Magic Apprentice

He came to a stop here, unsure of how to best continue his explanation. Despite the lackluster start, Saludy found herself rather surprised. As uninterested as she was in matters of the court, she was still aware of several things such as who Kebrilio was and how he was the archnemesis of her son in court.

Logically speaking, it was completely unexpected to think her own son would be with Kebrilio’s niece. Saludy thought Fantasia looked rather pure despite her dress. It was a fresh change compared to the vain and superficial ladies who constantly hounded her son for his fame and status. The latter tended to throw themselves into the arms of her son the moment he made use of his charm.

A curious eye wandered over to the broken window and the glass shards. Then over to the wounds on Fantasia’s person. What in the world had her son done to bring this girl into their home? 

As his mother, Saludy did understand her son and his methods just a little. This girl clearly interested him enough that he was willing to jump through several hoops to have her in his clutches.

He, in that regard, was very similar to his father. A characteristic unique to their lineage for many generations now. It was because of this characteristic that their family suffered many misfortunes and tragedies. It was precisely because of this that Saludy vowed to help realize her son’s desires no matter what. 

She loved her son. She never wanted history to repeat itself and have tragedy befall him. The curse that plagued their lineage was truly a terrifying one. Even the greatest of heroes would be ruined and fall from grace from such a curse. 

For centuries now, this curse was a shackle. It imprisoned their family like a never-ending nightmare with no reprieve. 

The curse was a good reason why her son treated love so frivolously. By indulging in his more carnal pleasures and disassociating himself from matters like true love, Hughesin tried to escape the prison of the ancient curse. 

But all his efforts were undoubtedly wasted now that the mighty God of Love was knocking at the door. Hughesin made a valiant effort to run from destiny, but ultimately destiny was not something someone could hide from.

“Let us find a place to sit.” The mother spoke, “Your sweetheart needs a better place to rest in, and I would still like to hear how you came to know of her.”

Hughesin really didn’t want to continue his explanation anymore, but he never knew how to refuse a request from his mother.

He watched helplessly as his mother sat down on a nearby sofa before following suit. Seated next to her, he began to recount the story from the very beginning on how he met Fantasia.

His mother was an attentive listener—one of the best, in fact. She never interrupted when it was to her fancy, nor when others had questions, and never tried to pry into the secrets of others. Hughesin actually found it much easier to formulate his thoughts with such a listener. Problems that felt like mountains were now anthills that could easily be solved after a nice period of cooling off. 

Truth be told, Hughesin actually felt grateful for having such a mother now. A mother’s ear was truly a blessing in such a tumultuous situation. His worries were quickly dwindling away now that he could freely talk about them with his mother. He felt unburdened and capable of tackling every single problematic little detail from beginning to end.

A decision was already made by the time Hughesin finished telling his story, much to his mother’s delight. She had faith in her son’s decision-making abilities even despite not knowing what exactly that decision was. It wasn’t her place to ask, however, and so she could only guess in her heart what her son was going to do. 

As a mother, she had no intention of forcing her son to do anything he didn’t want to; it was his life, after all. Who else should one’s decision matter than their own? If she disagreed with his decision, then she’d delegate herself as a spectator. If she agreed, then Hughesin could rest assured that she would be a staunch supporter behind him. 

On his bed, Elric was finally starting to regain consciousness. He was a little muddle-headed, but he was still well aware of everything that was happening around him. The past few minutes felt like a dream to him, one where he was deeply aware of everything that happened around him. He already had a clue on what kind of decision Hughesin was about to make, even. 

The situation made Elric’s head hurt. The world felt more like a nightmare than a dream, one he hoped was an illusion made by Monster. At least a delusion purposefully meant to hurt Elric would’ve been more preferable than reality. In that delusion, at least, he wouldn’t be in danger still.

Hughesin was the first to realize Fantasia’s awakening. Leaping up from his seat, he rushed over to Fantasia’s side and knelt down in concern.

The extreme anxiety and worry radiating from Hughesin at his awakening brought a shiver up Elric’s spine. It seemed that the duke awoke to the feeling of love as a result of this situation. 

Hughesin must’ve been so affected by his emotions when trying to save Fantasia that the emotions he felt were confused for love! 

“What a pain.” Elric thought to himself. Disentangling himself from this situation would only get even harder because of that. He only met Hughesin a while ago, but Elric knew that he was the type of man to never give up until he achieved his goals. 

Elric attempted to push himself upright on the bed, but felt his body completely without the energy to do so. That had to be because of the holy magic used to treat him. As demonstrated back in Crazy’s lab, being hit with holy magic always made his body weak. Though generally his body would be in an extreme amount of pain rather than being unable to move like right now.

Hughesin moved to extend a hand out to help Fantasia when he saw her struggle, but he froze. What if Fantasia hated him? Surely she would have less than affectionate feelings for the man after everything that happened so far. 

He grew worried. What if she refused him?

The hesitation he felt did not go unnoticed by his mother. She smiled when she saw his hand falter. Her son, she smiled, had decided on the right choice. Saludy was pleased with Hughesin. Now it seemed she would only have to busy herself with trying to support her son by her own means.

Like an anxious prisoner waiting for the verdict, Hughesin stood there nervously in front of Fantasia. He remained like so until Fantasia finally reached out go touch his arm with her own hand. And just like that, all his worries bled away. 

Hughesin felt free. 

Blissful. 

He took her trembling—and also strangely rough—hands into his own. The sensation felt so wonderful; he didn’t even understand why he felt this way anymore. It wasn’t as though Hughesin lacked the feminine touch of a woman. Far from it. The embrace of many women was something he was familiar with, yet never had he experienced such happiness before. 

But he was still a little curious about the calluses as he held Fantasia’s hands. They weren’t the calluses a knight or warrior might be expected to have after their constant practicing. No, they weren’t in the right place for that. Were they calluses from her climbing trees and other objects, then? He smiled at the memory of when he first saw Fantasia climb over into Somiret’s estate and then again over his own railing. Now that was a happy memory, or maybe it was a strangely adorable one?

A noble lady that loved to climb trees. Maybe he’d be able to win over her heart if he got rid of all the trees on his manor and replaced them with banana trees?

On the other end, Elric was once again disgusted to see Hughesin so affectionately looking at his hands. Yanking his hands back, he held them behind his back and began to wipe the sweat off them like usual.

The sight was once again met with tongue-in-cheek reactions from the servant staff. They all wanted to laugh, but how could they when it was their master that was being ridiculed? Even Saludy was hiding a smile behind her fan.

So this was the woman her son was after? How unexpected to see from Karth’s ‘Saint of Love’..