"...So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly. ...."
"The Spider And The Fly "
By- Mary Howitt
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Elijah woke up early in the morning just before sunrise, his black hairs and dark abyss-like eyes made his pale skin stand out more. It has already been five years since he was born in this new world, after slowly understanding language of this new world, he discovered that he was the youngest child of Count Arthur Fenice and countess Alina Fenice. This world's social structure and technological advancements were similar to that of medieval Europe.
'I have got used to this life of peace and calm, God was very generous if I think of it now, I died just before starting the most difficult phase of my previous life on earth and got reborn as the son of a count. Thanks God.' Elijah was pondering about his new life and felt quite satisfied. He got up from his bed and moved to open the curtains to access balcony. Morning breeze filled his small lungs, he thought of the day he died on earth, "I wonder how's Miyoko doing and I hope father doesn't blame himself" a frown developed on his pale face "I guess I led a pretty pathetic life on Earth, haaa." he let out a sigh and got back to his bed.
'Ring! ring! ring!' he held the small handbell and rang it to call Sebastian, his butler.
'click' door opened and a man in mid-thirties entered the room with a tray in his hand, wearing classic butler uniform, the spotless white shirt with a red ribbon around the collar, black formal pants, grey waistcoat and the iconic tailcoat. Those shiny leather shoes could be used as a mirror.
"Good morning young master" he placed the tray containing a glass of milk and some fruits on the coffee table.
"Good morning Sebas, sorry to trouble you so early in the morning every day" Elijah drank the milk, then walked to the bathroom to wash up and freshen up.
"Young master is oddest in this family he does most of the work himself I could only help him with dressing and answering his odd questions" he mumbled and stood by the bathroom door "Starting a year ago, he hasn't even allowed the maids to help him with bathing.
Elijah soon walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Young master, it is my duty to remind you that such behavior is not proper etiquette. Ah, forget I said anything—just be cautious around others." Sebastian sighed
'It's one of my plebian pleasures from earth' Elijah thought
"Sure, don't trouble yourself with small matters like this, more importantly did you bring what I asked?" Elijah stood before the dressing table as Sebastian helped him change into simple yet luxurious attire: a light blue shirt with gold cufflinks engraved with the Fenice house emblem, a red phoenix rising from ashes, wings spread wide, and beak slightly open as if ready to shriek. He wore black formal trousers paired with a matching black waistcoat, featuring the phoenix emblem embroidered on the left breast pocket. Completing the outfit were black leather shoes and light blue silk socks. Sebastian combed Elijah's shoulder-length black hair and tied it into a ponytail with a light blue ribbon.
Elijah sat on the couch by the coffee table picking up a grape and tossing it into his mouth.
"Let us start then"
"Sure, young master" Sebastian took out a small rectangular wooden box the size of a geometry box but a bit thicker. There were five small round stones each about the size of a fingernail placed inside within blue cushioning. Sebastian took out a blue tinged stone after placing the box on the table.
Elijah came to know that this world contained magic soon after his birth as there was no advanced medical equipment nor any medicines which were administered to his mother rather there was healing magic and other forms of magic.
"These are information artifacts?"
"Yes, young master Ellie, you have to close your eyes and try to accept the information without offering resistance, you might feel a bit anxious during the whole process but its harmless and more efficient than telling you by words" Sebastian spoke with a spark of excitement in his eyes, swiftly returning to his usual stoic demeanor and offering a professional smile.
Elijah straightened his posture sitting on the couch with visible anticipation and excitement on his face, Sebastian placed the stone on his right palm and his hand emitted faint blue light, stone slowly absorbed the light and transformed into a beautiful blue phantom like swallow. Elijah closed his eyes; the swallow flew slowly towards him stopping just before his face positioning itself in between his eyes and slowly pecked oh his forehead. Elijah became surrounded by faint blue light and the information flooded his mind; this process continued for about five minutes. Sebastian looked satisfied, the swallow became faint and disappeared at the end. Elijah opened his eyes with an eager look,
"Sebastion please prepare the next one"
"Hm, Sure" Sebastian was expecting him to rest before asking for another artifact, so he was shocked at the mental capacity of this five-year-old young master of his. Only If he knew that inside that five-year-old was a soul of twenty-three years old law student who was used to late night cramming of lengthy, boring textbooks without a single picture and memorized hundreds upon hundreds of sections with case laws for university and bar exams.
A similar process occurred for each of the five stones, with the only difference being the color of the birds, which changed from blue to green, crimson, black, and white.
These magic artifacts were like memory cards from earth, but they were consumable items and were considerably expensive, moreover requiring magic energy or mana for activation. Elijah always wanted to gather information about this new world in which he was now living, however he was restricted by his age and lack of language, after learning basic language he started asking questions, the most knowledgeable person around him was Sebastian. His father was mostly occupied with administrative works; Elijah only spent little time, after understanding the language , with him when he visited the countess, later he learnt that there was some emergency in border areas and that kept the count busy who was also a great warrior, skilled in flame magic, which was signature magic of Fenice household excelling in both healing and attack magic.
Elijah also has two agnate half-siblings, Victor and Elizabeth, both sixteen years old, the former countess died giving birth to the twins; he never met those two in his five-years of life. The current countess, Alina, used to spend a lot of time with Elijah during early years of his birth but later due to the absence of count she became excessively busy, so Elijah avoided burdening her even more.
Thus, Sebastian became the sole person who could provide him the information he needed and satisfy his curiosity without having much social interaction or arousing any suspicions.
Those stones answered most of the questions that Elijah had regarding this world and it was something beyond his imaginations, instead of feeling satisfied an unknown craving emerged from within him along with the worries .... the worries which had disappeared for these past five years, the worries about his future similar to his past life.
'Why God? Why? are you trying to mess with me, this world is not made for me; there's no peace and calm here.' Elijah sighed with a scowl and frown interchanging on his pale face.
'It's too much to ask of me, god!' Elijah screamed internally.
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This fly seems to have great potential for keeping me entertained. ha ha ha!