Kyon hid on the training ground and focused on the information he had just received, particularly that which concerned the most basic element: pure energy / pure force / inner energy / spiritual will. Call it what you like, the essence is the same.

It was not easy to understand what he had put in his head. Kyon released the energy from his soul to manage the channel, adjust its thickness, length, angles, and all that jazz. Just like he did in the mine.

He assumed that an average person should understand all that at the level of intuition in the form of enlightenment but he didn’t like that spontaneous method at all. He was not used to relying on coincidence or some mysterious talent he didn't even care about.

Time went by but no one popped into the training ground, which was delightful.

Kyon was still trying to match the piles of incomprehensible neuron bundles with common sense. They had absolutely no logic. He could as well use the method of error and trial... Even Synergy did not particularly contribute to the quick assimilation of the facts. And the basic grade of pure energy was considered to be the easiest of them all. However, it’s not so easy for an ordinary person to reach enlightenment... Will he be able to master the main and only grade of pure energy depends on the chance, luck, and talent.

A whole day went by in unsuccessful but vital attempts to master the basic grade of energy. The evening came.

Apparently, heaven decided to show some mercy to him. The little bitch had never called on him to finish him off.

His stomach started acting up again, making loud rumbling like a mammoth. Kyon pressed his hands to the stomach giving him too much pain and pulled a face. He urgently needed food. His body recovery froze. It was no good. He had to go hunting or something. Since they were not going to feed him, he had to get food on his own.

The boy was walking around the garden still hesitating to enter the mansion when he suddenly noticed Anna selling off a servant in the distance. The pale man bowed to her begging not to punish him. He vowed to improve himself. As a result, the good-natured girl gave him one last chance. The servant fell to his knees in tears. The blonde snorted contemptuously and headed for the mansion.

Kyon summoned up all his courage and caught up with the maid. He caught her attention with neutral "excuse me" and when the girl turned around he kowtowed to her with his dignified lisping:

«Hello, ma'am Anna. I wanted to thank you for not punishing me when you found me walking without permission in the mansion. You see I was looking for the bathroom...»

The girl could not help staring at his toothless bloody mouth, his swelling blue eye, a wan complexion that could be seen in rare places free from bruises and hematomas. However, she quickly put on an icy look on her face and answered in an impassive voice:

«No need to thank me for that. It could be much worse if someone had to clean up after you in the area. I could tolerate a moment of your presence in the place where you weren't supposed to be by any means… Speaking of which, what are you doing here?»

His stomach rumbled. Kyon bowed his head and sighed:

«I'm sorry… Everyone has completely forgotten about me… or maybe they never remembered. I've been sleeping on the floor. I haven't eaten for more than two days. My health care is out of the question… Of course, I don't blame lady Juno if that's what it takes… But… I'm sorry.»

Her heart sank with pity, which was rather unusual for her, while her mind kept whispering: you can’t help him in any way. You have no right to change his fate.

The boy sobbed and sadly slouched back to the training ground without waiting for an answer. It seemed that his plan had failed. He would have no food. All his crocodile tears had instantly disappeared leaving him with cheerless prospects. He was shackled in the cage with the beast in Juno’s disguise.

Conflicting feelings tore Anna apart. Compassion for someone who was in a low position was unacceptable for her but... The poor fellow’s life was a living hell. What should she do?

She had no idea and left quietly, her shoulders drooping.

The dark-haired girl had been watching that charade silently. She tapped her foot, visibly displeased, her arms crossed. The boy didn't only break the rules, he also dared to talk with her sister. Her sister had always been silly, trusting and over-enthusiastic, always too close to bending the rules.

Anna ignored the voice of reason humming in her head and decided to help the unfortunate slave. She took the remains of pasta and gravy in the kitchen and carried the tray to the training ground looking around with a thievish look. What if someone would see her? She was too high in position to bring food to someone other than the noble, after all.

It was very unusual for her position to succumb to the new feeling so close to compassion and help someone who was not worthy even her glance... But why follow the rules when you can follow your heart?

