Chapter 182 - Vivid (5)

Later that night.

It was already almost 10 in the evening, 2 hours left before midnight yet Alexander was still in his office, submerged in the amount of work that he needs to do. It looked like he hasn't moved here for the whole day and he only comes out of his office to eat or when it is time for his tea party with Alexandra. Even if it is just a few hours, he felt peace and relaxed when he is with her, forgetting the amount of paperwork that he needs to do right after that. The empire and he became busier nowadays, with the upcoming ball that will be held almost 2 months from now, they have to prepare early. With Alexandra's coronation a month after that ball, he also has to pick an excellent tutor or teacher just for her.

Aside from that, a month after her coronation, Calixander will graduate from the academy which means he will stay here in the palace and will attend social gatherings and balls as the prince and the one next in line to the throne. Even though he already learned so many things and what he should in order to be a proper prince and emperor, he still got some training to do. It's not about magic, it's about when he becomes an emperor. So meaning, he will teach him how to do this kind of paperwork, that would be good because as practice, he would take a quarter of his work.

Well, aside from Calixander, there's also Christian, Gilbert, and Chandler that he has to worry about. Christian just joined in the academy, Gilbert was already about to enter the second cluster, while Chandler is still being Chandler. He doesn't know if he should be stressing out because of Chandler but he heard from his personal knight that he broke the wall of Christian and Gilbert's dormitory because Gilbert wouldn't wake up and he sealed the door. But they were able to fix it, however, they were late for their classes. Even Calixander who doesn't get late got dragged in. A sigh slipped past his lips as he stopped from working and leaned back on his seat, placing the pen down on top of the desk beside the paper.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. If he doesn't finish the half of this today, there would be more than this tomorrow. It was never-ending, it feels like he is walking on a path that doesn't have an end. Even his personal knight saw how stressed he was and asked him if he would like something to drink to which he responded no. "Where's my assistant?" He asked his personal knight as his thumb and index finger were pinching the bridge of his nose. "Still doing the paperwork that you gave him, your highness. Should I summon him here?"

"No, it's fine."

He responded and leaned forward to his desk once again, continuing his work. Gripping the pen tightly in his hand as he read the paper and signed it with his signature. To the next stack he goes, he reads the papers, he signs it, he moves to the next stack. It was a cycle, a never-ending and boring cycle. Much worse than the cycle or process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly or that immortal jellyfish that never dies which he heard from Alexandra when she enters his office before and saw that his pile of work increased and doubled the amount from the day before. (It sinks to the ocean floor and begins to decay. Amazingly, its cells then reaggregate, not into a new medusa, but polyps, and from these polyps emerge new jellyfish.)

In fact, he thinks that their lives are much better than his. Come to think of it, Sir Friyedor said that he is going to come this night but it's almost midnight yet he still hasn't arrived, he thought to himself and paused from his movements. Don't tell me he is going to come at the crack of dawn, he only let out a sigh and he continued doing his work once again.

--"Be my escort."

He heard Alexandra's voice whisper inside his head. Their conversation from earlier flashed inside his head, what an unexpected thing for her to say to be honest. He actually didn't expect that and he thought that he would pick Christian or Gilbert as her escort rather than him because that's pretty much normal. The father would always be the mother's escort but his wife is gone so he always appears alone in balls and social gatherings even though there were many single noblewomen who ask him to be their escort. How bold of them, he was the emperor and he was already 49. He doesn't plan to get married once again and find another woman to replace his wife. Besides, he isn't exactly that lonely, he has 3 chaotic sons and a daughter who slightly resembles their mother as well as Christian who is similar to her.

He already moved on, probably.

Then as he was lost in the middle of his thoughts, he heard the door open loudly and a figure of a man entered the room with a grin on his face. Alexander lifted his head and he saw Sir Friyedor standing in front of his desk, he let out a sigh and place down his pen before he leaned back on his seat and crossed his legs. His hands intertwined with each other as it was placed on top of his thigh. A serious expression etched on his face as he stared at the man in front of him. "So what is it that you are going to tell me?"

"It's about the girl."

"The girl who?"

"The one at the academy, the one I told you about and investigated."

"Ah, that one."

They were talking about Elise. Sir Friyedor decided to investigate that girl as he was wondering why is she in that academy although she displays such weak magic, the fact that the headmaster even approved of it and just let her be piqued their curiosity. At first, when they learned about her existence in the academy, they just let her be and just went on with their lives but a year ago something happened that made him curious about her. Alexander doesn't care about that girl and her magic

"And? What about her?"

