Ruth Kieran was stuck in bed and unable to leave his room after fainting, and the whole manor was abuzz with rumours about how it could have happened. Some people believed that the Earl was just overworked. Some who knew about Jeck thought that perhaps he’d possibly poisoned him for some unknown person’s ‘favour’. The prevailing theory, however, was that Noth had done something to his own father. It was a fact that the two Kierans were alone in the dining room when the Earl collapsed, so it was only natural that people would suspect that he was the culprit. It didn’t even matter that he was only 11, since the biassed servants of the house could easily believe that a God-dess forsaken child was capable of doing awful things.

Noth, the subject of such mean rumours, couldn’t care less what they all thought; He was much too busy trying to sort out what had happened to even give anyone a passing glance. All he knew was that he’d been boiling with rage, his eyes had felt itchy, he’d felt a familiar tingling -although accompanied with a harsh heat this time- in his bracelet, and then his father had dropped all of a sudden. Did he think it was his fault? The possibility certainly seemed likely, considering that he’d grown very accustomed to how it felt every time he’d made a wish so far, and he’d definitely felt the sensation happen. After making wishes as often as he could to train himself over the past few years, it would just be strange if he wasn’t intimately aware of how it felt.

When his father fell, Noth hadn’t really registered it at first. It took him a minute or two of staring at the spot where the man had previously been sitting before he realized something was wrong and dashed over to his father’s side of the table. Noth had of course called for a servant right after he’d determined that the Earl was still breathing, and you’d think that that would have earned him at least some points of compassion, but no such feeling was had. Instead, everyone gave him nothing but sidelong glances.

“Don’t they realize that if I wanted to hurt my father that I wouldn’t report it right after I did it?”

Sure, it was uncomfortable having almost every servant he passed by stare at him with a small variety of different, and yet somehow still all negative, emotions. And in his own home no less. Honestly, however, at the end of the day the manor wasn’t really Noth’s home, so if things became a little too much, then he could just easily hide out in his villa. After years of being scorned by most of the people he met, he wasn’t all that put off by the looks he was receiving anymore though, and it was hard for him to care what these ignorant fools thought of him enough to actually want to hide away. But… as always, there was an exception to the rule. Someone was indeed bothering him enough to make him hide.

Jeck was looking for him.

In fact, the man was looking for him fervently enough that some of the servants were actually starting to put more credibility into the rumour that this had all been caused by Jeck himself. It was easy to believe that everything could be some big plot to erase the Kieran bloodline thoroughly, perhaps requested by some higher up that saw the family as some kind of obstacle or nuisance. And it was also equally as easy for Noth to realize why the snake was looking for him, knowing that the boy was most likely the real reason that he’d come to the Kieran estate.

When Noth first learned that Jeck was looking for him, for a moment he’d actually felt scared. But after a night of fear and hiding, the feeling had instead morphed and changed into anger, as fear usually does. It would be a lie to say that a small bit of that fear wasn’t still hanging onto his heart and squeezing at his lungs, but the anger did its best to drown out most of that feeling. There were some nights during the first few days, however, that the boy would wake up from nightmares of the snake finding him, catching him, and brutally killing him in the exact same manner that he’d watched his mother be murdered in. It only made sense that these terrible dreams would only fuel his fear further, making it roar and scream in his ears along with his heartbeat.

But this wasn’t Noth’s first time going through this kind of thing.

It was almost humorous to him how he’d somehow managed to find his way back into almost the exact same situation as when he was younger; Stuck in the villa, hiding, afraid, hoping that today wasn’t the day that the monster outside decided that it was time to dispose of him. Many things were on the child’s side this time however, including experience, knowledge, and a firm feeling that he could win against the beast that had been skulking around on his home turf. And, biggest of all, just like the last time he’d overcome a monster, he was no longer alone. His angel and the amazing power that she’d gifted him would be both his ally, his shield, and his weapon.

His experience and knowledge helped him first. They reminded him of his vow to always have a plan, to always know what you’re trying to accomplish first and then have clear goals towards it. They also told him that, of the many things he’d learned over the past few years, his curiosity could be a powerful force. He knew that many things that were scary became considerably less so once you knew them more in depth, and had become more used to their presence. These two facts together would be the driving force for what he’d have to do next.

