He left the room softly as to not wake the kids. However, as soon as he left, Rollo roused from under the tent with a grumble. Pushing away the cat onto Azul, he left the tent, "So he was here for the princess, after all…"
She sighed and casted a silence magic around them, "Naturally… As soon as he learnt I was tied to the princess, he then learnt about you. Quite convenient, don't you think?"
"What got him so worked up? Just what did you do this time?" Rollo eyed her with great suspicions.
She raised her hands in surrender and laughed, "Why do you always put the blame on me so quickly? Am I so untrustworthy that you blame me for every single thing that happens?"
"Name one time when something isn't involved with you." He grumbled.
"Haha… point taken." She chuckled with ease despite giving in.
"So… what did you do?" Rollo grumbled.
"Still not giving up on that?" Lotus raised a brow.
"Spit it out."
"I was simply an innocent young princess who was forcefully summoned to their castle after it was revealed I could accurately divine the future." She smirked. "Why, I was simply there only to study abroad, but they dragged me into the castle where they put me into a complicated situation."
"Divining? You can accurately predict the future?" Rollo raised a brow. "Did you do it?"
"Well…"
"Cut it out." Rollo glared at her, "I'd be sleeping peacefully if I didn't overhear this. Tomorrow's lunch is my turn, isn't it? Perfect. I was gifted a few selection of cheese from our teacher."
Her eyes widen in surprise. Did this boy just threatened her?
She scoffed, "Now ain't that adorable-!"
"There are a total of fifteen different variety our teacher painstakingly sent over to us. Surely, you're not going to reject his kindness…" He glared at her with annoyance.
Her eyes sharpened as she easily returned that glare. She huffed with disdain and grumbled, "Fine, fine… I was asked to divine the future for the king. Specifically for more personal reasons. I refused and, apparently, his chamberlain didn't take it quite well with my refusal."
"Why did you refuse?" Rollo raised a brow. "I thought it would be beneficial to earn the favor of a rule from another kingdom?"
"Hah! Unfortunately, none of those favor are worth more than my own life!"
"You mean-"
Rollo's eyes widen in disbelief. Lotus huffed with disdain, "When you create magic, you consume the mana from your body. In return, you produce blot and the result you wanted at the cost of your own life energy. But, the more precise and powerful magic you want to create, the more mana must be consumed. But, why is it that divination so accurate, that it was deemed impossible unless you're a god, was hardly shared outside? The answer is very simple…"
"It's when the cost is quite literally your own life." She hummed.
A shudder ran down his spine.
"Your… Life span?!" Rollo gasped with horror.
"Naturally, I performed a small divination for another, which benefitted me as well. However, most divination is like this…" she frowned, "The more you want to see clearly and longer, the more the cost will rise. My art of divination requires more than just some classy crystal ball or mana. It requires the alignment of the stars and peering into the soul and the surroundings. As for the price, it can range from permanent blindness to your entire lifespan."
"Why did you do it the first time?"
"Me?" Lotus hummed, "I'd keep my freedom than be some pretty ornament in the corner. Have you heard? Some places and people still perform child engagement or marriages. It's not even rare among nobles or powerful families. Just uncommon nowadays. Still, some idiot convinced someone to try and target a poor adopted royal child with no backing. Naturally, I'd prefer freedom over stripping my life away in a corner. Both would have robbed me of my life anyway, so I picked one that best benefited me instead, even if it brought along some unsavoriness."
Rollo frowned, "So you risked your life to keep your freedom? That sounds… reckless."
"Reckless?" She tilted her head, a faint smirk curving her lips. "Perhaps. But tell me, Rollo, what's the point of ideals if you can't live long enough to see them through?"
He blinked.
"People like you," she hummed softly, "love to believe that the world bends to the righteous. That sacrifice alone changes things. But the truth is—" she tapped her chest lightly, "
the world only changes for those stubborn enough to keep breathing no matter how much it tries to choke them."
Rollo looked away, jaw tightening. "That's a coward's excuse."
"Is it?" she laughed, a dry, knowing sound. "Then tell me, what's braver? Dying for a single cause, or surviving long enough to stop the next hundred disasters that would've followed if you hadn't?"
