10 A SUDDEN INTEREST

AURUM has never taken her gaze away from the forest in front. That's why she immediately noticed that the ice seemed to have stopped spreading. The image of her brother immediately came to her mind. Did her brother do something? Of course her brother definitely did something. Argent wouldn't go inside that forest without any sort of plan.

These past few days, she already had a good handle on her brother's personality. She's indifferent to the extreme. She looked at other people as if they don't even exist in her world. Her eyes only softened whenever she looked at her and their mother, and also at Felicia and her parents - Gregory and Nelly. With that, Aurum understood that to her brother, they were people she considered as important. That's why she knew that her brother ran to that forest not because she wanted to become some kind of savior but because she must have thought that if this ice continued to spread, it will affect them in some way or the other.

Seeing that the ice already stopped spreading meant that her brother successfully stopped whoever or whatever was causing this. Maybe it's safe now to go inside the forest. Just as she was planning to go, she saw a ten, eleven year old boy coming out of the forest.

Mishla urgently needed to find help. If the ice in the forest continued to spread and accidentally hurt innocent civilians, then the outcome would only be bad for Winter. The nearest people he could ask for help would be the people from the Hanover manor. He has no choice but to ask the Duchess for help. He couldn't go back to the place where Winter was staying because the ice already completely blocked the way.

Thinking of the Hanover manor, Mishla suddenly remembered the silver-haired, purple-eyed boy he ran into earlier. If he's not mistaken, that's the waste Duke. He has no idea why that boy ran into the forest. But maybe he could use that. Once the Duchess found out that her son went inside this dangerous forest, her chance of helping them would definitely increase. With that thought in mind, he continued to run.

But he really wondered how his friend suddenly lose control of his Gift. People calling Winter a genius was not just for show. He really was a genius. He doesn't only have an SS level Gift, he also has absolute control over it. Which was kind of incredible. That's why what happened in the forest really baffled Mishla. But before he could think more, he saw someone running towards his direction.

It was a young girl wearing a white dress. Her long golden hair was shining brightly under the sun. Her big amber eyes were more beautiful than the most precious gemstone. Seeing this kind of image, Mishla suddenly thought of an almost extinct mythical race - the elves. According to legends, they're the most beautiful creatures created by the goddess, Gaia. He had never seen an elf in his life. But staring at the girl running towards him, he couldn't help but compare her to those mythical creatures. Because she's probably the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"You! Do you know where this ice was coming from?" Aurum immediately asked.

[Wow. She's even prettier up close.] - Mishla thought.

"Hey! Did you hear me?" Aurum asked again, annoyed.

"Oh, yes, yes. I know where the source is," Mishla said, laughing while scratching his head.

Aurum frowned. [Why was this kid laughing so foolishly?] "Then take me there."

"No way. It's too dangerous," Mishla immediately refused.

"Fine. Then I'll go by myself." She doesn't really need this kid. She could just follow the flow of Mana and reached her destination with no problem.

"You can't! What if something happens to you? I'll go! I'll go with you!" That's right. He has to protect his goddess. Wait- what? His goddess? He shook his head. Anyway, he just couldn't let this pretty girl go inside a forest that was about to freeze.

Aurum's eyebrows furrowed even deeper. "Whatever." Then she ran towards the forest with Mishla following closely.

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Argent stared at the unconscious prince. His Gift getting out of control was probably too much to handle for a child's body that's why he fainted. Argent sat down and began to think about what to do next. She couldn't possibly pull this prince out of this forest. Aside from not having enough strength, there's no way she'll exhaust herself dragging this guy across the woods.

She looked around and saw three frozen statues. They're probably the guards of this prince. And they're also probably dead by now. He glanced back at the prince. What could have gotten him out of control? According to the original owner's memory, this kid was some sort of a genius Gift user. If that's true, then the possibility of him getting out of control was probably pretty low. Then could someone have forced his Mana to get out of control like that? With his identity, that's certainly possible. If he somehow hurt or kill someone because of this, then that would definitely affect his position as a prince.

She already has a rough idea on how things turned out this way.

