Theo looked at his father with a perplexed expression.

For nearly a minute, he said nothing, just stood there, trying to get past the baron’s knowing gaze.

"Father... I don’t want to be a family head." Theo finally said, making the baron just stare at him.

"I want to be free from any political duties weighing on me. The only thing I want is to be free... to explore the world and protect our family..." Theo continued.

The baron kept his eyes on Theo, but there was no disappointment on his face.

"I see... I always thought you were the bookworm type, that you were both strong and intellectual at the same time, so I believed the head position would be better for you," the baron said, making Theo purse his lips.

"But you have outgrown that phase, huh...? I have never seen you visit the library in a long time." The baron’s eyes turned nostalgic, as if recalling the days when Theo would spend nearly all his time there.

Theo chuckled. "It’s not that I don’t want to go to the library; it’s that I have outgrown it, Father. There’s nothing left there worth reading."

At that comment, the baron frowned. "Why didn’t you say that before?"

Theo gave an awkward smile.

"If you have outgrown it, we have another library you can read from, Theo. You should have told me," the baron said casually.

Theo’s smile froze just for a second before he looked at the baron with his mouth agape.

"Are you serious, Father? Why didn’t you tell me about another library all this time??" Theo asked without hesitation, making the baron scratch his cheek.

"Well... that library in particular is a little... secretive. We couldn’t show it to you unless you revealed a certain level of loyalty and clearance. Which, to be honest, you have already surpassed."

Theo narrowed his eyes slightly. He could see it plainly in his father’s eyes.

"You just forgot, didn’t you?" He asked plainly.

"Yes, son," the baron didn’t beat around the bush and admitted, glancing toward Alfred.

"Take him to the library whenever he wants. But right now, you tell me everything that happened in the gate. How did you manage to collect blood from a core beast?" the baron asked, curiosity lighting his eyes.

Theo didn’t need any more reason to tell; he was eager to know.

A few hours passed by as they talked, laughed at some moments, and were dead serious about some things—until the baron fully understood what happened in the royal capital, the training, and the gate.

"Do you see now how hard being a leader is?" the baron asked with a knowing grin.

Theo shook his head. "I don’t want to be a leader anymore after this. It made all my movements so... rigid. Only Clara and Elias were okay for me." He paused, then added carefully, "If I get the opportunity, I would rather want to enter a gate of that level alone."

He wanted to check the waters.

Only for the baron to click his tongue.

"Why must you go to the extreme all the time? If you go with a big group, you still get clearance to get in a gate. But if you were to go alone with your attendants, it will require a level of strength you can’t reveal anytime soon, Theo."

He looked out of the window, his expression turning thoughtful. "And for the gate to close so abruptly... it means something happened to the core beast... I will look into this."

They talked for a while longer until the baron finally decided to leave Theo be.

"Where is Mother?" Theo asked.

"She won’t be back for a while. There’s a deal we need to negotiate. And if this ’Count’ position is not taken back, we will need new sources of income to help us," the baron replied, his grumpiness returning.

Taking this as his cue, Theo decided it time to excuse himself.

He left the study and returned to this room, intending to have some rest.

Until a knock came at the gate and Theo saw a familiar figure waiting outside.

"It’s good to see you, Sir Knight," Theo said with a smile on his face, looking at the sleepy knight.

"Young master, I just got to know you’re back. Let’s go train."

He spoke while looking at Theo with such an intense sleepy look that Theo couldn’t help but yawn too.

Theo tried to persuade the man to postpone the training for a few days, but the knight simply stared at him with that same drowsy, unwavering gaze.

With a defeated look, Theo sighed and got ready. Instead of his dragon armor, which needed polishing, he wore his usual leather armor before heading out.

For a few hours, all Theo did was dodge a bunch of Rhys’s lackluster attacks, repeatedly telling him to increase the intensity, and due to his own overconfidence, he got hit in the face more times than he would like to admit.

Rhys, in his own way, was the perfect person to drag Theo back into his humble mindset, reminding him he wasn’t as strong as he thought. himself to be Thanks to that, Theo’s drive to train his aura grew sharper and more aggressive.

They trained for a total of five hours. At the end of it, Rhys simply remarked that Theo’s stamina had improved.

When they were done and Theo saw an increase of 5% in his lesser sword aura, he felt satisfied. To achieve even a 1% improvement in this ability was counted as a good day.

Off to the side, the mantis lay basking in the sunlight, resting, something that was very rare to see.

Nearby, Clara practiced throwing her daggers. Theo had decided that alongside studying the books he had stolen from the academy, she needed to practice her skills every day.

They had a plan they were trying to accomplish, but for it to succeed, Clara needed to train her wrists, strength and the ability to throw heavier daggers with precision. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

While training Theo, Rhys also kept an eye on the ape, which was roaring and striking a wooden dummy again and again with the sword, eventually shattering it, not through some form or technique but sheer brute force.

And in that moment, Rhys felt he might have found his next idle disciple.