He hesitated, and she leaned back on the sofa, arms crossed and magically closed the light, "The king asked me to divine his future, and I refused. Not because I couldn't — because I knew I shouldn't. You think rejecting power makes you pure, but true purity is using it wisely, not fearfully."
"I wanted the freedom to live on my own terms. Neither of us was right or wrong—just human. But I learned one thing that day: when you start believing you're the only pure soul in a filthy world, that's when you become the most dangerous one in it."
She let the silence hang there, her eyes glinting under the lantern light.
"Learn to pick your battles, Rollo. The world doesn't need another martyr. It needs someone clever enough to survive it. Are you that said someone?"
Rollo remained silent. It was clear he was thinking about it, but she didn't care what he thought as always. She just needs to make him good enough to take over her position for as many years as he can. Then, she can leave the burden behind and do what she want.
The next day came around, then afternoon, with Lotus busy studying for a quiz. Luckily, she asked the professors if she is allowed to at least take the quizzes after the week was over, seeing how it would be difficult on them if she suddenly showed no progress. The last thing she needed was to suddenly discover they planned to throw any late homeworks or quizzes her way just to test her speed.
Cheka and the others were busy in the front yard with Leona who had to be forced to come over for breakfast. Caring for kids was hard work and she pondered if her fatigue was finally starting to pile up. Just the thought of it made her frown. She never liked going to sleep herself. It was nothing but a pain.
"Hey. Hurry up and get him off." Leona grumbled at Rollo.
"Your nephew seem perfectly content, though." Rollo huffed upon seeing Cheka kicking while grasping onto his uncle's shoulder.
"Rollo, take him down." Lotus grumbles without needing a glance, "He's probably trying to boulder climb down Leona's back or swing on his arm. He's going to fall."
"I see…" Rollo noted in surprise. "He's certainly a lively child. It's no wonder the dorm became a daycare in the blink of an eye. Children often lighten their surroundings with their innocent nature and curiosity. That why… you can't take your eyes off of them."
"It sounds like you have better experience." Leona huffed and tossed his nephew onto Rollo, "Then, you take care of him. I'm busy."
Jamil huffed a grumpy sigh and made his way over to them, "Cheka, do you want to go play board games?"
"But I want to play magift!"
"You only just developed your magic. It's dangerous to use it without a license."
"What's a license?"
Watching the two banter away as Jamil managed to swiftly guide Cheka elsewhere, Lotus raised a brow. Since when did Jamil started taking Leona's side?
"You seem tired." Leona's voice pointed out to her.
She huffed, "Looks like babysitting is finally making my fatigue catch up."
"Why not sleep?" Rollo looked up curiously.
"Tiring." She huffed.
Leona scoffed, "Right…"
Rollo raised a brow. Did he missed something there?
"So this is where you were, Kingscholar."
Looking up, they saw Malleus walk over.
"Tch, looks like the lizard is here too…" Leona scowled.
"If you're going to argue, do it elsewhere. Last I need is the kids to start become frightened." Lotus huffed, "In case you forgot, two of them are literal children."
"I thought you would enjoy some company, but have I barged in unannounced?" Malleus hesitated.
"If you hadn't even arrived, I wouldn't have cared." Lotus shrugged, "Unless it's an emergency though, you aren't allowed to cross the threshold of my room without permission."
"You have the capabilities to give me an order?" Malleus scoffed.
"You already listen to reason anyway. If my reason isn't enough for you, why not go listen to the children? Surely, those two would have better logic than the two of you combined." She huffed.
"Seriously…" Leona grumbled with disdain but said nothing.
"Hm…" Malleus, however, raised a brow curiously and touched her forehead, "You… You're fatigued?"
Leona huffed with annoyance but his eyes never left them as the other continued confidently, "Allow me to do you the favor and grant you sleep-"
Lotus' eyes shot wide open as she jumped out of her chair with alarm, but slipped and slumped onto the table. Rollo looked on with surprise! "Did… Did Draconia succeeded?"
A part of him was surprised but now reason came to his mind as he mentally note how powerful Malleus truly is with his magic recovered. However, this thought was quickly dispelled when a loud crash rang out and the table Lotus was on smashed into pieces!