Michaelis took a deep breath.
He looked straight into the red eyes of Sir Raihan.
"I apologize that my curiosity has brought such trouble to you, Sir Raihan."
It was a little, but he could see Sir Raihan's facial expression soften.
"Yes, I have been warned not to be taught any magic before I enter the academy. But I have already read about magic and aura since before I started all my classes, which was a year ago. I was curious to know why I couldn't learn magic yet, and at the same time, I was curious to know why the academy did not teach its students how to use aura. That's why I secretly practice magic and aura on my own with instructions from various books."
Sir Raihan finally let go of his hold on his scabbard before this man kneeled to look Michaelis straight in the eyes.
"You said you learned aura from the books. May I know where you got the books?"
"The books were all in the library. Books about magic are more than aura, so I had a difficult time learning it at first, but I found one book. I just practice from there."
Raihan's gaze hardened. Michaelis did not notice, but Celix was also becoming stiffer.
"Are you telling the truth, Your Highness?"
"I am. Even Riri did not know." Or she just pretends not to know.
Riri is still a mysterious woman to him. Her actions are full of secrecy, and her words are always said in a safe manner, like she is holding a big secret that she shouldn't give any subtle hints for anyone to figure out.
Sir Raihan's gaze softened completely.
"I see. It is understandable if you are curious about the things that you are restricted from doing. It is in human nature to seek answers for their curiosity, after all."
"Curiosity is a hassle."
"Shut up, Celix. I'm not talking to you."
Celix ignored the warning from Sir Raihan and just rolled his eyes.
"Your Highness, do you know that everything you have learned about aura is lacking?"
"I know. Books won't correct me if I am wrong. I was miscalculating about the damage aura could do to me and everyone around me until yesterday."
Michaelis avoided Sir Raihan's gaze. He didn't know if he could even look at Sir Raihan if he lost control and injured Rezal, Sir Raihan's eldest and only son.
"I am amazed, Your Highness."
"Huh?"
He looked at Celix, who was now standing next to Sir Raihan's kneeling figure. Both his hands were in his white coat.
"Rai told me that you managed to lessen the impact of your attack on Rezal. When I check on Rezal, his bruise is just mild. I would say you already have good control over your aura."
Michaelis blinked in confusion.
"So, right now, you just need proper training from an aura user to control your aura properly."
Michaelis looked at Celix up and down to find any traces of aura.
"I am also an aura user, Your Highness. Don't need to scan me up and down like that. You make me shy."
Michael's jaw dropped for two reasons. The revelation that Celix was also an aura user but didn't know it, and Celix's stupidly bold last sentence.
"Maybe it is better for you to shut your mouth than just spout bullshit at a child."
"And it is fine to curse in front of a child?"
Celix is smiling while Sir Raihan glares at this blue-haired man.
They are close. Michaelis never knew about this because he never saw them talking together.
"Just to let you know, Your Highness, a good aura user would be able to conceal their aura from being detected by another aura user."
Michaelis looked at Sir Raihan again. So then, yesterday...
"If you are curious, I am actually purposely leaking my aura for you to see. That way, you will come to me first to consult about this matter."
Damn, this meeting had already been planned.
In just a second, the reddish-brown aura around Sir Raihan vanished. Michaelis watched in amazement.
"This is the final step to controlling an aura. If you managed to conceal and leak your aura by your own will, you are already good at aura control."
Sir Raihan spoke in a low voice.
"But if you let your aura leak for too long like this..."
Sir Raihan motioned his hand towards Michaelis' whole body, which was leaking a white aura.
"That will be a problem. You might cause an outburst and lose control."
"What should be done to stop an aura outburst?"
Sir Raihan's face turned grim.
"Nothing except kill the aura user."
Michaelis is silent.
"But don't worry, Your Highness. I will help you control your aura, along with this guy here."
"Is that why you are calling me here? I'm not agreeing to this."
Celix huffed and wanted to walk away, but Sir Raihan gripped his friend's leg tightly. Celix protested but was ignored.
"I still have one question."
Michaelis looked at a smiling Sir Rezal.
"What is it, Your Highness?"
"I still want to know how the aura outburst will happen. Is it because of the excessive amount of aura being leaked or something else?"
Silence enveloped them before Celix spoke up.
"If you don't want to tell His Highness, then I will."
"His Highness doesn't need to know—!"
