"Well, my Lady. Time for us to leave!"
"Don't be hesitant again!"
"You can do this!"
The servants all left one by one with an encouragement and soon, the long awaited Ian Page came into the room. Maybe because he took off his robes? His arms and legs looked longer than before.
"Long time no see, princess."
Her heart started thumping again.
She didn't know why and there was no way for her to know.
No.
She did know why, but she pretended not to.
"I thought you forgot about me."
"As you know, I've been a little busy."
"I thought so too. At least you're here now. Thank you for coming." Princess Hiley smiled.
Her blushing cheeks and shining eyes were impressive, and they added on to her unsurpassed beauty, making her even more beautiful. Her beauty was striking even by simply looking at her. She fit this abstract description more than anyone else.
'Amazing.' Ian thought to himself. And he meant it.
It was like watching a masterpiece.
A artistic masterpiece that was about to be displayed among the best.
He got that kind of impression looking at the princess.
"Aren't you and I a teacher and a student? I could push it off no longer."
Ian was quite good at lying. Until the point of wondering how to take care of the fortunes of the former owner of the ivory tower, never had he even thought of his relationship with the princess. He had perfectly forgotten all about her.
"It's just that there's nothing I can teach you in regards to magic. Unless you were a student of the Academy. Are you not already a magician that ranked up to the Class 3? So I've been thinking…"
Of course, this was also a lie. All he had to do was pretend to teach something here and there and tell her the secret to the Mana Respiration Method.
"First of all, we'll start with the Mana Respiration Method."
"Oh, are you talking about the thing you mentioned last time when you were doing the Dark Magic Inspection…?"
"Yes, that's right. You remember."
Unlike Ian, who was simply trying to make things up as he went, Princess Hiley was fully focused, her eyes shining bright. The way her ears were perked up radiated her ardor to learn.
"I was actually planning on revealing this at the Tower, but I've been so busy. But you're still my student, so let me show it to you first." Ian said heartlessly, not meaning a word he said.
But the princess didn't take it that way.
"Are you telling me that I'm the.. the first?"
'He's showing it to me first..'
It was as if her were treating her special. She kept feeling that.
She ended up letting out a laugh.
"Hehe.."
"Why are you laughing all of a sudden?"
"It's.. it's nothing!"
She said, stopping immediately.
She kept her ears perked up, focused.
"It's the same for all Respiration Methods - this one shouldn't be too hard. With your abilities, you will get used to this soon."
"Do I really have talent?"
"Are you not aware of your own ability?"
Oh, she knew. She knew what a great achievement it was for her to reach Class 3 even under her conditions. Hadn't Kevin, the Magician of the Royal Courts, raved about it endlessly?
"But still …. ."
The princess wanted to hear Ian say for himself how talented she was.
"I first knew you were a magician in the Emperor's resting room, in the basement. I remember you were using the Light Spell for the first time."
"Oh, that time!"
The princess also remembered that day. Was it not the day she had performed the Light Spell for the first time?
As much as it was a historical day to remember, she remembered that day vividly.
Hold on, that day was clearly…
"It was the first day you came to the palace, isn't it Master?"
"That's right. I was looking around the palace and ended up in there, but hid in the corner when you and the magician entered the room. So that's how I saw you."
Actually, he had gone in there to look for the 'Stone Heart Mushroom', but she didn't need to know that.
"Even just a while ago, I judged your talents based on that memory of you. I thought you would only be able to go up to the beginning of the 2nd Class, or possibly not even go over Class 1, at most. I judged you that much."
The princess looked a little sad. Even though she was way over Class 2, in Class 3, it felt as if Ian's expectations were reality.
"But I was wrong." Ian continued. "Honestly, I was surprised when you reached Class 3. You have a lot more ability than I expected you would have, Your Highness."
The princess's frown turned upside down back into a grin. In fact, she had a bigger smile than before. She had finally heard Ian confirm her abilities and it was exactly what she had wanted to hear.
"You flatter me. I'm not that good…"
"Class 4." Ian responded, holding up five fingers, "I do believe you will be able to make it to Class 4."
"If I were to be Class 4…"
"It's the level of a master magician."
Hiley froze for a second. It was what she desperately wanted. She figured if she reached the level of a master magician she would be able to exonerate those who had tried to help her. Of course, she knew that the chances of becoming one were slim.
But then she asked,
"Are… are you serious? Me, Class 4?"
"I am." Ian said, his voice full of certainty. If she were to just change her Respiration Method, the Mana Method would bring her up to Class 4. On top of that, telling her the calculation techniques would be more than enough.
'She definitely has talents, too.'
Of course, her abilities were nothing compared to Ian, but making such comparisons wouldn't be fair to begin with. It was Ian who had ridiculously amazing skills, but the princess definitely had talents that were praiseworthy.
'And she knows what she wants.'
Ian knew what she wanted.
After all, she had made him an accomplice by making him her teacher, so wasn't it obvious?
'She will somehow be useful to me if I train her well.'
A magician of royal blood. Now that would be useful.
It wouldn't hurt to have a student like her.
"Why don't we start now? Let's pick a place.."
"Oh, wait!"
At Ian's suggestion they start soon, the princess clapped her hands in realization as if she remembered she had prepared something.
