[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Cintra, northern kingdoms.
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Cirilla continued her way with her chin held high, heading towards Mousesack's laboratory. He was reading calmly at the moment, when he heard the door open and the princess, with her impatient manner, didn't even wait for him to enter the place.
"Princess Cirilla, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit at this time? Have you finally set your mind on studies?" He asked with an amused smile, putting down the book with curiosity, since Cirilla never sought him out for academic matters, only asking about quite peculiar things.
"Can you wait outside...?" Cirilla turned back to her royal guard, who nodded and closed the door while Cirilla turned again to the druid and smiled in a mischievous manner.
"What is it...?" Mousesack had to squint at the girl.
"I have a guest in my room..." She began.
Meanwhile, Madara stayed in the room waiting for Cirilla. He couldn't help but notice the environment was better than the last time he was here, curious about how a medieval princess lived.
To start, the room was quite large, with medieval furniture that, however, seemed to have a varnish finish. The place was much larger than that of the noble from whom he had stolen some clothes, and there was a spot just for a series of dresses, making Madara amused thinking about how that child fit in there, after all, those dresses would puff up anyone who wore them. At the end, there was a large bed in the corner with various fabrics making it quite colorful.
'Why am I surprised, I've heard that medieval nobles equated colors with beauty and status, though I always prefer something more discreet like black or at most a gray...' He thought, looking at the color show on the princess's bed. 'But surely she's much better off than I am, where my company are rats and spider webs...' He thought with some amusement about the place where he lived.
Another thing that interested him in the place was a piece of furniture with a small amount of books, seeming like the books the princess read and spent her time with. However, it didn't seem like something a noble little girl would read, something about knights and charming princes, there were books with monster faces and some words he recognized, like types of weapons. Showing that the princess was fascinated by this kind of subject, something that didn't surprise him.
It didn't take long for the door to begin opening again, Madara, this time, didn't hide, while remaining in the place with some books he had taken from that moment, after all, his presence was no longer a secret as soon as the druid would find out. Mousesack entered the room calmly with Cirilla while the guard stood at the door not knowing what the druid was doing there, and he looked at the boy standing there with interest next to the princess.
After he closed the door, he kept his gaze on Madara, "You know, I could imagine a lot of things when the princess came to talk to me, but I was quite surprised when she told me she had a certain guest in her quarters. I could never have imagined that Madara was in the castle looking for me," said the Druid. He noticed that Madara and Cirilla were not strangers, which made him question what was happening here. "May I know how you and our princess came to know each other...? That is a puzzle to this old man," he spoke.
"We met a few days ago," admitted Madara calmly.
Mousesack had to raise an eyebrow hearing this. "Could I know how you met? After all, I don't think you would meet just anywhere. The princess has been in the castle for the last few days as far as I know."
"I met your princess at my house a few days ago. I had to bring her back to the castle," Madara spoke while looking at the princess's face, which quickly became shy.
"Is that true...?" Mousesack also looked at Cirilla. "And you young lady, how did you end up at his house?" he asked, while Cirilla just gave a half-smile being caught in a mischief.
"I ran away and went to find him, but as you can see, I managed," she said, the shyness she had at the beginning being replaced by a tone as if she had done something great and impressive.
"It seems our princess is getting up to such things and no one knows." He sighed, after all, he was worried about the girl's safety. "But anyway, we will deal with that later. Now, what can I do for you, Madara?" He asked with a small smile at the boy.
"I've completed all the missions." He showed some bags that were stinking. "Here's the head of the ghoul and the Nekkers that I hunted and destroyed their nest. As for the bandits, I believe your guards have already reported what happened, right?" He spoke.
"True, we heard about a boy with red eyes defeating some bandits and rescuing hostages. It seems then you've completed all the missions quickly. I should congratulate you. I'll report your completed tasks and reward you with money. You can give me the bags, I will be back soon," he said, not minding if he would leave Madara alone with the princess and left the room to speak with the queen.
Madara saw the druid leave and sighed, after all, he was sure this wouldn't end simply. Meanwhile, Cirilla looked at him with a sparkle in her eyes. "You killed all the monsters? Amazing. Can I do that too?" she asked, again not caring that it was the fourth time she had asked since they met.
