Time continued to move forward for Felix after meeting his birth mother for the first time, albeit with a few new faces around the manor. Most of the time Felix would either practice perfecting his walk or reading books with more words.

Fortunately for Felix, there didn’t seem to be any major discrepancy between the language of his former world and its fantastical counterpart, but he wasn’t sure if that was the case with more complicated words.

Felix wondered if another reincarnate from his former world had made a name for themselves in this world and had gone on to introduce the language to the masses, or maybe he was just reading too much in between the lines.

Despite the simple nature of the books, he was still able to find joy in reading them due to their interesting storylines, and how they portrayed the heroes and their powers. Naturally, Isabella would be reading with him to ‘help’ him understand what was going on in the stories, so his cover was never blown.

Sebastian was also making his regular visits to the manor much to Felix’s chagrin, as he’d always have to be patient with the toddler’s natural childishness.

One change to Felix’s day-to-day life was that his mother’s guests had settled down to live in the manor and they would cross paths on occasion, with completely different reactions.

The lady that looked like an older, more wrinkled version of his birth mother would sometimes loiter around his quarters or his side of the garden while observing him going about his business. Whenever Felix would look at her, he would smile and wave in a childish manner, to which she would simply respond with a sad smile and a small wave, and she would always keep her distance.

On some occasions, Isabella would ask her if she wanted to carry Felix, but she would hesitate, and eventually decline. Felix understood the lady’s position to an extent because on the one hand, Felix was her daughter’s child and holds no blame in the situation, but on the other hand, her getting close to Felix could be seen as a betrayal to Giselle.

That didn’t stop him from feeling pissed off, however, as he wanted to experience the love of a grandparent at least once in his two lives. He could put on a cute act and pander for her affection, but the thought of that disgusted him.

A simple lesson that he learned from his former parent’s relationship was that those who genuinely cared for you would overcome all boundaries to connect with you. Whether or not the lady wanted a relationship with her grandchild, that was up to her.

His mother’s other guest was a bit more straightforward in her stance towards Felix. They wouldn’t cross paths as frequently as Felix and his grandmother, but her reaction towards him lacked any form of goodwill, and that wasn’t fun at all.

Only a person of a particular taste would derive pleasure from a beautiful woman treating them coldly, which Felix was not (as far as he knew), and beautiful she was.

The lady, who he learned from Isabella was called Rachel, looked to be around the same age as he would’ve been if he hadn’t passed away. Whilst his mother had an almost ephemeral beauty that stopped anyone from getting too close, Rachel was more of a cool beauty that emanated this unapproachable aura.

With straight black hair that barely reached past her elbows coupled with a shapely figure and well-proportioned face, many servants would be inclined to get to know her, but her cold black eyes would always dissuade anyone from approaching.

Felix wouldn’t see Rachel as regularly as he would see his grandmother, but the encounters would always be even more awkward, which he didn’t think was even possible. They would sometimes catch each other’s eyes when Felix was out with Isabella in the garden, but the lady would never respond positively to his innocent smile and wave, only a simple bow as etiquette required.

If anything, she would sport a deeper frown than the naturally serious expression she would have on her face. Felix understood that like his grandmother, the lady’s allegiance lay with his mother, and there were no blood ties between them that would give her any second thoughts on this matter. Knowing this, he wouldn’t take her evident dislike for him to heart and would simply go about his business after their brief encounter.

One thing that remained relatively constant in his life, however, was the indifferent expression that Giselle would have whenever she and Felix would cross paths.

Ever since Felix’s grandmother (who he found out was called Frida) had arrived, she would often take walks around the manor grounds, and sometimes Giselle would join her. Whether it was by choice or by coercion, Felix wasn’t sure, as they would always ‘coincidentally’ run into each other.

It bears mentioning that the manor’s garden was more than spacious enough to keep each group from crossing the other’s path, and surely, they could choose a different time for their walks considering that Felix would wake up late and sleep early (by no choice of his own).

Maybe Frida was trying to open her daughter’s heart to Felix by getting Giselle to see him more often, but from the deadpan expression fixed on Giselle’s face whenever she saw Felix, it didn’t seem to be working. It wasn’t as if Felix was particularly interested in getting to know Giselle, she already had her chance to form a relationship with him.

If anything, Felix was interested in the last member of Frida’s entourage. Simply because Felix had never seen a real mediaevalesque knight before, and their first impression was by no means underwhelming.

A veritable mountain of a man from Felix’s infantile perspective, if Felix had to guess he’d say maybe around 6 foot 3 inches in height, looking imposing in his dark blue full-plated armour, with a menacing wolf insignia etched in what looked like silver upon the breastplate.

To make matters worse, he was a well-built and handsome man that would have no trouble making women crumble at the sight of his piercing brown eyes that seemed to stare into your soul.

Even Isabella would blush whenever they crossed paths, and then she would mumble worriedly to herself for having unfaithful thoughts whenever she and Felix were alone (she would’ve been embarrassed to find out that he could understand).

He was pretty much the enemy of all men, and Felix’s frowning face whenever they made eye contact showed his stance on the matter. Unironically enough, the man seemed to share a mutual dislike for Felix, as Felix could detect hatred thinly veiled in the man’s eyes behind his serious façade.

This was firmly juxtaposed by the tender gaze that the man would spontaneously send Giselle’s way, before quickly schooling his features, but not before a discerning light would flash in Felix’s eyes.