:Would.. would you wait for a moment?"
"Is there a problem?"
Princess Hiley brought over a few things - a thick book and a pair of rings.
"It's a gift in celebration of our beginning as a teacher and student. It is also a tribute that I, the student, am offering to my master to make a good impression."
Ian looked confused as he looked at this so -called "tribute" in his hand.
First of all, it was just a thick and old book, nothing special about it. Same with the rings. It didn't look like an artifact, let alone a magical object.
"It looks trivial to offer as a tribute."
The princess couldn't help smiling at Ian's words.
His attitude of being unwilling to even give a heartless compliment was the same.
"You really think so?" Princess Hiley asked, picking up the rings in her hands.
Her red lips trembled slightly as she spoke.
"As for this ring… you're right. It is trivial. I had it made so this day would be memorable. If you see here, there are our names. See?"
The rings had each of their names, 'Ian Page' and 'Hiley Greenriver' engraved on the inner loops. It was an 'anniversary ring' like she had said.
"Are you asking me to put in on now?"
"I..no..No!" the princess replied, surprised at Ian's direct question. "If you just carried it around with you…"
Despite her response, Ian slipped on the silver ring on his finger despite her reply.
He slipped in on the fourth finger of his left hand, rather than the right hand where he had his Morgian ring on his second finger.
'He put the ring on his ring finger…'
Princess Hiley blushed without realizing it. She couldn't help it. It meant a lot, putting a ring on the fourth finger of the left hand. It was where you wore your engagement ring.
"This ring is a little big." Ian commented.
Of course, he had no clue about any of this. As far as he was concerned, it was useless knowing all the culture and trends of royalty. He just didn't like having two rings on his right hand.
He also didn't like putting on all of his rings on the second fingers on both of his hands. Wearing a ring on his middle finger was a little weird, and wearing it on his thumb was uncomfortable. And the ring was too big for his pinkie. That was the only reason.
"I get the ring, but what is with the book?"
"Your Highness?"
"The ring…"
"Princess?"
"Ah, yes!"
The princess replied, jerking back from her thoughts. She coughed, her cheeks red from excitement and embarrassment.
"So.. so this book is…" the princess stuttered. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"Whoo…!" Well, this book is a journal that I found in the palace storage a while ago. Someone's diaries were put together into a history record, to be exact," she explained as Ian flipped over the pages. It really was a diary like she said, each starting with the year and date. But he noticed something was strange.
"Empire Year 221?"
It was currently Empire Year 508.
That meant it was a diary from nearly 221 years ago.
"Whose diary is this? "
"It was one of my ancestor's."
That meant the writer would have been part of the royal family. Someone of the royal family from 300 years ago.
"The writer was the first of the royal family to be born with magical powers, and the first owner of the blue robe that you were passed down.
Her explanation was more than enough.
She was talking of the Great Magician, the first ever from the royal family, and had gone up his way to be an Owner of the Ivory Tower.
Mitchell Greenriver.
It was his diary.
"I read through it first, and there were a lot of stories I thought you might be interested in. Especially from this part if you see here…"
Ian speedily read through the pages the princess picked out for him. And yes, it was quite interesting.
How?
The reason was simple.
"It's the period the robe was made."
The records from the four years of Empire Year 223 to Empire Year 227 was basically the 'time record' of when the Blue Robe, the artifact of Mitchell Greenriver that Ian had been passed down, had been made and produced.
"As I was reading this, I felt that it could be of help to you than myself…. That's why I brought it to you as a gift."
"Does this not belong to the palace?"
"I can lend it to you like I did with the robe. The term will be…" Princess Hiley thought for a moment. "Until the day our relationship ends as a tutor and student?"
"I will borrow it gladly."
He liked the gift very much.
'A time record of the making of an artifact, huh?'
He just happened to have the silk, a material that was thought to be used to create artifacts. It was natural for him to be particularly interested in this, especially since he had the material.
'If I could create an artifact of my own that I wanted…'
A customized artifact just for its user. He had thought of this for a brief moment when he had received the silk, but it was now more realistic.
'This would help me if with any challenges I have in the future.'
Ian was facing the problem with the dragons, but they were stronger than him. He had to grow in his abilities to even be equal to them. It was even better if he had a strong Artifact along with growing in his abilities.
'This is an unexpected benefit.'
Ian looked at the princess.
Maybe it was because he liked the gift.
The princess looked even more radiant.
"Your Highness."
"Yes, Teacher?"
"Will you hold my hands for a moment?"
"Your.. your hands sir?" The princess stuttered at his sudden request. Why was he asking her to hold his hands all of a sudden? She knew he had no filter, but things were progressing a little too quickly.
"This is not a good place to learn the Respiration Method. There are a lot of eyes watching, too. I know a good place, so let us go there."
"Oh…!" The princess finally understood.
She had only heard rumors of Ian's teleportation abilities.
It seemed like he was about to perform his teleportation magic.
'What was I thinking…' Princess Hiley thought, shaking her head in disbelief.
Shyly, she reached out her right hand.
"You might get a little dizzy. Just to let you know."
Their hands met, and that moment, a stream of white light swallowed them up.