I was told that this guy was supposed to be really stupid, but I never imagined that it would be this bad.

To say that his life is so worthless that he would be better off dead. I know better than anyone else how stupid that is because there was a time I also thought that way...

His guards seem to have taken my slap as an attack against their prince. They are all getting ready to fight, as are Irvan and Xania.

"Ah, please calm down, there's no reason to fight."

They are not listening to me.

"How dare you strike the prince!" That knight's words sound like they were about me, but he's challenging Irvan instead. I suppose that even if he feels like he has to his prince from me, he knows that he cannot really fight me.

"My mistress was too kind to give him such a soft slap after all his disrespect!"

He turned back into his dragon form, looks like they are really going to fight.

I guess I have no choice, I'll have to 'intimidate' them.

"THAT'S ENOUGH."

Looks like that got everyone's attention, the sound of weapons falling from people's hands can be heard all around the room.

"That's right mistress! Show the wha-"

"I was also talking to you."

"Y-yes, sorry."

Now, let's deal with that stupid 'clown prince'. He still seems to be confused about being slapped.

"So what was all that nonsense about wanting to die?"

"I... I have no talents, I'm nothing more than a clown, so what's the point of staying alive?"

"Tell me one thing, do you WANT to be a clown?"

"Of course not! But I have no choice! Everybody thinks that I am one."

"So what? Everybody thinks that I am an evil villain, but here I am, trying to convince you that your life has worth."

"H-how is that possible? I don't understand... If every person you met thinks that you are a villain, why don't you just become one?"

"Because I don't want to."

"..."

"And one more thing. I also don't believe what you said about having no talents. I saw that you have a 'bard' class. What is that about."

"That is probably because I play the lute in my spare time. Just not in front of people. It's just a hobby I have."

"Well, if you don't want people to think that you are talentless, you need to show them your talents! Where do you have your lute?"

"I left it at home."

"That's fine, you can borrow the one I have in my storage." I knew that there was a point in collecting all the random stuff I find in the castle. "Here, start playing."

"W-what?! You want me to play?! Here?! Now?! In front of everyone?!"

"Yes, that's the point, everyone needs to hear it."

"Don't be ridiculous! Are you trying to humiliate me even more?! I'm not going to play!"

"I didn't ask if you wanted to play, I'm ordering you to do it."

"B-but."

"NOW."

He reluctantly places his fingers on the strings and starts playing some song I do not know. At first, his nervousness makes his music quite awful, but after a few seconds he seems to forget where he is and his performance becomes really good. He reminds me a bit of myself when I become absorbed in researching magic, he must really love playing that instrument.

"Hey, I don't know much about music, but that's pretty good, right?" I whisper in Nera's ear.

"Not the best I've ever heard, but it's really good, yes."

The song ends, and the prince's guards start applauding and praising the performance. Sette's face turns red and he hides the lute behind his back as if that was going to accomplish anything.

"That sure sounded like a talent to me. You clearly must have practiced a lot to be able to play like that, and if I had killed you as you wanted me to, nobody would have ever heard it."

"Ugh..." He looks like he's about to cry, maybe the way I forced him to play was a bit too much?

"S-so, are you convinced now? You DO have a reason to live!"

"So what? For a prince, music can only be a hobby at best. I'm still useless when it comes to anything related to my duties as a member of the royal family."

"So what? Just quit. You are clearly more suited to be a musician than a prince."

"Are you stupid? I'm not allowed to quit. I was born a prince and I will have to succeed my father if my older brother cannot."

Xania snorts after hearing that.

"You know, we get a lot of crap for choosing our leaders for their strength, but choosing the kids of the previous king does not seem like a great method either."

"Well, we are at least taught to be good leaders since we are little so it is a bit better, but you are right... I've always been fine with being a princess, so I didn't realize how much of a problem it could be if someone wasn't suited for it." Nera seems to be in deep thought.

"If you cannot be a musician in your country, I can let you stay here."

"Are you serious? I would be seen as a traitor if I did that!"

"You should not care so much about what people think of you. But now that I think about it, why would they not let you quit? Didn't you say that they wanted to get rid of you?"

It really doesn't make sense, if his parents are willing to send him to die, shouldn't they be happy if he leaves of his own accord?

"I'm afraid that the king and queen of the Magnel kingdom are not what one could call sound of mind."

Arana just entered the room along with Ranna and that old man from before. She's holding a weird white flower, and Sette's face is filled with disgust when he sees it.

"That thing! That's what made mother and father change..."

Wait, I've seen that translucent rose before. It looks just like the one I had back when I was I kid.

"Ara, what is that?"

"This is one of the 'ghost roses' that began appearing in that kingdom 10 years ago. They seem to be made of void mana and can alter the mind of people that are stabbed by its thorns."

"Let me see that!"

I grab the rose from Arana and use appraisal on it, but it's not the rose that gives a response.

{Thorn of Solitude, Element: , Level: 3}

"It's not the rose, it's the thorns."

"The thorns? What do you mean?"

"These thorns are actually void demons."

And 'Solitude'... Vilde mentioned that name. It's the name of one of the void titans.

It cannot be, is this really the same flower I used to have?

I... I have to test this. I prick my finger with the thorn.

"Luna?! What are you doing?!"

"It's fine, my level only went down by one, the effects seem to be mini-"

<You forgot about me.>

T-that voice. I've heard it before.

<I will make you remember. About that time when you where always with me.>

Uh, I feel a bit dizzy. What is happening?

---

 

Ugh...

Where am I? Why is everything so big?

"Luna? What do you want?"

Who is this gigantic woman in front of me? I'm confused... Ah! I know! She's miss Liliam, the director of the orphanage where I live. And it's not that she's gigantic, I'm just smaller because I'm only 8 years old right now.

"Look! I learned a new spell!"

"A new spell?"

I've been practicing a lot these past few days to be able to use 'corpse puppet', so I wanted to show it off!

"EEK!!!"

I grabbed one of the dead rats from the kitchen and I'm making it dance, and only a few of its guts are spilling out. Rats don't normally dance, so a dancing rat is super cool! So why did miss Liliam scream?

"Isn't it cool?"

"Luna! Why are you using forbidden magic again?! Where did you even learn that from?!"

"I was reading a novel and the bad guy used that spell, so I figured out how to use it!"

"You learned a spell from a DESCRIPTION? What are you even... I guess we'll have to add that novel to the list of banned books."

"Eh?! Why?!"

"I've already told you many times that if you learn bad magic you can get in serious trouble."

"But I like learning magic..."

"Why don't you go play with the other children for once?"

"I cannot play with them, they won't let me."

"Why not? Are they bullying you?"

"I wish, if they were bullying me, they would at least talk to me..."

"You should try to be a bit less spooky and more friendly. Then you'll be able to make friends."

"But I don't know how to not be spooky..."

Ah, I know! I could show my new spell to them. Adults don't understand the coolness of a dancing rat, but they should!

But I'm not sure how to do that if they keep running the moment they see me...