Chapter 5: Life is just too hard
Click. Click.
The sound of heels echoed in the quiet corridor, getting closer with every step.
Thud. The door to the room was kicked open.
And my middle sister, Rinna, entered.
Her face was contorted with rage; her voice was sharp and unforgiving.
"Hey, you little useless thing. From today on, I will be your training partner. You had better be grateful. If Mother had not requested it, I would not spare even a minute for you."
I sat up in my bed, half naked; my body ached as I straightened up. I rubbed my eye with my hand. I fixed my sleepy crimson eyes on her and looked at her devoid of emotion.
Rinna's eye caught the bruises on my body, and her expression softened for a moment.
Rinna's voice dropped.
"Who did this to you?" she asked. Her voice was sharp but carried an undertone even she could not quite name.
I did not answer immediately.
I had already decided not to expect anything from her or anyone in this family.
The real Felix is already dead, I thought bitterly.
'If they truly cared about me even a little, Felix would not have died. And I would not be here now, forced to live his misery.'
"It... does not... matter...," I said, keeping my voice cold.
"And I am sorry, but I do not think I can train with you." I raised my hand with the broken fingers in the air.
Rinna's eyes narrowed, her lips pursed into a thin line.
"Who did this?" she asked again, her voice harder now. Rinna approached, her eyes carefully examining my wounds.
Are you really going to pretend you do not know, just like Mother? I was careful not to let the hatred in my voice surface.
"You left me alone all this time. You ignored it when my siblings tortured me every day under the guise of training. You did not care when I was not given a place at the dinner table. You did not even think to oppose our father's decision. All this time, you mocked me with your humiliating words. You insulted me!"
My crimson eyes burned with hatred; I struggled to maintain the tone of my voice.
Normally, she would have given me a good beating for speaking to her like this.
"Do not even try to act like a big sister to me now; you make me sick. Just do what you do best and ignore me! I will join training when my fingers heal. Now leave me alone."
Rinna wanted to open her mouth to speak, but she could not find anything to say.
Even if she wanted to talk, what could she say? Only empty excuses.
Her silence was answer enough.
Rinna let out a sharp breath as she turned and walked away.
When she reached the door, she paused and looked over her shoulder.
"Rest," she said without emotion. "You will need your strength tomorrow."
With that, she left the room, the door closing with a soft sound behind her.
My fists were clenched weakly at my sides.
'Rest? For what? To get beaten again? To continue existing in this hellhole?'
I rested my head on the soft pillow, closing my eyes as fatigue and pain took over my body.
'I must do something...'
If I continue like this, my fate will not be much different from the real Felix's fate.
This body... this weakness... At this rate, I cannot survive for long.
My mind worked rapidly, reviewing every memory I could recall about the novel.
I knew the entire story of this world.
If there was anyone who knew how to get strong in this world, it was me.
"Think, Felix. What is the fastest way to get stronger?" I muttered.
The first thing that came to my mind was making a contract with a demon, but demons were not kind hearted creatures that gave something without taking something. Contracts usually resulted in death, and there was even a risk of my body being possessed.
The second thing that came to my mind was obtaining a god's blessing. But this was something close to impossible. The risk of earning a blessing from a god was very rare, and no god would give their blessing to someone weak like me.
There were a few other ways, but using them was extremely risky, so I will ignore them.
The third option is to wait for the opportunities the system will offer me to get stronger, which I do not think I can rely on much.
I suppose I should wait a while longer to decide.
I got out of bed, washed my face and hands, and took a shower. Then I put on clean clothes and stood in front of the mirror.
I was still not used to this face.
I ran my hand over the place where the burn scar was on my face in my old life; I could not help but admire how smooth my skin was now, but this feeling was very alien to me.
"Knock knock." The door to the room was beaten again.
The maid's voice came from outside the room.
"Young Master Felix. Lady Isolde is waiting for you at the training grounds. She ordered you to come."
I told that woman just yesterday that my fingers were broken.
Does she seriously enjoy torturing me this much?
Up until this age, I was never even given proper training; the only education I saw was the beatings my siblings gave me.
What happened now that they are so eager to train me?
Sighing, I called out to the maid.
"I will come in a little while."
Once I was ready, I arrived at the training grounds.
My two idiotic brothers and my middle sister were standing there with wooden swords in their hands. My mother sat aside with grace and nobility, sipping a cup of tea she held in her hand.
The moment I entered the training area, all eyes turned to me. If it were the real Felix, he would shrink under these gazes and fix his eyes on the ground.
But I had no intention of acting like that. Even in my old life, I never let anyone step on me; actually, no one even dared to do so.
I roamed my gaze over everyone in the room in turn; there was no intention of submission in my crimson eyes.
My two brothers widened their eyes in anger at my attitude and gripped their wooden swords.
When I fixed my eye on my mother, she did not look at me.
When I calmly arrived at my mother's side, I was the first to break the silence.
"You called for me, Mother."
My mother did not answer. She took one last sip of her tea and reached her hand out onto the table. She picked up a red glass bottle and extended it to me.
"You said you could not come to training using your broken fingers as an excuse, did you not? Drink this. It will heal your wounds."
Why is this woman suddenly trying to do me a favor? Is there a different intention behind this?
Or does she just want to watch me get crippled by my siblings again after I heal?
Hesitantly, I reached my hand out to the glass bottle and took it from my mother's hand.
"Thank you, Mother," I said and tipped the bottle into my mouth.
The moment the red liquid passed down my throat, I could feel it. I could feel how my whole body lightened, and my wounds healed.
I looked at my hand with the broken fingers; I opened and closed my palm and moved my fingers.
I was now completely healed.
Before my self examination was even finished, my mother spoke.
"Since you are healed, go and grab a sword. You will join the academy soon and represent our family. I want to see what condition you are in."