The Villain Wants to Quit

To the Palace (2)

Compared to Marc's cooking, the new group of knights' dinner was lacking but was still better than any camp fare Theo managed to make on his own.

Scourge very...verbally...agreed with Theo's thoughts on the food, earning a mix of glares and chuckles from the nearby knights.

On the other hand, Carrot was still dreaming of gourmet oats. Theo assured him that the palace was bound to have oats of satisfactory quality.

All-in-all, it was a more pleasant meal for everyone than Theo could have expected, given the circumstances.

Except for Marc. He looked absolutely miserable.

Marc was sitting across the camp next to Carrie, who was enforcing "princely" conduct and lecturing him on and off.

"I almost feel sorry for our scapegoat," Marie mumbled past a mouthful of stew. "But then I picture myself in his position, and I'm just happy it's not me."

Vin nodded in solemn silence.

"We will remember him for his sacrifice," Giselle said, her hands clasped together in prayer.

Some wind sprites returned her empty dishes to the cook as she observed the poor prince, but they mimed a complicated sacrificial ritual as they did their chore.

Sadly, Theo, Vin, and Giselle were the only humans who could see them and therefore appreciate their morbid sense of humor.

Eli and a couple of other knights gathered nearby as soon as dinner ended. Eli coughed and looked at Theo expectantly.

Theo's heart squeezed in panic before he realized Eli and the knights weren't here to start a fight.

"I, um, normally study before I put Scourge to bed," Theo told the knights when he realized they were waiting for him to read.

"Oh, that's fine," Eli said, though his crestfallen face seemed to contradict the sentiment. "I guess you were right, Iris. We shouldn't have come so early."

"It's fine; it's not like there's anything else to do around here," Iris, a petite knight, patted the hulking Eli on the shoulder.

Theo pulled his study materials out of his pack and attempted to work through them independently.

It was a shame that Marc was too busy being lectured by Carrie to tutor him.

Theo learned much faster when someone was available to supplement the text's explanations.

At least Vin could answer Theo's question when he didn't understand something.

"Why are you studying that?" A knight appearing to be in his 30s raised an eyebrow at the book Theo was struggling with.

Theo's ears dyed pink at the knight's question. The book he was reading was one any mage would have read by the time they were 15.

"Um...I just started studying magic...so..."

Theo's eyes cut to the side.

He was suddenly aware that he was surrounded by some of the most educated mana users on the continent.

"Have some tact Fin," Marie pulled on the knight's ear. "Is your head good for anything other than looking pretty?"

"You think I'm pretty," Fin struck a cute pose. "I'm going to blush, Marie. But why are you suddenly so defensive of Theo when you used to trash-talk him all the time?"

Fin's eyes grew wide. "Am I getting to witness the famous enemies to lo-"

"Shut up you-"

"I guess it makes sense that your education would be different than ours," Iris nodded. "Were you trained in a southern approach? Or perhaps something else?"