During Arthur's talks with Jorge, he learned the nearest League branch was in North Lake City. Chad had told the police that the League would take twenty minutes to arrive at his restaurant after a call. The city was, however, one hour away by truck in perfect traffic conditions. Arthur could run faster than the truck, so either the League would dispatch awakeners—which was doubtful if awakeners didn't live in low-mana regions—or use a different means of transportation.
After coming out of the forest, the road widened into four lanes again, two in each direction, and that's when he saw one of the so-called airplanes he had heard about.
The metallic marvel of magitech flew the skies almost exclusively thanks to physics and engineering. Just like in vehicles, its enchantments mostly gave it traction, though airplanes also had extra enchantments for extra protection in an emergency.
After the forest, there were seemingly endless plains. Farms and pastures covered everything in sight, all fenced. Heavy-duty vehicles Arthur had never seen before worked the fields.
Another rupture from the past was the lack of walls surrounding the city. North Lake just kind of started ten minutes after Jorge took an exit. Houses started covering the roadside, and the building density increased the further he went.
"Ah, North Lake City," Jorge said. "The pearl encrusted in unassuming plains, blue happiness amid a sea of oppressive green. Home, my sweet, sweet home." He looked at Arthur with a smile. "The great poet Hadok was born here."
Arthur hid his pity as he looked at the man. That quote didn't sound exactly exquisite. If that was Hadok's level of poetry, the great poets of this time were severely lacking.
Arthur found the city's architecture lacking, too. The buildings were just rectangular blocks, most painted white. With few exceptions, every home was small compared to unawakened's residences in the Golden Kingdom. And he'd rather not get started on the tiny apartments.
There was just so much space beyond the city. Why go for a higher population density instead of spreading out? Especially when they had such convenient vehicles that let them quickly get anywhere.
He got his answer in the next traffic jam, which made the journey take longer. Some mass transportation buses were also packed to the brim, which was uncomfortable and undesirable. Arthur noticed some petty thefts in broad daylight, too, so there should be strength in the same numbers that made the thieves blend in more easily.
So, convenience had bred inconvenience. That was interesting to note.
That said, there were plenty of advancements besides the cars and traffic rules. Timed traffic lights of different colors, red, yellow, and green, were used to let every car have their turns at some intersections. Public lighting was dealt with by having tiny enchanted glass balls on top of tall metal poles placed at regular intervals. Almost every dwelling and store had convenient enchanted accessories, like showers, telephones, and LP players. Everyone had piped water, and the sewerage was an impressive feat of engineering, considering it lacked enchantments yet could deal with the waste from so many people per square foot.
The Golden Kingdom had had some similar conveniences, but not all, and the current arrangements were more straightforward.
Public lightning had been done with manually lit gas lamps.
While awakeners and the well-off had enchanted tools to bathe, unawakened had to heat their water in stoves or use heated stones in their bathtubs.
Instant long-range communication required portals, permanent or temporary, which were rare and expensive.
Enchanted sound recorders and players had been called "repeating cubes." Enchanters that knew how to build them were always in high demand. However, the ability to produce repeating cubes also meant the knowledge to assemble more valuable things, making cubes a rarity. Even Arthur's father had only had one, which he displayed in banquets. To Arthur, modern LPs and LP players were a marvel of creativity and wisdom.
Water had come from enchantments to absorb water moisture, which, for unawakened, were stored in public wells. That came with the added difficulty of having aquamancers carefully control the weather; otherwise, the unawakened might die of thirst.
Everyone in the kingdom's capital had sewers, also due to strategic reasons, but most cities limited access to some people, and most unawakened used cesspools instead.
All in all, Arthur was impressed and approved almost every magitech innovation. His issues were the revealing clothing, rude people, lying newspapers, and democracy—in other words, culture and politics.
He felt like it was finally the time to ask, "How do magitech engineers create everything, exactly?"
Enchanters were awakeners that used pure mana. However, even a level 1 awakener would go crazy from mana starvation in this environment. Unless all awakeners were in high mana regions, how could so many enchanted items be around? But if society was that dependent on said awakeners, how could the Herald Times' lies gain traction?
That had been bothering him for a while. Still, he had wanted until now to ask because if it offended Jorge or revealed too much of his ignorance, Arthur would already be in town.
