THE NEXT DAY. Arius once again teleported back to the city. He met up with the rest of the gang and started searching around the city with them.
They were divided into two teams: Lifa , Willow , Winslow and Elio (Team No.1) Jasper, Gunther, Cadell and Arius (Team No.2). Ruby stayed back to guard the Base this time.
Team number one was going to steal some money for them whilst looking for clues. While team number two which consisted of all boys was supposed to focus on information gathering only.
They parted ways at the Wifren Market , the most bustling market to the west of the empire.
Team one disappeared in the crowd whilst team two started going to the place where Mia was kidnapped.
It was an empty alley, with rats and bugs crawling around and little to no garbage at all.
"Um , do we have to go there?" Cadell whined. Arius paced forward to scan the area for clues using magic.
"What. Are you scared of rats?" Jasper inquired with a sinister smile on his face.
"Huh..N-No , why would I be?" Cadell replied , slightly sweating on his forehead.
Jasper picked up a rat by its tail.
"HEY STOP THAT!" Cadell yelled while slowly stepping back. Jasper sinisterly smiled and motioned his hand which held the rat to Cadell. They stared at each other for a while. But soon Jasper began chasing him with the rat and Cadell began running around in fear.
On the other hand Arius was completely ignoring them and focusing on finding clues.
'hmm *I can't sense anything. This would've been so much easier if I had placed a mark on that slave trader I encountered previously. tch. Ugh I feel so stupid right now.'
"KNOCK IT OFF YOU TWO!" Gunther shouted as he smacked the other two boys in the head. Arius also broke out from his thoughts after hearing him shout.
"This isn't the time for games." Gunther scolded them.
"Tch. Sorry." Jasper apologized.
"Arion, any luck? "
Arius shook his head sideways. "No, but It won't be hard to find them."
"..do you have a plan?" Gunther asked
"They do kidnap children, don't they? And we are..." Arius took a moment to look at their expressions and continued.
"Four vulnerable children. One of us can act as bait to lure them out. The rest can then find their hideout. "
"Uh, No. That's too dangerous." Gunther said. Jasper nodded in agreement.
"Yea and who's even gonna be the bait? Not me at least. " Cadell said as he wrapped his arms around himself.
"I don't mind being the bait." Arius declared.
The others looked at him still with a disagreeing look.
"First hear me out." Arius looked at them in the eyes and continued.
"Slave traders are just kidnapping people for now. They're not selling them. If one of us acts as bait and gets captured by them, they will only be kept locked up for now. This way we would find out where they're hideout is. The rest of the team can then find a way to break in and help the victims inside escape. While the person who was captured can search for Mia inside and keep her safe."
"..But they're adults. What if we don't find a way to break in , or worse what if we get captured as well? We don't even know how many adults there are or how big a place they're keeping all their victims in." Gunther stated.
"I can use magic. Even if you don't find a way to get in or help the other victims, if I can find Mia I can teleport us both back to the base." Arius reasoned.
"But what if that slave trader recognizes you from before and hurts you because of last time? you can't be completely sure that they won't take their anger out on children or hit you." Gunther disagreed.
"Agreed and Do you even know what Mia looks like?" Jasper questioned.
"Do you guys have any other ideas?" Arius asked in a slightly annoyed tone and sighed.
"..."
"..."
"..For now let's keep searching deeper in the city , we might get lucky." Cadell concluded.
They all nodded and so they continued prowling further into the quiet and empty alleys. Searching for even the smallest of clues.
Time flew by and it was almost sunset. They were pretty hungry as well. While searching the markets they came across the smell of freshly baked bread.
Cadell being the child he is , began following that smell to its source. The others followed and they reached a small bakery.
"Does anyone have any money?" Cadell asked
"No , we should be heading back anyways." Jasper replied
"Oh come on , we can make bread for everyone and it smells so delicious too! Gun!" Cadell whined
Growl! (Gunther)
"It wouldn't be so bad ..." Gunther stated
Jasper folded his arms in disagreement and said "Majority votes."
They all looked at Arius , who was staring at the bakery.
"I agree with Jasper. It's best to go back for now."
"B-But it smells soo good!" Cadell whined.
"Funny you're taking my side" Jasper said.
"Oh it's not you. The bakery seems a bit suspicious is all." Arius said with a straight face. Jasper frowned.
"Why would there be a bakery around...nowhere? They would hardly get customers here. Unless getting customers isn't their aim. They made the bread aroma spread nearby to attract poor people or beggars into coming here. And if they look valuable enough they kidn–" Arius was cut off.
Cadell suddenly held Arius by his shoulders and began to shake him back and forth.
