It's not that easy to understand what's been put in your head. Kyon tried to release energy from his soul, trying to somehow manage the channel, adjust its thickness, length, angles, and all that jazz, just like in the mine.

He a.s.sumed that an average person should understand all that at the level of intuition as if they got enlightened, but he didn't like that spontaneous method at all. He was not used to relying on coincidence or some mysterious talent, he didn't even care about.

Time went by. No one appeared inside, which was delightful.

Kyon was still trying to match the piles of incomprehensible neuron bundles with common sense. Absolutely no logic, he could as well use the method of error and trial... Even Synergy did not particularly contribute to the quick a.s.similation of facts. And the energy of the baseline is considered to be the easiest, though, it's not so easy for an ordinary person to reach enlightenment... Will he get to the main and only stage or not depends on chance, luck and talent.

The whole day went by in unsuccessful but vital attempts to master the baseline of pure force. The evening came.

Apparently, the heavens decided to show some mercy - the little b.i.t.c.h never came to visit and finish him off.

His stomach started playing up, making loud rumbling like that of a mammoth. Kyon pressed his hands to the stomach contracting in pangs and pulled a face. He urgently needed food. His body recovery was almost frozen, it was no good. It was time to "hunt" or something. Since they were not going to feed him, he had to get food on his own.

The guy walked around the garden, still hesitating to enter the mansion, and suddenly noticed Anna far away, telling off a servant. The pale man bowed, begging not to punish him, vowed to improve. As a result, the good-natured girl gave him one last chance. The servant fell to his knees in tears, and the blonde, snorting contemptuously, headed for the house.

Kyon summoned up all his courage and caught up with the maid. He caught her attention with neutral "sorry" when the girl turned around, he knowtowed to her with his dignified lisping:

«h.e.l.lo, ma'am Anna, I wanted to thank you for not punis.h.i.+ng me when you caught me without permission in the mansion. Well, that time was looking for the restroom...»

The girl could not help staring with terror at his toothless b.l.o.o.d.y mouth, swelling blue eye, wan complexion, which could be seen in rare places free from bruises and hematomas, but she quickly put on an icy look on her face and answered in an impa.s.sive voice:

«No need to thank me for that. Cleaning up after you in the area would be much worse than tolerating for a moment your presence in the house, where you weren't supposed to be by any means… Speaking of which, what are you doing here?»

His stomach rumbled. Kyon, bowing his head, sighed softly:

«I'm sorry… Everyone completely forgot about me… or maybe they didn't even remember. I've been sleeping on the floor, haven't eaten for more than two days, health care is out of the question… Of course, I don't blame Lady Juno if that's what it takes… But… I'm sorry.»

Her heart sank with pity, which was rather unusual for her, while mind kept whispering: you cannot help him in any way, you have no right to change his fate.

The young man, without waiting for an answer, sobbed and sadly slouched back to the ground. It seems that his plan failed - there would be no food. All the crocodile tears instantly disappeared leaving him only cheerless prospects. It was like he was in the shackles together in the cage with a beast in the disguise of Juno.

Anna was torn by conflicting feelings. Compa.s.sion for someone of such a low position was unacceptable for her, but... The poor fellow's life was a living h.e.l.l. What to do in that uneasy situation?

She couldn't make a good decision and quietly left, her shoulders drooping.

A dark-haired girl had been watching that charade silently, tapping her foot with displeasure, her arms crossed. The guy didn't just break the rules, he also dared to talk with her sister. Her sister had always been silly, trusting and over-enthusiastic. Always too close to bend the rules.

Anna, ignoring the voice of reason humming in her head, decided to help the unfortunate slave. She took the remains of pasta and gravy from the cook and carried the tray onto the ground, looking around with a thievish look - what if someone saw her? She was, after all, too high in position to bring food to someone other than the n.o.ble.

For her position, it was very strange to succ.u.mb to that new feeling, close to compa.s.sion, and help someone who was not worthy even her glance... But why follow the rules when you can follow your heart?

The gate creaked softly, and Kyon saw Anna appearing like an angel at his abode. Thick blond hair swaying slightly in the wind, maid's uniform fitting like a second skin, a deep cleavage, attracting glances like a magnet… All that suddenly faded, paled, took a back seat - compared to the silver tray in her hands, definitely loaded with something edible! Long live acting skills and eternal, constant in all kinds of worlds feminine pity for all the unfortunate and crazy!

