My bones were sore, so much so that I couldn't put any real strength behind my joints.
The dull ache in my muscles didn't help matters.
On top of that, I was really starting to miss my right hand.
What was the first person to ever milk a cow even thinking while they were… doing the deed? — I used these kinds of thought-provoking questions to occupy my mind in a desperate attempt to keep it from focusing on the physical discomfort of my body.
…And to keep myself from thinking about the conversation I'd just had with my father.
Wait, that couldn't even be called a conversation.
He had threatened me, apologized, and then… threatened me again?
"Anghh!" I groaned, limping down the marble stairs. As I passed, the guards and knights bowed their heads with way too much sincerity.
That was… new.
I mean, sure, they had always shown me respect because they had to. I was their Lord's son, after all.
But this felt different.
It didn't seem like an obligation or a routine.
