Two years passed peacefully, and I was already seven years old.
I gradually came to understand the true nature of Marquis Bahod. He valued the Anglus Family family's reputation above all else, and in essence, as long as nothing happened to damage the family's honor, he wouldn't inquire too much.
Another reason was that I hadn't reached the age to make public appearances, so naturally, I wouldn't have such an opportunity. If I were to have a birthday banquet at nine years old, inviting various nobles like Lucius did, I wasn't confident I could perform better than him.
However, after that incident, my mother became even stricter with me. Through our long time together, I came to believe that my mother, Lucia, was someone whose desire for power surpassed her love for her child, to a somewhat pathological degree. She often had the phrase 'as a noble' on her lips, using it to excessively correct my words and actions.
In such circumstances, I naturally had no choice but to obey. As an adult, I could broaden my mindset to prevent her from affecting my sanity, but a real seven-year-old child would likely find such pressure unbearable.
Efforts receiving no positive feedback were taken for granted and ignored, attempts to communicate resulted only in my mother's one-sided lectures, and self-expression was suppressed.
A child living in such an environment for a long time would find their heart drifting further and further from others, and might even become irritable due to accumulated stress. I have no doubt now that such a family environment naturally shaped Robert into the villainous noble he became.
Although I accumulated a fair amount of stress in my daily life, my personality was already formed, and my self-control was definitely much stronger than that of Lucius and Aisha, who were also children. As long as I had the awareness not to become the true villain 'Robert,' I could basically endure all unpleasant things.
For example, one day when my brother Lucius and I passed each other in the corridor, Lucius gave me a cold glance, then suddenly intentionally bumped into me with his shoulder, making me fall. Seeing me fall awkwardly to the ground, Lucius smirked contemptuously and left like a victor. Of course, I endured it. Why bother with a child?
For example, one day, my sister Aisha and I happened to coincide at mealtime. I was eating quietly, but she was abusing the maid beside her because she found the food not to her liking. When I couldn't stand it and told her to stop, she turned her aggression towards me, thrusting an entire bowl of soup from across the table which I barely dodged thanks to increased attributes. At that time, I was indeed furious and wanted to slap her. But since I didn't suffer any harm, my pride wouldn't allow me to pay hands on a little girl. So I let her go but I still noted this incident down.
Logically, indulging their behavior would only fuel their arrogance, so I tried to let the parents solve the problem, but it didn't work. Marquis Bahod completely ignored these petty squabbles between children as long as things didn't escalate; Mrs. Teresa and Berolika would praise their children for doing well, so they were entirely useless;
And my mother, Lucia, would instead scold me for not retaliating against them, for showing weakness. The path to solving bullying problems through proper channels was completely blocked. What was I expecting from a noble-supremacist society anyway?
Fortunately, no matter what, I was still a child of the Marquis Family. Even if Lucius and Aisha were childish, they understood not to directly harm me. Compared to modern bullying, their behavior could be considered 'cute.'
...
One afternoon, I was walking idly alone in the corridor.The things I was learning recently were still as easy as before. My most interesting magic lessons seemed to have to wait until I was eight years old to formally begin. Before that, I had a lot of free time every day, which was nice.
Of course, I had already read many books about magic, but I couldn't practice magic because my Magic was still in unawakened state. According to the book, I needed an introduction of Magic Power from a senior Mage for Magic in my body to become active.
Once Magic is Activated or Awakened, one can be considered a First Order Mage, capable of using Low level Magic.
I couldn't help but stop in front of a large window, looking at the bright sky outside, feeling as if I were a prisoner in a jail longing for freedom.
If only I had flying magic, I couldn't help but think so.
In past 2 years, there been many instances where I wanted to leave this house, but even with system, I didn't have the ability to leave just yet.
From the history and geography books, I have already understood that the outside world contains many unknowns and dangers behind my cognition. Leaving now was equal to courting death.
But it i don't leave, would it be enough to win the power struggle and become a Marquis candidate?
No, I'm not cut out to be a noble; only my mother would be happy with that. I really hope the other three children work harder.
Living in such a world might be much harder than surviving in my original modern society. I need to think of other ways out.
Like an adventurer? The classic profession in other worlds. A merchant also seems good. If only I had been reincarnated as a merchant's son from the start.