The Young Duke Lei - 4

{Apoligies for the delay.}

Lei Yun-Ru sat at his desk and looked at the stack of documents that were on the desk in front of him. He could not hide the deep frown that formed on his face as he looked at them. He looked up at his uncle who sat across from him and the man smiled gently.

His uncle explained, “That stack in front of you is just a list of the things you now have to face as Duke Lei. You cannot afford to slack on or make a mistake when it comes to these things, and a simple slip on any of them could maybe cost you your life.

This is just one of the things you will have to deal with as Duke Lei. Starting today, I’ll start teaching you everything you need to know about them and then after, you’ll have to do them all yourself, so let’s begin.”

Lei Yun-Ru picked up the first page on the stack and began to read it. His uncle came over to his side and started explaining what he needed to do.

In his mind, Lei Yun-Ru rolled his eyes, looking at the document it was something so simple he could do it with the flip of his palm; however, because he was eight he had to pretend that it was difficult. Even if he was intelligent for his age, it was not wise to show too much or someone with an adept mind like his uncle. His uncle would find it very suspicious if he knew how to run a dukedom at his age.

He glanced at the man and looked back at the document. It was good to have someone so dedicated that was willing to help him on his side, but it was also annoying. Since he could have finished all these documents in a matter of minutes.

Time passed by, with them looking through the stacks of documents. His uncle slowly raised his head and looked outside, probably checking the time, before he patted Lei Yun-Ru’s shoulder.

“Let’s take a break Ru’er,” his uncle told him gently.

Lei Yun-Ru nodded. He put down the current paper he is reading and followed his uncle out of the study. They went into the garden and sat down at the gazebo. The servants came over and served lunch. His uncle waited for them to leave before he spoke to Lei Yun-Ru.

“Now that you’re Duke Lei, it’s not quite appropriate to have someone below your standing to teach you certain things. I will start tutoring you in both politics and combat. The other Kings are quite busy so it’s impossible for them to come, so let’s work with what we have for now.”

Lei Yun-Ru nodded and they started eating. As per usual, the food was transported into his personal space as he thought about what he would make in its place. He had many spiritual ingredients available, so he could make anything. After finishing off their lunch, his uncle stepped out to go handle some business and he went to his room to rest.

He took off his outer robe and laid down on his bed as he slipped into the space. He sat down and the shelves around him began to shift until the books were out of sight and shelves filled with boxes made of spiritual wood took their place. Different spiritual plants floated out and came in front of him. As he was inspecting the plants, the shelves shifted again and large glass containers that held both alive and deceased animals replaced the spiritual wooden boxes.

He looked at them and finally decided on a Black Emperor Croc. The animal gave him a fierce glare. However, seconds later, its corpse sunk to the bottom of the tank. A slight breeze passed and the corpse had been dissected and cleaned. Some of the meat was separated from the rest floated over to Lei Yun-Ru, some meat was divided and floated over to Lei Yun-Ru while the rest was stored in a container. Another Black Emperor Croc appeared in its place and the shelves shifted back into place.

By this time, Lei Yun-Ru is contently eating a plate of stir-fried crocodile meat. He savored each dish and licked the plate clean before letting it vanish from his hands. After that, he leaned back in the chair and let himself fall asleep. It had only been a few days since he had taken the title of Duke Lei but he felt more tired than he ever had before.

It is not because of having to follow through with the duties of being a duke but because of the visitors, he had gotten for the past few days. Those that came in the morning and those that came at night. As far as he was concerned, it was easier to deal with his night visitors than those that came during the day. If he was not trying to keep up his facade, then he could talk them in circles. However, because of what they know of him, they spoke their appeals repeatedly like broken records.

The thing that made him more upset was those prodigal sons of the different nobles. They wanted to take him out to play as if they couldn’t tell the difference between the spawn of an official and an actual official. It took his uncle telling the parents for their children to buzz off and it made him realize that he should end this charade soon, so he could send these children packing on his own.

He rested for an hour before a servant called for him to meet his uncle. A drowsy Lei Yun-Ru got up and went out to meet with him. On the outside, he looked fine, but on the inside, he was so furious, wondering why the man had come back?

His uncle smiled at him, oblivious to the interruption he had caused, asked, “Have you rested well Ru’er?”

Lei Yun-Ru gave a simple nodded and the older man hummed in response, “Okay. let’s go to the training field.”

They both went to the training field. Lei Yun-Ru watched his uncle removed his robes and change into training clothes. He did the same. Then, they went to a rack of wooden weapons.

“Your father told me that you had recently started training with weapons and you seem to have a knack for it. Show me which weapon are you most proficient in?” his uncle commented.

Lei Yun-Ru went over to the rack, looking at the wooden weapons. He felt a sense of nostalgia, his mind drifted to the first time he had ever needed to do weapon training. Going through different worlds, he became proficient with all of them, even when it came to firearms. Even with his fighting skills, he had been everything from a simple martial artist to a heavenly cultivator.

He pulled out a wooden staff, as he reminded himself he was still pretending to be naive, but traumatized eight-year-old. Wooden staffs were one thing that children his age commonly used. When they had finally trained up their strength, and then they would start training on a specific weapon of their choice.

Someone like him who was the son of a Duke should be at the phase of choosing the weapon for himself. Due to the circumstances of his birth, he was left behind by most of the children his age, when it comes to progress. At least that was what everyone knows, no one knew about the assassination attempts on himself, aside from him and the people who sent them. He had taken out those people proficiently and unless he was bored, he did not actually raise a finger.

He held the staff and went over to his uncle, who looked at him deeply before pulling out a long wooden staff.

“Show me how far along you are in your training.”

Lei Yun-Ru nodded and started going over what he had learned, as he did he acted a bit clumsily, but his uncle still nodded and came over to him. He used the staff he was holding to adjust Lei Yun-Ru’s posture and as such, the training began. They first touched on his stances and continued to train them until his uncle was satisfied before progressing.

The training went on until the sun turned orange and began to go down. The servants began lighting the lamps throughout the residence. The head servant looked at the High King and Lei Yun-Ru and then sent a servant to prepare two basins of water and some towels. He then sent another to make some tea and to prepare a bath for the two masters.

By the time the training ended, everything was ready. Lei Yun-Ru and his uncle left the training field and went over to wash their faces before drinking the tea. The High King sat and spoke a few more words to Lei Yun-Ru about his training before going home. When he was gone, Lei Yun-Ru returned to his room and locked out the servants.

He cast a cleaning spell, changed into his sleeping clothes, and then went and rested on his bed. As soon as he appeared in the space, a jade teacup floated to him. He took it and downed the contents in one gulp. As he sat in the chair to relax, a cool air passed over him and he left out a contented sigh, before closing his eyes to sleep.