.
Silence descended on the entire hall, as the large doors swung open, and they turned to see a highly unexpected guest.
A dignified old man stood there in black and silver robes, his long hair and beard as white as fresh-fallen snow.
"Arch Grand Mage Soren!" Grand Mage Sidian gasped and promptly fell to his knees.
Gasps filled the air after that, and both Grand Mages Patiel and Pariel fell to their knees, paying respect to the legend.
The shocked gasps were followed by murmurs and whispers as everyone wondered where Arch Grand Mage Soren had been hiding.
"A lot of you are projecting your thoughts." Arch Grand Mage Soren spoke as he approached the throne, a pissed-off expression on his face. "No, I was not captured by an enemy Kingdom, and nor did I elope with a young and beautiful noble Lady!"
A few mages and nobles had the good grace to flush!
"Forget it you old codger." King Vien respectfully rose to his feet, but his features shaped into an annoyed scowl. "If you didn't want strange rumors, you should not have vanished into thin air!"
"Ah. If it isn't our pretty-faced king." Arch Grand Mage Soren replied with a matching scowl, and he narrowed his eyes at King Vien's crisp blue-eyed gaze.
"Pfft!" A snort of laughter escaped Taze's lips, but he quickly tamped it down, noting the threatening glare from his father! "Ahem!" He coughed to disguise it further.
Taze was a bit surprised to see Arch Grand Mage Soren here, and he secretly applauded his father's quick thinking.
After Celia's warning, Taze had rushed to warn Grand Mage Soren. Apparently, the old man had recently figured out the source of Taze's illness and planned to visit the Palace to inform the King and accuse Vitav and Lady Flora.
Taze still wasn't sure how that would lead to his death, but he was more than certain that Vitav and Lady Flora had used something from the Dark Magic book.
To keep Arch Grand Mage Soren from approaching, Taze had revealed the Dark Flame to him, asking him not to bother accusing the culprits.
But Arch Grand Mage Soren had been in no mood to listen to the words of a sixteen year old.
So Taze had informed the King that Arch Grand Mage Soren was the Headmaster, and that he had helped him hide in Elfsworth! "Father, if you insist on grounding me, shouldn't he be grounded too?!!"
And so, a pissed King Vien sent a letter, banning 'Elfsworth's Headmaster' from leaving the Academy!
It had been enough to change Arch Grand Mage Soren's fate, but Taze could only imagine his severe annoyance when he received a summon from the same King!
To begin with, there was no love lost between the King and Arch Grand Mage Soren. Even before the ban and summon letters, the two had never seen eye-to-eye, as Arch Grand Mage Soren had always viewed King Vien as an unworthy 'son-in-law'!
Things worsened after King Vien fell into Lady Flora's trap, leading to an illegitimate Prince before the Queen's own child, and worsened further after the Queen's death.
It wasn't that the two hated each other... On the contrary, they respected each other, but would never admit it, and they preferred to bicker, than deal with their own grieving hearts.
Arch Grand Mage Soren turned to the hall. "I'll only do this once, so watch carefully."
With a wave of his hand, a large orb appeared, and it expanded to the size of a full grown man. With a snap of his fingers, visions appeared within the orb...
Visions of an eleven year old Taze outperforming his peers at Elfsworth played within the orb, followed by visions of a sixteen year old Taze outperforming his peers at Elfsworth!
"If he wasn't supposed to be 'invisible', he would have graduated at the top, besting even..." His irises settled on Lord Scarlett, who quietly sat in a corner of the hall.
"...besting even Young Miss Scarlett." Arch Grand Mage Soren finished.
No one dared say a word.
Arch Grand Mage Soren would never lie for King Vien, or anyone else for that matter, and Grand Mage Patiel simply hung his head, a mild scowl on his face.
"Please forgive the council, Your Majesty! We'll like to withdraw all claims against the Crown Prince!" Grand Mage Pariel bowed when his brother remained unmoving.
But before leaving, he turned an amused smile at Taze. ~"And please forgive my brother, Your Highness."~ He spoke through telepathy. ~"After an embarrassing scare from a fairy as a child, he hasn't liked fairies ever since! He's just being petty!"~
Taze slightly inclined his head in a bow, giving a small smile of his own as the Council processed out.
