”

Ruby’s face turned pale as she let out an awkward laugh. “I am just good at it. I am not a professional.”

“Come on Ruby, you really know how to knives even better than the head chef.” Sophia pitched once again and Ruby became even more flustered.

“No, I am…”

“Ok, girls that’s enough.” Tim raised his tone and the chatter died down in an instant. “If the preparations are done, then you guys too get some rest.”

“We will do that.” Sophia answered, moving towards the unknown girl who was just standing there staring at them, holding Leon’s clothes the whole time.

“Violet, don’t just stand there. Fold them.”

“Yes.” She frantically nodded as her short auburn hair fell on her face, which was moved away by her clumsily.

“Violet?” It took a couple of seconds for Tim to recall her name but once he remembered his brain did all the work. This girl was Adel’s acquaintances and someone he had forcibly taken from the Rosenwood house.

Details were a little fuzzy but Tim was sure if he could focus, he would seriously get everything about her. But now was not the time.

“And Sophia, take all the books related to magic from the library and inform the butler about it. I need them in Nortion.”

“Yes Lord.”

After finishing the packing, the trio left on their way and Tim sat on the couch, still gripping the sword. For some reason he liked this weapon, instantly after touching it. He could feel some type of weird connection with it.

With pure curiosity, Tim tried unsheathe the sword and after moving the scrabbed a couple inches away, it just turned to dust, leaving only the blade.

“That’s cool.” Tim mumbled seeing the sparks fading away. That little scene looked magnificent but deep down he knew it was going to happen. It was Leon’s favorite sword and the familiarity proved it.

He carefully inspected the longsword. It was made of normal steel, looked heavy but felt light as a feather. The blade had many strange words engraved on it from the hilt to the middle part. A small black stone was also attached below the hilt, giving it an odd look.

Tim had never seen something like this in his entire life. So, with peaking curiosity, he got up and swung the sword a couple of times. With each slash, his pace increased and after some tries, he was doing it perfectly.

“Awesome!” Tim muttered excitedly. He was honestly surprised to see his own movements and speed. He just knew how to do those cool moves without any effort or knowledge. 

Well, it was Leon’s memories and experiences. Tim too knew it from the glances he saw after touching this weapon. Whatever Leon knew was already hammered into his head. 

Soon, he wore the dimension rune in his ring finger and thought about putting the sword in it. And within seconds it vanished from existence. Thought again and the blade was back. 'Perks of Magic huh.'

Throwing the weapons back on the dimension ring, Tim let out a deep breath. Everything was new and exciting but was tiring at the same time. And with a tired body and mind, he lay on the comfy bed.

It had been just a couple of days of him coming here but in that short time, Tim had done so many things that he could not even explain. Blew the garden twice, blew up a tree, said sorry to the princess, learned about this empire, devised a plan to save it and many more.

The list was endless and Tim enjoyed doing it. He was happy yet… not happy. Sometimes the thoughts of that little girl named Rose would surface in his head out of nowhere. And he would sit in a place for hours, reminiscing the fragments of memories.

He promised to take revenge for her death, but on whom. Charles was not here. Who was he going to kill to satisfy his vengeance, which always lingered within him? Ready to come out if he failed to maintain his cool.

Still, it was in check as the hope of her being here remained. He died and was here so, Rose too needed to be here, if the logic was correct. But in a million faces, how was he going to find her?

Tim sighed again, closing his eyes. There was no point in thinking now. If she was here, then finding her was his job and he would fulfill it at any cost.

It was a Promise.