Rody was completely unaware of Bailey's attempt to create 'love substance' through meditation to learn his martial arts.
Even Queen Victoria held no hope for Bailey's success.
Aside from Bailey occasionally interrupting Rody's training, sometimes Pandora and Annie Bell would also come together to watch. They had no interest in Rody's martial arts; they just wanted to sit quietly by his side, because only then could they joyfully accompany him for a whole morning.
Normally, Pandora and Annie Bell were like water and fire, arch rivals. However, sometimes they acted in unison quite harmoniously.
"Rody, how does my self-portrait look?" Pandora was an extremely talented girl, especially proficient in portrait painting. Her depictions of elves, devoid of any mundane aura and filled with ethereal mystery, could immerse one in a dreamlike state just by looking at them.
"Don’t be vain, you’re not that pretty!" Annie Bell, usually mischievous, behaved well only in front of Rody's mother.
"Ladies, I'm quite busy, please give me some space to breathe!" Rody didn't want to get involved with them, knowing that starting a conversation with either would make it impossible to get away for half a day. Their persistence was of a saintly level; reasoning with them would require a throat made of bronze.
"Seeing me in the morning and not greeting me, and being shirtless, you’re becoming more and more brazen!" The only one somewhat reluctant to see Rody was the beautiful tutor.
It was unclear whether she was afraid of seeing Rody or something else.
In any case, she always found some reason to scold him, emphasizing that she was a high and mighty teacher.
According to Dean Buck, the beautiful tutor had a unique trait: the more unreasonably she scolded someone, the more it actually indicated her liking for that person. Her personality was so puzzling. Normally, especially when unseen, Rody often received a couple of playful punches from her.
"By the way, while organizing my memories, I recalled a technique called 'Dog Beating', no, 'Dragon Stick Method'. If executed with a long staff, it would be very advantageous in close combat! The user of this 'Dragon Stick Method' was also a beauty, employing clever moves like 'using four ounces to move a thousand pounds', suitable for your close combat!" Rody had always wanted to enhance the beautiful tutor's close combat skills, but she strongly resisted learning the 'Xuan Yin Yu Ding Luo Feng Jue', which other women were eager to learn, as if trying to prove she was just a teacher, not Rody's lover.
"This 'Dragon Stick Method' is the beauty's unique skill, how did you learn it?" the beautiful tutor asked with a hint of jealousy.
"Dizzy, that's from a book! It's not real. But in my previous life, when I was bored, I used lots of materials and techniques to create an ideal 'Dragon Stick Method' in my mind. Now, I've improved it into a staff technique! It has nothing to do with the beauty in the book, just the same name!" Rody quickly explained to avoid the tutor's suspicion.
"Really?" The beautiful tutor looked into Rody's eyes, as if discerning the truth.
"Even if I had the heavens as my courage, I wouldn’t dare to deceive you!" Rody laughed.
"Enough of your smooth talk, you little liar!" The beautiful tutor, seeing Rody's bright smile, couldn’t help but reach out to pinch his face, unable to bear seeing him too smug.
"Let me borrow your staff, teacher. I'll demonstrate it once. It's actually not very complicated, I assure you'll remember it at a glance." Rody seized the moment to enhance the beautiful tutor's close combat abilities, as she always bravely charged to the forefront in battles. Fighting in the human world was fine, but if it came to battling in hell or heaven, that was definitely a matter of concern.
"Today? Let me think, no, it won't work! Come back tomorrow morning, but not too early, I need my beauty sleep!" The beautiful tutor cheerfully ruffled Rody's hair and then left on her own.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Well, at least now I have one less thing to worry about!" Rody returned to his bedroom and found Chris engrossed in writing something at his desk.
"Don't talk to me now, wait until I have a moment to breathe," Chris said without looking up.
"..." Rody felt dizzy. Why were all the girls around him so full of character?
"Christina, my dear, if I remember correctly, I haven't offended you today!" As soon as Rody finished speaking, the maids Linessia and Lienlilia peeked out from the inner chamber, gesturing to Rody and then placing their fingers to their lips, signaling him to not upset Chris.
"What's wrong with her?" Rody wondered.