"That's right!" Jorge said and slapped the wheel in realization. "How could I've forgotten about it? Kid, what do you say about the 'awakeners' being the only ones that can create the ICMC? Convenient, huh? That's more evidence about their conspiracy!"
"ICMC?" Arthur asked.
"I thought you would know all about it. Didn't you grow up in a commie country? Don't be ashamed of growing up in a factory, kid. You're among friends here. But I guess they didn't tell you how things work, did they? Can't have free thinkers, no, they can't."
The prince would usually let the man ramble when he touched on the subject of his origins. However, this was too important.
"What is an ICMC?" he insisted.
"The things that fixate enchantments on stuff! Think of your childhood. Your factory had those long, thin needles that had to touch everything after another machine or someone drew the enchantments, right? The enchantment doesn't work before the needles touch it, right?"
Arthur nodded. Excluding the needle, it sounded like an enchanter activating an enchantment. Such an answer was precisely what he was looking for.
He asked, "So the needles are the ICMCs?"
"Hah! I knew it! They never let you see what the specialized workers do, did they? Well, kid, I know everything about it. My little girl is in college; did I tell you about it?" He had told Arthur about it. Repeatedly. "She's majoring in magitech engineering." That was new information, though.
Jorge's mood soured a little for a moment after saying that. Arthur could guess it had something to do with awakeners, and he disapproved of his daughter being even indirectly involved with it. Maybe she even sided with the awakeners on the conspiracy matter, too.
"Is the ICMC inside the needles, then?" Arthur prodded.
"You have a good head on you, haven't you? That's right. You see, it's not the metallic needles you see that touch the enchantments; it's the ICMC inside them. And at their very tip, I suppose. The ICMC goes all the way to the magitech engineer, who knows everything about the drawn enchantment. He has to focus on what he knows, and the enchantments just start working. That's the magic part of magitech! Magic technology at our fingertips!"
Arthur was surprised to see the man believed in magic but not in awakeners. Magic to him was limited to enchantments, it seemed.
"What does ICMC stand for, exactly?"
"Why, Intent-Conducting Miniature Crystals, of course. Know how the 'awakeners' create them? They mine it in their high-mana regions. A bunch of liars, that's what they are."
Arthur ignored Jorge's offenses. Instead, he thought about the Intent-Conducting Miniature Crystals. It was a way for the unawakened to activate enchantments!
That was...
That was huge! Unthinkable! Impressive! It changed everything and explained many of the advancements Arthur could see.
He wondered how it worked exactly. No one could comprehend a magic rune without Fate-awakened pure mana affinity... right? Or could they? If magitech engineers were really unawakened, it had to be possible.
The implications! The possibilities! It was one of the greatest wonders he had ever heard about!
Jorge hadn't stopped talking. "Can't believe you don't know what ICMC is or how it's used for just about everything. Damn, the commies did you dirty in your education, didn't they? Sorry about you wasting your childhood at a factory instead of a school, kid. Where did you say you were from again? I'm never going near that place."
Arthur had already gotten most of the information he needed, and it wasn't good that Jorge returned to that subject shortly after the last time. So, the prince did what he always did to deflect such questions: he mentioned the hateful League. He doubted Jorge would know details about magitech, anyway.
"Is the League branch far from here?" the prince asked.
Jorge wasn't the sharpest pencil in the case, and the obvious misdirection worked. The question angered the driver, but the prince knew it wouldn't be enough for him to expel the passengers.
"You still going there? Really? After everything I told you?!"
Arthur had expected a strong reaction, but not that strong. Talking about the ICMC had upset him more than the chemical reactions in his brain, posture, microexpressions, and blood pressure suggested. However, angry or not, those words and tone crossed the prince's bottom line.
"With all due respect, Jorge, where I go is none of your business."
Arthur knew he was escalating things, but some lines couldn't be crossed. The man had no right to talk to Arthur like that. They were acquaintances by necessity, business partners at most. Even if they had been friends, he wasn't in the habit of letting people talk to him like that, just like he didn't do it to others. Even Tamara, Graham, and Sophie, who had gone through a lot with him to have the right to raise their voices when he was behaving stupidly, knew better than to abuse the privilege.
That was the second time Arthur directly challenged Jorge, the first being when he asked if the man was disrespecting the sacrifices of awakeners who died to protect the world. The driver was surprised, but not much.
He replied, "I'm just trying to help you, kid."
"How?"
Jorge hadn't expected that question either. "What?"