The boy's deliberately tear-stained face lit up with an incredibly happy smile, which made Anna miss a heartbeat. Her hands started to tremble, the girl tottered unsteadily toward Kyon when... The dark-haired maid Dinah easily jumped over the barrier and stood between the blonde and the slave:

«What are you doing, sister?»

Anna backed away in confusion:

«Dinah, I… I've brought him something to eat…»

The dark-haired girl gave her a cold icy stare:

«This slave broke the rules when he appeared in the mansion and in the park without lady's orders; he should have been finished off a long time ago. And now you decided to not give a d.a.m.n about the orders...»

«I know, but...» - Anna all over groveling, trying to pick up words to justify herself but Dinah did not even listen to her; she s.n.a.t.c.hed the plate from her hands and emptied it at the top of Kyon's head. «No ifs or buts. We must strictly follow the rules and never let any feelings influence our decisions.»

Kyon froze in shock. The plaintive look on his face squeezed the fair-haired maid's heart. She wanted to help him but it seemed she had made it only worse.

Dinah threw the last cold look at her sister:

«Clean up as a punishment.» - and snorting contemptuously, she went to the mansion.

Anna watched her leave, shook her head, and, trying not to meet Kyon's eyes, mumbled:

«I'm sorry, boy… It's my fault…»

For the first time in her life, she apologized to someone below her rank. The whole situation was like from the theater of the absurd - common sense flew down the lane and far away, an indescribable discord reigned in the soul.

The guy shook his head:

«Do not apologize, madam.» - He brushed the remnants of gravy and pasta off his head, took the tray from her hands, knelt down and began to collect the rest of food from the floor and eat it, blowing off the dirt. Food is life. Life is more important to him than petty honor and pride. And what is dirt? Strains of microbes? They are already everywhere, it's all relative.

Anna pursed her lips. She had no words. With mixed feelings, she silently left the ground. Her life had been monotonous for more than five years. The control of the servants, the cleaning of the master's personal chambers, and a couple of pages before bedtime - day after day, night after night, everything had been the same - and there was no end to that. That guy came as a breath of fresh air, at least some novelty in her life.

A servant, sent by Anna, took the plate with the tray away.

His body ached and did not obey in places, it was dark in the eyes from blood loss but some food for dinner gave Kyon the hope of restoring his vitality. However, without mastering the pure force, he didn't have a chance to survive in those inhuman conditions.

Kyon desperately continued mastering the pure force. It was his only hope. Marina still couldn't help him... Anna wouldn't risk her position anymore. He was alone, completely alone, forgotten and abandoned by everyone in the world - he couldn't expect help from anywhere. He could only rely on himself. For the first time his imperial dignity was subjected to such intense stress, and yet he did not know how to give up.

The rest of the day and the following night were calm. The demon in the guise of an angel never came to finish him off, which was tantamount to a miracle. Or vice versa, it was an extension of his agony.

And then came the early morning. Kyon felt a little stronger as he'd recovered a bit of strength, he put the sound transmitter to his ear.

Surprisingly, Marina said that she'd be at seven in the morning. The sausage would come in very handy! Now here is his chance!

Exactly an hour later, Kyon called the girl again to double-check when to meet her. He crawled out from the ground and, without paying attention to the servants, walked to the mansion. If he was going to meet Dinah so be it, he wasn't meant to survive. However, it was not his intention to go out specifically in front of her bright eyes; he moved, albeit with difficulty, but carefully.

Seizing a suitable moment, he made his way into the mansion, mingling with three servants. A guard blocked his way when he approached the entrance:

«Show your formation.»

Fortunately, because of his s.h.a.ggy hair, it was impossible to figure out he was a slave. Unfortunately, the formation was required at the entrance and exit to be recorded in the log book, no one could leave just so.

Kyon cleared his throat, vaguely pointed his hand somewhere forward and lisped:

«The girl over there came to give me something from Mr. Flitz, if you please.»

Both guards looked at each other, turned around and saw a beautiful blonde approaching, loaded with five pieces of savory sausage.