"Arion! You're thinking too much over a small bakery! Chill! It's just a bakery!" Cadell said
"No he's right. It might not be the kidnappers , but still it does seem suspicious. But right now it's almost sunset , let's come back here to investigate tomorrow. "
"B-But what about the brea–"
Jasper smacked him in the shoulder.
1
"Weren't you the oldest of us here? " he asked sarcastically. Cadell pouted.
When they reached back to the Base Arius left in a hurry since he was getting late.
Both teams had safely returned and they sat together on the second floor in their usual spots and told their findings to the rest.
After Talking About The Search Findings
"Guys. Isn't Arion suspicious?" Jasper questioned
"Jeez shut it already." Lifa scolded
"But I'm serious, Wins tells me a single noble you know that keeps an orphan boy as a servant and treats him nicely. Plus he has magic too!"
Winslow put a finger on his chin and began to think.
"Well...it is suspicious.." Winslow agreed.
"Jeez are you sure you boys aren't just jealous cause he has magic?" Lifa said.
"W-What of course not!" Jasper slightly turned red.
"Lifa, if you give us permission we can try to find out more about Arion starting tomorrow." Winslow asked
"Remember. Arion found us himself not through Vin." Jasper grimly stated.
Lifa sighed and gave permission for it.
In The Ruby Palace
Arius and Athanasia were reading books in the playroom while Olivia and Lily were preparing their bedrooms. Arius was in deep thought
'That bakery... was it just me being an overthinker? Maybe watching all those detective animes affected my brain too much. But still it was so suspicious. It was surrounded by empty alleys and my instincts told me not to go there. Ughhh I can't wait for tomorrow...'
"Brother , how many more times do you have to leave the Palace?"
"Huh..,..Why did anything happen while I was away?" Arius asked.
"No..but Dad visited Ruby Palace today."
"HE WHAT!"
"SHH you're being too loud, what If Lily or Via hear you?" Athanasia said as she covered his mouth with her hand.
"Why did Dad come? " Arius whispered.
"I don't know why , but he just came and monitored my dancing lessons. He then asked where you were."
1
"What did you say?" Arius gulped.
"I told him that you were probably in the library or taking a walk in the garden. He didn't say anything after that. And since he didn't say anything during dinner I don't think he knows."
Arius hugged Athanasia. "Thank You sis! Telling you about this was definitely a good decision"
"Okay sure.. but don't you have any classes during the evening? " Athanasia asked in a doubt.
"Nope! I prepared my own schedule and made sure I would be free during that time. " Arius proudly declared
"Won't Dad suspect that?"
"I told him I wanted to get some fresh air and look at the view of the sky during sunset . And I like being alone too. So what you said was completely perfect. Next time, say the same thing , that brother was going for a walk to admire the sky or anything!" Arius stated.
"Hehehe okay" Athanasia chuckled.
Suddenly the door opens.
"Your Highnesses , it's time for bed." their maids say
"Okay!" They reply in sync.
"WHAT?" Arius gulped.
He was currently having breakfast with Athanasia and Claude. Claude raised a brow on his son's rather surprised expression.
"You will have tea with me in the evening. Do you not want to?" Claude inquired as he made eye contact with him. Arius averted his eyes.
'AAAAAA WHY ?! WHY EVENING !? AND TODAY OF ALL DAYS! We were gonna Investigate that suspicious bakery from yesterday! But if I say no he might get suspicious.'
"Athy would love to have tea with Daddy!" Athanasia beamed at Claude and then looked at her brother who was sitting opposite to her.
"Is there something you wanna tell us Dad? We do eat breakfast and dinner together, you can just–" Arius tried to save his evening but was cut off by Claude.
"Is your evening stroll more important than spending time with your father?" Claude grumbled.
"That's not what I said. I simply asked whether there is any specific reason for you to suddenly invite us to tea in the evening." Arius said.
Claude sighed.
"Nevermind. Forget I asked you."
'Huh? Is... he's mad? Over this?' Arius slightly tilted his head observing Claude's expressions to understand what he meant.
After Breakfast
Felix was escorting the royal siblings out of the Garnet Palace.
"Your Highness , I believe His Majesty has become lonely as you haven't been visiting him much." Felix said
'Eh.' The siblings thought in sync.
'Claude, lonely?...' They both were dumbfounded at the thought of it.
"Your Highness , Before you used to come everyday , everytime you could meet His Majesty. Although His Majesty didn't show it , he would always await your arrival. But lately you haven't been visiting him as much. So I believe he has become lonely." Felix smiled at the siblings.
"...I see.." Arius replied , still a bit doubtful about his words.
"Don't worry, Felix. I will visit him in the afternoon."
Felix beamed. "His Majesty would be most pleased."
