As one of Arthur's two closest younger sisters, Simon naturally had to maintain the appropriate demeanor.
"It's Maggie. What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"Can't I just come to chat with you if nothing's wrong?" Maggie jogged over to Simon, linking her arms through his. Her small chest subtly pressed against Simon's arm.
"But there really is something... I actually came to ask you for a favor." Her warm body leaned even closer.
Simon had just finished exercising, and his Qi and blood were flowing smoothly. Suddenly encountering such temptation, his heart also warmed slightly.
"What is it?" In Arthur's memories, Maggie hadn't been at the castle for long. Although Arthur had no designs on this distant cousin, it seemed Maggie herself didn't think the same.
Of course, within noble Families, relationships between cousins were common, unlike on Earth, where there were legal regulations.
Maggie liked to dress up, enjoyed beautiful clothes and a life of luxury, and even more, she liked to stand higher and live better than her peers. Moreover, her parents could also secure better jobs and treatment through their close relationship with Young Master Arthur. This was her intention.
And similar to her, Arthur's other paternal half-sister, Silia, was the same. Although Silia's mother was Arthur's elder, having been born the daughter of a craftsman, her status was far less noble than Arthur's.
The current situation was that the eldest son was nominally away at war and had not returned. Although the second son, by custom, could not inherit the title, the Luton Kingdom was in chaos, with major territories almost completely independent.
The Legacy of the title was entirely at the Baron's discretion, and the Baron intended to pass the title to Arthur.
This meant that in the future, when the Baron passed away and Arthur took charge, if Silia's relationship with him was not good, Arthur would have full rights to expel Silia and her mother from the castle to live independently.
This was a completely unacceptable fear for Silia and her mother. Therefore, Silia proactively approached Arthur to prepare for the future. Developing a closer relationship with her cousin beyond just kinship before marriage was the best guarantee for stabilizing her current life.
Maggie walked beside Arthur, following his pace towards the residential tower. Occasionally, envious glances appeared around them, as did disdainful ones. But neither of them paid any attention.
"My mother's legs have been hurting terribly recently. I wonder if she could get an easier job..." she whispered, stealing a glance at Simon.
Simon didn't reply immediately, just nodded slightly to indicate he had heard. He quickly returned to his bedroom with Maggie.
Cecilia was still honestly staying in the bedroom and hadn't gone out. It seemed she was completely obedient to Simon's words.
Seeing Simon enter with Maggie, a hint of shyness appeared in Cecilia's eyes.
Simon opened the wardrobe and took out a change of clothes, inner and outer.
"Maggie, you take her to eat, then let her have a good bath and rest. Tell the head maid to give her a separate room, and say it's my order."
Maggie had thought Simon brought her up here to... she didn't expect it to be about this. She looked Cecilia up and down, her gaze falling on her chest, and she immediately felt a little smug. Her chest was much larger than Cecilia's.
Although somewhat resentful, Maggie was actually a little afraid of the legendary 'that' kind of thing. Now, if she could avoid it and delay it a bit, she would.
She released Simon's hand and went to pull Cecilia, who was still recoiling timidly.
"You two go first. Come find me after it's handled. I'll talk to Ward about Aunt Alice's matter," Simon said calmly, suppressing his internal fire.
Transmigration to such a world was indeed a rigorous test for a man's desires.
"Okay." Maggie's face brightened slightly, she bowed a little, and pulled Cecilia towards the door.
As she passed Simon, Simon casually squeezed Maggie's chest. A feeling of elasticity and fullness transmitted from his palm to his brain.
The two young girls immediately shrieked. Maggie giggled and scurried away, pulling Cecilia with her.
"Although the body is still young, touching is fine." A smile appeared on Simon's face. After suppressing himself for so long, this was a small interest payment. Otherwise, he doubted whether he would endure until he developed a problem.
Next, Simon practiced basic swordplay on time every day, then continuously refined his movements using the Chip's correction ability.
More than ten thousand repetitions of basic movements were quickly completed. Through detection, Simon found that his Physique had indeed increased by 0.1 in strength.
He also collected some physical data of peers through the Chip.
Frustratingly, the average physical data for all peers who had undergone Legacy was at least 0.8, even for several girls. This made his joy at only increasing his strength by 0.1 sink again.
The Baron and Knight Auden seemed busy dealing with the fleeing criminals and had no time to attend to Simon. As for teaching, it was simply entrusted to Arnold for now. Simon was happy with this; anyway, he couldn't accept better training methods at the moment, and basic swordplay was enough for him to practice repeatedly.
As for Maggie, Simon only touched her the first time and then never bothered her again, to avoid his body, which was in puberty, from acting up. However, he did mention her mother's situation to Ward, and she was given an easier job. This made Maggie noticeably grateful.
Four days later...
Early morning
Valentine Family Castle dining room.
Around a rectangular wooden dining table, a circle of core members of the Valentine Family sat quietly, eating their food.
Arthur sat at the secondary head seat at one end. With the Baron absent, he held the highest position in the castle. On either side of him sat two middle-aged women, both the Baron's later-taken third and fourth wives.
Both had their own beauty, but even with the Baron absent, their expressions remained respectful and polite.
Below the two women sat two rows of young men and women. All wore red and black-trimmed noble attire, and Silia was among them, as was the little boy named Gerold encountered earlier at the training ground.
There were over a dozen of these young men and women, most of whom were fair-faced and pretty, sitting quietly and eating their food.
The entire dining table was silent except for the clinking of silver cutlery and plates.
