As he heard the message, Adrian slightly narrowed his eyes.
'Discussion? Not that again…'
Without entering his room, he turned and walked toward his mother's chamber.
As he walked in the quiet hallway, he continued pondering.
'The maid mentioned that I should meet her as soon as I can. Is it something serious?'
He had already had several discussions with this new mother. Mostly, it was her telling him some details or teaching him things.
They were mostly tedious, but he endured them because they often gave him useful information.
Adrian wasn't an only child; he had siblings. One was a sister who was seven years older than him, while the other was a brother who was born a year and a few months after him.
In total, their family consisted of five members.
'I don't particularly like any of them. Still, if I absolutely had to choose the most tolerable one, then it would be this new mother.'
Soon, he reached her chamber. A maid stood beside the door. But when she noticed him, she didn't bow like the other servants in the mansion.
Her neat appearance and graceful posture made it hard to compare her with the other servants. In fact, if not for the maid uniform, it would have been hard to guess she was a servant at all.
"Welcome, Young Master Adrian. The lady has been expecting you."
She gave him a small smile and gracefully opened the door, gesturing for him to enter.
As soon as he entered, he felt as if an invisible weight suddenly began pressing down on his shoulders. Walking took a bit more effort, and breathing became slightly harder.
He had experienced this sensation a few times, specifically when he was around certain people. He wasn't certain, but he had some guesses as to what this sensation was.
The walls of the room were decorated with ornate swords and shields, their blades shining as sunlight streamed through the window.
A round table stood by the window, where a woman sat, silently reading the documents on it.
Bathed in the warm glow of the morning sun, her golden hair flowed down her back like liquid gold. Her clear green eyes moved carefully across the document in her hand, shining like glass.
Coupled with the long white dress she wore, the woman could almost be mistaken for a fairy.
As she noticed him from the corner of her eye, the woman put down the document and gave him a soft smile.
"Ah… seems like you are here, Adi. Come, sit there."
She gestured to the chair across from her. He silently complied as he climbed into the ornate chair.
His mother observed him silently for a while, and he did the same, looking at her quietly as he waited for her to speak.
"So tell me, how is the young genius of this house doing today?"
The tone of her voice, especially the word genius, pierced into his mind, stirring up old memories that he had buried deep within. Memories that he would rather forget.
'Daniel, I knew you could do it!' A woman spoke in a caring and proud tone. 'My baby is a genius, after all.'
'Daniel, my boy, you've made your father proud! I'm glad that you're my son!' A man's voice cheered loudly.
A rush of joy and contentment accompanied these memories, like the joy of reminiscing about an old, happy memory.
But this rush of joy made him unconsciously clench his teeth. Under the table, his fingers began digging into his tiny palm.
The voices in his mind slowly began to twist and distort into something ugly.
'Daniel, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!!'
'I am GLAD THAT YOU'RE MY SON!!!'
Anger rose inside him, making his stomach twist.
'DANIEL!!!'
'DANIEL!!!'
'YOU ARE A GENIUS—'
Adrian took a deep breath, instantly suppressing the memories, burying them back inside his mind as his emotions returned to normal.
He had been prepared for this, so it didn't take too much effort.
Raising his head, he quietly looked at his mother's face, trying to discern her expression. She was still smiling softly as she waited for his answer.
He breathed an internal sigh of relief.
'Doesn't seem like she noticed anything, so my expression must've remained the same.'
He forcefully stretched his lips into a soft smile, mirroring her own.
"I am doing well, mother. Every day, I learn something new in the library."
The tone of his voice softened slightly.
"Still… I hope you and everyone else will stop overestimating my abilities and calling me a genius. I feel that I cannot meet these expectations."
His mother's gentle smile slowly faded, and a slight scowl appeared on her face.
"Enough. Adi, it's good to be modest, but that has limits. Someone reaching the first phase at the age of three is not ordinary. Perhaps you can't understand since you're too young."
'It's you who can't understand.'
The Phase One that his mother was talking about is no more than the first step for a person gaining magical abilities in this world. Essentially, Phase One was similar to the awakening of magical powers in stories.
'In stories, awakenings are rather dramatic. Mine though…'
When this body was only three years old, he had a hard time walking, and he wasn't allowed to go out of his room, so most of his time was spent sleeping or eating.
One day, he went to sleep like normal, but when he woke up, he felt that his body had grown significantly stronger, to the point that he had no trouble walking. His mind felt as though it had become clearer and sharper, and he could feel something foreign flowing through his body.
When the servants examined him, they began jumping around and making weird faces. It was such an abnormal behavior that it made him somewhat unsettled at the time.
It turned out he had reached the first phase while sleeping.
'Too many weird things are happening in my sleep. I might grow paranoid at this rate.'
"Mother," he asked. "I was told you had something to discuss with me."
The scowl vanished from her face.
"Ah… right. I did indeed call you here for that," Her soft smile returned. "From tomorrow, your education and training related to mana will begin. Be prepared."
He tilted his head.
"Are children my age supposed to receive that kind of training?"
'I'm five, after all. Practically a toddler.'
"No, that's not the case," she began explaining. "Most children of noble families receive that kind of training by the age of eight or nine. But that is because they only reach the first phase after turning eight."
She sighed.
"For a while, I had pondered whether you really should receive training. You're too young, after all. But you have achieved an unprecedented feat by reaching phase one at only three, so you should take advantage of that fact. Besides, you are far too intelligent for your age. You should have realized that by watching your younger brother. That is why I made this decision."
He nodded.
"Understood. I will be prepared tomorrow. Is there anything more I should know? If not, may I take my leave?"
His mother hesitated. After seemingly pondering over something, she replied.
"There is another matter of importance I need to discuss with you. But that entire matter is based on rumors circulating within noble society. We have yet to verify the truth behind those rumors, so if those rumors later turn out to be false, then our discussion would be meaningless."
"In that case," he gave her a brief bow. "I will take my leave now, Mother."
He got off the chair and headed towards the door with his small legs.
'Rumors in noble society have nothing to do with me.'
He strolled through the hallway, thinking back on the conversation he had just had.
'Magic, huh? Perhaps that could give me some sort of clue.'
On his way, his eyes settled on something. It was an insignia hanging on the wall, depicting a crown with long, black, feathered wings.
Looking at that insignia reminded him of another rather important piece of information he had learned over these five years.
The family he was born into was a noble house of an empire. And not just any noble family either. It was one of the strongest and most influential noble families in existence.
'The Ravenshades.'