"How exactly do you feeling offended by my choices in life—and making sure I know—helps me?"
Arthur was being generous. Jorge's tone made it clear that he expected the prince to change his mind. Jorge was trying to control Arthur.
The prince noted the irony in that he had felt lost by the excess of freedom not long ago yet now resented someone trying to handle him.
The driver's surprise grew into bewilderment. The simple logical question was beyond him. He was so distracted by it that he had to hit the break abruptly when the car in the front slowed down. Arthur and the others were unaffected, but Jorge almost hit his head on the steering wheel.
"Fuck," Jorge cursed. "Sorry, ladies." Then, he took a deep breath and looked straight at Arthur. "You know what, kid? I'll take you to the League myself. I was going to bring you to have lunch in my house, but if you'd rather go listen to more lies, so be it."
Arthur didn't reply. He appreciated the driver going the extra mile but wouldn't say "thank you" when the other party refused to say they were sorry. If Jorge was a man of action instead of words—showing how apologetic he felt by giving Arthur a ride—Arthur would show he was satisfied with the arrangements by not commenting on it.
Tamara understood enough of what was happening to show her displeasure with a slight frown and by shifting in her seat. From her teachings, propriety demanded him to be the better person. He was a prince and awakener, after all. He couldn't expect Jorge to behave appropriately or lower himself to Jorge's level.
Arthur sighed. She was right, of course. He disliked these people's culture but quickly adapted when it matched his feelings and convenience.
"Thank you, Jorge," the prince said.
That was the right thing to do because the driver nodded in satisfaction. "That's right; youths ought to be polite with us elders. Too much disrespect going around nowadays. Tell you what, my little girl goes to college ten minutes away from the League, and she'll be done for the day soon. I'll go pick her up before dropping you. She can ride with us, and you can ask her about magitech and stuff on the way to the League."
Arthur would rather go straight to the League, but a slight detour wouldn't hurt. It would be impolite to refuse the kind gesture, and while the League might be willing to answer it for him, they might also take advantage of his ignorance somehow. More importantly, he was really curious about magitech.
"Thank you," he repeated.
Jorge nodded happily, then proceeded to share embarrassing tales of his daughter's childhood.
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North Lake City was a complex maze.
It was nowhere as big as the Golden Kingdom's capital because it had half the population—half a million people—all living in smaller, more vertical buildings standing. Jorge knew the area well and went from wide avenues into narrow streets and back, taking little-known shortcuts to arrive faster. They only took half an hour to get to an older-looking seven-story-tall building.
The building matched most of the ones nearby. That part of the city had older architecture. North Lake was five hundred years old, and it was visible there. The boring-looking white cubicles had turned into slightly more pleasant-looking ones emphasizing curves and arcs. It wasn't up to par with what Arthur was used to, but he had to grant that he had lived in a palace, and his balcony gave him a great view of the city, starting with the richer residences closest to the palace.
"Emily studies here," Jorge said, pointing at the building as they passed in front of it. "She isn't expecting me; gotta make sure she doesn't take a bus. I'll have to park and go wait for her." There was no unoccupied parking spot on the narrow street, though.
He drove a few extra hundred yards ahead and entered a supermarket's spacious parking lot. Most people who went to the supermarket parked close to it, but Jorge and plenty of other vehicles parked closer to the street instead. Arthur approved of the painted lines demarcating the individual parking spaces.
"Be right back," the driver said as he left the truck. "Ten minutes tops." He closed the door.
Despite their earlier disagreement, Jorge still trusted the strangers in his vehicle. He took the keys with him, of course, but Arthur doubted even an unskilled thief would have trouble bypassing it to turn the truck on.
The prince felt this opportunity was perfect, not to steal a car but for something long overdue. He had expected to talk to Tamara and Graham outside the League, but now he had the time to do it away from potential prying ears.
He turned to them. "Jorge mentioned the Orichalcum Wars. Explain it to me."
Tamara opened her mouth to speak, but Graham beat her to it. "There isn't much to say, sir. The reason for the war is a large deposit of orichalcum found close to the borders to Thedis. It was clearly within the Golden Kingdom's borders, but Thedis couldn't resist the temptation, not when it was that close. They declared war on us and lost miserably in the beginning. Unfortunately, they had been offering profit shares to convince others to side with them all along. They created a huge coalition in secret. When the king found out about it, it was too late. All cards were stacked against us. Joining us was joining a losing war, and no one had the gall to stand for what's right."
