"I see." Baelthon leaned back again, speaking now in a normal voice as if they'd been discussing the weather instead of some secret plan. "Then it could even serve you with your current situation. Distracting the boy a lot could be just what you need for him to have the possibility of failing at least one exam in the next trimester."
"It's..." Aldric processed the idea, his political gears turning again after the paralysis. "Risky. If he gets upset by any chance..."
"Everything is risky in politics," Baelthon responded with the 'wisdom' of someone who'd survived decades of noble intrigue. "Even staying still affected us greatly, right? But this... this attacks something his brute power can't solve. His supposed mana control, his apparent genius for battle and beasts if they're real... none of that helps him when it comes to adolescent emotional navigation. Even if he turns out to be a genius, he can't possibly have had the time to be one at everything, right?"
