Nil

The month back was relatively peaceful so far. The adults remained on high alert, so Luna and I were not exactly allowed to leave the castle which was expected. I tried offering Lilas a position as an advisor or some sort of foreign diplomat, but he politely declined. No amount of groveling and other tactics was able to convince him either. It’s Ailla’s fault; wanting to go home and continue learning to rule Themys. The two left about ten days ago, so we should hear news of them getting back home soon. I at least had Lilas as a pen pal now which was a small win, I guess. My combat lessons were toned down a bit whereas Luna was not as lucky. Nautilus believed she needed immense improvement and was not one to accept protests. Lux currently had drastically increased her lessons from Orga about three days after our return. She couldn’t stomach me defeating her several days in a row. I smiled at that thought. Currently my archery was steadily improving. I’d throw in using with my arrows as well as augmenting them with a few other once in a while. That was thankfully going quite well. Duthane on the other hand took massive offense to the fact Luna wore metal toed boots that I definitely didn’t justify while dancing with me. Once she learned I knew how to play piano well Duthane hit the roof she was so apoplectic. They are totally different skills. Not that voicing such a thought yielded any form of reprieve from the taskmaster of Duthane. With newfound purpose and determination, my etiquette and dance lessons from Duthane nearly tripled as she could not live with the blasted boots of Luna. Apparently, it was my fault she couldn’t sleep soundly at night. THWACK!

“Ow!” I exclaimed, glaring at an incensed Duthane.

“Crown Prince Nil, focus. You stepped on your partner’s toes again. We are starting the song again from the beginning. You need to adjust to who you are dancing with.” Duthane lectured, her coral-colored eyes boring holes into me.

“How do you know I wasn’t focused?” I inquired which was met with another swat by her blasted stick of corrections.

“Nobles, especially royalty, do not use contractions in proper speech. I may need to check with your parents to make sure to provide a proper example as you seem to struggle with the concept.” Duthane snapped. I knew my parents tended to relax on it, but I had a feeling that might change soon.

“What about the rules on striking royalty?” I grumbled at her. Duthane gave me a stare that could have extinguished the sun in response.

“Apparently the Crown Prince thinks I have been too lenient.” Duthane snarled with a tone that made my skin crawl.

I immediately went back to the starting position before I dug my grave deeper; I tried doing the dance again as Duthane resumed the music. Why am I so bad at this? Duthane was ready to catch any mistake I made. If it was the last thing I did, I would burn that blasted stick of corrections to ash. She was so excessively strict. Maybe I should get combat lessons from Nautilus so I wouldn’t be in shape to take dancing lessons. Am I really considering that? THWACK! Fine, I’ll focus. Restart again. And again. And again. And again. Duthane’s fervor to make sure I could do the foxtrot was endless. Her drive to make sure I successfully did the dance flawlessly was impressive. Duthane was endlessly determined to make sure the boots would never see the light of day ever again. At some point, Helga arrived to retrieve me for something. I don’t care what, let me out of this hell. Helga had an immense smile on her face, clearly enjoying getting to witness my suffering. I still had a few months on our agreement for me not torment her with my shenanigans, but some part of my soul desperately wanted to. To my dismay, Duthane was following us with the stick of corrections still in her hand. I dread to know the answer as to why she is. After a few steps, I got another swat.

“What was that for?!” I cried at her. I wasn’t dancing nor was I speaking.

“Your walking posture is incorrect.” Duthane answered, before correcting my posture to how it should be.

“When did this get added to the lessons?” I inquired while fighting the urge to cry.

“Maybe if someone was more conscious of their actions, their ability to dance might improve as well.” Duthane informed me with a saccharine sweet smile.

“Where are we going Helga?” I deflected. I wanted less of Duthane’s lessons, not more.

“Archmagus Orga requested you to come spar your . She is trying to improve Lux’s lesson plan.” Helga explained. I’d take getting to duel the glutton over dancing any day. THWACK!

“WHY?!” I snarled at Duthane.

“Royalty should not smile when given the opportunity to duel. You must act courteously and honorably, not with extreme glee.” Duthane lectured. Helga’s lips were twitching excessively as we walked; she was fighting for her life not to smile.

“It’s not that funny.” I mumbled to Helga. THWACK!

“No contractions, Crown Prince Nil.” Duthane stated. At what point did this qualify as abuse?

“No contractions, Crown Prince Nil.” I mocked in a high-pitched voice. THWACK!

“Do not repeat what others say in such a mocking manner. It is beneath royalty.” Duthane instructed without missing a beat.

“Then how do I mock someone?” I probed while rubbing where she swatted. The pain was already gone, but it was certainly annoying.

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“With subtly and class. Rather than repeating what I said, you could have stated, ‘I am sorry you do not understand words that have been combined. That was my mistake.’ Which while not the most subtle, is more becoming of royalty.” Duthane explained. Huh. Just be snarky and backhanded. That I could get behind.

“Why do you look so surprised, Crown Prince Nil?” Duthane checked with the faintest smirk.

“I wasn- was not expecting you to answer that.” I replied. I got a much lighter thwack this time.

“You may have caught yourself, but you need to get in the habit of not using contractions at all.” Duthane snipped as we continued walking.

