The Duke's Son

•Chapter Four•

Dinner was generally silent for Louis, except for the fact that he could feel his mother and Olivier glancing at him with gazes of worry and disbelief.

Apparently no one had the heart to interrogate the youngest young master and settled on glancing at him from time to time that they get to see him fidget at his seat and the tip of his ears turning red instead, which was frighteningly...endearing.

"What were you doing in the Library, Louis?"

Louis flinched, banging his knee on the table as he hissed in pain making him rub it a bit pathetically.

That will definitely bruise.

He looked at his father who was staring at him wordlessly after his stunt.

"I'm trying to catch up with magic theory, father." He bowed his head slightly averting his eyes from the duke's piercing stare, and picked up his cutlery again. "I didn't get most of the lessons from earlier so I was doing some self-study." His voice grew small when he saw his brother Olivier looking at him but quickly returned his gaze back to his food.

"Oh! That's wonderful, darling!" The duchess beamed at their youngest.

Even though she was known as the epitome of grace and beauty in the top social circles, the duke and the servants knew that the  duchess was a doting mother to her children especially their youngest, of course she loves her other two sons just as much but the older brothers tend to avoid their mother's overbearing affection.

They know that the young man hasn't awakened his magic core yet and that it was difficult for him to catch up with his peers, so hearing that Louis was willing to learn Magic Theory they were all a bit surprised, and worried.
But nonetheless the duchess beamed wildly at her youngest child making it seem like flowers were blooming around her.

"Our baby is all grown up now, isn't he Richard?" Her smile was so blinding that even Louis had to take a few seconds before the words she spoke finally sunk in.

"M-mother!" He spluttered embarrassingly, dodging the duchess' hand that was reaching out to ruffle his hair. "I-i'm not a baby anymore."

"Oh nonsense." Elena cooed as she settled at holding his hand that was near her instead, "You three will always be my babies." She turned her gaze to the other two who's expressions were somewhere in between of horror and mirth which Louis couldn't see as he was busy shoving food in his mouth to stop himself from cursing out loud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He plopped down into his bed tiredly without a care, the conversation with his father after dinner running on his mind.

—-•—-

Louis was nervously sitting inside his father's study after Maxwell informed him that he wanted to talk to him, the old man was giving him a warm smile that he couldn't even voice out his protest.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

He heard the duke entering before actually seeing him, Louis' father in the novel was the former general of the royal guards he was highly respected for his swordsmanship, battle strategies, and his loyalty to the Kingdom of Avrozia that lead them to countless victories; but when he injured his right leg during an expedition he had no choice but to give up his position and retire, and in return he was given the title Archduke of Versail by the King who didn't want to lose a trusted subordinate from his side.

And that very man was sitting right in front of him, everything about the duke had an aura of authority from the way he was neatly dressed, his sleek silver hair brushed back with not a strand straying from it's position; the man was...imposing.

Louis was sweating bullets his hands were clammy due to his nervousness, and he couldn't help but straighten his posture that somehow ended up on looking rigid instead of looking upright.

The duke raised a brow at the actions of his youngest son's antics.

"Louis." He rumbled.

"Yes!" Louis let out a squeak, making him turn red before clearing his throat. "Yes, father?" He repeated.

A corner of the duke's lips flicked upward but returned to a flat line before the young man could see.

"Your mother and I discussed..." the duke paused as he leaned back on his chair, "If you want us to hire a tutor to help you with your studies." He continued, looking at his son's face.

"A tutor?" He repeated.

"Yes."

"That..." Louis hesitated, thinking along the lines of it being expensive but quickly dismissed the thought when he remembered that this wasn't his past life anymore; his family was filthy rich. "I think it's a good idea, father."

The duke nodded.

Silence went between them and Louis wasn't sure if he was free to go so he obediently sat down at his seat without making as much as a fuss, his father seemed like he wanted to say something but then chose not to when he waved his hand in dismissal.

"That's all, Louis. You can go."

"Then.." Louis stood up and lightly bowed his head. "Goodnight, father."

—-•—-

He wanted to ask what the duke wanted to say but he doesn't really want to risk angering him so he let it go and returned to his room.

'A tutor.' He mused, staring at his bedroom's ceiling.

He was a bit nervous because he doesn't really know anything about this world except for what was written in the book—so wouldn't his tutor find it weird when he finds his knowledge to be lacking? The book doesn't really help since the focus was on the heroine and most of the plot scenes happened inside of the school.
The heroine, Anne Courtenay Bourbon, was going to enter school in a few months where Louis will be on his second year and well he really wanted to avoid her as much as possible so instead of focusing on them he'll just point his attention to his education.

He sat up and shuffled to his desk, grabbing a pen and paper as he listed all the things he had to do to secure his safety, his main priority right now is to change his reputation from a trashy young master to a nobody—well, technically not a nobody being a duke's son and all, but as someone who won't attract unwanted attention as much as possible.

Louis sighed at his train of thought, here he was in a different world and body but the first thing he thinks about is how to settle down peacefully instead of trying to find a way back.
He doesn't feel any attachment from his previous world, his parents were gone and he barely have any contact with his relatives so maybe that's why he was so calm to a degree at his situation right now.

He leaned his head on the table, the cold hard wood felt refreshing and at the same time leaving a bitter taste at his mouth; this was reality and he doesn't really have a choice but to adapt since it feels like he won't be going back anytime soon.

Louis fell asleep on his desk, the curtain on his window fluttering lightly from the night air.