Chapter 530: Alien Star
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Well done, Your Highness. Please straighten your arms. I want to make some confirmations. Yes, that is right, just stay right there…”
Thales felt like the dead. He stared ahead with dull and numb eyes, and he raised his arms according to the tailor’s instructions. He could feel as if his arms were making creaking sounds.
“When it comes to welcoming feasts, I usually do not like too formal cuffs. Please straighten up your waist, and press your legs together. Yes, that is right. However, Count Caso’s request was very clear, ‘You must show the calmness of the Royal Family, but the prince’s new style’…”
Thales did not show any expression while he was swathed in the “prince’s new style”. He straightened his waist numbly and felt that he had lost his final hope to fight for his life.
This was initially his mathematics lesson. He should be watching Scholar Julio stand in front of the blackboard in all his awkward glory and not know where to put his hands. Yet, as the date of the welcoming feast drew nearer, his schedule became tighter, and his daily schedule became even more fully occupied. Unfortunately, at this time, many general affairs of various degrees of importance also kept occupying his time until he had to use the free slot between his mathematics cla.s.s to have the tailor come and make his attire for the welcoming feast.
In Thales’ perspective, he was the sole animal in the “rare animal exhibition of the Royal Family” among the tailors.
“Six years ago, I did not manage to see you, and in the end, you stood at the Hall of Stars in that attire. It caused you to be looked down upon by the dukes and counts. That made me feel so bad. When I returned after that, my colleagues congratulated me and said, ‘The new look on the prince was so good’. Hmph, how ridiculous! I explained for a long time that it was not a new style and that I only used the old style because I did not manage to make it in time to do the second prince’s fitting. Nevertheless, there is no one to blame for this. After all, during that time, you needed to make a surprise appearance on behalf of the Royal Family. It is more important to keep it as a secret…”
Thales did not like it when he had to have his measurements taken by the tailor.
This made him feel that his moves were being controlled, oppressed, and did not have any freedom (as though he had these previously). What made him remember this feeling deeply was when the old royal tailor was something who talked a lot, had an oily face, and liked to put a wig that was practically fixed to his head and hair thickening oil on his head.
“But I can promise you, Esteemed Highness, with me around this time, I am sure that you can be the focus in the feast. You will be more stunning than Crown Princess Saoirse during her wedding… Oops, I am sorry, I mean more stunning than Prince Herman during his coming-of-age ceremony. At that time, his face made me so… You must know, that was not my proudest work. The best should be another Royal Family wedding. Could you pull back your shoulders again? That is really good…”
The master tailor Damon elegantly put down a roll of measuring tape on the plate held by his apprentice. Then, he took another rigid ruler from another plate, which was held by his student who was trembling when he saw the prince. He wanted to use that to swing and dance to match his “chatter”.
“Oh, yes. I am originally not willing to boast about myself. Since you asked me about this (Thales swore on Little Rascal’s name that he did not), I will be embarra.s.sed if I avoided the question. That is right. Their feast and guest-welcoming attire were designed and tailored by me. Hahaha, actually, it is not something worthy to be mentioned, it is just some clumsy work… After all, you know that since my grandfather’s generation, we already tailored made the clothes for the Royal Family.
“During that time, the Witch Queen Vera was famous for being gorgeous but picky, but she selected his work out of the many competing tailors … So, since we have been around for a long time, we were used to it even though reputation is a tiring thing. It was nothing for us. However, every time our work is revealed, the tailors on the market will learn from our pattern and style. In a few weeks’ time, the entire kingdom will have such a pattern. Sigh, sometimes they even copied our wrong design and called it a cla.s.sic work. That is hilarious… Your Highness, I am not saying that we have some mistakes, rather, we think it is important to be humble. The Damon Family is still the royal tailor for the Royal Family’s clothes, and we are the highest judge in the capital’s fas.h.i.+on design compet.i.tion. This came to us entirely because of our humility and how we keep a low profile. We are humble when we seek improvement, and we are very attentive…”
Fortunately, someone saved him.
Vanguard Glover monitored by the side since Doyle was punished by Mallos to be in the scullery to help the servants to transport the oil for lamps said coldly, “If you cannot finish taking his measurements, the tailor for Zavrc Family, the Sun Sword and s.h.i.+eld Family, said that they only need thirty seconds to take measurements.”
Master Damon looked as though he was bitten by a huge dragon.
He quickly jumped down from the bench at the side and almost hit Thales’ shoulders, and anger could be seen on his face.
