While Remelia was in her thoughts Elia had made her way into the hall and found  a seat in the middle row, there was still a lot of time before the assembly starts, she came in pretty early, she again took notice of the eyes that focused on her and the whispers.

“Is that her?”

“yeah”

“No, way, she doesn’t look it”

“I know but my brother described her, pale white skin and pure white hair” 

“if that’s the case then does than mean she already skilled in Hand to hand?”

“well my bro said she was fighting a knight on equal ground so she at least is skilled”

Was the basic gist of the whispers, it seemed that she gained a reputation amongst the commoners, all that needs to happen now is for rumors to spread and build her reputation and by consequence her family's reputation.

While Elia was enjoying the looks and whispers, someone suddenly sat right next to  her causing more people to whispers making the whispers louder.

The person that sat next to Elia was a girl, she had short blonde hair that reached her shoulders and had blue eyes  that were as light as the sky , she had a crystal necklaced shaped like a star on her neck. the girl  was fairly beautiful, with smooth skin and flawless face, she placed her hands which wore fingerless gloves atop her thighs.

“Heya! my name  is Mary Azuredotir  what’s your name?”

Judging by her name the girl was a commoner, which must have been the reason why the whispers were louder, though they shouldn’t know if Elia is a noble or not because nothing should distinguish her as such, well her behavior and way of Walking should be pretty indicative of her pedigree.

“you may call me Elia”

Elia turned her head giving the girl her attention, plus making another friend shouldn’t hurt though she won’t make that many after all at her heart of hearts she still prefers being alone most of the time.

“So Elia I heard that you’re very strong”

She spoke with a smile on her face  and her tone was telling of her excitement. Her face inched closer towards Elia’s face  as if anticipating an answer.

“Mhm who told you that?” 

“No one, just some rumors here and there”

She spoke while her eyes shifted around as if pointing fingers at the crowd though she didn’t move her head.

“You know you shouldn’t trust rumors”

Elia responded with an amused smile on her face, she didn’t hate the type of people that were excitable.

“I know but sometimes rumors can be true, so are they true?”

However before Elia could speak another person practically let themselves fall on the seat next  to her and offered a greeting.

“Hey you!”

A rather rude way of offering a greeting or perhaps it wasn’t a greeting but simply a way to gain Elia’s attention which was successful because Elia turned her head and looked at the individual.

“Ah Charleonious, good morning”

Elia returned the greeting and pronounced his full name causing the boy to grimace, he wasn’t fond of his own name that was clear and by pronouncing his full name it was a sort of revenge from Elia  for the rude greeting.

“this is Mary Azuredotir”

Elia introduced the girl next to her, Charlie simply gave her a look before speaking once again.

“I don’t care about her, I hope you didn’t forget about that sparring match you promised yesterday”

Charlie’s  statement caused Mary to frown, she wasn’t amused by his rude behavior either.

“Excuse me but Eli and I were having a conversation”

“yeah and?” 

Charlie’s question caused Mary to be silent for a moment because she didn’t have a response or rather she thought he would apologize instead after all he should be able to see that he was being  rude but it seems that wasn’t the case.

“and it’s rude to interrupt.”

Elia gave a response in place  of Mary, she expected the boy to at least apologize for his rude behavior however Charlie cared not for manners in fact only Morris could force him to be polite and Morris was not here. Seeing that an Apology wasn’t coming Elia sighed  and  simply switched topics.

“A spar with you will happen but where?”

“There’s plenty of training rooms, right next to the hall is a room designed for combat we’ll meet there later ”

Elia heaved a sigh, She does recall promising the boy a match but to be honest right now a person she was interested in fighting was Scarlt Roselyn  because Elia hoped the teacher had some secret martial arts,  in fact Elia no longer has interest in fighting people the same age as her, one might call it arrogance but it was clear no one her age had what it took to make her sweat so the better option was look for someone with experience like a teacher or an adventurer.

“fine”

This was fine as well, after all  showcasing her great skill will help her build a reputation though she feels it will take a while before high ranking noble actually come to have a talk with her, however being friends with Charlie should be beneficial in the future.

“hey if he gets a spar then me too”

Mary interjected and demanded her own match, she quickly forgot her own displeasure at Charlie and her blue eyes sparkled at the thought of sparring though she has known Elia for a couple of minutes, Mary could feel Elia’s strength or rather she feels like she can feel it. Elia once again heaved a sigh, it was the first day and she was already getting tired of school.

At this time the entire hall was quite full causing  a little bit of a ruckus but after a few minutes three teachers entered and made their way toward the elevated podium to address the students.

“Alright, Alright  settle down and listen children”

With mana infused clap, the Man wearing a black hat was able to garner the attention of everyone within the hall, by Hat alone one could identify who the man was while also simultaneously knowing his rank, next to the Headmaster were two other teachers who stood in silence waiting for him to finish speaking.

“Now that I have your attention I’d like officially welcome you to the Royal  academy…

……………

James took a step back to avoid the sword swing aimed at his chest  he then swung his own sword to aiming for the exposed arms of his attacker however the young lad was quick to pull back his arm and parried the attack, before stepping forward and pressing on the attack  forcing James to once again  step back.

However the knight wasn’t about to be pushed back by  a child, using sufficient strength  he swung the wooden sword clashing with the other, causing Emil’s arms to be pushed up nearly losing his grip on the sword, Emil himself  was also  pushed back due to the force and knocking him out of balance. Emil did not waver as he planted his leg behind him to prevent himself from falling  he then held his sword tight and brought it down for a downward swing but again  James parried the attack with ease. Once he parried the attack he stepped forward and swung his diagonally sword aiming for Emil’s right ribs but before the attack could land the spar was interrupted.