Despite the law and customs, Graham wasn't willing to call Arthur's father His Royal Majesty any longer. Not after he had betrayed the Fated Races. Arthur didn't make a fuss; he agreed with the decision.
"In other words, my father got greedy," the prince summarized. "He wanted everything to himself."
"No, master," Tamara interjected. "Grand Knight Graham's information isn't wholly accurate. For all of your father's crimes against the Fated Races, he wasn't greedy in this instance. He tried to split the deposit evenly with Thedis from the beginning and suggested giving nearby nations a share. He knew he couldn't keep it all to himself. Yet, King Capell refused. He was once betrothed to Her Majesty, your lady mother, but she took a fancy to your father, and King Capell has resented your family ever since. I was told King Capell's negotiations would see him winning next to nothing in the end, but he still chose resentment over profit. Your father was also haggling in the shadows, but he couldn't cover King Capell's offers. Even the Golden Kingdom's closest allies couldn't resist and betrayed us."
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She also didn't call Arthur's father by his title, not even "king." Considering how much she cared about propriety, it spoke volumes of her feelings about the king's actions.
Arthur had never heard about his parents' forbidden romance. Was it what his mother had meant when she said she hadn't been his grandfather's first choice for his father's wife? That was a political scandal of the highest order!
Arthur actually found it amusing and sweet until he recalled it had ended in tragedy. No one would expect a king to be such a sore loser, but that forbidden love had caused the Golden Kingdom's downfall.
The prince made a point not to look at Sophie. He actually had his father and king's blessing to seek a relationship with her, but the man had displayed a notable lack of judgment when it came to marriage. The king also wanted to break Charlotte and William apart after marrying someone else's fiancé.
Simply put, the king was a hypocritical idiot. The more Arthur learned about the man he had once admired and thought of as perfect, the less he thought of him.
Not that it meant anything for him and Sophie.
Maybe Arthur was just walking the same steps as his father, but he had already decided to go through with it, whatever the consequences.
"Why wasn't I informed about it in the past?" he asked.
Both hesitated before Tamara answered, "Master, we discussed it briefly while waiting for you to leave the dungeon. We received orders not to mention it and weren't told the reason, but we assume it has to do with your birth's prophecy, the divinations your father purchased, or Her Majesty."
"My mother?"
Tamara nodded. "Her Majesty wasn't aware of the prophecy or that you would be sent into that dungeon, master. I have no evidence but believe Her Majesty was kept in the dark about the reasons for the war, too. Her Majesty was an astute woman that could figure things out from the smallest clues. I... I even suspect your father saw the war coming much before it arrived and got Her Majesty pregnant so the hormones would affect her reasoning, and he could send her away for her safety."
To sire a life for convenience's sake! Yes, definitely, the more Arthur learned, the less he thought of his progenitor.
He could see how keeping his mother in the dark would avoid some suspicions. Even Arthur could connect the Orichalcum Wars and his father's anger when he picked metal during his awakening.
"My mother had friends," Arthur pointed out, but he knew the answer to that already.
"Who worried about Her Majesty and her baby's safety during the war and were your father's subjects," Tamara replied.
Arthur sighed. "And I take it you didn't share it with me after we left because it might have to do with the prophecy?"
"Yes, master."
"Is that everything you two know? Are you sure?"
"Yes, master," Tamara repeated.
"Yes, sir."
Arthur was starting to grow annoyed by the ignorance he had to force upon himself because of the prophecy. However, he understood the danger of self-fulfilling prophecies. So did his people, who would cross the safety line if he asked—and probably if something was of urgent importance—but protected him by default.
"Very well," Arthur replied. "Do any of you know what Jorge meant by my father betraying his country and giving it to the League?"
They displayed surprise at hearing it for the first time—they didn't know the language well enough to understand Jorge's words when he said it—and shook their heads.
"No, master."
"No, sir." and denied it.
The prince sighed again. They spoke fast, and the entire conversation took less than a minute. Jorge had asked for ten minutes at most. As much as Arthur wanted to explore, it would be best to avoid any risks. Even a stroll might result in unexpected trouble that might attract unwanted attention.
"Jorge said he's going to return in up to ten minutes," he informed his people, only now realizing they might not know why they remained in the truck. They agreed with him: the old driver had shown no signs that he was scheming anything. Waiting for him should be safe enough.
