“Good morning, Young Master. Did you sleep well?”

Kieran hid under his blanket as Teal came to wake him up. He let his black hair show so she would know he wasn’t trying to scare her. 

“Young Master,” she said as she gently shook his shoulders. Her soft and airy voice lulled him, “I don’t blame you for wanting to sleep in. I know we’ve been pushing you harder but if we didn’t then you’d fall even further behind your siblings.”

“Then why did we start seven years late?” he asked while still keeping his eyes closed.

“I wish I could tell you,” she said. Strangely enough, he could feel the sympathetic smile. “You can’t sleep in but I promise that today’s lesson will be fun and that you’ll get a break later tonight. Okay?”

He didn’t have any grand ambitions or a clear path ahead of him as the fifth prince so there was no reason for him to be so diligent. But, he got up anyway. If it was anyone other than Teal, he would’ve fought to stay as a bed potato. 

She killed me with kindness. Alexandra probably would have just killed me though.

“Thank you,” she said as she tidied the books on his desk. Although he hated studying, a book here and there was better than playing with toys. He could tell that Alexandra and Teal approved of his choice.

“I should be the one thanking you,” he said. He put on his day clothes.

She helped him with some of the buttons, “For what?”

“For always helping me and all.”

She laughed, “It’s my job, Young Master. There is no need to thank me.”

“But you don’t get paid enough,” he said as he stretched in his new clothes.

“The wage given to me is more than fair. I make more than enough to support myself.”

He looked at her patched up blouse, the same one she wore two days ago, and sighed. It’d been about half a year since his studies started and he overheard their conversation. 

If you can’t even afford clothes on a more than fair wage, then it’s not exactly fair is it?

He didn’t push the conversation further.

Alexandra appeared in the doorway to lead him away, a rather unusual situation. She taught him  in the afternoon and evening, so the fact that she was here now meant something different was happening. The idea was reinforced by Teal tagging along. 

The two brought him to a room in the far corner of the main palace. A painting depicting the victory of the demons over the humans caught his eye. Although he’d seen many that were based on the subject of war, something about this one was different. He didn’t have the time to get a closer look at it. Alexandra’s eyes fell on him and he hurried to catch up.

Standing at the front of the door were two royal guards wearing breastplates marked with the kingdom’s crossed wings and claws. Each one had pauldrons sitting on their left shoulder and carried a halberd twice Kieran’s size. They seemed like the smaller kind, made for one on one combat.

When the doors opened he was hit with a wave of cool air. The refreshing feeling blew away his grogginess and at the same time, a sweet scent emanated from the room. While he half-expected to see he was outside in the gardens, all he saw were two stone pillars and an intricate circle overlaid on top of an octagon with dozens of different inscriptions and shapes inside.

“To me,” Alexandra said as she pulled out an orb. “Place your hand on this so we may determine your Essence.”

His hand shot out onto the orb and it went from crystal clear to a swirling black mist. 

“Amazing! That’s great, Young Master,” Teal said, her hands clasped in excitement.

“Yes, Shadow Essence is a favorable outcome.”

Essence. He had seen the word multiple times during his studies. It was the magic of this world. Hearing the word made him giddy.

“We will train your Essence control in parallel to your current studies on the first great war,” Alexandra said. “The spell you will learn is-”

“H-Hold on,” he interrupted. “Can’t you tell me more about Essence first? Like what it is or something?”

Alexandra started without missing a beat, “Essence is an energy that permeates this world and all living things. Six main types of Essence exist, Light, Shadow, Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Yours is Shadow Essence, which lends itself to manipulation as opposed to Light, which relies heavily on casting spells that have predetermined effects. As a person who possesses Shadow Essence, be wary about its unique trait. At certain times in the day, noon and midnight, its powers wane, while it is strongest between night and day, in the brief moment of twilight.”

“You can train to use other Essences,” Teal added. “Though it is best you stick to mastering yours at the moment.”

