Knock. Knock.
A knock was heard on his door before it went silent, and according to Adrian’s mories, only one person knocks like that.
Letting out a sigh, he walked towards the door, with the cat still on his head.
Extending his hand towards the wooden door, Adrian pulled it open and ca to face with exactly who he expected.
Standing on the other side of the door was a man who seed to be in his late fifties. He had a head full of neatly combed white hair, a beard to match and a pair of green eyes.
He also had on a monocle, and a formal black tailcoat that looked as though it had never once known a wrinkle.
Beneath it was a white shirt and a silver waistcoat. A pair of white gloves covered his hands, one of which rested calmly behind his back while the other held a slender cane.
Everything about him was immaculate.
Not a speck of dust...or rather, snow, touched his shoes, and his posture was the definition of perfection.
Adrian imdiately recognized him.
The head butler of the Ardent estate, the man responsible for overseeing the training of every candidate selected to serve the Ardent family.
A man whose discipline bordered on tyranny.
Sebastian Wells.
He was quite an important character in the manhwa, especially to the Ardent family.
Even through Renelle’s villainy arc which led to the family’s downfall, he was the only servant that had stuck with them till the very end.
He had been executed just after Renelle’s death, as he had refused to abandon the family even when their fate had already been sealed.
A loyal man to a fault.
Which ant he was an important ally to keep, and the only way to get a man such as him by your side, was to be useful to the Ardent family.
Adrian’s eyes calmly scanned the man, anwhile, the cat on his head also curiously looked at the stranger.
Sebastian also noticed the cat, and his monocle glead as his eyes passed over the cat.
But if he found the creature strange, he showed absolutely no sign of it.
His expression remained as composed and unreadable as it always was, as he instructed,
"Follow ."
With that, he turned away without waiting for a reply, expecting Adrian to follow, which he did.
Fortunately for him, his shirt was close to the door, so he didn’t have to walk out the cold bare skinned, as he had woken up.
Buttoning the shirt up, Adrian fell in line behind the older man, as they walked through the corridor.
Aligned on the walls of said corridor were portraits of the Ardent family heads, both current and past.
The figures within them stared forward with expressions that ranged from proud to coldly indifferent, their gazes seemingly following anyone who walked past.
However, Adrian barely spared the paintings a glance, his attention was instead focused on the environnt itself.
The corridor was elegant, yes, but not grand.
The ceiling was lower than what one would expect from the residence of a great noble house.
The chandeliers, while expensive, were modest compared to what Adrian rembered from the manhwa.
Even the carpets beneath their feet, though thick and well maintained, lacked the extravagant embroidery the Ardent family’s true estate was famous for.
All these told of one thing, this wasn’t the main estate. Now Adrian was sure where they were since the manhwa never ntioned a place in the North that wasn’t the main estate.
But judging from his mories, this place should be so kind of training facility for the Ardent family servants....or more specifically, personal servants.
The two continued forward until they were out of the mansion.
The mont the doors opened, a sharp gust of cold wind swept in, carrying with it the faint sting of falling snow.
The temperature outside was far harsher than inside the building, the world beyond covered in an endless blanket of white.
Snow made way beneath their feet as they descended the short stone steps.
Before them stretched a wide training ground, it was a vast open field surrounded by tall iron fences and thick stone pillars etched with faint magical inscriptions.
Snow had accumulated across the ground, though several large areas had clearly been cleared recently, revealing hardened earth beneath.
A number of figures were already gathered around the edges of the field, all dressed in the sa uniform as Adrian.
They stood in small clusters, watching the center of the arena with varying expressions of anticipation and nervousness.
Candidates.
Adrian recognized the situation imdiately, this was the final test...well, the graduation test, the final test would co later.
Each trainee selected to serve the Ardent family was given several days beforehand to form a contract with a spirit and familiarize themselves with it.
Only after that preparation period were they brought here.
According to the mories, the task they had was simple.
Defeat a beast.
If they succeeded, they would officially beco a personal servant of the Ardent family.
If they failed...
Well, he’d rather not find out.
Sebastian stopped just a small distance from the iron fence before finally turning back to Adrian.
"Step inside," was the only thing he said as he stepped to the side.
Without question, Adrian walked into the arena.
As he walked further in, the cat leapt effortlessly from his head, landing on the edge of the iron fence.
«Good luck contractor,» it said as it got comfortable on the fence, «and make sure you don’t die, I don’t think I’d ever get soone this compatible with my abilities.»
"...."
Adrian blankly stared at the damn thing, wasn’t it supposed to guide him on the usage of his abilities?
But that didn’t matter right now as his grey eyes looked towards the far end of the arena where a wall with a gated opening was.
He then calmly took a glance all around him, most candidates either seed worried for him or for when their turns would eventually co.
Adrian tuned all that out and waited for the beast to be released, after all, it was the only obstacle between him and Lady Renelle right now.
And every obstacle between them was going to be cleared.
But he was about to be reminded that he wasn’t looking at the world through the pages anymore..
He was now, very much, a part of it.
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