The siblings parted ways soon as Arius was heading to the Library for his Lessons and Athanasia was heading back to Ruby Palace for her Liberal Arts Lessons.
Lonely , huh... Maybe Dad's just suspicious . I stopped asking him to let me leave the Palace ever since that day. And I requested free time in the evening too... he probably realized something was strange.'
Suddenly Claude's face from that day flashed through his head. He remembered the way his Dad had hugged him and apologized to him for his wrongdoings. Arius stopped walking and went into deep thinking.
'Did he really miss me...cause I wasn't visiting... Jeez what a tsundere. Whenever I did come he would act indifferent to it and act as if I was interrupting his paperwork. And he did give me a clear statement that I couldn't leave the Palace grounds. I didn't see any point in continuing to pester him about it. And we do meet for breakfast and dinner. We see each other twice everyday.'
He gave out a long sigh.
'Plus... I feel like Athy's being left out. Claude's attention is too much on me. Athy is also his daughter. Even though she's just trying to gain his favour to survive. She was an orphan in her previous life too , I want her to experience fatherly affection, at least in this life. Claude is the father of us both. His love, care and attention should be equally divided among both of us. I want to give them some father-daughter time so they can build a good relationship.'
Arius gave out another sigh and continued on his way to the Library.
In The Afternoon
Slam!
"Dad! "
Claude had a slightly surprised expression on his face.
Cough! (Claude)
"What is it?"
"What are you doing?" Arius asked as he ran up to his desk.
"Paperwork."
"As usual."
"Did you want something from me?"
"Yes, your company."
"I'm busy right now." Claude replied with absolutely no hesitation and began doing his paperwork.
"..." Arius was surprised to say the least
'Don't tell me he's actually angry at me...'
"But Dad..." Arius used his puppy eyes and held Claude's arm.
Claude put his pen down, looked at Arius with a blank expression and said "Don't you have a Language Lesson right now?"
"I finished early." Arius smirked.
"Go play with your sister then."
"Athy has a Science Lesson right now." Arius pouted.
"I have paperwork." Claude again picked up his pen and started writing.
"...Okay..." Arius mumbled down-heartedly.
"..."
Arius didn't leave Claude's Office but instead stood beside his desk. He first kept looking at Claude and then tried peeking at the papers content on which he was working on. His height was lower than the desk Claude was using even if he stood on the tip of his toes.
He tried changing positions going to all sides of the table trying to peek at the documents.
Claude was obviously distracted by his sons circling all around the table. Arius wasn't making any noise but Claude couldn't help but glance at him every few seconds as he circled around.
In the end he gave up and picked Arius up from the ground and placed him on his lap.
"There? Happy?" Claude asked
Arius nodded.
Claude kept doing his paperwork with Arius sitting on his legs. Arius stayed quiet and simply observed the paperwork on Claude's desk. Some were about taxes , some about state problems, some about economic surveys. There was nothing about slave traders.
Arius looked at Claude who was focusing on the paperwork.
'He's..really ignoring me this time. Maybe what Felix said is true.. But I'm here now aren't I ? And he's working...' Arius pouted
"...Dad, are you mad at me?"
Claude stopped writing. Arius was scared to turn back and face him.
'What if he is mad? Does he hate me? Is he gonna start ignoring me now? I forgot.. but this is 'Who made me a princess' and Claude's supposed to be a psycho emperor.. What if he changes his mind...? He did seem completely fine in 'Who made me a princess' even after finding out Arius had died. They didn't even mention him. He easily moved on– ' His trail of thoughts stopped as he felt a hand on his head.
He turned back to see Claude patting his head.
'Huh, shoot did he say something?'
"I'm not mad."
"But you–"
"I'm busy. What's wrong with that?" Claude said as he reached a paper on his desk and began to read it.
'Why...is he being like that..? I've never seen him like this. He's not ignoring me... more like distancing me. He's creating a wall between us... But...WHY?!'
"Dad..."
Claude just replied with a 'hmm.' and kept staring at the page in his hand.
"..Then I'll help you with your work!"
"..."
The prince and princess, although young, had already been praised by their tutors several times. They were called geniuses who had no flaws. Both of them had already exceeded their peers in education.
Keeping that in mind, Claude sorted out the paperwork and gave a quarter of it to Arius to complete. He asked Felix to bring a desk and chair for Arius, which he did.
Silence enveloped the room , except the sounds of pen scribbling on the paper. It was a calming sound to the both of them.
After a while Arius put his pen down. He grabbed the papers and was slowly raising his hands towards Claude.
'What if I made a mistake..? It wasn't that complicated or hard but what if Dad doesn't approve of it or gets angry...?'
Claude saw Arius hesitating to give him the papers. He reached his hands out to Arius to take the papers and caressed his head.
