Learning

"Ouch!"

"Sorry."

In a vast room, fitting for a banquet, yelps of pain and sincere apologies were heard.

"You really don't have any talent for dancing..."

"I said I was sorry..."

"Sorry is not enough when you stepped on my foot 12 times in the last minute!"

"..."

Regulus was currently dancing with his tutor, Angelica.

Her light, nearly white blonde hair paired nicely with her pale complexion. She gave off a silent, ethereal feeling to those who looked at her.

Of course, her personality was anything but that.

She was outgoing, easily able to make friends with others, and even Regulus came to like her.

"Haaaa... let's try again. This time, try to last at least 10 seconds."

Regulus nodded, and they began their dance.

'1'

Angelica counted in her head, as she and Regulus moved in a rhythm.

'2'

They continued dancing smoothly, flowing as if they were a river.

'3'

Regulus was showing signs of instability.

'4...5...'

Regulus was barely able to control his expression.

'6...7'

Regulus very nearly had a slip up, but he managed to recover from it.

'8...9...!'

He was almost there!

'10!'

Regulus finished the counting in his head, allowing for himself to slip up, bringing both student and tutor onto the floor, into a compromising position.

"Yes!"

Angelica cheered as she pushed Regulus off of her, who quickly offered her a hand to pull her up as well.

She accepted the hand as she proudly wept.

"You did it, Regulus! I'm so proud of you!"

Angelica was positively bawling at this point.

"You made it sound like an achievement...", Regulus mumbled under his breath.

"It is.", Angelica bluntly replied.

"Haaaa..."

"Alright, let's stop the lesson at there for now. I'll see you next week, Regulus."

"Goodbye, Angelica."

"Call me Angie!"

"Goodbye, Angelica."

"..."

...

"What would you do in this situation, Regulus?"

Currently in a political lesson with his father, Regulus struggled to find the answer to a dilemma.

"Would you save the Crown Prince, or the 11 Guardians' heirs?"

Trigno paused for a moment before adding, "There will be massive political ramification either way."

"Very helpful of you to add that."

"Why, thank you."

Regulus exhaled before answering the question, "The Crown Prince."

"Why?"

"Although the backlash from the guardian families would be great, there is a reason why the current Imperial family is the Imperial family. Their first ancestor was considered the strongest, wasn't they?"

"Not a bad reasoning, but still inaccurate. Our historical records, specifically the ones that came from our first ancestor, stated that the Imperial family's ancestor was extremely charismatic, rather than being extremely strong. Although your answer WAS correct; it would be best to save the Crown Prince. Having the future monarch's favor is no small thing; and the Imperial family is one that repays their debts."

"I see... what would've happened if I saved the heirs instead?"

"I would've been disappointed. Those assholes don't deserve saving."

"...Okay."

"Especially those from the Ramis family. Don't save them."

"...Okay...?"

"Anyways, moving onto our next lesson; the duties of the heads."

Regulus subconsciously sat up straighter, and he became more attentive. After all, this was related to his future.

"The Custos, Ramis, and Dexton families are the swords of the Empire. This means that in a war, we will be at the frontlines, specifically, the Southern front. We are usually the ones to end the wars by dealing a heavy blow to the enemy, but sometimes, we are also delegated to guard duties."

Regulus nodded. That wasn't very hard to understand.

"Alright, that's basically it."

"... That's it? No paperworks?"

"Right, those things too. Normally, you'd have to sit at your desk all day if you were the head of a family, but you can also delegate that duty to a trusted person. That's what I did."

"No wonder why you're able to go around the Empire, doing your own things."

"Exactly."

Trigno then checked the time, before notifying Regulus that the lesson was over, and that he was free to leave.

Regulus stood up and thanked his father for the lesson, before leaving the room, heading for his new private training room.

'He sure worked fast.'

He only notified his father sometime in the morning, and he already had a new area prepared for Regulus.

Regulus stretched, before starting on physical exercises.

'Ah. I almost forgot.'

Regulus headed to the control room, looking around for the purple, gravity-adjustment crystal.

He channeled his magic into the crystal, adjusting the gravity inside the room to x5.

The crystal shone for a moment, before reverting back to its former purple, but this time, it lost some of its color.

'I'll be able to use that for... perhaps 5-10 more times...'

Regulus walked back into the training room, and instantly felt the shift of gravity.

His basic movements became more restricted, and due to the increased weight, Regulus had problems drawing 3 magic circles in his mind.

'That's good.'

Regulus nodded in satisfaction, before getting to his physical training.

...

"Ahhhhh..."

Regulus groaned in exhaustion as he plunged into cold water.

The physical training was intense; enough for him to prepare a medicinal bath to accelerate his healing process.

