Chapter 16: Strange Mentality

[Third Person's PoV] 

"You're going about it the wrong way..."

"WAAAAAH!"

Stephen's voice startled Noelle so much that she yelled and turned toward him, pointing her wand and firing a ball of water. The spell missed entirely, flying off to the side and hitting a tree.

"You–You… How long have you been watching me!?" Noelle demanded.

"A good half an hour..." Stephen shrugged.

"Stalking royalty is a crime, you know!" Noelle exclaimed, glaring at him.

"Uh-huh… So, do you want help or not?" Stephen asked.

"Of course I don't need your help! Especially not from a commoner!" Noelle huffed.

"Okay," Stephen said, leaning back into his room and closing the window.

"Wha—" Noelle was taken aback. She stared at the closed window, biting her lip before glancing around at the destruction she had caused. She walked up to his window and saw him sitting on his bed, reading his grimoire. She knocked on the window, and with a flick of his wrist, it opened.

"Yeah?" Stephen asked, not bothering to get up or even look away from his book.

"Weren't you supposed to convince me that I need your help and beg until I reluctantly agreed?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Stephen looked up at her as if she had lost her mind. "And why would I do that?"

"Hmph, because I'm royalty, obviously," Noelle said arrogantly.

Stephen rolled his eyes. "I have too much self-respect to play along with your delusions."

"DELUSIONS!?" she screeched.

Stephen looked at her in confusion. "Yeah. What else would you call it when someone thinks they deserve the world at their feet just because of their status?"

"I don't expect the world at my feet!"

"Uh-huh… You expected me to drop everything, fall to my knees, and prostrate myself just because of our different statuses. If you expect that from me, even though we're squadmates, what do you expect from those who aren't?" Stephen raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want any of that! All I want is respect!" Noelle snapped.

"In this world, respect isn't given freely; you have to earn it. You lost mine earlier, got it back, and then lost it again," Stephen replied.

Noelle looked down at her feet, his words hitting hard. "Why would I need the respect of a commoner anyway?"

Stephen flicked his wrist, and the window closed again.

Noelle stopped and bit her lip, staring down at the ground in frustration. After a moment, she groaned, walked back to the window, and knocked once more.

The window opened again. "Yeah?"

"What did you mean earlier when you said I was going about it the wrong way?"

"Why should I answer that? What insight could a commoner possibly offer a grand noble of your esteemed status?" Stephen teased.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Noelle asked, irritated.

"You need help? I would've never guessed..." Stephen replied absentmindedly, flipping a page in his book.

"Are you making fun of my training!?" Noelle demanded.

Stephen looked up at her with a serious expression, surprising her. "I would never make fun of someone's hard work."

Noelle blushed slightly as Stephen returned to his grimoire. "I was making fun of your inability to ask for help. How was I supposed to know you needed it if you never asked?"

"Urghhh!" Noelle grunted in annoyance, pacing around and looking at the destruction she had caused.

Her shoulders slumped, and she lowered her head in embarrassment and shame. "I… I need your help."

Stephen smiled, leaning forward in his window, folding his arms as he looked at her. "See? That wasn't so hard. Needing help isn't something to be ashamed of; it means you want to learn and improve."

Noelle blushed again at his smiling expression. "I'm only asking because you offered! Don't get any ideas!"

Stephen rolled his eyes and jumped out of the window. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"So, what was I doing wrong? How do I get my spell to hit the target? What's wrong with me?" Noelle asked, eager to move things along.

"Your problem is all in here..." Stephen said, pointing to her forehead.

"It's in my head?" Noelle tilted her head in confusion.

Stephen nodded. "Every time you cast a spell, you have this expression on your face like you're expecting to fail."

"Huh?"

"You see, magic is about bringing what's in our heads into reality. Spells respond strongly to our intent and emotions."

Noelle nodded, listening intently to his explanation.

"I don't know what's going on with you, and I'm not going to ask. That's your business. But from where I'm standing, it looks like you see yourself as a failure," Stephen said bluntly.

