Chapter 54

"This is so good!"

"Right?! Vy is the best!"

"Um!"

I smile at Dany, Rhae, and Ari, praising my food. We are currently in the middle of a picnic in the garden of my palace. I made pork, chicken, and beef sandwiches for today's picnic. In addition, I picked some tea I planted in my garden for today's picnic.

"Hmmm~ I must say, you are really good at cooking, your majesty."

I sigh and look at Doran's wife before saying.

"Please call me, Viserys, my lady."

"Hmmm, very well. It is inappropriate, but I will call you with your given name if only you call me with my given name."

"Of course, Mellario."

"Fufufufu, just call me Mella, dear."

"Sure, Mella."

I take a bite and see that my cooking skill has improved once again. I can make delicious and nutritious food even with common ingredients and common steps.

"So, how is your experiment, Mella?"

"Hmmm?"

"Your poison experiment."

"Oh my, are you sure you want to know? Poison is scary, you know."

"Don't worry about it. I experimented with a few poisonous plants myself. Many potions are a combination of a poisonous plant and other plants to make it work."

"Really?"

"Aye. Sometimes it needs some negatives to make things positive. Sometimes it needs something bad to make things good. Take cooking, for example. Garlic is not something good if you eat it raw, but when used as a cooking ingredient? It can bring something delicious to the food."

"Hmmm, I see. I never think about poison like that. I always thought that something ugly will always stay ugly."

I frown a little when I see Ari wince a little when she hears her mother's words. Damnit. Can't she just hold her words a little bit? To my surprise, I can see Mella widen her eyes and feel ashamed of what she said.

Good. At least she did not mean to insult Ari.

"I'm sorry, Ari! I did not mean for you. You are always a beautiful little lady in my eyes. You are my daughter, after all."

I can see Mella hug her daughter and see Ari nodding her head while embracing her mother. I smile a little before saying.

"So! Do you want to see some magic?"

I look at Ari and smirk a little when she widens her eyes at my question.

"C-Can I?"

"Of course."

"B-But Maester Tranis said that Magic is not real, and Septon Marne said that magic is foul and only demons will learn how to use magic."

I raise one of my eyebrows and look at Mella, who sighs at Ari's words.

"I'm sorry, Viserys. The Septon in Sunspear always tries to 'teach' my children that magic is foul and how it was a demon that used magic when I married Doran. Norvos practice magic, and I must admit that they used it more… gruesome methods like sacrifice and using blood to power their spells. However, I know that they did not use it only for bad. There are healing spells and spells that make buildings more sturdy. Most of the blood is not human blood but animals like goats and chickens or cows if they want to cast a more powerful spell."

I nod my head and say.

"I see. Blood is a powerful catalyst for gathering mana because blood is filled with mana."

"Mana? What is that?"

"Mana is like… air that you take every time you breathe. It cannot be seen and can only be felt when you focus on it. This mana is used to cast spells, and most living beings have mana inside their body. That is why blood has a lot of mana in it."

"If there is mana inside all living beings in the world, then why can't they use it?"

"Because they did not have what I called mana core. Mana core is what filters the mana in the air and converts it into something we can use. Mana in the wild is different from mana inside the mana core, you know?"

"What is the difference? They are the same, right?"

"They are the same but also different."

"What?"

Hmmm, how should I explain this?

"They are like twin children. They are both children, but they are two different people."

"Hmmm, I see. They have the same roots, both of them are magic, but at the same time, they are different. The other is like a wild animal while the other is a trained pet."

"That's right! A true magician has a magic core inside their body while sorcerers use mana in the air and inside other beings to use their magic."

"What is the difference? In spell, I mean."

"Magicians have more precise work while sorcerers have crude work. Here, for example."

I point my finger upward, and suddenly a ball of light appears at the edge of my finger. I smile a little when I see Ari and Mella gaping at the sight of magic this close.

"This is a simple light spell. This is a magician's light spell while this ...."

I use my left finger to create a small ball of fire.

"... is sorcerer light spell. Magicians can directly create a ball of light, while sorcerers need to create a ball of fire to generate light. I will not say that sorcerers only know about the basics because they also have some complex spells. However, their spellwork is crude or primal. Do you understand?"

I look at Mella, who frowns for a second before nodding her head.

"I think I understand."

I nod my head and smile.

"So, do you two want to see some more magic?"

"Ah, we are getting sidetracked, huh? But, of course, we are delighted to see magic from the pioneer of magic."

"Pioneer of magic? No, I'm not a pioneer of magic, Mella."

"Hah! Say that to the other people."

I decided to ignore her and spread my mana to the ground. After a few seconds, the ground rises up, and suddenly a dog golem appears. With a wave of my hand, the dirt golem changes into a lifelike-looking dog who is wagging his tail.

It was a Samoyed dog breed.

"Doggy!"

Dany screams and picks up the dog immediately. Seeing Dany did not want to part with the newly conjured dog, I decided to conjure three more dogs for the rest of them. Each of the dogs quickly jumped at the other girls with their tails wagging and their tongues licking Rhae, Ari, and Mella's faces.

After a dozen minutes of playing with the puppies, Mella walked toward me with a sleeping puppy in her hand. She sat next to me and took one of the sandwiches.

"You know, with your magic, you can create the most powerful kingdom. You can use them to make an endless supply of food. You can create an endless amount of gold. You can even conquer the rest of the world if you want to."

"And?"

"Ha! And he said, oh god. Why? Why do you not do it? You still tell your people to work. You still make your people farm in the field, and you still ask your people to be your army instead of making an immortal soldier for your cause. You can make this place a paradise."

I look at her for a second before sighing a little.

"Haaaa… Because I did not want them to depend on me. I did not want to become lazy. I want them to continue to move forward and not be stuck in one state. If I continue to feed them, they cannot stand on their own two feet once I die. I'm their king, not their caretaker who takes care of their problems. I guide them to the right place and see them grow independently. Hell, even the god in any religion did not directly help their worshiper. They guide them to the right path and only help them when they have hard problems that they cannot solve."

After a minute of silence, I can hear Mella laugh. She does an un-lady laugh, a full belly laugh. Then, after a few seconds, she slowly stops and says.

"I guess I can see why Doran likes you and why Oberyn hates you."

"Huh? What?"

"Doran is like you because you remind him of his late mother. Princess Roanna is a strict but kind ruler. She is willing to help the people in need, but she only does it once. She wants the others to grow on their own and not depend on her. She wants Dorne to be independent and can grow without the help of the other kingdom."

"And what about Oberyn?"

"Oberyn, on the other hand, believes a king needs to use their powers to do whatever they wish. He imagined all kings are like the Fat Stag King. That image is what a perfect king is in Oberyn's mind. If not for Robert supporting the Lannister, he would be the best friend of the Red Viper."

Wait. Oberyn hates me because I did not fuck and drink like him? What the hell, man? I'm not even ten years old.