The gate creaked softly, and Kyon saw Anna appearing like an angel at his abode. Her thick blond hair was swaying slightly in the wind. The maid’s uniform fit her like a second skin. Her deep cleavage attracted glances like a magnet… All that had suddenly faded, paled, took a back seat compared to the silver tray in her hands definitely loaded with something edible! Long live acting skills and eternal, constant in all the worlds feminine pity for all the unfortunate and crazy!

The boy’s deliberately tear-stained face lit up with a happy smile, which made Anna miss a heartbeat. Her hands started to tremble. The girl tottered unsteadily toward Kyon when... Dinah, the dark-haired maid jumped over the barrier and stood between the blonde and the slave:

«What are you doing, sister?»

Anna backed away in confusion:

«Dinah, I… I’ve brought him something to eat…»

The dark-haired girl gave her a cold icy stare:

«This slave had broken the rules when he appeared in the mansion and the park without the lady’s orders. He should have been finished off a long time ago. And now you decided to not give a damn about the orders...»

«I know, but...» - Anna mumbled trying to pick up words to justify herself but Dinah did not even listen to her. She snatched the plate from her hands and emptied it at the top of Kyon’s head. «No ifs or buts. We must strictly follow the rules and never let any feelings influence our decisions.»

Kyon froze in shock. The plaintive look on his face squeezed the fair-haired maid’s heart. She wanted to help him but she seemed to have made his situation only worse.

Dinah threw the last cold look at her sister:

«Clean up as a punishment.» - She snorted contemptuously and went to the mansion.

Anna watched her leave, shook her head and muttered trying not to meet Kyon’s eyes:

«I’m sorry, boy… It’s my fault…»

For the first time in her life, she apologized to someone below her rank. The whole situation seemed to be playing in the theater of the absurd. Her common sense had flown down the lane and far away. An indescribable discord reigned in the soul.

The boy shook his head:

«Do not apologize, madam.» - He brushed the remnants of gravy and pasta off his head, took the tray from her hands, knelt and began to collect the rest of the food from the floor and eat it blowing off the dirt. Food is life. Life is more important to him than petty honor and pride. And what is dirt? Strains of microbes? They are already everywhere. It’s all relative.

Anna pursed her lips. She had no words. She silently left the ground with mixed feelings. Her life had been monotonous for more than five years. She controlled servants, cleaned the lady’s chambers, and read a couple of pages before bedtime. Day after day, night after night, everything had been the same and there was no end to that. The boy came as a breath of fresh air. At last, some novelty in her life.

A servant, who was sent by Anna, took the plate with the tray away.

Kyon’s body ached and did not obey in certain places/ It was dark in his eyes from blood loss but some food for dinner gave Kyon the hope of restoring his vitality. However, without mastering the pure energy, he didn’t have a chance to survive in those inhuman conditions.

Kyon desperately continued mastering the pure energy. It was his only hope. Marina couldn’t help him yet... Anna wouldn’t risk her position anymore. He was alone, completely alone, forgotten and abandoned by everyone in the world. He couldn’t expect help from anywhere. He could only rely on himself. For the first time, his imperial dignity was subjected to such intense stress. And yet he did not know how to give up.

The rest of the day and the following night were calm. The spawn of satan in the guise of an angel never came to finish him off, which was tantamount to a miracle. Or vice versa, it was an extension of his agony.

And then the early morning came. Kyon felt a little stronger as he had recovered a bit of strength. He put his sound transmitter to the ear.

Surprisingly, Marina said that she would be there at seven in the morning. The sausage would come in very handy! It was his chance!

Exactly an hour later, Kyon called the girl again to double-check when to meet her. He crawled out from the training ground and walked to the mansion without paying attention to the servants. If he was going to meet Dinah so be it. He wasn’t meant to survive then. However, it was not his intention to come out specifically in front of her bright eyes. He moved albeit with difficulty, but carefully.

He seized a suitable moment and made his way into the mansion mingling with three servants. The guard blocked his way when he approached the entrance:

«Show your formation.»

Fortunately, his shaggy hair made it hard to figure out he was a slave. Unfortunately, the formation was required at the entrance and the exit to be recorded in the logbook. No one could come or leave just so.

Kyon cleared his throat, vaguely pointed his hand somewhere before him and lisped:

«The girl over there has come to give me something from Mr. Flitz if you please.»