Arthur precisely cut a small piece of cooked horned beef while scanning the entire dining table. Old Ward stood behind him. In the Baron's absence, Old Ward, with his formidable martial prowess and the power he commanded, was the guarantee of Arthur's position. So, no one dared to defy him.
And the people at the dining table before him were the members of the entire castle who had enough status to eat with the Baron. As for Maggie and her parents, they were naturally not among them.
Arthur speared a piece of horned beef. He first took a small sip of soup, then frowned and said, "What kind of soup is this today? How is it different from the one a while ago?" He turned his head slightly and asked.
Old Ward respectfully stood behind him and answered.
"It's the forest game the master sent back the day before yesterday, some mushrooms and a few Red One-Eyed Snakes boiled down."
Arthur nodded.
"This soup is good. Red One-Eyed Snake? Do we have them in the surrounding forests?"
"Yes, many. But this snake's venom is very potent, and bites are difficult to treat, making it one of the most unpopular prey. We only get to eat it occasionally," Old Ward replied.
"Oh." Arthur picked up the small bowl again and took a sip of soup. The taste was delicious and mellow. A few green scallions floated on the surface of the milky white liquid. It looked very much like panna cotta.
"After dinner, I plan to go out for a bit," Arthur said calmly.
Old Ward frowned slightly.
"These are troubled times. It's best for you to stay in the castle for safety..."
"It's fine, I'll just wander around the cavalry's morning training grounds. Nothing will happen," Arthur interrupted. "You can send two people with me." His tone was firm and beyond question.
Old Ward could only nod.
"Alright, please don't stay out too long."
Arthur nodded, indicating he understood.
The entire dining table returned to its previous calm.
After dinner, Arthur went directly to the castle's main gate. Two bodyguards now stood behind him.
Arthur looked thoughtful. He wore a cross-hilted iron sword at his waist and carried a short bow and a quiver on his back. The quiver was filled with fifty white-feathered arrows.
"Are you going hunting?" one guard quietly asked.
Arthur shook his head slightly.
"Just practicing on the forest edge, see if I can shoot some small things."
However, no one knew that in his eyes, a row of light blue data was displayed.
"Detected special food of the Physique-fitting category, type: meat, snake Family, already named Red One-Eyed Snake. Consuming its snake eye meat raw one hundred and nine times consecutively can increase Agility by 1."
This was why Arthur insisted on going out.
Being able to increase Agility by 1... This temptation was absolutely irresistible for him, who desperately needed strength right now.
Moreover, after several days of training, with the Chip's correction, Arthur was eager to see the results of his improved practice.
In the early morning, the woods outside the castle were still shrouded in a thin layer of white mist. On the clearing at the edge of the woods, the cavalry team, already in their morning drill, was running and shouting.
Arthur, with his two guards, slowly circled the clearing, heading towards the forest opposite the castle.
The only path from the castle to the outside world was a main road, and on both sides of the road were vast expanses of forest and mountains.
Arthur's departure with two guards went unnoticed by the cavalry. Such actions were not uncommon in the past, and they were accustomed to it. However, some people did notice that Arthur seemed genuinely prepared to enter the forest.
Immediately, some slightly mocking glances were cast. Many people in the castle had long been dissatisfied with this useless Second Young Master. Having long regarded themselves as part of the castle, they naturally resented being led by someone who was powerless. So, seeing Arthur walk towards the forest, these people pretended not to notice. Some of them even secretly hoped Arthur would die in the forest.
Arthur, however, remained impassive. Although his Physique was not very strong now, after the Chip's correction, his movements were extremely concise and effective.
Especially his Archery, in which he had the most confidence, had an almost 100% hit rate with the Chip's assistance. He had quietly tested this with the training ground's bows and arrows at night; even in the pitch-black night, he could achieve a very high hit rate from fifty meters away. Therefore, he was confident that hunting some game would be no problem.
Arthur and his two guards had walked less than twenty meters into the forest when they were stopped by one of the guards.
"That's far enough, Young Master. If we go any deeper, we won't be able to protect you."
"Alright, then here it is." Arthur showed a slight smile.
He took down the short bow from his back, then took a white-feathered arrow from the quiver and nocked it onto the bow.
"You two step aside. I'll see if there's anything to shoot," he commanded.
The two guards exchanged helpless glances but conscientiously sat down to avoid obstructing Arthur's view. After all, this wasn't deep in the forest, so the danger was generally low, and there was no need to worry too much.
"The most common things here are Red One-Eyed Snakes, rabbits, and flying squirrels. We just need to watch out for any One-Eyed Snakes getting too close," one guard whispered.
The other nodded lightly.
Arthur stood on the grass, his gaze sweeping around.
"I remember Father once hunted a Mountain Black Bear in the forest. Although Father was also seriously injured, the bear's hide became the most noble symbol of power in the castle," he said calmly.
The two guards were unsure what he meant.
"Mountain Black Bears are considered quite strong creatures in the forest, and they are the overlords of the outer forest. But don't worry, black bears' activity range usually requires walking another two hours deeper, past the small hill ahead."
Time in this world was evenly divided into twenty-five hours a day. The time difference from Arthur's previous life on Earth was not significant, just that an hour was slightly shorter.
"That's good." Arthur nodded, his gaze fixed on every movement around him. "Although I cannot receive the Legacy, I am very confident in my Archery. I should be able to hunt something this time."
As soon as he finished speaking, Arthur's body suddenly twisted. He drew his bow and pulled the string.
Whoosh!!!
A white blur shot out. With a thud, it embedded itself in a large tree about ten meters away.
A small gray snake was firmly pinned to the tree trunk, still struggling.