Kyon felt pleasant warmth spreading all over him at the sight of food, he waved to the girl, greeting her.

Marina anxiously approached the guard, never taking her eyes off the guy:

«h.e.l.lo, Kyon. Here, I've brought everything…»

The guards, stunned, bowed to the floor at once and barked in unison:

«Lady Diana, greetings to you!»

One of them hurried to put his wrist to his lips:

«Madam Juno, your mother has arrived!»

Kyon, astonished, cleared his ear with his little finger. What-what did they say? {Mother? What the h.e.l.l?!} The guy even decided to look behind her back - what if the mysterious "mother" was just hiding behind his suckretary but, no, the road behind Marina was empty.

The girl just froze. Is she somebody's mother?! Was it the reason why Flitz had forbidden to approach her the mansion?! No, no... It's unbelievable that she'd ever given birth - she would have noticed such a significant event, and Flitz is unable to reproduce. {What's happening?!}

Kyon's heart sank into his boots when he heard fast and painfully familiar footsteps, his eyes filled with horror. The hope that the guards were just witty had cleared like a morning mist - they did actually call Juno in here!

However, the girl who came up to the scene was in no mood for the slave - she kept her stare locked on Marina. The demon girl threw herself on her neck with a cheerful shriek. The sausage tumbled on the floor.

«Mom! Why didn't you say a word that you were coming?! And why did you grow young again? New beauty medicine?! And… You've changed…»

Juno hesitated. The shape of the eyebrows was a bit different, a slightly different nose, the corners of the lips were barely distinguishable.

Marina stood stock still and could not utter a word, everything seemed to her like a crazy dream.

Kyon, who came to his senses before the others, realized that he couldn't waste any more time. He had to grab the sausages before the situation had cleared up (two pieces were rolling right at his feet) and run off. In his case, though, not run off, rather, limp hurriedly to the place of his residing. He could think over that strange situation later. However, he had already a vague picture in his head: Flitz had strictly forbidden Marina to approach the mansion and when she nevertheless disobeyed his order, everyone around took her for Juno's mother, even the very young s.a.d.i.s.t herself. It was unlikely that the real mother of the girl would become a secret old man's lover, which could only mean that she just looked like the aforementioned lady.

Kyon had almost crawled to the gate of the ground, as he was roughly stopped when someone grabbed his shoulder. The guy turned around and recognized Dinah with a woeful groan.

{d.a.m.n!}

«What's that in your hands?» - The girl squinted suspiciously.

Kyon kept silent, frantically trying to find a way out of the situation. How many times did that clingy b.i.t.c.h spoil his life?

«I am not going to ask twice. Where did you get the food? Stolen?»

«It's mine. A friend gave it to me.» - the guy lisped slowly and surely, staring at her resolutely from under his brows.

The girl was surprised to notice that the pathetic slave did not hide his eyes that time - the guy's behavior tended to change more often than a chameleon could change colors. The absence of his teeth only made her happy. As for his words about a friend they must be nothing other than a lie.

«And now it's all mine.» - She calmly took away his valuable provisions. For theft, he was supposed to his arms cut off, which Dinah had in mind for the near future.

Kyon couldn't take his angry stare of the girl:

«You don't have to do this. The sausage is mine! I've been given it and I need it!» - the former emperor was grasping at two links of sausage as if it were his own life... At such moments it gets clear that fate can drive anyone into a situation where even one piece of sausage equals to the value of mountains of gold.

*pum*

Dinah's little fist hit him right on the solar plexus, knocking all the oxygen out of his lungs. It went dark in his head, his body got treacherously limp, the guy, unable to restrain himself, collapsed to the ground. Weakness, there it came again...

«You, miserable sc.u.m, you dared get into the mansion, steal food, and now you talk to me as to your equal?! I guess it is time to get your limbs shortened.» - and the girl immediately grabbed Kyon by the wrist. A dagger flashed in her hand.

The guy panicked - Dinah would hardly deign to follow the rules of amputation, the prospect of dying of blood loss developed to its full extent. His mind instantly issued the first solution that he could think of:

«Ma'am, I know who stole your lingerie!»

Dinah's grip weakened, letting the slave's limb out of her hand.

«What did you say?»