In the end, I didn’t eat any of the food there.

  I let out a loud sigh, just enough to make sure everyone in the dining hall heard it, then stood up and walked back to my room.

  Once inside, I shut the door behind me.

  “Ugh... I was starving, but it's still better than eating something that might be poisoned,” I muttered, reaching for the book and holding it in my hands.

  “Darling, did they try to poison your food? Should we just kill all the servants?”

  Her voice was cold, and in her right hand, she held a knife.

  “Wait, since when do you have that knife?” I asked, a bit confused.

  “Oh, this knife? I’ve had it for a long time, of course. Isn’t it pretty? I always keep it in my dimensional storage. I guess I forgot to tell you, your lovely mother has quite a few useful skills,” she said with a proud smile.

  Beside her floated a small black void, a swirling hole that shimmered faintly in the air.

  She explained that the void was the manifestation of her dimensional storage skill. All she had to do was toss an item into the hole, and it would automatically be stored away.

  “So... how many skills do you actually have?” I asked with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. “You have to tell me everything now, or I won’t let you pat my head anymore.”

  “That’s so cruel!” she pouted. “How can a mother be banned from patting the head of her most beloved child? And besides, I know you secretly love it when I do that.”

  With a mischievous grin, she ruffled my hair.

  “Alright, alright! Fine, you can pat my head again, just stop messing it up,” I surrendered. “Now can you please tell me how many skills you really have?”

  “Aww, my adorable little boy. Come here and let mommy hug you,” she said, wrapping her arms around me and gently stroking my hair again.

  “...Your skills, mom. Please,” I said, completely resigned.

  “Since you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you. Your amazing mother has thirteen skills! Isn’t that incredible? I’m really strong, you know,” she said with pride.

  Then, she began explaining each of her skills one by one.

  Before I knew it, the sun was almost directly overhead. I hadn’t eaten anything since morning, and I was starving.

  “Mom, do you know where I can get some food? If this keeps up, I might actually die of hunger...” I mumbled weakly.

  I had a history of acid reflux, and apparently, even in another world, I wasn’t free from the pain it caused.

  “Aww, my poor baby. Don’t worry, remember your mom has a storage skill? I’ve kept lots of food in there, some of it has been stored for hundreds of years, and it’s still perfectly fresh because time doesn’t flow inside the storage space. Do you like fish meat, darling? Or maybe bird meat?”

  As she spoke, the familiar floating black void, about the size of a soccer ball, appeared again in the air.

  “Bird meat’s fine. And just some plain water, please. Wait, where did you even get all this food? Your skill only stores things, it doesn’t create them... right?” I asked, suspicious.

  “Ahaha... well, let’s just say I borrowed a bit of food from a noble or two back in the day,” she replied, avoiding eye contact.

  “If you say so... I guess I’m in no position to be picky right now. As long as it’s not poisoned, I’ll eat it.”

  I began eating the bird meat she handed me, served on a luxurious white plate with a gold trimmed edge.

  After finishing the meal, I placed the plate and leftovers back into her storage skill and lay down for a nap.

  It didn’t take long before a knock on the door woke me up.

  The sky outside had already turned dark.

  I quickly hid Mom under my pillow and shuffled to the door, still half asleep.

  When I opened it, Alice was standing there.

  “Hey Bayu, I heard you haven’t eaten anything all day. Are you feeling okay?” she asked, gently placing her hand on my forehead.

  “I’m fine. I just wasn’t hungry, that’s all. You don’t need to worry, Alice. How was your training today, by the way? Come in and rest a bit,” I said, inviting her in.

  “Maybe another time, Bayu. I just wanted to check on you for a moment. You look really pale, you should try to eat something. I’ll head back now. Jayden and Lisa are waiting in my room,” she said, then turned and walked away.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Ha...

  You tell me to eat something, but you didn’t bring anything with you.

  Well, maybe she meant I should go to the dining room myself. But still, since noon until now, not a single servant came to call me for a meal.

  After grumbling to myself for a bit, I shut the door and asked Mom to bring me something to eat. Then I got back to studying, preparing for my eventual escape from this cursed place.

  The days that followed weren’t much different.

  No servants ever came to call me for meals.

  I just stayed in my room, eating the food Mom gave me while studying nonstop.

  Seven days passed like that.

  One night, while Mom was trying to pull some food out of her storage, she accidentally grabbed the wrong item, and out came the corpse of a monster about the size of a human head, with eight spider like legs.

  It was still fresh, with some blood dripping onto the floor before Mom quickly shoved it back into storage.

  This wasn’t the first time she’d pulled out the wrong thing, so I just burst out laughing.

