ALEXANDER KALLIS:

Walking back to the training ground after talking with Alice’s mother, all I could think about was how exhausted I felt, and the thought of having to go through a duel as soon as I returned left me feeling vexed. Maybe it was my wishful thinking, but I had hoped that the gap between us would lessen the longer we trained together, but as Alice got used to fighting me, it only made it more apparent. It didn’t help that I lost all fifty-seven contests we had, and while I knew counting was dumb, I wanted to see how long it would take me to win at least once. At least when I fought Eliot, sometimes I got the better of him, which made me wonder how the idiot was doing. Was he having fun at the Academy?

Alice often brought up the Grand Academy of Nuia and how she and everybody else hoped I’d attend; however, I still didn’t believe it was going to happen. Regardless, it was fun to imagine how strong the students were, and if Aymon was a good example, then even Alice was in for a tough time.

When I returned, I still saw Alice sitting on the ground. Our fight with her father seemed to have taken more out of her than I expected. Maybe if we fought now, I’d win, but. . . That wasn’t the kind of victory I wanted.

“How’d it go?” Elwyn asked, standing leisurely with his arms crossed.

“I was told to think about it until tomorrow, but there’s no reason not to accept the offer.”

“If she told you to think about it, then do just that. There’s a reason for it.”

“I will.” With a smirk, I glanced down at Alice. “Still can’t get up, huh?”

“I… can,” she mumbled, forcing herself back on her feet, stretching her arms while taking a deep breath.

Alice got up too quickly, causing her to become lightheaded. I noticed she was about to fall, so I caught her from behind. “Easy. . .”

“Thanks.” She sighed, breaking away from me. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” I asked while exchanging glances with Elwyn.

“Yeah, yeah.” Alice gripped the hilt, taking a few steps to the side.

“Alright, get ready for your duel,” Elwyn said, knowing she wasn’t stopping until she hit a wall.

“Ready?” she asked, flourishing her wooden sword.

“I guess.”

“Begin!”

“Blink!” I took the initiative, teleporting in front of her.

“Shie-” Alice preemptively tried casting Shield, but her mana dispersed before she could finish.

I kneeled before Alice hit the ground, allowing her body to collapse into my arms with her head resting on my shoulder. She was still conscious, but another step on her own, and she’d be out for the day. Looking at Elwyn, he gave me a nod, showing me that he trusted I wasn’t actually going to attack.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.” Elwyn sighed while staring at us. “Alex, could you help her up to her room? A short nap should do the trick.”

“Yeah-” I said to him, but Alice’s mumbling stole my attention. Having not heard what she said, I whispered, “What did you say?”

“I’m feeling dizzy. . .”

Even her breathing was heavy.

“Will she be okay?” I looked at her father, a bit surprised by how relaxed he was.

“She will, but let that be a lesson to you as to what happens when you try using more mana than you can while exhausted. Lucky for her, mana freezing didn’t occur.”

“That’s when a core cracks, right?”

“Yes.” While his words were a bit sharp, Elwyn’s eyes expressed worry. “Rest for the day. Your journey starts tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“You weren’t expecting to leave for the mountain on the night of the full moon, did you? How were you planning on making it there on time?”

“Can you help me up?” Alice whispered.

“Yeah. . .” I wrapped my arm around her and slowly got her back on her feet.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow after you see Sylph again.” It always surprised me when he referred to his wife with a nickname in front of me, causing my opinion about royalty to change drastically, but I had to remember that it might’ve just been the two of them being abnormal. “I’ll prepare some supplies for you, just to be sure.”

“Sorry to interrupt, but could we go?” Alice asked, looking like she was about to pass out any second.

“Go, go.” Elwyn sighed again.

----------------------------------------

It was a struggle getting to the upper floor as Alice and I wobbled together through the hallway on our way to her room.

“I’m sorry.” Alice looked at me apologetically, feeling guilty that I was forced to help her.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I told her, glancing around the empty hallways. “Hey, tell me. . . Is it always so empty up here?”

“Yeah, since only my parents and I reside on the upper floor. Maids come and go from time to time, but since none of us are in our rooms most of the time, they don’t bother going up unless it’s to clean in the afternoon.”

“No guards around?”

“You think it’s that easy to get here?” She furrowed her brow with a coy smile, showing me that she was slowly regaining her strength.

“Just checking to make sure. . .” I grinned, looking around one last time.

Before she could ask anything else, I leaned down and grabbed her legs before lifting her up in the air. I thought it would be funny carrying her around in my arms if nobody was going to see us.

