Rumors were spreading fast across the nobles in the kingdom, since the Henituse family were famous and Cale was even more famous due to his unique hair color and talents. Some couldn't believe what they heard as they have met the redhead before. Some also assumed the rumors to be true since they learned about it from Henituse's Vassal Family and the maid of the family.

Meanwhile, the subject of the rumor, Cale Henituse, was just chilling in his room while eating grapes as he stared at the sky blankly. His plan on spreading the rumors of him acting like trash was successful. He heard news occasionally from the maid he asked before, and was satisfied with the results. He just needed to act like trash from time to time so the rumors won't die. Ron, on the other hand, was worried for his puppy young master, since reputation was like a twin in a noble's life. But seeing his Young Master unfazed by everything made him sigh.

The Young Master is really stubborn once he set his mind into doing something, Ron internally sighed and shook his head while looking at his puppy young master looking bored.

A sudden knock startled Cale from his daydreaming, and Ron opened the door. The newly hired butler of the County named Hans greeted Cale.

"Young Master, the Count is inviting you to have tea with him in the garden," Hans politely said.

"Alright, tell dad I'll be there," Cale answered and the young butler bowed and went back to his duties.

Cale immediately jumped off the chair and fixed himself before going down to meet his father, and Ron followed his tail. As he walked down the corridor, the servants greeted him. None in the Henituse Territory actually believed the rumors going around, since they knew what happened between Cale and his cousins—not that he cared. He bumped into Basen when they were about to descend the stairs. Of course, both of them went together and Cale told Ron he didn't need to follow him.

When they reached the garden, Deruth and Violan, with Lily in her arms, were already waiting for them in the garden. Both of them greeted their parents.

"Good afternoon dad/father, mother."

The two nodded and gestured for them to sit. They were just catching up about what had happened to them during the past days and what interests them these days.

"Cale, I have heard a strange rumor," Deruth said as he looked at his redhead son. Cale, who was munching his cookies, stopped and looked back to his father.

"What rumor, dad?" Cale asked, feigning ignorance of the subject.

"The other day, this particular rumor was going around the nobility and I couldn't fathom who would slander my son like that," Deruth replied. Violan looked at Cale, who was now tilting his head as if he didn't know what his father was talking about.

"They said that my Cale is a vicious and disrespectful child that people were calling him a lout for his behavior!" Deruth could no longer hide his frustration which made the redhead a little guilty of what he's done. Violan frowned upon hearing the statement and couldn't help but be worried about Cale.

"That might be because of what happened five days ago between me and the older cousins," Cale calmly answered. Well, he was also one of the reasons why the rumors escalated.

"That incident wasn't your fault and you were the one who severely got hurt!" Deruth was getting angry which made Lily cry and startled Basen. Their father let out a fake cough when he noticed. Violan was calming Lily down.

"I am alright now, dad. You do not have to worry, also rumors are just rumors. It'll die down on its own," Cale nonchalantly answered, which made Deruth sighed.

"How come my son is too mature for his age?" he questioned, is it my fault? Is it because I left him alone when he was also grieving before? Deruth couldn't help but blame himself for Cale's attitude.

"The rumors don't affect me that much since I know the real truth, let losers twist the story like the losers they are," Cale answered, trying to appease his father.

"Even so, that's not a good thing. Don't worry, Cale, your dad will handle those rumors," Deruth replied and Violan nodded at her husband's reply.

"Okay," Cale smiled.

Cale knew that those kinds of rumors won't die down easily and his father can't do anything about it. His father might just tone down the rumor as to avoid blatantly insulting him, just like what had happened in his past life. His reputation as a lout didn't disappear, but people in the nobility called him free-spirited instead due to his reputation.

"Dad, I heard the whirlpools in the Ubarr seas are gone now," Cale said as he put another cookie in his mouth.

"Yes, the biggest whirlpool in the center is gone now. But the authorities there don't know what was the reason for its disappearance," Deruth replied.

"That's right, the whirlpool suddenly disappeared mysteriously," Violan followed.

"I see, as long as nobody got hurt when it disappeared, it's actually good right?" Cale questioned. I guess the whirlpool and the ancient power [Sound of the Wind] are connected.

"Yes, it's a good thing since the Ubarr are planning to create a tourist attraction there," Violan responded.

"The Ubarr are actually debating whether they should create a tourist attraction or a naval base in their territory," Deruth said. Noticing the confusion on Basen's face, Deruth let out a fake cough.

"I guess, we shouldn't take this conversation on a technical level," he laughed.

The Ubarr should build a naval base instead of a tourist attraction. Their seas are vulnerable now since the whirlpool is now gone, Cale thought.

"The Ubarr are actually inviting us to attend a celebration party in their house and it will be held next week," Violan said.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that! All of us should go, we can go sightseeing while we're there," Deruth smiled.

"Okay!" Both Basen and Cale responded.

Their talk continued until Lily started crying loudly, as the baby wanted to sleep, and they all went back to their rooms. Cale fell asleep from eating so much sweets, which made him miss dinner.

Midnight came and Cale was woken up by his grumbling stomach. Due to this, he went to the nearest kitchen to his room—Kitchen no. 2— to find something to eat. He slowly opened the door and carefully checked if the guardian of Kitchen no. 2 was still there. When he didn't see anyone, he entered and started looking around.

"Ugh, there is no food! Is it because it's the dead of the night? Should I cook?" Cale mumbled to himself.

Luckily for him, he knew how to cook. So, he searched for the ingredients. He found some ground beef, beef broth, mushrooms, black peppers, eggs, onions, butter, corn and flour.

I'll make some Salisbury Steak, I missed this dish. I once had this when I got lost in time, Cale thought and started chopping up some onions. His eyes became teary as the onion stung his eyes. After the onion was nicely chopped, he mixed them, along with black peppers, egg and salt, to the ground beef.

