Third Person's POV:
"Yllaria!" Those were the only words the duke could utter as the young lady fainted in his arms. Panic washed over him, but before he could do anything rash, a tap on his shoulder brought him back to his senses. His emerald-green eyes met the lady's red ones, and in an instant, he composed himself.
"Your Grace, in my humble opinion, I think it's better if we head back to the manor. We don't want to encounter more unnecessary troubles." The duke could only node while he held his frail young daughter tightly in his arms. The lady beside him sighed and muttered words in the wind. In less than half an hour, a carriage appeared before them, wherein the butler of the duke greeted them with a glint of worry in his gold-streaked eyes. Without wasting a breath, they all rode the carriage and headed for the manor.
By the time they arrived, they went to the young lady's room, where a blonde man and the third prince were waiting. The third prince's dangerous mana was already subdued, but none of them had their guard down. Not minding the other strangers, the duke carefully placed his daughter on the bed. His protectiveness kicked in when the blonde man held the sleeping lady's hand. In a split second, a sword coated with flames was heading for the blonde man's hand, ready to slash it. But with a flick of a finger, the flames were extinguished and the sword's movement was put into a stop.
"You've gotten quicker, but you should really work on your temper, brat." The blonde man's voice was calm, but everyone could hear his threat behind it. The duke made his sword vanish as he stared coldly at the man holding the sleeping lady's hand. "Who are you?" The blonde man snickered with the duke's question.
"You really are a brat. How could you forget your mentor?" As if on cue, some memories flowed into the duke's brain and he was left stunned. While the duke was processing the whole thing, the man passed his mana to the young lady. As he did that, his form slowly changed from a man to child's body. The witnesses were left in awe, while the duke, who already recovered from shock, chuckled. "I remember now. I thought you were dead, that's why I forgot about you." The blonde man's brows furrowed as he heard the statement from the duke.
"Hah? Don't go killing me in your mind, you stupid brat." He released the sleeping lady's hand and turned to the spectators' direction. "My name's Ambrose, a magician. I won't erase your memories about me, but bear in mind that you must keep everything you saw as a secret... For your own sake." He flashed a dangerous grin on his face, giving shivers to the others. Despite being in a child's form, everyone knew that his words and presence should be taken seriously.
"About this sleeping lady here, I gave her a portion of my mana so she should be stable now and would wake up in a day or two. I'll be watching over her, so go do your jobs." Before Ambrose could take a seat on the chair beside the bed, a big hand gripped his wrist, causing him to stop from his movement. "What are you doing, brat?" The magician asked the duke whose eyes were clearly glaring and protective.
"You can't stay here." Ambrose's right brow raised, his voice was teasing, clearly taunting the duke. A moment of silence passed the room.
"I... don't want you to." The duke's voice came out as a whisper, but it was enough to reach the magician's ears. The blonde child burst into laughter, while the duke bit his lower lip to hide his irritation and embarrassment. It took a while before the magician's laughter died down. "Well, well, that's not an enough reason, you brat. Go now, I'm sure you have other things to do regarding this incident." Ambrose's hand made a 'shoo-ing' hand gesture, and all the others could do was sigh. Even though they knew that the magician has a point, they couldn't bear to get out.
"Move. I'll look over her." Everyone's attention turned to the third prince who, for the first time, spoke. His voice was flat, and none of them could decipher his emotions. Ambrose's thin lips rose into a smirk as he looked at the emotionless prince and the duke who was doing his best not to glare at the former.
"What do you mean, little kid? Are you perhaps commanding me?" The magician's voice sounded clearly amused. The prince's amethyst eyes stared at Ambrose's blue ones, and for some reason, the magician couldn't read the little prince's mind. "Think what you want, I'll stay here." The young prince was stubborn, that's what Ambrose concluded.
"Then I'll think that you're commanding me. And for starters, I hate being ordered around. Would you still risk it, kid?" Gone was his amused face, and with a blink of an eye, Ambrose's demeanor became serious. They stared at each other's eyes, none of them blinking or backing down. "Yes. I don't mind." The magician heaved a deep sigh with the little prince's answer.
"Ah, kids are really a handful. Okay, I'll move--" Before Ambrose could finish his sentence, the duke talked in a firm voice. "Stop talking like I would allow you to stay in my daughter's room. Everyone, get out." In an instant, everyone realized that the duke was really serious, and he wouldn't let this issue slide. The tension in the room was too high, and the butler cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"For now, shall we leave the young lady alone? We don't want her waking up with this kind of tension, am I right?" The butler forced a composed smile on his face despite the chills he felt from the three people's stares. The lady beside him nodded to agree with him, and the butler felt a little assured.
The magician raised his hands, as if accepting defeat, and first headed to the door. Before he could even step out, Ambrose looked at everyone seriously.
"I'm telling you, don't interfere with me next time. As the young lady's mentor, it's my responsibility to check on her regarding her handling in magic and mana. Take my advice seriously, or you won't like the consequences." After giving the so-called-advice, the magician vanished in thin air and the butler and the lady beside him sighed. "Then, shall we go, Your Grace and Third Imperial Prince?" The duke and the third prince took a few seconds before agreeing.
Before heading out, the duke kissed the sleeping lady's forehead. "I'll see you later, my dear daughter." Then everyone headed out of the room. Upon leaving the room, the door glowed for a few seconds.
"I set up an alarm to alert us if an unknown identity would enter the young lady's room. Rest assured, it'll be fine. Do what you have to do." Ambrose's voice echoed in their minds, and all they could do was nod.
Then the day went smoothly. The duke and the third prince talked calmly about the funeral of the woman who was with the prince when Yllaria found them. The duke wanted to ask questions about the woman, but restrained himself because he was still talking to a member of an imperial family. The third prince didn't say anything either.
This went on for hours, and the butler and the Kathleen, the lady who was also Yllaria's teacher, always checked on the duke and the third prince to ensure they weren't causing trouble. Especially the duke, who they had to stop a few times from leaving a bunch of his work in order to see his daughter. Those two were exhausted, since they knew they were dealing with three ticking time bombs in the mansion. One wrong move and everything would blow up, literally and figuratively.
When the duke heard about his daughter waking up, he was stopped by his butler who told him to finish the remaining papers before heading to the lady.. The butler also assured the duke that Ambrose was there to check on her, so there was no need to worry much.