[Host, this is the Tyrant System, not a Fair System.]
"You are being a tyrant to me!?"
[Even if the system is tyrant to you, what can you do?]
"WHAT!? YOU! YOU! YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I WILL... I WILL BREAK YOUR LEGS!"
[Tyrannical intent detected. +5 Points.]
"OH! FUCK OFF!"
[Tyrannical intent detected. +5 Points.]
CLICK! CLAK!
He suddenly heard someone was outside and coming towards his hut. As a disgraced and discarded 9th prince, Julius Balazar has been dumped into a shed, a hut, in the corner of a palace where no one goes, ever.
The main door of the room opened and a young girl walked in.
"Huh? It is a little girl... child labor?" He forgot for a moment that he is not in modern times or in a modern world. This is a cultivation world with a feudal system where noble houses rule.
They are landlords and everyone else is more or less servants or slaves. None has basic rights; everyone else simply lives at the mercy of those who owned the land, the titles, the wealth, the armies, and the cultivation power. Where their word alone could decide the fate of anyone and many, whether they would eat, work, or disappear without anyone daring to question it.
The girl closed the door carefully behind her and turned around while trying her hard to balance a small wooden tray with both hands. Her clothes were even worse than beggars of modern times, naked feet, cold weather, and yet she is working hard. From the memories he could tell that she has a pure compassionate heart.
A random little girl who helped this 9th prince without knowing anything about who he is. Looking after him like he is her family. She looked thin, malnourished, and tired, but her movements were careful and disciplined.
When she finally noticed Julius sitting upright on the bed, her eyes widened in shock and the tray trembled slightly in her hands.
"Big Brother! You woke up!" Her eyes lit up with happiness and affection and Julius's heart melted instantly. His eyes welled up and tears started streaming down.
Love and affection. He did not get to say thanks to his parents; he never got the chance. He never got the chance to return the same love and affection to them. He could tell the original Julius also wanted to do the same for her, but his pride as prince, his ignorance of rank, bloodline, and status had built an invisible trap around him, a blindness preventing him from seeing the love and affection of this random little girl.
But on his deathbed, he did have one regret towards her; he did not get to say it. Same as him. Both had regrets, both did not get the chance to express it.
She quickly came close and set the tray to the side. She quickly checked his head for temperature and then checked his pulse like she has done this before.
"Rurika..." He uttered her name after a struggle.
The girl froze for a moment when she heard her name. She only ever mentioned her name once at the very beginning and after that Big Brother only called her by the title Little girl.
"Y-Yes, Big Brother?" Her voice got even softer.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Big Brother? You are Big Brother Julius." She remembered Julius mentioning his name once.
"Yes, that is my name, but who am I?"
She was confused at first. "Umm... Big Brother... the old physician told me that you are his disciple and I must take care of you when I went to ask for fever medicine for you."
"When did that happen?"
"Several months ago."
"And after that, that old physician did not say anything else about me?"
She shook her head. "Are you not the disciple of that old physician?"
He only smiled at her question. Now is not the time to share the truth as he took her hand.
"Ahh." She flinched as Julius instantly noticed cane marks on her palm. Julius's gaze hardened seeing her painful reaction. He gently turned over both of her hands and found both of them scarred with fresh cane marks and some of the old ones too which had not healed over yet.
Suddenly his eyes turned dry but affection was still in them. "Who?" He asked softly, not in a commanding voice but with a faint urging need.
Rurika quickly shook her head, trying to pull her hands back again.
"It is nothing, Big Brother," she said in a hurried voice, small but with forced firmness to make herself sound convincing. "The head maid was looking out for me from bigger trouble. It is a lesson I will not forget, that I am clumsy... and slow."
Julius's expression did not change, as if he was waiting for what he asked. He was getting impatient and yet he was patient.
"If I complain... they will stop letting me come here," she whispered as her voice choked, trying to hold back the pain, tears, and cry. "I wanted to make sure Big Brother wakes up."
Julius gently wiped the tears off of her cheek. Slowly and gently he hugged her, and that broke all of her dams as she cried out whimpering. He did not say anything to her and kept her company, gently caressing her until she stopped crying and fell asleep. She was overworked and that emotional release made her at peace. He did not let her go as he let her rest and sleep in his hug.
However, inside he was boiling with rage. In his memories, he had already found the culprit, this so-called Head Maid.
"Ursula Graves." He growled her name. He stood up without making any sound which could disturb Rurika and left the hut.
Outside, tall trees greeted him. It practically looked like he was in the middle of a jungle, but this is still palace grounds. It is just the southern corner, near the main wall. He looked and saw the huge wall behind him made out of red bricks which gave the impression of iron and rust.
"System... I did not get the chance to look at all the items in the store. Show me again."