Almost another month passed. Alec was now hard at work repairing the region, giving Ivan the time to personally teach and train Janet. However, this left Alec with no time to flirt with Abigail, so that would happen later.

But now that Ivan wasn’t so busy, he had gone back to drinking. Thankfully, it wasn’t like before, where he tossed it all back. Instead, he would just upend the bottle while still looking at the person he was talking to. He didn’t down whole bottles entirely anymore, so Janet was happier.

She could now work on getting even closer to him.

Maddock had grown once more, but he was now the size of a giant dog, just the right size for Janet to ride. With his wings tucked in and a strange saddle adorning his lower back, Janet performed a strange race against Ivan’s war horse.

Though not as quick, the Midnight Monster moved in a strange way, as if hopping from one place to the next. It was almost erratic and hypnotizing, as Janet moved with Maddock, bending her body slightly. If Ivan didn’t know any better, he would have said she had already ridden one before.

Even though he wasn’t fast, Maddock’s leaps kept up with the war horse’s speed. It was astounding. It would probably be even better if Maddock could fly, but even though his wings could suspend him, he didn’t want to. It would seem that there was a need to revisit the Gilded Glade.

Forced to learn advanced studies and practice superior styles of fighting, at age seven, Janet could be said to be a natural genius, but she, for some reason, never let it go to her head. Then again, it could possibly have something to do with how Ivan had dominated several elite guards at only six with only his bare hands.

Born with a superior body, Ivan had further increased his specs by accidently eating a strange fruit that had synergy with his figure. It got him started on the path of magic at an earlier age, snowballing his growth to where it is now.

This was why he wanted to get Janet one of those plants high in magical energy. He had even tried to purchase one on the market, but they were either fake or traps. If someone had something that amazing, why would they sell it?

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Then, on one of their morning races, he spotted something. Over several hundred yards away was a strange lagoon. He slowed down his horse and trotted over. Janet had rushed on down her way, believing this to be one of Ivan’s random tricks. In the end, she continued the race, as there was an apparent rule that stated the winner would have the loser do anything they wanted.

However, Ivan had always cheated at the end, giving his horse a speed buff spell. After that, several bouts of multitasking would follow where Janet would have to play the Lord’s Game, the War Game, and even practice her breathing all at the same time. Having to deal with the happenings in the region while also dealing with battles was a surprisingly difficult thing for her to muster, so she took advantage of this.

Since he was alone, Ivan dismounted and surrounded himself with a strange layer of what appeared to be a rainbow light. However, this was a shield cloak of every element he knew. This wasn’t just any plant, it was a treasure trove to the Damning Butterfly, a magical creature that loves this specific flower’s scent.

The worst part was that these butterflies were not only immensely poisonous, but also could use illusion magic, much like the tree from the Gilded Glade. Thankfully, there wasn’t a swarm of them and he could easily take not only the budding Poison Stink Flower, but also the corpses of the Damning Butterflies. He set them aside so they wouldn’t hurt anyone just by being there, which meant they were put away in his jacket of multiple pockets.

When he returned to the mansion, Janet was a little confused, but she had a happy expression.

“Today, we get to hang out!”

“Don’t we do that every day?”

Ivan didn’t understand, but Alec just laughed as he watched from the study. While he was a slave for now, he didn’t mind working for these people. They put him to use where he would shine, so he was having a lot of fun. Plus, since he was running an entire region, wouldn’t that mean when the contract was over, he would be paid handsomely for his work?

Abigail was upset that Ivan was getting closer to Janet, since she was becoming wild and tough, much how a girl should not be. However, she had heard tails of a dashing young man having been hired to help out, so her attention was elsewhere.

And for now, Ivan almost forgot about his gift, but he needed to prepare it first, or else Janet would suffer greatly. But, he kept his attention on the young girl who was riding his shoulders as they walked around the capital city shopping. A strange feeling welled up inside him. Would she like his gift? How would she respond? He pondered to himself while following the girl as she tasted all the food at the stalls. He laughed, much like he used to when he was surrounded by his comrades.