8

What I had just heard hit me like a bomb. Don't tell me that I was one of those protagonists who ended up mutilated and had to use a cheat to advance. Not that I had anything against cheating, but I wanted my magic to be normal.

“I managed to stabilize the core with plants. But they won't last long. You have too much natural essence, but I don't see how to get it out without putting you in danger. For now I would advise you to drink this tea regularly, but I'm not sure you can ever be a mage."

I listened to him in a distracted way when I heard something that caught my attention.

Too much energy, too much energy.

I rushed to the exit. I didn't stop until I reached the clearing, as footsteps approached me.

"What do you think you're doing kid? »

I put my hand on the ground and closed my eyes. The voice disappeared. I could only hear the wind blowing in the trees. But that's all I was interested in. The air had a personality, a freedom. they liked to play, to dance. It was a pleasant breeze or a violent hurricane. Inside me the tornado swirled aimlessly and devastated me, it had to calm down. I winced as I felt the pain inside me but accepted it, then gently asked him to calm down. I just wanted a nice breeze. I felt the tornado slowly die out, it escaped through the pores of my skin without violence, and refreshed me. I had the strange feeling of floating, then I opened my eyes.

I was really floating, the air enveloping me like a bubble.

Suddenly the energy ran out and I fell heavily to the ground.

For a moment I thought I heard the mischievous laughter of a child, then it disappeared.

I touched my chest, but felt no pain. Not just a faint breeze inside of me. It was all that was left of the whirlwind.

Suddenly two hands held me under my arms and lifted me to my feet.

I shivered as I met the old man's gaze. He looked at me the way my mother looked at a honey cake.

"It's you, it has to be you. »

" Sir ? » say while backing up slowly

"Do you have a combat teacher, kid?" »

I shook my head no.

"So from now on I'll be your teacher. Come shake my hand." »

I heard the end of his sentence from afar, because I was already running. No way am I willing to learn from that weird elf. I already had enough weirdness in my life. I lived in a magical world, my father led a harem, even my mother had certain peculiarities that made me understand why she had chosen my father. For now, I'm going to forget about all that.

After a few minutes, I walked through the castle gates. In the afternoon my father received the inhabitants of the duchy. It served as a political, legal and military power. He was therefore led to listen to complaints and judge the crimes committed in his duchy. I slipped through the crowd, it wasn't hard to hide behind tall elves. When I got past the guards, I sighed in relief. Hopefully my mother was too busy with the truce to realize that I had disappeared.

At least I thought so until a small group at the entrance caught my eye.

My mother watched me with her arms crossed, accompanied by my father, the duchess, his second wife, Ilawen, and my sister Ilari.

"You finally decided to go home brother, we were so worried!" Ilari exclaimed before rushing into my arms. As she squeezed me I held back a grimace as I felt her fingernails try to penetrate my skin.

This girl…did she really think she could trick our father?

Ilari was Lidiane's first daughter. But Lidiane only had daughters. Which explained why she had allied herself so quickly with the Duchess. She protected her children because without a son she was not a threat. Unlike my mother who had a son but was the duke’s great love. The choice of heir was up to the duke and as his "favorite" son I should have a chance, but the reality was quite different. The Duchess had a very influential count as her father. He was a former general and was a great friend of my grandfather. Of course, the two men had wanted to strengthen their ties by marrying their son and their daughter. My father would not dare to anger a man respected as much by the kingdom as by its soldiers, many of whom came from General's County and stayed in the castle. My father had allowed himself to be surrounded.

For her part, Lidiane was the eldest daughter of a marquis without much power. But the rules of the kingdom were such that a marriage with a commoner could only be possible if no noble girl of good reputation and of marriageable age was available after the first wife. Lidiane, who had been in love with my father since the first time she saw him, literally threw herself into his arms when she learned that he was looking for a second wife.

Desperate and terrified of having to marry five or six women before having my mother, he had sent a letter to the queen, his great aunt, asking her to please grant him permission to marry the love of his life. Given my father's personality he must have sent a teary and almost unreadable letter, but a month later Liamon Woodskin married Elanore in the greatest privacy.

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Despite all these family complications, I should still have a chance to be an heir. Since the heir is determined by his magical power too. So if my magic wasn't strong at 6, it definitely would be stronger at 14. Unfortunately my older brother made this possibility null. He was a powerful and revered mage, he also had the support of his grandfather's army. So there would be no Duke title for Taylor in the future.

But that didn't stop the enduring animosity the women harbored against my mother and me that they had passed on to their children. Hence Ilari's behavior. I didn't like Ilawen but I hated Ilari more. She was dangerous. She went from laughter to tears in seconds and manipulated others in such a way that she always emerged victorious from any situation. She didn't have to hug me. But she was doing it because she was in public and in front of our father. She gave the illusion of being a loving big sister. The scars my body bore told me otherwise. This girl would be the mistress of the scratches if this title existed, on the wrists, the back, my eye had escaped in extremis from this carnage when she had supposedly tripped in the corridors and had tried to catch up by holding me. Strangely it was not my shoulders that she had wanted to grab but my face. I had moved away in time, but then I had become the insensitive brother who hates his sister. I had avoided servants for a month after that incident. The rumors were tenacious.