"It was true. She is a wielder of the Holy Magic."

Alexander's eyes widened for a moment before he narrowed his cold and sharp eyes at him, making it look like he was glaring. His gaze pierced him like a sword yet Sir Friyedor, being used to that kind of stare, wasn't fazed or scared. He just closed his eyes before he spoke, "The investigation took almost a year, to be honest. I admit it was a long time although I am just investigating one person. However, everything about her was hidden or erased. The only thing I know about her before I decided to investigate was she was the daughter of a noble. The headmaster was gone for a couple of months for business leaving just his assistant alone to manage the academy. She doesn't know a thing about that Elise," Sir Friyedor said in a baffled tone of voice as he spoke.

"How did you know that she was a wielder of the Holy Magic?"

"Gathering information and such. When the headmaster came back, I confronted him and asked him to tell me about Elise."

"You can't persuade the Headmaster, he might be old but he is almost equal to you. That man, if he wasn't the headmaster, would be one of the Elders yet he refused. He's not that easy to pursue."

"I know," Sir Friyedor showed him a 'what it seems like an innocent yet filled with malice' grin.

Alexander's eyebrows furrowed and his lips formed into a scowl, "What did you tell him?" He asked, a scowl still on his lips. Even though he already has the idea of what he did on the back of his head. Something scary, something that threatened the headmaster, what is it? He asked himself as he stared at the man in front of him. He tensed up in his seat, his shoulders stiff and his breath held in his throat as he waited for his response.

"It's about the debt that he owes me which he still hasn't paid. The one about saving his wife and family."

"Oh, I thought you threatened him that you will destroy the academy or blackmail him."

"Why would I? My precious great-grandsons are in there and that would just add up to your work, trying to fix and solve the casualties and such. Besides, I'm not an evil person, I also have a heart, you know?"

Alexander just hummed and his features softened as he relaxed. "Then how did they find out that that girl is a wielder of Holy Magic?" He asked him as he relaxed on his seat, his hands were intertwined with each other, the palm of his right hand propped his head up as his other hand was resting on top of his thigh. Friyedor just shrugged his shoulders before he responded, "That's what he didn't tell me. He said that it's not that important, what is important is that of others knew about her magic, her life would be in danger. They told me that she might be the strongest one yet her magic still hasn't manifested, it was still sealed. She was having a hard time trying to control her mana and someone was teaching her yet he doesn't know who that person is."

"Sealed?"

"Yes. It's to protect that girl, it was either her mana sealed itself or someone did. That's what usually happens to people who either wields the holy magic or dark magic. When it's time for her to use it, the seal would break by itself or to forcefully break it, they will have to perform a ritual. But they decided that they wouldn't forcefully break it, it might traumatize the child. Only some people who have high perception and keen senses would be able to sense another person's mana and tell if it's sealed or not. Even I, the strongest of the Elders, doesn't have high perception or keen senses when it comes to magic."

Alexander hummed. "Then there should a person who wields dark magic. The balance would be off if there is a wielder of holy magic but no one for dark magic."

"Yes, that is true," Sir Friyedor nodded in response and closed his eyes.

"What about the Black Wizard? He is a wielder of dark magic and there is no proof that he is dead or alive. He just disappeared without a trace after that war. Even though I still wasn't in that world when that happens, I still know that."

"I apologize but I don't know where he is. It has been almost 200 years ever since he disappeared, he might have retired or escaped, he might have died alone," Sir Friyedor lied. He knew where he is but he just kept it a secret, Harrison told him to not tell everyone about him. Just lie, it would be such a bother if they found out that he was still alive. He was hiding yet he attended the academy.

"Then there should be a wielder of dark magic, probably a person around her age."

"That's why I also came here to tell you about that," Alexander's ears piqued up and he hummed. Ever since that war, the number of people who wield Holy magic and Dark magic decreased and decreased although there are only a few of them. They kept on decreasing until nobody was left. Having a person who wields either Holy magic or Dark magic was pretty rare. A powerful one was in his land.

"Tell me," Alexander said in a serious tone of voice but there was this exciting feeling in his chest. His heart was beating loudly. Friyedor let out a sigh before he spoke, "I hope you wouldn't be shocked. It's about Alexandra's mana."

Alexander's expression crumpled when he heard his daughter's name. "What about my daughter?"

"She might be a potential wielder of either Dark magic or Holy magic."