Darian and Edger walked upward along the creaky wooden stairs of the building to the upper floors. The first and second floors weren't anything special. It was dusty, had some old things, and shelves of books and furniture here and there. Edger looked right and left, his mind lingered with the question of what and who Darian was. Looking into this abandoned place as they were climbing the stairs towards the third floor, he looked at Darian, whose face was full of confidence; he didn't think much more.
Finally, they reached the third floor, which looked like the rest of the rooms, but unlike them, the things were organised and quietly arranged. seeing it, Darian smirked as he was expecting it. The prince didn't wait a second. "It seems the bastard of the Elcards doesn't have words to greet the third prince of the empire. Perhaps this visit wasn't something you had expected, at least for an instant, huh?"
Darian walked towards the chair by the windows, the only place where things were visible. Edger looked at Darian, trying to process what his lord was playing.
A shadowy figure begins to emerge from the darkness, their footsteps echoing sharply after every step that person takes. Finally, the light fell on his face, revealing a man with dirty blonde hair and a messy side-parted layered cut framed by long sweeping bangs; a small burn mark was seen underneath his forehead covered by his hair.
He bowed and, with utmost grace, as he had rehearsed it countless times, "Your Highness," he continued," I truly don't understand what you are talking about !"
"Oh, you know exactly what I am talking about, Clement Elcard," Darian sneered with his clinical smirk playing on his lips, "Running all kinds of errands from a few shiny metallic rounds without any second thoughts. Tell me I'm not truly mistaken, am I?"
Clement lets out a heavy sigh, dropping his act of politeness, "What do you want, Your Highne....?"
Before Clement could finish his sentence, Darian threw the bag that Edger gave him on the floor. The clanking of the coin made Clement's expression shift for anoyance to curiosity, and a smile rose on his face.
"Now we are on proper terms, aren't we?" Darian replied.
Clement laughed; the tense atmosphere that had been there for minutes vanished as if nothing had happened. "Your Highness, what can I do for you?" as he took the bag in hand from the ground to hide inside his dress
Darian replied smoothly, "Nothing too much. What I want is something that Elcard Marquesate is famous for? runes. Yes, I want fire runes, about a hundred of them, engraved with flame spells, delivered to me before the next month's exhibition match."
Clement's face fell slightly while his brow furrowed. "A hundred seems too problematic for such a short time....."
Without a word, Darian reached into his coat and threw another heavy bag that he had been carrying without Edger noticing, on the floor.
Clement's eyes sparked with greed as he stared at the second bag. He didn't wait for a second."Yes!, considered it done, Your Highness! Please don't hold back on asking for more help in the future."
Darian turned his back without speaking further, as both were walking down the stairs, Edgar's mind filled with questions. Darian looked at him, "What is the matter, Edger, planning on quitting this fast?"
"No, not that, Your Highness, it's just.... why are you wasting this much money on low-grade runes if you needed to finish the trials, you could have hired a strong mage from the students or you... you could have bribed the judges or teachers in the Academy."
Darian burst out laughing when he heard the word bribe, bribe the teachers? Coming from a rigid and straight-laced knight made Darian laugh even more.
He patted Edger's back, who was walking with him, "It would be incredibly boring if a super-strong mage take credit for my victory. Besides, I have planned something in mind."
He leaned closer to Edger, his smirk turned into something calculating, "Also, Edger, could you help me with something else?"
"Yes.....Yes, Your Highness, I will be most happy to assist you, "Edger replied by bowing his head with utmost respect, showing his unwavering loyalty.
Darian whispered a set of highly specific instructions into Edger's ear. He listened closely and remarked, " Yes, yes, Your highness. I will find them immediately."
"Good," Darian replied and left him to head back to his dorm.
The next day, the classes happened as usual, boring lectures, gruesome lessons, and the eyes of students and teachers on him because of the chaos he created, but he wasn't interested in it; his mind was filled with the request he had given to Edger, the next piece of his plan he was building. The thought was still lingering while he was resting after the class. His thoughts were disrupted by a sound."Your Highness its me, Edger."
"You can enter...." Before he could finish talking, the door was forced open, and a girl who looked younger than Darian marched into his room. She had wild, untamed black hair that faded into messy white tips at the ends, and her face was a constellation of freckles across her nose. Yet she had a confident aura around her.
Edger followed her, looking completely exhausted, rubbing his temples as if he was trying to prevent a disaster from occurring.
She opened her mouth without holding back."Are you the one who was looking for the great golem mancer Ruby Craiger so much?"