Arius shut his eyes tight as he felt the papers leave his hand. He could feel his heartbeat rising.
'What if it's wrong?! What if there's a mistake ?! Ahhhhhh maybe I shouldn't have said I'd do them! I'm so dumb!'
"I'm impressed. Well done. "
Arius opened his eyes and looked at Claude with a sparkle in his eyes.
4
'Did...he just praise..me? '
Arius couldn't help but smile and feel proud at his father's words.
'This is the first time he praised me. Heck this is the first time any of my parents praised me. Before they'd always make me feel not good enough but Claude...GOSH I'M BEING TOO EMOTIONAL.'
1
Arius shook his head slightly, bringing him back to reality.
"Thank you." His tone was filled with happiness as he tried to maintain a blank face.
The day went on as usual.
Arius soon left Claude's office for his lessons. He had fun, to Arius it was a memorable day since Claude praised him, but Claude still felt a bit different to him.
It really was like Claude was creating a wall between them.
'I want to break that wall... BUT LIKE HE SAID HE CARED ABOUT ME AND NOW HE'S ACTING LIKE THIS! jeez I want to maintain a good relationship with him but he's acting like such a child. And I still don't understand why he's doing this. Lonely ? BUT I CAME TO MEET HIM! UGH this is making my head hurt... '
Arius couldn't stop thinking about what the heck was wrong with Claude. He kept thinking about it the whole day and when the time came, very carefully left the Palace.
AT THE BASE.
Arius met up with the others and they went to investigate that bakery they saw the last time. They were in a diamond formation, with Gunther at the front , Arius and Jasper in the middle and Cadell at the back.
A woman stood outside the bakery.
She had a broom in her hand and was collecting dust outside the bakery with it. She glanced at the children and beamed a smile at them.
"Welcome! The bakery's open! we have everything a child would want! Candies , Cakes , Fresh Baked Breads And Many more fun treats!"
Cadell jumped up and down like a child and looked at Gunther for permission. Arius was about to say something but Gunther spoke first.
"Well , too bad we don't have any money with us today..."
"WH- Ouch." (Cadell)
Jasper elbowed Cadell in the stomach . The woman smiled at them. She put her broom aside the wall of the bakery and came a little closer to the boys. She crouched down to reach their heights.
"Such adorable little boys you all are. My bakery hardly ever gets any customers anyways. I have loads of extra candies and cakes left from yesterday and I made a bit too much today too. Sharing some won't harm us. Just seeing children smile gives me the best joy in the world." She said cheerily.
'I have a bad feeling about this...'
Gunther, Jasper and Arius signaled each other through their eyes
'She's suspicious .'
"That's very kind of you, we'd love to but we need to go back home now." Arius smiled.
"Huh, Cad!?" Jasper yelled out as he turned back to see Cadell not standing behind the trio any longer. Gunther's face went pale and Jasper began to panic while looking around to spot the Azurette.
Arius grabbed Jasper's shoulder and gave him a look saying 'It's alright, calm down' The woman stared at them and said.
"If you're looking for the blue kitten with you..."
The trio made a confused expression before finally getting what she meant. The woman pointed at the bakery and smiled
"..He seemed pretty happy about the free treats."
"That IDIOT! " Jasper shouted and marched into the bakery. Arius and Gunther followed behind. Within the suspicious building baked cookies of every kind layer the bakery counter. From white chocolate and macadamia nuts right through to sprouted grains and wheat germ, there really is something for everyone.
And among all the sweet aroma stood the Azurette frantically going from one side of the shop to the other.
The trio sighed in relief.
Jasper began hitting Cadell on his head and Gunther began scolding him for being so careless and almost giving them a heart attack. Arius observed the interior of the bakery and his attention came to a 'Click' sound from behind.
He turned around to see the woman standing in front of the door as if blocking the way out. Arius gulped as he became alert of his surroundings. The woman's smile was fixed on her face as she walked to the counter of the bakery.
"Now then , why don't you adorable kitties take all the sweets you want! It's free! And how about you take some home for your family as well?" Still smiling, the woman energetically spoke.
"Really!? I'm sure Ruby and Eli would love to try some!"
Jasper again elbowed Cadell. He dragged him to a corner of the shop and whispered quietly
"Are you dumb? you're supposed to be the eldest."
"But she doesn't seem bad, you guys are being way too protective."
The woman began "I see your parents taught you well, My name is Linda and I run this bakery. I understand why you'd be hesitant to receive treats from strangers, but I only recently opened a shop here and I haven't received any customers so I was just overjoyed to see someone come here.." Linda explained.
"Why would you even set up shop here?" Jasper asked.