"Young master, after your bath, just quietly go to Camaron. There's a duchess who is critically ill... After her husband died of a heart attack a few months ago, she was kicked out of her husband's family home. She was attacked several times by temple assassins due to the Black Night Prince incident, but luckily she escaped to the palace and was saved." Lienlilia, the quick-talker, spilled the beans.
"Young Master Rody, you caused this mess, you can't ignore it!" Linessia, as tender-hearted as her long hair, pleaded with strong compassion.
"The Duchess..." Rody thought back and remembered.
Indeed, while disguised as the Black Night Prince, he had a one-night stand with the Duchess, known for her beauty, to use her as a bridge for promoting magical springs and other products from the abyss. He also used her to stage a drama to prove the Black Night Prince was assassinated by an angel assassin, thereby undermining the temple's credibility.
After the Black Night Prince, disguised by Rody, died, he thought the matter was settled.
Why was it resurfacing now? Could the Duchess be pregnant? With his child? But that was impossible! The timing was off; if there was a child, it should have been born by now! Or was she dying and wanted to see him one last time?
Rody's thoughts raced before he asked, "Does she want to see me, or the Black Night Prince?"
"She's nearly dying, her mind is foggy, she can't even speak coherently, how could she make any requests?" Lienlilia replied.
"Young Master, please go see her!" Linessia implored with a face full of sympathy.
"Who decided to tell me about this?" Rody nodded and asked, "If it was because of the war, but it's been half a month, why tell me now?"
"The Duchess's illness has been fluctuating, sometimes better, sometimes worse. She's been like this ever since the Black Night Prince's death. The ladies initially thought to cure her before telling you, but her condition has worsened, so they thought you should know and figure out a solution. Miss Christina visited the Duchess this morning. She said that if you go, the Duchess might recover..." Linessia said softly, "Young Master, if you can cure the Duchess, she will be very grateful, as saving a life is the greatest virtue!"
"Don't tell Mom!" Rody didn't want his mother to think he was a frivolous, womanizing son.
"It's too late, Miss Christina already mentioned it," Lienlilia playfully stuck out her tongue, causing Rody to faint inwardly. It seemed his image in his mother's eyes was now ruined.
After his bath, Rody went to the front hall.
Chris was still engrossed in her writing, not lifting her head as she continued her "Memoirs", holding a magic quill in each hand and writing on two magic notebooks. It wasn't until Rody leaned over and blocked her view that she glared at him fiercely.
"Your Highness, Seventh Princess, there was something I didn't quite understand before, but now I'm starting to get it," Rody said with a smile.
"What Seventh Princess? Stop calling me that. Do you really want the whole world to know I'm a year older than you to be happy? You have no shame, but I still fear others might mock! From now on, you're forbidden to call me Seventh Princess, absolutely forbidden!" If Rody hadn't seen Chris rush to rescue the King of Mesdastania, Helsinki, when he was in danger, he would never have guessed she was the same Seventh Princess to whom he was betrothed at birth.
He had his suspicions, but Chris never mentioned the past, so Rody couldn't confirm them.
Later, learning that the Lord of Warren and the Helsinki were his mother's guardian knights, Rody resolved many of his doubts and turned his most painful memories into sweet ones. Only then did he start to speculate about Chris's identity.
"So, my dear... what did you originally look like? You've never shown your true form in its entirety!" Rody asked again.
"Guess!" Chris always answered Rody with this.
"If I guess it, will you dress up as a woman for me to see?" Rody asked joyfully.
"I'll dress up as a woman, but only for you to see! You also have to promise me not to kiss or hug me in front of them. Whatever you do with them, I don't care, but you can't bring them into my room while holding them. I don't want to see you being intimate with them in front of me, leaving me out in the cold!" Chris's face thawed, and she gave Rody a light scolding look, her peerless beauty gently smiling, her eyes brimming with charm.
"That elf huntress I met in the forest that day, was it you? I know it was you, don't even try to deny it!" Rody confidently said.
"If it really were the elf huntress, seeing a little pervert who dared to run away carrying his mother and still act arrogantly, she wouldn't hesitate to chop off his head in less than a month!" Chris hummed lightly, wrinkling her nose at Rody in a playful and tempting manner. Because Rody had guessed the secret she had always kept in her heart, her peerless face couldn't help but break into a smile, and she playfully scolded, "Only thinking of it now, so foolish!"