A/N: I'm really sorry about the delay on this chapter. There's been a lot of chaos in my life due to moving and the inspiration and motivation for writing this chapter cam e short more often than not. Despite that, this is ten pages (technically a little over nine) in Microsoft Word, so I hope that helps make up for the long wait. It's also going to be continued in the next chapter, so it's a two parter! I promise that I will work harder on getting chapters up here.


Chapter Eight: Icebreakers and Romantic Tension

"Well I'm going to go to my room now…" I said, standing from the couch I was sitting on to set my plate in the kitchen. After conquering a dungeon and waking up to chaos, I was drained and ready to go hide for eternity.

"No you aren't!" MD suddenly declared loudly, standing in my way of leaving the room. I paused and blinked up at her without comprehension. Seeing this, she continued with her accusation, "You left me without a goodbye to go into a fucking death trap that kept you for two weeks, do you really think I'm letting you go that easily!?" Her voice was loud and upset. I felt my gut twist uncomfortably as I stared at her.

"I'm sorry…" I immediately said, head lowering in regret. A sly smile nearly split MD's face in half as she threw her arm around me casually. Oh no, I thought, that's the look of…

"So I heard you slept with Kouen last night," MD practically sang the taunt into my ear. Everyone was staring at us at this point, some people even laughing such as Judal and Kouha, and that coupled with the insinuation in her voice led my face to flushing a violent shade of red in almost no time. Before I could stop myself, I ripped myself away from the taller girl and almost ran into the kitchen to put my plate away.

"I will fucking murder you and eat the remains!" I threatened loudly. MD cackled from the living room, knowing it was just another empty threat. I quickly set my plate in the sink before joining the others in the living room again.

"You love me," MD said, her arm slinging around my shoulders again. Someone cleared their throat and my short attention span jumped to search for who it was. Sinbad was the culprit and apparently he didn't want to be ignored any more.

"Why don't you join us?" He suggested politely. Before I could answer, MD was stealing the change to talk.

"Oh, she'll be joining us. I won't let her run." MD said, her grip tightening around me. I simply glared at the floor at the predicament I was in.

"Great!" Sinbad said. I could hear his politician smile and it ate away me, making familiar anger bubble under my skin.

"She shouldn't be forced to be here after conquering a dungeon," Kouen spoke up then, giving me false hope, "She's probably tired and ready to rest." Something about his demeanor gave a sense of an ulterior motive, but I ignored that in favor of the help I was getting to run away.

"She's gone entire days without sleep, she's fine." MD debunked harshly. I groaned; it was evident that I wasn't getting out of socializing today.

"Wait, has anyone checked on the book lately?" I asked. "We should do that, I'll go do that." I effectively broke from her hold and ran to the stairs, but not before miraculously tripping on my own two feet and falling face first into the ground. Still determined to get away and deciding standing would take too much time and make me vulnerable, I rose to all fours and tried to crawl away as fast as I could. MD grabbed my ankles and yanked me back to the group. I clawed at the floor as if it would help my escape anyways. "I dodged nine people, I can dodge seven more!" I protested loudly, a pleasurable scratch reverberating from my voice box. Despite being so shy and introverted, screaming often felt good.

"No you can't!" MD argued back, "I won't let you!"

"Why!?" I demanded. Usually I was left to my own devices and no one bothered me, which was perfectly fine with me.

"Because your future husband is one of the new people!" MD said. She sounded very determined to get Kouen and I to date. I had a crush on Kouen, he was even my favorite Magi character before this all started, but I didn't feel a need to be in a relationship with him now that he was real. In response to her comment, I went completely limp, my face dropping on the floor with a clack from my glasses.

"Ya know, I'm surprised she didn't escape," Sharrkan said. He sounded like he was really thinking hard about this, "She managed to dodge all of us before when she left for the dungeon."

"That's true," Drakon agreed with him.

"So she's a good escape artist?" Kouha asked.

"You could say that," Hinahoho answered Kouha simply.

"See? They- hey, wait!" MD protested right behind me, prompting me to look up at what made her upset. Before I could really register what was going on, I was being lifted off the ground and held bridal style. Reflexively, I clung to whoever picked me up as the sudden gain in height startled me and drove a pang of panic into my chest. Looking up to check who it was, I found Kouen to be culprit of this impromptu escape.