'I feel like I just danced for a day with Angelica...'

Although the exercises he did was basic, they did their job to enhance the structure of his body.

Pushups, squats, and situps. He also added some extra magic training; trying to draw circles in the middle of the exercises.

Needless to say, he wasn't very successful. The combination of x5 gravity and exercises were too much for him to handle while attempting to draw a circle.

He DID made some progress towards the end of the exercises, being able to draw a partial circle. He was proud of that.

He looked down at his body soaked in water, admiring the changes that he'd brought to it.

Two months ago, he had no obvious muscles, and could be considered to be on the skinny side of the spectrum.

Now, his muscles were far more pronounced, including his thighs and biceps, )which Angelica complimented).

After soaking for a few more minutes, he got up, dried and dressed himself, before leaving for his room, located in the center of the castle.

'There's a little bit of time before dinner...'

He decided to take a short nap as he entered his room, and he laid down on his bed.

Regulus passed out cold.

...

"My lord, dinner is served.", a servant knocked on his door, waking him up.

"I'll be there shortly."

Regulus got out of bed, looking at the mirror hanging on his wall, noticing his disheveled appearance.

He sighed as he entered his bathroom, washing his face and adjusting his hair.

He exited the room and headed for the dining hall, joining his parents there at the table.

They dined in silence for a few minutes, before Trigno brought up news.

"We've secured you a spot at Berzet Academy."

Regulus smiled in happiness. He was one step closer to his dream.

"And... there's some news about your engagement."

The smile was nowhere to be seen on his face.

"Your engagement with the second princess is being pushed forwards. The Imperial family wants to hold the ceremony earlier."

"... I see."

In Regulus' pure opinion, the second princess, for the lack of better words, was an annoyance. One that Regulus hated dealing with.

"Can we switch the princess? The first and third princesses are better in comparison to that bitc- the second princess."

Trigno and Valentina ignored the slip up, as Valentina ruefully smiled, "I would if I could."

Trigno stayed silent for a few moments before replying with a stoic face, "I'll see what I can do."

The rest of the meal was in silence.

...

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

The sound of a hammer repeatedly striking a metal was heard.

Vulcan, the Custos family's smith, was engrossed in his work, so much that he didn't notice Regulus silently observing.

'It'll be done soon.', although Regulus knew little about smithing, he could still recognize the signs of when an object was about to be finished.

*Clang!*

Vulcan put all of his strength into one last blow, striking the still-hot metal ferociously, before stopping to take a break.

"Phew...", Vulcan exhaled, wiping off the sweat that gathered on his forehead.

"Good work.", Regulus commented as Vulcan turned around, surprised to see him there.

"Your Highness. My apologies, I did not notice you."

"If I wanted you to see me I would've made my presence clear. Anyways, how long do you think it'll take for you to be done?"

"As I said before, it will be done within a month. I only just recently finished the mold for the blade, and didn't start on incorporating the fire crystal that you gave me yet."

Regulus nodded, "I see. Then I'll leave you to it.", before leaving the forge.

As he walked away, the striking sound emerged again, and Regulus silently complimented Vulcan's work habits.

'Working so hard early in the morning... I should get to that too.'

Regulus decided to head to the training room, and he repeated the process of yesterday; training until exhaustion before taking a medicinal bath.

Laying on his bed, he contemplated the results of today's training.

There was little progress made regarding his magic, but he DID feel like he was getting more and more used to the enhanced gravity every time he trained.

'I'll get used to it in a few days...'

The gravity crystal is already showing signs of breaking after two uses. Hopefully, he would be able to use it for the rest of the week.

"I should go outside. Haven't done that in a while."

He talked to himself, before getting off his bed and dressing himself.

His current attire was unfit, he decided.

Walking over to the closet, he opened it as he gazed at the sets of clothes that he had.

There was a suit; which he immediately eliminated. They were uncomfortable to wear.

There were his night wears; which he contemplated for a moment, before dismissing it as well. He would not like to be recognized in the public wearing something like that.

He sighed, before deciding on his attire.

His new attire consisted of white pants, red shirt, and a red/black vest that he wore on top of his shirt. He briefly contemplated on adding a cape, but he decided that it would be excessive. After all, this was no formal visit.

Dressed with new clothes, he headed out to the capital city of the Vessila Empire.

...

Like a good child, Regulus notified his parents before heading out of the castle, and they granted him a carriage to use.

"Where would you like to go, Your Highness?"

The carriage was red/gold in color, and it was armed with the Custos emblem at the head and back, immediately letting everyone know who owned it.

"Just drive around. I'll tell you when I want to stop."

"As you wish."

*Neigh*

The carriage driver immediately started driving around the city at a moderate speed; not too fast, nor too slow. This allowed Regulus to observe his surroundings.

