The Prince Of Magic

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Hadrian hummed as he picked up a small bottle of oyster sauce, inspecting its uses with a careful eye.

Standing beside him to his right was Arturia, who was patiently waiting for him to choose his ingredients with her hands on the handle of the trolley in front of her.

She was guarding their carts with an attentive eye, and to also keep an eye on the bag that Fou and Ryu were currently hidden in. It would disastrous if an ordinary human were to find out why there were strange creatures inside an unassuming shoulder-bag. Hence, her attentive behavior.

Nearby to his left was Charles and Dia, who were both being mindful of their surroundings while perusing the shelf for the ingredients he asked for them to find.

They are all currently inside at the grocery store of a shopping mall near the hotel.

Since they would be departing tomorrow afternoon, Hadrian had decided to cook for dinner later on. When he announced that he would shopping for food ingredients earlier, his retainers have offered to accompany him.

Considering as he would be buying a lot of ingredients, for their dinner later and to stock up on his food supplies in the Armiger Arsenal, Hadrian accepted their help.

It was quite fortunate that they arrived at the market early in the morning.

Otherwise, Hadrian and his retainers would garner a lot of attention from the locals, especially him since he was apparently in the headlines in London the day after he had departed to Canada if his grandfather was to be believed.

There were a few people in the market place who had the same idea as him and nearly every one of them stared, but at least they were bearable.

Nonetheless, it won't hurt him to keep his head down and lay low since Hadrian confirmed there is an enemy hidden in the shadows somewhere.

As always, Arturia, Charles and Dia had decided to stay by him, while the others were somewhere around the vicinity, off to search and gather the other ingredients he needs.

Feeling Arturia's gaze upon him, Hadrian spoke up without looking away from the item he was currently perusing.

"Got something on your mind, Arturia?" He asked in a casual tone.

Hadrian turned his gaze to her, just in time to see Arturia's startled expression before it was replaced by her usually calm and regal façade, though there was a concern present in them as well.

"How are you today? Do you still get headaches?" Arturia asked quietly, stepping closer to him as she laid a hand on his right arm.

Seeing the genuine concern and warmth in her emerald eyes, Hadrian can't help but remind himself that his first retainer has truly grown far from the cold and almost business-like woman to a caring, thoughtful and loyal partner, who had willingly pledge herself to him.

'How far you've come… If only the people in your past can see you now…' He mused, feeling quite proud of her growth and genuinely kind-hearted character.

Hadrian smiled.

"A little, but nothing that I can't handle." He said to her as he laid his hand over hers and squeezed it gently before turning back to the shelf. "I heard that opa called you yesterday evening. What did he asked you?"

Arturia blinked in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden change in topic before she looked away from him to regain her poise.

"He was concerned about you and asked me of the state of your well-being. It is most likely that he noticed the change in your health through that magic of his." Arturia said in a prim and calm tone.

Bewildered, Hadrian turned his gaze from the shelf and back to her.

There was something about her tone that he noticed when she mentioned his grandfather, something he rarely sees.

"Hmm… you're annoyed at opa." Hadrian stated casually and bluntly.

Hadrian smiled again, but out of resignation this time instead of fondness.

He knew he had hit right on the mark when he saw Arturia's body stilled for a moment and her emerald eyes widened slightly.

By the angle he has of her face, Hadrian can even see the light blush on her normally pale cheeks, indicating her embarrassment at being read so easily by him.

Turning back to the shelf (to give her some room to breathe and not further embarrass her), Hadrian asked her in a casual tone.

"Why the annoyance at opa, Saber?"

Noticing his thoughtful gesture and silently thanking for it, Arturia composed herself and humored him by going along with the flow of their talk. His sudden use of her servant class name made her smile faintly though, making her even forget her brief moment of annoyance earlier.

"My apologies, but you're grandfather reminds me too much of that man." She said with a weary sigh.

Curious, Hadrian blinked and turned to look at her again.

"That man?" He asked, head tilted slightly.

Feeling her heart skip a beat by the lovely sight, Arturia ignored the nervous and delightful fluttering of her heart by keeping herself composed instead.

"Your kind knows him most as the 'Mage of Flowers', but all of mankind knows him as my Court Mage of the Round Table." Arturia explained briefly.

"Ah… Merlin, yes?" Hadrian said, crossing his arms over his chest out of reflex.

"Indeed." Arturia affirmed with a slight nod.

Hadrian noticed that she doesn't seem to be happy when she mentioned the man by his name.

The slight twitch of her eyebrow gave away her irritation regarding the man in question. At the same time though, there was a certain hint of fondness in her tone that tells him that she has an amicable relationship with Merlin.

"I take it that you don't think too highly of him, then?" Hadrian guessed.

Arturia scoffed lightly, which surprised him a little since the King of Knights was rarely the type to let go of her regal and clam demeanor in public areas.

Through her memories that he had seen via the dream cycle, Hadrian knows that Merlin has a rather peculiar reputation, despite his good deeds.

The man was well-respected and known to be an ally of humans, despite being known as a half-breed: half-human and half-succubus. Being the Court Mage of the King Arthur had helped solidify his good standing in the eyes of the people.

What marred his good reputation was his eccentric personality and troublesome antics that seemed to had given Arturia nearly an aneurism every time she heard words of strange situations related to the man, such as his cajoleries with the high ladies of the court, which (unluckily) brought him into trouble with nearly all the noble lords more often than not, who also happens to be their husbands.

The tension that Merlin had with most of the noble lords in Camelot redirected itself to Arturia, and it was only through power and authority that she held as King that forced the group to stand down and endure Merlin's fooleries.