Then, he also shared the key points of Jorge's incessant talk over the past hours. They also found his conclusions and guesses were sound. Everyone was perplexed by the ICMC and its implications.
Yet, the topic that interested them the most was the upcoming war.
"Are we going to pick a side, sir?" Graham asked with his anticipation.
The last nine years had been very frustrating for the grand knight, especially after Arthur surpassed him. He was a warrior through and through and wanted to return to the battlefield.
"We'll see what each side is fighting for first," the prince answered the obvious. "Now, tell me, what do you all think of the novelties?"
Sophie seemed to be waiting for that question. "Everything's so weird and exquisite!" she said excitedly. "Look at this big store! I'm so curious about all the things it sells! And can you put some music on? I want more rock'n'roll!"
Her loudness annoyed Mr. Mustache, who stood from her legs and moved to Tamara—the one who probably cared the least about pets—and patted it before lying down. The maid didn't seem to mind but also didn't look pleased. She just ignored the cat.
Arthur chuckled and put an LP in the LP player. Then, he mostly paid attention to the conversation. Meanwhile, he also heard every other discussion in the surroundings, so he could improve his language skills and maybe learn something interesting.
Speaking of interesting, to him, the most intriguing part of being in a big city was the electromagnetic waves in the air.
After the first wireless signals in the forest, Arthur had felt no other until they got to the city. He suspected that the forest wasn't supposed to have it, and someone was up to something. It wasn't his business, though.
Here, as he had paid attention to it for a while, he could feel exactly seven different electromagnetic "streams," for lack of a better word. Each stream occupied different "bands," which were highly spaced between each other. Mana seemed to not only make the waves weaker and messier individually but also push the bands closer to one another at random.
It was hard for Arthur to extrapolate that from what he felt on metal. It was like sensing different forms of heat in a body that had never felt temperature before. Or like sensing himself simultaneously accelerating in different directions after being stationary all his life. It was confusing, and he doubted he would have managed without his high wisdom.
He also located the transmitters and, with the truck stopped, could stare at them for six minutes to learn their and their parts' names. They were big plastic boxes filled with processors and round antennas installed on the light poles. Most were "signal repeaters," taking wireless streams in, standardizing them, and forwarding them at the right band. Others were "signal transmitters," even larger boxes connected to the underground mercury wires that ran all over the city. They translated the electric signals running on the mercury into wireless ones.
The prince felt tempted to turn Jorge's radio on to try to find a way to translate the waves into something he could understand. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure if that would bring negative consequences. For all he knew, listening to the radio was illegal under certain circumstances, and Jorge had a way to find Arthur had used it.
Yet, he lost most of his interest in that when he saw Jorge approaching with two girls in their late teens.
The two were awakeners.
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In the dungeon, Arthur had gotten into the habit of inspecting everything and everyone in sight, no matter how plain-looking, just in case they were monsters. However, even without that, he would've detected the elemental mana inside the two girls.
One of the girl's facial features made it evident that she was Jorge's daughter. Her teal mana revealed she was a woodsinger. The girl beside her had light blue mana; she was an aquamancer.
Emily had brown eyes and black hair like her father. Her hair was wavy, though, unlike his, and she kept it long. As modern revealing clothes go, hers were on the middle end. She wore a short black skirt covering three-thirds of her thighs and a sleeveless white shirt topping that ended just where her skirt started, thus revealing her belly now and then as she moved. Her black high heels made her legs appear longer than they were.
Her looks were provocative at first glance, but her delicate blue butterfly earrings, thin silver necklace with an "E" pendant, and light pinky lipstick complemented her looks well. It made her look refined or purposeful rather than something that would be considered vulgar in the Golden Kingdom.
Emily's friend also had brown eyes, but that's where the similarities stopped. She cut her blond hair short, and her clothes hid most of her skin, a long white dress with silvery flower etchings. She also wore fancy white shoes. She wouldn't have attracted untoward attention in the Golden Kingdom if the dress weren't sleeveless.
Her goal was probably anonymity, too. She was level 1, like Emily. However, from the toxins in the girls' bodies, Jorge's daughter should've only become an awakener a few days ago, while her friend should already be feeling the signs of insanity.
