Chapter 27

Fake it till you make it

  With Hans munching around like a squirrel with both of his hands and Sierra wiping his face with a handkerchief, changed the previous gloomy atmosphere with a bright one. While everyone was focused on Hans’s cute antics, the head Butler Benedict said to their still tensed chief Knight Aldrich,

Now relax a little, your daughter will recover soon.

Yeah, but...

Then why are you still this tense?

It's about our young Lord. I can't put it into words but when I tried to stop him, I felt my life would end at that moment.

Stop it, you are overthinking; he is just a boy.

Aldrich showed him his shivering hand and said,

Yeah, but can't you see this? There is no circle when he was casting the spell and what's up with the ManaVision?

Benedict proudly replied,

To me, it looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree. With lord Sam, we saw the strongest knight of all time. Maybe it's time to see a mage for a change.

  After eating and laughing, Hans needed rest. He didn't tell anyone, but extracting that thing from Vanessa was a tough challenge, even for him. He didn't feel lethargic before because of the excitement, but now the fatigue hit hard, making him asleep in Sierra’s lap.

  Hans suddenly opened his eyes in the middle of the night. It was not because he finished his beauty sleep, but because there was an uninvited person in his room. He jumped out from his bed to create some distance between them while drawing a clear mana path and was ready to attack at any moment.

The hidden person said,

Impressive instincts.

  Hans shouted as loud as he could so he would wake others because his gut feeling was telling him there was no way he could beat this guy, but there was no reaction from the outside. The hidden person became visible, but a dark shadow was masking him. He said again,

You are smart too,

Hans asked him,

What do you want?

The shadow replied,

Nothing. I was just curious to see the child claiming himself as Samson’s son.

And,

And you are bold for sure. Most of the people can't even speak in front of me.

And,

pft, and you are fake. Samson never fathered a child, I would have known, so what are you?

Hans humoured the man,

Who knows?

The shadow increased the pressure while asking him,

Are you playing with me, boy?

Naah, but If you wanted me dead I would have been dead already.

It doesn't mean I can't hurt you.

  Hans felt incoming danger and shot two bullet seeds at different locations than the shadow. Aimed for the head and the heart. The person’s actual body got hit, but the response was very bland. Hans felt his bullets got connected with the target, but the damage was insignificant.

The person laughed after a while,

Very impressive. You could detect my original location.

  The shadow that he was showing Hans was just a projection. His body was hidden in the dark and detecting its presence was a real feat in the eyes of the intruder. He was laughing in marvel at the boy's skill but stopped after a bit and said.

I see my boring days vanishing away.

Hans asked in frustration while preparing for the mutilation seed.

What do you want?

I told you “nothing”, you are just a poser but you are an interesting one. I will give you that and you saved someone to whom I was indebted to… damn I am bleeding.

After feeling the sudden pain in the hit locations, the hidden person started laughing maniacally and added,

It's nice meeting you Hans, you might not carry his blood, but you are worthy of having that face.

  Suddenly, the darkness vanished from the room and the person’s presence got erased. Rudolf barged in quickly and found Hans sitting on the ground. He was frantically searching for the intruder, but Hans stopped him.

You are late, gramps. Who the heck was that?

Rudolf asked Hans in all seriousness,

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What did he want from you?

  Hans looked passed at him. The servants and the knights stationed for security were staring back at him. Sierra ordered them to leave. When Hans got secluded with his grandparents, he released a long breath that he was holding back to appear calm in front of others and said,

I almost shit my pants. Oooh, that was scary.

So what did he say?

Just the plain truth that I am not King Sam’s child, and I am a poser. And I saved someone… was he an acquaintance of Vanessa. I think he said he was indebted to her.

Rudolf frantically asked him,

What did he use? I mean, what kind of power?

I think he was using dark mana, his body was hidden and there was a shadow talking to me...

Hans stopped in the middle and chided his grandpa

And how come you didn't detect him?

Rudolf mumbled,

Dark mana, shadow..shit, it's Xandor.

Hans asked him,

And who is this Xandor?

none of your concerns.

