Finding Stardust

In fact, even he, a crown prince, would think twice to make that guy angry. Inwardly, Therius was happy because since they first entered the academy, they had quickly become friends.

Therius hid his ident.i.ty as the Akkadian king"s eldest grandson and first in line to the throne after his uncle, Darius, pa.s.sed away. Everyone in the academy actually still thought he was General Moria"s son.

While Xion himself had a mysterious background. He grew up in the mountains and only got the chance to see civilization because of the scholars.h.i.+p he got to enter the academy.

There were only a few children born with magical powers every year, and usually, they would get special treatment from the king. The state would take care of them and give them an education. Once they graduated, they would be allowed to serve under the king. The treatment would be even more special if the child was known to control more than one element.

In Akkadia, there were only five people known as being multi-element mages in the last century. The most famous one was, of course, Princess Arreya, who was even thought of as the Princess That Was Promised, from old Akkadian"s prophecy.

She could control five elements at once. What was interesting was, Princess Arreya actually hid her fifth element for decades. Back then, people only knew that she controlled fire, air, wind, and water.

It was only when she charmed everyone to sleep the night before her wedding to Uncle Darius, and eloped with General Kaos.h.i.+n Stardust, that everyone realized the famous beauty had been hiding her ability as a telemancer.

Telemancy was an exceptional power. Telemancers could control fellow mages for their own gain, and if they were evil, they could become very dangerous. This made telemancers were often suspected and feared by others.

This stigma was one of the reasons why Therius also hid his telemancy. He did not want his peers at the academy to fear him, especially someday, when it was time for him to reveal his ident.i.ty as Akkadia"s future king. In his opinion, the best weapon to have is a secret weapon.

The only student who knew his secret as both a telemancer and the crown prince was Xion. The handsome man, known to his schoolmates as the mountain hermit, found out Therius" ident.i.ty because he actually had his own secret, which was far greater than what Therius" was hiding.

Imagine ... a mountain boy, having a bigger secret than Therius" secret ident.i.ty as the future king.

That big.

If Xion hadn"t gone to see him in the past, surely Therius would not have believed that he had really met face to face with the only Time Master alive!

Time-controlling mage only existed in legends and myths told by mothers to their children as bedtime stories, or by teachers at the academy when they taught Mage History. The Time Master was considered a fairytale character who was not real, just like the Princess That Was Promised.

Therius would always remember the day when Xion revealed this shocking knowledge. They were punished by the Beast Teacher for misdemeanor and had to wait outside of cla.s.s the entire afternoon.

"No, Therius. Actually, Akkadia always has a Time Master, but only one in each generation. They never live at the same time. When I was born, the Time Master before me must have pa.s.sed away..." Xion tucked a gra.s.s between his lips like a hooligan and laid down his body on the lush meadow behind the academy.

His eyes squinted as he stared directly at the Akkadian sun. It was glaring, and he didn"t like it. So, he lazily waved his right hand and moved a swarm of clouds to cover the sun.

Therius stared at Xion, demanding an explanation. "How do you know that there is only one Time Master in the world?"

"I know because I went to see him in the past."

"I can"t believe this ..." Therius furrowed his brows. "You can say whatever.. but where is the proof?"

"Hmm .. just a minute." Xion seemed to think for a moment, and then he rose from the gra.s.s. He brushed the dust off his clothes and walked toward a large tree. "You wait here."

Therius watched Xion disappear behind the tree, and frowned in amazement. He really did not understand what was going on. He was actually eager to read Xion"s mind, but unfortunately, the hermit was too powerful and could block his mind from being read by any telemancers.

One minute later, Xion walked out from behind the tree. His hair looked a bit disheveled and his body smelled like the sea.

Eh? Wasn"t he walking behind a tree just now? Why did his hair suddenly turn messy and his body smelled of seawater?

"Therius, do you still remember your favorite place on Coralia Beach? Do you remember, when you were five, you met a really handsome uncle there. He was fis.h.i.+ng. You told him you really liked fis.h.i.+ng and hope someday you could grow up to be a fisherman ..." Xion stood right in front of Therius and looked at him with an amused expression. "Jeez ... I didn"t know little Therius was so adorable and naive."

Instantly, Therius" pair of topaz eyes went round in surprise. He looked at Xion fixedly, and slowly the handsome face in front of him became somewhat familiar.

He had indeed met this person in the past.

Why did he only remember this now?

"Oh," Therius finally murmured. He was still in shock. The young prince couldn"t believe that time-controlling mage really existed, and now he was face to face with one.

However, he was still intrigued by one thing ... why did Xion let him know such a big secret?

"Now, do you believe me?" Xion asked as he lay back on the gra.s.s and closed his eyes, enjoying the cool breeze blowing his face.

"I believe you..." Therius finally said quietly. "But I don"t understand, why are you telling me this secret of yours ..."

Xion just shrugged and smiled faintly. "Because I like you and want to be your friend."

Even though Therius was very popular among women, he had never felt so flattered like that day, when Xion said that he liked him.

They had been friends ever since.

Actually, Therius was determined to make Xion his advisor to the king or prime minister when he ascended the throne, but Xion was not at all interested in power. After graduated from the academy, he didn"t even visit the capital but instead returned to the mountain and lived there like a hermit.

If Therius did not force him to join him in this mission, Xion would still be isolating himself from the world. The reason why Therius dragged Xion along was because the person they were going to meet was very special. He did not want to involve others in dealing with this girl.

He subconsciously tapped on the lounge counter, and his stoic face seemed to be deep in thought.

What kind of girl would they meet in their destination? Was she even still alive? How would they find her if Arreya did manage to hide her among regular humans?

Over the years, the existence of General Stardust"s and Princess Arreya"s daughter had become a myth, just like the legend about the Princess That Was Promised and the existence of the Time Master. People only heard the story and talked about it, but they could never prove it to be real.

***

"Emma, ​​what do you think of Switzerland?" Haoran asked, turning to the beautiful girl sitting beside him in the front seat. They were driving through A1 back to the hotel where they were staying.

Since they arrived two days before the annual s.p.a.ceLab event, Haoran asked his father"s permission to rent a car and took Emma on a day trip to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. They had a lot of fun enjoying the beautiful view of the Jungfrau.

Emma smiled and replied, "I think the saying that G.o.d was smiling when he created Switzerland must be true. This is the most beautiful country I"ve ever seen."

"I agree," Haoran said.