/
Just a mess (2)
[Adelia Bavaria felt mana.]
[You succeeded in imprinting mana on Adelia Bavaria.]
[Mana successfully settled in the body of Adelia Bavaria.]
[A mana heart was created in the body of Adelia Bavaria.]
The first engraving and creation of the mana heart were processed quickly.
“Ah…”
Adelia glanced down at her heart, raised her hand to touch it, and stayed still for a long time.
It must feel strange for her. Mana has settled in her body.
I was satisfied looking at her image, but I suddenly felt dizzy.
Um…
There was no power left inside at all.
My own mana heart was empty. My head hurt.
It was my first attempt to do it as a human, not as a sword, so it consumed too much power.
The world was spinning.
“Your Highness?”
I heard Adelia’s voice. I tried to raise my head. I could see her pale face looking at me.
“Your Highness? Are you okay?!”
“I am okay. Just a little tired…”
It hurts my pride to get so weak after making a mana heart. However, my body didn’t seem to care about my pride.
My legs felt weak, and I had to sit down. Fortunately, a chair was right behind me.
If there wasn’t, it would have been a big crash.
“Well, I just need to rest a little…” I behaved as if I was going to sit in that chair from the beginning.
“Your Highness, because of humble me…”
Adelia looked at me with a complicated expression. Her face seemed to be impressed.
I looked at her eyes. Her pupils were like a deer’s.
There was also a small glow that was not there before.
It was evident that the seeds I planted were successfully established.
With a sigh of relief, I told her what to do.
“What I just did is to create your mana heart. Whenever you can, try to do practice with it.”
She nodded.
It was now Adelia’s job to make the seed sprout.
I was looking forward to watching her do it.
“Go home. That’s it for today.”
Adelia hesitated. It seemed that she had something to say.
“What is it?” I prodded her.
“I will serve you with all my heart. Thank you once again.”
I smiled and replied,
“Just never forget that I am your master.”
I am afraid of what could happen if she does forget, really.
* * *
Three days have passed since I’ve made a mana heart for Adelia.
She quickly adapted to it, as if proving her A-class talent, and is now able to run mana alone without my help.
Meanwhile, Bernard Eli still hasn’t come.
Carls tried to explain the situation. “It is said that it is not that he doesn’t want to come…”
Bernardo Eli was protected (more likely, detained) by the Royal Guards as a witness to the disturbance.
“His Majesty has ordered him not to meet anyone until the day of the trial.”
It was natural that he couldn’t come.
“So, do I have to go on trial, too?”
Carls shook his head.
“The royal family never stands on trial. Perhaps His Majesty will choose a suitable representative to take your place. Your Highness doesn’t have to worry about it.”
“That’s good! It’s really annoying.”
Carls stared at me. I sent him out and called Adelia.
“From today on, you will join me at practice. Go and change to comfortable clothes.”
I headed to the training hall.
Uncle was inside, pretending not to have seen me.
“Huh.”
The fact that I had been stuck inside a room with Adelia while I made her mana heart seemed to be misunderstood. The First Prince is known around the country as a horny one.
“Your Highness,” Adelia arrived quickly, wearing pants and a shirt.
I looked at her. “What are you doing? Start running! Ten turns around the hall.”
Adelia hesitated a little bit, then started running.
“What are you doing now?” Uncle asked me in a stiff voice.
“Oh, I thought you hadn’t noticed me. You were relaxing,” I replied eagerly as I caught a wooden sword he tossed.
“That child…” His gaze remained fixed to Adelia.
“I told you before. I’m going to make her a knight.”
He seemed fed up after hearing the words too many times. His expression turned cold.
“Is making a knight so trivial in your eyes?” He started to pour out.
“Have you ever thought about so many apprentices trying to become knights? Do you know how your actions will seem to them?”
“Ah-oh! I just did it twice, so why are you getting sentimental?”
I was fed up with the endless nagging. “If you don’t like it, then what are you doing here? You shouldn’t have come if you don’t want to see me.”
“I didn’t come because I wanted to come. It’s because of your mother!”
“Oh, please.”
Court knights intervened. “Count Balahard, please lower your voice and calm down.”
Uncle looked embarrassed. It seemed embarrassing to have a rude nephew.
On the other hand, I felt nothing.
I’m already screwed from the beginning. No matter what I did, everyone saw it as a mess.
It’s nothing new.
Even the court knights looked at me the same.
I like it this way.
I have a reputation for being a frustration, and I will turn it around.
Adelia soon joined us, breathless, and saw the commotion between Uncle and me.
Uncle cursed and stepped away, watching us with his arms folded.
“Your Highness, it’s my fault. Because of me…”
“No, why are you apologizing?” I told her, then gave her a wooden sword.
“Today, let’s train lightly.”
I showed her how to hold the swords and demonstrated some postures.
Today, I planned on doing just that.
But I couldn’t.
She was taking the lessons like a cotton ball sucking water.
After only a few demonstrations, she learned the basics.
“Now, what’s next?” she asked.
I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing, and her ancestor naturally came to my mind as I watched her.
Agnes was also a monster like this.
When I first met her, she was only fifteen. A young girl, who knew nothing, slew three men with a sword at her first try.
Adelia inherited the same talents that she had.
I taught her some more moves.
These were basic moves according to her current physical condition.
Chopping, stabbing, pulling.
She did the same thing I did in just three attempts.
“Your Highness, next?”
Adelia’s eyes were pleading.
I taught her some more. These were also basics, but more difficult for beginners.
She imitated them as if they were boring.
Her eyes turned to me again. I frowned.
When I saw that she was effortlessly doing the movements I had taught her, I was kind of happy.
However, something in my mind flashed.
She will overtake me, unconditionally.
I have to grow stronger than her.
The characteristic of [Servility] was obedience to the strong.
She would not respect someone weaker than herself.
“Hmm…”
As I stood there thoughtfully, I heard a cough. Uncle was approaching us.
“Why?” I asked him. I thought his nagging would start again.
But his attitude was strange this time.
He was watching Adelia with a light on his eyes.
I’ve never seen him look at me like that.
There was surprise in his eyes, definitely. Or greed. Or both.
Uncle’s eyes are burning.
“What are you going to do?” I blocked him.
Ha! Those eyes were completely obsessed.
If I had the power to recognize the other’s talents, Uncle surely could see it, too.
It was not hard to see that Adelia was a genius.
Of course, I had no intention of letting others steal her talent.
“She is my knight,” I told Uncle.
He frowned. “What can you do to her?”
I’ve only trained with the sword for a few months; his eyes seemed to be pointing out.
“You cannot afford her,” he said bluntly.
I laughed.
“If I can’t handle her, no one else can.”
Only
“You are mad,” Uncle whispered strongly.
It was quiet enough for the court knights not to notice it but strong enough to break a man’s will.
If I was the First Prince of old, I would have resigned quickly, trembling even.
But I wasn’t a mess like him.
“She is mine.”
I stared back.
I have a weak prince’s body, but the soul of a sword that slew a dragon and countless other beings.