TWENTY NINE: The Prince (Patreon)

“Goooood Morning!” I sprang out of bed, and whooshed the curtains open. Golden rays burst into my room covering everything in sight. The sky was blue with no signs of any clouds in sight just like usual.

Ah, what a blessing it is to be a citizen of Butter Town.

“Lah lah loo, lah lah loo,” I hummed gently making my way downstairs as I did.

“What’s got you so happy this morning?” Silvia said from beneath the stairs, tilting her head slightly.

“Just you know, happy to be here.” I said giving her a warm and welcoming smile.

“Happy to… be here?” Silvia said slowly, tilting her head further. Then it all clicked into place for her and her expression came to life. “Is this still about that?”  

“Um, maybe.” I said, smiling.

“You know Reno, it’s been a week since you made that sword and you’re still going on about it even now?” Silvia sighed exasperatedly.

It wasn’t really her fault to be honest, an entire week had passed and I was still going on about it like it was just yesterday. I mean who could blame me—I was a real blacksmith now.

But that wasn’t the reason I was so happy today. At least not the only reason. Could she have forgotten?

“Reno, you’re awake.” Glyffe said from the door. “What’s with the weird dancing and the massive grin? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about First Bloom again?” Glyffe said as he covered his face with second-hand embarrassment.

I avoided eye contact. Had Glyffe forgotten too?

“Well if you’re awake enough to dance and float about then you’re awake enough to train. Come on, let’s go for a run.” He waved his hand signalling me to follow him.

“I’m coming too.” Silvia said changing her shoes.

“The more the merrier.” Came Glyffe’s voice from outside. I quickly went upstairs and changed out of my pyjamas and put something suitable for running on. Honestly, I should’ve known the days of eating silver oat porridge first were over. Now it was just running and sword swings for breakfast.

“The weather sure is nice,” Glyffe said heartily as we started jogging. We were running a light-moderate pace which I was more than comfortable with by now. In fact I was probably uncomfortable with how slow this pace felt to me.

“See? Now you get why I was in such a good mood.” I said, tagging onto what Glyffe said. Silvia smiled.

“How’s school going Reno?” she continued. It had become customary to talk about our days when going on these runs and since I’d started school a week ago this had been the most frequently asked question from both Glyffe and Silvia. To which I always replied…

“Good. School is going good.” I hesitated. Everyone there was nice enough, but sometimes… I don’t know. The air felt heavy, like there were things happening behind the scenes no one wanted to talk about.

“How about the magic lessons, are they helpful?” Silvia continued a concerned look on her face.

Magic lessons? She didn’t usually ask about those.

“They’re not very helpful…”

“Ah I worried that’d be the case.” She sighed softly. “Maybe it wasn’t necessary to ask Mrs Rose to move you up.” 

Huh?

“Wait—it was you that made me move up?” I blurted in surprised.

“Maybe.” She smiled. I should’ve known Mrs Rose wouldn’t randomly have moved me up for no reason, after all, how did she known how good I was at magic? So it was Silvia’s doing this whole time…

“I doubt the problem was that you moved him up,” Glyffe cut in, offering his two Teaves. “The problem was that you didn’t move him up high enough.”

 “Maybe.” Silvia said, looking up to the sky pensively.

“How high do you mean?” I asked curiously.

“Probably around the same as the scouts—so about ten to fifteen years old.”

Whoa he wanted me to be learning and going to school with people almost double my age? That seemed kinda scary but when I thought about it, it was probably more appropriate. Still, it wouldn’t be appropriate enough, not with my knowledge and understanding of magic and science. I guess home-schooling would have to do.

We were running a circuit which started at the front of our house and passed a few different hills and the outskirts of Butter Town before returning to the back of our house. By now I’d seen this rolling hills dozens of times but it never failed to impress me even now. It was like always being on holiday and having a five star scenic view just waiting for you to see whenever you wanted.

“That was fast, we’ve been getting quicker haven’t we?” Glyffe said as we made it back to the house.

“One… more lap?” I said slowly. One more lap wouldn’t hurt, right?

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to get out of training already? The day’s just started,” Glyffe said disappointedly.

“Fine, fine—let’s go train.” Back to the sword I go.

We walked in and I grabbed my sword which was at the entrance. As I walked out our flower garden caught my attention.

Some of them had already bloomed like the Lumin and Hydrun flowers but the Sonus and Flescia flowers still hadn’t. Regardless it was starting to shape up now and was a beautiful symbol of our hard work.

“Is today the same as usual?” I said looking up at Glyffe with some expectation.

“Yes, it will be.” He said neutrally.

“Come on…” I slouched over. “Just sword swings again?”

He nodded.

“You aren’t going to teach me any fancy sword moves or techniques?”

He nodded again—typical. I’d been training with the sword for about a year and half now with Glyffe but all he taught me was to swing it in a straight line. No stances or flashy moves, just a standard sword swing. I was getting bored of it by now.

“One, two, three…” I got going like I always did. I’d gotten used to being one with the sword in a weird way. Now I could forget about myself and focus solely on the sword at will. It helped with monotone tasks like these but apart from that I didn’t see much real advantage. Maybe that’d change once I got into real fights or did some real sparring.