As expected, Regulus' carriage drew much attention from the passerby. After all, it wasn't every day that you saw someone of his caliber going outside.

"I'm hungry. Go to a restaurant."

"A prestigious one, my lord?"

"...Sure."

The carriage driver whipped the horse, beckoning it to go to the wealthier area where most shops were located.

"Which restaurant would you like to dine at?"

Regulus pondered on his question. After all, it has been quite a while since he went outside to a restaurant.

"Oh Fair Penelope. I heard that it's popular among nobility."

"As you wish."

Heading for the restaurant, Regulus' carriage attracted even more attention then from before. The wealthy district was usually inhabited by nobility, so his carriage was immediately recognizable. Many of the heirs and heiress would try to, for the lack of better words, suck up to him.

Regulus sighed, anticipating the commotion that would happen at the restaurant.

Perhaps he has become a prophet because, when he arrived, everyone immediately recognized him.

The restaurant's former elegant air was filled with whispers, as the owner of the restaurant, Derrick, came up to him.

"It is a pleasure to see you at this lowly restaurant, Your Highness Regulus Custos. My name is Derrick, and I will be your host for the duration of your stay. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

The two (just Derrick) introduced themselves as Derrick led them over to a table.

"This seat has the best views, and is only reserved for the most prestigious guests as yourself."

Regulus nodded as he sat down, accepting the menu handed to him.

"What would you recommend?"

"I believe that the specialty of our restaurant has to be the Hallumian Steak. It is a steak that is from the Hallumian species, and it has exquisite flavors that you wouldn't find on a normal steak. The cooking process is..."

Derrick proceeded to describe how the dish was made, and Regulus silently listened along.

"Alright, I'll take that."

"As you wish.", Derrick bowed before heading into the kitchen, giving a series of orders.

While waiting for his food, he noticed the restaurant's occupants staring at him; something that he was used to.

Eventually, someone worked up the courage to go talk to him.

"Uhm... excuse me?", a girl with pink hair and light red eyes came up to him.

Regulus turned to face her, and observed her features.

Her height was above average, and she used a bow to tie her waist-long hair. Her blue blouse complimented her figure nicely, and she could be considered as beautiful, even by Regulus' standard.

Of course, he was not one to care for a beautiful appearance in a person, but it was a welcome addition.

"Yes?"

"You, uhm, dropped this.", she said as she handed an object to him.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was the Custos family insignia, and he instinctively placed a hand on his breast pocket, only to feel nothing.

"Thank you."

'I either dropped it out of carelessness, or she swiped it from me as I entered the restaurant.'

Regulus made eye contact with her, careful to control his expression to hide his thoughts.

"May I ask for your name?"

"Call-", she mumbled nervously, causing Regulus to miss the last part.

"Sorry?"

She gathered up her courage, and said clearly, "Calla."

"It is nice to meet you, Calla. Thank you for picking my insignia up, I don't know what I would've done if I lost it. I will repay this debt. Is there anything that you wish for me to do, as long as it is in my power?"

"Uhm..."

Regulus could clearly see her struggling to think of something, so he offered a solution, "You can hold it as a debt, if you wish."

Presented with a solution, Calla gladly accepted it.

"Then I'll hold you to your words."

Regulus bid goodbye to Calla as he headed back to his table, just in time for Derrick to return with the Hallumian Steak.

"Here it is; our restaurant's specialty!", Derrick proudly presented the steak, and Regulus had to admit that it looked appealing.

"Then, I'll dig in."

Regulus picked up his fork and knife and sliced into the steak, stabbing a piece with his fork and bringing it to his mouth.

While Regulus was no food connoisseur, he could still recognize that this steak had the capability to be at the top in the cuisine world.

The instant he bit in, an explosion of flavor immediately happened in his mouth. The flavor was complex and rich, something that Regulus enjoyed.

His satisfaction with the meal must've shown itself on his face, as Derrick smirked after watching his expression.

"Is it good, my lord?"

Regulus wiped his mouth before replying, "Indeed it is. May I ask the name of the chef who made this?"

Derrick did not hesitate to provide the name, "It was I who made this dish, Your Highness."

"I see. My heartfelt compliments go to you."

"Thank you.", Derrick replied sincerely, accepting the compliments.

Regulus continued with the meal, and due to his immense enjoyment, he finished the meal fairly quickly.

Regulus had a smile on his face as he paid the tab, making small talk with Derrick before leaving.

"You can be assured that I will return to this establishment."

"I will look forward to it."

Regulus entered the carriage and instructed his carriage driver to drive around once more, this time in the slums, curious about the difference in living condition.

Even when he was warned by his carriage driver, he did not care.

After all, curiosity killed the cat.