"If you don't have any other questions, I will take my leave."
With that casual farewell, the door closed behind him with a soft creak of its hinges.
Leaving in the room thoughtful small figure, who looked to still be processing the weight of the history he had just been told.
'It will be a good experience for him.' The tutor thought to himself, 'He may not be able to fully grasp, but it will still be a valuable lesson nonetheless.'
The image of Thorsten, head hung low with his hands over face, remained in his mind as he continued down the corridors of the palace.
____________
Sat in the same seat, Thorsten peaked his head towards the shut door before lifting his lowered head—hand over his face, fingers drumming along his temple in a slow, steady rhythm.
From the moment he had heard the words "crusade" and "dark mages" the gears in his mind were already turning; taking in every word of out his tutor's mouth.
He hadn't expected that innocent question, one he had asked out of pure curiosity to learn about that seemingly unimportant kingdom.
By no means was he expecting such a revelation—to receive information that served to quell his growing doubts about this world that had started to seem more foreign to the one he had played in.
Thorsten had not even registered the tutors parting words or him leaving the room, his head still down as he finalised his thoughts.
A relieved breath escaped him, his earlier doubts eased by this fact.
'Though, there's still something I want to look at.'
With that thought in mind, he stood up from his seat and immediately headed for his room.
But before he could turn the corner, the grumbling of his stomach halted his steps.
'Right… lunch first, then I'll check.'
Rearranging his priorities, Thorsten changed course and headed towards where breakfast would be served, taking the time to
Shifting his prioritise a little, he changed course and headed towards where breakfast would be served, taking the time to lightly sift through his memories.
******
That night, Thorsten lay quietly atop his bed, staring blankly up at the dim ceiling overhead as pale twin moons light spilled across the room.
At this late hour, the daylight activity within the palace had already fallen receded with the afternoon sun.
Somewhere beyond the walls of his room, servants still moved through the candle lit halls carrying out their final duties for the night, their distant footsteps sounded cautions, barely register.
With them came a familiar sense of order, from the sounds he had noticed every night.
To the point that they had become predictable to his ears; making listening out for them a part of his nightly routine.
Wrapped in the silk sheets, he gave himself up to the familiar lull of the noises of the night.
*****
The days that followed passed much the same as the ones before them.
Like clockwork, everything proceeded as if he was following a script.
The daily lessons had starting to feel more like a chore than an opportunity to learn more about this world.
Leading to a time spent absently daydreaming than actually absorbing any of the information being given.
The three, high quality meals served to him every day had never changed; marking the times of the day he most looked forward to.
There was the occasional teatime held in-between lunch and dinner, but those were less for enjoyment as they were just another part of his etiquette classes.
The free time he had, if it could even be referred to as such, was spent either studying for his approaching assessments or trying to find any more knowledge about this world and unpacking the little bits he had already gained.
Though, most of the books he had access to were more in relation to literature such as poetry, philosophical records and epics dating back further than he cared to find out.
Reading these different texts had become his daily pleasure.
And with Ferzen and Leon gone from the palace, he had lost any real motivation to go outside without being able to watch their training.
This led to Thorsten spending most of his days with his nose buried in a book of some sorts.
He did go out for the occasional walk; spending time sat in the quiet, secluded corner of the garden where that refractive field lay unbothered.
It had served as a peaceful reprieve for him, going there whenever he felt his mind overheating from the constant working and time spent indoors.
And although he could not be entirely sure, the calming effect they seemed to have on him was starting to lead to questions on whether there was more to those flowers than their kaleidoscopic petals.
It was a small, insignificant thought that persisted in his back of mind throughout the days.
Eventually, after spending an entire day, he would return to his luxurious room and log out for the night before awakening the next morning to do it all again.
A routine repeated so consistently that the passing of time itself had begun to blur together.
There were still moments where he learned something useful, fragments of information worth storing away, but not enough to stop the growing sense of monotony settling over his days.
Perhaps that was why he found himself spending more time inside his own thoughts than paying attention to the small world around him.
Not much had truly changed either.
Ferzen and Leaon may have been gone, leaving most meals to be eaten in silence within the oversized dining room.
Though occasionally, Rowena would appear simply to keep him company for a while.
It was not something that particularly bothered him.
Eating alone was hardly unfamiliar territory to someone who had lived alone.
The only real difference now was the size of the room he sat in while doing so.
And yet…
For some reason, this body still had not fully grown accustomed to the silence.
And before long, that routine too would come to an end.
*****
With the sun barely peaking above the horizon, the Baylith palace was awake earlier than usual as the servants busied themselves with work both withing and outside of the palace.
On the palace's third floor, the curtains to a room in its furthers corner were drawn as lamps illuminated the movements within.
"We are almost done, young master, so please bear with us a little longer."
