Cygnus watched the man until he disappeared out of sight. Initially his purpose for moving to this far-flung place was to find something fun but the longer he stayed the more he became lazy and now his only goal was to live peacefully and away from any conflicts but when he saw that man, his curiosity was suddenly sparked because it seemed that the both of them has the same motive as to why they relocated to a place so far from the kingdom's capital and when an opportunity came, he made sure to have fun teasing the man.
"What an oddity," he can't stop himself from smiling. It seemed that this was a smiling day for him. He even started humming while mumbling about baking a cake to celebrate that good day but before he could fully celebrate his butler suddenly spoke.
"Yes, he is a bit different from the ordinary ones who have visited our shop. I could clearly tell that was a well-trained warrior based on the standards of the humans we have faced before. He is slightly stronger than them." The butler agreed because he ran a quick scan on the man while he was unconscious and he was actually impressed at the data he got. "Mr. Jagan is not only a warrior but also a mage, which according to my information is very rare in this land. People with this kind of talent are working for the royal family or the kingdom's military, so it is a wonder why someone like him is out here in this secluded place."
Cygnus watched as his butler spoke like what he normally does when he was informing him of the enemy's information. "Do we really need those things? I though we agreed that you'll be an ordinary butler while I'll be an ordinary shop owner. You don't have to know those kinds of things because I'm not planning on getting involved with the mess of this world."
The butler stayed silent. It seems that his master's mood was ruined. "I understand, I will remember that."
His master narrowed his eyes then left without saying a word while the butler was left in silence. If he could feel headache then he might be feeling it right now, luckily, he was not as fragile as those humans. From then on, he decided to be careful in his words and just tell his master words that will surely make him happy.
Jagan returned to their house just after sundown and even though he only went to that shop, he still felt very tired because of what happened. He had no time to digest the situation when he was standing inside but the moment he walked out and put a significant distance from that shop did he feel relief and his muddled head slowly started to clear.
He was just relieved that those people were not from that organization. When he heard from his nephew that the man was a mage, he just brushed it off but when he received that letter, he thought that they were sent to monitor them but it seems that he was mistaken. Now that Ezio did not want to leave, Jagan must think of a way to protect him the clutches of that filthy organization.
"Where have you been all day?" he heard his nephew's angry voice and saw the young man's black face and sharp gaze that was directed at him.
"I just had a stroll around the plaza and forgot about the time," he made an excuse in order to not make his nephew think of anything suspicious about it.
"Are you sure?" Ezio was not buying it. He was not a child anymore that can easily be fooled and he already knew his uncle's mannerisms so he knew that he was lying.
"Oh, and I also went to that bake shop to have some cookies," he hastily added to make it a little bit truthful. Well, it was true that he visited the shop but he can't tell his nephew that he passed out for a couple of hours just because of a simple name.
Ezio took a deep breath before he finally let it go because he knew that it was useless to force his uncle to tell him the truth. He would only shrug it off or make excuses just to avoid answering. Jagan saw his nephew's downcast look and the guilt in his heart grew but he did not have the heart to tell him of the truth. The lesser he knew the safer he would be.
That incident certainly created a rift between the uncle and nephew but because they were family Ezion decided to just understand his uncle even though he was clueless about what his only relative was hiding. Their interaction became a little bit awkward but Jagan knew that his nephew will slowly warm up to him again.
From that day too, Ezio started to visit the bake shop often to buy bread or cookies or just to sit down and have some cup of coffee. He would also engage the butler in a conversation to which the man would gladly answer. Ezio also got to slowly know that people in the bake shop well except for the owner who seemed to be always busy. He wanted to ask about magic but the man rarely showed up and when he did, he would not answer him seriously.
"The shop owner, is that how he always was?" he asked the butler one time that he visited again. He was looking at the direction of the kitchen and the butler had a slight smile on his face.
"Yes, he is a bit difficult to please but when something catches his attention, he will become like a child." The butler kindly answered which caught the teen's attention. He retracted his gaze from the curtain covered entrance and focused on the butler.
"Then how do I get his attention? I just want to learn more about magic but he doesn't want to talk to me," he pouted with his head resting on the palm of his hand. It was frustrating that the person was not even willing to talk to him. He was already uncomfortable because of the situation with his uncle and now his life became a little bit depressing because nothing was going his way.
"Should I talk to him?" the butler kindly suggested which was heard by the man himself.
"Don't go around helping everyone and besides this child is so ordinary how can he catch my attention?" Cygnus appeared beside the butler and looked at Ezio from head to toe then shook his head. "No talent whatsoever." He continued to shake his head as he returned to the kitchen.
Ezio was too stunned to speak at the sudden appearance of the man and more so because of his words then his expression became grim and he totally lost all of his appetite. He stood up and bid the butler a goodbye then left.
"Was that really necessary master?" The butler turned around to look at his master who was now standing behind the counter.
"Do you have any complaints?" He returned the gaze but his was more of reprimanding. It was never his style to cover his words with a façade. If the person was offended, he did not care and if the person was hurt, it was not his problem and if the person wanted to hit him then he will welcome it. He was never good at changing his attitude.
Ezio walked home with the harsh words still echoing in his mind. It was the first time that he heard those kinds of words that were directed at him and it made him upset because it touched a sensitive part of him. He was not like the other kids he met, some of them were able to use magic and was recruited to learn at an academy while the others were good at fighting while him was just ordinary. He did not have any talents that can stand out, an average kid out of a bunch of talented ones.
He could only sigh at his own misfortune and returned home with a frown on his face. Jagan noticed that his nephew was in low spirits and as the adult, he approached him and sat beside him. "What happened?"
Ezio sighed once again and refused to answer his uncle. He was not in the mood to talk about it but his uncle remained sitting and waited for him to speak. It took Ezio a long time before he relented to face his uncle and looked him in the eye.
"It's because I was told that I'm ordinary and that I don't have any talents," he answered with a frown on his face. Thinking about those words was making him sad again.
Jagan was taken aback because no one had ever said those words to his nephew, yes, he was normal but being normal was better than having those talents and being bound the chains of ruling class in that land. "Who told you that? There is nothing wrong with being normal. Actually, I am glad that you don't have any aptitude in magic or fighting because you are free from the control of the royal family or any other noble families out there." The more he spoke, the more his voice rose and the agitation in him could be seen. "Who was the person who told you that nonsense?"
"The owner of that bake shop where you always buy your favorite cookies."
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