"I'll make sure she comes down later to talk everyone," Kouen said, "For now she needs rest." I looked at MD for her reaction and I could tell she was trying her hardest not to look excited. She groaned convincingly in exasperation, though. Kudos to her for that much.

"Fine, don't let her sleep past noon." MD sighed. I silently curled a little further into myself, contact with men usually didn't last this long and I was beginning to get uncomfortable. People were also staring at us, which didn't help in the slightest. Kouen nodded and turned to walk up the stairs, aiming me perfectly at everyone seated in the living room. Kouha looked like he wanted to cheer Kouen on, and the eight generals all looked to be some mixture of worried and betrayed. Sinbad's hand was clenched and despite his calm and accepting demeanor, I felt a lividness coming from him.

Kouen set me on my feet as he entered my room and took a few steps away from him. I gave an awkward laugh as I rubbed the back of my neck and hugged myself around the middle.

"Heheh, thanks…" I mumbled, not entirely sure of his intentions simply carrying me off from everyone.

"You're welcome," Kouen replied, sitting on my bed. I stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do. The last time I was alone with a man, I had been molested, so this type of situation didn't exactly read positive to my fight or flight response. In fact, it was very much the opposite of that. "You look very tense, you should sit down." Kouen suggested. He genuinely seemed to be worried about me, or at the least trying to be nice. I took the suggestion and sat in my desk chair, pulling my knees to my chest and resting my heels on the seat.

"Right, um…" I didn't know what to say. Thankfully, Kouen began to talk before I could make myself look an idiot even more.

"I was thinking we could get to know each other," Kouen started, "Naturally, it's easiest without so many distractions around, specifically Sinbad." I couldn't help but snicker a little; I didn't like Sinbad as much as Kouen did. Something about Sinbad just always frustrated me.

"Okay, well…" I thought for a moment before continuing, "You know my name's Brii, I'm pretty sure you can tell a lot from my bedroom, especially if you've been staying here." Kouen nodded.

"I can tell that you certainly like dragons." He said. I smiled, I loved dragons and they were all over my room.

"Yeah…" I trailed off, "What do you want to know?"

"How do you know so much about us?" Kouen asked. I could see the curiosity in his posture.

"My little secret," I responded, "Anything else?"

Kouen and I talked for what felt like hours. Topics ranged from theorizing about how to get them back (we even checked on the book once I remembered about it. It turns out that is a journal and is keeping track of everything going on with all of the Magi-verse inhabitants and myself in the third person.), history, and just little things about ourselves. It was rather nice to talk to a new person and feel ten times closer to them than before the conversation. I even got Kouen to chuckle a few times with my jokes. An insistent beating of my heart made me worried, though. I knew that feelings for Kouen would most likely come to be if he was staying in my room, it was a simple scientific fact based on how physically close you are to someone, but I didn't want them to become anything that would make me want to act on them. Besides, statistically speaking, it was most likely just infatuation at play and nothing serious.


A hand on my ankle barely registered in my half-awake mind, but being dragged across the floor into sunlight definitely got my attention. I groaned and slapped at the air in the direction of the culprit and clung to my pillow tighter.

"Kouen, I don't wanna…" I grumbled, my eyes squinting to get rid of the obnoxious light.

"You need to get up, it's almost ten." Kouen said, very obviously annoyed I wasn't moving yet. I grumbled some more, knowing he wasn't going to leave me alone.

"Close the curtains and I'll get up." I said, my mind already beginning to drift into sleep. I kept myself awake, though.

"No, get up now." Kouen demanded.

"That's the only way I'm getting up," I slurred my reply. I winced when I opened an eye, the light stabbing into my skull. Kouen sighed and closed the curtains. I sat up and stretched out my back. "Okay, I'm up. What did you want?" I yawned half way through my sentence, but simply continued to talk through it.

"I thought you wanted me to help you with your metal vessel?" Kouen asked.

"Oh yeah…" I mumbled, climbing to my feet. "Let me changed and then we'll go." Kouen nodded and left the room to let me get dressed. Even with him out there, I locked my door to make sure no one would come in. With so many people here, I felt unusually vulnerable. I opened my closet door to my dresser. The door was one of the kind that slides to side to side to reveal which part of your closet you want. Half of my closet was currently being taken up by a mattress topper serving as my bed. I tried to make Kouen as comfortable in my room as possible, which also meant giving him my bed. I didn't really mind, especially since he let me play music at night to help me sleep. Compromises, man.