A maid said in a soft voice, her hands moving deftly over his small feet to put on his shoes while another worked on combing his hair.
In his drowsy state, she was worried that the sleepy Thorsten might accidentally fall of the stool while she wasn't looking.
"Hmm…" In a small voice still clouded by sleep, Thorsten replied with an acknowledging hum.
None the wiser to the servant's concerns, his main thoughts were centred on when he could find the time to catch up on the sleep he was missing.
When they finally finished and were about to lead him downstairs, Thorsten's steps halted for half a beat as he turned his head towards the room's bookshelf.
"Young master?"
In that moment, the sleepiness clouding his eyes seemed to clear as his eyes moved to the worn book nestled in the bottom row, before deciding against the idea and following the maid's downstairs.
Once the palace's main doors opened, he was immediately assaulted by the frigid morning air that served to shock his tired mind awake.
His coat, despite its high quality did nothing to protect his face and had him fighting the urge to return upstairs to the warm embrace of his bed.
Rowena seemed to have caught the shift in his demeanour, as she gently placed a hand on his back to guide him out of the mansion.
And as much as he wanted to resist, the warmth promised by the waiting carriage—and the fact that it was closer—led him to reluctantly step forward.
The escorts prepared for his journey, although neither as grand nor imposing as the one prepared for his father, boasted a presence that was no less imposing as the knights stood beside their horses, waiting.
They bowed their heads in greeting when they heard the young Baylith stepped into the courtyard, the motion a practiced formality as they waited for him to board the carriage.
Then Thorsten's movement paused as he neared the carriage, turning to offer a final farewell to the gathered servants who had taken care of him during his time.
Several of the older knights exchanged brief glances; faint smiles appearing amongst them.
It was a small gesture, but not one that went unnoticed.
___________
With either a light snapping of their horses' reigns or a firm "Hi-yah!", the carriages began to move in an orderly procession, the Baylith family carriage positioned at its centre.
After passing through the already open palace gates, their path continued down the town's main road; through the waking streets of Mutteroak.
The sounds of the carriages rumbling and their horse's hooves clopping echoed between the buildings and into the slowly warming morning air.
There was a deep, hollow clattering of the iron wheels, accompanied by the sharp, metallic clip-clop of the horses' hooves against the cobblestone.
Sat withing the plush velvet cushions of the Baylith family carriage, Thorsten had seemingly forgotten his original goal of sleeping.
Instead, he had taken up a position near one of the carriage's windows with his eyes fixed on the scenery outside.
Despite spending several weeks in Mutteroak, this was the first time he had seen anything beyond the palace grounds.
He had tried dancing around the idea of going for a walk around the town with Rowena on more than one occasion, but every attempt had either been quietly ignored of dismissed outright.
As a result, the world outside of the palace remained little more than a vague image in his mind; something pieced together partially from the pixels he remembered from RHR and his bored imagination.
Now, for the first time, he was finally seeing it for himself.
A deep curiosity and intrigue danced within his eyes as he took in the sights through the glass.
The carriages passed rows of wooden and stone buildings, many of their frames build from a distinctive greenish-brown bark that seemed commonplace throughout the region.
Comparted to the palace, which possessed a quiet grandeur despite its comparatively simplistic design and size, the town appeared far more modest.
And yet, that comparison did little to diminish the lively impression it gave him.
Its streets were lined with shops, homes and workshops, all bustling with activity as townsfolk went about the starts of their days.
As they passed by a fountain, he spotted farmers guiding wagons filled with produce, vendors preparing their stalls, and labourers carry supplies between budlings.
It wouldn't be accurate to call it loud, but the constant bustle made it seem as though he had been living in a ghost mansion thus far with how quite that palace had been in comparison.
The palace had never been truly silent, but the sounds he heard within the confines of its walls had always been orderly and predictable.
The practiced footfalls of servants through the corridors.
His tutors' voices, from the beginning of the lessons to their end, then the next.
The familiar crinkle of paper as he paged through his books accompanied by the scratching of a fountain pens silver tip as it surfed over the coarse surface.
Seeing it in person, the town was different—it felt alive.
When placed besides the quiet routine of palace life, the contrast was impossible to ignore.
The presence of the servants and tutors had helped ease the feeling somewhat, but the sense of isolation he felt living within the palace's gilded walls was only ever dulled with them around.
For weeks, his world had been limited to the library, the dining room, the gardens, and his room.
Watching the streets pass by outside the carriages window, that world suddenly felt much larger than it had only a few hours ago.
And without realising it, Thorsten found himself leaning slightly closer to the glass.
Rowena watched his curios form with a gentle smile on her face.
Ahead of them, the towns high walls and open gates slowly grew larger as they approached.
And with it came an excitement at finally being able to see this new worlds scenery in person.