Ever since her recovery, Emilia had to stay by Cardan's side constantly, whether at the palace or at various noble gatherings. But there was nothing remotely fun about any of these places. She had grown thoroughly sick of it.
Noticing how bored she had become, Cardan immediately took her out to the garden instead. Playfully, Emilia picked a flower and twisted it into a ring for Cardan to admire, then wove a little wreath of flowers and set it playfully on top of her own head.
As father and daughter were enjoying themselves, they heard laughter and voices not far off, where Nader and a few other boys were bullying a golden-haired boy.
Unable to stand by and watch such unfairness, Emilia rushed over and told them to stop.
The boys sneered back. "Who's this little girl sticking her nose into his highness's game? If you like him so much, why don't you take his place instead?"
Nader chimed in rudely, saying that even as Cardan's daughter, there was only so much leeway she would get, and she would be wise to walk away.
Irritated, Emilia snapped, "Oh, playing tag, are we? I want to join in too."
Hearing the Duke's name, the two boys went pale and tried to stop things, but before they could get a word out, Nader had already raised his hand to strike Emilia.
Refusing to back down, Emilia immediately blocked his hand with her own, sending Nader tumbling to the ground. The other boys could not help but burst out laughing.
Humiliated, Nader grabbed a fistful of dirt and hurled it straight at Emilia. Before she could even react, two figures had already leapt in front of her to shield her.
Cardan snapped irritably. "This little game of yours has gone quite far enough, your highness. I don't care what games you play, but this simply won't do."
Frightened, Nader stammered, unable to form a coherent explanation. Just as he seemed on the verge of tears, Mogi rushed over, worriedly helping him up, and asked Cardan what was going on.
Cardan replied coldly, "It seems his highness's eyesight isn't very good, throwing dirt at people without even looking first. I do hope your majesty will have the prince's eyes examined."
Cardan was about to take Emilia away when she told him to wait, then walked over to the golden-haired boy and told him to come with her. She was going to treat his wounds.
Once he was seated properly on the treatment bench, Emilia noticed dirt scattered all over the top of his head too, and reached up to brush it off, but could not quite reach. The boy leaned down to make it easier for her, and Emilia thought to herself that though she had suspected it, she never expected he would actually turn out to be the prince.
She cheerfully called out his name.
Hearing this, Cardan asked in surprise, wasn't this the same boy who had saved her at the plaza? Suspicious, Cardan wondered whether the explosion at the plaza had anything to do with him.
Addie quickly explained that he had nothing to do with that incident at all. He had only wanted to help the young lady escape danger.
Cardan lifted Emilia into his arms and said he was deeply grateful to the boy for saving his daughter, and told him that if he had any wish at all, he need only ask and it would be repaid.
Once outside the room, Emilia could not quite understand why Cardan was treating his benefactor this way. Cardan simply told her that Addie being a prince made any entanglement with the royal family deeply inconvenient.
Cardan went on to explain that there were two princes at court, the eldest, Addie, and the second, Nader. Of the two, only Nader actually held the official title of crown prince.
As children, the two princes had studied together. But one day the emperor, noticing the eldest prince's outstanding achievements, had dismissed all of his tutors. With no family or clan backing him, the eldest prince had become little more than a shadow within the palace, while Nader, with his good reputation and powerful clan support, had risen to prominence instead.
All things considered, Addie's situation was quite pitiful. Nothing but the empty title of a prince born within the palace walls, and nothing else to his name.
By then, the carriage had already come to a stop at the gates of the mage tower, and Emilia happily ran inside to find Tatau. The two of them were about to throw themselves into an enthusiastic hug when Cardan stepped in to stop it.
Tatau, resigned, asked if Emilia still felt any discomfort anywhere, and, still uneasy, took her hand to check for himself. But because the power inside Emilia was so unusual, he still could not determine anything for certain.
Tatau was about to start her new lesson. But no sooner had he said so than he keeled over and fell asleep.
Sure enough, the master himself soon arrived, though this time he looked different. His hair had grown noticeably longer. He simply smiled and explained that using too much power last time had left him with a bit of a side effect, then asked if Emilia had fully recovered yet.
Touched, Emilia reached out to touch his face and said, "All better now." And the pretty boy in front of her looked even prettier than before.
The two of them sat down to chat for a while. Emilia asked, curious, why did Tatau always have to be put to sleep like that?
The master smiled and explained that that person still did not know about him, so it was simpler to avoid the hassle altogether. Setting that matter aside, he said he would be teaching her magic himself today.
After receiving his guidance, Emilia began following along, but what she conjured turned out so strange that the master immediately pulled her back and threw up a protective barrier. Whatever she had just created was genuinely dangerous.
Seeing her worried expression, the master reassured her with a smile. Probably just because Emilia was not used to it yet. With that, he transformed into a black cat.
On the ride home in the carriage, Cardan could not stop wondering. Was this cat actually that boy? Why on earth had she brought him home?
Overjoyed, Emilia explained that she rarely got to see her teacher, so she had brought him along to play at home. He really was adorable.
They very nearly did not survive the trip, because halfway there a child suddenly darted out and blocked the carriage's path. Cardan asked what was going on, and the boy replied that he had once promised to repay a favor, and today he had a request to make.
Once they had returned to the manor, the boy told Cardan he wanted him to become his swordsmanship teacher. He wanted to become a mage swordsman.
Emilia was not surprised in the least. After all, she had seen him take down three grown men with nothing but a wooden stick.
Just as Cardan began to decline, Emilia spoke up, saying she wanted to learn swordsmanship too, so she could protect herself. She needed to grow stronger, so she could protect the people she loved as well.
Cardan let out a helpless sigh and agreed to teach both her and the prince together. Delighted, Emilia ran over and hugged Cardan's leg, thanking him over and over.
The next day, Tatau came to the manor to examine Emilia, and upon seeing her use magic like that, he too was taken aback. It seemed connected to the fact that Emilia carried both sources of power within her, and there was no telling whether it might pose any danger to her.
Three weeks passed just like that, and since Emilia's stamina was still far too weak, she had to spend extra time training her running. Compared to her, the prince was clearly leagues ahead. Through a series of short trials, he had now progressed enough to train directly alongside Cardan.
As for Fay, he remained stuck in his cat form, playing only with Emilia. Whenever the prince tried to reach out and touch him, he would dodge away every time.
Worried, Emilia asked whether Nader had been bullying him again lately, and the prince recalled that it seemed there was less than a month until Nader's birthday celebration, which had been keeping him quite busy. Every year he would attend that party too, though he only ever stood tucked away in some corner.