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Chapter 33 – Two girls and wedding plans
Mandy’s POV:
I don’t like how those guards are looking at me. It seems that they aren’t looking only for the assassin of the crown Prince, but also for the slave who was with him at the moment of his death. They were talking about something with Duke Risme, but I couldn’t hear the contents of their conversation from where I was. The duke gestured me to approach them and tried to calm me down with his words.
D. Risme: “Mandy, sweetheart, there has been an accident at the Palace, the crown Prince has died and a young female slave has escaped. These men are trying to find that slave, and because you are a newcomer in the capital they have to check that you are not the young girl they are looking for. Don’t worry, come here.”
Mandy: “Ok, father. But what exactly do I have to do?” *The crown Prince had an accident and died? Bullshit! They are trying to cover it up.*
D. Risme: “Just uncover your neck and show it to them, that should suffice. They just need to confirm that you don’t have a slave collar.”
Mandy: “It is fine, father. I don’t mind.”
I showed them my neck and they left after seeing I didn’t have any slave collar. As a safety measure, after the death of the previous owner, a slave collar won’t accept a contract with a new owner for the next three days. This means that the one who had ownership over me was the crown Prince and not the King. Well, regardless of what their intentions might be, thanks to Merlin I’m safe. I wish I could spend more time by his side, he is the first kid my age I have ever met who isn’t dumb and can maintain a normal conversation with me…
Well, most of the kids my age are stupid in comparison with me, ever since I started having those weird dreams and learning lots of different things, I quickly surpassed my peers. Adults look down on me for being a kid and don’t take me seriously, ignoring me for the most part. The kids around me consider me a weirdo because they don’t get most of the things I talk about…
Long story short, I am usually isolated due to my intelligence. That is why I offered myself to Merlin as a slave or a servant, I knew that by being by his side, I finally would be able to have a relationship of equals with someone and enjoy my life a bit, besides I’m sure that he wouldn’t let me suffer in the slightest. But I also understand that he has his own circumstances, it is not like he can present himself at home with an unknown girl and say “Hi, this is Mandy, she’ll live here from now on.” At least, by becoming a member of his organization, and his subordinate, I am useful to him and if I do my duties extraordinarily well he might make me his personal assistant and allow me to remain by his side.
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Laklostia. House of the Pendragon family.
Emelyn didn’t know how to react to what was going on with Merlin, so she just sat on the bed by his side and ruffled his hair while looking at him. The group of healers saw that and silently left the room. She was so focused on Merlin that she failed to notice the two letters laying on his desk. However, that wasn’t Argenta’s case, she came into the room looking for Emelyn and noticed both letters, she stealthily took the one addressed to the members of the “Council of ten” and hid it in her bosom, then she handed the other letter over to Emelyn. She read the letter right after receiving it and after learning of its contents, she burst in tears. *In that condition and he still cares more about others than himself… How is he going to take the news when he wakes up and discovers his new reality? I just hope not too badly.*She turned to look at Merlin and ruffled his hair once more.
Emelyn: “Merlin, dear, fight the poison and don’t give up! Adelle, Lupa and Bastet need you, and the baby I am currently carrying will also need its big brother Merlin. You must come back to us, you have to…”
Argenta: “Lady Emelyn, everyone is in the living room, waiting for you to come down and give them the news regarding master Merlin’s current state.”
Emelyn: “Thank you for reminding me, Argenta. I’m sorry, I’ll have to trouble you with looking after Merlin while I’m down explaining his current situation to the family.”
Argenta: “Don’t worry lady Emelyn, it is an honor and my duty to do so.”
Emelyn: “Ok, I’ll leave it to you.”
After Emelyn left, Argenta went to the center of the room, sniffed the air and then spoke.
Argenta: “Aimi, your concealing technique is almost perfect, even with my spy training I barely noticed you, now come out, please.”
Aimi: “Y-you… How did you know I was here?”
Argenta: “Your scent gave you out.”
Aimi: “M-my scent? Th-that is impossible, I bathed this morning before coming here!”
Seeing her stutter from embarrassment, Argenta couldn’t help but chuckle and tried to solve the misunderstanding right away.
Argenta: “When I spoke of your scent, I didn’t mean that you smelled bad, quite the opposite, actually. Whenever you are near him, you smell like roses. It isn’t a problem here, but if you plan on serving him and protect him from the shadows, that little fact will give you away, not only putting you in danger, but also him! Now, did you understand what the healers said?”
The very moment Argenta said those words, the expression in Aimi’s face changed into one of helplessness and depression. She affirmed with her head that she had perfectly heard and understood what the healers had said about Merlin’s predicament, but her expression changed once more when she heard Argenta’s following words.
