At the woods, behind the Mage Academy.
Richard stood affixed to a spot as he studied the young man that appeared out of the blue and caught Elora just in time.
His hair was blonde and caressed his shoulders. He was wearing a simple white shirt that had its sleeves folded to his elbows, and was overlaid with a black waist coat. His trousers were black, likewise his dazzling pair of shoes.
Richard didn't stress himself to think about whom the man was, for he knew he'd get the information soon enough. That was how it had been for him since his transmigration.
The young man was Elora's elder brother, the second Prince of Ostaria, Kaiser Dune.
Kaiser appeared before Richard faster than the latter could blink. The sudden shock thawed Richard out of his frozen state and he flinched back.
Kaiser sized him up with apathetic eyes, "Another Greylock, I see. You lot are nothing but trouble."
'Huh? Another Greylock? What does he mean?' Richard pondered in thought. Then a sudden realisation dawned on him and his eyes dilated, 'No way! He had a thing with Maya?'
Kaiser dropped his sister gently and rested her weight on Richard, who quickly cuddled her from the side, his hand on her waist.
Kaiser's fingers twitched and his brows scrunched, "Careful where you touch, Commoner. I wouldn't hesitate to kill you myself and blame these guys," he threw a thumb over his shoulder.
The men behind him shared quick glances at themselves.
Richard wasn't entirely shaken by the prince's threat, as he couldn't stop thinking about what Maya must have done to him, for him to hate the Greylocks this much.
'She must have really broken his heart to a thousand pieces,' he scoffed inwardly.
"Now..." Prince Kaiser said, turning to face the Skulkers and Ice Mage. "Which of you would be so kind to step forward and tell me what you planned to do with my sister?"
"Your sister?" the Ice Mage stuttered, his eyes gradually dilating in realization. He let out a soft gasp, "Prince Kaiser?"
The Royal Family hardly showed their faces to those outside the castle walls. The only time any of them interacted with the commoners was during special occasions, like festivals or coronations. The most common interactive media was through the Mage Academy. Every Prince or Princess are mandated to attend the Academy.
This was why the men were so surprised and stunned to meet the prince in the flesh. And it wasn't on good terms either.
"That doesn't answer my question," Kaiser raised his chin at the stunned Ice Mage.
The blue-haired Skulker scoffed, brandishing his claws that still dripped with Elora's blood, "Look at him, feeling so high and mighty, yet he looks like something that just came out of a oven. So fresh and fragile."
"But he's the prince. He also has two Mage Paths," the Ice Mage warned, unable to take his eyes off Kaiser. He felt he would die the moment he took his eyes off.
The Skulkers were more inclined to the physical use of their mana, and were almost never conscious about the mental prowess of every Mage. The Ice Mage was different. His body quivered in the presence of Kaiser. Kaiser's mana was inundating.
Unlike the Descriers, the Ice Mage couldn't tell how much mana he had or what he was capable of. But the oppressive mana spewing out of the prince was more than enough to show the disparity in power between them.
"You..." Kaiser said, pointing a finger at the Ice Mage, who froze in a spot. "You seem wise, and I might just spare you if you tell me everything you know."
"You'd have to rip the information off our corpses!" the blue-haired Skulker growled and shot at the prince in a blur.
Kaiser sighed depressingly, dropping his head and gazing at the reflection of the suns on his shoes.
The Skulker had gotten in front of him at a whim, with his hands spread wide. He brought them towards Kaiser's head with the aim to drill into his skull and squash his head with his claws.
But before he could move a limb, a scythe of darkness emerged out of Kaiser's shadow and cleaved at the Skulker.
It was a clean, even cut, dissecting the Skulker into two perfect halves, that dropped to the ground by Kaiser's sides.
Running his hand through his lush blonde hair, Kaiser looked towards one of the halves and said stoically, "I wasn't talking to you."