Maybe she could use this situation to her advantage. He was a prince after all, and a very favored one at that. Now this prince owed her for stopping his Mana outburst. If she helped him some more, then he would owe her more. If, by some reason, the king doesn't agree of her and her sister leaving for Amexem, then this kid might be able to help them convince his father.

"Brother!" Aurum shouted the moment she saw her brother. She happily ran towards Argent and hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay."

If Aurum was feeling happy then Mishla was horrified. His new-found goddess suddenly called the waste duke 'brother'. Which could only mean that she's the other infamous twin. The one who killed a number of servants. That was even more surprising than seeing that the ice already stopped spreading. From what he heard she was supposed to be locked up because she can't control her Mana. And that everyone who came near her suffered mental damage. But now she's out here. He's been with her for a couple of minutes now and yet he's still fine. Does that mean she could control her Mana now? But before he could think more on that, he noticed the unconscious Winter lying on the ground.

"Winter!" Mishla ran to his friend and immediately checked if he was injured or something. He breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that Winter was only unconscious. So was this the reason that the ice stopped spreading? Because Winter fainted? He turned to the waste duke. "What happened?"

Argent ignored the red-head boy and instead looked at her sister. "I thought I told you to stay out of the forest."

"But I was worried about you. Besides, I honestly stayed there and I only ran here when I noticed that the ice stopped spreading. See, I'm not being reckless."

"Yes, yes." She patted her sister's head, full of pet. "How about Felicia?"

"She ran back to the manor to get help."

"I see." Good. Then they would probably arrive here any minute now.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? I'm asking what happened to Winter," Mishla repeated.

"Oh shut up. He clearly fainted, so why do you still need to ask my brother?"

The little fanboy in Mishla's heart suddenly cried because of Aurum's reprimand. [My goddess, could you not be so fierce?] Mishla suddenly stopped. Wait- so he still considered her his goddess even after knowing who she was? He stared at the golden haired girl and his admiration didn't even lessen a bit. Well, it looked like she's still his goddess after all.

Argent stood up and looked at the red head boy. "Why is the prince here in this forest?"

Mishla was slightly surprised that the duke knew who Winter was. But then again, every aristocrat in Albion probably knew about the second prince. He considered if he should answer the duke's question. But then he glanced at his goddess. His goddess will probably be mad at him if he didn't answer her brother's question. "I invited him to hunt. He's currently under house arrest as some sort of punishment. That's why he's temporarily living on the cottage located on the land next to yours."

With what she heard, Argent's guess on what really happened here completely solidified.

After just a few more minutes, Argent saw her mother running towards them, followed by a number of servants including Felicia.

Anthea hugged both her children. "Are both of you okay?" she asked while checking the twins for any injury. When she found out that nothing was wrong, she finally let out a sigh a relief. When Felicia told her about what happened, she would have flew if she could just to get here in time.

"We're fine, Mother," Argent reassured their mother.

Felicia also ran towards them. "Young Lord, I'm so glad you're okay. And Young Lady, you said you're not going to the forest," she said almost crying.

Aurum only snorted. "Hmp!"

Anthea looked around and saw the frozen soldiers and then her eyes landed on the unconscious prince and the red head boy. "What happened here?"

"That's the second prince, Mother." Anthea showed a look of surprise when Argent said that. "I think it's best if he returns with us back to the manor. For his safety. Or something like this might happen again."

Anthea agreed without any questions. She believed in her daughter's judgement. If Argent thought that this was for the best, then it probably was.

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Winter slowly opened his eyes. The first thing that he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. He seemed to be lying on a soft bed. When he tried to sit up, he only felt the pain in his body. Then everything that happened came back to him.

"Winter! You're finally awake," Mishla excitedly said when he saw his friend waking up.

Winter looked at the red head boy. "Where...?"

"We're in Hanover manor."

When Mishla said that, the image of a silver haired boy with indifferent purple eyes flashed inside Winter's mind. "What happened?"

"Well, you fainted. And then that duke said that it would be safer for you to stay here or something like what happened in the forest might happen again."

Winter was slightly surprised when he heard that. Did that duke actually guess the reason why his Mana went out of control? Although that's a bit of a stretch, he doesn't really think that it's impossible. He suddenly remembered the slap and the duke's annoyed face.

And for the first time, in a long while, a sudden interest rose in his young heart.