Argenta: “Well, I don’t agree with them. Anyone who got his hands in such an extremely rare poison would either treat it like a precious treasure, for a special occasion, or send it to an alchemist to try to reproduce it. There are plenty of fast-acting poisons that are more than enough to kill a 7-year-old kid, nobody would be dumb enough to waste such a precious poison to kill someone like master Merlin. It’s just not worth it.”
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Aimi: “But, if you are right, then… what exactly is going on with him?”
Argenta: “I am no healer, so I can’t tell for sure, but I know that the kind of power he used when he fought those assassins last night was far superior to the power he usually has. He almost looked like a god exerting his wrath on human offenders… My guess is he broke through the human limitations and wielded a power no human is meant to, and now he has to deal with the backlash of using that power.”
Aimi: “Then he is still in danger like the healers said!”
Argenta: “I never said he wasn’t, but you know him as well as I do, even if he were to lose his magic, his mind is more dangerous than an army of magi, he will find a solution for any problem he might encounter, so worrying about it now won’t do us any good.”
Aimi: “What do you mean?”
Argenta: “What we need to do now, it is not to mourn his current situation, but to get stronger so that we can support him better when he wakes up and recovers.”
Aimi’s eyes showed understanding, after giving a nod acknowledging Argenta’s last statement, she turned around and left to go train herself further. Argenta was amazed by Aimi’s personality *She is very innocent, but she has the heart in the right place.* She then looked at Merlin and thought *Boy, you are quite the player… but you don’t even realize it. You are going to break a lot of hearts on your way to the top!*
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In the living room, Emelyn had just finished explaining the healers’ diagnosis to the members of the family. The three girls started crying immediately, Leyla was still processing the information, and Anthon was starting to leak killing intent. Josh and Bly decided that if their powerful little brother was going to become a magic cripple with a frail health, they would stop skipping their training and gain enough strength to make up for the one Merlin had lost.
Arnold was the one most troubled by the news, he was as shocked as the rest of the family, but he had an additional problem: he was going to marry his fiancée, Rose, in four months, but he had yet to inform his family about their wedding plans. He had intended to do it that day, but after hearing the diagnosis of the healers on Merlin, he didn’t feel it was the right moment to drop the bomb. After the family meeting finished, Arnold slipped away and went to meet Rose to explain the situation to her.
Rose was the daughter of a travelling merchant who used to go to Laklostia several times a year. She had met Arnold when she accompanied her parents on their travels, she was 5 at the time and Arnold was 7. They hit it off from the beginning, and as time passed, it became more and more clear that the two of them would end up getting married eventually. Rose’s parents were against it in the beginning because “how could a mere villager give their daughter a good and happy life?”, it was only when they learnt that Arnold’s father was the swordsmanship instructor for the princes at the Palace, that they finally agreed to allow their daughter’s romantic relationship with Arnold. Needless to say, as soon as they learnt about the fiefdom bestowed to his brother, they encouraged their daughter to marry Arnold as soon as possible.
Arnold was explaining to her the situation that was going on at home, when he noticed that Rose was looking behind him and had suddenly lost all color in her face. He turned around to see what had frightened her and found himself face-to-face with his own father. Anthon didn’t say a word, he went behind his son, elevated his right leg behind himself and kicked Arnold’s ass, sending him flying 3 or 4 yards.
Arnold: “Father, wait. I can explain!”
Anthon: “You damn idiot! What the hell do you think you are doing?”
Arnold: “Sorry, father. I know that right now is not the right moment to hold a wedding with everything that is going on with Merlin, but…”
Anthon: “Shut up! Just how much longer do you intend to make her wait before you marry her?”
Arnold and Rose: ““Huh?!””
Anthon: “What! Did you really think that your mother and I were unaware of your wedding plans? Both families had started making your wedding preparations since before Rose turned 15, but instead of keeping your promise of marrying her on her birthday, you put it off with the excuse that you had to finish your swordsmanship training and become a city guard in Shephiria. Now that you have become a city guard in Ragnarök and finished your training, you have no more excuses to delay the wedding anymore!”
Arnold: “But Merlin…”
Anthon: “Don’t you dare to use your brother as an excuse! We don’t know when he will wake up, maybe tomorrow, maybe never! You know what? I’m going to visit Rose’s parents and inform them that there has been a slight change of plans, instead of getting married in six months, we’ll hold your wedding two weeks from now! You two, come with me!”
Arnold was left speechless by Anthon’s decision and silently followed after him. Discovering that his parents not only knew about the wedding plans, but had also participated in the preparations for it without him and Rose knowing, had been a real shock for him. Rose, on the other hand, had a bright smile on her face on the way to her home.
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Merlin tried to block out the pain he was feeling, but he was unable to. He finally gave up and stop trying to resist the pain, at the exact moment he did so, he felt himself falling down at a breakneck speed…
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