Prologue
Richard Tarten had never experienced any negative emotions.
It wasn't that he didn't understand emotions like hatred, sadness, pain, jealousy, envy, or resentment. He knew what they were and under what circumstances people felt these emotions. He simply had never experienced them.
He had no reason or need to feel them.
Everything was sufficient for him: a loving family, agreeable friends, trust, and affection from them, and enough intelligence to achieve everything he needed.
Therefore, he had never experienced any difficult, embarrassing, or awkward feelings in any situation.
Until that day when the boy with a face like a stone statue evaluated him.
"Christoph is coming."
Someone whispered.
Under the shade of a large, beautiful tree on the edge of the forest, the teenagers were casually sitting, leaning against rocks or tree trunks, all silent as if they had an appointment. They looked towards the sound of horse hooves approaching from within the forest.
A boy on a white horse, small in stature, sitting upright on the horse's back, was approaching. He glanced at the teenagers with a slightly displeased expression but quickly looked away as if nothing had happened.
It seemed he was taking advantage of a break to ride.
"Christoph decoded faster than our youngest uncle the other day."
"Well... besides that, what's so special about him?"
Listening to the envious whispers, Richard smiled inwardly.
Nothing special besides that? Completely untrue. Christoph excelled in everything and was particularly outstanding in fields no one else could match. The other teenagers had nothing else to do but make jealous remarks.
Christoph Tarten was clearly a genius. They were a rare breed who achieved better results without effort compared to others.
However, Richard had never felt envious of that. Even though he had to try harder than Christoph, Richard could still achieve similar results.