.
Lady Flora's plan had backfired, and most Magic Council members were now singing Taze's praise!
Added to that, was a new found popularity, as Arch Grand Mage Soren undid his Memory spell, causing the Elfsworth Students to remember everything about Taze, except his surname.
And now the droves of ladies after him in school had a new reason to pursue him! He was the Crown Prince after all!
Before long, the King had to give clear orders... "Pink or scented envelopes are no longer allowed in the Palace!" All because they were receiving tons and tons of love letters and proposals!
Meanwhile, Vitav was trying extra hard to maintain his demeanor as the perfect Prince... But without even trying hard, Taze was drawing the attention of almost every notable figure!
Including Lord Scarlett...
Now before Taze left the Winter ball, Lord Scarlett had given him dark looks, and had deliberately stopped Celia from seeing him off.
~"Forgive me, your Highness, but I must oppose you in this regard. I'll be blunt. No father would let his daughter wed one so sickly..."~
But now, Lord Scarlett's cheeks had a pinkish hue as he approached, a few days after the Council hearing.
"Your Highness, you must forgive me..." He bowed in apology. "I will readily admit I wasn't on your side, but while I regret my actions a little, I would probably do the same thing over again."
"Lord Scarlett, you're embarrassing me!" Taze hurried to straighten the older man. "How will I face Celia, if you keep bowing to me?!!"
Lord Scarlett gave a small chuckle. "Ehehe, It's only proper. Please let me apologize for -."
"Lord Scarlett, please! You don't have to apologize for anything!"
Lord Scarlett bit back a smile. "Oh? As an apology, I was going to invite you to dine with Celia and I... However, if you insis-."
Taze bowed. "I humbly accept your apology!"
An angry Vitav watched the exchange from the shadows.
With his little brother in the picture, he couldn't dream of stealing Celia away, and even if he succeeded, his brother was alive and well, and commanding the respect of people Vitav hadn't even dreamed of!
In the depths of despair, he recalled how angry, ashamed, and hopeless he had felt after his little brother had been named Crown Prince.
Back then, it had been Lady Flora who calmed him down. "Don't worry, my son!" She cooed. "He has become desperate, after we ignored him for so long... Let's keep him close, and then we can we do whatever we want with him!"
As she had said, Tazeus indeed bent over backwards to please them, and shortly after, they had found an ancient book of Dark Magic within the Palace, which promised power beyond his wildest dreams!
Ignoring the look of horror on his mother's face, Vitav had personally chosen the spell and poison to use on Tazeus, carefully fitting it to his brother's mixed blood...
"He's my little brother, after all. I can keep him alive for a while longer. This will erase his existence, but won't kill him too quickly!"
"B- but, isn't this a bit too cruel?" Lady Flora stared at him in shock. "We can always use it against him when he's older..."
"No, Mother. This is the right time." Vitav offhandedly replied, as if he was discussing something as ordinary as the weather. "He's already excellent. We should act before he grows to a point where he's in the hearts of many..."
And Vitav's plan worked flawlessly.
They hired a powerful mage, disguised as a servant in the West Wing, and all Vitav had to do was remind his mother...
"Mother, father is going to visit Tazeus today... He can't see anything good."
And so, Lady Flora would bring out the book and direct the mage. They would kill an insignificant maid to strengthen the dark spell, making it look as if the maid left the palace, and then they would use the spell to manipulate the dark flame within Tazeus.
Despite all that, King Vien stubbornly refused to make Vitav known to the public. But Vitav had found a way out of that as well.
First he had tried getting the fairies to attack one of Luxia's cities, but when that failed, he had directed his mother to hire a few elves to create chaos. Each time the elves attacked, Vitav would step in and save the day, making him a hero.
It finally seemed like everything was falling into place. He had established himself as the perfect prince, and despite the scandal with Novia, his popularity hadn't received much of a blow...
But then Tazeus somehow recovered!
His little brother had suddenly sprung up again, claiming not just his chosen bride, but his popularity!
'Hmph!' Vitav stormed off to the West Wing, scowling darkly at any servant in his path...
He wouldn't sit back and let Taze take everything from him!
.