Chương 20: Too Noble for Honest Work

The silence following Sieghart's proposal lasted long enough for him to realize that his grandparents weren't merely surprised. Edric and Elara appeared genuinely troubled by the idea of allowing him to offer his magic to the neighboring farms, even if the work was safe and useful. Edric lowered his hand from his face and studied Sieghart across the table.

His expression lacked the open disappointment Sieghart remembered from his parents, but the old man clearly saw complications that had nothing to do with watering crops or moving soil.

"You have already done more than enough for this farm," Edric said.

"There is no reason for you to work for anyone else."

"I want to earn money."

"We understand that," Elara said gently.

"However, working on the neighboring farms might create certain problems."

"What problems?" Elara looked at Edric, silently asking him to provide the explanation. Edric scratched his beard while considering his words, which told Sieghart that the complete answer probably involved his father and would therefore be unnecessarily complicated.

"People know who you are," Edric eventually said.

"Even if you have lived here for several years, you remain the firstborn son of Lord Emberhart. If people heard that you were working as a hired farmhand, they might misunderstand the situation." Sieghart tilted his head.

"They might think I need money?"

"That would be one interpretation." It was also the correct interpretation, although Sieghart decided not to mention that detail. He needed books, magical materials, and eventually access to teachers. None of those things would fall from the sky simply because he possessed a noble surname he wasn't allowed to use for anything useful.

"Would working be bad?" Sieghart asked.

"There is nothing shameful about honest work," Elara answered immediately.

"But noble families can be foolish about appearances. Your father probably wouldn't approve of you hiring yourself out to other landowners, even if you were only helping them." That confirmed Sieghart's suspicions. Apparently, House Emberhart didn't want him living in its mansion, appearing beside its heir, or reminding anyone that Lord Alaric's firstborn lacked a combat Aura. At the same time, he wasn't permitted to become an ordinary person because that might embarrass the family.

It was an impressive arrangement. Sieghart received none of the advantages of being a noble while remaining burdened by every restriction associated with the position. House Emberhart had discovered a way to transform privilege into an inconvenience. That probably required generations of dedicated aristocratic research. Elara rested one hand on the table and offered him a reassuring smile.

She was trying to soften the refusal, but Sieghart could recognize an answer that had already been decided before the conversation started.

"We will find another way for you to earn some money," she said.

"For now, you only need to be patient." Sieghart nodded silently.

"Okay." He knew what patience meant when an adult said it to a child. It meant waiting for several weeks while they considered the problem, followed by several months during which they hoped he would forget about it. If he mentioned it again, the waiting period would probably restart from the beginning. Still, arguing wouldn't help. His grandparents were caught between caring for him and avoiding trouble with Lord Alaric.

They had given him a home when his parents sent him away, purchased books with their limited money, and allowed him enough freedom to develop his magic. He wasn't going to repay that kindness by placing them in direct conflict with his father.

"Thank you for thinking about it," Sieghart said. Elara's smile became strained. Edric looked even more uncomfortable, as though Sieghart's calm acceptance made the situation worse. Perhaps they would have preferred a tantrum. A normal four-year-old might have shouted, cried, or demanded an immediate explanation. Sieghart had already experienced enough disappointment to know that noise rarely changed an answer. He finished his breakfast and carried his bowl to the kitchen.

The adults watched him leave without speaking. Sieghart could feel their gazes against his back, but he resisted the temptation to turn around. If they wanted to believe he had accepted the decision, he would let them. That didn't mean he intended to abandon the idea of earning money. It only meant that working openly on neighboring farms was no longer an option. Sieghart would have to find something that didn't make House Emberhart look poor, cruel, embarrassed, or whatever particular concern occupied noble minds.

Selling the pale blue stone he had taken from the monsters was the first possibility that came to mind. Unfortunately, any merchant with basic intelligence would ask where a four-year-old obtained a magical tool carried by enemy stragglers. Claiming that he had found it beside the road would only work if the merchant had suffered a recent injury to the head. He could create something instead, but his failed experiments had already demonstrated the limits of his present knowledge.

Water Creation produced water, Fireball produced destruction, and his earth and wind spells provided useful labor. None of those abilities created a small, valuable product that could be sold without attracting attention. Sieghart considered writing copies of his books, but his hands remained too slow for that to become profitable. Besides, selling handwritten books at four years old would produce even stranger rumors than working on a farm. People might overlook a child with unusual magical talent.

A child operating a private publishing business would require explanations. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. For the rest of the day, Sieghart continued his usual work without mentioning money again. He watered the fields, softened the soil, and used controlled wind to separate loose leaves from healthy crops. His grandparents remained close, although they pretended their presence was accidental.

Sieghart noticed them watching whenever he cast a spell. Their attention carried no suspicion or fear. It looked more like concern mixed with guilt, which made him deliberately slow his work and behave as though the conversation had already left his mind. By evening, he had finished every task assigned to him. He returned to his room after dinner, opened a book, and forced himself to concentrate on a chapter describing common magical minerals.

If earning money required knowledge, then studying remained the closest thing he possessed to a profitable activity. Downstairs, Edric checked the doors twice before extinguishing the lamps. The recent warning about wandering monsters had changed the household's habits. Windows were secured, tools were brought inside, and his enchanted bow remained beside the bedroom door instead of resting inside its old storage chest.

