"Okay, let's wrap up our magic practice for today. Next, we'll move on to swordsmanship. It's different from our previous training; today you'll be practicing with a real sword. Since you're not much shorter than Lord Lucius, you can use this sword."
With a flat tone and an expressionless face, Kain handed a medium-sized sword to Prince Lysander, who accepted it eagerly. He began to swing the sword in his hand.
'Lighter than I expected. I'll need to be careful not to break it too easily...' thought Prince Lysander as he adopted the stances taught by Kain before starting the sword practice.
"Don't grip the sword too tightly, you're too rigid. Your shoulders are off, adjust your posture!" Kain instructed with a sharp gaze. Following the usual routine, Kain continued to train Prince Lysander, and by now, almost half a year had passed since Prince Lysander had begun to acclimate to life as a prince. Being a seven-year-old child, there was not much for Prince Lysander to do other than diligently partake in pretend training with Kain, reading books in the Royal library until he grew bored, avoiding Lucius but exchanging polite greetings whenever they coincidentally encountered each other or when Lucius try to visited his younger sibling to play together.
Fortuitously, the games played thus far did not involve magic and were limited to ordinary chess.
Nevertheless, Prince Lysander made a conscious effort to steer clear of Prince Lucius. Even so, Prince Lysander had other activities in the evenings. Making sure that all the servants were not present in the vicinity of his room and that the patrolling guards passed by in a drowsy state, clad in a dark cloak and modestly dark attire, Prince Lysander sneaked out of his room, effortlessly leaping over the towering 20-meter castle wall before darting into the dimly lit, narrow alleyways. Eventually, he emerged in front of a bustling bar, where adults donned explorer-like outfits.
Greeted by an older man with a mustache, who exclaimed, "Oh, it's Leader! Hey, Leader! Care to join me for a drink?"
"Leader? This urchin?" sneered a younger man beside him, eyeing Prince Lysander with disdain.
Indeed, through the dark magic's manipulation, Prince Lysander appeared as a street urchin, completely altering his usual regal appearance.
"Hey, don't talk like that! This leader is an esteemed guest, Miss Lilith..." the mustached man whispered fearfully, as the young man spat directly onto the cloak worn by Prince Lysander. "What's your problem? Is he just another guest? Unlike me, who is a potential suitor for Miss Lilith!"
Prince Lysander's gaze briefly flickered to his shoulder, where the man spat, before locking eyes with the young man who was grinning and brandishing a small knife from his belt. "You know... it's been a while since I've had fun using this... perhaps you're the right target for tonight..."
"Wa-wait! You can't attack him like that—" the mustached man hesitantly interjected, his eyes trembling as he glanced back at Prince Lysander, who lazily returned his gaze. But it appeared that the young man paid no heed and instead snapped at the mustached man, "Oh, come on, old man!"
"Let me have some fun now! Well, now—" However, as the young man's hand reached for Prince Lysander, a large sword surrounded by flickering flames shot out and sliced off half of the young man's arm in the blink of an eye. Seeing his hand dripping with blood and a portion of it lying on the ground, the young man screamed loudly, a mixture of pain and shock. Perhaps, both.
"Good evening, Miss Lilith! In that case, I bid you farewell!" The mustached man quickly greeted the girl who had just thrown the flaming sword, now embedded in the wall next to where Prince Lysander stood, before he made a swift exit. Leaving Prince Lysander still motionless, staring at the man who was screaming in front of him, trying to reattach the piece of his hand in place.
Growing weary of watching the pathetic man before him, Prince Lysander, unmoved by surprise or fear, turned his gaze towards the slow footsteps drawing near. A faint smile graced his lips as he beheld the mid-twenties girl walking towards them, flanked by two tall, muscular figures emerging from the shadows behind her.
"It appears business is thriving? You seem more spirited than usual, Lilith," Prince Lysander smoothly addressed her, causing the pained man before him to freeze, alongside the imposing men trailing behind the girl named Lilith.
"How can you tell? It's all thanks to your suggestion; business is now more prosperous than ever," Lilith retorted with a sly grin, also known as Miss Lilith. She was the formidable leader of the underworld gang, revered and feared throughout the kingdom of Clover. The gang she owned was named Night Flare, the sole underworld gang so renowned and untouched by the kingdom's warriors. This formidable gang was infamous for its brutality in robbing and eliminating nobles they saw as useless.
Nevertheless, their covert operations made it challenging to gather evidence to apprehend even one of their associates, rendering it highly unlikely.
Furthermore, many commoners and those of lower classes had no objections to the gang's presence, as they refrained from attacking ordinary people, only targeting nuisances that tainted their territory.
In the game, Lilith's gang was briefly mentioned in John's romantic storyline with Evelyn. It was revealed that Evelyn's mother was present at their home when Night Flare gang members ransacked their house, while Evelyn, her twin brother, and father were away.
This tragic event is what led to Evelyn living a rather painful life, despite being the wealthiest noble. As John back then, I found Evelyn's tendency to cry easily and her annoying behavior a bit irritating. Nevertheless, as a supportive character to John, I aimed to make his journey to win Evelyn's heart smoother by attempting to avert the impending tragedy.
Hahaha! John, leave all the troublesome matters to me and go enchant all those ladies!
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To Be Continue?