57 Priviliege and Fate

Their previous interactions were more or less reduced to indifference from Leilade and disdain from Ronald. As much as he was grateful for her to have pushed Istuienn literally in his arm, it didn't remove the fact that she dared to hurt the princess. Their behaviors separated them even more. One was proud, liked to enjoy the light and the praises of other while the other didn't really do anything. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that she was just a harmless, and probably useless, little girl. To even think about harming Istuienn was probably the boldest thing she ever did.

"What are you doing here Ma… girl?" He began to call her Marie, until he realized that, he didn't even remember her name. Even worst, did he even heard someone call her, like anyone? As he was frowning a lot because of his intense reflexion, Leilade was getting more and more annoyed by the brat blocking her way. To do that was acceptable, but to not even do it properly and especially not being able to name her was disrespecting. The only reason why she was actively trying to put him in his right place, namely on the ground, was the fact that too many magicians were roaming around.

"Teacher." She still answered him because otherwise, she would still be here for a very long time. And as she expected, he didn't believe her. Towering high above her, since he was quite tall compared to many boys, he leaned on her and in a quite pathetic attempt, tried to pressure her.

"What are you babbling about a teacher. It can't be that you, of all the students, will be personally taught by a magician. I don't really remember the result of your test, but it can't be higher than the 4th Circle, otherwise, it would have been known. What I am trying to do is to explain that you were probably mistaken, so, do whatever you want, but go."

He was smiling the entire time like he enjoyed proving his superiority over her. While he, Ronald, was part of that elite, and will soon have his future teacher, she should just stay at her level. The more he kept that nasty attitude of him, the more Leilade was internally smiling at the oncoming spectacle. Especially when he was using his stare to make her go away. Just before he lost his calm and began to vehemently rant at her, she grabbed her card and shoved it right into his face.

The boy took a few seconds before realizing that a small arrow was pointing at the door right behind him, where he just left Istuienn. Figuring that out, he took the card out of the hands of Leilade without even bothering about here and turned it all around him. But to his dismay, the arrow changed in real time, meaning that it was really the same spell that he experienced previously. Taking out his own card, he saw nothing alike, and the space where the spell should have been was desperately empty.

"What! How! Impossible! This can't be! Why did you were chosen before me? WHY! TELL ME WHY!" Ronald grabbed Leilade and violently shook her, provoking the reactions of everyone around them. Before that, it was just a standard discussion between two young kids, but now, the boy was assaulting the little girl. From her lack of reaction, she was probably terrified and two young teenagers dropped the heavy box they were lifting and approached them.

"What is happening here, is anything wrong?" They were coming peacefully, but they never let Leilade out of their sight. She was still not responding, and only the angered face of Ronald was telling them anything. The young boy harshly rebuked the help of the two comers. "That's fine, everything is fine, you don't have to bother us." But they didn't care a single bit about Ronald and kept getting closer until they finally dropped the facade.

"We are not talking to you, kiddo, we are talking to the girl you are holding in your hands. And until she says that we misunderstood the situation, we won't leave." The small spark of anger escalated more quickly than anyone could have guessed and in the end, even the door nearby that was previously shut down suddenly opened. An old man with a stern face, Arthar Rodil, and a beautiful little girl, Istuienn Gwendhir, finally appeared. The former was perplexed about the fact that Leilade was still not seen, but that question was rapidly resolved the moment he put his eyes on Ronald. The boy was getting more and more bothersome for the magus.

"What are you all idling about? Keep working, bunch of lazy buns!" The authoritarian voice of the old man prompted everyone to resume what they were doing previously. Even the two teenagers reluctantly began to lift the box once again, not without looking at Leilade one last time. Now that Arthar had arrived, the bullying they witnessed will stop immediately. But contrarily to what they expected, the first to say something was not him but Istuienn that ran toward Ronald.

"What happened, why was everyone surrounding you, did someth… oh, you are here." At first, she was oblivious of the presence of Leilade and only saw Ronald. To her defense, Leilade was so small that the relatively tall body of the boy blocked the sight of the princess. But the platonic remark at the end clearly showed who she was favoring. Profiting of this, the boy waited no time and quickly painted the entire situation at his advantage.

By the time Arthar had grabbed a random magician to inquire about what happened, Istuienn already had been converted and was even looking with hostility at Leilade. At this point, it became obvious to the demon commandant that any hopes someone could have about making her and the princess friends were gone. And as expected, the moment Arthar reached the group of kids, Istuienn immediately attacked.

"Teacher, this girl is having a behavior totally unacceptable for the Academy. To be here should be an immense opportunity for someone like her, but instead of repaying that with hard work and respect, she acts like that. This can't be tolerated." The fact that she truly thought like that only made the magus have a headache. Her tone had an imperceptible air of righteousness, that could make someone unaware of what happened truly trust her words. Unfortunately for Ronald, Arthar was totally aware of what probably happened.

