Welcoming Party

"Elijah! How was your first class at the academy?"

When Elijah came out of his class, Damian was waiting for him and greeted the teenager excitedly as soon as they met again. Elijah noticed how Damian continued to look like an untouchable royal when greeted by others, then went back to being a talkative elf when speaking to him.

"I'm fine," Elijah simply replied. The first day was just an explanation of the program they had to go through for a year, followed by a discussion of each program they had to follow while being part of the special class.

"Of course, you'll be fine. I mean, are the classes fun? Or is the mages class as boring as the warriors class?"

This time, Elijah preferred not to answer Damian's endless questions. Elijah walked back to the dormitory, with Damian following close behind. The sight of a prince following a commoner immediately attracted the attention of many people. But as if it didn't matter, neither Elijah nor Damian really paid the slightest attention to the stares people gave them.

"Ah, yes. You're coming for the new student welcome party, right? I heard that the students' families will also be coming to the event. From your side of the family, who will be coming to the party, Elijah?"

Elijah stopped walking but did not turn to look at Damian. "I have no family." In a flat voice, Elijah answered the elf's question. His tone of voice might have sounded casual. But without being able to see Elijah's expression, Damian could only think that Elijah was sad when the teenager answered his question.

"I'm sorry, Elijah. I didn't mean to-"

"Don't think about it too much. After all, they've been dead for too long."

Only when Elijah had walked ahead and left him, Damian felt so stupid for asking something he shouldn't have asked. Damian should have known something was wrong with Elijah from the moment he caught him having that nightmare. Damian ruffled his hair in frustration, then stared at Elijah's departure with a regretful look.

"You are a fool, Damian," he ranted to himself.

***

"Hah!"

Damian let out a long sigh, staring at how everyone seemed to be happy, while he seemed to be a mess himself at the happy event.

A week had passed by since he accidentally offended Elijah. During that week, Damian could no longer find Elijah, no matter where he went. People from the mages' special class said that Elijah still went to class as usual. But apart from going to class, no one else knew where Elijah went or spent his day until late at night.

Thanks to the lack of rules in the academy dormitory, no matter how long Damian waited, he still could not find Elijah back in their dorm room. Elijah seemed to have suddenly disappeared from Damian's life. And all because of his stupidity is unable to read the situation beforehand.

"He didn't even come to the welcome ceremony."

Damian grumbled to himself as he failed to find Elijah at the welcome ceremony, and instead ended up sitting alone without being able to enjoy the rest of the party. Damian didn't feel interested in anything at the party. The only thing keeping him there was probably the fact that his parents had personally come to visit him this time.

"Geez, why is our sweet Dammy moping around all the time, hm?"

"Mother!?"

Apparently, the elven king and queen had finished talking with the royal leaders of the other races, so her mother could wander around freely like this. The woman, who still looked like she was in her thirties, smiled gently as she looked at her youngest son. Ever since Lovisa first saw Damian, she could tell that something was troubling her youngest son's mind at the moment.

"I snuck in to see you because you seemed to be having some trouble earlier. So, is there anything you want to share with me?"

Lovisa had been a warrior of the elven race during her youth, so she tended to have free feelings like Damian. Just now, Lovisa calmly said that she was sneaking away just to see her son. Lovisa said that she wouldn't attract attention even if she went secretly. But with her beautiful face and attractive elven features alone, all eyes in the party venue were now on them.

"Damian?"

"Let's talk somewhere else, Mother!"

Damian had never liked being the object of attention, even if he was an elf prince. Damian took his mother's hand to drag her away with him to a quieter place before he finally let go of her hand again.

"So?"

Damian's mother was a stubborn elf, so she wouldn't stop asking before she got the answer. Damian let out a long breath. His troubled face must have been obvious in his mother's eyes.

"A few days ago, I said something I shouldn't have said to my friend. Then from then on, he avoided me, so I didn't have a chance to apologize until now. He didn't even come to this welcome ceremony. I don't know where he is, even if he is my roommate."

"Is that the human who beat you in the mages' practical exam, Dammy?"

"Mother ...."

Damian knew his mother must have gotten the report on who Elijah was from the elves attending the academy. But just to tease Damian, the woman still chose to talk about her son's bitter past. Lovisa laughed as she listened to her son's protests. Among the elves who were mostly flat-faced and couldn't take a joke, her son was indeed the best exception who never failed to amuse her.

"Alright. What did you say to him to make him this angry?"

"I asked him if his family members were coming or not. And he said they had died a long time ago and then just kept avoiding me from then on," Damian replied sadly.

"But I really didn't know that he didn't have a family anymore, Mom! I didn't mean to ask and pick at his wounds about it," he added with a flourish.

Lovisa smiled, then gently stroked her son's hair.

"I don't think he's angry with you, Damian. It's just ... sometimes bringing things up can bring up the sadness again," Lovisa replied calmly.

"Right now, he's probably busy erasing that sadness by doing something else. If you don't believe me, ask him directly after this."

"Can you tell me where he is right now?"

One of her mother's skills was Six Sense magic, which allowed her to know anything she wanted to know. Lovisa nodded in agreement to her son's wish. Lovisa was just about to tell her where Elijah had been all this time when an unfamiliar voice was heard approaching them.

"So, you're here with Damian."

"Father."

The one who had just approached them was Treyton, the king of the elves, who always had a flat expression on his heroic face. Everyone who saw Treyton for the first time must have thought that Treyton was only good at managing the kingdom, but not a good father. But in reality, Treyton was a father with a gentle heart behind that flat face.

"Lovisa, you're making the others worry by leaving suddenly like that."

Although Treyton reprimanded her, Lovisa laughed innocently. Lovisa tensed Damian's shoulders gently. "I did it because our son looks more troubled than them, Treyton," she eluded smoothly.

"Ah, yes. The friend you're looking for is in the garden behind your dormitory. His whereabouts may be a bit camouflaged as he is hiding among the large trees. But if you search well, you'll definitely find him soon."

The second explanation was given to Damian, who immediately nodded and thanked his mother. Damian looked at his mother and father in turn. Both of them had taken the time to come in between their busy schedules. Damian did want to find Elijah. But it didn't feel right to just leave when his parents were still in front of him.

"Go on. We'll also be back as soon as we're done with our business in this place."

Damian's face immediately brightened as his father permitted him to leave. "Thank you very much, Father. Please come back safely with Mother!" he said before leaving the two elven leaders.

Lovisa waited until Damian was completely gone before she spoke to her husband in a soft voice mixed with relief.

"He looks more cheerful than ever, doesn't he?"

Treyton nodded honestly in agreement with his wife's words. The Damian they knew was a quiet boy who found it difficult to express his feelings. Even if the two of them had tried to advise Damian not to pursue magic that he could not master, Damian was always stubborn about his past decisions.

This made Damian often moody and living apart from his own family. Seeing him able to be free and set his own path with pride made his parents feel relieved. They came to see what made their son change, and it all turned out to be caused by the human child who was just as gloomy as their son in the past.

"...Will he be alright?"

Lovisa smiled because she knew Treyton was worried about their son. The woman looked at Damian's departure, then said something she sensed from her still-active Six Senses magic.

"They'll be fine. I think encountering problems and solving them is part of their maturing process," Lovisa informed.