The Seventh Moon

Meeting Again

If I meet you again, show me your smile… ~ Hajimari No Kaze (Winds From The Beginning), Hirihara Ayaka

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Knowing that a member of the royal family would actually teach her to use swords, Risa was sure to be in a nerve-wrecking ride of her life since she arrived in Revia. But the Master Mage told her that the Second Prince was the only one capable of teaching her what she needed.

Then again, how did the Master Mage able to ask Prince Alathil to be her teacher? She still couldn't wrap her head around the thought. She might have only heard about him from Jehan, but the fact that it was a prince who was said to be the only dragon listener in the kingdom was the issue that seemed to make her feel uneasy.

"Risa, are you still training?"

She turned around after disintegrating the magical energy she summoned to the source of that voice. She was surprised to see the Master Mage approaching. With that, she gave the old man a bow.

"You still do that even though I told you not to," the Master Mage said with a smile.

It was enough to ease the tension she felt. "I guess I got used to it since I also do that in my homeworld," she replied with a smile of her own as she straightened herself.

"You should still be resting. It's not healthy to train at such strenuous times." He looked over towards another part of the field and added. "The Second Prince would be arriving soon, so you should save your energy."

"I don't think it's magic depletion that caused me to faint yesterday, Master Mage," Risa blurted out before she could stop herself. "Some magic made me faint that day. Possibly a magic that... could be lurking in me and I didn't even know."

He took a few steps towards her but stopped. Risa wondered if she should have just kept that information to herself; she should have known better to bring up some sensitive topics to a person like the Master Mage. After a few moments of silence between them, she cleared her throat and spoke up again.

"Is the Second Prince really coming here today?"

The Master Mage sighed and nodded. "He is. And he will be staying for a while."

"A while?" she asked again with a frown.

"Yes, a while. You'll meet him later on."

"But why does he need to stay here?"

"From what he told me, it's because he needs to personally see your progress. The king had agreed to it, anyway."

Risa couldn't help frowning at that. "That's unusual. I thought that the royal children would usually remain inside the castle most of the time."

"Well, you've seen Prince Elross. That kid doesn't remain in the Angarth Castle all the time as he made it his duty to investigate outside of the castle and the capital in the Crown Prince's stead. Prince Alathil, however, made himself known as the Crown Prince's personal strategist. So from time to time, he would also go out of the castle to do some investigation."

"Investigation?"

"Yes, investigation. To get more insight on the situation outside of the Angarth Castle but still within the Kingdom of Revia. To look through some of the records in case there were any hidden dangers in the castle and formulate strategies that they could use in battle," the Master Mage explained.

Risa once thought so, but the royal children weren't just pampered people doing what the stereotype noblemen and noblewomen would do. They knew they had a duty and they fulfilled them quite well, in her opinion.