The Prince Of Magic

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His comment garnered a bellowing laugh from the Wizard Marshall.

"Ah, enkel, you don't need to worry about the side-effects." Zelretch grinned, wiping the corner of his eye as he continued in a casual tone. "You're just going to experience some flashbacks, a bit of nausea, and some fainting spells every now and then."

"That does not sound reassuring at all, gramps." Charles interjected quietly in place of his master, whose deadpan expression was still present.

Chuckling, Zelretch staved off their concerns with a wave of his hand.

"Like I said before, I've experienced these and they were not that bad. The most worrisome is the last, fainting suddenly can occur in unexpected times. That's the one that you need to watch out the most out of the ones that I've listed to you." The old magician pointed out.

"Noted, gramps. We'll watch out for the signs and keep master safe if that happens." Charles assured with a thumbs up, causing Hadrian to huff.

"Then, I have no worries. Having you boys at his side gives this old gentleman a sense of relief that he is safe and in good hands." Zelretch grinned, then laughed out loud as he turned to his grandson. "By the way, Lucia extends her love to you. She misses you, enkel. Your other retainers as well, for that matter."

"How are they, by the way?" Hadrian asked with a smile.

"Oh, they are fine. Lucia is busy with the business, as she always is." Zelretch chuckled, sending a knowing look to his grandson. "You know how your mother is. Workaholic, that one. Even when there was a bunch of murderers out in the street, she won't let that stop her from running the family business. She'll juggle both, there's no one choice in her vocabulary."

"I think she got that from you, opa." Hadrian jested, smiling fondly before asking. "And the others? How are they?"

"Oh, they're fine. They helped around in the castle, assisting one of my men and guarding your mother whenever she went outside to tend to our businesses in the city." Zelretch paused, thinking, then let out a bellowing laugh that drew curious eyes from around the room. "I think I saw the ladies made something last week."

"Hm? What's that?" Hadrian asked, amused.

"I don't know what it is, but it looked like a human-sized doll." Zelretch grinned, crimson eyes glinting in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Three pair of eyes blinked in confusion.

"Why would they make that?" Charles asked, confused.

"No idea, but I saw one of them dragging it to the training ground the other day." Zelretch let out another bellowing laughter. "The doll has black hair, tanned, and has a red headband around its head. Clearly, it's one of your retainers just by looking at the profile alone, enkel. Someone foul-mouthed and lazy."

"What are they doing with it, gramps?" The cheeky retainer asked, morbidly curious but amused as well.

"I think they're using it as a target practice, considering the amount of tears, cuts, holes and spears it got on its body. Most of the damages seemed to be directed in the lower part of the body too. I also saw a printed picture of Kieran's on its face the other day. I don't know who, but someone in the castle must have helped printed it for them." Zelretch cackled, grinning.

After having his fill, the old magician sighed as he turned to his grandson.

"Enkel, I must go. Just as you, I have my own duties to fulfill in this household." Zelretch said with a smile.

"Then, I won't keep you long anymore. Do tell mama that I'm fine, and that she takes care of herself. Please send my greetings to the others as well." Hadrian said in a solemn tone.

"I will. Until next time, enkel."

After a bid of goodbye and a flash of his grin, the screen blinked out and Hadrian was left staring at the image of his family, friends and retainers that he saved as his home screen.

Pressing the side button to render the mystic code on standby mode, Hadrian sighed as he pocketed the PT (Portable Terminal) inside his jacket.

Looking to the side, the young mage saw Charles standing beside the couch, waiting for him with a smile.

"Where to next, master?" The cheeky retainer asked, posture straight like an attentive butler.

Just as Hadrian opened his mouth, a shadow flew over his head, preventing him from replying as he tilted his head up instead, just in time to see Kieran's panicked expression – which was upside down – as he was thrown across the room.

The retainer's arms were flailing as he sailed towards the twin doors that lead to his chamber's private balcony.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

*CRASH*

The glass in the twin doors broke as the amber eyed retainer's body crashed into it with great force, forcing them to open as they get damaged. His screams were quickly muffled as he landed on his face, causing Hadrian and the others to frown and wince as Kieran skid across the white pavement, which was (fortunately) smooth enough so that his face won't receive significant damage after.

Kieran's body came to a stop once he hit the stone railings, preventing him from falling off.