"Okay, I'm done," I said, poking my head out into the hall. Kouen nodded and I followed him down the stairs and past the kitchen to the front door. I grabbed my keys from the hook on the door, but another member of the Kou Empire stopped me from leaving by clinging to me from the side. I decided to ignore the awkward combination of a choke and shriek I let out as my hand gripped the person's arm.

"I wanna see you beat things up, too!" Kouha whined. He was getting antsy from the lack of violence and action. Videogames helped his urges somewhat, but it was still getting to him. Kouen looked down at Kouha with a commanding look.

"Let Brii go, Kouha," Kouen's voice sounded like a warning, "The last time you went into public here, you almost blew our cover." It's true; Kouha had nearly cut down a tree and stabbed a person when I took Kou to get new clothes. It's a memory I didn't really want to linger on. Kouha pouted at the unspoken punishment for his actions, though. I didn't want him to dislike his time here, though.

"When I can actually hold my own in a fight, I'll let you come as my sparring partner, okay?" I bargained. Kouha's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the thought.

"Awesome!" Kouha agreed excitedly, "See this is why I like Brii better than you, Brother En." Kouha stuck his tongue out at Kouen, the playful jab his brother not really serious, but Kouen lightly smacked Kouha in the head anyways. Kouha yelped at the attack. Soon enough, the brothers were arguing just like any other siblings I've seen.

"You shouldn't just give into him like that," Koumei said from beside me. He was holding a mug of what I assumed was tea by the smell. I jumped a little at his sudden entrance, but blamed it on my habit of focusing on things too much. In this case, that happened to be Kouen and Kouha.

"Eh, he needs it," I waved the notion off, "Besides, it's kinda fun having him around. It's like having a little brother I never had." It was really nice feeling like I had a family again. I had a family, just not in the way I wanted, really. I've almost completely separated myself from them already. The phrase got both Kouen and Kouha's attention immediately.

"If you'd like, I could call you sister!" Kouha proclaimed happily. I didn't want to make him feel like he need to, so despite his unwavering gaze, I rose my hands in a that's okay gesture.

"No, you don't have-" I didn't even finish my sentence before I was tackled with another hug and my balance was threatened.

"You're always welcome in our family, Sis Brii!" Kouha declared, bouncing. I laughed a little at his childish antics.

"And I was adopted," I chuckled. I had really grown attached to the Ren family. I did my best to make sure that everything was fine with all of them and that they were comfortable. They seemed to appreciate my kindness quite a bit, probably even more so since I was most likely one of the few people who met Sinbad first and still didn't judge or hate their country. Kouen knew of my feelings about the way he treats the cultures he conquers, but he respected my opinion just as much as I at least tried to respect his.

"He speaks the truth," Kouen suddenly said, "We'll gladly help if you ever need it." Kouen looked very determined to make sure I knew this and I nodded, still in Kouha's grip.

"Thanks," I said, "Really." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Koumei and Hakuei, the latter of whom was in the kitchen, exchange a gaze that said they knew something that I didn't. I shrugged it off for now, though.

"Now let go so Brii and I can leave, Kouha," Kouen turned his attention to his younger brother.

"I don't wanna," Kouha whined.

"Kouha,"


"Remind me again what this is?" Kouen asked, standing at the passenger side. It took a few minutes to leave the house with Kouha's interference and persistence that he wanted to come, but Kouen somehow managed to get him stay home with my promise that I'd spar with him later. I sat in the car and reached over to open his door from the inside. For some reason Kouen didn't think he could open the door on his own. Whether it was from being a prince or simply being unused to technology remained to be seen.

"It's called a car," I said as Kouen clumsily climbed into the passenger side seat. He was very out of his element when it came to big technology like this. I simply smiled as I tugged my seatbelt around myself and gestured for him to the same. "Trust me, it's not too bad. The only thing to worry about is other drivers being idiots and them crashing into us. I'm a perfectly save driver, though."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel better," Kouen said drily, struggling to clip his seat belt in. I reached over and guided his hand to properly click it in.

"There ya go," I said, "And why wouldn't that make you feel better? I thought you trusted me! I'm offended." I gave an overdramatic pout before concentrating on backing out of the driveway. I had to wait for the red car to drive by before finally getting onto to the open road of our quiet neighborhood.

