“Why is he black!?”

“What curse have you put on my son!?”

“Your Grace, we did not do anything! We swear! This is the third young master, he was merely born like this!”

Ronin woke up in the body of tiny, blurry-eyed baby. He instantly knew what was going on from the cacophony of loud thoughts around him, along with basic observation from the clothes and the large, opulent room he was in.

He was born of a noble family, and they are blue-skinned. Therefore, they must be associated with a blue gemstone. Most likely Sapphire.

And yet, he had black skin, which is now the cause of their discord and panic.

But Ronin could feel that the natural power flowing in his veins as an Obsidian Heartstone was gone. He looked at his chubby baby hands and knew that not only had he lost power and become an infant…

But he had also become Coal, not Obsidian.

‘Interesting. Then how do I turn from Coal to Obsidian again?’ He pondered._.

The people around him continued to be alarmed by his situation while he only felt amused.

“How will the Zafeiri family’s reputation hold on now??? Oh, what a tragedy had befallen us!” The beautiful woman beside him who was filled with cold sweat wept tremendously, her shoulders shaking.

“Duchess Akasa, calm your heart. There may be some hope. Perhaps this is a temporary medical condition, and we need a cure.” A man in a butler’s uniform and glasses informed them.

Unlike the duchess, he has the same dark skin as the baby.

Another man standing by the door with crossed arms scoffed. “A medical condition? A curse? Isn’t there a more likely alternative that you are not telling us, Mavretri?”

The butler’s eyes widened and he tilted his head to the side. “I cannot think of another possible cause for this, Duke Taevas. What are you implying, Your Grace?”

Duke Taevas with a stern face rushed to the butler Mavereti with quick speed, a sword materializing in his hand, which he aimed at his neck!

“I’m implying that I should have kicked you out of my household years ago! You covetous servant! I know how much you eyed my wife in secret!”

“Taevas! What has gotten inside that blue head of yours!?” The duchess who had just given birth was alarmed and immediately sat up to grab onto her husband’s arm.

“What do you think of me, some lowly woman who will fling myself to some Coal commoner!? Give me some respect and consideration, do you know how much offense I have taken from the mere thought of that!?”

She pointed at her newborn wrapped in silk and gently laid in a crib by one of the gray-skinned maids. “The baby has a malformity, but he is your seed! If you want me to prove it to you, we could ask an oracle right now! I would never dare to be unfilial to you, especially with the help!”

The people went quiet and the tension was high in the air. The cause of the tension, the dark-skinned baby, stayed quiet as well and never cried unlike most newborns would.

Because he already knows the truth.

(How highly does she think of herself to call me the ‘help’! When just a few days ago, she invited me to some tea and told me I was the most perfect man she had ever met!? She even said her husband is incomparable to me!)

(The child cannot possibly be mine! I won’t accept it!)

(I bore two Sapphire sons, what is wrong with this one!? Did Taevas’ seed got cursed by that witch that he’s seeing? How dare he insinuate that I had an affair with a commoner!? I have never complained about his sleeping around with every kind of Heartstone, yet he’s pushing his own faults to me!?)

(As much as I hated the nobility… it is true that I would never dare to cause a skirmish with them. I have my own family to feed. I cannot lose my job in this household, it is difficult to find a Celestian who will accept commoner maids and servants.)

With all these wild and outraged thoughts buzzing in his ear, Ronin had come to a conclusion.

The butler with the same skin as him is not his father.

The most likely possibility would be that the duke was cursed with a woman he slept with, and it resulted in a Coal baby.

Kai was not here to confirm any of this or explain his origin. It must be because there was no mission yet, and he had to go through his childhood on his own.

It’s likely that Min Cheng’s character, Cermin Drychspiel, was either born the same day as him or reached Level 1 at this point in time, meaning that he must be older.

Ronin would bet that his birth was not as dramatic as this, and his family must be of higher standing than the Sapphire Duke and Duchess. He may even be their crowned prince.

“Fine. Let us call the oracle for a divination then.” Duke Taevas said with gritted teeth, his sword disintegrating.

He gave a menacing glare to Duchess Akasa’ personal attendants, gesturing wildly with his stone-hard meaty hands that could break someone’s face just from a single punch. “What are you waiting for!? Call out an oracle! And if somehow the news of this child spread upon your travel to fetch her, I will have your tongues fed to my hunting hounds!”

“R-Right away, sir!” The three maidens made haste and left the room to summon the oracle.

As they did, he pointed out a finger to the butler. “Mark my words, Mavretri! If the divination resulted in what I have already anticipated, you better pray to the gods and run because I will be certain to turn your skin into my next coat!”

Those were his last threats before slamming the door of the duchess’ bed chambers shut. His strength caused the bed and the tiny crib to shake.

Baby Ronin did not mind the shaking, he was just relieved that there were fewer people and therefore less loud shouting and loud thoughts. His origin story already started on an intense note.

Duchess Akasa was also not shaken. She did not receive any threats, after all.

Because even if she did cheat on her husband, he could not possibly kill her or abandon her…. or even reveal her infidelity because they must maintain their reputation.

She just sneered at his anger, thinking that he deserves such distress after all that he has done.

(You reap what you sow, you blueberry-headed dolt!)

It was only the ‘help’, the butler Mavretri, that was sweating profusely and adjusting his collar after hearing the duke’s words. He had only been diligent in his duties here and strived to maintain his position. And now there’s a chance that he would lose his life, and his sons and daughters would lose their father.

Maybe it would have been better if he became a farmer at a baron’s plantation instead, or even just a shoe cleaner in the streets….

(I hope the oracle they take is not one of those charlatans and reveal the truth, or else, I’m done for!)

It took about an hour or so until Duke Taevas returned once more, slamming the door open. With him were the three attendants…..

And an old woman hunched with a black cloak, holding a cane twisted and decorated into the shape of an owl.

The oracle.