The woman's expressions changed into a gloomy one. "Hehehe I'm new to Obelia , I was tricked by some people and in one or another way I ended up setting up shop wherever I could. Even in this depressing alley once people find out about my bakery I'm sure I'll get loads of customers. So if it's not too much to ask, please spread word about my bakery to your friends!" told Linda.
A short silence enveloped the room as the younger three decided whether to trust her or not. Arius was more focused on the door.
'The sound of 'Click'.. did she lock the door? but if that's the case she could simply threaten us now. Instead she's explaining her intentions. Are we really just overthinking , like Cad said? Maybe I've watched too many anime . She seems like those bubbly, optimistic characters that end up becoming the naive female lead.'
Cadell stepped forward . "Sure! we'll tell the others too! we'll bring them along next time. For now can we really take some sweets for them?" His eyes twinkled as he stared at the counter.
Linda chuckled, "I would be delighted."
Arius felt uneasy about this. 'What if there's a drug in the sweets that makes us fall asleep , that would be convenient for her. '
Cadell took a cookie from the many trays in front of him and started munching on it.
"IT'S SO GOOD!" Cadell yelled in delight.
"Are these really made by you?!" Cadell asked in shock.
Linda's smile grew bigger as she nodded at the question. Curious from Cadell's praise , Jasper and Gunther grabbed a cookie too.
They too enjoyed it and decided to take some for the others.
"Arion, you take one too, It's heavenly." Gunther said as he extended a tray of cookies towards him.
Arius thought about it for a while and decided to eat it. The cookies were dotted with chocolate chips. The surface is crackled as the earth is in late summer, softly golden and awaiting the rain. The cookie was sweet and crunchy.
A single bite lingered as you chewed it and now and then, a sweet, decadent pop of intense goo (a chocolate chip) melts in your mouth. It was simply amazing.
Arius took his time enjoying every bite.
The rest of them also wandered around the bakery putting something of everything in a bag to bring for the others. It was rather peaceful. They chatted with Linda for a bit, their suspicions died down with time.
They greeted her goodbye and were leaving the bakery when suddenly Arius remembered the 'Click' sound and instantly became alert again. But to his surprise, the door was open. Linda even waved her hand to them as they left the alley.
"So we really were overthinking." Gunther sighed in gloom.
Cadell proudly walked in the front, while the younger three followed behind in gloom.
"Congratulations ! We've successfully wasted a whole day. " Jasper started clapping.
"Well at least we got some great cookies and fresh bread for the others. Plus Linda is so nice I'd love for Ruby and Eli to meet her , since those two like cooking." said Gunther.
Their search ended a lot earlier today. They headed back to the base and discussed their finds with the others. All of them seemed excited to visit the bakery.
They decided to visit tomorrow. Arius remembered Claude's behaviour recently and decided to step out this time. While they were all sitting together Arius began
"I won't be able to come tomorrow. The Lord has some special guests coming tomorrow. So I've been assigned a lot more work than usual. "
"Sure it's no biggie! we'll save you some cookies!" (Cadell)
"It's fine , just enjoy yourselves tomorrow, I'll visit the bakery the next time." (Arius)
Jasper and the twins were staring at Arius.
"I'll be leaving now, I had fun." Arius said as he stood up and put his cloak back on.
"Already? but there's still time until sunset." Lifa asked.
"Now , I'm sure Arion has a lot of work to do for his Lord." Jasper said as he stood up as well, there was a hint of sarcasm in his words.
"I'll see you out." Jasper added.
When they got out of the building, Jasper began
"I don't trust you."
"..."
"But.. I do appreciate you helping us with the search, even though you're completely useless."
"Oh. I'm useless?!"
Jasper pulled out his tongue and went back inside quickly before Arius could continue.
Arius was fuming with anger but he decided to head back instead of getting caught up in a useless fight with an idiot.
The twins watched as Arius left using teleportation.
"Well?" Jasper began as he entered the area where everyone was sitting. The twins were now the center of attention.
"We haven't been able to find out any news about any nobles in the capital having guests over."
"Hah, so he was lying " (Jasper)
"We can't be sure of that , Wins and Will maybe you guys need to look into it a bit more–" (Lifa)
"Magicians aren't common. And if a commoner or even noble has a good control in magic. They are likely to work in the Palace. " (Willow)
"But what if the noble Arion works for is not in the Capital?" Gunther asked.
"..."
"He teleports for a reason. If the noble was in the capital, he could just walk back to their mansion." (Gunther)
"Guys... let's stop being so suspicious of him. Yesterday, he was willing to be the bait to lure the slave traders out and then allow us to find their base. He's really trying to help us. It doesn't matter why. Now let's stop."
They all subtly nodded except for Jasper who insisted that someone who was not approved by Vincent was not trustworthy.
