Chapter 9: Elise Faints from Hunger

Inside the hall of the Duke’s Mansion, evening.

Ian sat at the dining table, preparing to enjoy his dinner.

He had already discussed it with Annie; tomorrow, he would awaken the Magic Talent of the maids in the Duke’s Mansion who had not yet undergone the process.

Although Magic Talent in this world was innate, it still required an Awakening Ritual to be activated.

Nobles usually awakened their Magic at age 12, whereas commoners had to wait until after age 18 to awaken it at the Empire’s Mage Association.

This resulted in many commoners who possessed powerful Magic Talent missing the optimal period for cultivation, leading them to live mediocre lives.

The only reason for this was the rulers’ fear that commoners might threaten their position of power.

Ian found this regulation somewhat contradictory, especially since they were facing a powerful enemy like the Demon Race.

Instead of focusing on improving the overall strength of the Human Race, they spent every day thinking about internal power struggles.

Are they so eager to die faster?

Ian felt helpless; he did not have the power to solve this systemic issue, but he could at least make decisions within the Duke’s Mansion.

When Annie heard that Ian wanted to awaken the Magic Talent of the new maids, she was also startled.

Being able to awaken Magic ahead of time was a rare and precious opportunity for commoners like them.

More time for cultivation meant a greater guarantee of survival.

When the new maids in the Duke’s Mansion learned they would awaken their Magic Talent tomorrow, they were all incredibly excited.

At that moment, they were standing to the side of the dining table, whispering to one another.

“We can awaken our Magic Talent tomorrow. I’m not dreaming, am I?”

“Is this for real? Doesn’t the law of the Empire state that commoners can only awaken Magic at age 18?”

“Don’t worry about that! Are you really going to doubt the Head Maid’s words?”

The girls’ eyes were filled with anticipation for tomorrow’s ritual.

Their voices carried a mix of disbelief and doubt, but they were mostly filled with excitement.

However, among the crowd, there was one figure who stood apart from the rest.

She did not participate in the discussion with the other maids.

Instead, she was swaying unsteadily, looking as if she might collapse at any moment.

This figure was Elise, whom Ian had just helped earlier.

Even though Ian had cleared her of trouble, by the time she finished her work and went to the dining hall for the maids, she found that all the food was already gone.

Thus, she could only come to the hall with an empty stomach and stand to the side.

‘I cannot fall here. If I make the Young Master angry, I might be fired.’

Elise encouraged herself internally.

However, the more one feared something, the more likely it was to happen.

Her vision gradually blurred, and Elise’s trembling frame finally gave out as she collapsed straight down.

*Thud!*

The loud sound of Elise falling startled everyone present.

“What happened?”

Annie asked, frowning as she stepped forward toward the maids standing nearby.

“I… I… don’t know. Maybe… maybe Elise is just too tired,” the maid who was questioned stammered, fearing that Ian would blame her for the consequences of Elise fainting.

One had to know that Ian detested anyone interrupting him while he was eating.

Once, a maid had accidentally sneezed while Ian was dining, and he had mistreated her for three days and three nights.

The surrounding maids looked at Elise lying on the ground, their eyes reflecting a hint of pity.

She was still just a child.

With such a thin and weak body, could she really survive Ian’s abuse?

Looking at Elise’s frail figure, all the maids present practically sentenced her to death in their hearts.

“What’s going on?”

Ian asked Annie, his attention also drawn by the sound of Elise falling.

“A maid collapsed because she was overworked. I’ll have someone take her away immediately,” Annie replied nervously.

Seeing Annie’s tense expression, Ian couldn’t help but complain in his mind.

‘Am I some kind of monster? Everyone is so afraid of me.’

After his internal complaint, he spoke to Annie again.

“Bring her over. Let me see.”

“This…”

Sensing Annie’s hesitation, Ian added, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her. I just want to take a look at her.”

Hearing those words, Annie was convinced the Young Master was dead set on mistreating Elise, but as a servant, there was nothing she could do to stop him.

“Yes.”

A moment later, Annie approached Ian while carrying Elise.

“Young Master, this is the maid who fainted.”

“Since you’ve seen her, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take her down to rest.”

The moment Ian saw Elise, she looked familiar.

‘Isn’t this the maid I helped this afternoon?’

Then, Ian asked with some confusion, “Why did she faint?”

Looking at Elise’s obviously malnourished frame, Ian felt a pang of heartache.

After all, in his past life, he was just an ordinary high school student.

Where would he have ever seen such a gaunt body?

“It might be because she finished her tasks late today and missed the mealtime.”

“Young Master, I promise she won’t make this mistake again. Please, just let her go this time,” Annie said, pleading to awaken Ian’s conscience.

‘I’m just concerned about my maid, so why does everyone think I’m going to mistreat her?’

Ian thought helplessly.

Suddenly, Ian stood up, walked over to Annie, and took Elise from her arms.

“Young Master…”

Annie watched helplessly as Ian took Elise from her, yet she didn’t dare to show the slightest resistance.

To put it bluntly, although she was the Head Maid, she was merely a high-status servant in the Duke’s Mansion.

How could she sway Ian’s mind?

Annie made a secret resolution.

If things really got bad, she would go and ask the Duke or the young lady to stop him.

She only hoped that the maid could hold out until then.

Annie began to pray for Elise in her heart.

Ian carried Elise in a princess carry.

Feeling the weight in his arms, he estimated that Elise weighed no more than 70 pounds.

He couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Elise looked to be about 1.55 meters tall; how could she be so light?

Seeing this scene, the crowd present slowly closed their eyes, waiting for the expected screams to ring out.

But at this moment, the Duke’s Mansion remained unexpectedly quiet.

Some of the braver maids squinted through their eyelids, looking in Ian’s direction.

They found that Ian had simply carried Elise back to his seat.

Then, he began to feed her the millet porridge from the table that he hadn’t touched yet, spoon by spoon.

Witnessing this heartwarming scene, the maids’ eyes widened in disbelief.

‘I’m really not dreaming, am I?’

‘The Young Master is actually feeding that maid?’

It wasn’t just the maids; even Annie, who had watched Ian grow up, was shocked by his actions.

She had imagined all sorts of inhumane methods Ian might use to abuse Elise, but she never expected him to personally feed the maid porridge.

Meanwhile, as she lay in Ian’s arms, Elise only felt a wave of warmth in her stomach.

It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Ever since her mother passed away, her life had been nothing but cold and hunger.

For a brief moment, she saw her late mother appear before her again.

She reached out her small hand, wanting to grasp that figure.

She wanted to tell her mother that even after she had passed, she was still doing well and that her mother didn’t need to worry about her.

She also wanted to tell her mother that she had grown up and could now stand on her own.

Elise’s mother only smiled gratifiedly and gently patted Elise’s head.

Then, like dust scattered by the wind, the figure gradually vanished before her eyes.

“Mother! Mother!”

Elise ran, wanting to pull that figure into her embrace, but in the end, she was left all alone in the darkness.

Her eyes were filled with tears, but she couldn’t change reality.

“Mama, wouldn’t it be great if you were still here?”

In the real world, words were constantly spilling from Elise’s mouth.

Ian leaned in to listen, only to hear Elise repeatedly crying out two words.

“Mama!”

Hearing Elise’s words, Ian felt a wave of wordlessness wash over him.

‘To think that I, a grown man, would be called “Mama” one day.’