I woke up to a soft and comfortable feeling on my back, something I haven’t felt for the past week I’ve been stuck in this world. The air that I breathed in filled me with joy as it smells like a flower garden and freshly cut grass; unlike the humid, sometimes putrid smell of an underground dungeon, I would trade all of my dignity for this blessing. However, the sharp feeling in my chest every time I breathe is concerning. So, I pulled away from the blanket I was tucked in and sure enough, I was bandaged all over the place.

“It seems passing out is one of your specialties,” said a familiar voice to my right that made me jump in fear. “That series of explosions did quite a number on your body.”

“Y-your majesty, what are you-”

“Just shut up and lay back down on the bed,” and so I did, of course after gulping really hard and hesitating for a couple of seconds. The palm of her hands then started to glow green as she hovered it on top of my stomach. “I ran as fast as I could after I felt the sudden outburst of mana from the underground prison. Arthur said that the stone you were holding on to exploded. After some thought, I kinda felt bad about leaving you in an underground prison for a week. I guess after winning the war against you mom I was- I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, your majesty. I do not have any of Alton Crenada’s memories. So, I don’t really feel anything when it comes to the last emperor”

I guess Arthur was right, she really is a softie. When her parents were still alive, she was nothing but an ostracized princess; Josephine Crenada, the abandoned, unloved, and forgettable princess. But through all this, her sister, Violet Crenada, will always stand by her side and help her through any means possible. They were almost inseparable, even though their parents wouldn’t allow it, Violet would always find a way to sneak out of class and play with Josephine. Even though she was the one who killed her own beloved sister who became a tyrant, those beautiful memories definitely still linger in the back of her mind. At least that’s what Arthur told me.

“Are you going to free me?”

“No. A failsafe is still needed, especially after what happened.”

“Then… Why is it that you’d go out of your way and come here by yourself, your majesty?”

“To heal you, and to give you a promotion.”

“A promotion?”

“Yes, You’ll be a butler apprentice starting next week.”

“A butler’s apprentice… Pardon me, but what about my face? Won’t people recognize me?”

“Right, about that. I’ve altered it quite a bit after the explosion. It’s either that or you’ll be disfigured for the rest of your life. I’ve done quite a splendid job if I do say so myself.”

“The explosion was that big? What happened to Arthur? Is he Okay? He’s not dead is he?”

“... Hahahaha, he’s fine; he’s strong enough to take on that explosion head on.”

Thank goodness, if Arthur’s gone, then not only will I be a murderer, but my investment on the crouching tiger will be gone. Besides that, becoming a butler apprentice doesn’t sound too bad. I’ll probably be a servant for the rest of my life, but at least I can also do some magic research- Oh right…

“Pardon me, your majesty, if I do become a butler apprentice, what would happen to my research?”

“Even though you said you’re a grown old man stuck in a kid’s body, you sure do ask a whole lot of questions, just like a kid does.”

“I’m sorry, your majesty. It’s just.. This is all quite new to me.”

“No worries, I believe you. Your ‘research’ will continue. I’ll order Arthur to bring the stones to your room every week.”

That’s quite a relief, working from morning till night under someone else's jurisdiction is what I did in my past life, and no way I want to re-life my past life in an isekai. I will become a high enough servant so I could laze around and take all the time in the world for my magic tools research, that would be the dream.

She then began explaining to me my ‘backstory’. Considering Arthur and I have grown pretty close, she used that to our advantage by saying that I’m Arthur’s close relative named Lloyd Holt, and is here to be trained as a knight, but due to my weak constitution, the head butler then took me as a butler’s apprentice. All things considered, the head butler must’ve been a really nice guy. Going along with the plan and taking me in at such short notice must mean that he has a soft spot for kids. I can’t wait to get out of this bed and do my research again! Heck, this butler thing might even be more fun than I thought it’d be.

+++++

A full month has passed since I became a butler apprentice, and now is the perfect time to make another mental note: I should just keep my mouth shut and never think about how other people are good. This mental note materializes as a result of being bombarded with insults every single day by the head butler. 'Have a soft spot for childrens' my ass! If anything, I'd say he's a child abuser.