"That's too bad," Kouen said. I could hear the faint amusement in his voice, letting me know that he knew I was joking. I smiled at the thought; I had to admit that making a new close friend has been nice. I was physically comfortable around Kouen at this point, which was saying something with my past experiences with men and my habit of holding a grudge. Honestly, men made me very uncomfortable in general at this point, but Kouen somehow managed to get past that and I appreciated it more than he'd ever know.

A comfortable silence settled between us and I took the time to think a little. I had scoped out possible training places a few days before; something barren and secluded so people wouldn't be around to make me feel embarrassed and they wouldn't be able to connect us to the dungeon. I found a place not too far from the road, too, that people hardly visited.

These past few weeks had been especially challenging. Sinbad and Kouen seemed to have this rivalry that went into their very being and it's been difficult playing peacekeeper between them. Separating them was really the only way they'd chill out and MD and I took it upon ourselves to take one king's candidate each to watch over. Thankfully, the subordinates and family of these two idiotic king's candidates didn't fight too much. Sinbad and MD had gotten extremely close during my time in the dungeon and with even more time together, they actually began dating. MD had told the Magi-inhabitants about our more casual form of courting and Sinbad had taken the opportunity for a "hands-on learning experience." I'm pretty sure he wanted to be hands-on with MD's breasts, but I digress. Other things have been coming up recently, too. I checked the book out and apparently it's been recording everything that happened since they've been here, it really did seem to be a journal; just a magical journal. I also did my best to periodically take the dungeon gold to pawn it off for cash at different places so I wouldn't be suspicious for the sheer amount of gold I brought in. At least we were living comfortably again and not pressed for cash.

I pulled off the road next to a nice and large plain for minimal damage, stopping my thoughts in the process. I subtly unclipped Kouen's seatbelt for him before he'd complain and climbed out myself, not before he was able to glare at me for babying him, though. I snickered at his bitterness. I stretched and walked further into the field, Kouen trailing behind me. When I finally popped my back, I turned to face him. Apparently, he was staring at me.

"So, uh…" I mumbled, uncertainty washing over me. Kouen's stare was unnerving me. He looked expectant, as if I knew what to do already. I swung my arms back and forward, clapping my hands when they met before lacing my fingers and resting my arms downwards. I began to rock on my feet, nerves getting to me.

"I thought you were going to practice?" Kouen asked me. Something in his tone sparked an annoyance, as if I wasn't living up to his expectations. I never liked people's expectations of me.

"I am, I just…" I trailed off; thinking of what was really my problem. It was because I felt exposed here. Not only was I physically out in the open, far away from any sort of hiding place or object to obscure my identity, but I was also in a situation that I could possibly embarrass myself in front of a friend, someone I respected and wished for them to do the same to me. "Didn't really plan on an audience, per se…" I had genuinely thought Kouen would be the teacher, not the observer.

"As a king's candidate, you'll have an audience wherever you go," Kouen said wisely. I knew this, but I wasn't really a king's candidate if you thought about it. I was just an idiot how just so happened to conquer a dungeon. My world wasn't suited for a king's candidate anyways; I would be called a dictator if I just took over a country.

"I don't have an audience when I'm alone in my room wasting my life away watching YouTube when I should be studying for college," I challenged. It was my favorite pastime of course; avoiding others was my specialty. Kouen narrowed his eyes at me. Whether they were calculating or frustrated, I couldn't tell.

"And you are not in your room 'wasting your life away' watching 'YouTube' when you should be studying for college," Kouen said, annoyance clear in his tone despite his voice faltering a little at certain phrases. "You are in a field." Thanks for the help, Sherlock, I thought sarcastically. I used both arms and hands to gesture to the imperial prince.

"With a man who's practically a master with his djinn and has formal weapons training!" I shouted, frustration overflowing in my tone. "Whereas, I am a dwarf who survived a dungeon by mostly running the fuck away and has used a partial djinn equip once." I was getting very frustrated. Kouen wasn't picking up on why I was uncomfortable, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him. Although, throwing a fit like a child is admittedly just the way to do that.

"That's why you should be practicing," Kouen replied calmly. Of course he was calm, his brothers probably fought all the time, so he knew exactly how to handle this. I threw my hands in the air, giving up on fighting and deciding to just tell him my problem.

