The next couple of days went by without much fanfare. Every single day for Elion and Alexander was spent training.

After their first magic training session, Elion finally learned that Prince Alexander’s affinity was gravity magic.

A unique affinity, to say the least.

And so, Elion quickly realised there wasn’t much he could directly teach the boy in that regard, aside from things like casting efficiency, integrating spells smoothly into combat, improving battle instincts, and refining pure skill.

What surprised him more was the sheer number of spells Alexander possessed. Despite how rare gravity magic was, the king had apparently gone to great lengths to gather skill scrolls and spell books specifically for the prince’s education.

Perks of being royalty. If it had been some ordinary person born with that affinity, they would probably curse the heavens instead.

After all, what good was a powerful affinity if nobody alive knew how to properly teach or develop it? And so, for the following week, Elion put Alexander through absolute hell.

It became a common sight within the palace for the prince to be seen dragging himself back to his room late into the night, only to be dragged out of that same room early the next morning by a merciless Elion.

After a bit, they took their sessions outside, into a private open courtyard assigned to Alexander, at Elion’s request. It turns out, it was only another way for him to make the boy suffer even more.

The strangest part of these training sessions, however, was Isla. Princess Isla could be seen at almost every single session.

Watching and enjoying the sight of her younger brother suffering at her suitor’s hand.

Since Elion spent almost the entire day with Alexander, she had seemingly decided that her simply being there counted as "spending time together."

And so, while Elion forced the prince to perform thousands of sword swings until his arms trembled violently, he would casually converse with Isla beside the training grounds, sometimes flirt with her lightly.

She would bring him food between meals as well. The first time she did, Elion had innocently asked if she had cooked it herself. The poor princess had blushed so deeply she nearly fled on the spot.

Turns out, Isla was not exactly a gifted cook. Still, Elion ate everything she brought him anyway.

As for Alexander...

Elion had absolutely forced him to start learning the sword properly as well.

And to the prince’s credit, he was actually fairly decent with it already. Which only made his suffering more intense.

So every day, Alexander had no choice but to watch that insufferable bastard flirt with his sister while he himself suffered endlessly beneath the sun.

Naturally, his resentment grew deeper by the hour.

Meanwhile, Elion’s mission completion gauge had steadily climbed. Seventy percent complete.

’Seems they’re making good progress even without me...’

The thought eased some of his concerns.

He had already contributed quite a lot during his short time on the battlefield, so he wasn’t too worried about losing out on rewards from the trial.

But he knew that he needed to be there once things reached their climax. Just in case something went wrong, and if there was one thing Elion had learned, it was that things going too smoothly was usually a bad sign. Time continued moving forward, and just like that, an entire week passed by.

Finally, the day the council of rulers was supposed to convene arrived.

...

"You were having a good time then?" Elion asked the smiling Isla, who had been yapping endlessly about crafting since yesterday.

Contrary to what he expected, however, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"I guess..."

She tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear before continuing.

"It’s not so simple, though. Most people think crafting a weapon or item is all fire and fury."

Her shoulders slumped dramatically.

"The truth is, it’s mostly arguing with the materials until they agree to produce the result you want."

Elion raised a brow.

"Rubies are divas," Isla continued seriously. "Emeralds sulk, and don’t even get me started on sapphires. They demand compliments before they’ll properly hold a spell."

That made Elion blink.

’...Does that mean the materials are sentient?’

And if the materials were, then what did that say about weapons? Surely not. So it had to be figurative.

Probably just a crafter’s way of describing how troublesome certain materials were to work with.

Still, he played along.

"So you’re basically a councillor for moody rocks?"

"Exactly!" Isla said immediately, sounding genuinely validated. "Yesterday I spent three hours convincing a ruby it was the most radiant jewel in the realm."

She sighed dramatically.

"By the end, it finally agreed to channel fire magic... but only after I promised to polish it weekly."

"Sounds exhausting."

Elion smirked slightly.

"Maybe I should start complimenting you daily too, just to keep your magic flowing."

