Chapter 10: Unreasonable wife.
Lee's stepparents didn't actually live in the palace. They had a nice, two story residence nearby, still on the palace's grounds.
Upon returning home they had a heated discussion on how to proceed, and weighed options ranging from telling the emperor the truth about his daughter, to running away and never returning. In the end, they decided that for now there was no actual threat and things could remain as they were.
Unsurprisingly Tess stated that she can't be in one room with that bitch, and from now on will focus on their son – something Alan also should do.
When he asked how exactly that was supposed to work and what his actual duties should look like, she threw a little tantrum about him not caring about her anymore now that she had a child, but before the nightfall was back to usual, playing the role of the perfect wife, except one with a really bad mouth.
From that day on Lee could finally work on his physical development. Since Tess didn't let him out of her sight, he had no choice, but to actually start talking. Of course, he tried to sound foolish at first and stretched out the learning period for a few months, but no matter how one looked, he was a brilliant child.
There was a condition though – nothing extraordinary happened when other people were present, but Tess kind of accepted it already in Bearlington city. Now, when Lee actually said in clear word she was not going to speak with anyone, but her, Tess gladly accepted it.
Her only worry was that her beloved son refused any contact with other children, but soon she persuaded herself that he was too smart for that. Of course, she kind of missed out from being able to show him off to other mothers, but she new that her looks of a lady in her late fifties, or early fifties if one was generous, fit more the status of a grandmother, or even a great-grandmother.
With days going by, Lee's exercises become more complex and confusing, but fortunately the stepmother stayed silent like a trained spy. Even when he, being barely over a year old child, asked her to teach him how to read and write, Tess gladly accepted the duty. Soon enough she got used to Lee's otherworldly comprehension abilities and nothing he did surprised her.
Meanwhile Alan spent most of the time in the palace, working. From what Lee overheard his stepfather created some kind of revolutionary approach to healing during warfare activities, whatever that meant, and was trying to implement the advanced system in a couple of cavalry's regiments.