"I don't know what I'm doing and don't want to make a fool of myself in front of you, alright!?" My voice was raised and frustrated. Kouen's frustration began to come to light, as well. I didn't feel bad in the moment, he didn't understand my stage fright as a prince and that wasn't my fault.

"Nobody begins perfect," Kouen once again replied with the wisdom of a sage. Why does he have to the voice of reason? I thought grumpily.

"Easy for you to say, Mr. I-have-year's-of-experience!" I yelled. I was glaring at Kouen at this point, as much as he was glaring at me. Vaguely, I wondered how I was able to spend the majority of my time with him, but then I remembered that we compromised to make the situation work.

"And you're wasting your to be years of experience." Kouen replied, just as emotionless as ever. Sometimes that princely politics thing got annoying.

"Like that's anything new…" I mumbled to myself, hugging myself around the middle. I didn't like fighting, especially with people I respect and admire. I considered Kouen my friend and I didn't want to fight with him. Sometimes he got really frustrating, though. Kouen shook his head at my comment, just as exasperated as I was. Calmer after my break down, I sighed, "Besides, where do I even start? I know a lot, but I don't know exactly how a djinn works,"

"Really?" Kouen asked, a slightly amused and interested tone in his voice. "I thought you knew everything." This teasing little fucker, I thought bitterly, using my own words against me. Stupid royalty.

"Excuse you," I said, sticking my nose in the air in an offended manner, "I said to assume that I know everything not because I know everything, but because it would shock you less when I came up with some obscure fact about you and your family."

"Mmhm," Kouen was obviously less than convinced and seemed to enjoy backing me into a corner. Somehow, it made me feel more vulnerable than just being out in the open did. Maybe it had something to do with the way he walked over to me, almost like a hunter stalking its prey.

"I should punch you in the dick," I threatened emptily. Empty threats were my specialty, especially if I was annoyed with or simply messing someone. Kouen seemed even more amused at my statement, not that I could blame him. He was six foot one and ripped while I was five foot even and had noodle arms. He had no reason whatsoever to be scared of me.

"Do you really believe that's a good idea?" Kouen challenged my threat. He really did seem amused at the thought that I could hurt him. I could see a hint of a smile on his face. At the sight, I smiled myself, mischievous and teasing.

"No, but it'd make me feel better," I snarked at him. It was like a game between us at this point. We had surprisingly settled into each other's personalities well. It could have been because we were similar in personalities and some of my mannerisms were similar to Koumei, but I also knew I bore certain similarities to Sinbad himself to a degree. Either way, I somehow managed to get this stoic, extraordinarily strong man to joke around and calm down.

"For a short time, perhaps," Kouen responded. His voice was low because he was very close, right in front of me, and there was no need to raise your voice. I had to crane my neck almost all the way back to look him in the eye. He was closer than I let most people, even MD. I was sure that it had to do with the fact we were technically sharing a room. It was the only logical explanation.

"Well, you could always be merciful and make my death swift and painless," I almost whispered, knowing that the penalty would be gruesome and cruel if I actually went through with the act. I felt breathless with how close he was. He was close enough to touch, and how long did I want that? How long had I pushed people away instead of reveling in physical affection like I wanted? How long have I let my own distrust govern my relationships to the point that I rarely hugged people? To the point physical affection was foreign and confusing? He was so close and I wanted it so bad, but I knew it was inappropriate, and so my hands remained on my sides. He was a friend, nothing more, nothing less, and he'd most likely have to leave eventually anyways; so it was fruitless to cause myself that pain.

"No," Kouen said simply. I chuckled a little his short response, genuinely amused. Kouen visibly smiled at the action before slipping back into his emotionless façade. I couldn't tell if he was thinking the same thing I was, and I almost hoped that he wasn't, because I didn't want to tumble into this knowing how it would end. This is exactly why I pushed people away; I didn't want to build trust with a person only to have it eventually severed. Yet somehow I still stayed right where I was at, right in front of Kouen, close enough to touch and feel all the while denying myself.

"Yes," I snickered out in defiance, a giddy grin on my face from teasing the prince of Kou. It was a dangerous game and it fun and it had my heart racing with adrenaline. Kouen's eyes betrayed the happiness and contentment his mask hid, but at this distance, I would have had to been blind not to see it. He enjoyed the game, too.