Much later, when the farmhouse had become quiet, Elara sat on the edge of their bed while Edric removed his boots. Neither of them had forgotten Sieghart's request, even though the boy hadn't mentioned it again.

"He accepted that too easily," Elara said. Edric placed his boots beside the wall.

"Sieg accepts most things too easily."

"That is what worries me." Elara looked toward the wall separating their room from the corridor. Sieghart's room stood farther away on the second floor, so there was little chance that he could hear them. Nevertheless, she lowered her voice instinctively.

"He is a smart child," she continued.

"Far smarter than someone his age should be. He must have realized why Alaric and our daughter sent him here."

"They said it would be better for his health."

"And you believed that?"

"No." Neither of them had believed the excuse, but openly challenging Lord Alaric's decision would have accomplished nothing. Sieghart had been sent away so that his younger sibling could grow without a failed firstborn complicating the succession. The next child would receive the training, attention, and public recognition intended for the true heir of House Emberhart. Alaric and his wife had provided few instructions regarding Sieghart's upbringing.

They hadn't demanded reports about his education, chosen his teachers, or sent guards to protect him. Their silence offered Elara and Edric considerable freedom, but it also revealed how thoroughly the boy had been removed from their plans. Only one expectation had remained clear. Sieghart was not supposed to do anything that might tarnish the Emberhart name.

He could disappear quietly into the countryside, but he couldn't live so openly as an ordinary child that people began asking why the lord's firstborn son worked for copper coins.

"He knows they almost abandoned him," Elara said.

"Maybe that is why he works so hard. He thinks he has to prove that he is useful before we decide to send him somewhere else."

"We would never do that."

"We know that. Does he?" Edric didn't answer. Sieghart never asked for toys, sweets, or unnecessary clothes. He thanked them whenever they bought him a book and tried to repay the expense by doing more work around the farm. Until that morning, Edric had considered the behavior unusually responsible. Now it appeared far less innocent.

"He is looking for a way to establish his value," Elara continued.

"He wants money, knowledge, and magic. He is four years old, Edric. A child his age should not feel that kind of urgency about making a place for himself in the world."

"We tried to give him a peaceful life."

"Perhaps peaceful feels temporary to him." That possibility troubled Edric more than he wanted to admit. Sieghart had arrived without servants, guards, or any promise that the arrangement would become permanent. Even after several years, Alaric could order him returned, relocated, or placed under another guardian. They possessed no legal authority to prevent it. Sieghart might not understand every detail of noble law, but he understood that his life remained controlled by people who had already rejected him once.

His desire to earn money could be more than simple curiosity. Money created choices, and Sieghart appeared determined to obtain choices as early as possible.

"Is there anything he can do at his age that people would pay him for?" Elara asked.

"Something respectable enough that rumors about the family won't spread?" Edric leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Sieghart's strongest abilities involved agriculture, but allowing a noble child to work openly as a farmhand would attract precisely the wrong kind of attention. Any respectable position would normally require education, physical maturity, or a recognized Aura.

"I might have an idea," Edric said.

"What kind of idea?"

"I'm not sure yet." Elara narrowed her eyes.

"That usually means your idea is dangerous, expensive, or both."

"It shouldn't be dangerous."

"That wasn't a convincing answer." Edric rubbed his beard while mentally examining the possibility. He knew several people who might pay for Sieghart's abilities without treating him like an ordinary laborer. The arrangement would need to be presented carefully, and the work couldn't be allowed to interfere with the boy's education. More importantly, Edric needed to determine how much of Sieghart's magical ability could be revealed safely. The boy's reserve was abnormal.

Even without knowing the truth about his infinite mana, anyone watching him work for an entire day would realize that he could cast far more spells than an ordinary child—or most adults.

"I need time to think," Edric said.

"If the idea works, he could earn money without becoming anyone's servant. If it doesn't, mentioning it will only disappoint him." Elara nodded reluctantly. She trusted her husband's judgment, but the conversation had done little to ease her concern. Giving Sieghart a way to earn money might help him feel secure. It might also provide exactly what he needed to leave.

"What do you think he will do when he becomes old enough to make his own decisions?" she asked. Edric remained silent.

"I think he will leave," Elara continued.

"Not because he dislikes us. He will leave because he doesn't want to spend his life waiting for his father to decide what happens to him."

"He's only four."

"He won't remain four forever." Elara folded her hands in her lap. Sieghart cared about them, but affection might not be enough to overcome his desire for independence. After being treated as disposable by his parents, he would probably escape House Emberhart's authority at the first genuine opportunity. He was intelligent, disciplined, and unusually capable with magic. Unfortunately, intelligence and discipline couldn't change the standards of their world.

Without a combat Aura, there was only one recognized path through which Sieghart could earn status and protect his independence. He would need to become useful enough that even powerful warriors couldn't dismiss him. That was a cruel burden to place on any child. It was even crueler because no one had needed to explain it to him. Sieghart had apparently reached the same conclusion by himself. Inside his room, Sieghart turned another page while pretending he was still reading.

His thoughts had already moved beyond the book, beyond the farm, and beyond the boundaries of House Emberhart's territory. Patience might have been the answer his grandparents gave him. It wasn't the answer he intended to accept.