Episode 2: I Haven’t Grown That Much – Chapter 6.2
After finis.h.i.+ng a silent meal, which was still a strange and unfamiliar affair, Calian went outside wearing a light suit. He was still confounded by the large amount wealth that had acc.u.mulated the past fourteen years without him touching a mite of it. He was going to exercise before the cla.s.s started in the morning, as he had done for the past week. He wasn’t alone, as generally Yan was with him.
However, when Yan had to be away, another maid followed him instead. Her name was Marilyn, the same girl who brought in the mirror for Calian and called in the hairdresser. To his surprise, she circled the lake three or four times without losing her breath.
That same Marilyn was now following Calian from behind.
Remembering that she was the same one who wanted “a lot of frills,” he started jogging again, but no matter how far he ran, she kept pace behind him. Calian was in tears.
‘This girl is scary!!’
He didn’t discover this until later, but Marilyn was the second daughter of the head of the capital city’s Knights Command, who defended the Kailis’ outer fortress. Even though she never learned to use a sword, when she was young she would run around Mount Tarun on the outskirts of Kailis every day.
After three and a half laps, Calian finally collapsed in exhaustion. Sweat dripped down his face and he could feel a burning sensation on his lips. Marilyn’s eyebrows slightly furrowed on seeing his sweaty appearance.
When Calian had first started exercising, he ran four and a half laps, and on the third day he ran four. Now he was down to three and a half. There seemed to be a growing problem.
Marilyn seemed to have noticed it as well.
“Your Highness.”
Ordinary servants and maids could not speak directly to the prince, and were required to communicate through a superior servant. If Marilyn had anything to say to Calian, she was supposed to pa.s.s it through Yan. However, some of the women had already spoken to directly to Calian during his clothes fitting. Of course, Calian didn’t take offense or issue with it, and he liked that there were more people he could talk to.
“How about talking to the healer?” she suggested.
The healer was a priest from Tensil, whom Yan wanted to summon after Calian injured his hand. Calian knew why else he would need to call such a healer now too — his physical state was weakening. But there was also a reason why we couldn’t talk to him.
‘He’ll find the circle right away.’
Of all the stupid, frustrating acts that the old Calian had done, the one thing he had done well was hide the fact that he was a mage. It was a secret that even Yan didn’t know. He thought it would’ve been good idea to tell his attendant, but Calian understood that he couldn’t completely trust anyone right now.
If it had been known that Calian could use magic, then he would’ve been killed even before Bern entered his body. Others would attempt to get rid of Calian before he was too powerful to handle. For the same reason, the current Calian had to hide the circle right now, especially since his mana wasn’t working properly.
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Calian finished organizing his thoughts before replying.
“I’m fine.”
Marilyn had a disapproving look on her face, but she didn’t say anything else. Calian got up from his sitting position, then forced himself to finish one more lap before returning to his room.