Note: It may seem a little abrupt, but I'm cutting the fic short here for the time being.
I'd like to give my thanks to everyone who has viewed and commented on the fic. Thank you for your support and kind words.
Hubert only grew colder as time passed.
He went on to Strahta's military academy and soon achieved outstanding results. Garrett praised him, but the words only offered passing relief to Hubert. Once enough time had passed he would again worry that his results weren't enough for Garrett to wish to keep him around.
A fair amount of his time was spent along Raymond, though this one's mood was prone to quickly swing from neutral to singing Garrett's praises, to regarding Hubert with thinly-veiled envy. Apart from that Hubert only made passing aquaintances, unable to allow anyone close at it sometimes caused his past self to stir within and he couldn't afford for it to break through the surface.
Word of his fighting prowess spread and Hubert was even approached by the occasional admirer, though he always failed to pick up on their intent. He had status and a promising future in terms of a career in the military, but he was unable to feel happy about it.
It wasn't the life he had wished for, and part of him often resented that. But there was no way around it. He was an Oswell and that was what he'd always be.