An Accounting Error

Chapter 4

Cale had left his room to eat breakfast with the rest of his family leaving Kim Rok Soo alone yet again. Beacrox had left to attend to his duties as a chef and Ron had left with Cale for the dining hall. He had expected to have been let be longer but shortly after leaving Ron was back, Kim Rok Soo gave the butler a curious look before going back to minding his own business.

"The young master refused this old man's company and ordered me to attend to the special guest." Ron said answering the aforementioned 'special guest's' questioning gaze. "Is there any way this humble servant can be of service?"

"Hungry..." he mumbled out in a voice more pitiful than he had intended.

"My son should be working on that as we speak," Ron said, nodding. "If there is nothing else I shall be on standby, speak up if the need arises."

Ron moved to stand by the entrance of the room to await for his son to return with the guest's meal.

Left back to his own devices Kim Rok Soo began to feel an odd sense of dread wash over him. Anxiety overflowing he glanced around the room finding no apparent threats, Ron was far enough away as well fully visible so he couldn't be the trigger. The whirlwind of emotions continued ping-ponging between idination, regret, and right back to anxiety. His breathing began to become uneven as he almost started hyperventilating.

'What's wrong I usually don't get so worked up over seemingly nothing', he thought as he tried his best to regulate his breathing.

On top of not being able to control this body he can't even control his emotions, what kind of rotten deal is that? What's the use of being at the top of the food chain in a state like this? Kim Rok Soo was very accustomed to negative emotions just as he was also very accustomed to burying said negative emotions so deep they become dull. So he was very caught off guard by this apparent panic attack. Sure this situation is something worth getting worked up over, waking up in a strange location in a new body that was certainly not the one he fell asleep in, his entire worldview should be crashing down around him. He should be panicking.

'It's not like it's the first time my life has fallen apart' he reasoned. 'I don't even have to immediately address any crisis situations this time either.'

Every other time his life had been hit with a disaster he had to quickly bend to the whims of fate and accept the hand he was given. This time he had drawn an Ace and should be revealing his best lot yet, though perhaps with the way things are going the card he drew wasn't an Ace but a Joker. Aswell while he didn't have any urgent issues to worry about in regards to himself the near Imminent beating his host would be receiving from the protagonist himself.

While he typically wouldn't care about the fate of a minor villain like Cale, from the limited interaction he had had with the young man he seemed to differ quite drastically from his novel counterpart. While the novel mentioned he was a young master it failed to mention just how young, unlike his younger stepbrother who had his age of 15 mentioned, Cale couldn't have been much older than 18 or 19, barely even an adult. The most pressing reason to care however is that having good relations with the heir of the richest house on the continent can only be a benefit to Kim Rok Soo. For the sake of his meal ticket, he really should do something to keep the kid from being beaten within an inch of his life.

Strangely images he can't quite place flash through his mind at a rapid pace. Record had been triggered but strangely the flashes of memory seemed alien to him, their edges frayed and messy, very unlike memories that had been recorded with his ability.

Meanwhile, while Kim Rok Soo's Mind is busy racing from one worry to another his uneasy breathing doesn't go unnoticed by Ron. Unsure of what it is that is troubling his special guest he waits conflicted on whether he should act or stay still so as not to startle the creature. While monitoring the situation for any changes he begins to ponder the nature of this supposed dragon, its shape and traits certainly match the stories and legends, but there are quite a few inconsistencies. Most striking is the size of the beast while still larger than a human he isn't much bigger than a war horse, Ron had slain much larger monsters back on the Eastern Continent. Another suspect detail would be the feathers, while he had never heard dragons didn't have feathered wings, he also never heard they did. The last detail he was belated to notice and perhaps most bizarre was...

Why did he accept its existence so matter-of-factly?

All it took for him to ignore any threat such a thing could pose to him and the young master under his charge, was Cale simply and briefly explaining that it was some sort of preposterous gift from, of all things, The God of Death. At the time that had somehow set him at ease enough to serve the damn thing like it was visiting royalty, and not some hulking monster that had somehow managed to sneak its way into his puppy young master's room right under his nose. Yet even being aware of said contradiction he couldn't bring himself to raise a finger against it, if anything the more he watched its scared frame tremble with every ragged breath he began to feel pity for the poor thing. He really was getting soft in his old age.

Pulling both occupants of the room out of their concerned thoughts the soft sound of a dining cart began to approach the room. Beacrox then entered with several large dining trays precariously sitting on the squeaky-wheeled cart.

Temporarily distracted from his worries, the smell of freshly cooked meat began to fill the room causing Kim Rok Soo's mouth to water. Sniffing the air expectantly he begins to eagerly sniff the air in anticipation. The serving platter with an entire very juicy-looking roast was presented to him. Digging in with no manners whatsoever, what manners are expected of a dragon?

A light thumping noise behind him gave him a small start, he tensely turned his head to see what it could be only to be flustered upon the realization that it was his own feather-tipped tail thumping on the ground.

His attention drawn away from his meal he looked up from his plate and the servants in the room with him.

"You two should eat too. There seems to be more than enough on the cart," he says, turning his head away coyly to avoid eye contact.

"...Ho?" Huffed Ron, a benign smile on his face. "If the guest wishes to dine with us unworthy servants then far be it to me to deny your request."

Returning to his meal as a fresh tray is placed in front of his face, he discovers the first benefit of this whole crazy situation. The food was absolutely delicious especially when compared to the meager meals of his old world, and thanks to his new size he could eat as much of this exquisite food without worrying about his stomach space.