  Hans wanted to ask more, but Rudolf’s attitude about the topic was clear. His sleep was gone because of the incident, as his heart was still pounding. He lay on his back and was looking at the ceiling. Xandor was the only word that was in his mind. A person capable enough to infiltrate undetected in Rudolf’s presence has to be a big name in Genas.

Hans opened the door and found Rudolf waiting for him.

Now, where are you going, squeaky? You really wanna shit your pants.

No,

The way I see that you are not taking this seriously.

Gramps, if that guy wanted me a goner, then I would have already died, stop making ruckus and go to sleep.

And where are you going?

To see the sleeping lady.

Why?

Because I can't stay curious,

She only opened her eyes a few hours back.

Hm… Mr Head knight didn't come. This means he is with her, right?. she must be awake by now.

  Hans ran to their room and entered. The vigour had returned to the girl. She was an eighteen-year-old with a beautiful face, long dishevelled hair, and unlike before, she regained a lot of mass in her body. Her big eyes were staring right back at him.

  She was pretty even when she was recovering from that horrid condition. Hans turned red because the words were not coming out of his mouth. Vanessa became confused and said while pointing her finger at him,

Sam...

That word snapped him out. He sighed and said,

Oh, I am getting tired of that name already.

Listen, lady, answer me, do you know anyone having dark mana and was capable enough to avoid my Gramps?

She became confused and asked him,

Who are you?

Hans clicked his fingers and said,

Focus here, dark mana, strong, capable enough to avoid Gramps.

She kept looking at him dumbfoundedly, and Hans continued,

I thought you were smart. Did you suffer mental damage or something? I am the person who saved you…

She quickly replied to him,

No, I don't know anyone of that calibre.

Are you sure,

Yes, the only high-level person with dark mana I know is professor Walter, but he is not strong or crazy enough to barge in here.

Hans was amazed, he didn't mention anyone barging here, but she caught on, he said,

So you were smart after all. See ya in the morning, sleeping lady.

  Hans left just like he came, Vanessa kept staring at the closed door for a while. She felt nostalgic about seeing the baby face of a person that she missed a lot in her childhood. Sam didn't have any friends back home and he spent a lot of time taking care of her since her toddler days. She was just a child of their head knight, but the people here never let her feel the absence of her mother.

She said to her father,

You didn't tell me that he looked exactly like his father.

I also didn't tell you that he is as scary as his father too, daughter.

He seemed cute.

  Aldrich sighed and thought while staring at his hand, he might be many things, but cute was not how he would describe him. Rudolf asked Hans what did he find about Vanessa. Hans responded with the name of professor Walter but Rudolf straight out rejected the idea. He was sure that the only person in this world that could pull this off was Xandor.

Seeing him not responding, Hans asked again,

Now, who is this Xandor?

Rudolf sighed and answered him, he knew that Hans would not rest till he found the answer,

He is from Parv, a fanatic follower of Sam.

Then shouldn't he have treated me nicely?

You are still alive. That's him treating you nicely. Even death is not an end when you are meddling in his business.

Rudolf saw him not satisfied with the answer so he added,

Hans, do you not understand what a child of a king means?

Hans replied instantly.

Of course, a prince.

Then what that makes you?

Ah, I see now. That makes me prince of Parv, but aren't we making this up?

Yes, but others don't know the truth. Your existence makes you a threat to the people ruling there.

Then why are we going with this dangerous setup?

Because if we do not, then people will ask, why do you look like him?

Can't we just tell them the truth?

That will make us even more suspicious. They will think we are trying to deceive the public to protect you.

Hans sighed and said,

So no matter what, they will point me out as the prince of Parv.

Yeah, you are in pretty deep shit.

Hans glared at him, and Rudolf added,

Don't look at me like that. You wanted to come here knowing this will be a dangerous place.

  Hans knew that there would be dangers here, but on his first day at Genas, he faced an opponent who could kill him without any trouble. He thought that with Rudolf; he was pretty much invincible, but this old knight just lost his credibility.

He sighed and said to the old man,

I have to fake it till I make it, then.

***