“Hey, young man, let me tell you this, if you do not believe me, you can take a set of clothes from the Zavrc Family, and you can observe from the st.i.tches that those tailors are the heretics in the tailoring market! They are only able to last until today because of the dirty relations.h.i.+p between their ancestors and the cotton guild…”
Zombie Glover ignored what he said and ordered another young guard, “Ness, now go and make an appointment the Zavrc Family’s—”
“Okay! Okay”
Master Damon waved his hands fiercely and quickly packed his tools. He called his two apprentices and turned around elegantly. He gave Thales a smile with his oily face and pretended to give him a high five in the air in a gentle and sweet manner.
“Your Highness, you can be rest a.s.sured that people like you… with a decent appearance, will look astonis.h.i.+ng when you put on my—”
He did not manage to finish speaking, because Glover had brought the Royal Guards who were in the room to chase out Damon and his two apprentices—who were still so nervous that they trembled—who had occupied half of the cla.s.s.
Then, Thales stepped down from the bench. He was dizzy and sighed in the direction of the ceiling.
He felt that the hope that had gone away just now slowly came back to him.
Scholar Julio coughed gently to attract Thales’ attention.
However, the lost half of the cla.s.s could not be replaced.
“You should be more polite.” Thales’ mathematics teacher craned his head out of respect and looked at Master Damon’s dazzling samples, which he had intentionally “forgot” to bring with him.
“I heard that Master Damon’s tailoring fee for each session is worth eight months of my salary… Of course, I am not requesting a salary increment… Hmm, not for the time being…”
Thales felt a little resigned. “Let me guess, a das.h.i.+ngly stunning attire in the feast is more worthy to be boasted than the mathematics skills used to calculate the deviation of the Holy Sun?”
The young and promising Julio put away his envy, jealousy, and hateful look and said pitifully, “Unfortunately, I can only agree while feeling unfortunate and regrettable that this is fact.”
Thales smiled and went back to the desk.
“Very well, Your Highness. It seems that you have fully understood and applied the concept of the Rectangular Coordinates taught by Vicar General Lisieux… So, if you calculate the variable in between both coordinates, you should be able to perceive it more directly…”
Scholar Julio returned to lecturing mode. One of his hands held on the syllabus and the other held on to chalk. He started to worry about how he should finish the content of today’s lesson when he only had half of it left.
“That is right.” Thales looked at the graphs and numbers on the paper and sighed, “What truly impresses me is that this mathematical knowledge was invented by a traditional and devoted theologian from a few hundred years ago.”
Julio was excited, “During Jackal Sumer the Third’s time, Saint Lisieux was not just a theologian. His mathematical knowledge was not any lower than his divine knowledge and philosophical inquiries.
“And what you have just used, which is the method of using coordinate geometry to show the changing speed of numbers, is what he learned after he tried to tackle the crowd dispersion problem after the celebration in the city. It was recorded in the Lesson Learned from Arch Sea City.”
Julio smiled excitedly. When he was introducing Saint Lisieux, he was happy that the prince was unexpectedly interested in this knowledge that was not popular and that most of the n.o.bles refused to learn.
“I see.”
When he remembered the theology lesson a few days ago, Thales could not help but sigh, “Sunset Church is a religion that treats their G.o.ddess as a supreme ent.i.ty, and yet they had someone of this talent appear among them? It is interesting.”
Julio nodded, but his expression soon changed. He seemed to worry about something. “Your Highness, I might be overstepping my boundaries, but I already knew that you started your theo-theology lesson…”
Thales frowned. “You knew?”
Scholar Julio shrugged and lowered the volume of his voice.
“I think that you should, hmm, keep a good relations.h.i.+p with the church. Sometimes, you should try to ignore the conflict between small concepts. That can save you from a lot of trouble…”
‘That’s something new.’
Thales moved his b.u.t.t and leaned against the chair. He was interested.
“What do you mean?”
Scholar Bonar, who taught grammar lessons, was a little old-fas.h.i.+oned and did things slowly. He always said shocking words that rendered Thales speechless.
‘”Yo-Your Highness, wh-why are you in such a hurry, are you going on a d-date?”‘
During history lessons, Gilbert was also conscious of teaching him politics. Even though they were in a hurry to let him be able to pretend that he was amazing, in every key history matter, he could not defeat his instincts as a Foreign Affairs Minister and add his own thoughts in the matter. The cla.s.s would end while he was still giving his lengthy speech, so much so that they were seriously behind schedule.
“‘Argh, Your Highness, the best moment always pa.s.ses by too fast. Why don’t we add another cla.s.s of history?”‘
During nature lessons, Lord Monton could be best described as a person who always sweated a lot and smiled awkwardly. The goal of the lesson had changed from “broadening the prince’s knowledge and “persuading the prince to look at the matters of the world” into “Your Highness, why don’t you try to guess this question first?”.
