The relentless setbacks had left Count Raymond deeply disappointed in his son. Yet, after this disappointment, he redoubled his efforts.
Don't misunderstand. He had no intention of wasting any more energy on this talentless, idiotic son. The Count directed his "efforts" towards his beautiful Countess.
Since this son was already useless, destined to be incapable of inheriting his family or carrying on its legacy... then he simply had to work hard to produce another son!
A month of continuous "sowing" and labor on the Countess finally bore fruit. Soon, she was pregnant again, and by the winter of the following year, Count Raymond got his wish: his second son.
While the entire Count's residence celebrated this joyous event, Duvet remained in his room, engrossed in the rare books on "Magic Pharmacology" he had painstakingly gathered.
Thank goodness, that final sentence from Mage Clark before he left had had some effect. The Count, likely thinking "what could possibly be worse?", had simply allowed his idiot son to study magic pharmacology.
For almost the entire few months, the Count hadn't even bothered to visit this son who had utterly disappointed him. Even the Countess, who had once been so affectionate towards Duvet, had to reduce her visits due to her pregnancy and impending childbirth.
The day after his mother gave birth to his brother, Duvet was led by a servant to the Count's chambers to see his weakened mother and meet his new sibling.
It was clear the Count was immensely satisfied. This newborn son, true to the tradition of the Rowling family, cried loudly and powerfully. Even as a newborn infant, he looked robust and healthy.
Count Raymond had no interest in sparing even a glance for his useless elder son. After the obligatory greetings, he waved him away dismissively. Though the Countess lying in bed felt a pang of pity, the crying of the newborn instantly drew her attention away.
Duvet retreated quietly. Behind him were the Count's satisfied laughter and the infant's wails. Though his heart felt numb, a trace of loss welled up within him.
He reminded himself internally: Don't dwell on it. You don't belong to this world. He is not your father... and she... she isn't...
Remembering that stormy night when this beautiful woman had knelt before the goddess statue, praying for him all night, a pang of bitterness struck Duvet. He shook his head forcefully.
Struggling to banish the turmoil inside, Duvet could only channel all his focus into his studies.
He had to admit, Duvet held an immense fascination for the magic of this world. Although Mage Clark had declared him talentless, an unwilling Duvet clung to a sliver of hope. The Count's residence, as a prominent noble house, naturally possessed a significant collection of books, many concerning magic.
After reading numerous texts, Duvet was forced to concede that Mage Clark was right: he truly lacked the talent to become a mage. Even after sitting still for a full day and night, he couldn't sense the slightest fluctuation of any magical element. Once, he even fell asleep without realizing it.
Undeterred, Duvet shifted his focus to the "Magic Pharmacology" Mage Clark had mentioned.
Because, seemingly, magic pharmacology was also a branch of magic. And, a Magic Pharmacist was still technically considered a type of Mage. Although, after asking the servants in the residence, Duvet learned exactly what status this so-called "type of Mage" held in the eyes of this world's people!
In this world, while people paid lip service to Magic Pharmacists being a type of Mage – even the Magic Academy had publicly decreed it in black and white – the actual popular perception was: "That counts as a Mage??"
Magic Pharmacology, as the name implied, was the study of concocting various magical potions.
Hearing more about it, Duvet made an apt internal comparison: if he compared it to the medical profession in his previous world, then true Mages were like the specialized doctors in a hospital! As for Magic Pharmacists... they were, at best, nurses assisting the doctors. Though they both worked in the hospital, the status and income of a nurse were far below that of a real doctor.
However, upon careful study, Duvet developed a keen interest in this Magic Pharmacology!
To him, it was an entirely novel field.
For example... how to use a Dorog Leaping Frog's eyeball combined with Purple Wormwood to concoct a potion that could temporarily render a person mute. Or how to grind the saliva of a Stardust Swordscale Dragon, mixed with clover and the liver of a Kek Triangular Scaled Fish, into a powder that could turn people to stone!
Or again, how powder made from dried substances extracted from Fire Scale Grass could ignite instantly when sprinkled anywhere.