I may not be the perfect apprentice, but I always do my job as best as I can consistently. I do admit that my room is a mess, but can you blame me? I was a slob for most of my life before coming here, and old habits that have rooted deep down to the core of my soul are really hard to pluck out. So, him barging in uninvited, and saying things like:

“Mr. Holt, your room is too dusty, a butler’s image reflects their master,” he said as he ran his finger on my dirty desk.

“Mr. Holt, you need to stay organized, a good butler always knows where everything is!” He said as he picked up the clothes lying on the floor.

“This is unacceptable! How can you mix up your underwear from your socks?!? They are two completely different things!” He said as he crushed my underwear, or is it my sock?

“Wha- What the fuck is that?!? Is that mold growing on your clothes? That is- NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!” he said as he ran, full throttle, away from me.

Gosh, like take a chill pill or something. If a sloth can grow mold on their fur, why can’t I? But those were only in the first week of me being an apprentice; I have learned to be much more diligent and not let any fungus or mold grow anywhere near my body. I’ve been tasked with taking care of the garden in the morning and learning butlership from noon till night. So, things have been looking up for me, even if the daily death stares and occasional insult from the head butler still go on to this day.

Take what I’m doing as an example. I’m currently giving a small and gentle dog his well-deserved food after a long hour of doing dog stuff.

“Please, Doux! Your food is the bone, not me!” I said with a calm and manly voice as I played a fun game of tag with the dog named Doux. “Take the bone that is in my hand, don’t take the bone that is inside my hand!” Apparently, Doux meant gentle; of course, I wholeheartedly agree such a name is given to a dog that’s more wolf than dog.

“Doux! Come here boy!” Called a knight with a scraggly white beard in shining armor, but his bald head is even shinier than the armor he was wearing. Doux then came running full force at the knight and played catch with him.

“Arthur! My knight in shining armor, thou have cometh to save me once more!”

“Stop talking like that. Anyway, are you sure we’re doing it again today, kid? The last couple of times ended up pretty much the same.”

For the past month, Arthur and I have gotten really close, even though he didn’t recognize me at first due to my changed appearance. We’ve been busy trying to extract the crystals that are inside the stones, or as I call them the ‘mana geodes’. It’s not going that well though because every time the crystals are exposed to the air, it explodes. Usually, we do it by cutting or smashing it to pieces, but today it’s gonna be different; today, we’ll be smashing it to dust. That’s why I’ve asked Arthur to bring in the biggest hammer he could get.

“This is the biggest war hammer I could get; the head of this thing is twice the size of my head.”

“I guess that’ll be enough,” I said as we headed outside the castle and into the woods, located westwards from the castle’s entrance. “This place should do it, there’s no one here so it should be safe enough if it causes an explosion again.”

“Alrighty, give me the stone.”

“It’s called mana geode,” I said, correcting his foolishness as I handed him the mana geode.

“Yeah, yeah, mana abode- huh? This one’s glowing blue.”

“Really? Oh, those were the ones from the new batch. Here let’s use the usual red-”

“Nah, let’s try this one. Maybe something new will happen.”

“No, Arthur. We don’t know what would happen if that one goes haywire.”

“It’s fine. What's the worst that could happen?” He said as he readied his war hammer to smash it into fine powder.

“NO! WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?!?”

“Stand back, kid. I don’t want to see your face get messed up again, that was traumatizing.”

With a loud bang, the hammer smashed the geode into dust. I was expecting a really big explosion, bigger than the ones we’re used to. My theory was that mana geodes' colors are related to their intensity; so, I guess the blue mana geode means it has the lowest mana intensity.

“See? There’s nothing to be worried about.”

“I- I guess there is nothing to worry about.”

As soon as I said that, the crushed mana geode started to glow really bright, and out comes a pillar of water that literally pierces the sky. It flung the war hammer along with Arthur who was holding on to it, making him cartwheel up in the sky like a cartoon character. It seems that the water pillar did not reach outer space, seeing that there are drizzles coming down, reaching all the way to the royal castle. And it seems my hypothesis about mana geodes' colors being related to their mana intensity is completely wrong; mana geodes' colors are related to their element.

“No, no, no, that is definitely something to worry about.”