The G.o.ds had mercy on Thales when it came to Master Uhran’s art cla.s.s, Thales always slept soundly, sweetly, and in great satisfaction while he played the lute melodiously and drew on his canvas. Hence, he was considered a national hero for saving the Duke of Star Lake from dying young due to lack of sleep.
How about the mathematics teacher, Julio?
Although he was a scholar in all its traditional sense, he was not good with his words, and it formed a huge contrast with those who were smart and cunning. He was simple, and he was not well versed in the matters of the world, which were both traits that complimented each other. It always made Thales wonder how he got this nice job that brought both fame and fortune. Naturally, Thales later knew that Julio’s father in-law used to be someone big in the Department of Finance, so it was not hard to explain why Julio could always show clear financial statements.
But if he had to suggest to Thales that he should build a good relations.h.i.+p with certain people… Thales would rather believe that the tailoring session had not ended yet.
Scholar Julio was seen to glance a few times at the duke’s desk before he said stiffly, “You know, there was a period of time where some knowledge and research had been thought to be illegal by the temples, and mathematics was, unfortunately, one of the main subjects banned…”
Thales became more interested. “Why?”
Julio took a deep breath. “Because if some matters were studied deeply, we would end up trespa.s.sing ancient taboos, and the G.o.ds would feel unhappy.”
‘Ancient taboos.’ Thales fell into deep thought for a while. “And you believe in it?”
Julio shrugged, and he showed a resigned face. “Of course I do not. But everything that happens during that period of time happens for a reason that is logical during that period of time. For example, the knowledge about the calculation of liquid volume was once considered evil, and the pharmacy owners were banned from using measuring tools…”
As he became smoother in his speech, Julio suddenly realized something, and there was a change in his facial expression. “Sorry, I am not here to teach you History…”
“No, no, I am very interested.” Thales politely raised his hands. “Please feel free to solve my doubts. ”
Julio was slightly at a loss, but he forced a smile. After he made sure that the prince was in a good mood, he tentatively spoke, “In short, in a few hundred years ago, during the notorious Mbola’s ma.s.sacre, the chief cult’s priest was a pharmacist. His rich knowledge in pharmaceutical knowledge was the key knowledge for them to do human sacrifice as well as to figure out the geometry to carve their symbols…”
‘Cult sacrifice.
‘Human sacrifice.
‘Carving symbols.’
Thales quirked his eyebrows a little.
Julio coughed. “Since then, pharmacy and geometry were included in the legends of witches, demons and heretical G.o.ds. They gained a notorious name.”
“So, what does it do with my theology lesson?”
Julio was stunned for a while before he recalled what he wanted to say. “Oh, thank you for reminding me. I almost forget the theme…”
“Overall, at that time, all churches including Sunset Temple were still… um… traditional. For a long period of time, the scholars did not have a good time, even in Dragon Kiss Academy.”
If there was a compet.i.tion stammering while talking in long sentences, Thales felt that his father’s Masked Protector could take the top spot. But Yodel could not feel secure in his spot, because if the compet.i.tion was about long sentences out of his major, then Scholar Julio would be a powerful compet.i.tor for the t.i.tle of champion.
If he added straying far away from the main topic into the compet.i.tion, he would undoubtedly bet all his fortune on Julio to win.
Thales glared at him.
“Then some people like Vicar General Saint Lisieux appeared. They were not just part of the temple, but they also had the ambition of developing the world of academia so that everyone can conduct research safely… Thanks to their wide visions, you and I could be here to study these cute little formulae, which have been formed due to the acc.u.mulation of research by our predecessors.” Scholar Julio looked at the numbers and symbols on the paper with a gentle and compa.s.sionate gaze, as if he was looking at his lover.
Julio took a deep breath, and his face became serious. “Therefore, Your Highness, being friendly with the temple is not a bad thing, especially when they are a powerful force now. You should be friendly with them, even though forming a relations.h.i.+p with them might not be fitting to your hearts’ desires. In this way, many obstacles will be solved.”
Thales looked at Julio with an unprecedentedly intriguing gaze. “What about you?”
Julio’s eyes brightened. He raised his fingers and swayed them as if he was presenting something precious to Thales. Then, he pulled out a bra.s.s disciplinary necklace from his chest.
“Look, I am a sincere believer of Sunset Temple, and I am also the honorary priest in the Royal Academy Theological Branch. I always go to Sunset Temple to pray, and when I go back to my hometown, I also go to the temple very often.”