"No," Kouen argued again, quietly. Was he leaning down? I couldn't really tell, I was too focused on reading his eyes, such a beautiful shade of red with golden flecks that looked pink in some lighting. I've really become attached to Kouen and I feared the worst.

"And why not?" I questioned him. I was in too deep, his duties as prince would have had me killed for something if we were in the Kou Empire. He held so much power over me, physically, financially, politically. It was almost scary. The question stopped Kouen in his tracks though (he was leaning down?).

"You wouldn't deserve it," Kouen didn't a miss a beat. He was a prince, his word was law. Defiling a prince would be a death penalty, simple as that. At least, that's what I was fairly certain he was thinking. An almost evil smile spread across my face. Check and mate.

"Really?" I questioned almost innocently, "Not even after giving you a place to stay in a strange world and letting you sleep in my bedroom?" It was almost cruel to hold it over his head, even but in this little game of ours playing dirty was fun. It was all about toying with the other, trapping them in their words. It was fun and addicting and whenever you won against the other person, it was worth the back and forth for the sheer satisfaction in their face, the acknowledgement that they lost.

Kouen looked lost, defeated. He had to resign himself to fact he lost this round, but he was stubborn and he didn't want to. I knew he wanted to be in control, both of us did. We loved control, it left nothing unexpected. He was very obviously calculating his next move, trying to salvage his victory. It almost looked like he was trying to think up a military strategy to take me down in our own game. My grin just reminded him of his loss, though.

"Perhaps," Was his weak reply and I would have laughed if his face wasn't right there and so close. It was nerve wracking what was happening and Kouen just hovered there, almost unsure if he should make a move or not. I was so conflicted; I really, really wanted it, but fear and other factors simply said no.

"Mmhm," I murmured softly. It seemed to answer his unspoken question and he reluctantly pulled away. My insides felt like screaming and the odd feeling in my chest wanted him to come back so bad it almost hurt.

"You're wasting time," Kouen said, louder and clearer since he wasn't so close now. They say love makes people do dumb things; and if what I was experiencing was love, then "they" were completely correct as my next words perfectly embodied this.

"And you're really cute," I countered strongly, my voice almost sounding annoyed, "Wait…" I couldn't have just said that. My emotions were supposed to be in check, not making me do dumb things around a guest that just so happened to a really cute prince who was right in front of my face and probably going to kiss me if I just hadn't been an idiot and pushed him away with my own reluctance. Silence enveloped us and I took the time while he was stunned in place to take a step back with an awkward laugh.

"I'm, uh, just gonna go practice now," I stammered out, "Yeah, that." I almost turned around, but Kouen prevented it by continuing our conversation.

"No, no," Kouen's voice was confused, looking for confirmation, "What did you say?" Too embarrassed to face my emotions for Kouen any more, I decided to change the topic.

"I thought you wanted me to practice," I countered. My insides squirmed around and it was almost unbearable. Emotions weren't my strong suit and here I was being confronted over something emotional.

"What did you say about me?" Kouen asked again, pressing for further information and wanting the confirmation that yes, I liked him. That familiar amusement returned to his eyes. Apparently, my inner turmoil was funny to him.

"Ya, know," I started, brain working overdrive to find some lie, some loop hole to crawl through and ignore this ever happened, "We came here to help me learn how to use my djinn, not flirt." Why did I think that was a good idea!? I screamed in my head. Kouen looked almost pleased with my phrasing, as if I was falling right into his trap.

"Perhaps," Kouen said with a variable air, like our original purpose could be changed at any time. I could almost hear the rest of the sentence: "Perhaps that's why we came here, but flirting is always a nice alternative." I wanted to agree with it, but it was something that was, sadly, serious and needed to happen.

"Uh-huh," I said dumbly, trying to act as if I didn't know what he was thinking. I was still trying to get out of this. It just seemed to please Kouen more, though, if his smirk was anything to go by, at least.

"You can practice now," Kouen almost sounded like it was an order and reflexively my eyes narrowed on him so he knew it annoyed me. Not that it would do much, of course, because he was, and always will be, an egotistical prince at the end of the day. At least he would be, until he would be exiled after the civil war in Kou. Maybe I could change that, though. I thought in the back of my mind. None the less, I sighed and began to stretch again.

"Any idea on where to start, teacher?" I asked, trying to be as condescending as possible. Kouen simply turned to his thoughts to think of where to start.