"What did I say to you little boy, you don't belong to this floor yet. Now leave this place."

"But, she…" Ronald tried to argue, but was

"LEAVE!" For the first time, the magus used some of his powers to shut down the boy. This made Istuienn displeased, but even she wasn't able to force a magus to do as she wished. Feeling that he couldn't do anything more, Ronald finally left, but not without throwing a black stare at Leilade and then waved at Istuienn. The latter waved back, not noticing the comprehensive look the magus and the other girl exchanged with themselves. Her mission just became a lot harder than it was previously.

When the princess turned back, her smile vanished and she harbored the cutest angry face that the magus ever saw. He could hardly take the granddaughter of his twin seriously, but the girl in front of him was at another level. So for him, to hear her saying as seriously as she could the numerous reasons why Leilade should be punished, was worthless. When Istuienn ran out of things to say, he just shrugged it off and returned to his room. The princess immediately followed him, not without trying to find additional bad things to say, like the fact that Leilade had strange eyes and was solitary. She was again oblivious to the presence of the very same person that she was denigrating.

"Why is she here with us?" When the door was closed, she finally realized that they were three in the room and while it was logical for her to question her presence. Seeing no reaction from either the other student or the magus, she repeated the same question. "Why is she here with us? I thought I was the only one that would be taught by you."

"Yes, it should have been the case. But by mistake, I accidentally called this young lady to me. Because of this, it would have been possible that another mage tried to do the same and failed because the spell was already casted by me. Therefore, to compensate that tragic error, she will be considered your peer." The logical excuse didn't sound as logical as they originally thought. But to their surprise, Istuienn didn't point out the very obvious flaws and only cared about the stroke of luck.

"That's inadmissible, why someone as talented as Ronald couldn't receive such a high treatment but someone as weak as her could? At worst, just find her some random magician, it won't be such a loss for her. To already have someone taking care of her would be a blessing, so for you, to personally lower you…"

"I AM NOT LOWERING ANYTHING, PRINCESS ISTUIENN!" The magus cut immediately the sentence she was pronouncing. To have a bias for a boy was still in the limit that the Academy could handle, but to have such a mindset was outrageous. They were all citizens of the Massalia Kingdom, and they should still be treated as such. Compared to the princess, Leilade was appearing even more mature and with her talent, Arthar even began to think that just her was potentially enough. He was not the kind to forgive and forget ungrateful behaviors. Istuienn was shocked to be rebuked like that, but even if she kept quiet, she didn't stop to look at Leilade, throwing daggers with her eyes.

"Great, now that I know that you have both met previously, it will be easier to work together. Each afternoon, you will come in front of this room or where you were tasked to go the day before immediately after you ate your lunch. You can arrive later or earlier if you want to do something before entering the canteen. But the moment you are done eating, you will get there. Without … any … delay" He heavily focused on the last sentence, while looking at the princess. The latter didn't even get that and was still fuming.

"Now that this was explained, I can tell you how everything will happen. You will always be under the supervision of a magician of at least the 3rd Circle. Most of the time, you will just cast spells after spells, having a large array of those at your disposal. If you desire it, you can also enter those rooms, they will be unlocked only for you. Inside it, you will find some of the latest inventions and still in development devices, to broaden your horizon. But please restrain yourself to not bother the magicians when they are working. You can ask your questions, but not when they are casting a spell or concentrating on a problem. And that's it, now follow me."

They descended the stairs and even left the facility to head toward the stables. They crossed the immense greenhouse and saw three kids from the same class waiting inside it. They were surprised to see Arthar and Istuienn in this place, but when they noticed Leilade behind them, their mouth became wide open. Right before reaching the resting place of the magical creatures, they turned to the left and arrived at a huge barren plain, with a very sparse amount of grass. On the ground, numerous traces of frozen soil and burned areas could be seen.

"Take this! [Ice Arrow]!" A woman shouted that and her enemy barely had the time to create a [Fire Shield] before the impact. Because of the might of the spell and the difference in power between the two mages, the man ended up with an injury at his left shoulder, effectively ending the duel. At that sight, the ice magician shouted her joy and jumped in the air, celebrating her victory. She still offered her hand to the dejected man and helped him get up, before checking the damage done. After doing this, they finally saw the magus supervising this and saluted him before quickly leaving.

"As you can see, it is a very popular place for young people to fight each other. And that's what you will do for the next months. In the middle of winter, there will be a small competition between students, to rank them up. What will follow can be easily guessed. The higher you fare at this friendly spar, the better the rewards you will receive. Because you are under my wings, I will be extremely displeased if your results are not enough. And not even your lineage will matter in this case."

After dropping that bomb, the magus left the two girls alone, to do whatever they wanted. And by the by the evil grin on the angelic face of one of them, what will follow won't be pretty. Especially when the other party was not even bothering to care about what will happen.