Chapter 85 - The Return of the High Elf (Part 2)

  Professor Adrihna was in a room in the castle. The maids were tidying up her quarters and bringing in the luggage from the carriage. I took my time befoing to see her because I o take a bath and ge my clothes since I hadn’t even gotten out of bed. When I arrived, I saw the familiar high elf chatting with my mother and Aunt Margie as they sat in armchairs. Chloe and Kinue were busy examining the gifts she always brought from the elven kingdom. Kinue o be supplied with clothes that Adrihna bought in Apsalon, tailored to fit her due to her tail, as human clothes didn’t suit her. My cousin adored the sweets that Adrihna brought.

  I observed the little rascal sitting with a new dress in her hands, alongside what seemed to be an opened sweet.

  Every child gets excited and happy about gifts, even in another world.

  “Well, if it isn’t my patient,” the professor said upon seeing me.

  “Adrihna,” I greeted her as I walked over.

  Part of me was genuinely gd to see her again.

  “I thought you weren’t ing for another month,” I said.

  “We’re in the admission period at the academy. Only a few professors are involved, and I always find a way to escape extra work,” she said, ughing.

  Oh, that’s right. Natty and Catty had taken the admission exam and had retly returned with Martha and Hugo. They would start their csses month.

  “You gave us a bit of a surprise by arriving so quickly; the messenger crow only delivered the notice a few ho,” Aunt Margie said.

  My professor adjusted her monocle and smiled slightly.

  “I asked the wall guard to dey sending the crow, hehe,” she said.

  So she wao surprise us—I get it.

  My mother approached me.

  “How are you feeling, my son? Are you still in pain?”

  “I’m feeling a bit better, now it’s just a small disfort. I think it will pass soon.”

  Professor Adrihna looked at me.

  “It’s been a few months since he st had a pain period; could you examine him?” my aunt asked.

  The professor stepped closer, looked into my eyes, and touched my abdomen.

  “I’m just cheg if there’s been any color ge in your eyes before I analyze your mana. The color is still the same, a dark shade. I’ll examine your Mana Gem and your eyes ter. I’ve used up quite a bit of mana on the horse summons to guide the carriage for hours, so I’m a bit exhausted. I want to examine yem when I’m ier dition,” she said.

  Adrihna had mao keep two golem horses fully active throughout the journey. She didn’t e from Evenhart City, which means she didn’t use the Underground Transport. She traveled here by carriage. It seems like Adrihna must have been on the road for many days—could she have e from the elven kingdom?

  It makes sense sihe Underground Transport only be taken from the Royal Capital. She must have e from the border or the elven kingdom’s embassy. She’s incredibly powerful to sustain the golems for so long. Even with breaks along the way, I know she kept the golems active for hours from the wall to the castle. She truly is powerful and has an impressive amount of mana.

  Whenever she arrives from her journey, she takes a short break to rest due to the signifit expenditure of mana, but even so, what she aplishes is incredible. How powerful is she really? Could she make the golems attack? From what I’ve researched, most light element users are of the Emitter category. Both she and Kinue are rare users of the light element in other categories. Kinue is both aer and a Transmitter. Adrihna is aer but also has the Summoner category. My professor is truly a prodigy.

  “Alright, I’ll wait until ter. I feel it easing up; the worst of the pain has passed,” I said.

  “Even so, I still want to check for any ges,” Adrihna replied.

  My periods of intense pain were rare, but they alassed eventually. We had gotteo it over the past two years, ever since my eyes first started hurting. Whenever Professor Adrihna was here, she would try to analyze my Mana Gem and my eyes. Since I was the only person in years to possess these Special Eyes, she was eager to study how they formed in someone’s body using the power of her own eyes.

  “I brought some presents for you as well,” my professor said, pointing to a box.

  Despite being over 500 years old, I was still a child at heart, and I won’t lie—I was thrilled to hear that. My professor always brought me different types of knives, crafted by local bcksmiths from the pces she visited. I was building a colle of knives from each region across the three kingdoms.

  They tinued chatting, and then Martha arrived, inf us that Adrihna’s and Kinue’s rooms were ready. Whenever Adrihna came to the castle, Kinue liked to sleep near her teacher.

  Martha Riverclimb:

  “Children, it’s better if you head out for a bit. You still have tasks to plete ao train with Sifu,” Lady Margaery said.

  I watched as the three of them left the room and waited until they were gone. Ohey were out, Lady Margaery looked at me, and I walked over to the door, closing it and log the room.

  “What’s the diagnosis?” Lady Katherine asked.

  Adrihna stood up from her chair and adjusted her monocle.

  “He’s still cultivating the Special Eyes; there hasn’t been much ge sihe st time.”

  “No ge at all? I thought something might have happehis time,” Katherine said, her voice tinged with .

  Lady Adrihna seemed to pohis for a moment.

  “It could be that today it’s like this, but tomorrow he might wake up with the eyes fully awakened. Special Eyes are uable, and young Nathan is the first in years to possess one. I’m monit the development using my abilities, but it reaches a point where it’s simir to a Mana Gem, and we’ll simply have to wait until his body is ready,” she expined.

  Lady Margaery was worried. It had been a year since we all became a bit teer he had to gh the process of having a photograph taken, fearing that the young master’s eyes might awaken before the Grand Duke arrived.

  “It seems he’ll tio experience pain for now, though thankfully these periods are rare,” Margaery remarked.

  “I could take the young prio the elven kingdom. There are ways to cross our borders discreetly, without your kingdom knowing. We have excellent healers there who could stay with him and relieve his symptoms whenever he has pain crises,” Lady Adrihna suggested.

  “No!” Katherine excimed.

  Only the Legacies khe secret of Katherine, Nathan, and Kinue’s family. Lady Margaery had fided in us, along with Adrihna, as we would be the equivalent of ‘royal guards’ for the three of them.

  We are already royal guards, even if we weren’t in this situation. We are the guardians of young Nathan and Chloe, the future Dukes.

  “Alright, I’ll respect your decision, Katherine. But know that the pain from cultivating these eyes is excruciating. It’s like needles are being sewn into his mana els through his eyes. My brother and I had access to the best healing mages when we felt pain,” Lady Adrihna said.

  Katherine’s expression turned sad, and she sighed.

  “I know…”

  “Painkillers don’t work. The only thing that alleviate the pain caused by the mana els is healing magi the pnt element, and only the best healers perform it. He would be treated by the fi mages. Our queen is the greatest healing mage of the pnt element; she would personally care for him.”

  Lady Katheriood up from her chair.

  “I would have to give up my son’s childhood here until his eyes awakened, and I would have to expose him to diplomatic issues that I want to avoid. If we went with you, could you guarantee we’d be able to return?” she asked.

  Lady Adrihna averted her gaze.

  “I ’t promise that…” Adrihna admitted, “your situation is delicate…”

  “Then we’ll stay here and wait until he’s old enough to address the problem of having unknowingly vioted a bunch of ws just by existing,” Katherine said.

  Lady Margaery cpped her hands to draw their attention.

  “Let’s end the discussion here; it’s alright. Enduring pain is part of an assassin’s training. I appreciate your iion to help, Adrihna. I also wouldn’t let my nephew leave in such a way, as I’m responsible for his education and safety. Now, let’s talk about what you discussed with the other family. I o know more about the crime of treason I itted in this kingdom by marrying an Archduke from another realm to a Duchess,” she said.