Then, he started mixing the ingredients and shaped the beef into four patties about ¾ inch thick. After that, he fried the patties until they were brown and added beef broth, onion and some unevenly chopped mushrooms. Once the patties were cooked, he set them aside. Since the mushrooms were gone, he chopped another batch of mushroom for the gravy.

Unknown to him, a certain chef noticed a presence coming from his kitchen and went there. Seeing the lights turned on and the door was open, he took a peek and saw his young master chopping mushrooms.

"Young Master?" the chef called, Cale got startled which made him cut himself with a knife.

"Are you alright, Young Master?" The chef immediately checked Cale's cut and washed it with water. The chef took the first aid kit to treat his young master's wound.

"Vicross-hyung," Cale called. He looked at him and smiled. The young chef sighed.

"You shouldn't call me that. Most importantly, why are you cooking at this hour, Young Master? If you are hungry, you should have woken me up," Vicross said.

"Yes, I am hungry. But I don't want to disturb your sleep," Cale answered.

Vicross was perplexed since it was rare for an employer to be considerate of their employees well-being, much for a young master. But his own young master was being considerate of him.

"Even so, just wake me up if you want to eat something. Father will definitely be mad if he sees you here," Vicross asserted and Cale nodded.

"What are you cooking, Young Master?"

"Salisbury steak! I am almost done, all I need to cook is the gravy and the sweetened corn!"

"Salisbury steak?" Vicross eyebrows raised as this was the first time he heard the food's name.

Oh, shoot! Hasn't this food been invented yet? Cale thought.

"Yes, Salisbury steak. It is made from ground beef with mushroom gravy and corn."

"I see, I'll help you, just wait there," Vicross said. As he cooked, Cale gave out instructions on how to cook the mushroom gravy. After a while, the Salisbury steak was done and there were four servings.

"Vicross-hyung, eat with me," Cale said.

"I cannot do that, Young Master," the chef sternly replied.

"But I don't want to eat alone and the food we made is too much for me," Cale said sadly. Since the chef was weak to small children, Vicross resigned and did what his young master said.

The two ate the meal heartily, especially Cale. Vicross also praised the redhead's cooking and wondered where his young master learned to cook. The redhead quietly observed the young chef and recalled some events that happened in the past.

In his last life, he and Vicross weren't close with one another. Cale actually felt guilty from all those times he had to diss the young chef's cooking just to live up to his reputation: the trash he was. That's why, he couldn't blame him for leaving the Henituse and travelled with the hero. What he couldn't accept was the way Vicross died without even taking his home back. After Ron died in that timeline, he followed. It was heartbreaking for him to learn the people he treated a family dying one by one before him.

They weren't close but their interaction before he acted like trash saved Cale from his loneliness. Even though it was a servant's job to look after their masters, Cale felt happy with Ron and Vicross' presence which somehow lessened the pain he had before. He was thankful for them but couldn't say it to them, not even after their deaths. That was why Cale had already resolved himself the moment he opened his eyes again, I'll definitely pave a way to help both of you take back what you had lost.

For the people who gave him warmth when he was on the verge of dying from loneliness and coldness, he will give them happiness.

After they're done eating, the young chef washed the dishes and Cale help; since he insisted. Once they're done, Cale bid Vicross good night and went back to his bed.

That morning, Cale actually overslept since he ate a lot during midnight and didn't feel hungry. He woke up a couple of hours before lunch. After waking up and dressing himself, he immediately went to his father's office.

"Dad, it's me Cale!" he said after knocking.

"Enter," his father replied. Upon entering, Cale saw how his father was buried with a lot of paperwork. Wow, I definitely do not want to do that in the future. Basen really needed to inherit dad's position, Cale solemnly swore.

"Dad, is it alright if I go out today?" Cale asked.

"Sure, bring Ron with you," Deruth answered without looking at his son.

"I will but can I also bring Vicross with us? And also can you give me some pocket money?" This time, Deruth looked at Cale, why would you bring a chef with you? He stared at his son with a questioning gaze.

"Alright, you may go with them. I'll give you the money through Hans. Inform Ron and Vicross they'll come with you," Deruth finally answered after a short pause.

"Thanks, dad!" Cale beamed. The redhead immediately went to the kitchen where Vicross always works, there he also found Ron.

"Ron, Vicross-hyung! Let's go out today!" Cale said not to waste any time, the two just looked at their young master in confusion.

"Where will we be going?" Ron asked.

"A secret, you'll know once we get there," Cale grinned. Ron and Vicross glanced at each other and shook their heads.

"Alright, Young Master. I'll prepare some snacks and refreshments for us to bring," Vicross said.

"Yes, please! And oh, bring winter coats. I'll see you later!" Cale said and immediately went back to his room to prepare.

"Winter coats?" The two said in confusion.

It is summer right now, why would we need winter coats? Vicross questioned.

Putting the thoughts and questions aside, Ron prepared both his and Vicross' winter coats and the chef prepared their snacks suitable for cold weather. They both went to the Young Master's room after their preparation.

Meanwhile, in Cale's room, Hans gave him the money he asked for and the redhead started packing up what he needed to bring. A moment later, Ron and Vicross came to pick him up. Cale told his father he won't be needing a carriage since they'll be nearby.

When they reached a secluded place in the territory, Cale looked around to check if anyone was watching them which confuses Vicross even more.

"Young Master, don't tell me we will go somewhere far," Ron sighed. Cale just nodded and smiled. Vicross looked at his father and returned to Cale in total confusion. The redhead took Ron and Vicross' hand. Before the young chef could react, the three were teleported somewhere with a lot of snow on the mountain.

//TBC ...