"I didn't know you were so worried about me Ilari." I say sarcastically

She then took my face in her hands. Why always the face, I thought as I felt her scratch my sensitive ears.

"You may not have the same affections for me, but you will always be my beloved brother." she insisted

“I am sure that your future husband will appreciate this magnificent personality and the affection you have for those who are dear to you. I am unfortunately not very tactile and I regret that I cannot truly appreciate your feelings as I should. » I say while moving away slowly

She was shaking with rage no doubt, but her acting skills wouldn't let her take off the mask. She hated any conversation about her future marriage. She was 14 and would marry on her 16th birthday. Her fiancé was the eldest son of a marquis. It was not a bad marriage far from it, Orlen was a nice, reasonable, and very intelligent boy. Unfortunately, it was this intelligence that repelled her. She had to marry someone she couldn't handle. If she changed, she could live a beautiful story, but in my opinion it was a waste of time. I wondered if that was Father's intention. After all an elf could live a very long time, there was really no reason to rush a marriage. He himself had not married before his hundredth birthday.

"Brother, it's so cruel to remember my upcoming wedding. I have great affection for Orlen, but I am sad to have to live so far from my family. she said, wiping her eyes as if I had really made her shed tears.

I could already hear whispers in the yard.

“he should be ashamed. »

“That is why the peasants should not mingle with the aristocracy. »

"Poor Miss"

“Having to put up with such a brother. »

The conversations stopped when my father spoke.

"Taylor, follow me to my office."

I sighed, then met Ilawen's smiling face. Without waiting I started walking with my mother a few steps behind me.

"Don't hand them the bow and arrow, Taylor. Your dad can't always protect you." said my mother sitting in an armchair with a cup of tea in her hand.

My father seated next to her held her hand and looked at her adoringly.

"I will always protect our son, my dear." he said passionately. I rolled my eyes.

" Really ? What about the General's troops, have you decided to send them back to him? »

A cough quickly hid the laughter that wanted to escape my lips.

“You know I can't give him back his army. Why are you so cruel?” he said in a sulky tone

Dismissing his father-in-law's troops would be seen as an affront. Not only because they were already present when my grandfather was alive, but also because they served as protection for his beloved daughter and grandchildren. If my father wanted to rule in peace, the troops had to stay.

"And where have you disappeared to all these hours?" my mother finally asked. She hadn't paid attention to my father long enough.

"And don't try to lie, remember that I never lose at the snake game. »

I had forgotten who I was talking to. The snake game was a card game that involved hiding the snake which was the winning card. The opponent when he thought you had the card chose to take one of your cards, if he took the snake, he won the game. But the cards had been enchanted, the player could only once exchange the card winning with another without the opponent realizing it. My mother always knew when I used the enchantment and always chose the winning card even when I had exchanged it.

I was sure she was cheating. But I had never been able to figure out how.

I could never hide anything from her.

"Well, here's what happened. »

I told them everything. I saw my mother panicked about my magical misadventure, my father widened his eyes when I told him about the old man, and I saw him both marveling at my little magical feat.

"First Taylor, I'd like to say what you did today was incredibly stupid. You don't even have the benefit of being a child, because you have the mental age of a teenager. You know very well that what you did was madness. Why ? Why did you take such a risk. »

“I wanted to protect you. »

She didn't seem surprised when she heard my answer.

“I can protect myself Taylor. "she says

I gave her a dubious look.

“How do you think I met your father? »

They had met during their adolescence, but I did not know how. They had never talked about it.

“Your father met me when I tried to assassinate him. »

I had certainly heard wrong.

" What? »

I watched my mother carefully and tried to find something that might tell me that she was one day in her life, an assassin.

"You don't know where to look." she said before removing the necklace hanging from her neck. It was in the shape of a fish. She had always worn it. I always thought it was a gift or an inheritance. But she quickly removed the fish's head. She was holding a dagger. I was flabbergasted.

"Do you keep poison somewhere too?" I say half joking

She smiled and pressed the handle of the dagger. A hidden compartment opened.

" Satisfied ? »

I nodded slowly.

“Why did you try to assassinate him? I asked

“Oh, it was a simple contract that I never finished. I lost all credibility after that, so I quit, but I couldn't kill the elf who made me remember how to laugh. she said, giving my father a soft look.

He then turned to me.

“You are punished. »

" What ? »

“You left the castle without permission and risked your life needlessly. You are punished. I forbid you to leave the tower before the summoning. »

He was really serious.

"But father, it's in a month!" »

" End of the discussion. »

I was starting to really regret my decision to leave my bed this morning.