Mana madness didn't always mean the person would go "batshit crazy" at once, as the locals would say. Not everyone went on a killing spree as soon as the madness affected them—though some did. A few could blend in perfectly and function to some level, but anyone who cared to look would find the weirdness. Eventually, though, the killing spree would come, as homicidal paranoia was mana madness's ultimate symptom.
The was already showing some signs of it. She constantly looked over her shoulders and stared suspiciously at almost everyone walking in the opposite direction on the street. Arthur estimated she would be completely gone within three to five days.
Was she planning on going on a trip to a high-level mana region soon? She had to, right? Or was she displaying signs of paranoia because she wasn't planning on it and didn't want to get caught?
Arthur lacked information to make an educated guess. He felt compelled to protect others when it cost him nothing, but he decided to do nothing for now. He could always report her after contacting the League. Unless he was sorely mistaken, she shouldn't be killing anyone yet.
It was a bit lamentable that he found his safety in getting to the League unnoticed more critical than some potential victims out there. However, accomplishing his goal also meant Sophie's safe in this instance. He would exchange a stranger's life for hers any day of the week.
The prince saw Jorge and the girls with his Mana Sight through many people and some walls long before they saw him.
He had been hearing many conversations but not paying attention to all of them. Now, he locked his senses on the three. He wanted to know what the two awakeners, who were whispering among themselves a few yards behind Jorge, were talking about.
"...don't forget!" the friend said.
"I know!" Emily replied a little too loud, upset. She was definitely Jorge's daughter. She was urged to lower her voice by the other girl. "I know, alright?!" she repeated in a whisper.
"What do you know?" the other asked with a pointed look.
Emily rolled her eyes, glanced at her father, got closer to her friend, and whispered so low that Arthur had to read her lips. "Nine o'clock, National Park, Blue Stallion Square. I'll be there, okay? Don't worry. I promised you already."
"It's about your safety!" the friend insisted, growing angry. "I'm only sane because of the ritual!" She looked at Emily's legs. "And I told you to stop dressing like a slut, too! You don't want to attract the League's attention!"
Arthur frowned. "Sane because of the ritual?" Unless she had been an awakener for over a month, and the ritual was just now running out and needed to be refreshed, nothing was helping her on that front. The way she almost randomly lashed out at Emily's clothing evidenced how she was nearly gone.
Indeed, Emily opened her mouth in shock at her friend's words. Whatever they had previously discussed about her clothing, the term "slut" certainly hadn't been a part of it.
Jorge's daughter wouldn't let something like that go. "What did you fucking say to me?!" She had no qualms about everyone around hearing her.
Everyone looked at them, Jorge included. Emily's friend panicked at once. "Sorry! Sorry!" she said, almost crying. "I'm sorry!" she repeated. "Talk to you later, okay? Please, pick up the call. I'm sorry!" With that, she just turned tail and all but ran away in retreat.
The girl was as shocked at her words as Emily, maybe more. She could tell the madness was encroaching on her. Arthur suspected the "ritual" wouldn't end well for Jorge's daughter.
The prince doubted Jorge had any idea that his daughter was an awakener. She had probably gotten her awakening stone from her friend unless it was distributed in college, but Arthur also doubted it, or Jorge would've made a fuss about it. He couldn't imagine why she had used it, though, or how she planned to deal with the madness.
Arthur was suddenly elated at having come to meet Emily. He was sure she had all kinds of interesting things to tell him.
She approached her father, who asked, "Everything alright?"
It obviously wasn't. She was sad and pensive. "I guess. Lana has been weird lately..."
Emily trailed off and widened her eyes in fear when she finally realized the truth. She was close enough that Arthur could feel her in his domain, and he felt panic setting in. She was paling so much that she should be whiter than white.
Arthur immediately understood that Emily had absolutely no plan to deal with the madness other than the ritual, and as she had just noticed, Lana was behaving weirdly lately. The ritual didn't work, and she was in a bind.
The prince pitied the girl and immediately healed the toxins in her body. He also shared the news with his people to prepare them not to react in a way that might make Jorge suspicious.
Jorge awkwardly patted his daughter's head. "Don't mind Lana. I bet she's just jealous. Look at you! I've been out for a few days, and you started dressing like a lady! It reminds me of the concert where I met your mother. Let me tell you, her legs—"
She got angry, and it overwhelmed her fear. "I know, Dad," Emily interrupted, taking his hand from her head. "I know everything about Mom's legs, okay? Can we just hurry up? I'm hungry."
