Chapter 23

“Alessia.”

“Yes, Kaon! I’m up!” The voice coming through the curtain was livelier than ever, despite it being far too early in the morning for any sort of cheerfulness from anyone.

She seemed to be in a good mood.

Kaon looked at the curtain and said quietly, “Don’t go out today and just rest.”

“I’m fine, though.”

“Leonida also told me to rest. Since you dealt with the monster yesterday, you should take today off.”

“I’m really okay… but if Lady Leonida said so, I can’t help it,” Alessia replied, her tone disappointed.

Kaon felt bad for disappointing his unusually excited fiancée, but he had something to look into. He swallowed the words forming on his tongue with a sigh. As it was, if he continued to talk to her, it was highly likely that he would end up giving in to Alessia’s wishes.

‘Let’s just figure this out for now.’

He turned away from the curtain and stepped out of his room.

***

After the inspection, the mage headed directly for his room. While the knights were likely to gather around and talk for a bit, but there was no such thing for him.

He didn’t waste his time on talking.

“Hey.”

And that was why he didn’t look back. It wasn’t clear that he was the one being called anyway, was it? The mage simply decided to ignore it.

“Mage.”

This time, there was no other choice but to respond.

As surmised from the curt, confident speech, the person was of high status. Very high status.

“Prince Kaon? What is it?” the mage responded as sincerely as possible, if not as kindly.

“I want to ask you something. Do you have a moment?”

“Oh, sorry, I’m a little…”

“Thank you for your willingness. Please follow me.”

His attempt to politely decline promptly ignored, the mage trailed after Kaon with a sour expression.

Kaon knew that the mage was very unhappy with the situation, but he didn’t intend to let him go until he sated his curiosity.

“Can you explain what happens when you use magic?”

The mage frowned at the simple question, almost like he would have laughed or sighed in his face if he were not Ferdinand’s young master. “It’s an innate skill. You just have to harness the mana and go along with it.”

“What does that mean?”

“You just have to be born with the capabilities.”

So far, it was all knowledge Kaon had already known. “So you can’t use magic if you don’t have it?”

“…Isn’t that obvious? How do you bake bread without flour?”

“I’d like you to explain it in more detail.”

The mage sighed. “To put it simply, it’s like this.” Looking around indifferently, he picked up a nearby tablecloth and blew into it, the sky blue fabric shaking violently. “Can you see it? The tablecloth moves because I’m blowing air into it.”

Kaon nodded.

“As the prince may already know, the air in space is invisible. When I disrupt it with my breath, the tablecloth moves. If I don’t do that, nothing will happen.”

“So?”

“The air is like mana, my breath is the magic within me, and the phenomenon of the tablecloth shaking is magic. So if you don’t stimulate it with your own power, the mana won’t react.”

“Will it react if you hit it?”

Dumbfounded, the mage looked at Kaon derisively, but avoided eye contact when he saw the steely look in the young man’s eyes.

“One last request.”

“Do you have anything else to ask?”

Kaon tilted his head toward the candlestick on a side table. “Can you light that candlestick? I heard you are a recognized fire mage.”

“Prince Kaon, it’s natural that you don’t know, but using magic consumes a tremendous amount of stamina…”

“I’ll give you a bonus.”

“Then…” The mage obediently retrieved the candlestick, closed his eyes, and murmured unintelligibly.

At the same time, Kaon watched the space distort like a rising haze. A faint green energy swirled and wrapped around the mage.

The moment he uttered the last word, the energy flew toward the candlestick, whose wick burst into flames immediately.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“I don’t forget my promises.” Kaon opened the door and stepped aside, letting the mage pass first. “Are you sure that you can’t use magic if you aren’t born with it?”

“You’d better not ask such a question in front of a wizard ever again.

That answer was enough.

***

“All of a sudden?”

“Yeah. There were a lot of knights who couldn’t believe it.”

“Since when did our master think of knights like that… Oh, don’t look at me that way, it’s heartbreaking.” Maurice smirked. “Isn’t that why you’re asking Miss Alessia to show you magic?”

“Right.”

Kaon had confirmed that his knowledge about magic principles was accurate. Now all that was left was to watch Alessia use her magic once again.

‘I might have been mistaken.’

He obviously stared at her more than anyone else, but he might have poor eyesight, after all.

‘I’ll have to apologize if this misunderstanding came about because I didn’t see properly.’

What was happening? She used magic right in front of his eyes, but he was suspecting that she was not a mage. If all people could control mana despite not being born with the ability to, Ferdinand wouldn’t have needed to hire any mages.

Kaon only needed to verify that he was the one being stupid so he could sincerely apologize for the unnecessary suspicion.

“Lady Alessia!”

Kaon, who had been waiting impatiently, raised his head at Maurice’s lively greeting.

Alessia, who had just exited the barracks, approached the two with an open expression.

Kaon’s heart fluttered.

“Maurice! Kaon!”

“I heard that you did a great job yesterday. Oh, oh, it’s so sad that I didn’t see it with my own eyes. How could a monster appear while I was not there? Had I been with you, the lady wouldn’t have even lifted a hand,” Maurice prattled on, his tongue as smooth as butter.

Kaon almost felt regret, but the beginnings of it were instantly washed away by Alessia’s clear laughter.

“How are you so good at flattery?”

“It’s not flattery, it’s sincere praise. Is there anything else that makes people happier than sincerity?”

“I’ve learned something new again.”

“There’s only one other person who knows that, Miss Alessia.” Then Maurice pretended to have a sudden thought, “Ah!”

“What’s wrong, Maurice?”

“Lady, if you don’t mind, can you use your magic now? I’ve talked a lot about your greatness, but there are those who think I’m exaggerating.” He clenched his jaw. “It’s the evening, so if you could shoot fire into the sky, everyone will believe what I’ve been saying.” He clasped his hands together.

“Well… I’m not really that great, so they may have a point.”

“Oh, don’t say that. Lady Alessia is no less than a god in my eyes.”

She rolled her eyes, seemingly burdened by the knight’s twinkling green ones.

Noticing that this method wasn’t working, Maurice hurriedly changed tactics. “Actually, I just want to see it again. Is that weird? But even if I asked the other mages, nobody would agree…”

“But…”

“Please, please, just this once… I mean, I’ve never used magic in my entire life.”

Kaon hadn’t asked Maurice to go that far in his acting, but at this point, it was probably just that he was immersed in the role.

“Alright, it’s not that difficult. You can stop begging now.”

“Alessia Ingelos, you are an angel!”

She giggled.

Kaon, caught off-guard by her pretty smile, came to his senses when she quietly began to murmur the spell.

A brief moment passed and Alessia raised her right hand to the sky. Then, just as she had melted the monster’s nucleus, fire shot out of her hand and lit up the sky with a pop.

“You’re the best mage ever!”

As many eyes turned to the sky and Maurice sang her praises, Kaon grabbed Alessia’s wrist.

“Let me talk to you for a minute, Alessia.”