Noth thought back to when his angel asked him what he would choose to be, and how he’d confront his father. If you’d have asked anyone else, then perhaps they’d say that the boy’s choice of action for this particular monster would make him a mouse, but Noth knew better. He wouldn’t scamper through the shadows, hiding in fear, and hoping to survive. He would take refuge in the shadows and observe his prey. He’d learn its patterns, he’d track its thoughts, he would get to really know the actions of the beast in front of him. And then, when he’d observed the snake enough, and when the time was absolutely right, Noth would strike, and he would fell the disgusting monster that dared to try and hiss at him. He wouldn’t be a mouse, no, far from it. He’d be a hunter. A powerful hunter. A monster hunter. He just had to be. That was the only choice, he could accept no other.

***

Jeck had been busy as a bee trying his best to track down his target. Common sense would dictate that the boy hadn’t been coming to his classes lately because of his father’s recent collapse, but Jeck’s intuition told him otherwise; He was sure that Noth was avoiding him on purpose. It was an easy enough thing to check and confirm, considering all he’d had to do was ask the other teachers and learn that they’d all still been having regular classes with the manor’s young master. Jeck had had the brilliant idea to just wait to ambush the boy as he left one of the classrooms, but on multiple occasions he’d stood patiently outside the room for hours, only to see that at the designated ending time, the teacher was always the only body to leave the room. He couldn’t find hide nor hair of Noth during his thorough sweep of the classroom afterwards, even when the teachers swore up and down that the boy had been dutifully attending class just mere minutes before.

Thinking that perhaps his target had possibly gotten the other teachers onto his side somehow, Jeck had taken a crack at the servants instead. He was an effortlessly smooth talker usually, and it wasn’t hard for him to gain the assistance of the younger maids in the manor, who hadn’t yet realized how dangerous of a man they were talking to. They would all giggle and gossip with him after only a few minutes of his persuasive words and tales, and would easily cough up any amount of assistance or knowledge he’d passively mention wanting. In fact, the lack of challenge almost made Jeck let loose a few damaging remarks to the young fools on multiple occasions, but he’d managed to hold himself back in light of his true goal. Instead he did his best to sow the seeds of greater distrust and disgust towards the horrible child who'd dared to hurt his own father, as often as the conversations allowed.

However, even with the maid’s assistance, he still was only barely able to catch a glimpse at the boy in passing. And with how much fear mongering he’d been doing amongst the young maids, they’d all become much too afraid to approach the villa where Noth lived to show Jeck its location. There was no way the man who’d lived in relative luxury his whole life was going to tromp through the high grass and back trails behind the house with no guide, so that plan had also become quite the bust.

On many days, Jeck would return back to the guest bedroom he’d been staying in in increasing frustration. He simply couldn’t believe how difficult it could be to find the stupid child. The only way he could console himself was with thoughts of all that he would gain once he finally caught hold of the little beast. The boy was almost a golden egg laying goose if he considered all the bountiful blessings the church would grant him for completing this favour, and the thought helped to severely ease Jeck’s irritation. Of course something so rare would be hard to get. Of course something so amazingly helpful would take time and effort. This would all be worth it in the end, yes…

The snake wriggled his way over to the easel in the sunny corner of his room, stroking the beautiful painting he’d made just days prior. It depicted his own pale, thin hands, overflowing with gold; Gold that he’d never be in short supply of when he finally reached the station he’d been painstakingly crawling his way towards all this time. Jeck loved the colour of gold, the sparkles, the shine, the heft… Even the chill of it in his hand and the way that holding on to it tightly would slowly warm it up. Everything about gold was just right. It was his favourite thing to paint. Next to that painting was another easel, with a blank canvas sitting on top of it. As he felt his resolve growing more and more, he turned to this next painting and gently dipped a brush into the waiting paint nearby. He’d create this next masterpiece in the image of his second most beloved thing: His soon approaching increase of power.

Soon all of this would be his.

If he could paint it, then he could also make it real.

Jeck definitely believed this.

In a corner of his painting he made sure to add a beautiful purple herb, reminiscent of lavender, resting in the hands of a particular kitchen maid. Jeck couldn’t help but smile to himself, feeling smug, certain that this next plan would surely work. He may have to give up his ability to break the elusive child in the end, but he could just as easily extract his pound of anguish from the boy’s father afterwards anyways. All he needed was a bit of the lovely herb he’d already sent out for, and a stoic woman with exactly the right job. He knew who she was. He was aware of what she could do. And he knew what he had to do to get the outcome he wanted. This time, the woman’s [Gift] would become the greatest of weaknesses, and no one would be any the wiser. It would be so foolproof that even if it did somehow fail, that icy wench would be the only one to take the blame.

Yes, this plan would be far too perfect and ironic to fail.