"Then we can ask him about Arion once he visits. He hasn't visited for a while now. If he was here , things would've been a lot easier." (Lifa)
The conversation ended there and the day went on as usual... Except for Arius... He teleported back to the Palace. And as he came back , he changed his eye color, height and clothing back to their normal ones. When he finished he started to walk towards the Ruby Palace but was startled by rustling in bushes.
'Is it... Athy ?'
But to his shock the figure that crawled out from the bushes wasn't that of a small girl but a grown man. It was...
A RED HEAD!
'WHA-FELIX.' Arius's stutter on his thoughts.
The red-head came out of the bushes and he had a grim expression on his face. He looked Arius straight in the eye and asked in an extremely serious tone.
"Your Highness, Where were you?"
Felix, someone who would usually be beaming and smiling for the first time showed Arius his dark side as the knight of the emperor. He looked serious, worried and cold.
Arius subconsciously began to tremble slightly.
Felix was a grown man and although he was merely concerned for Arius's wellbeing, in the viewpoint of Arius , he seemed as If he was boiling with anger and seconds away from hitting him. He began to have flashes of his past life.
Felix noticed Arius trembling. He raised his hand and brought it close to Arius's shoulder.
"Your Highness–"
Arius, out of reflex, flinched and slapped Felix's hand away and shouted
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
Felix was surprised. He became quite worried from this and slowly reverted back to his usual self. He kneeled down to Arius and apologized
"Forgive me for my impolite behaviour. I will not touch you without your permission...So please your highness... Please stop trembling."
Arius flinched again; he looked at Felix and saw no ill will in his eyes. He felt stupid for thinking Felix would actually raise his hand against him.
He recomposed himself , took a few deep breaths and then said
"No , It's my fault for overreacting. Anyhow, Felix I'm aware you have many questions regarding my absence, but I'm afraid I have classes so I'll have to go now." Arius said as he began walking past Felix
"Your Highness, with all due respect, your safety is more important than your classes. If you were somewhere dangerous, then I will have to report it to His Majesty and your classes should be the least of your concerns right now. " Felix replied without turning back.
"Did Dad ask you to keep an eye on me?"
Felix nodded. Arius ran back up to Felix and made his puppy eyes.
"Felix ! PLEASE KEEP THIS A SECRET FROM DAD!"
"Eh!? Your Highness, You know I can't do that, I'll be executed for treason , if I lied to His Majesty. And... I'm also worried about your recent activities."
Arius took a moment to think whether he could trust Felix or not.
"...Okay. So I've only been teleporting to the capital city during the evening. I just wanted to explore the city a bit."
"Your Highness.. you shouldn't go outside without a guard..Lately slave traders have been kidnapping children , what if you ever got caught up in that mess...?" Felix kneeled to Arius and looked at him with concerned eyes.
"But I'm safe right now. Next time I'll take you with me. "
Felix gave a big smile to Arius.
"But Felix , you know how overprotective Dad is. If he finds out about this then he'll forbid me from even leaving Ruby Palace. I promise nothing bad will happen to me during this... so please keep this a secret."
"...But then what should I say to His Majesty? "
"I won't be going out tomorrow so... Oh I know ! "
The two discussed the plan for a while before Arius left for his lectures.
During Dinner
The imperial family was having their dessert after dinner. Claude was looking at his children, Athanasia was munching on her cake and surprisingly even Arius was eating sweets today.
"Brother, it's a surprise seeing you eat cookies and cakes"
"I just felt like eating it today"
'I've eaten the cakes and chocolate cookies from the imperial chef but I still can't forget the taste of those cookies from Linda's Bakery. Those were simply heavenly. I wanna eat them! And I'm not even going tomorrow... I have to wait for a whole day to eat it.'
Sigh!
After dinner , Claude picked up Athy and told Felix to carry Arius. Athanasia was shocked by the sudden change. She looked back at Arius who didn't seem too shocked by this.
'He's making it so obvious. The wall. He's angry with me FOR ABSOLUTELY NO LOGICAL REASON.'
When they got back to Ruby Palace, Felix brought Arius to his room and they chatted for a bit.
"I even made friends outside." Arius told him.
"That's wonderful , Your Highness, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Felix smiled at him. Arius smiled back.
"...So.. did you tell Dad everything as I told you..?"
"Yes."
"Okay Thank You."
The night ended without Claude coming to Arius's room. He went back after taking Athanasia to her room.
The next day
Claude didn't talk much during breakfast. He simply drank his tea and looked at his children. Surprisingly Arius had once again been eating cakes and cookies.
"Brother... Didn't you say you didn't like eating sweets as the first meal of the day?" Athanasia asked as she saw her brother stuffing his mouth with cookies.
