The expectations of his elders weighed heavily on him like a burden. It hovered over him like a reconnaissance aircraft, filling his mind's ears with its steady droning. And yet, his ambivalence about the whole thing gave him room to yearn for more autonomy. The notion of thinking and acting on his own terms (without the approval of anyone) actually sounded very appealing.

Xzavier juxtaposed this yearning for freedom with regular teen angst and rebellion. The more he looked at it, the more he knew that they were not the same thing. He drew a deep breath as he made his move to begin his counselling, however, he was cut short when he realized something else.

In this Isekai, one tradition was commonplace in the family system. The family title (along with all the authority and benefits) is given to the eldest son. Xzavier felt like he was on one end of a telescope looking far beyond his immediate surroundings. Though, it seemed a bit farfetched at first, Xzavier realized that he had been handed a unique opportunity. Whatever he chose to do now, would resonate and reverberate eternal waves in the future.

Xzavier wasn't trying to be manipulative or concentric, but as it stood, Cadence was like a lump of clay in his hands, and he himself was like a potter. He knew that if he did this right, Cadence would emerge as a completely different breed, separate from the herd of mediocrity. A man who could potentially make a great leader and head of his family in the near future. Xzavier smiled inwardly as he began to see the effect one single decent soul with authority could make. So, he decided to take Cadence's tutoring personal.

Xzavier decided that he was going to drill in the principles of kindness, and help guide the young lad into the formidable entity he would become. He cleared his throat and began to speak with the authority of one who had been mandated to carry out a very important task;

"I will not lie to you Cadence, the road to freedom is an arduous one. In fact, some would say that independence is a bit overrated."

Cadence jumped in eagerly. He felt more at ease now that a rapport had been established already;

"I assure you sir, I am more than equal to the task."

"Calm your nuts lad, there's really no need to assure me. Truth is sooner or later you're going down that path. My only concern is that, in your case, it might be a little too early."

In that moment, if Cadence could force out a moustache, or any kind of facial hair for that matter, he would have done it. Just so he could appear older in the face of his tutor.

"But don't worry…" Xzavier reassured his student. "You've got me in your corner, and that's enough to tip the scales in your favor."

Then in a stern tone, he charged his student sternly;

"But you had better do what I say, and when I say it. I will not tolerate any form of laxity. Got it?"

Cadence stood up from his seat abruptly. And in a bid to demonstrate his commitment, he bowed obsequiously and said aloud;

"Master Baron Sir!"

What a weird kid Xzavier thought.

"Please, call me Mister Xzavier. Lose all the other titles alright?"

"Yes Mister Xzavier."

Over the next couple of minutes, Xzavier began to gradually ease Cadence into some objective insight to his problems with his father."First off, you need to be able to deal with some problems on your own. When I say on your own, I mean without asking your father for help whatsoever."

Cadence frowned slightly. And replied Xzavier carefully;

"Sir, I am not opposed to handling things on my own. Actually I have being doing that for some time. But what if some issues are simply bigger than I am? Without my father's counsel, I may fall into the trap of mistakes."

Feeling like some old, mysterious, wise sage, Xzavier replied:

"You cannot go forward in life if you keep looking at the people around you. Mistakes are unavoidable, I need you to understand that. It is human to make mistakes. However, it is important that you keep your head above water at all times and never let these mistakes swallow you…"

Cadence still looked very unsure about the whole thing. This was very unconventional. Traditional knowledge had taught him in the past to avoid mistakes at all cost. And now, Xzavier had come in with this radical proposition; telling him to embrace mistakes. This was very hard for the young man to accept.

Xzavier snapping his fingers in Cadence's face;

"Come back to earth Cadence. You still want to be a rule breaker don't you?"

That was the trigger. The student nodded vehemently.

"Good! Then realize that you have to act more independently."

Xzavier pulled on one of his ears to signify the seriousness of this lesson.

"Listen to me Caddie, being independent isn't synonymous with being rebellious okay? There is a fine line in between, the key is to be wise in all you do…"

In the hour that followed, Xzavier asked Cadence one of those simple, and yet, mind blowing questions;

"Tell me Cadence, what do we hope to accomplish with being independent?"

He wanted to answer Xzavier by telling him that it was the first rung on the ladder to being a badass. But by now, Cadence knew enough to know that, with Xzavier, the answer was never straight forward. So, he chose the best alternative at that moment and kept mum instead.

Xzavier bounced on his feet and charged Cadence energetically;

"There is always an end game! Always! And right now, the point of being independent is to free yourself from the shackles of your father's discipline."

Cadence bent his head down and began to scribble furiously as Xzavier dropped bombs upon bombs of knowledge.

"That's right. If a parent no longer has to discipline their child, it simply means that child has attained a new height of maturity."

The young ad loved that last word more than anything else.

"In your case, the reason the governor disciplines you so strictly isn't because he is terrified of you making mistakes, but because you might get hurt in the process!"

No matter how hard he tried to picture it, Cadence just couldn't imagine his father worried.

"I want you to take note of what I am about to tell you Cadence, it is very important!"

The student stared at his teacher with wide, eager eyes, as if he was afraid that if he looked away for a second, he would look something more than gold.

"Making mistakes is not scary, what's scary is being afraid to make them."

Cadence hurried to write down those words. Even as he wrote them boldly on paper, he wrote them on the walls of his heart as well.

That same day, at twilight, just as the sun was about to retire into the comfort of the night, Earlene came rushing into the house. Her movements were frantic, and her eyes were wild. Her hair was disheveled, and overall look was one of panic. Breathing in hard, she banged at Xzavier's door like she had been bitten by seven mad dogs with rabies.

"Xzavier open up!! Quickly!! It is Earlene!! Something's happened."

She banged and banged on the door, forcing Xzavier out of his semi state of retirement.

'Hold on,' Xzavier thought; 'Did she use my actual name this time? Something must be up!' Thinking this to be a prank, Xzavier opened the door calmly and inquired on what the issue was.

Xzavier's initial suspicions began to fall apart with each moment and with each word that came out of Earlene's mouth. Her normal cold, haughty composure was now replaced with one who was frightful and unstable. Shaky as leaf, and with shallow unstable breaths, she narrated to Xavier as best as she could;

"I was shopping with Adalia in town, we bought a ton of beautiful stuff for---"

Xzavier snapped impatiently; "Earlene! Get to the point!"

She didn't even argue this time. Xzavier noticed this and began to think of the worst.

"On our way back, outside our carriage, we SUDDENLY began to hear all sorts of horses and riders! Adalia was apprehensive, but I waved it off thinking it was a carnival or something!"

Tears began to form in her eyes and she struggled to swallow back the sob that was gathering momentum in her throat as she tried to still her regret.

"But then, our carriage stopped suddenly, and before we could even blink an eye, our doors were flung open!"

She grabbed hold of Xzavier's shirt dramatically, as she tried her best to describe what had happened next;

"Xzavier! You should have seen them! Horrible looking men violently dragged Adalia out by her hair, and pulled her out forcefully! I thought they were going to take me too, so I kicked and screamed and lashed out with everything in me…"

Her voice saddened as she continued her narration;

"But unfortunately, my eyes were closed that whole time because I wanted to minimize the horror…but by the time I opened my eyes…she…she…she was gone!!! She was gone already!!! Those vile men kidnapped her!!"

She broke down into a sob at Xzavier's door. By this time, a couple of others were already gathered after hearing the princess sobbing. The news soon got around the gathering as they made out the words 'Kidnapped her.' and before Xzavier knew it, he was surrounded with a band of mourners.