“Hey! Wait. . .” Alice laughed, grabbing my shirt with her free hand while the other wrapped around my neck. “What are you doing?”

“What kind of a man would I be if I allowed a princess to wobble back to her room?”

“Aren’t you tired too?” She gazed into my eyes.

“Just let me worry about that,” I said, returning her charming smile with one of my own.

“You’re going to spoil me,” she mumbled, leaning into my chest.

“Too late for that.” I chuckled while slowly walking toward her room.

“Oh really? Then you wouldn’t mind if I embraced it?”

“You didn’t already?”

“Unbelievable. . .” She sighed, knowing I’d keep teasing her if she said anything else. “Better not regret it later.”

“You plan on making me carry you around everywhere?”

”I might,” she said, making us laugh.

It was fun carrying her around as she weighed close to nothing, but I couldn’t bring myself to comment on how beautiful she smelled. I could already imagine her jumping out of my arms and finding strength she never knew she had.

When we finally got to her door, she did me a favor without me asking and reached for the doorknob, pushing it open so we could waltz right in. Her room was significantly bigger than mine, with a large bed occupying the left side parallel to the balcony. Many things esthetically pleased the eye, but what always caught my interest was the gold-framed mirror hanging on the wall that looked magical at first glance. I swear, every story I’d read since I was a kid had a magic mirror and despite her giggling and telling me no, I was still suspicious.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Here we are, Princess,” I said, slowly lowering her on the bed that drowned in countless pillows.

“Thanks, but. . .” She cleared her throat, nodding toward her hovering feet as she still had boots on. “I need to take them off.”

“Let me guess. You want my help?”

“Regretting it already?” She teased, shifting over to the edge of the bed so she could place her feet on the ground.

“Your wish is my command.” I carried on, gently grabbing her left leg and lifting it up.

To make it easier, I kneeled in front of her, allowing Alice’s heel to rest on my thigh while she pushed herself into a sitting position, looking at me from above. We exchanged glances, and I could see her coy smirk as she enjoyed every second of it. Taking a deep breath, I looked back at her high-knee leather boot and started unlacing it.

“Ever done this before?” She asked, wiggling her toes left and right.

“Took off a boot?” I asked, grabbing her foot firmly.

“For someone else.”

“Are you asking me if I ever took another woman’s boot off for her?” I chuckled, shifting my focus back to her boot.

“Don’t make me ask a third time.”

I looked up at Alice, confused as to why she was asking me that.

“Nah, this would be my first. . . Ready?” I asked, grabbing the heel of her boot. She nodded, allowing me to pull it off with ease. Placing it to the side, I glanced back at her. “One more to go.”

She voluntarily placed her other foot on my leg while showing me a wide smile.

“Is that so? I’d imagine a nobleman like you to have several ladies chasing after you.”

“I’m glad you think highly of me, but sadly that wasn’t the case.” I started unlacing again. “I overheard a comment or two, but no more than that.”

“Really?” She sounded surprised.

“I’m sorry to disappoint, but I wasn’t exactly popular back home.”

She stayed quiet, making me believe that she took my joke seriously. While it wasn’t a lie, I didn’t intend for what I said to be thought-provoking.

“I’m sure they’ll come to regret it once you return home.” She took a deep breath, leaning her head against her shoulder.

“Ha, maybe.” I chuckled, grabbing the heel of her boot again. “Ready?”

Pulling on the boot, I found myself struggling to get it off her. At first, I thought it was the angle, so I stood up and pulled on it again.

“Maybe you didn’t unlace it fully?” Alice commented, giggling as I kept pulling on her leg.

“Let me try pulling again,” I said, but nothing changed.

“Maybe if you turn around?”

“Turn around?” She confused me, so when I turned my back to her, my mind idiotically concluded that the best way of going about it was to straddle her leg, which made Alice burst into tearful laughter.

“What are you doing?” She struggled to comprehend what was happening as I kept pulling on her leg. ”That’s not what I meant!”

“Wait! It’s working.”

“It’s not!” She kept laughing, allowing me to keep trying.

“Try pulling back while I-”

“Alex!” She let herself fall on her back, covering her face before reaching for a pillow to cry into.

Looking back at her, I stopped myself from pointlessly trying the impossible. Holding her by the ankle with one hand, I went back to unlacing.

“There,” I said moments later as I finally pulled her boot off and gently lowered her leg.

Stepping away, I glanced back at her as she threw the pillow to the side, gasping for air. She should’ve been resting, yet there we were, making her burst into what was likely painful laughter.

