He did not just sit by idly though – after dealing with each and every task that a territory leader had to bother with, the black-haired boy would always end up dragging the dark-blue-haired butler to the garden where they would train together – although a huge part of it consisted of Zoemi absorbing Benevirau’s spells and enlarging his mana reservoir in the progress.

The only troublesome part was that they had to be done by the evening as the citizens of Learen did not appreciate the thunderous roars of thunders and vicious storms assaulting their eardrums when they were going for a drink to unwind after the hard day’s work or simply try to sleep.

Not to mention the air quakes that many of the magicless people were finding being in the center of one to be extremely nauseating.

The training wasn’t just to kill time – Zoemi was preparing for facing the Ghosts of Bellcephora and although since encountering Elsby neither he himself nor his sentinels encountered even a trace of another Ghost, the black-haired boy was sleeping with one eye open just in case and had three sentinels capable of using teleportation spell standing by in his shadow ready to teleport him and the nearby allies away in case of an ambush.

Speaking about allies…

”|My prince – how is everything going?|”

Zoemi finished supper and said goodnight to Benevirau before going back to his room and throwing himself onto the massive bed and contacting the gold-haired prince first as his father asked him to not disturb him for a few days.

”{…I can barely sleep – since your commoner friend has made major progress with Patishi’s treatment the little bugger had been clinging to me almost none stop insistent on showing off that she no longer has the part that she disliked the most about herself… I had no idea that maid’s dresses can get this short… I am beginning to doubt my strong will and start thinking that my Patishi isn’t as innocent as I initially assumed. And don’t get me started about Veo… Since your friend, again, is getting better and better with her magic, my Veo regained quite a lot of mobility in her hands and has taken an interest in massage… massaging me to be exact… We need to get you back to the Academy to hook up with Miriette as soon as possible because I swear to all heavens that I will cause a scandal that will make Surou’s failure of an engagement look like a childish joke.}”

”|…have you tried telling Patishi to dress more appropriately…?|”

Horeo certainly had a lot that he wanted to share, maybe even overshare, making Zoemi rather embarrassed and unable to come up with any better response.

”{Don’t be stupid, you platinum slab!}

…but that comment only earned him a harsh scolding…

”{She is finally starting to be comfortable with her own body and I would rather bite my own tongue off than put her down like that! Besides, she is only dressing up like that around me and I li…}”

Horeo scoffed furiously but finally said something that he himself found to be too much information – but he was too late I biting his tongue…

”|Ah, so you do like it. Then you are just telling me that because you want to brag? And why did you call me a platinum slab…?|”

Zoemi snickered at his best friend and furrowed his brows, confused about a rather unusual nickname.

”{You know what? Fuck you. Platinum slab fits you because you are dense as one, of course!}”

It was maybe the third or fourth time that Zoemi witnessed Horeo lose his patience like that – of which most times were during their childhood – so it was both unexpected and… really amusing…

”|Alright, then, how is the progress on the inheritance procedure? If you are playing around I am going to tell Patishi and Veo about your weakness towards females donning fishnet stockings- let’s test how strong your strong will really is.|”

”{!!!!!!!!!!}”

Zoemi laughed mockingly and even though Horeo didn’t say a thing he could sense the absolute exasperation of the gold-haired prince.

”{You know what? You got awfully bold since you learned that our grandmothers were sisters, you know? And once again, ** you – don’t you dare give them dangerous ideas like that!}”

The first prince managed to calm down enough to groan in disbelief at the clear provocation from his best friend.

”|Aren’t you the same? I could swear that you would hold back on swearing like that especially at me unless you were extremely shocked.|”

Zoemi pointed out before breathing out and shaking his head, ready to get back to the serious talk.

”|Alright, your fishnets stocking fetish secret is safe with me. Now. Do you have any news about the inheritance process – I do want to return to the Academy even without the threat of two girls aiming to pop your cherry.|”

The black-haired boy really tried to stay serious but he couldn’t help himself from throwing another snarky remark just to tease the gold-haired prince.

”{We both know that there are way more than two girls who aim to do that anyway – the problem with those two is that I do like them back. And no. For now, all talks have been stopped because lord Lazaram has asked lord Victureo to return him the modern artifact because he wants to perform some maintenance and maybe add a few more adjustments and it was revealed that the object has been stolen. I had just the tiniest bit of hope that it would actually cause your case to be approved and swept under the rug, but instead, my genius – and I am using that word only half-ironically – mother dug up some obsolete rule that allows her to indefinitely freeze any legal discussions and meeting as long as there is an undergoing emergency – and of course, it turns out that to call a situation an emergency it needs only a majority of the votes – and not even a decisive three quarters one but the normal one. Even though normally she would not have even that kind of majority, the scale tipped in her favor because Vitureo are in particular possition right about now.}”

Horeo explained and his thoughts were turning more and more annoyed as he was sending them to Zoemi.

”|Say… does it has to anything to do with Victureo family holding back on marrying off Ehmi…?|”

Zoemi froze up and asked, squinting his eyes in realization.

For once, the queen’s action might not have been aimed exclusively at him…

”{…yes, actually… that is exactly the reason. As long as a noble family in the Bellcephora Kingdom has an unmarried male member, they have sent a marriage proposal to the Victureo family and got rejected. After all, it’s not every day that someone like Ehmi is born. She really is a big deal… but how do you know about the details like that…?}”

Horeo asked sounding confused and slightly suspicious – it really sounded as if he was going to ask whether Zoemi is interested in Ehmi next, so the black-haired boy decided to speak first.

”|I told you that this was what that Vanterl guy said, right? Beside’s, isn’t it obvious enough? Ehmi is in the third year already. Despite her looks, she is at an age where the majority of nobles are already at least engaged – and her rare variant attribute, although troublesome

because of all the time distortion stuff and her getting younger, is incredibly powerful. The prestige of…|”

”{Zoemi, let me stop you there.}”

Zoemi pointed out while furrowing his brows and shrugging his shoulders even though Horeo couldn’t see him – but the gold-haired prince interrupted him in an utterly confused voice.

”|Yes…?|”

Zoemi asked, wondering what could it be about.

”{Despite her looks? Variant magician? Time distortion and getting younger? Zoemi, you honestly had something for a moment, but then you started spewing such nonsense? Who are you talking about?}”

Horeo scoffed in disbelief, causing Zoemi to sit up on his bed.

”|I’m talking about Ehmi of course, Ehmi Gamemi Victureo – the time magician.|”

The black-haired boy explained feeling increasingly odd about the situation – what was going on, was Horeo trying to prank him or something? The two of the literally talked with Ehmi before, together! Horeo had been talking with the platinum-haired girl in front of Zoemi!

”{…are… are you suffering from mana depletion right now…?}”

Horeo asked sounding genuinely concerned.

”|No. Why would you ask that…?|”

Zoemi shook his head and questioned the first prince.

”{Zoemi… Ehmi is a tall beautiful girl that looks slightly more mature than others her age – and she is a fire magician – oh, right, you know about sages now, so, a fire sage – you know? Red hair and eyes and all…}”

”|…huh…?|”

Horeo explained and Zoemi could only blink in confusion and gasp.