Not much happened after the Owl laid claim to him; the duke simply had no right to object, and just like that, Hal had ended up in new ownership.
He was now dressed in a black suit with a dark purple bow tie, like the other butlers of the White family, but with red gloves, having the white family emblem, because, according to the owl, he was to return to the mansion after he was done with him.
'Done with me, how?' He was worried about becoming like the rest of the butlers in this place, all devoid of life and speaking in unison as if they were in some sort of horror movie
He stepped out of the room and met two maids who turned without saying anything and walked, signalling him to follow.
He let out a sigh and accepted his fate as he walked behind the maids who led him back to the Owl's room.
He could see the sun setting through the window as he wondered if Tai had safely made it back to the mansion. They had so much to talk about, yet weren't given a chance to do so by the sudden change in circumstances.s
"Huh, that suit suits much more than the one owned by the Harleyclover Family, don't you think so, Scholar of Fernis, and by the way, what is your name?"
"My name is Hal Leonardo Alternis"
Hal bowed as he said his name, and when he stood up, the duke had arrived at his, he touched him on the cheek and stared him in the eyes with
"I will take you under my wing and groom you into a work of heart, and not to worry, you will soon return to your friend, but when you do, you will not be the same as before"
The man spoke in a whisper as Hal felt as if he was frozen in place. He released him and went to his seat, where he took a sip of his wine.
"Prepare your body, mind and soul for tomorrow, you are natured by the owl"
And like that, tomorrow soon came, the Owl emphasised a different style of battle. He called Elizabeth's style barbaric and unfit to be utilised by anyone; instead, he decided to teach Hal a different battle style.
The Owl had relieved himself of his shirt, exposing a finely tuned body that truthfully left Hal at a loss for words.
He wielded a rapier, which was the preferred sword for nobles; in fact, even Lady Roxanne owned one, but his was a sight to behold
Its blade shone as it was bathed with moonlight, with one side of it being made from gold; its hilt resembled a tree with an owl atop it, holding the blade of the sword.
He pointed the rapier at Hal with a gleeful smile on his face
"I will show how much of a façade your previous master's sword style was by introducing a fighting style befitting nobles, a fighting style that calls for elegance"
Hal was suddenly attacked by the noble whose speed almost made Hal unable to catch of glimpse of him
Shared mind activated instantly, allowing Hal to boost his senses as he saw the beautiful rapier fly toward his chest
He dodged it only to still get cut by the blade, and it didn't only happen once, but countless times, each time he dodged the blade would find a way to injure him
And this was not the only thing holding him down; the Owl's fighting style also contributed to Hal's problems
The noble moved with elegance, but there was something sinister lacking. The noble moved his blade to limit his movements, and his actions all felt like a trap
Hal's eyes widened as he suddenly came to an understanding
'He's manipulating all my moves, his actions are only letting me do what he wants me to do, he's blocking off all my possible actions"
He flicked his wrist and called upon the dull blade gifted to him by Tai, and tried to defend, but to his dismay, the sword fazed through the sword and almost dug in to his head, causing him to tumble back
He waited for the cut to appear on his forehead, only to receive a hand from the Owl
"You see, dear scholar, that is the style of battle that I will teach you for this limited time we shall spend together"
Hal felt something off as he accepted the Lord's hand as if something truly harrowing lay underneath that smile, but for now, he really could do nothing about it"
Their training continued as Hal was not only trained in fighting style but also in gruelling hand-to-hand combat, which also maintained the art of elegance, but he was not being trained by the Owl; instead, another acquaintance had come over
Hal narrowly dodged a blow from Mr Faizo, who quickly struck again with a kick right to Hal's back, sending him flying
The butler's style contained elegance but was also imbued with all the butler skills Mr Faizo had drilled into him over the years
The man utilised all that was in his vicinity as he blocked with trays, swept Hal off his feet with an actual broom, and dealt heavy damage with a bucket
It was a daily routine for Hal, as he was also taught by the White family butlers, who turned out to actually be normal people who were capable of not speaking in unison and smiling once in a while
The Owl's library contained no forbidden books to read, but at least he was able to pick up Haverfield's relation to other countries
And according to what he read, Haverfield was more likely to go to war with Satlavia, while the Kingdom of Eberlast had stayed neutral in the matter
His training continued for a few weeks until he had the art of Elegance drilled into his mind. It gave him a silent pride as if he were different from the common folk now, but his mind was still somewhere else
Hal stood by the window in his room as a question that surfaced multiple times in his head surfaced once more
"I wonder if Lyrrah and Tai are okay"
There were only a few more weeks until Hal returned to the mansion, and the mere thought of it filled him with anticipation.
He let out a sigh, only to see something glow from the side of his eyes. He turned to see the cufflinks given to him by the detective glow.
He let a little soul flame flow into the enchanted item, and with it, the detective's voice burst forth.
"Sorry, I was unable to contact you before, but it was because I was pretty busy getting us that lead on the cult and guess what, I yielded results"
"And what would those results be?"
He heard the excitement and joy in the Detective's voice as he heard him say
"I'll explain later, but all you need to know is that in a week we become part of the cult"