CH 28

Dismaya crossed his arms and sighed. 

After Professor Yannis had left, Dismaya discussed Cain’s progress with Professor Cyrus (Cain’s Etiquette teacher), Professor Kraise (his music teacher), Professor Cersis (his fine arts teacher), Professor Tirunoa (his magic teacher), and Arnoldia and Sarasinia, who were teaching him swordsmanship and physical education in between shifts on guard duty. 

They all reported the same thing – Cain had already progressed far beyond the expectations for a normal seven-year-old. 

This was simply a product of Cain’s habits. He was accustomed to using the strategy of grinding in video games to level up, slowly but surely, in order to make sure he could easily defeat his enemies when he was finally faced with them. On top of that, Cain was blessed with being a main character in this game, which gave him the physical and mental abilities to improve rapidly, as long as he put the work in. 

Cain knew that the more he bulked up and raised his levels before charging into any battle or event, the fewer chances he had of making mistakes or running into trouble. His audience on YouTube also enjoyed it when he played that way, so he had gotten quite used to playing games in this way. 

Ever since he had been born into this world as Cain Elgrandark, he was actually living in a game. More than ever, he felt that he couldn’t allow any missteps. This had pushed him to concentrate all his efforts on this “grinding to level up” strategy. 

As a result, although he was still only seven years old, he had acquired academic knowledge on par with third-graders at the magic academy. He had also accrued the skills necessary to perform three types of powerful magic.

His only weakness was in the fine arts. His teacher had said, “His composition and technique are top-notch, but his emotional expressiveness and understanding of style are a bit… Well, it’s good enough to pass, for a noble.” 

On the other hand, when it came to swordsmanship, he didn’t quite have the stature or muscles to put up a good fight, but he was said to be a natural when it came to combat sense. Arnoldia had said, “If he locks swords with someone, he’ll get overpowered, but when it comes to striking, parrying, understanding the flow of a battle, and applying his skills, he’s pretty much set, already.”

Apparently, Cain even used techniques like exploiting leverage to topple adults and attacking the neck from behind, aiming for the carotid artery. These were moves that the knights had not taught him. 

Unbeknownst to Arnoldia and Sarasinia, these were moves that Cain had pressed Ilvalino to teach him.

After hearing all of these reports from each of Cain’s tutors, Dismaya had to, yet again, consider the possibility of his own son being some sort of freak of nature. 

Dismaya reflected on his own mistakes. He had gotten used to people praising Cain for making great progress as a diligent boy, but he had never stopped to ask about any particulars. 

In the game, the plot was probably supposed to follow the thread of, “Cain is neglected because he is such a well-behaved child that his parents take him for granted.” This would lead to Cain’s personality becoming warped and his relationship with his parents worsening. He would go on to hate his parents for giving Diana all of their love. 

Cain was a thirty-something-year-old on the inside, though, and he didn’t mind being left alone. He showed more adoration towards Diana than his parents, and by thinking of his hard work as grinding to level up, the situation had developed in a different way. 

Dismaya had a letter from the Queen in his hand. 

It said that she did not mean to punish Cain, and had prepared a place for all of the children to make up. Cain was being ordered to report to the royal palace. [Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“I guess she wants to see Cain as a candidate for the Crown Prince’s inner circle…” thought Dismaya. 

Dismaya reread the letter and sighed. 

Most likely, the Queen had used her position to make inquiries on Cain. Dismaya had not ordered any of Cain’s tutors to stay quiet about the boy’s progress, and so they probably would have answered any questions they were asked. Reporting on Cain’s exceptional results would look good on them as teachers, after all. They may have even thought about the possibility of being hired to tutor the Crown Prince. 

Cain was an extraordinarily sharp student, and he had shown a sense of justice that was so strong that he didn’t flinch at upholding it against the Crown Prince. Of course, Cain’s actions hinged on the fact that Diana was involved, but that would not be evident from this one event. 

Dismaya thought to himself that it would not be strange for the Queen to want Cain as an associate to the Crown Prince. 

Elise sympathetically rubbed Dismaya’s back with a gentle touch. 

“It’s about time we start introducing our children to others their age. Perhaps this incident came at a good time… Whenever Diana is not involved, Cain is a kind and gentle boy.  He is very considerate of others,” said Elise. 

“Like you said, that’s if Diana’s not involved…” said Dismaya. 

For some reason, Cain was under the impression that Diana and the Crown Prince would become betrothed. Cain was doing everything he could to stop it. 

It was true that Diana’s age and lineage made her a good candidate for the role, but it was often said that it was not a good idea to let a noble from a high-ranking dukedom marry into the royal family since it could disrupt the balance of power. Dismaya had thought that because of this, Diana would most likely not advance past the pool of initial candidates to marry the Crown Prince. 

During Dismaya’s discussions with Cain’s tutors, the magic teacher, Professor Tirunoa, expressed his hopes for Cain to become a mage. The music teacher, Professor Kraise wished to see him become a musician. 

On the other hand, Dismaya thought, once Cain got a little bigger, he could hire a proper swordsman to teach Cain swordsmanship. It wouldn’t just be a case of parental favoritism for him to assume that Cain would receive invitations from knights all over the kingdom to join their ranks. 

Cain had been worried that Diana would attract the attention of the Crown Prince and the Queen, and he had succeeded in distracting them from her. 

Cain had used fire magic before the Queen’s very eyes. The Queen’s attention was drawn, not to Diana, but to Cain. 

Cain’s actions were based on the fact that in the game, “it had been decided since they were children that the Crown Prince would marry Diana,” but of course, there was no way Dismaya would know that. It was no wonder that he thought that Cain’s worries were unfounded. 

“For now, one thing is clear. The letter says to bring both Cain and Diana to the meeting at the palace, but we will have Diana stay home,” said Dismaya. 

“Yes, you’re right. If we say that Diana cannot follow proper etiquette as of yet, I’m sure the Queen will be understanding,” said Elise. 

“The way the letter is written, it seems they want Cain to attend much more than Diana, anyways,” said Dismaya. 

If Diana came along, and Cain snapped again, the whole meeting would be ruined. 

The Crown Prince was still a four-year-old child. No matter how he was instructed by his parents and handmaidens, there was no guarantee that he would be able to hold back his curiosity or temper. 

Although it was strange (since Cain was only seven years old, as well), as long as Diana was not involved, Dismaya and Elise could expect him to behave like an adult. After everything they had heard from his tutors, they were even more confident in this strange expectation.