*Clap clap*

The sudden clapping signaled the two people to cease their sparring and take a break, though the break was for the young master as he seemed to be tired.

“Excellent young master you’re improving with the sword” 

The captain of the guard within the Saxonwold territory offered his compliments the young man that was participating in a sparring match with another member of the guard.

“Thank you sir”

 The boy  responded to the compliment, his breath was a little ragged and he could feel His arms were tired from swinging the sword all day not only that but his legs were quite tired as well  from all the Stance and balance practices.

“Alright go wash up that’s it for today”

With a nod Emil  dropped the wooden and  left to take a bath, while his back was turned as he walked an elderly man wearing a red mage’s hat who had been watching the spar spoke.

“seems the young master has talent in combat”

“indeed, he’ll be a great lord  in the future”

“Yes but I can’t help notice that your neglecting his magic training”

The comment, which caused the Captain to frown ,but maintained a civil tone as he responded, even if he didn’t trust the mage one bit that didn’t mean he had to be rude though that didn’t mean he had to be nice either.

“I’m  afraid I’m not the one who decides what he will train, you’ll have to talk with the lord if you see a problem”

Emil had entered the house causing the mages eyes to shift from his direction to the position of the captain who was just standing a few meters away.

“the lad  seems to be suited to be a warrior than a mage  that much is clear  but it would beneficial if he learned a few ways to defend against spells"

He offered a suggestion and waited for a response, it was clear to him long ago that the people within this Mansion had little trust when it came to him infact some of the knights actively did not seek his medical help and as much he was getting annoyed he felt it best to build trust after all his prize may not be here that doesn’t mean it won’t be  back. He has also gotten used to the eyes that are constantly watching him and he plans to be rid of them soon enough.

“Again the lord will be the one to decide that, I have no say”

The captain  reiterated while also deciding that he had spoken with the mage long enough so he left the training field, James had already left to rest.

Within the mansion that Emil has just entered  he was greeted by the sight of the  maids talking with his father who seemed to be a little stressed or maybe he was depressed? He could not discern the emotions on his fathers face, out of curiosity he  asked a question.

“Father is something the matter”

“oh son, nothing I’m simply looking for your mother I haven’t seen her all day”

“isn’t she in the library that’s where I left her a few hours ago”

“Ah the library,  forgot we had that, thanks son”

Harold said as he made haste toward the library, there wasn’t anything urgent or important he needed to tell her  he was simply feeling  saddened that his wife has been avoiding him for quite a while now and he had no idea why.

He made his way towards the library and opened the door and she indeed was there, Emilia was seated  on a couch while reading a book by the looks of the pages it seems that she was nearly finished with it. Out of courtesy Harold decided to simply sit next to her and waited for her to finish.

About an hour or so Emilia closed the book having finished reading it, she  placed it to the  side  and remained silent waiting for Harold to be the one to speak.

“honey”

“Mhm”

“I feel as if you’ve been avoiding me is something the matter?”

“me avoid you? Nonsense, however something is the Matter”

She responded, She wasn’t avoiding him not at all, according to her at  least however she  hasn’t been talking to him as much, ever since Elia left for the academy.

“and what would that be?”

He asked with a face full of confusion, he was sure that he has made certain there wasn’t anything that would cause her to avoid him however he still thought there might have been a situation where might have done something wrong, he might try to be a Good husband but he was still human he can never be perfect.

“well it’s quite simple, I find your decision of hiring another  mage to be in poor taste so fire him”

“Come now, you know we need him, with the twin princes having grown up now you know it’s a matter of time before the nobles start forming alliances and you know that assassinations and poisonings start occurring  having a mage is a good defense not to mention having a mage will help in the long run in keeping our knights healthy and strong in case of a civil war, plus he helped with birth of Elia so we can at least give him the benefit of the doubt”

What Harold spoke was true after all nobles are greedy and manipulative, a succession war is  almost guaranteed , not to mention Harold has a valuable material on his land, there have been no attempts at his life so far because before he was a recluse with no enemies but in a war everyone is an enemy, plus Elia’s inventions he has gained a sort of a reputation meaning he’ll attract attention more than ever.

“Harold, we don’t need a mage, our  daughter is an army all to herself not to mention when she returns from the academy she’ll be better educated and fully aware how to utilize her abilities, not that I want to put our daughter in harms way but I cannot help but have misgivings about this mage, a repeat of Adam is the last thing I want”  

Rather than anger in her eyes it was concern which made Harold feel a great sense of guilt, he also realized that it’s been years since he hired the mage  meaning that she has been hiding the concern for a while now and thinking about she had a point however why has she never  brought this up before?

“While what you say is true, Elia still has 3 years in the academy, so she won’t be back for a while, why not have a safety net while we wait for her”

Emilia closed her eyes considering what he said, he made sense but the uncomfortable feeling she had about the mage was not something she could ignore, they were both conveniently forgetting that Elia had a power to clone herself, they didn’t need to wait for Elia Because her clones were here.

“I guess you’re right but make sure make sure to have more guards watch and he stay away from Emil”

Emilia conceded  but the worry in her eyes never left, she wasn’t relieved one bit in fact  Emilia had half the mind to have Elia  be homeschooled if it meant protecting her family but she knew she had to be reasonable and her husband was right.

Harold heaved a sigh but it wasn’t a Sigh of relief but of worry, he knew his wife very well, she may have agreed outwardly but that doesn’t mean she agreed inwardly plus the woman was quite stubborn.

“Don’t worry honey I’ll ensure that our family is protected."

........................

A/N: sup, hope you liked the chapter, Suggestions? thoughts? Please share em