Chapter 41: Here We Go Again.
Chapter 41: Here We Go Again.
In the end, Osborne decided to join her, of course at a distance. Fortunately for him, the bed was more than spacious enough.
---
The next morning, Osborne woke up.
"She’s not here?" He looked around the room. "I’m guessing she already got up and left."
Being the matriarch of the house, her duties were not small, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise.
Besides, now that she was gone.
Osborne closed his eyes and tried to sense within his body.
’It’s just like I thought.’ Osborne’s face turned amazed the moment he opened his eyes.
He finally confirmed the presence of the second heart. Not only that, he discovered it actually held mana within it, just like his aura heart.
’How come I now have two hearts?’ he wondered, only to recall what happened yesterday night.
The moment the flowing magma rushed into his body.
’Was that what caused all this?’ he came to a conclusion.
’Wait, if the dagger is gone...’ thinking along these lines, he thought of the dagger world.
The next moment, he found himself in that white void again.
’And...’ right after, he found himself in the real world with but a thought.
’The curse is lifted.’ He let out a sigh.
’No... I think it’s safe to say I’ve finally bonded with that cursed item.’ Osborne smiled lightly while thinking along these lines.
’I wonder if I can still summon it.’ he thought to himself. He focused, trying to summon the dagger.
’....’ But nothing happened.
It was safe to say his second heart wasn’t moving anytime soon.
He decided to head back into the sub-space for some time before coming out after confirming something.
’It looks like the rate of time inside is still the same as ever.’ He didn’t feel at a loss for losing the dagger; rather, he was excited at the prospect of not only being able to now use aura, but mana as well.
Besides that, with the time rate of the sub-space, he now had three hidden cards beneath his sleeves.
’I wonder if...’ Osborne, feeling curious, got up from the bed.
He then grabbed a wooden stool before entering the sub-space.
To his joy, he saw the stool inside the sub-space the moment he appeared.
Well, he technically wasn’t exactly there, since his body was also in the real world.
’While I can bring things in here as well, I’m still not sure what the limitations are.’ He didn’t for once believe there weren’t any, since even this space had an end.
After all, he did personally bash into it yesterday.
’Oh?’ Osborne also noticed something else peculiar.
The moment he walked away from the stool, fine layers of stone gradually began to grow upon its surface.
The sight instantly reminded him of the murderous rabbits.
’Does that mean that those things weren’t created by the dagger, but instead placed inside by someone else?’ At the thought of this, his expression turned dark.
He couldn’t help wondering whether all his suffering was in fact due to the actions of another.
Perhaps the former owner of the dagger—or should he say, mana heart.
In truth, Osborne still had no idea why the dagger became a heart.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t help thinking that perhaps those murderous rabbits had a purpose.
If the former owner of the dagger was indeed the one who left them there.
It was possible those wicked rabbits were, in a way, a sort of trial set by the original owner.
If the reward for bonding with this dagger were this great, then it wouldn’t be surprising that a trial was left behind.
Though he couldn’t help thinking that such a trial was simply too cruel.
He pondered the possibility of someone who had already awakened finding the dagger, but if that were to have happened, wouldn’t the trial have been useless? And if so, why did the dagger only bond with him now?
Which brought him to the conclusion that the dagger had only allowed him to partake in the trial because he met its requirements.
One of which he believed was being unawakened.
Perhaps age was another requirement, but he had no way of knowing for sure.
Not wanting to dwell on the matter anymore, Osborne left the dagger world.
He returned with the wooden stool, which was still covered in stone.
But the moment he thought of the stone surface vanishing, it gradually began to crack and fall off until nothing remained on its surface.
"Good Morning, Young Master." At that time, Guinevere stepped into the room and greeted him.
"Morning. Is there something you need?" Osborne said. He didn’t sound welcoming nor hostile, simply in-between.
"My lady has invited you for breakfast along with the other members of the house. I’ve simply come to escort you to the dining hall."
"It’s alright, I can head there myself," Osborne said.
"Oh... But of course," Guinevere said.
"But before you leave, could you please clean this up?" He pointed at the stony remains on the floor.
He still had to get dressed since he was currently bare-chested.
He wasn’t exactly sure, but his muscles looked more alive today than they did before. Even during his time training in the dungeons, they never looked this good.
Guinevere had noticed the peculiarity on the ground earlier, finding it strange since she hadn’t seen such before, yet she didn’t bother to pry.
"Leave it to me," she said.
---
Osborne stepped into the Roosevelt family’s dining hall.
Several servants stood at a distance, ready to move if prompted, while the ones seated at the long dining table were Roseline, Rebecca, and Ruby.
The youngest was nowhere to be seen.
The moment Osborne stepped through the doors, Rebecca’s eyes shifted towards him.
"You finally decided to show yourself! Guards, apprehend this man!" Rebecca ordered without hesitation.
"Yes, ma’am." Two guards moved towards Osborne, both in knightly armour while holding spears in one arm each.
"Rebecca, what’s the meaning of this?" Ruby was the first to speak up, frowning at her younger sister.
"That man attacked me yesterday. I don’t know what tricks he used, but if I hadn’t reacted in time, I would’ve been greatly injured."
"You wanted to know why Rachael was so hurt this morning? It’s because of him!"