"I am not asking, Sir Nuribenstin. Answer me."
He used an authoritative tone. The two adults looked at him. Sir Rezal pursed his lips.
"When your aura is leaking for a long time, it might take control of your rationality. Aura can become an entity that can manipulate your thinking. It begins with just a dream, a small whisper, until you begin to hallucinate. That's why exposing yourself to an aura for too long will do you damage. Now, you knew why the academy did not teach aura towards its students."
Michaelis nodded in understanding. That's why. Aura might become sentient if it leaks for too long. He needs to find the history behind how the aura was created for the first time to know why such things happen.
More importantly, the two men in front of him can also use aura.
"But you two are aura users."
"That—"
Sir Raihan avoided his gaze and scratched his cheek. He heard a low chuckle from Celix.
"We are troublemakers in the academy. Just like you, Your Highness, our curiosity led us to it."
"You are?"
Oh wow, he didn't expect the righteous Sir Raihan to be a troublemaker as a teenager.
"Yes. We stole a record book from the principal's office and learned about aura. We got caught, though."
"So who is teaching you how to use aura?"
"The principal and someone else. She was the only aura user in the academy. We also got sent somewhere to control our aura properly. But there is also something I need to tell you, Your Highness."
Celix crouched down and whispered in his ear. His eyes widened when he heard that.
"My dad is the one who suggested you guys steal the record book?!"
Celix nodded while grinning.
"You can't believe me, right? We three were real troublemakers at that time, but we managed to graduate early."
"Why would you tell him that?"
Sir Raihan sighed in exasperation.
"What? His Highness should know a bit about his father's younger days."
Sir Raihan put his hand on his forehead and shook his head. He has a troublesome friend.
Wow, maybe if Michaelis hung out with these two, he could learn more secrets about Asteric. Sometimes he needs a story to have a conversation with Asteric, and he finally has a topic to bring up when they meet later. Heh.
"So now the three of you are the only ones who can use aura?"
Celix shook his head.
"From our knowledge, there are actually other people, but I won't tell you."
"I think that is enough. So, Your Highness, we could start right away or even tomorrow to control your aura."
Sir Raihan calmed their conversation down before it escalated into something deeper. Celix can't be trusted; he might tell every little dark secret and shameful action they had done in the academy, or something much worse.
"Today is fine. I am free."
"Good. The faster, the better."
"How long will it take for an aura outburst to occur?"
Sir Raihan stood up.
"Around two to three months. But during that duration, the things I have mentioned, like dreaming, whispering, and hallucinating, would happen."
Michaelis felt a shiver when he remembered the dream about a snake last night. That kind of dream? It's better to not experience that kind of dream again if possible. He subconsciously touched his neck.
"Let's start right away. I hope you are ready, Your Highness."
Why suddenly does he feel chilled by Sir Raihan's gentle smile?
×××××
Gulp. Gulp.
The empty glass was put back on the table. The bustling of people around him did not even distract him. People are talking and singing in the bar. He picked up a skewer and ate it.
"Why did you not tell him about that?"
"About what?"
Raihan looked at Celix. Celix rolled his eyes and took a big gulp of beer from his glass.
"About the possible attraction he might cause from his aura's leaking."
"And why did you not do that if I didn't?"
Raihan rests his head against his hand while still looking at Celix.
"You know that he will be fine. Same as me."
Celix sighed.
"Well, maybe His Highness would be more cautious of his surroundings if he knew about this."
"He is a smart kid and also stronger than the average kid his age. He is sharper than any kid I have encountered; even Rezal is not that intuitive."
"Yes, yes, keep praising your student."
"What? I am just telling the truth. His Highness will be fine. There have been no traces of an unidentified beast lurking around for the past decade."
"You're right. Maybe I just worry too much."
Raihan tapped Celix's shoulder.
"I would too. Moreover, when I knew His Highness had already learned about aura from a book, I'm glad we managed to handle this situation quickly."
"I am still sceptical about how a book about aura managed to end up in His Highness's library."
That situation would be impossible because any books about aura have been restricted from being read and put in libraries except if you got permission from the emperor himself.
"That is something I wanted to know too. There's no way a servant put it there."
"You have informed His Majesty about this, right?"
"Of course. He was terrified and will visit His Highness tomorrow."
Celix chuckled, aware of the love of their friend toward his son. Opposite nature when they are teenagers. He just hopes everything does not escalate into something much worse.