7 A Lonely Prince

Several strangers had gathered around my desk. Not only had the upstart girl decided to torture me with her presence, but she had also brought two of her followers with her! And then there was a certain young man about my age that wore a deep blue waistcoat with a far too familiar insignia.



«What is the damn prince doing here?!»



Naturally, him showing interest in me or the crystals lead to even more unnecessary attention. Before I knew it, dozens of questions attacked me.



"So you really do not know how to use your mana," one of the girls said with pity in her eyes. "It must be hard for you..."

"Do you want us to help you," another girl asked. "I am Sirya. I am 15 years old and the daughter of-"



I couldn't be bothered listening to her nonsense. The girl obviously didn't want to help me, at least not for free. Her eyes were glittering in anticipation, though I still didn't know if it was my magic alone that had lured her in or my magic bundled with the fact that I was a 'boy' of her age.



«Don't tell me she wants to date me?!»



She did. After telling me how awesome her family was, she was giving me hints here and there and even complimented my hair. I had just cut it short! It was nothing special! Sure, it was silver, but who cared about that?! I would have preferred her brown hair over my own on every single day of the year!

While the girl was busy trying to win me over, the prince was essentially trying the same. In his case, however, it wasn't love but rather the usefulness of my magic. I knew that healers were scarce, and good ones even more, but for the prince of a country trying to personally recruit a stranger just because of that? It was weird. And scary.



"Le- leave me alone!"



They didn't. Alkon did a weak attempt at bringing them to reason or at least make them talk one after another, but it was only when the teacher returned, together with a bald old guy, that things calmed down a bit.



"Silence," she demanded. "You are too noisy! All of you!"



They really went silent, all of them, the teacher, the principal and even the prince who had been far too busy recruiting me before. It wasn't because she had said so, but because they finally came to realize what their never-ending attacks did to me. It was all too obvious, they just had to look at me or listen to the faint sobs I desperately tried to hide.



The woman couldn't trust her eyes. "What did you do to him?!"



Alkon tried to explain what had happened within the last minutes, but I couldn't even follow his words. My mind was long since at home with my mother who I wouldn't see for years to come. I couldn't return to her no matter how much I wished for it. Instead, I would be stuck with all these strangers and forced to play a man.



"What is wrong, Sera," Alkon asked.

"I don't want this! I don't want to be here!"

"But why? You could become a famous magician!"

"Just because I make some stupid crystals glow?! That's bullshit! Anybody can do that!"



He didn't answer. How could he? He had never even tried to touch them! Yet he tried to decide on what was best for my life!



The principal didn't even bother to answer for Alkon. He came towards my desk and examined the crystal that was still glowing like a little white sun.



"It was empty before?"

"Yes, Principal," the teacher answered. "It was in the same bag than the others."

"Why didn't you use the detection stones."

"He failed all of the tests when I used them."

"He failed them ..."



A sigh slipped his lips. He reached for the sheet of paper and began reading the results of the tests the teacher had done before. When he found six 'F' neatly written under each other he frowned, but that expression, too, couldn't be seen for longer than mere seconds.



"Bring them again," he demanded after sighing yet again.

"Yes!"



He picked up the pair of tongs and sorted the crystals back into the bag, all but the one that had stolen my mana. When he was done, the teacher hurriedly placed the first of the detection stones on the desk. It was the one representing the light attribute, the one she had been most excited about before.



"Let us talk openly, Mister Baringdale."

"Openly..."

"What do I have to do for you to do this test honestly?"

"I did do it honestly!"

"Do you really think you are the first one trying to trick these tests? Are you really so heavily against visiting Eight God's Academy?"



A part of me forced me to nod. I knew I had walked into a trap, one I wouldn't be able to free myself out no matter how hard I tried, but I didn't yet know what to do about it.



"I just want to return home..."

"You will be able to return home for the holidays."

"So you really will force me to stay here..."

"Even if we wished to, we wouldn't be allowed to let you return like that."

"..."

"Returning to the issue. What do you need to take the test for real?"



There was no escape route, nothing I could do. Even if tried to run away, they would catch me and maybe even imprison me to prevent me growing up to become a wild mage that causes mayhem. They would maybe even try to seal my magic and find out about all my secrets that way. There would only be death and torture awaiting me and my mother.



«Why does this happen to me...»



If I couldn't escape, I could at least try to demand a much safer surrounding, financial benefits and private sphere. Anything that could help me stay safe.



"I want a scholarship."

"Depending on your results, you will get one."

"And I want a big room. One that nobody will enter without me wishing for it!"

"A big room? At Eight God's Academy, all the rooms are the same. There is no difference between them."

"Then it can't be on ground level!"

"Are you afraid of peeping toms," Alkon asked.



I send him a death glare before stating my next demand.



"And I want to be able to leave the academy!"

"I can not-"

"Only when there are no lessons," I cut the principal off. "I will attend all of them! I promise!"

"Still..."

"I will make sure he doesn't run away, Principal," a familiar voice suddenly decided.



I looked up in disbelieve. It was the prince. The good-for-nothing prince!



The principal couldn't believe it. "Your Highness?"

"I will have one of my guards protect him. And he can live in my apartment, too. It has a spare bed and lots of space."



«Don't tell me...»



"You want to share your lodging with him? Are you sure?"

"You are well aware of the condition my brother is in. He won't return to the Academy anytime soon. Maybe he never will."

"I'm sorry to have reminded you."

"Thinks said, it will be less lonely with somebody else filling Bran's spot."



«Lonely?! Are you even listening to yourself?! You sound like a child!»



"If that is your wish, Your Highness, then there is little for me left to say about it."



«WHAT!?»