'He looks cute though.' Athanasia thoughts. Claude didn't seem concerned, he kept sipping on his tea.
"...I just felt like eating in the morning today... Why are you worried I'm gonna eat all of them and there won't be any left for you?" Arius smirked.
Athanasia's face became red both with anger and embarrassment.
Smack!
"OUCH!"
"HOW RUDE! I was asking out of curiosity!"
"Just admit it Athy. You were worried about your precious sweets." Arius smirked.
Athansia's face once again became red and she was about to hit him.
"No need to fight over some sweets. The chef can make as many sweets as you want, and learn to share among each other." Claude lectured with a blank face.
"He started it." Athanasia stated.
1
"No I didn't. You're the one who hit me after I simply stated the truth." Arius replied.
"That wasn't true, it was your own opinion." Athanasia argued
"And my opinion was the truth , otherwise you wouldn't have reacted in such a way." Arius smirked
"Wha- Jeez why are you being so rude!? Are you mad at me because of yesterday–" Athanasia suddenly covered her mouth. Arius turned to face her.
"Yesterday? What happened yesterday?" he innocently asked and proceeded to cut his cake slice.
'Is she talking about how dad picked her up instead of me? Why would I be mad ? I was just joking with her. Jeez..'
"Yes, I too am curious as to what happened yesterday." Claude said with a blank face.
Arius stopped eating his cake and looked at Claude.
'HE DID NOT JUST- CALM DOWN ME. Calm down , Calm down , calm down... phew.. okay so this jerk here really doesn't know... or is he just trying to provoke me again like last time... AND THEN HE ASKS FOR MY FORGIVENESS!?'
Claude made eye contact with Arius and the whole dining room was filled with an icy atmosphere as the males glared at each other.
Claude then looked at Athanasia for the answer to his question. Arius also looked at Athanasia. Athanasia was mentally crying over them.
'I'M SORRY IT WAS A SLIP OF TONGUE.' Athanasia mentally screamed.
"Hehehe" She put her hand on her mouth and acted all cutesy.
1
"It's no biggie! Brother and I got into a fight while playing. I said Lily is better than Via and brother said Via was better than Lily. In the end I won the argument so brother must've gotten angry."
1
Arius's face was completely red now. He mentally cried
'Athy out of ALL THE THINGS YOU could've said WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SO CHILDISH.'
Athanasia proudly ate her cake as she looked at Arius with her eyes saying 'FEEL MY PAIN.'
Claude was a bit surprised that his mature son actually argued over something this trivial. He looked at Arius and asked with a smirk/
"Is that true?"
'Ugh I REALLY DON'T WANNA SAY YES.'
"No. If I remember correctly I was the one who won the argument. Athy you started crying so much after that. How could you forget?" Arius smiled innocently.
Athanasia's face once again became red with embarrassment.
"BROTHER–"
"Arius. You shouldn't tease your sister." Claude said as he finished his tea and stood up. He left the dining room leaving nothing but silence.
Athanasia looked at Arius worried since Claude had never said something like that and he knew they were joking. Arius just stood up quietly and said
"Welp Athy time for my lessons. I should go now. Say, do you wanna play later in the evening?"
"Uh.. sure!" Athanasia looked worriedly as her brother left the room.
'I was going to spend this evening with Claude... But to hell with that.'
AFTERNOON, AT THE BASE. They had eaten their breakfasts and currently Elio and Ruby were washing the dishes. Lifa and Jasper were cleaning the table.
Winslow was reading a book to Willow , as Winslow was the only one who knew how to read. Gunther and Cadell were sitting on the couch, deciding what to do about Mia.
"Nothing's working... We've been searching for her but... We can't find a single clue! " Gunther loudly stated so that everyone could hear it.
"It's too early to give up. We should sear–" Lifa tried to comfort him.
"We have been searching. But no clues or hints. If we keep doing this, someone else might get caught... " Gunther said .
The whole room became stressed, everyone was worried about Mia and wanted her back into their family.
"I won't" Jasper was cut off by Cadell.
"Hey! I REALLY REALLY wanna eat those cookies from the bakery! Let's go!" Cadell shouted
2
Suddenly everyone's faces lit up , Ruby and Elio were excited to visit a bakery that Cadell had been praising non-stop.
Lifa was interested in the bakery too as well as the twins. But the one most looking forward to this was obviously none other than Cadell.
The tension faded away and they all decided to visit the bakery.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ : *. .* : ﾟ.───
DURING EVENING, AT THE PALACE. Arius went out for his evening stroll like he normally did. He took a walk around the Amethyst Garden while holding a book in his hands.