“The most basic spell is, ‘Jarl und vass’ which means ‘Bolt of Essence’ or simply, ‘Essence bolt’. Observe. Jarl und vass,” As the words left her lips, a black blur shot across the room, colliding with the wall and leaving a black mark.

Fucking awesome. 

“Your turn, Young Master,” Alexandra said. 

Her expectant eyes bore a hole through his skull. In an instant he felt his mouth dry up. “J-Jarl und vass...”

Nothing happened. 

“Focus. Do it again.”

“Jarl und vas.”

“Jarl und vass. Again,” she commanded.

“Jarl und v-vass!”

“Energy and enthusiasm mean nothing if the words and pronunciation are incorrect.”

“Maybe it’s not my fault. May it’s because I’m Color-”

“You are not,” Alexandra said instantly. “Sometimes blessings do not manifest until one reaches fifteen, once they go through their Scaling.”

Adulthood, in other words.

“Try again,” she said.

There were no excuses now, “J-Jarl-”

“Stop. Do not stutter. Do it again.”

A hand fell on his shoulder and he jumped. Teal was kneeling next to him with a soft smile, “It’s alright, Young Master. Take your time. We’re excited to see your Flow.”

In the silence, he focused his thoughts.

“J-Jarl,” he cleared his throat. “Jarl und vass.”

The impact rang throughout the room. A numb sensation spread around his arm and sweat ran down his neck. The world spun and it took all that he had to stay conscious. Was this the toll for using a single spell?

Teal steadied him. “You did amazing, Young Master!”

The refreshing air breezed past again and his exhaustion faded. Kieran aimed his spell next to Alexandra’s so he could compare them afterwards. His completely eclipsed hers.

He pumped a fist in the air and let out a triumphant cry. Teal mimicked him and brought her fist down onto his. Though he knew Alexandra wouldn’t be happy about their little outburst, he was glad that Teal joined him. It was always better when there was someone else to celebrate with.

“Temper yourselves,” Alexandra said, as if on cue. “A prince and a prince’s caretaker should always watch their emotions.”

“Can’t I celebrate even a little bit?”

“And what would you be celebrating, Young Master? The usage of a single spell that almost made you faint, hm? Or is it perhaps the fact that you were able to recite the simplest of chants that even a babe with an ounce of Essence in it could do? Your achievement is none at all. My Essence is fire, not shadow like the one I used.”

Heat was rising up to his face, his ears flushed red. The smile and cheery attitude vanished. He kept his eyes on the wall and his mouth clenched shut. 

Teal reached for him but Alexandra’s words cut her off.

“Let him be. Our job is to teach the Young Master.”

“...No,” Teal’s voice shook. “Our job is to care for him.”

“Not filling his head with empty praise is the best care we can give. The sooner he understands his limits, the better he will be. Young Master, do it again.”

Kieran kept using spell after spell, going through a cycle of refreshed to exhausted as the circle beneath his feet glowed. His spells had been getting smaller and more controlled. He felt less tired after each use.

Teal supported him after his last one. She looked for something to wipe away his sweat. Alexandra tossed a handkerchief to her.

“You two are to continue your studies,” she said. A handful of maids rushed in after she left and began cleaning the room. Flowers and other plants that weren’t previously there had grown around the pillars, close to blooming. The maids plucked them out.

Teal beckoned him and he followed her. His eyes were still glued onto the plants.

“You did well today,” Teal said suddenly.

“I could have done better.” He was out after only one spell.

“Don’t let what Alexandra says bother you. She means well; she just doesn’t know how to convey it.”

That’s for sure. If she was more like you then there’d be no problems.

“Young Master?”

“Hm? Oh, I was thinking about that circle.”

“It’s a spell circle,” she answered in a cheery tone. “I don’t know as much as Alexandra but I’ll be happy to-”

As they rounded the corner, Teal fell. She had collided with a long-nosed maid. “My apologies, Your Highness,” the maid said with a bow. She disappeared down the hallway. When Teal got up, her horn that always stuck out proudly now seemed smaller.