Arthur couldn't read brainwaves, but she had likely decided not to overthink her issues until she went to the ritual at night. All things considered, it was a commendable brave attitude. Or she was just too ignorant to understand the terror of mana madness.
Jorge loved his daughter, but he didn't like her attitude. He frowned and said, "Tough luck, lady. We'll take a detour. I gave some friends a ride to the city, and we're bringing them to the League first."
Emily started replying with a complaint, "But it's to the other... side..." and stopped. Her previous panic returned with the force of a hundred suns. She even trembled a little.
So, the League didn't know about her awakening. Things were even more interesting than Arthur had first assumed.
He had to find a way of asking her about all sorts of things without Jorge's notice.
"You hate the League," Emily said weakly.
"You bet. Not staying there any longer than I need to. I'm dropping them at the door and getting my ass to your mother's kitchen right after. I'm starving, too." He paused, then added when they got close enough to the truck to see it from the street, "Just so you know, I'll take the scenic route there for them to see the lake. Don't make a scene about it, alright? They are nice people. Nice enough, at least. But don't worry, I'll take a shortcut after. We'll be home in less than thirty minutes."
"Graham, step down," Arthur said while turning the LP player off and also alighting. "You'll ride with the cargo. I want Emily to be as comfortable as possible, and a muscular old man might intimidate her. Get back there before she can see you, too. I'll talk to Jorge." Luckily, the truck had parked in a way that left Graham's seat hidden from the streets.
The prince smiled pleasantly to the incoming Jorge and his daughter and was dumbfounded when he sensed her immediately get attracted to him. She missed a step, and her heart beat rapidly while her blood vessels and irises dilated.
Sophie had also been trained by Tamara to detect those signs, and she could see blood inside people's bodies due to the enchanted pendant in her necklace. She had no trouble telling the incoming girl had fallen for Arthur. The prince was surprised to feel not only his suitress's annoyance but also... pride?
Tamara had talked about probable female reactions during their lessons on human behavior, and it fit. He still found it weird, though. He definitely wouldn't feel proud if anyone looked at Sophie the way Emily was looking at him.
Sophie sat straighter and positioned herself to attract Emily's attention. It worked. The girl looked at Sophie and became... also attracted to her?
Arthur felt Sophie get as surprised as he was.
Nobles in the Golden Kingdom had very strict opinions about perpetuating their bloodline with the right people and not partaking in recreational activities outside marriage. While it was known that some nobles engaged in extra-matrimonial intimacy with partners of the same sex, it was hidden except in private settings because it was considered a sign that the person might not be interested enough in their spouse to continue the line. Biomancy could guarantee a baby would be born even when interest was limited, but no one wanted to get married only to find they would need to seek pleasure elsewhere. It made such people worse prospective partners, thus lowering their value for marriage contracts and inconveniencing their families.
As far as Arthur knew, commoners had no misgivings about it. He had never witnessed it, though. The prince had noticed some bundles of mana with identical sexual organs touch each other through the walls, but it was still just mana.
Seeing it in the flesh after his lessons on propriety was something else altogether.
"Master, Sophie, you shouldn't mention anything about her sexuality," Tamara said in a low voice in the truck, but Arthur heard it. "Jorge knows but doesn't approve of it."
Arthur noticed the signs as soon as Tamara mentioned the driver's disapproval.
Indeed, after Jorge got rebuked, he walked a little behind and separated from Emily. He was also expectant and growing happier whenever a male looked at his daughter. When added to how he had complimented her looks and how upset she had gotten at his comment and physical contact, the prince seemed to have walked right into some complicated family drama.
Emily looked from Arthur to Sophie, and while she clearly felt more attracted to Sophie, her eyes ended up stopping on Arthur. There was more than attraction there. She was also curious about him.
Tamara's behavioral lessons explained that, too. It was called mate choice copying. Emily could, consciously or not, detect that Sophie was with Arthur, which boosted his worth in some females' eyes, Emily included. Sophie's greater beauty compared to Arthur only helped to validate that he should be a good partner if she had picked him.
Now Sophie became genuinely bitter. It was one thing for Emily to feel attracted to Arthur at first glance, but the girl ignored Sophie by keeping her interest in Arthur. It was a challenge, and Sophie was prepared to fight. She did not take well to the declaration of war.
