The Summoner's Rebirth: Awaken, Milady

Chapter 156: Bits of Suffering

"Hey there! You're going to send young master today's lunch, right? You forgot the additives!" A voice called out to her. Aria turned around and saw that a figure was running towards her.

After catching up, the figure, who also wore the exact same maid outfit, took Aria's hand and shoved an object to her palm.

Aria furrowed her brows, but she didn't immediately react as she opened her palm and looked at the object she just received.

In her hands was now a small packet filled with a white substance that looked suspicious right off the bat. Aria raised a brow at the gift and stared with doubt towards the maid who approached her.

'Additives?' Aria thought internally.

"What is this?" Aria asked.

"What? You know, it's the young master's usual.. Oh wait, come to think of it, I have never seen you before. You're not a familiar face... Ah, are you perhaps the new maid that got admitted yesterday? I was taking a leave, so I didn't get to see the new face's introduction, but.. Hmm, it's you, huh?"

Aria thought for a split second and immediately adjusted to form a background story for her existence in the mirrored memory.

"..Yes. My name is Aria, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry, but what am I supposed to do with this packet...?"

"Oh, it's easy. You just need to slip it into his food. It's an order from his parents, we have been doing this ever since he was a child. You don't need to worry about it, just do your job well and we will get paid well. Questions aren't that.. appreciated around this place. But because you're a new one, I will let it slide. Next time, just do your job." The maid spoke, advising Aria.

Aria looked thoughtfully at the packet and still couldn't dispel her curiosity and tensing thoughts. Since the System sent her to this timeline, then this medicine should also be a clue that she needed to process.

It may just be the culprit of Lucas' suffering, if there even was one in the first place. She had to investigate a bit further.

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The idea of slipping in strange additives into a child's food was unnatural, especially knowing the enmity that was shared inside this house.

"I understand. Thank you very much." Aria nodded and pushed the food cart which had the trays containing food all over it. Before she left, however, she ended up not being able to resist the urge to ask about the additive. She turned around and looked towards the maid with hesitant eyes.

"...Could you tell me more about this additive? I'm really curious." Aria asked.

"Oh, you damned- Ha, I suppose that when I first came here, I was also full of questions. You should be grateful that you met me instead of the other maids! You seem like a good and polite person.. So I will tell you what I know. The young master is obviously not desired by his family, so he has to eat separately in his room, alone. It's been like that since day one. About the packet.. the white powder is apparently poison."

"What- isn't Lu- I mean, young master Lucas just a mere child? Why would they feed him poison??" Aria asked with a concerned face after hearing the reply. She was expecting some weakening agent, but not direct poison.

"Lower your volume! Someone might hear us. Oh dear, where would I even begin to explain this from.. This is all to satiate the madam's anger."

"The madam.. What about her?"

"When young master Lucas was born, he was brought to the church to receive his baptism just like any other noble child.. But then, the madam was told that Lucas was an unlucky star for her and that he would be the source of her demise in the future. The madam originally didn't want to believe this, but she remembered that when she carried Lucas, she always had bad fortunes following her, and giving birth to the baby was also extremely hard and taxing, to the point where she was pushed to the brink of death after young master was born. All of this was calculated by the madam, who ended up thinking that the church's advice was indeed right. So.. she took it out on the boy... And since the lord didn't find any use in young master as well, he let it slide in order to not create more problems."

"Only because of a baseless prophecy..?" Aria was in shock as she heard the story. Lucas and his family, she knew that there was a lot of bad blood between them with the little boy having a hard time while he was still living in their premises, but she would've never thought that the effects were this serious.

"Sssh. We wouldn't know what the nobles are thinking about. They always have funny ideas that don't make sense to our heads, but what can we do?" The maid spoke. "Now, hurry and go send the food to young master Lucas. Oh, by the way, my name is Sarah! Err, Aria, was it? I hope we'll have a pleasant cooperation."

"..Please take care of me in the future." Aria replied, still drowned in her thoughts. It was all too jarring.

To think that Lucas, the goofy man that she knew was obsessed with research had such a complicated past. No, it was illegal to do this even if he was a noble child. There was no means that could explain this baseless treatment. Just because of some suffering and a person's words, you would go as far as to ruin your own child's life by feeding him with dangerous substances day and night.

What kind of parent had the heart to do so? Aria never got to see her real parents, but she imagined that being abandoned would be better than having to suffer in such a way.

Aria walked towards Lucas' room right after, stopping in front of his door and knocking twice. Her hand stretched towards the door handle and pulled it down, but to her dismay, it was locked.

"Young master Lucas, your food has arrived. Please unlock the door?" Aria spoke, knocking again.

"Leave it in front of the door like always. Who are you? Why do you still need to ask about this?" Lucas' small voice came from behind the door.

"I.. am a new maid. I have just been hired, so I'm not familiar with how this place works yet.. Pardon my offense." Aria said.

"..No worries. Just remember this pattern from today onwards. Got it?"

"Yes, young master. Also.. If I'm not being too intrusive, may I ask a question?"

"..Ask it." Lucas answered.

"I heard that you liked to read books. I also love to read all sorts of literature. Could I read you some of my stories, if you desire so? I would love to discuss about all sorts of content with you."

Aria was purposely aiming for Lucas' weak spot, something that she learned from him directly when she got closer to the man. He was always thirsty for new knowledge. According to him, it sparked joy whenever he was able to obtain a new enlightenment on a certain matter, no matter how small or big it was.

Lucas would always hunt for new pieces to read. He would often ask her to obtain books from her trips. It was always his dream to read as much as possible, to one day be able to read every single book in the world. Unfortunately, that was of course, impossible.

But within the circle of people she knew, Lucas held the champion title of having read the most books and any forms of literature. When he went outside after God knows how long it has been since the previous trip, it would always be most probably due to wanting to see a literature upfront.

However, after the next reply came, Aria realized that she was being too hasty with her actions. For a second, she had forgotten that she was just a maid, and she had no authority or closure with the boy behind the locked door.

Also, she had viewed this current Lucas to have more or less the same personality as the man she knew back then. Of course, one's personality was not  determined since birth, but rather was shaped and formed according to all the environmental factors that worked to build up the traits one had. 

She was also under the impression that since this was a mirrored world, the details and life running inside it wouldn't be that hardcore.

Of course, she was quickly proven wrong by Lucas.

"Are you trying to curry up my favor? I know that you're new, so I will tell you one thing. You won't get anything from me. I'm unloved by my family, so even if you earned my trust, you will get absolutely nothing."