The retainer remained unmoved, kneeling with his face still on the floor and arms at both sides of his knees.

"… Oww…" was his pained response, muffled since his face was still against the ground.

With furrowed brows, Hadrian turned his gaze over his shoulder, meeting the surprised and sheepish face of Astolfo, who chuckled nervously once their gazes met.

"Uhh, my bad, master. Didn't know my own strength. Aha…. Ahaha… ahahaha~" The pink haired knight laughed sheepishly, trying hard to resist flinching at the unamused expression of his master.

"The two of you better clean this up so that I can fix them later, or I'll leave you both to fix these by yourselves – without magic and by hand. And don't even think about asking the twins or the Flamels to help you with these, Astolfo." Hadrian warned, bright emerald eyes narrowing in annoyance at the sudden mess in his room.

"Ah, yes, master!"

Once Astolfo was sufficiently cowered by his glare, Hadrian turned back to Charles as he stood up from the couch, who looked on the scene with an approving smile on his face.

"Let's stop by the workshop. There's something I have to get there, then we go to the courtyard after."

"Very well."

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After retrieving some notes, pen and paper from the workshop, Hadrian returned to the courtyard.

Following after him was Charles, who kindly assisted him whenever he needed help.

Arash, one of the most dutiful retainers in the group, was patrolling around the estate since the two troublesome members were busy following their master's command.

The tanned bowman left no area unsupervised, even going as far as to secure the area outside of the estate once he was done with his rounds inside.

With most of his retainers busy, Hadrian went off and did as he intended to do.

Of course, making new bounded fields with specific effects was not something that he can do in a fly. But with the help of the notes that he received from his grandfather and mentor, Lady Lorelei, Hadiran was able to produce one that was more thorough in its purpose.

Just like the one he made before, the new bounded field have multiple capabilities.

The first was its ability to detect unknown presences within the Flamel's territory by sensing the intruder through their magical and/or spiritual signatures.

With this in place, Hadrian won't need to worry about servants from Prelati sneaking into the area.

The young mage had learned his lesson from his encounter with Li Shuwen, the assassin class servant of Julius B. Harwey.

Even normal folk would have a difficult time in entering the area without him noticing them.

In other words, the longer they stay within the bounded fields, the more weak they would become and, thus, easy for his retainers to restrain and take for a 'private interrogation' (tortured for information) – something that one of his retainers, Yan Qing in particular, would take delight in doing.

With the bounded field set and perfectly in working condition, Hadrian read the letter that Fleur sent to him as he was supported in the air by the magic carpet once again, surrounded by his familiars.

Just as he sensed from the leftover emotions via empathy, the contents of the letter was just as he suspected.

The young Veela started the letter by greeting him in a formal matter, giving him a feeling that she was not that comfortable around him yet, unlike her little sister, Gabrielle.

Most of the words she used were formal, written in an elegant cursive, which defined a side of her personality and standing in education. But, there were some parts in the letter that showed her age.

Like casually mentioning how she wants to get to know him better before pushing how her sister wants to see him again, as if to stray his attention on the former to the latter instead.

Just holding the letter alone, Hadrian can sense how embarrassed she was feeling when she wrote that part.

Still, he could hardly blame her, given the public's view of her kind. It was also probably her first time writing to a boy. The young Veela probably did not know how to act around him since their first meeting was kind of awkward, if not for her vibrant sister's intervention from time to time.

In addition, it was also nice of her to apologize to him regarding her behavior from their first meeting, something that Hadrian didn't even notice till she brought it up in the letter.

Other than that, the letter ended with a sincere note, leaving Hadrian smiling and wondering whether he should reply to her or not.

After giving it some thought, Hadrian shrugged to himself and had decided to form a reply since it would be discourteous of him not to.

Although, he was curious why Fleur mentioned the Flamel name, and how it was like to be a member of the Flamel household.

Hadrian blinked as a thought came to mind.

'Wait… does she think I'm –'

Before he could finish that thought, however, a familiar voice called out from below, causing Hadrian to snap out of his musing and look down.

When he saw Charles standing on the ground with a serious-looking Yan Qing, who had finally came back after a week, the young mage knew that his retainer had found something.

"Master, Yan's here to see you. I think you should hear what he has to say."

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