"Relax," Tamara whispered and gently patted Sophie's hand. "I doubt she realizes she's being that obvious. Remember, you were trained to read people. Even back in our days, I saw some highly trained biomancers be more obvious than this when they believed they were hiding their interest perfectly. Also, different culture."
Sophie didn't fully relax, but the words calmed her a little. Arthur mentally thanked Tamara and stepped ahead when Jorge approached.
"I asked my male friend to ride in the back," he said. "Can you open it up for him?"
"Sure thing," Jorge replied. "Emily, this is Arthur. Don't let his perfect accent fool you. He's a tourist from..." He trailed off, once more realizing he had no idea where Arthur was from.
Arthur spoke before the driver could ask him anything, "Ah! The famous Emily! I finally put a face to the name. I never saw a father talk about a daughter so much. He loves you more than you can imagine." After appeasing Jorge, he briefly turned to the man. "My friend is already waiting in the back." He turned to Emily again. "And you're a magitech engineer, right?! I have so many questions for you! Come on," he held the passenger door open for her. "I'm so hungry; the faster we go, the sooner we'll eat." His latest words were targeted at father and daughter alike.
It worked. Jorge went to the driver seat, and Emily smiled a polite thanks as she blushed and got in the passenger seat. Arthur closed the door for her, glad that the door gave him a very minimal reprieve from the overwhelming smell of her physical excitement. Sophie wasn't amused by the girl who was very ready to have intercourse with Arthur.
"Sophie, she's not crazy, so she awakened recently," Tamara insisted in a whisper so low that only Arthur and Sophie could hear it. "I just prehended her body. She invested in vitality and is experiencing heightened reproduction desires, which might also be why she chose Arthur over you. Think of her as an unawakened in heat seeing a warrior for the first time." Warriors invested in body stats, making them more symmetrical and usually more good-looking.
Arthur had noticed all those facts but hadn't considered using them to reassure Sophie. It felt like he had failed her somehow. He wasn't guilty of other women getting interested in him but was expected to comfort his suitress when it happened.
He had a lot of wisdom and was probably the best-trained awakener around. However, he still had one thing or another to learn from Tamara regarding interpersonal relationships.
The prince got in the backseat while Jorge opened the cargo door. Sophie immediately put one of her arms on Arthur's leg—a level of intimacy that they had never displayed before—and leaned on him. Graham got in and closed the door.
Emily didn't hesitate to look smilingly at the prince as soon as he was inside. She found Arthur putting his arm around his suitress and didn't seem to care. In fact, confirming they were a couple only encouraged her.
"You said you had questions about magitech?" she said. "Not to brag, but my grades are in the top five in the class. I'm all yours." Her innuendo was very, very obvious.
Tamara had been right about everything except one thing: Emily knew her interest was apparent and did nothing to hide it.
She had likely gotten control of her vitality-empowered desires with a significant effort. Yet, her barriers crumbled as soon as she saw an unnaturally good-looking awakener with almost two thousand body points. The feelings she had repressed resurfaced with a fury. It took all her remaining self-control not to jump on Arthur at once.
It also took Sophie's entire self-control not to jump on the throat of the girl who had just disregarded her presence and made a pass on her suitor.
Lastly, it took some of the prince's self-control not to let his awkwardness and discomfort show.
"Ah, yes," he replied. "Can you walk me step by step on how an enchanted object is built? It can be the simplest one. I'm interested in the process, not the item itself."
Emily's smile widened. "Guiding others step by step is always a pleasant experience, isn't it?!" She giggled. "I can tell you all about magitech! I'm sure you'll love every second of the process!"
Jorge was getting as uncomfortable as Arthur at his daughter's words but kept silent. He was also growing more hopeful by the second. Tamara had been right on that, too.
Sophie's nails slightly pressed the prince's legs as she barely stopped herself from clenching her fists. She didn't hide her scowl or deadly stare at Emily. Emily ignored it.
Arthur gulped as he listened to the girl explain enchantments amid an endless sea of suggestive words that made even Jorge blush. The man braved through it like a noble trying to guarantee their bloodline continuation. The prince wasn't sure if he respected the man more or less for it.
What he knew was that he was delighted at all the training Tamara had given him to not get scandalized by some words and settings. He was also thankful for his willpower, which let him control himself as Emily's words and Sophie's hand on his thigh risked making his body react in visible ways.
Arthur only smiled and nodded politely through the entire explanation.