Adrian went to his room. Though he had quite the thrill this evening, it could not be denied that it was too much for a 16 year old body; he was really tired.

Isabella, who was ordered to hide away, was in the room- waiting for him. She looked scared.

“You sensed everything, right?” Like the darkness attribute, nether wind attribute had the same magical immunity- heightened sensory abilities.

“Yes.” She replied in a sheepish tone.

“That’s my true self. Do you still want to stay with me?”

She thought for a moment before replying-

“Yes.” Her tone- determined.

He looked into her eyes and smiled- a smile which was not his casual smile or his creepy smile, it was a rare smile filled with warmth.

“Silly girl, you are making me- a demon- feel guilty.” She decided to stay with him not because she was scared of him, it was because she thought that he would feel bad if she decided to leave.

“Go and have dinner.” He said before jumping on the bed.

The moment he said ‘dinner’, she remembered the gruesome ways those assailants were killed. Even though she had not seen it with her eyes, she knew every single detail of what happened because of her senses. This caused her stomach to churn; she barely held back from puking out the little contents she had in her stomach.

She rushed towards the washroom, covering her mouth with her hand.

Adrian shook his head and closed his eyes, but he was unable to go to sleep.

******

In a dark room, a man whose face was hidden by darkness itself was sitting on a seemingly extravagant chair- all alone with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, the man heard a *whoosh* sound which prompted him to open his eyes.

“Is that you, Viper?”

“Affirmative, your majesty.” The new entrant was completely enshrouded in darkness; the only information about him could be extracted from the voice- that he was a male.

“What’s the report of that task?” The man, who could be inferred as a king, asked.

“Your Majesty, it… failed.”

An authoritative aura filled the room, causing the new entrant to kneel, suffocating him in the process.

“Spare me!” He shouted.

The aura dispelled, finally letting him breath a sigh of relief.

“What happened?”

“The other operatives reported that none of the operatives who were entrusted with the mission were present in class today.”

“All of them are dead, I presume.” The man asked.

“Yes, none of the operatives sensed their magical energy fluctuations while they scanned the whole Academy. And none left the Academy last two days.”

“It’s good as long as they are dead; if the plan is exposed, it will be pandemonium. How did it fail? There were three level 2s lead by a level 3.”

“We suspect someone’s protecting the target, and he or she is at least a level 6.”

“Why do you think it’s a level 6?”

“Because…” His voice trailed off.

“Because what?” He felt a foreboding.

“Ronald… we lost his energy signature.”

“WHAT?!” The man could not keep his calm anymore, he stood up- unleashing that overwhelming aura again.

“Your Maj…” As the aura was even more overwhelming than before, the poor subject could barely breath.

The king regained his composure- proving his capability.

The one called Viper barely held his life.

“How did this happen? Wasn’t he ordered only to observe and not to interfere even in the worse case scenario?” He asked.

Losing four student operatives- though a big deal- wasn’t unsalvageable, but losing an instructor was.

“Even we don’t know, your Majesty. We suspect that he was exposed, that’s why he was killed.”

“But why would a level 6 circler be allowed to guard a student? Even tier 2 royalties don’t get that treatment in the Academy, not to mention- that brat is from an unfriendly nation.”

“I believe it has something to do with ‘the Duchess’. She was the now-principal’s apprentice.”

“THAT BITCH AGAIN!” The king again lost her composure; but this time, it was at the mere mention of a woman.

He continued, “I swear in the name of Ervil that I will pound and fill every one of her holes with my semen once everything is over!”

The poor Viper lost his consciousness.

*****

Both Adrian and Isabella return to the house after their classes were over.

“Isabella, you reached level 1 right?”

“Yes, this morning.” She was excited, waiting for some praise from her young master.

But the what he did was the exact opposite.

“Too slow.” Her excitement deflated as if it were a dying balloon.

But what Isabella heard from class was totally different. Instructor Bell said that a tier 3 talent needed about 8 months to reach level 1 without any resources, a tier 4 needs 4 to 6 months and a tier 5 needs less than 3 months. And considering the fact that she reached level 1 in a month, she was really fast.

