As I descended the carriage, Emmy glanced at me worryingly. "My lady, can't we schedule the lesson later? I am sure his highness understands,".
"I am better now Emmy. And I wasted too much time," I said as I looked up the sky.
Winter is approaching. And soon it will officially be a year for me as Carina. We have to move things fast.
"Carina!!," the front door burst open and I saw Vance panting heavily.
He ran towards me and grabbed my shoulders. "You're okay aren't you? Are you sure you should be walking around like this? Why are you wearing such thin clothes when winter is coming?," he blabbered.
I covered my lips and laughed. His face seriously looks like a little whimpering puppy. Meanwhile, Emmy raised her brows, confused at the new face her lady expressed.
"Your highness, you can't run down the hallways like that," the butler behind him shouted.
I waved my hand. "It's been awhile. How about our normal lessons?,".
Our little tutor room is just as usual. It's only been a month and a half, but I somehow miss the classroom. "How have you been keeping up with your studies?,"
"It's great Master!,"
Master?
Vance smiled at my bewilderment. "I decided to call you master while we are in this room. But while we are outside, we don't have a professional relationship and not tied to a knight oath, so I will call you as a friend, Carina," he sat up straight like a diligent student and gave me an enthusiastic smile.
"So you've studied the Nobles in Career Etiquettes," I smiled as I waved the wad of papers in my hand. "Nothing like a good test to gauge out how much you really study, right?,".
While Vance was answering the test, Demetrius entered the room. "Your highness pardon me, master, Lady Uld wishes to speak to you".
I nodded, excusing myself from the room. It's been awhile so I was kind of looking forward to how she is doing.
I thought I would meet her at her room, but she's waiting right outside in the hallway. Uld looks a little different. She's very thin and pale. The dress she wore is very loose on her body, making her look slightly messy and unflattering. Nevertheless, Uld's smile towards me is still gentle as ever, as if the moment that I witnessed her acting differently when Vance was sick is mere illusion.
"Lady Uld," I greeted, as a formality.
"Lady Carina, it's been awhile, I'll keep it brief. I'll be going back to Frigore," she said.
I was taken aback by her sudden decision but Uld quickly explained. "I wanted to take Vance with me, but he insisted in staying here and taking lessons with you. So, I plead you to please protect him," she bowed, a little too low for a noble like her.
I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Uld, please, are you aware that your decision is against the emperor's orders'? You can't leave this palace,".
She nodded. "Yes but it's about to happen sooner or later anyway so it doesn't matter. I am afraid Vance's mana is detected when he was in pain for a slight second in Frigore ,"
So that means, when he was in pain, his mana leaked out slightly, which causes his location to be detected. Such an important piece of information that I don't even know!
"Look, we can't discuss such important matters in this hallway,"
She scoffed. "There is no one in this palace besides an old butler, two busy maids, my son, Demetrius and the both of us. Who would dare to eavesdrop?,".
I sighed. Helena and Uld, both of them are the same. Secretive as always. It's almost frustrating. But it frustrates me more than usual because it involves Vance. My first impression of Uld is that she's an intelligent and alert person, but I never realized she's grasping at straws.
Now that she's determined to make such a reckless decision, it shows how much she's giving up.
"You're an intelligent person, Lady Carina. So I will tell you straight up, those pills are to protect him from Frigore,"
I narrowed my eyes. "Huh, so a pill that restraints' mana is to protect him from his own blood clan?,".
Uld gave me a weak smile. "So you found out?,"
She sighed as she looked outside the window. "My son is the child of prophecy. He will bring destruction to this world,"
"Vance...will be killed by his uncle, if the Frigores found out his overwhelming potential. That's how he will protect his own standing," Uld took my hand and squeezed it.
"Please Lady Carina. For me, Helena and Vance's sake, do not pit him against his own uncle. His uncle is the half-breed son of the demon king himself during Archmage Geona age of war against demons. And you know yourself that the demons during that time is immensely powerful,"
Archmage Geona. That's the identity I've had when I was an archmage 600 years ago.
But the demon king had a son with a human? How can I be unaware of this after all these hundreds of years?