A few days had passed since Isfrid learned about Eliza's past, and today was his birthday.
He was glad he had asked Eliza about her family and was able to bring, even if only a little, solace to her mind.
The day started like any other, Isfrid waking up with frost covering his sheets and the sun rising in the east.
Eliza came early for breakfast and sang him a happy birthday. This had become their tradition over the years, and he definitely didn't mind it. She brought a full plate with fruits, meats, and even some pudding.
He could tell that she used part of her own breakfast to make it a little grander, but he didn't want to show he knew, so he ate it happily.
Isfrids has tremendous progress as a mage and a knight. His aura core is still at Apprentice; however, he's already at the Brilliant brightness phase. His aura, on the other hand, is already at the Iron level, having broken through the Perfect refinement stage in the last couple of days.
However, his swordsmanship has reached a standstill. He's built a very solid foundation and begun to embody the core principles of the Northern Martial Arts into his sword.
But his knowledge of the katana and implementing its core principles into his swordsmanship has paused. He needs to study more about the katana to progress.
For this reason, Isfrid made his way to the library in order to do some research. After a brief greeting to the librarian, Corvin, Isfrid began to read.
'He learned a lot, however, the core principles that he wanted to focus on were. Clean strikes should be prioritized over many blows.
Control instead of strength. The dominance of the flow of the battle is important for someone wielding a katana.
And timing and distance. To properly control the battle, he must constantly consider spacing and when to strike.
And most importantly, to always be calm and decisive instead of aggressive. Isfrid decided to exit the library and begin focusing on these core principles.
On his way out, he came across one of his elder brothers, Caleb. His brother, with his red hair and red eyes, was walking with a girl with pink hair and eyes who seemed to be around his age.
Isfrid had crossed paths with many of his siblings; however, keeping his head down and not making eye contact seemed to help avoid any trouble.
But this time, he could feel a stare bearing into him. Instinctively, he looked up to see why his brother would be staring, only to find himself staring straight into the eyes of the pink-haired girl.
She was blushing profusely while staring straight at Isfrid. The moment Isfrid noticed her reaction, he immediately knitted his brows together, trying to understand her.
In his eight years of life, he had never seen anybody make such a face, and began to wonder if she was ill.
He soon noticed his brother's gaze; however, it was a bit different. Caleb's forehead veins were popping, and he looked like he was about to blow up.
Isfrid thought they were both insane and made his way past them, B-lining straight for his room.
What Isfrid didn't understand was that, rather than eight, he looked closer to 15. And as far as looks go, he's otherworldly.
With his snowy white hair and ethereal blue eyes, he looks like an icy prince. His perfectly symmetrical face and flawless pale skin only add to his allure.
Isfrid made it back to his room and let out a sigh of relief. He didn't understand what just happened, but knew he didn't want to make an enemy out of anyone in the house.
They already hated him enough. What he didn't know was that he managed to achieve just that.
Caleb Pov
After their chance encounter with Isfrid, Caleb was fuming.
'That albino bastard dares try and steal my fiancée?!?! I had to beg father to work out the engagement between Lily and me, and now that we're finally together, the first sight of another man and she's already making me question her loyalty!'
Caleb glanced to his left to see Lily, still having a tint of pink on her face. His rage only grew from there.
Her name was Lily Underwood, and she was from a very prominent merchant family. Not as powerful as the Vaelor house, however, as far as money and rare items, they were second to none.
Getting Lily's overprotective father to agree to the engagement had been a nightmare for Caleb, and now that he finally got to meet her, she's already blushing at another man.
He did everything he could to finish the tour of the Vaelor estate without blowing up, mostly because this was their first time meeting and Lily had been his crush for a while.
After wrapping up the tour, Lily decided to retreat to her and her mother's temporary room and meet up again for dinner.
However, Caleb had no plans to return to his room; he made his way straight to Isfrids. After reaching Isfrid's room, he immediately kicked down the door and was greeted by the sight of Isfrid with a katana in his hands.
"So this is what you've been doing in here, pretending to be a knight are we!"
Before Isfrid could reply, Caleb immediately swung his fist. Connecting straight to his face, Isfrid was sent flying into the wall, where he fell on his bottom.
But when Caleb saw his face, shock was all he felt. Isfrid had not a single emotion showing on his face.
No surprise, no anger, no fear, absolutely nothing. Caleb began delivering a relentless barrage of punches to his face.
However, the more he punched, the angrier he got, because in between punches, he continued to see Isfrid's emotionless gaze.
After several minutes of a relentless beating, Caleb was beginning to wonder if Isfrid was human.
After delivering one final kick to his gut, Caleb turned on his heel and began to exit the room.
"Freak," he said, before leaving.
After leaving the room, even though he had just mercilessly struck his brother for 10 minutes straight, Caleb felt like he still lost somehow.
He marched down the hall, thinking of why he was feeling like this, when he made eye contact with a maid.
She wasn't someone he had ever taken notice of before; however, he definitely recognized her from the house help. And her surprised gaze made him wonder what she was doing.
She was walking with a slight rush, seemingly trying not to convey that she was hurrying while making her way down the hall.
When he looked over his shoulder to see where she was going, he saw her entering the room he had just exited from.
And that's when an evil smile spread across his face.
Isfid Pov
'Weak'
That was all Isfrid had on his mind after taking the beating his brother had given him. His brother's punches were simply far too weak.
Isfrid felt like he could hit harder than that before he even began his training. He decided to heed Eliza's words of never offending anyone from the main house and took the beating quietly.
However, from the first punch his brother threw, he knew it would be no challenge to overpower him.
And honestly, the only thing he had trouble with during the whole encounter was fighting back his instinct to kill Caleb.
He held no resentment towards his brother; however, the image of his brother standing above him made something boil deep down.
A primal instinct that told him to never be beneath anyone. An instinct that only continues to grow as his strength does.
'But what did I even do?' He wondered.
He thought that their encounter earlier was weird, sure, but he didn't understand where all that rage his brother had even came from.
His thoughts were paused by Eliza rushing into the room. She quickly glanced at Isfrid and let out a sigh of relief.
"I thought he might have killed you," she said, sounding very relieved.
"Why would you think that?" Isfrid asked
"I saw young master Caleb leaving your room looking very angry. And honestly, he, no, the entire Valor house has a very strong temper.
It doesn't take much to drive them to fury, and almost impossible to stop them before blood is spilled.
But what exactly did you do to make the young master so angry?"
"I honestly have no clue," Isfrid replied.
"There must be something!"
"Well…" Isfrid went on to explain the weird encounter in the hallway. Which resulted in Eliza facepalming.
"Try not to roam the halls during the day to avoid seeing your brother," Eliza spoke like a worried mother.
"Don't worry, Eliza, I won't be needing to go to the library anytime soon."
He had gotten all the necessary information about the katana that he needed and would start using the principles in his training.
With that, he put thoughts of his brother behind him and began focusing on his training.