Madara just stayed silent, while looking out the window feeling the wind from that height. "Why don't you say anything?" she asked again and Madara did not respond. "This is so boring," she said in the end, pouting. But her gaze returned to the book Madara was carrying.
"Since you're here, I'm going to teach you to read and write," she declared. "In return, will you teach me to be like you?" She insisted once again.
Madara, a bit tired of her questions about being like him, said, "I can't teach you to be like me. I am different from you," He concluded.
She just crossed her arms and then said, "Then tell me about your hunt, I want to know everything that happened." She demanded something else.
Madara ended up giving in, after all, he had nothing to lose and also had to wait for the druid to return.
"Alright," he spoke, and even keeping a neutral and arrogant voice, he talked about his hunt: the fight against the bandits and the ferocious Ghoul with some details, but not talking about things a child should not hear.
"Incredible, you saved a noble!" she said, so excited she was jumping as soon as Madara finished.
"It wasn't my intention, but I ended up finding them in danger fighting against what wanted to kill them." Madara responded, still near the window while leaning on it.
"Even so, it was amazing. You also fought against bandits and saved those hostages. But you haven't told the story of the last mission," she spoke, demanding again for more.
"There's not much to tell," he responded without looking at her. "It was basically setting fire and killing some noisy and insistent little monsters," he said honestly.
"So cool! Anyway, come here, I'm going to teach you to read, as I told you I would," she said, looking at him, Madara turned his gaze to her on the bed as she opened a book she had taken from the table and asked him to come closer and sit by her side. He ended up doing so, knowing that he needed to learn the language of this world sooner or later and on his own he was not having as much success as he wanted.
She opened a book and asked him to get comfortable with reading, which he ended up doing. She started to say the words she was reading, little by little, but Madara still found it very difficult to understand. Then, he activated his Sharingan to listen and read what Cirilla was saying, memorizing everything he could.
"Hm?" Cirilla looked at him, to see if he was paying attention and saw his eyes red like that time in the forest when they met, "Incredible! Your eyes changed color. Why did you do that?" She asked curiously.
"They help me learn faster," he commented.
"Is it like the witchers?" she asked.
"No, it comes from my lineage," Madara said.
"That sounds really cool. Everyone talks about my lineage too and how I was born with powers, but Mousesack's lessons are so boring. You know about it?" she asked, hoping it sounds incredible too.
"Yes..." Madara said. Madara knew she was a descendant of Lara Dorren. Her lineage carries great power that later she might be known as the Lady of Time and Space. That could rule the entire continent with her power. However, according to his knowledge, she couldn't control her power properly and her journey would be of great dangers.
At this moment, Madara couldn't help but think about how her future or the world's, would change with his presence here, he could help her have a better life, at least not being pursued as she would be. Moreover, he had some strange connection with her. Even trying to avoid her at the beginning, now he was in her room after she found him.
Madara dropped his thoughts and returned to answering Cirilla again, "...But just a little," he said.
"Everyone says that I carry great power and that I must learn to control it," she said, "Could I travel the world too... without worrying about noble etiquettes and political marriages?" She asked not looking at him, but at the window, after all her wish was to be traveling, to be like Geralt and even Madara, to be free like a swallow.
"I'm sure you will achieve what you aspire to." he said in the end.
"Really? You think so?" She looked at him surprised,
while he had a calm face, knowing the future, at least what he couldn't change.
"Yes..." He said.
"Great, we could be a duo in the future and even invite Geralt too!" She exclaimed.
Madara did not respond, as they went back to studying the words while he memorized everything with his Sharingan. They spent some time on this, while Madara began to learn, until the door opened again with Mousesack appearing.
"I see you two are getting comfortable," he said, smiling, looking at the two reading the book.
"Of course, I'm teaching him to read," she said, puffing out her chest.
"Well... Seems quite useful..." Mousesack looked at Madara while raising an eyebrow before continuing. "Anyway, I spoke with the queen, and she wants to meet Madara." he announced, and Madara looked a bit surprised while Cirilla did the same,
'This is unexpected... but finally, I'll meet the lioness of Cintra...' He murmured internally. Then, they left the room, heading towards the throne room.