Both guards looked at each other, turned around and saw a beautiful blonde approaching them. She was loaded with five savory sausages.

Kyon felt pleasant warmth spreading all over him at the sight of food. He waved to the girl to greet her.

Marina anxiously approached the guards never taking her eyes off the boy:

«Hello, Kyon. Here, I’ve brought everything…»

The stunned guards bowed to the floor at once and barked in unison:

«Greetings to you, Lady Diana!»

One of them hurried to put his wrist to his lips:

«Lady Juno, your mother has arrived!»

Kyon was astonished. He cleared his ear with his little finger. What-what did they say? {Mother? What the hell?!} The boy even decided to look behind her back. What if the mysterious "mother" was hiding behind the suckretary but no. The road behind Marina was empty.

The girl froze. Was she somebody's mother?! Was it the reason why Flitz had forbidden her to approach the mansion?! No, no... She didn’t think she had ever given birth. She would have noticed such a significant event. And Flitz was unable to reproduce. {What's happening?!}

Kyon’s heart sank into his boots when he heard painfully familiar quick footsteps. His eyes filled with horror. The hope that the guards were being witty had cleared like a morning mist. They did call Juno in there!

However, the girl who came to the scene was in no mood for the slave. She kept her stare locked on Marina. The little demon girl threw herself on Marina’s neck with a cheerful shriek. The sausages tumbled on the floor.

«Mom! Why didn’t you say a word that you were coming?! And why did you grow young again? New beauty medicine?! And… You’ve changed…»

Juno hesitated. The shape of the eyebrows was a bit different, a slightly different nose, a tiny difference in the corners of the lips.

Marina stood stock still and could not utter a word. Everything seemed to her like a crazy dream.

Kyon came to his senses before the others and realized that he couldn’t waste any more time. He had to grab the sausages before the situation cleared up (two pieces were rolling right at his feet) and run. In his case, not quite run but limp hurriedly to the place of his residing. He could think over the weird situation later. However, he had already a vague idea. Flitz had strictly forbidden Marina to approach the mansion. When she disobeyed his order, everyone around took her for Juno’s mother even the young sadist herself. It was highly unlikely that the real mother would become a secret lover of Flitz. It could only mean that Marina looked like the aforementioned lady.

Kyon was nearly crawling to the gate to the training ground when he was roughly stopped. Someone grabbed his shoulder. The boy turned around and recognized Dinah. He let out a woeful groan.

{Damn it!}

«What is that in your hands?» - The girl squinted suspiciously.

Kyon kept silent. He was frantically trying to find a way out. How many times did that clingy bitch have to spoil his life?

«I am not going to ask twice. Where did you get the food? Stolen?»

«It’s mine. A friend gave it to me.» - The boy lisped slowly and surely staring at her resolutely from under his brows.

The girl was surprised to see that the pathetic slave wasn’t hiding his eyes. The boy’s behavior changed more often than a chameleon its colors. The absence of his teeth pleased her. As for his friend, it must be a lie.

«And now it’s all mine.» - She took away his valuable provisions. He was supposed to have his arms cut off for theft, which Dinah had in mind for the near future.

Kyon couldn’t take his angry stare of the girl:

«You can’t do this. The sausage is mine! My friend gave it to me and I need it!» - The former emperor was grasping at the two sausages as if it was his own life... At moments like this, it gets clear that fate can drive anyone into a situation where even one sausage equals to the mountains of gold.

*bam*

Dinah’s little fist hit him right on the solar plexus knocking all the oxygen out of his lungs. It went dark in his head. His body got treacherously limp. The boy collapsed to the ground. Weakness. There it came again...

«You dared to get into the mansion, miserable scum. You’ve stolen food and now you are talking to me as to your equal?! I guess it is time to get your limbs shortened.» - The girl immediately grabbed Kyon by the wrist. A dagger flashed in her hand.

The boy panicked. Dinah would hardly deign to follow the rules of amputation. The prospect of dying of blood loss developed before him to its full extent. His mind instantly issued the first solution that he could think of:

«Ma’am, I know who stole your lingerie!»

Dinah’s grip weakened. She let the slave’s limb out of her hand.

«What did you say?»