Chapter 23

Differences

The following day, after finishing their breakfast, Katarina busied herself in the garden like she always did. Arthur, meanwhile, stayed inside his room in silence. He meditated atop his bed, his eyes tightly shut while Hula floated behind him and keenly watched his back. In the northern corner, Vlanca was sitting down in a chair. Her eyes had been stealing glances above her where a small shelf of picture books hung overhead.

A few more glances and Arthur's called onto her. “Azeah?”

She suddenly turned to him, visibly surprised. The boy now stood in front of her. Her lips quivered so she remained silent. And for the next several seconds, they gave each other questioning stares.

“Are you interested in those books?” Arthur broke the silence, an innocent smile curving his lips.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly as her jaw almost dropped for a second. “No…” She frantically shook her head. Her forehead crumpled a little while her cheeks blushed. “No,” she repeated. “No way! I don't even know how to read.”

“You don't?” Arthur hesitantly asked.

She nodded before looking away.

Another smile dawned onto the boy’s face as he hopped above the table beside Vlanca and snatched a book from the shelf. He looked down at her and said, “Do you want me to teach you?”

The girl met his eyes with hesitance, her eyes even wider than before. She straightened her expression almost immediately, however. “I'm grateful for the offer,” she replied. “But wouldn't it bother your training? I don't want to be a bother."

“That’s right, Arthur,” Duliri butted in, his voice resounded inside Arthur’s head. “If you want to learn magic as soon as possible, you have to focus. Teaching her would be deemed as only a distraction.”

“I don’t think it would be a distraction though. Don’t you think-”

The staff suddenly flew in front of him. “I’m sorry for interrupting you, my lord,” Hula said. “But I believe that Duliri is right. If you want to accelerate the growth of your magical prowess, we have to set aside anything that doesn’t concern it. Besides,” he paused. “She was still previously a slave-”

His left brow rose a little as lines accumulated on the boy’s forehead. “What do you mean by that?” Arthur tried to restrain his voice, still, it came out harder than intended. Even Vlanca, who remained silent in her seat, teary-eyed, twitched and looked away.

“My lord…” Hula sighed. “I understand your sentiments towards Vlanca. However, her ladyship was kind enough to restore her freedom. The lady is even training her to be a good magus. For someone who lived as a mere slave, isn’t that enough?”

“Enough, Hula,” Arthur muttered, his voice barely above a whisper, as he jumped back to the ground. Though Arthur came from a world where slavery was considered unethical and shied upon, he fully understood Hula’s point. After all, he had read in the picture books the normality of slavery in this world. Being one was the lowest possible point that a person could receive and being pulled from it? It was the greatest blessing they could ever experience. He turned at the sixteen-year-old looking lass who was barely containing her tears. His hand reached out to her cheeks and wiped the tears that lined on the rim of her eyes. To Duliri and Hula, the scene appeared so surreal that they remained quiet. Arthur was also clueless about how cool he looked at the time. He might never know.

After several seconds, he smiled warmly at her before turning to Hula who floated above him. “Sure, azeah may have been a slave before…” Arthur had to pause, grimacing when he said the word slave. His voice came out forced. He just dreaded the word. “But she’s a part of our family now. Even granny acknowledged that. Wouldn’t it be a shame that the granddaughter of such a powerful magician was unable to read?” He sucked a massive breath before speaking again. “Honestly, I could simply ask granny to teach her but she’s doing everything already. She’s taking care of the plants and animals, cooking and washing the dishes, and taking care of us. I, at least, wanted to do it.”

“Fair enough.” Hula let out an amused laugh. “However, even if you’re determined, my lord, you’re still only three. Do you think you can teach her?”

Arthur shrugged as he smiled smugly. “We’ll see about that.”

Another laugh echoed from the staff. “Then I have no objections. How ‘bout you, Duliri?”

Duliri grunted. “What can I say? It’s not like I can change his mind. Once he made a decision, there’s no way he’ll change it. So yeah,” he added sardonically. “It’s fine.”

“It’s settled then,” Arthur jovially said, ignoring Duliri’s tone. “I’ll teach azeah how to read in the morning before her training begins in the afternoon.”

“Are you sure?” Vlanca broke her silence, staring down on her feet. “You don’t have to, my lord.”

“I don’t have to, but I want to…” Arthur lowered his head and looked up to her eyes. “Well, I won’t if you don’t want to though.”

Vlanca shook her head frantically. “I want to but-”

“It’s totally fine!” Arthur pulled her hand up with enthusiasm until they stood near the window. He pinned the picture book in his mouth before pulling himself up and jumped outside, to the backyard behind his room. “Come on out,” he shouted.

A few more moments and Vlanca responded and jumped out, followed by the staff hovering above her. They didn’t speak for a few seconds until the boy said, “Before the lesson starts, we need to take some weeds out!”

“What?” Duliri asked flatly.

Arthur picked up a short dry stick. “Let’s just do it for now…” He traced a one-by-two-meter rectangle on the ground. “We need some space to write some notes on.”

“Alright,” Duliri replied in defeat. “You seemed really enthusiastic. Let’s do our best…”

For the next two hours, they pulled out the grasses with energy. Even Hula, who controlled the staff, used his lower tip to rake the weeds out of the soil. Duliri could only hide his disappointment as he saw the dirt from the staff’s lower end. It was understandable. After all, the staff was made of the finest materials, and yet, its sole owner used it to take out some weeds on a whim.

After Vlanca and Arthur pulled the last straws of grass, they wiped the sweat on their foreheads with their wrist. Then they exchanged satisfied grins.

The boy briefly looked up, seeing the sun almost a quarter from the middle of the sky. Without saying a word, he wiped his hands on the grass and picked up the small stick he took two hours ago. “Shall we start?” he asked, looking up, as he smiled at Vlanca who stood more than twice of his height. He didn't mind it nor did he care for the blazing rays of the sun that began to burn against his fresh-faced skin.

The lass, who's also mindless of the heat and their dirty state, returned the gesture and briefly nodded her head. She, then, put her right hand over her left shoulder and bowed - a common showmanship of courtesy - in front of the boy. It was more than enough to show her gratitude. However, much to Arthur’s surprise, she pressed on and knelt on bended knee.

“Azeah?” Arthur whispered in surprise, his voice barely escaping his lips, while Hula and Duliri could only remain silent.

“I, Vlanca, of the Demon-”

“Wait!” Duliri interrupted. “Are you sure about this, Vlanca? What you’re doing isn’t a joke!”

“I might still be a child, but I fully understand.” She took a deep breath and nodded. “Three years ago, after I was forcefully branded as a slave and my horns were severed, I was also forced to swear my allegiance to my former master. I hated that and I wished to change it.” She paused, lifting her gaze. “I’d like to swear loyalty to Sir Arthur.”

“Didn’t I say we’re family?” Arthur scratched his hair as he rolled his eyes. He grabbed Vlanca’s hand and pulled her up. “I don’t need any of that. I don’t need you to swear or anything. In the future, I want you to help me because you want to, not because of these vows. Again, we’re family, we may be different, but we’re equal.” He looked away with a grimace, cringing at his own words. He, then, sat on the ground and wrote a letter using the stick. “We’re wasting our time. Let’s start now.”

“Yes...” Vlanca replied with a minute smile.

And thus, Arthur’s first day as a teacher began.