Ball (so hard) 1

As soon as Sorin regained consciousness, he went to find his older brother, Ares.

'How....how the hell did I lose? And to him, out of all people!'

His wastrel of a brother, the one who only cared about women and wine, the useless piece of trash who was unworthy to bear the name of Castellan.

How had he been beaten so one-sidedly by that same brother?

Sorin had spoken to some guards, and although they did not dare to explain just how bad he had lost, they said that Ares had mostly dominated the battle.

'No... that's not the biggest issue...'

It was the fact that his brother had awakened his second mind, having unlocked a second magic.

'And he's already so proficient in it!'

He had not even seen Sorin as being worthy enough to use his first magic, shatter, upon.

How did he grow so much in such a short time?

The academy was a renowned institution, but it was not at the level where it could bring someone who was drowning in the mud to the peak of excellence.

Had he found some grand hidden master who had turned him around?

Did he find some ancient scriptures to enhance his power?

Was it some legendary artifact?

'That doesn't matter anymore...I'll never be heir, now.'

Sorin originally had no interest in being heir of the duchy, but upon seeing how his brother devolved into a fool and begun tarnishing the family name, he could not bear to have such a fool become the head of the household.

But clearly something had changed in that fool.

'I need to talk to him... so many questions need to be answered.'

And lucky for him, he had found his brother lounging about in the same garden he had just been defeated in.

"Just... explain two things to me.... How did you win? How could you possibly grow so much in such a short time? It's only been two months since I last saw you! And for seconds, what's with the light magic? Did you really open up your second mind!?"

At the end of his rant, Sorin was left out of breath.

His brother was looking over him as if he were a young child.

"...That's three things, but I'll answer anyway.

How did I win? Hm... I'll admit, you're pretty good, little brother, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I've learnt a thing or two in the academy.

How did I grow so much? Well, truth be told, I've changed my way as of late, I've always had talent, apparently, I've just not been using it very well.

As for the light magic... It's kind of unbelievable, but I was contacted by a god, the sun god, to be specific, and I received a divine revelation. My first mind's shatter magic was replaced with light after that.

So, happy?"

Sorin was not happy with any of the answers.

"A divine revelation? Am I supposed to really believe that? Why would a god want to contact you out of all people?"

"...Ask father if you don't believe me, but I'm being honest, it's the truth. Would you prefer to believe that your incompetent brother opened his second mind, hm?"

Sorin paused in silence, staring at his brother.

"...Fine, I'll ask father."

The conversation ended there, and Sorin noted that his brother seemed slightly disappointed.

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"You upset your brother, again?! An older brother shouldn't act like that."

My mother was chastising me, as Sorin had once again missed dinner.

It seemed he had asked father about the conversation we had earlier.

"Your mother is right, you shouldn't be so antagonistic, he is significantly younger than you, after all."

'Honestly... All I did was answer his questions, it's not really my fault it upset him...'

I nodded in agreement, even though I internally disagreed.

"Moving on from that... Ares, the crown prince, Retinus, will be hosting a ball soon, all young heirs and such are expected to attend... Naturally, you and your brother will be attending."

"...Oh? Alright then, I'll attend it. I'm guessing you and mother won't be coming?"

"Indeed, only those of your generation will be attending."

I did not have a particularly good opinion of Retinus Valorian based of his game character.

He was a pretty shitty megalomaniacal type of guy.

Despite being born with the great flare magic, his abilities were not as outstanding as one may expect.

Ignoring his lacking magic potential, he was not known to be an amazing leader either.

Regardless of all that, it would still be a good idea to have him as a friend, or at the very least, not have him as an enemy.

"You'll set off to the capital next week, I know it's a bit of an inconvenient time, considering you just returned home and all, but life is full of such things."

"It's of no issue. I'll make sure to rebuild my image at the ball."

"That's good to hear, Ares, now make sure to take care of your brother whilst the two of you are out."

My mother chimed in and reminded me of my brother, to which I nodded.

I left dinner and went to my room.

This ball meant that Retinus was moving towards his goal.

Eventually, he desired to overthrow the emperor.

It was something that I was personally against, as the current Emperor Valorian was an incredibly powerful man, slightly above my father.

Even ignoring his individual power, he was a good leader and would be important in fighting against the demons.

Through this ball, Retinus was trying to secure allegiance from the various young lords and ladies, such as myself.

Most likely, I would be one of the key figures at the ball, holding the position of future duke.

'But honestly... He's a bit stupid, isn't he? He will never be able to overthrow his father.'

The only way he could ever gain the throne was through his father's death.

No assassin would want to take a contract on the emperor, or an archmage, let alone both.

What kind of assassin even could take out an archmage? Such a person surely would have carved out their own empire by now.

'Well... I guess it'll still be fun to meet him.'

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