Julio’s eyes were full of pride and boastfulness, as if he had gained some sort of achievement. “I study mathematics in the name of G.o.d!”
Thales snickered.
This made Scholar Julio’s expression stiffen, and he did not seem to know where to place his hands.
“Why?” Thales coughed a little to cover his teasing. “Why did you especially mention this to me?”
Julio put down his disciplinary necklace, wiped his hands against his clothes, and carefully pointed at Thales’ desk.
“You… have been holding the book for a few days. Your handprint is about to be left on the cover.”
Thales lowered his head and looked.
It was the Sunset G.o.ddess Apostles’ Acts that lay under his draft papers.
The Duke of Star Lake was stunned.
A few seconds later, Thales could not help but pressed his hand against his head and sighed.
How could he make such a stupid mistake?
Was he too stressed over the past few days after he came back to Constellation?
If he were in Northland, Thales would carefully change to a new book every day while he was at Heroic Spirit Palace, and people could not easily discover what had caught his interest.
Hmm… he also could not say so.
After all, Nicholas was not very intelligent.
“You are a smart boy, Your Highness.” Julio was slightly worried. “I mean, there are not many people who can understand many complicated mathematical questions at your age, and besides, you just came back from the savage Northland. No offense.
“And people with such mindsets are not willing to listen to boring theology lessons as well as sermons. I know, and I have experienced it before, but…”
Julio pointed at the crinkled cover of the temple’s scriptures. “When you want to tear off the book and release your anger, do not let people see.”
Thales caressed against the finger markings on the Sunset G.o.ddess Apostles’ Acts that were a lot more obvious than a few days ago, and he remained silent for a while.
“I was just… reading too seriously.”
“Urk… then you do not need to be too worried.” This time, it was Julio who was worried that he had disturbed the prince’s life too much. He lowered his head and said, “Luckily, this is the age of enlightenment. If we are in ancient times, the consequences of your actions would not be very good.”
Thales snickered. “Do not worry. I may not be very important, but at the very least, I am a prince, am I not?”
“Urk… four hundred years ago, Alien Star Herman was also Ascension King’s eldest son and heir, but because he disrespected the G.o.ds…”
Scholar Julio stopped talking suddenly.
Thales’ smile was frozen too.
The room became quiet.
A few seconds later, Julio realized what he had just said. He stared at Thales in terror before he looked around in panic.
“I-I-Your Highness…”
Thales schooled his expression.
“Scholar Julio, we have solved this question, right?”
“Oh, of course, of course, Your Grace, Your Highness… Should we, stop here now?” Julio looked like he was about to cry.
Thales remained silent for a while. Then, he raised his head and showed a smile. “All right.”
It was only then that Julio sighed in relief. He grabbed all his teaching materials in a flurry of motion to leave. He did not even remember that his disciplinary necklace still hung outside his clothes.
“Um-Your Grace, regarding what I said today. Um…Count Gilbert Caso…”
Thales sighed lightly. “Gilbert will not know about it.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Julio left while he staggered.
“Julio.”
Julio s.h.i.+vered violently.
“Thank you, too,” Thales said lightly.
Perhaps he learned that he had said something that he should not have, but Scholar Julio, who loved to drag out his lesson way beyond what he should have, was more considerate than he usually was by ending the lesson half an hour earlier.
Before the history lesson in the afternoon, where Gilbert would rush over to tell him about the political gains and losses of the King of Blades, Thales was free, which was something rare.
Thales sat quietly in his study. His gaze wandered about the cover of Sunset G.o.ddess Apostles’ Acts, but he did not manage to get himself out of the mood brought on him by Julio’s words.
“Glover, close the door, I want to sleep a little.”
Zombie, who stood at the door, did not give any additional reaction. He did not ask after his well-being or make a big fuss out of nothing. He only nodded quietly and shut the door while he was at it.
He heard Glover giving orders to the guards on duty outside the door.
‘Based on this alone, Vanguard Glover is indeed much more professional than D.D.’
He acted with a low profile, is obedient, quiet, indifferent, and never did anything unnecessary.’ Thales thought gloomily. ‘Perhaps he is the type King Kessel believes in.’
For some unknown reason, when Thales thought of this, he felt his heart tense.
If he could choose, Thales still felt that getting along with people like Doyle was much more relaxing.
‘Why?’
Thales sighed.
He sized up the empty study, picked up the Sunset G.o.ddess Apostles’ Acts, which contained the secret, stood up, and walked to the shelf behind him.
The duke pushed the lever of a mechanism behind a board and pulled open the bookshelf.
He entered the secret chamber within the study room.