“Hmph. She was really rude, apologizing to me instead of you. I should have reprimanded her or something.”

“It’s alright, Young Master. I’m glad you feel that way but if someone apologizes to you then that’s the same as apologizing to me.”

“Really? Well if you put it that way then I can’t let her off the hook after all.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Well, if she doesn’t apologize to you then that means she hasn’t properly apologized to me.”

“No that-”

“Teal,” he interrupted her. “If I’m happy, are you happy?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Right. If I’m unhappy then you’re unhappy, correct?”

“Of, of course...”

“So that means that she needs to apologize to you too because you’re unhappy right now,” he stated.

“No, no. Y-Young Master, It’s really okay. I swear,” Teal said, frantically waving her hands. “We must get back to your studies or both of us will be in a bind.”

“Okay, fine. But if something like that happens again, don’t let them get away with it. Otherwise I’m not gonna be happy.”

“I understand.” 

I’ll have to watch her more carefully. I don’t think she’d tell me what’s bothering her even if I ordered her to. Would Alexandra tell me? Wait, she probably doesn’t know or doesn’t care.

When they returned to his room, they continued from where they left off yesterday in his studies. The War of Saints and Demons was the first conflict between humans and The Blessed. It followed around one hundred or so years after The Sundering, the war between the gods. The Sundering was an event referenced over and over. The two main gods in that war were the humans’ god, Rithorn, and their god, Bel’ekah. Their believers’ conflict had spread to them and after they were done and saw the destruction they caused, they exiled themselves to the other realm, a spirit world of sorts.

As the day wore thin, he paced about and barely registered Teal’s reading. She closed the book and asked him to sit. He obeyed without a word but was up again in minutes. 

“Is something on your mind,” Teal asked.

“I’m just trying to remember things for review,” he replied, still pacing.

“Alexandra won’t be coming today,” she said, stopping him. “It’s her yearly trip to the western temple.”

“I don’t remember any yearly trips.”

“We started lessons less than a year ago and I’ve always put you to bed since I started working here, so it would make sense. She leaves before midday and is back the next morning,” Teal explained. 

“Why the western temple when there’s one on palace grounds? And is it the same day every year?”

“I don’t know why the western temple but it is the same day,” Teal answered.

Kieran let out a sigh and plopped to the floor. His arms held him up from collapsing onto his back. Teal continued the lesson while he stared at her with half-shut eyes. When she began questioning him about what he learned, he recited what he remembered and backtracked when new knowledge came back to him. 

“And Kayn is?” 

“Kayn is a hero of the second great war between the Blessed and the Humans. He was also a Blood Demon like Alexandra.”

It was an easy question. Although they were on the first great war, Teal told him the stories of heroes from all wars so he wouldn’t get bored.

Teal stared at him, her eyes round like the moon. “H-How did you find out about Alexandra? Did, did I let it slip somehow…” She twiddled her thumbs.

If I’m not supposed to find out, don’t make it so obvious that it’s a big deal.

“I heard it during my first trip to the library,” he said, stifling a yawn. 

“Oh..” She quickly changed the subject, “I suppose it’s time.”

Teal set the book down and cleaned the room while he changed into more comfortable clothes.

After he climbed into bed, Teal asked, “Do you need anything, Young Master?” 

“Nope.”

“...Are you sure?”

He sighed, “I told you I’m too old for that now.”

“...”

“Alright fine. Just hum the first part to me then.”

He could hear the glee in her tone as she heeded his request. The words played in his head automatically. 

Nahariundvass, why have our fates been tied? A twisted winding knot drifting through you, Nahariundvass. Cobblestone home hidden in the woods, a family of three happily living among the trees. Nahariundvass, thank you for the stream. Water for three as raindrops start to fall. Kieran let out a sigh and plopped to the floor. His arms held him up from collapsing onto his back. Teal continued the lesson while he stared at her with half-shut eyes. When she began questioning him about what he learned, he recited what he remembered and backtracked when new knowledge came back to him.