Arturia herself had already punished Merlin for his scandalous transgressions, but he was still needed in her kingdom, so she let him off with a warning.

But, the noble lords did not forget Merlin's slights upon them for bedding their women and drinking their wine without restraint.

Therefore, when Mordred's rebellion began and the whole of Camelot was thrown into disarray, the offended noble men did not hesitated to throw their own lot into Mordred's favor when Arturia left the kingdom for a while to take care of some business outside.

It was quite ironic that Arturia found out that the noble lords in question had been murdered by Mordred's own hand, with the latter publicly stating that she has no need for arrogant and petty nobles with questionable loyalties among her group, which Hadrian can understand since men like that are often the most dangerous, especially during times of war.

Fortunately, he did not have to deal with such things in his first life, thanks to 'Empathy'.

Hadrian's brief recollection of the war against the Empire was interrupted when he heard Arturia spoke, causing him to turn to her in attention.

"I respect him, but I also find him to be quite a troublesome man." Arturia stated in a deadpan tone.

'Called it…' Hadrian thought, seeing the clear resemblance between his grandfather and Merlin.

"It does not help that the man himself is attracted to all kinds of trouble, be it chasing the skirts of the ladies of the high court or blatantly being rude to other mages by making them feel inferior in his presence. Although, the former tends to happen more than the latter." Arturia sighed, recalling certain memories of her past related to Merlin.

Thinking of a certain Magician who he happens to share blood-relations with, Hadrian can't help but sigh along with her, sympathizing with her due to the similar troubles they had experienced under the hands of certain eccentric individuals who were close to them.

"Did you say Merlin?" A familiar male voice asked behind them.

In a rare moment of Master and Servant synchronization, Hadrian and Arturia blinked in surprise, then turned around to see Charles looking at them with wonder and curiosity in his dark blue eyes.

Looking at the cheeky retainer, Hadrian remembered that Charles was acquainted with Merlin when he was still alive. This, he knew because he had seen the retainer's memories via the dream cycle, as with the rest of his retainers the first week he had summoned each of them.

Although, while he did saw them, he never uttered a word (much less mentioned) about seeing their past memories since it was a rather private and delicate topic to bring up casually.

If his retainers did purposely mentioned it to him, then Hadrian would not hesitate to admit that he has seen their memories in his dreams.

Also, he was never really the type to simply tell people about the things related to his retainers. Their past was for theirs to keep, and he respect their privacy as they do with his.

Which was understandable when Arturia turned to look at him in questioningly, silently asking as if he knew about the connected between her and Charles through Merlin.

"If you're not aware, Arturia," Hadrian began, smiling fondly at her. "Charles here knows Merlin personally."

"Truly?" Arturia asked, astonishment clear on her elegant countenance.

Hadrian simply nodded, his smile still present.

"How?" Arturia's emerald eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze piercing and observant.

Usually, such a look would quickly intimidate a lesser man, but Hadrian merely chuckled at her sudden change in behavior.

He was well aware that Arturia was not suspicious of him (thanks to 'Empathy'), but was more suspicious of Merlin's involvement with another King like Charles.

Arturia knew that Charles had been a King before in the past and that he was assisted by a Magus before, but she never really did confirmed whether myths were true.

Even more so, she didn't had the actual time to actually confirm it since they had been quite busy in the past several months. Also, Charles was still new to their group since he had been summoned just two months ago, which was hardly enough time to truly get to know one another.

Instead of answering her, Hadrian let Charles do the honors as he stepped forward towards them with a basket full of different items that he carries in one hand.

"Well, he didn't exactly introduced himself to me as Merlin at first." Charles grinned, reminiscing his past. "He was acting quite suspiciously when we first met, but he got along with Astolfo quite well, so that makes him a good guy to me, despite his numerous love affairs and bouts of eccentricities. He also helped me fix some problems with my Paladins, so he's good in my book."

Arturia sighed in resignation the moment she heard Merlin's 'love affairs' and eccentric personality in one sentence.

"Yes… that does sound like him." Arturia relented, believing her comrade's words.

As the two retainers talked, Hadrian shook his head when he saw the contents in Charles's basket.

'Haaah… trust him to only fill it with snacks and food that he likes.' He mused with a deadpan expression.

Before the two could dive deep into their talk, Hadrian had decided to interrupt them.

"You two might as well speak about this subject later on since we still have somewhere to go after this." Hadrian then checked the time on his watch strapped on his right wrist. "We'll have to drop off the groceries to the penthouse and go right to the meeting place. We don't want to be late."

With that, Hadrian left the two former Kings to their own devices, smiling when he heard them talked amicably about the Mage of Flowers as he walked away to the other shelf.

He met with Dia, who walked up to him as soon as he saw him. The spear-wielding knight smiled in greeting once he came near.

"I have found every item that you have listed, my lord." Dia said with a slight smile.

"Thank you, Dia." Hadrian thanked him, causing the knight straighten his posture as satisfaction and proud exudes from him.

Dia was about to give him a small bow in gratitude, but noticed the two retainers speaking amicably behind their Master.

Well, it seemed that way at first, but upon closer inspection, it was Charles who appeared and talked amicably, while Arturia looked resigned most of the time.

The spear-wielding knight turned to look at his Master, who didn't failed to notice the questioning glance sent in his way.

"Don't mind them, Dia." Hadrian smiled. "They're just talking about someone."

"And who might that be, milord?" Dia asked, curious.

Hadrian chuckled.

"A troublesome man who they were mutually acquainted with."

Without another word, Hadrian made his way back to the carts to where he can feel two anxious familiars waiting for his return with Dia following behind.

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