  Mom pouted at me and told me to stop laughing.

  I asked her for a clean cloth to wipe the blood, and she gave me a plain white handkerchief sized piece of fabric.

  After cleaning the floor, I heard a knock at the door and someone calling my name.

  I quickly hid Mom under the pillow again and rushed to the door.

  Just as I was about to open it, I realized I was still holding the bloodstained cloth, so I instinctively stuffed it into my pocket.

  Then I opened the door and made my way to the dining room.

  When I arrived, Alice and the others were already there, nearly finished with their meals.

  Alice looked at me with concern as I took a seat.

  Then the king began to speak.

  Thanks to my seven days of studying, I could understand most of what he was saying.

  The gist of it was starting tomorrow, all the Chosen Ones would begin group training in one room.

  All of them, except me.

  The king said he was worried about my health and that I shouldn’t participate.

  I just nodded silently.

  After a while, the king finished speaking and left the room.

  As soon as he was gone, Alice stood up and hurried to my seat.

  “Bayu, are you okay? Are you seriously ill? Why didn’t you tell me anything?” she asked, placing a hand on my arm.

  I stood up. “I’m fine, Alice. Just a little under the weather. Now that the king’s left, I’ll go back to my room.”

  I turned and started walking away, but then Alice grabbed my hand and stopped me.

  “Bayu, what’s really going on? I know you’re sick, I can see it in your face. And I heard you haven’t eaten in seven days. Tell me the truth!” she said, her voice rising slightly.

  “I said I’m fine. I just need some rest,” I replied, trying to gently pull my hand away.

  “You’re not fine, Bayu! Why are you....wait, what’s that? What’s in your pocket?”

  She was staring at the corner of the white cloth peeking out of my pants pocket.

  Crap. I forgot to tuck it in all the way.

  I tried to shove it deeper into my pocket, but she was quicker and snatched it from me.

  “This cloth... why is there blood on it?! Bayu, what’s really wrong with you!?” she shouted, panic and worry filling her eyes.

  Ugh... how did this turn into such a big misunderstanding?

  ...Wait a second.

  Maybe I can actually use this.

  “Alice,” I said in a calm, slightly cold voice, “can we talk? Just the two of us, in my room.”

  She nodded silently, and the two of us walked to my room. Once we arrived, I closed the door behind us.

  “Alice,” I began in a low voice, “when you were training to understand your special ability… did they also teach you the basic knowledge of this world? Like general understanding, how things work?”

  She nodded again.

  “Then you probably know that every living being in this world has mana, right?”

  Another nod.

  “Alice… from the moment I was summoned here until now, I haven’t had any mana at all.”

  Her eyes widened in shock.

  “T... that’s impossible, Bayu! Everyone has mana! It’s like oxygen here. Without it, humans would....”

  She couldn’t even finish her sentence. Her voice trembled.

  “You’re right, Alice,” I said quietly, eyes cast down. “Humans can’t survive in this world without mana. I’ve been lucky to last this long since being summoned… but my condition is only going to get worse.”

  “No… no way. You’re lying! If... if your condition is getting worse because you don’t have mana, then… then all you need is mana, right? I can give you some of mine!”

  She grabbed my hand, her body glowing with a gentle green light.

  The light flowed from her fingertips toward mine.

  But the moment it touched my skin....

  The glow stopped.

  Just like that. As if it hit a wall.

  “Why… why did my mana stop?” Alice whispered, staring at her hand in disbelief. “During training, I could transfer mana just fine. So why… why won’t it work now?! WHY WON’T IT WORK?!”

  Her voice broke into a scream at the end. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “Why didn’t you say anything, Bayu…?” she sobbed. “If you told me earlier, maybe… maybe we could’ve found a way to fix it…”

  “You know the truth, Alice,” I replied gently. “Even if I had told you from the beginning… this isn’t something that can be cured.”

  “You were so happy when we first arrived here. You had amazing powers, and everyone called you a Hero, someone chosen by fate. I just wanted to see you smile. If you had known about my condition from the start, I’m sure I would’ve never seen that happy face of yours.”

  I walked closer and knelt beside her.

  “I’ve been your boyfriend for five years, Alice. I know how hard it was for you to feel truly happy… especially with how your family treated you. At the very least, here, I wanted you to be free. To smile without holding back.”

  Alice suddenly threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

  “You’re always like this… You’ve never changed…” she choked through sobs. “But I won’t give up. I will find a way to keep you alive, Bayu. So please, just hang in there. Just a little longer… please…”

  Her voice trembled, her breathing uneven from crying while speaking.