Noelle's eyes widened as she looked at Stephen, fear creeping into her expression.

"Since you think of yourself as a failure, your magic is reacting in kind with your thoughts. Your magic fails because you believe you're going to fail. Once you manage to fix your mentality, you should be able to solve your magic problem."

Noelle looked at her wand a bit apprehensively. "It's responding to my feelings…"

She took a deep breath and pointed forward toward her target while mentally repeating to herself, 'I'm not a failure, I'm not going to fail. I'm not a failure, I'm not going to fail.'

As she fired her water cannon, it shot forward in a straight line before veering off in the opposite direction at the last minute.

Noelle looked disappointed and dropped her gaze in shame. 'Maybe I am a failure…'

"Nice work," Stephen said with a smile, subconsciously patting her head, feeling a desire to comfort her as he noticed her expression.

"What do you mean, nice work? I totally failed, didn't you see?" Noelle asked, a bit saddened by her attempt.

"Then you and I see things differently. Where you saw failure, I saw progress. Before, when you fired a spell, it would immediately go flying all over the place and hit whatever stood in its path. But this time? This time, it went in a straight line for a while—if you didn't notice."

Noelle's eyes widened, but this time for a different reason. "You're right…" she muttered, realizing the improvement.

"So you see, you can do it. But there are still doubts holding you back toward the end, keeping you from hitting your target."

Noelle nodded. "How do I fix it?"

"That's the hard part about a mental block—it's not something someone else can just fix for you. Eventually, you'll have to confront what's bothering you. But for now, all you can do is learn to live with it. Embrace the fact that you're a failure!"

"Huh?" Noelle looked at Stephen like he was crazy.

Stephen smirked and held up a finger. "If you're a failure, that means things can't possibly get any worse. The only direction you can go is up, and you'll start improving so that you're not a failure anymore."

"That's easier said than done…" Noelle grumbled.

Stephen nodded in agreement. "Here, I'll help you with the first step."

"Face forward toward your target," Stephen ordered.

"I'm taking orders from a commoner…" Noelle mumbled, but she complied.

She was then taken aback as Stephen held up her chin.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" she exclaimed, turning red with embarrassment.

"Stop talking," Stephen said, his expression serious.

"Wha—"

Stephen then took her hand holding the wand while keeping her chin up, making her blush even more. "Now, I want you to forget about everything."

"Huh?" Noelle asked, turning to him in confusion.

"Face forward, don't look at me," Stephen instructed, guiding her gaze back to the target.

Noelle continued to blush. 'I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M LETTING THIS COMMONER TOUCH ME!' 

"Now, see your target—that should be your only focus. Don't think about anything else. Everything else is irrelevant beside your target. Whether it's me, you, your life, your family, your status—it's all irrelevant. Forget everything and let your instincts take over…" Stephen whispered.

His words were like a devil's whisper. Noelle stared at her target, wand pointing toward it. She closed her eyes and followed Stephen's advice.

"Let your instincts take over," he repeated. "Let your mana flow like it's supposed to…"

Stephen watched as a ball of water began swirling at the tip of her wand.

"Then let it all go—your insecurities, your fears, your anger, your sadness, even your joy and happiness. Let it all go into this shot."

Noelle's body was pushed back slightly as she released the spell.

She heard the sound of something being hit and slowly opened her eyes. The tree in front of her was gone, and all that remained was an impact where her target once stood.

Her eyes widened as she turned to Stephen in shock. "I did it…" she muttered in disbelief.

She was so stunned by her success that she didn't notice how close she and Stephen were at that moment.

Stephen backed away slightly. "That you did. Congratulations," he said, raising his hands for a high five.

"Hahaha, I actually did it!" Noelle cheered, subconsciously jumping and high-fiving both of Stephen's hands.

Noelle then realized what she was doing and blushed heavily before clearing her throat. Standing tall with her hands on her hips, she said, "I mean, of course I did it. I'm royalty, after all. It's to be expected." She flicked one of her ponytails back.

Stephen just rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation.

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