“But-” She tried to retort, still dejected.

“But what? I already reached level 1 more than two weeks ago. I am just concealing it with my essence. If you fall behind, why would I need you anymore?”

‘Why would I need you anymore?’ Isabella felt as if the whole sky broke down on her.

‘Exactly. If I can’t even keep up with him, how can I serve him?’ She thought.

Adrian knew exactly what she was thinking and smiled.

“What should I do, young master?” She was determined.

“Practice. Try to absorb magical energy all day. The more you force yourself to go beyond your limits, the faster you will absorb magical energy.”

“Yes, I will double my practice time. No, triple it.” She clenched her fists as she nodded her head hard.

“Ok, I will also concoct some potions to accelerate your absorption speed.”

Adrian took potioneering as his only optional course. The reason was simple, he was already an expert at everything else- be it combat, magic circle, medicine etc. But that was not the case for potioneering as it was more of a practical deed than theoretical, combat being the exception of course.

“But-“

“Don’t worry, it won’t affect my practice. Besides, you can’t catch up to me even if you quintuple your practice time.” He flicked her forehead knowing what she was thinking.

They started to practice in the same room. The day soon passed.

Next day, it was a day off. The ‘Celestea House’.

Evelyn Greatwoods, the third princess of the Kingdom of Nemphis, just came out of her bath. She was wearing an all white bathrobe, she was still using her towel to wipe off the remaining bit of stubborn water locked onto her beautiful blonde hair.

Her two maids were busy with their chores. Only the royalties of the Kingdom of Nemphis had the perk of keeping two maids- whose age could not exceed 21- along, the tier 2 royalties only had the right to keep one.

As for her protection, there was a separate room for a royal guardian close to the main dorm house. But unless emergencies, the guardian was not allowed to leave that room before the student’s graduation. This was to prevent the student from depending on his or her guardian.

*Knock. Knock. Knock*

Someone knocked on the door.

Stella, who was close to the door went to open the door. But before she could, Mia rushed towards the door- pushing Stella in the process- and opened it.

A supremely handsome figure wearing the first year uniform was standing outside.

Even though Mia had seen him up close before and even done the unspeakable with him, she was still caught in a daze.

Stella, who was about to berate Mia, ended up joining Mia as she too- was caught in a daze.

“Is the princess in?”

His voice woke them both up.

“Yes. Please come in.”

Adrian stepped into the building and started to scan the surroundings.

‘Please sit there and wait. I will call the princess.’ That was what Stella prepared herself to say. But before she could-

“The princess is in her room. Please, follow me.” Mia began to lead him to the princess’s room.

Stella was taken aback. That was not the protocol. If anything, leading a stranger to the princess’s bedroom was anti-protocol. She regained her composure and began to rush towards the room to stop them. But alas, she was a step too late; he was already in the room.

In the room, the princess was still wearing her tight bathrobe which revealed her beautiful shape. She just let go of her towel when she heard the door knock and Mia speak.

“Your highness, Sir Adrian Darkheart is here to see you.”

She was a bit surprised. But before she could tell Mia that she would be coming shortly, she heard the door open. She subconsciously looked at the door. What she saw had her panicked- Adrian was closing the door behind him.

“Why are you panicking? Don’t you remember that you are the one who made me your ‘fiancé’.” Adrian smiled.

But the princess was someone who was fighting for the throne of the second strongest nation of the continent. She regained her composure fast.

“I believe you are the one who forgot, Adrian. You have to make me the queen first.” The princess smiled back.

The princess sat on a sofa and pointed at the opposite sofa. “Please seat.”

Adrian did not waste anytime and sat down. The first thing he did was to scan her body.

The princess blushed but she kept her composure.

“So, I have kept my end of the promise. What are you going to do?”

“I believe you have already made a decision.”

“Yes, I made a decision, and I have a plan.”

“Let’s go with the plan.”

“What?!” The princess was surprised.

“But I haven’t told you anything.” She continued.

“But I know. Let’s start.”

“Start? When?” She frowned.

“Now!”