After glancing at his surroundings for a while , Arius opened the book and sat on a bench in the garden. He began reading it and then stretched out his hand in front of him. He closed his eyes and after a few seconds a fireball could be seen floating above his hand.
Arius was overjoyed by this.
He stood up and then transformed the fireball into an orb of water but it burst all over him. He then turned the pages of the book to reach a certain page and read it and afterwards dried his clothes.
He seemed happy learning magic. From the bushes, two grown men spied on the child as he experimented his spells and became happier each second.
"See Your Majesty! His highness has always been coming here during this time and practicing magic!" Felix exclaimed as he looked at Arius.
FLASHBACK
"Oh I know!" Arius exclaimed
Felix looked at Arius hopeful.
"Bring Dad here tomorrow evening. I'll be practicing some magic spells here and you can tell him that I'd been practicing magic today as well." Arius explained.
Felix was thinking whether it would work or not.
"And the reason why I'm secretive about it is because I wanted to surprise him with it... well do you think it'll work? "
"I can't say for sure Your Highness, but it's worth a try."
"It all depends on your acting skills Felix. You have to convince him."
1
"I-I'll try my best, Your Highness." said Felix.
END OF FLASHBACK
Felix turned to Claude to see his reaction but
'Huh? Where did His Majesty go!?'
Claude had already come out of the bushes and walked up to Arius. Felix upon realizing followed behind. Arius, who was already in on this plan, acted surprised upon Claude's appearance.
"Uh-Dad!? W-what are you doing here right now?"
"Am I not allowed here?" Claude asked.
Arius nodded.
"..."
"Do you like magic?" Claude asked Arius
"I.. do.." Arius replied wondering what Claude was going to say next.
"Let's talk over tea. Felix."
"Yes Your Majesty."
"Tell the maids to prepare a sitting in this Garden."
'THIS GARDEN!? well that's a first! but like, what do we even have to discuss further?'
10 Minutes Later
The tea table had been set and now Claude was drinking tea while Arius munched on his cookies. Felix stood somewhat far from the two as he wanted them to enjoy some time together.
"You've become more like your sister." Claude said and took a sip of his tea.
"And you've become more like how you previously were." Arius said as he took a bite of his cookies. Claude froze and looked at Arius.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean exactly what I said." Arius smiled at him.
"Wha-" Claude was cut off by Arius.
"Small talk aside. I believe you had something to discuss with me."
"...Do you want a magic tutor? "
"No."
'No magic tutor can compare to the great mage Lucas! I'll ask him to teach me when he makes his appearance'
"...How long have you been playing with magic?"
"It's been a month or slightly more."
"...You shouldn't use magic anymore."
"Huh!? What ? Why? "
"You're still young. Your body needs to mature a bit before it can handle mana. If you keep using magic you might end up worse than the last time."
"Last time?"
"When you saved your sister when she was drowning in the lake."
'Oh right I ended up coughing up blood and fell ill... but u did kinda drag my sickness to avoid him..' Arius thought as he picked up another cookie.
'I have been absorbing Athy's excess mana but I can't have my own mana overflowing either... or else we both might end up in a coma for a while. But I've easily been using magic these days while also absorbing her mana.. I don't think my mana is unstable.'
While Arius was in his deep thoughts a hand reached out and placed itself on his forehead. Arius suddenly came back to reality and saw Claude's chair closer to Arius's and his hand on Arius's forehead.
"Um.. what are you doing , Dad?"
Suddenly a golden glow surrounded Arius. There were golden particles floating around Arius. He suddenly felt Claude's mana enter his body.
"Don't worry. It won't hurt." Claude reassures Arius who seemed amazed and a bit startled by the sudden scene before him.
In less than a minute the particles disappeared and Claude retreated his hand. Arius looked at him with the eyes saying 'what did you do?'
"I put a protection spell on you." Claude spoke softly with a smile.
5
'Wait. What. did he just... smile... and a- a Protection spell LIKE THE ONE ATHY HAS ! WOW A MIRACLE ! I NEVER–''
"And also a sealing spell." Claude added.
'Ugh Nevermind.'
"Do you have to seal my mana? I promise I won't use it. "
'A lie of course. I need mana to teleport to the city tomorrow.'
"If you won't use it anyway , then no point in worrying about it. "
"..Fine..but I have a request..."
"What is it?"
"I wanna go with Felix to the city tomorrow.."
Claude froze "To the city?"
"..Yes, You don't need to worry , Felix will protect me.."
"When? "
"In the evening."
"...Felix. "
Felix came to Claude and kneeled to him.
"Protect him with your life." Claude ordered.
"Yes sire."
Claude then went back to his office leaving Felix with Arius. Arius went to play with Athanasia , Felix following behind him. The day ended without any worries.