"Oh, please," Isla scoffed lightly. "I’m far less temperamental than a ruby."

She brushed her chin thoughtfully.

"Though... I wouldn’t say no to daily flattery."

She looked away awkwardly.

"It might improve my productivity."

Elion chuckled softly.

"Then let me start."

He looked directly at her.

"You’re the most enchanting woman I’ve ever met. And I mean that literally. Your weapons glow... and so do you."

Isla’s cheeks immediately reddened.

"Careful, knight," she warned, trying and failing to hide her smile. "If you keep talking like that, I’ll enchant your sword to sing embarrassing ballads every time you draw it."

"If it sings about you," Elion replied smoothly, "I’ll gladly duel with it."

Isla laughed.

"Romantic and reckless."

Her blue eyes curved slightly.

"You’re lucky I like both."

The two laughed together.

A loud click of a tongue echoed through the hallway from in front of them. The prince was currently leading the way, though he looked one step away from developing a permanent scowl.

’Why do I have to deal with this every single day...?’

Watching those two flirt so shamelessly while completely ignoring him had become an increasingly harrowing experience. It certainly didn’t help that he was still limping, thanks slightly to a certain merciless bastard.

’He won’t even let me see the healers... Goddamnit!’

The first time Alexander had attempted it, the next day’s training had become absolute hell. According to Elion, his body needed to "adapt to pain and soreness naturally."

Absolute nonsense!

And the flirting somehow only grew worse with each passing day.

’It’s getting worse...’ Alexander thought bitterly as he glared back at Elion.

"...Hmm?"

Elion glanced toward him. And that insufferable bastard grinned immediately! Alexander quickly looked away.

If he knew Elion well enough by now, and unfortunately, he did, the man might actually punish him just for looking at him wrong.

Alexander cleared his throat.

"We are almost there."

Elion suddenly sped up and slung his arm around the prince’s shoulders. Alexander tried to duck away, but escaping Elion was a fool’s errand. Now the man’s arm was firmly wrapped around his neck.

"So," Elion began casually, "I heard you have a fiancée."

Alexander immediately felt danger.

"How come I haven’t seen her this whole time?"

Alexander groaned internally. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Her family doesn’t reside in the capital," he explained reluctantly. "So we only see each other occasionally."

"What’s her name?" Elion asked with a grin.

Of course, Elion already knew the future queen’s name. But who knew how consistent this trial’s history really was?

Maybe this Alexander was betrothed to someone else entirely at this point in time.

"...Persephone," Alexander replied cautiously.

Elion nodded slowly.

"She must be beautiful then?"

Alexander suddenly narrowed his eyes.

’Wait...

What does he want?’

Truthfully, he wasn’t in love with Persephone; he never had been. But he would be damned before he let this womanizing menace anywhere near his fiancée.

Though, to be fair, he trusted Persephone enough to keep her modesty around Elion.

"Please focus, Elion," Alexander tried desperately.

They were already heading toward the chamber where the rulers were meeting. The fact that the three of them had been summoned likely meant the discussions were already over.

They were probably about to be informed of the plan moving forward.

After the disastrous losses from the previous week, King Melroy had sent massive reinforcements exactly as promised, and the reports from the frontlines had been largely positive ever since.

Of course, people still died every day.

This war had long since devolved into a brutal war of attrition.

Both sides occasionally committed large forces, but the coalition clearly possessed the advantage in sheer numbers.

However, wars consume a monstrous amount of resources every single day, as well as time and valuable lives. Everyone was tired of it.

Alexander remembered being only eleven years old when the demon lord’s army decided they wanted to conquer the world.

So much time had already passed since then, and the rulers had grown tired of being on the defensive, which was precisely why this sudden council of rulers meeting was happening.

"What’s the big idea anyway?" Elion asked with a shrug. "They may be rulers and kings, but they’re living beings just like us."

Alexander snorted.

"Sometimes I question your intelligence."

The moment the words left his mouth, his eyes widened in fear.