“Thanks,” she said, slowly helping herself back up.

“Anytime, Princess.” I smiled, looking back at the door. “I should let you rest.”

“Wait. . .” She mumbled, but it was enough to catch my attention.

“What’s up?” I turned back to her, noticing she was hesitant to ask something.

“You have something planned right now?”

“Not necessarily? I was probably going to just go and hang out in my room for a while.”

“Then why don’t you stay for a bit?”

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I looked at her worriedly.

“I don’t have to sleep to rest. Besides, can’t you tell that I’m already better.”

“Spoiled till the end, huh?” I teased.

“I’m not going to force you to stay if that’s what you’re asking,” she dismissed my teasing, averting her gaze proudly.

Contemplating if I should pretend to leave or not, I decided to ease up a bit and just do as she asked.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I looked at her and said, “Then I’ll just do what I want from the start next time.”

She glanced back at me, shily smiling for once. Compared to me, Alice was a lot more energetic and outgoing, but I could see her confidence wavering from time to time due to what happened between her and her friends. It made me want to help her overcome it, allowing her to be who she wanted to be, which was a true force of nature.

“Hey, Alex.”

“Hmm?”

“What did you and my mom talk about?”

“Has your father not told you?”

“Nah, he probably assumed you’d tell me if I asked.” Alice pushed herself closer to the headboard, leaning on it with a pillow behind her back. “Why are you all the way over there? Come closer.”

She gestured to the spot next to her.

“What about my boots?” I chuckled.

“Want me to take them off?”

“What if I said yes?”

“Alexander, take off your boots and come here.” She giggled, shaking her head in disbelief that I even amused her sarcasm.

“Is that even okay?”

“What do you mean? I run around barefoot all the time.”

“N-” I wanted to tell her that wasn’t what I meant, but I held back because I commonly had moments where I complicated things in my head that she pointed out to me. Alice invaded my room every morning as consistently as the sun rose. “You’re right.”

Taking off my boots, I sat next to her, tilting my head back and shutting my eyes.

“You’re not going to fall asleep, are you?”

“Depends. . .”

“Well, if you do, just make sure you fall over on that side of the bed.”

Despite me only joking, she sounded serious.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So. . . you going to tell me what the talk was about?”

“Right,” I mumbled, looking back at her. “How much do you know about her gift?”

“Which one?” she asked.

“Which one? She has more?” I wasn’t sure why that surprised me so much.

“It’s not exactly a secret that she has more than one gift, but I should probably not tell you what they are.”

“Probably not. . . Anyway, the anti-divination one.”

“What about it?”

“Well, she told me that hiding my gift was the best way to keep me and those around me safe from unwanted attention. Alternatively, she offered to hide my frozen core since nobody would suspect my solid core to be a gift if it was the only thing they saw.”

“I was wondering if she would bring that up. So, are you going to do it?”

“Yeah, tomorrow. However, I need to decide which one to hide. If I choose the frozen core, I’ll likely lose control over my mana to a certain degree until I get used to it, but if I hide my gift, the seal might take longer to break.”

“I’d go with hiding the frozen core.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, intrigued as to how she came to the same conclusion.

“Well. . . Firstly, you don’t fight as if you have a lower dantian core since you rely so much on spells and not arts. Secondly, we learned that frozen cores are rare, meaning that if you want to avoid standing out while at the Academy, it’s best you hide it.”

“You’re right. I was thinking something along that line as well.”

“To think that all this turned out to be such a big deal in the end.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember when you told me about having two cores back in the cave?” She pulled her knees closer to her chest.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I didn’t know about frozen cores back then, nor if it was possible to have more than one, but to think it was something unique only to you. . . It’s amazing.”

“I’m still not sure I quite get it either.” I sighed, placing my hand on my chest as if feeling for the sealed core.

“Well, that’s why going to the Academy might turn out to be more important than you think.”

“I’ll try. . .”

“You’ll get in for sure,” she said, closing her eyes.

“Let’s focus on the task at hand. We’re leaving tomorrow for the flower hunt.”

“We are?” She peeked through one eye.

“Did you not hear what we talked about after you collapsed?”

“Did you not see how I looked?”

“Good point. . . Well, I’m not exactly sure about the details, but your father will tell us everything after your mother uses her gift on me.”

“Mind if I watch?”

“If your mother has nothing against it, sure.”

“Cool.”

With Alice’s responses becoming shorter and shorter and my concentration slipping, we ended up sitting in silence for a while until I finally made a fatal mistake.

I fell asleep.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.