The door of Room Number Eight opened and Seria let Drak in with a bow before going inside with Alice next to her and closing the door. Inside sitting already Eleonora and her two Maids and two Guards. The maids are working hard at brewing tea while the Guards stand like Statues and exude a fierce killing intent.
“...~”
After entering Drak bowed to Eleonora and got to the Table already filled with Cookies and Cake. She nodded to him and waited to sit down. As an Imperial Princess she does not need to do much courtesy as the nod by herself was already more respect than she needs to give.
“Thank you for inviting me. Do you want to talk about something specific or is this by coincidence, you invited me?”
“Just by coincidence, as we are sitting at the same table. Also I am interested in you, as we will be seeing us often in the next six years. It would be great to know the one, who is that close to myself, as I was strongly sheltered in the Imperial Castle.”
“Ah, well I was always alone too, Princess Eleonora…”
“Elly.”
“...Elly. My distance was albeit from a different direction, as I was more evaded for being not even acknowledged. While we are in the same class, if you want we could find other tables, and you can sit with more promising Nobles. I would not find any fault in that.”
“No no, as it was the only seat when I came in, it must have been fate. I always thought about things lining up with happenings must be signs of the World showing us the way.”
“...~”
“I see Pri… Elly. Well it is nice to hear someone speaking to me normally, even if I look a bit off. It is hard to make friends looking more like a toad than human.”
“Ha ha! You do not look like a Toad! Your look might be different, but that does not make you strange. We might not be that different, you and I. As I also am looked like something else, when people see me.”
“...~”
“I can only imagine. And congratulations on becoming first in the Magic aptitude test. … Good Tea.”
“Thank you. I was hailed as a prodigy since birth, but I do not feel that way any more. There will be always someone better if you look at the World as a whole.”
“...~”
Eleonora noticing the movement of the lips of Alice was curious.
“Did your Maid say something right now?”
“Did you hear something?”
At this mention one of the Guards got angry and stepped one step forwards.
“You, do not disrespect…!”
A strong glare of Eleonora made him shut his mouth and step back. Sweat was visible on his brows as he stood in his prior position like a statue again.
“I am sorry, I thought she said something. And do not care about the Guard. Sometimes they are a bit overprotective about every little detail.”
“...~”
“But I swear she said something right now, but there is no words? Not even sound.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Do not worry about it. Nothing said, nothing heard. Do you have something you want to talk about me specifically, or will we only savour the taste of this tea and the cookies?”
“Ah, I just want to know if you want to go shopping with me? There are many stores in the City, especially made for us Students. Do not worry, I would not want you to pay for anything for me, rather I am inviting you, as I was the one suggesting it.”
“Let me see… Seria?”
“Yes Master. The Days at School can sadly not be used, as you know you have to attend every Class diligently to get the needed Score for the passing of the Semester. The first rest day is already planned for you to supervise the renovation of the more dangerous Rooms in your Mansion, while the second is the day you assigned for extra tutoring. The last day is also fully booked, as you have to visit your Siblings, otherwise you might get punished by your Father for negligence of respect. How long this will take is questionable, so the whole day is already booked for this. The next Weeks rest days are free.”
“So, I would have time next week on the first rest day. Would that be applicable?”
“...yes, of course! I am sorry, I did not know, you had such a hard schedule, but being the youngest child has often not only merits but demerits. I would hope to see you soon at this day. Time can be discussed between our Servants or we can talk about it in Class later.”
“This sounds great. I was never with someone shopping with the same or higher status than me. Not even my Father or my Siblings had ever taken me to shop with them.”
After a little bit of more small talk Drak excuses himself, as the time for Class got close and would like to prepare. Eleonora did not want to keep stealing his time and bid him farewell until next class starts.
Exiting the Room Claire and Raja came to him and Drak walked away slowly.
“Lies and truths, truths and lies. If you mix them together well you can not see which is which, but she learned well already.”
“...~”
“Not without your help. Thanks for being there, maybe we need to work on ventriloquism for a time? She was rather perspective.
“...~”
“Not your fault, she is just too perceptive and after her making notice of you, all the other noticed too. What she really wants I still don’t know. Maybe I will learn it with time.”
“...~”
“Or we could watch her actions, Master”
“No and no. She is an Imperial Princess and would be too dangerous if it got noticed somehow. The Four hidden guards in the room were also no joke. Even our men would be hard pressed to stay unnoticed.”
“Understood.”
-
“He seems harmless your Majesty. Not only did he not meet my expectations he was not even able to notice bloodlust, and wandered in like it was nothing wrong.”
“...no. He has noticed your bloodlust Gerry.”
“Not possible, he did not even flinch.”
“That is the problem Gerry. When you thoughtlessly started to shout he did not flinch even the slightest bit. He never did see you as a threat as he did not need to notice bloodlust that low as some kind of danger.”
“Your Majesty, that joke is too poor.”
“This is no joke! He sat here and did nothing but talk, even with you pressing down on him with your presence he just lightly talked and ignored you like you did not even exist. The most domesticated Bunny would still notice such aura and shake in fear, but he did nothing and just sat there talking like it is a sunny day.”
The other Guard, a female Warrior of remarkable built also shared her opinion.
“Gerry, Your Highness is right. It is definitely not unable to notice but unbothered to notice. Even the Maids did not even flinch a bit and for three people to be that unbothered, that is more than a little bit strange.”
“Maybe a guard? He had many Rings, but two did not look so crappy, and it could be a ward against evil intent?”
“No, it can not be. Those must be decoys. Some of the Iron Rings must be what he is using. Those looked like Prison rings. The ones forced to be worn by Archmages to suppress their magical powers. One or maybe even two could be real.”
“Two!? One is enough to suppress an Archmage into inability to use Magic! That would be too much strain on the body itself.”
“Remember the Anomaly on the magic Map. If he is the source, those Rings might be the reason why it suddenly vanished.”
“But he would not be able to use Magic with those on his hands until he dies!”
“Not necessarily. It can be those are dead rings. After Archmages die those Rings lose their Curse of binding. So he could take them off on his own. The others are just to distract from them to be found out. Wearing so many rings no one would think of them as magical.”
“Then why did he force his Father to not be in the practical Magic class?”
“Same reason. He might break the Tablet, if he really has so much Magic. Still it is all but a Hypothesis until now. The Visions were not conclusive, I just saw behind him a black shadow like a gigantic magical beast, but it could also mean one of his maids are the anomaly.”
“So… No real clue now?”
“No, we have a clue. He is not simple. And he might be dangerous. Keep an eye out but do NOT act under any circumstance. This group might be put in the Calamity class for now. What about the connections of the Organization with him?”
“Strong possibility of him being the merchant. His stature fits the bill, but he might only be the show piece and someone else pulls the strings.”
“No, I believe he is the leader. He must have made it himself. How, I do not know, but we will find out in time. He might be an asset to our Empire if wielded right. For now we just watch, understood?”
“Yes, your Majesty.”