We reached one of the training areas, where Lux was waiting with Orga. Lux was glaring at me, clearly wanting to avenge herself. Not on your life you gluttonous fluffball. THWACK! I glared at Duthane who simply pointed to her mouth. Buzzkill. I sighed before walking over seeing that Lux had definitely toned up more over this last month. She actually started working out and training more. I knew she was likely quite distraught when I was missing, so I wasn’t going to overly point it out. I felt this odd warmth that she missed me, but kind of guilty she was so stressed because of me. It was peculiar. I don’t think I ever felt something like this. Not that it was currently relevant, as she definitely wanted to spar again. I took a few deep breaths, before activating my and . The similar stillness surrounded me as I got ready to face Lux. Orga was jotting down notes, looking on with interest as Lux took her starting position. I slowly walked over as I got my breathing right and summoned my sword. The instant I was in position, Lux launched herself at me. Her speed was much faster than before now. I guess our intermediary spars she’s been hiding what she’s been practicing. Lux was upon me in a flash while wielding several . I instantly cast to launch Lux up, away from the ground. Then Lux surprised me by kicking off of my . What? That’s possible? Not that she used to launch herself; Lux accelerated even faster to put a paw on the that was part of and kick off it to reach me.

I instantly used with my to dissolve my body. Lux went flying through me before I resolidified to attack Lux from behind. Lux made a lance of light which she launched up, riding it away from me like a bolt of lightning. She pivoted in the air to throw the lance full speed at my head. She was a lot more motivated by her defeats than I thought. I deflected the lance as Lux launched several smaller lances like missiles at me. She made a behind herself to launch off to try and attack me again as the missiles closed in. I used to return her attacks back to her while making a spear of to try and impale her with. In response, Lux made a sphere of around me, kicking off the nearest one to change her trajectory in the air. I then got to learn what she made so many copies of as I used to avoid becoming impaled by numerous spears. . She’s trying to actually injure me. Not that I was holding back that much either. I used to move her suddenly while throwing several knives at and by her. She adjusted fast as Lux was undeniably glowing brighter and brighter the longer the fight went on. Why? I made a note of it as I used in conjunction with another to land a kick on a surprisingly solid Lux. I felt a searing agony on the leg that connected as Lux went flying; that conniving little monster, it was armor. I coated my sword with and made a few pieces of armor out of . Lux quickly made herself a new platform before vanishing. Was it her speed? I didn’t think so. Wait. Lux can manipulate light. Did she camouflage herself? That was near instantly confirmed by a giving me a nice gash in between the gaps of my armor.

I began using my to try and locate Lux. What? The flow was correct everywhere. At the last second, I saw a blade coming for me. I made distance using . How did I deal with this? First, I needed time to think. I began making time slow down, turning the world grayscale. As I began slowing down everything, Lux became a visible haze. This was exhausting to maintain, so I needed to end this spar now. I made a knife in front of me, and swung down full force at it before using to replace it with Lux. She narrowly defended herself with her as I slammed her into the ground; I heard several things pop and crunch from the force. You are getting zero breathing room. I immediately took my off hand, now properly coated with , to slug Lux. Wait. She was missing. I felt her behind me, trying to cave my skull in with a brutal kick. I used on myself to forcefully move me over the distance I needed to dodge as I renewed my assault. Despite me making time slower, Lux seemed to be moving even faster than before. Why am I shocked? It’s called , of course she can move near the speed of light. I used the marionette to pull her closer. Lux effortlessly turned in the air and used her to try and deflect my attack. I threw in a headbutt, smashing my skull into hers. Lux gritted her teeth as she tried to rotate into kicking me. This time, I used to tear the space around us, unleashing the resulting energy at Lux. It knocked her off her path before I used to try and deal with her. My attack was forcefully dissipated and slammed into what felt like a wall of metal. My wrist cried from the sudden stop as I began swearing violently. Standing in front of me was Nautilus, smirking. Lux was on the ground, panting and struggling to move. THWACK!

“Royalty does not swear.” Duthane lectured immediately.

“Why?” I asked Nautilus, pulsing my wrist a bit. Nothing was too damaged, but it still hurt like hell.

“She ran outta .” Nautilus informed me. When did she even get here? Lux looked bitterly at me.

Just you wait. Lux swore to me. I needed to resume practicing more serious combat and dueling, or Lux was going to surpass me again. Lux looked exhausted from the exertion as she shakily stood up. How did she get so fast? I needed a method for dealing with that, as my current solution would be way too taxing to maintain over a drawn-out fight with her.

“Thank you, Nautilus.” Orga told her while walking over to heal me.

“No issue.” Nautilus replied, looking over at Helga.

“Now, Crown Prince Nil, we need to resume your lessons.” Duthane informed me now that I was healed. Oh, come on.

“Are ya free fo’ lunch?” Nautilus asked Helga, pulling her a bit close.

“Why do you not correct Nautilus?” I inquired. THWACK! Duthane gave me a raised eyebrow in response in addition to the swat.

“I am your etiquette teacher, not hers Crown Prince Nil. Additionally, there is nothing wrong with what she said, it is simply her accent which is incredibly rude to imply. Royalty is not so baselessly rude.” Duthane lectured while motioning for me to get moving. I heard Lux cackling before getting a corrective swat from Orga.

“Cackle when you win.” Orga snapped at her. We both sighed as we went to resume our lessons.