Chapter 16.1 - Until I Have the Right Hand
Episode 4: Until I Have the Right Hand – Chapter 16.1
Yan’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. To be honest, anyone would be surprised if a person suddenly appeared out of thin air before their eyes.
It was all thanks to his well-built habit as an attendant that he managed not to scream. If it weren’t for this, he would have ran out of the door hollering. It was also a good thing that Yan had recognised the man right away, as he could also keep himself composed enough to stop himself from tipping over the washbasin that he was holding in place of a maid who had hurt her wrist yesterday. Thus, Yan couldn’t help but feel proud of himself as he stood between the man and the curtains that led to Calian’s bedroom, where the prince was sound asleep.
“Sir Manassil, what are you doing in here?!”
It was, of course, Alan who had warped in front of Yan.However, what was unexpected was that Alan seemed somewhat agitated. It was as if he had just been arguing with somebody.
“Is His Highness awake yet?” asked Alan as he pointed towards the bedroom.
“His Highness is currently feeling unw— wait, that’s not the problem!”
While he was panicking, the maids halted their steps as they were coming out through the bedroom curtains. They didn’t seem to recognise Alan. Instead of offering an explanation, Yan drove out the maids and locked the door before running to the bathroom on the other side of the bedroom. He was still holding the small washbasin filled with water. He did not have the capacity to even think about setting it down in the midst of this mayhem.
“Come this way.”
The prince’s residence consisted of a bedroom, a shower room, a study, a living room, a bathroom, and a separate room with a tub. The only thing that it didn’t have, however, were doors. It was built this way in case of attempts of assassination or other accidents. Since any sound could still freely travel through the bathroom curtains, Yan was in a clutch. Just then, he remembered Alan’s abilities.
“Please use that thing that can make us quiet,” whispered Yan.
“Hm?”
Alan stared at Yan with a blank expression before finally catching on. He snapped his fingers and “used that thing that could make them quiet”. Soon, a translucent barrier surrounded them. The area was contained within the silence spell.
“What rudeness is this, Sir Manassil?” hissed Yan.
Yan didn’t show any signs of surprise even when Alan used magic just at the snap of his fingers. To Yan, Alan was currently nothing more than a shameless man who was trespassing in his dear prince’s residence. He didn’t care that the emblem on Alan’s robe symbolised his status as a 7th-circle mage. He didn’t care that Alan had just used non-verbal magic so effortlessly. Because Alan could see this so clearly, he let out a chuckle.
“Did you ask me to use my magic so that you could scold me?”
“We mustn’t wake His Highness up.”
He had just reprimanded King Rumein, and was now getting scolded by the prince’s attendant for poor manners. Yan’s attitude was certainly not ideal, but he was doing his job well as an attendant. Alan nodded understandingly.
“I heard that guests may not enter Chermil Palace without formal permission. It seems that His Majesty’s message had not been relayed yet.”
“So you—what is it again—‘teleported’ here because you couldn’t yet receive permission?”
Alan laughed and proudly shook his head. “I warped here. It’s a higher level magic. I’m not half bad at what I do, you see.”
Yan laughed with him. Warping, my ass. “Please leave.”
“Weren’t you planning to wake him up, anyway? I can wait.”
Yan firmly shook his head. “I cannot let you wait, sir. We were also just about to leave the room so that His Highness could rest for a little longer.”
Alan looked around, pretending not to have heard anything. The walls were lined with black tiles with shimmers of gold. A large black tub made out of onyx stone was placed at the centre of the room.
“How extravagant. I can understand how he is able to sleep after telling his elderly teacher to come to the palace by 9:30,” said Alan in pure admiration.
“Elderly? You seem incredibly sprightly,” grumbled Yan.
Having finally realised that they were in Calian’s private space, Yan leaped back in surprise and tried to say something. Alan read his expression and interjected before he could say anything.
“If we leave this space, we would be out of the range of my magic. Are we allowed to make noise now?”
Yan furrowed his brows in dissatisfaction, but stopped trying to drive out Alan. Instead, he replied in a firm voice: “if you have something that you must tell His Highness, I will relay it to him once he wakes up. However, I must ask you to leave.”
“I’m only here to see how His Highness is faring. What can I do? I have no message that needs relaying. It’s not like I could talk to you about His Highness’s well-being.”
Yan fell silent. He had certainly heard that Calian came in contact with Alan and that they now had a student-teacher relationship. However, he did not know whether or not Alan knew about Calian’s poor health. Although Calian had once mentioned that he intended to ask a mage for help, Yan wasn’t sure if Calian had already asked Alan about it. Thus, he decided for now to pretend that he didn’t know anything.
“Well-being? I’m not exactly following this.”
Finally, Alan decided to use the information that he had originally intended to save for later. “You know who I am, right?”
“…but of course. I heard about you from His Highness.”
Alan cackled and brought his face close to Yan’s. He said in a low voice, “No more jokes, baby elephant. I’m asking if you know me.”
Yan’s eyes widened. He knew perfectly well that people talked about the Siegfrieds as “elephants”. He was even more taken aback than when Alan suddenly appeared before him and lost grip of the washbasin.
— clang!
Water splashed everywhere. At the same time, Alan snapped his fingers and created a translucent shield in front of him to block the water. Of course, he didn’t show the mercy of extending the shield to Yan, who was now drenched to the skin. An unrealistic amount of water had poured out of the washbasin and Alan’s mouth twitched as if he were holding back laughter, but Yan was too surprised to notice.
“How—”
“You visited Liebern with the daddy elephant a few years ago. Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you just because you grew and were pretending to be someone else?”