The only problem was that nine out of ten of these names – whether animal or plant, especially things like "Leaping Frogs," "Swordscale Dragons," "Kek Triangular Scaled Fish," or "Fire Scale Grass" – were things Duvet had never heard of before.
What did it remind him of?
It was incredibly similar to the chemical system of his other world!
Duvet had never imagined that so-called magic could be explained this way!
Potion to make someone mute, powder to turn someone to stone, powder to cause instant combustion... It was fascinating, wasn't it?
In Duvet's mind, the profession of Magic Pharmacist resembled that of a physician. The only difference was that physicians healed people, while Magic Pharmacists were more skilled at creating poisons to harm them.
Duvet was unaware that this very thought aligned perfectly with this world's popular evaluation of Magic Pharmacists: Poison Masters.
Days passed one after another. Duvet remained immersed in Magic Pharmacology. However, his knowledge was still confined to theoretical reading. After all, the myriad strange raw materials mentioned in Magic Pharmacology were not available even in the Count's residence of the prestigious Rowling family.
Only the laboratories of true Mages stocked such materials. And in the magical field, Pharmacists usually played the role of assistants and helpers to those true Mages.
Furthermore, no one dared to provide such dangerous magical ingredients to such a young child, even if he was the Count's son!
Six years passed almost unnoticed. During this time, Duvet's brother, Gabriel, flourished. This child named "Gabriel" was, compared to the idiot Duvet, much more like a typical Rowling family heir.
Gabriel was healthy, lively, and active from childhood. By age six, he had already begun training with the Captain of the Guard, Swordsman Alpha. The Captain reportedly gave the young Count's second son excellent reviews. Almost everyone in the residence saw him as the future hope of the Rowling family! Count Raymond clearly poured all his care and attention into his second son. He had even decided that in another two years, when Gabriel turned eight, he would formally begin teaching him the Rowling family's inherited martial arts and combat aura (Dou Qi)!
The servants adored him, the Guard Captain praised him, his father doted on him, and even a hired tutor believed the young Count possessed remarkable talent. Rumors even said the Count, for the family's future, had decided to arrange a prestigious marriage alliance with a certain family in the Imperial Capital, betrothing his six-year-old son!
Meanwhile, Duvet, the family's eldest son, was forgotten in a corner.
The Count rarely saw his eldest son even once a month. The sole exception was the Countess, who often visited her son privately. Sometimes, on quiet nights, the Countess would slip into Duvet's room barefoot in her nightgown, hold her pitiful child, sing lullabies to him, and coax him to sleep.
Only during these times would Duvet's heart soften. Sometimes, he had to feign sleep to escape moments that threatened to make him cry. Often, the Countess's tears and sighs accompanied him into slumber.
Finally, when Duvet was thirteen and Gabriel seven, the decision came. It was Count Raymond's ultimate verdict.
Starting next year, he would personally begin teaching Gabriel martial arts, passing on the Rowling family's inherited secrets. Simultaneously, Count Raymond finalized a marriage alliance with the Empire's Finance Minister. These two political allies strengthened their cooperation through this union, and Gabriel's future wife would be the granddaughter (currently nine years old) of the Empire's incumbent Finance Minister!
In truth, there were whispers: this alliance had been arranged long ago! Perhaps even before Gabriel was born! However, the one originally destined to marry the Finance Minister's daughter was Duvet! Only now that Duvet was deemed a hopeless idiot, the responsibility for cementing the alliance had shifted to his brother, the talented Gabriel!
As for Duvet...
On a dark and windy night, he left the Imperial Capital in a carriage. His destination was the Rowling family's ancestral territory in the southern Colt Province. The official announcement was: "Thirteen-year-old Master Duvet, approaching adulthood, will go to manage the family's estate in the territory."
But in reality, Duvet understood perfectly: he was being exiled.
Manage the family estate? That was a joke. Everyone knew the family's important undertakings were in the Imperial Capital, the political heart of the Empire! The affairs in the family territory... the farmlands? The peasants? The tax collection? That only required sending a few stewards!
The actual truth Duvet learned was that he would likely leave the Count's residence forever to live in some rural ancestral manor house in the southern Colt Province! And... without a summons from the Count, he could forget about returning to the Imperial Capital for the rest of his life!