On the bright side, this training made me naturally get stronger. I’d developed my muscular endurance greatly and I could even see a six pack peeking through—albeit, barely.

“Nine hundred and ninety eight, nine hundred and ninety nine and one thousand.” I said as I stood up straight. Light work.

“Good.” Glyffe looked at the watch in his hand. “Breakfast still isn’t ready yet. Do another one thousand.”

W-w-w-what? You’ve got to be kidding me?

“What’s that look for?” he paused. “I’m serious.”

Another one thousand? Is he trying to kill me? I thought back to when I’d just finished and how easy I’d tried to make it seem like it was for me. Suddenly, I felt regret.

“F-fine,” I said loudly, hoping that Silvia from the kitchen would hear the desperation in my voice. Unfortunately, she didn’t.

“One thousand five hundred… one thousand eight hundred… one thousand nine hundred and eighty… haaah… two thousand…” I said slowly, my hands losing their strength quickly. But I didn’t drop my sword. If I did that then I wouldn’t get off with just two thousand swings.

Instead I thrust it into the ground and leaned all my weight onto it. It was my partner after all, I couldn’t treat it badly—definitely not while Glyffe was watching at least.

“Good. You’ve improved greatly.” He nodded in satisfaction. “Soon I’ll show you a basic technique.”

Oh? Really? My eyes lit up as I stared at Glyffe like he was some sort of rare artefact from a museum.

“Soon.” He emphasised. Oh, I guess in parent language that means in a few months or years.

“Reno come eat quickly, you’ll be late for school at this rate!” Silvia shouted from the door. “I’ve been calling you for a while now, didn’t you hear me?”

She’s been calling me this whole time—I couldn’t hear a thing. Was it because I was so focused on the training?

Late to school? But Glyffe was keeping track of the time, how could I be late? I looked up at Glyffe who was currently scratching his head with a sheepish smile. Seriously, Glyffe, always prioritising training over everything else aren’t you.

“Coming.” I ran over, using my exhaustion as fuel. I munched through everything Silvia had made as fast as I could before I left for the hills. I can’t be late to school on my second week.

“Careful!” Silvia’s voice came from behind as I went ahead. I nodded.

Had they both really forgotten? It was immature but for some reason I felt sadder than I should have.

“Morning Reno.” A sweet voice came from the seat beside me.

Morning? Is that all she wants to say to me? “Hey Magia,” I said turning to the seat next to me. “How was your morning?”

“It was really nice, I slept very well yesterday.” She said adjusting her glasses.

“Sup, Reno.” Jamie’s voice came flying over from the front of the class.

“Hm.”

“Morning.” Came Phill’s voice from the window seat.

“Hey.” Bill waved from across the class.

I waved back. So none of you remembered it either. For a second, though, I thought I caught something strange—Magia’s smile was off. But maybe I was just imagining it.

“Listen up everyone, quiet down, today we’ll be practicing our reading. We’ll take turns to read out this text.” Mrs Rose quietened down the class and handed out a sheet containing what looked to be an extract from a book of some sort.

Magia’s expression flickered the moment she saw the extract. Her hands tightened on the paper, just for an instant. Nobody else seemed to notice—but I did.

“What’s wrong?” I said noticing the change in her body language.

“Oh it’s nothing, I’ve just read this before.” She said softly.

“You have? Do you remember what it’s about?”

“Actually, I do…” she turned slightly red. “It’s about a free, angelic-like prince who rescued a girl from an evil demon.”

“An angelic prince and an evil demon?” I repeated curiously. “I wonder why Mrs Rose chose something from that book for us to read out.

Magia’s glasses misted slightly. “I also… wonder why she chose this.”

We went in turns reading out from the extract until it got to Magia’s turn. She stood up.

“Then the girl felt alone, and had nowhere to turn to. She couldn’t escape her nightmare—not by herself. And then the angelic prince turned up…”

Mrs Rose raised her hand. “Stop there. Reno, you read the rest.”

I got up as Magia went to sit down. “Are you alright milady? The prince said to the girl once he’d chased away her nightmare. Then the girl said thank you for saving me and thank him graciously. Then they got married and lived happily after. The end.”

Well it was as simple as children stories got. For some reason Magia had gone bright red hearing me say those last words. What’s up with her? Anyways, I sat back down.

“That’s all for today, class. There’ll be no magic lessons today so you’re all free to eat and go home. Dismissed.” Mrs Rose left the classroom as everyone stood up to leave too. Of course Bill was already half way out the door.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Magia’s hands tighten on her desk. Her face drained of colour, and before I could ask if she was okay, she shot up and ran for the door.

An older student stood, eyes narrowing, and hurried after her.

That look on Magia’s face… I didn’t know what it meant or why she made that face but one thing was certain. I never wanted to see her make that face again.

Magia

I looked down at the extract Mrs Rose had picked out. Of all the ones she could’ve picked… it’s this?

“What’s wrong?” Reno said from beside me. I guess my expression made my confusion obvious.

“Oh it’s nothing, I’ve just read this before.” I replied softly.

When it was my turn to read out the extract I did so and reading it made me feel like I was the girl from the extract. Living in a nightmare, a hell with no one safe to turn to. No one to wake her up. When was my prince going to arrive…

Suddenly Mrs Rose told me to sit down and Reno stood up and read out the next part. I’d imagined him saying the next words countless times but hearing it for real felt different. For some reason I felt myself getting hotter and even feeling a tad embarrassed. But it was over as soon as it came.

“That’s all for today, class. There’ll be no magic lessons today so you’re all free to eat and go home. Dismissed.”

As soon as I heard Mrs Rose’s words my heart squeezed. I could feel the blood draining from my face. If there was no lessons for the older kids then she’d come back. The devil.

I forgot about my surroundings and rushed to get away, my footsteps pounding down the academy’s hallway. Doors blurred past me, but nowhere felt safe.

I only hoped Reno didn’t notice. I didn’t want to upset him or make him worry on his special day. We were all doing our best to keep the surprise a secret—I couldn’t make him worry over my problems.

I stumbled into the courtyard, sunlight glaring off the stone tiles. Normally it was full of people, but right now it felt too wide, too open—no place to hide. I heard a voice. Her voice.

“You can’t run Magia.” The demon said from behind me. No, please… just leave me alone. Why is it always me? Like a curse I can’t shake, no matter how quiet I stay.

I clutched at my head hoping I could just wish for them to go away and it’d work. I could feel my eyes starting to water as I curled inwards.

“P-please j-just leave me alone…” I mumbled quietly. I wasn’t even sure they could hear me. My words oozed out thick and useless, like my own mouth was trying to drown me. It was always like this when they came to pick on me.

“You know you bring this on yourself right?” The approached from behind. What were they going to do to me this time… pull my hair again? Throw water at me again? Insult my Grandpa again? Laugh at my struggles?

“S-stop, don’t come any closer…” I said carefully holding a hand out. But they wouldn’t stop.

“Fine we’ll do this the hard way.” The demon raised her hand in the air as her minions watched on in awe. Not again… why did it always end up this way. Her hand dropped.

Slap!

The sound I was expecting didn’t come.

“Get away from her now.” A voice came from behind the demons. Who was that?

“Or what?”

Suddenly a great wall of flames rose about them, big enough to look like it’d consume them whole if they were even an inch closer. This magic… is it Mrs Rose?

The girls squealed all running away with their tails between their legs as if they’d seen a ghost. And through the flames, like he’d stepped straight out of the fairy tale, came a boy with golden hair and clear blue eyes.

“Are you alright milady?” the prince said softly.

I shook my head—I must be hearing things, Reno wouldn’t say something like that.

“Are you alright, Magia?” he extended a hand out. A took his hand. Maybe he hadn’t wandered into my hell. Maybe I’d wandered into his angelic paradise.

Reno

I chased after her wondering what all the commotion was about. Something was off—my gut instincts were almost sure of it. I made it to the courtyard where I saw Magia curled up into a ball surrounded by a group of older students.

I flipped.

“Get away from her now.” I said coldly. I realised I recognised one of the girls besides the main bully.

“Or what?” the brown-haired girl stepped forwards. I lost my patience.

Flame Funeral.

Fire roared to life, a wall of heat exploding between us. The stone glowed, air warped. If she’d taken even a single step forward, she’d be ash.

“Next time I won’t hold back.” I said slowly.

“Eeek!” They fled, terrified.

“I’m disappointed in you, Zyra.” I said as she ran past. She wasn’t the main bully but she was at fault nonetheless.

I hated this. Ganging up on someone weaker, cornering them until they couldn’t even speak… it made my blood boil.

It made me remember Glyffe’s words all those years ago. Strength is to protect the weak. I know Glyffe would be proud if he saw what I’d done today.

Now everything made sense. I understood why Magia was always so distant to Rosette when Zyra was around and why those two always had some sort of silent clash whenever they were close to each other. It turns out it’s because of something like this…

I walked over to Magia, the intermediate spell I used finally fading. It was definitely overkill—in hindsight I should’ve used something like the intermediate water spell at most. I extended a hand to Magia who was still sat on the floor.

“Are you alright, Magia?” I said softly. She looked at me with a blank stare as if I hadn’t said anything. Did she not hear me?

She shook her head as if to wake herself. I repeated my words from earlier. “Are you alright, Magia?” She nodded slowly. 

“Don’t worry I’ll take care of this, I’ll make sure they don’t come back.” I smiled at her. I’d tell Mrs Rose and my parents about this—they’d definitely be able to put a stop to it for good.

Truthfully, I didn’t blame Magia for not speaking up. Bullies like these made you feel trapped. Like even if you scream, no one will hear you. I’m sure she just didn’t want to worry her Grandpa.

The most important thing now was to give her the care she needed while making sure she knew what to do if she ever found herself going through the same thing.

She just stared at me, wide-eyed, her lips trembling as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t. “Thank you, prince.” She suddenly blurted before turning red.

What—prince? Was she still thinking about books even now?