The Reincarnator's Inauspicious Route to Finding Love-Chapter 58: Questions Asked (2)

Aisley looked around the hallway as she waited for Prince Mikyle and Lord Adrien’s class to end. Her mind wandered a bit as she thought about the letter she had received the day before. Although she had been unable to share everything for fear of the spies lurking around her house, she was still able to share some things thanks to the code she, her sister, and her father had meticulously worked on for when she and her sister were to attend Tris Academy.

The letter had been a reply from her father regarding one of her earlier letters to him. Her father gave her the approval to do as she pleased thanks to his trust in her. Aisley did feel bad for her father since her plans may deviate from the beliefs their family has upheld for generations, but she believed that he would forgive her. Now, all she had to do was to execute her plans without drawing too much attention to herself or to Adrien incase there were any spies lurking in their school– though that last but may be difficult since she and her sister may have already drawn attention to him just by befriending him.

The door that she had been keeping an eye on opened. The students of that class trickled out looking animated as they excitedly talked amongst themselves.

"I can’t believe the second Mallorne is at it again!"

"Did you see his highness? I’ve never seen Prince Mikyle look like that!"

"It seems House Mallorne approves of their youngest’s choice, though it appears the halfwit was kept in the dark!"

Aisley’s ears perked as she listened in on the conversations floating around her, catching bits and pieces of them. It appears that oaf is causing trouble again. It’s no wonder people are going around saying that Cedric Mallorne wound up with the brains while Brayden only received the brawn.

"I can not believe he had the audacity to bring up family matters in front of others!"

"He isn’t a brawny halfwit for nothing!"

Aisley listened attentively to the ongoing gossip around her. She found joy in knowing that Brayden Mallorne had been humiliated while simultaneously dragging his image through the mud.

Her eyes sparkled when an angry-looking Brayden stormed out of the room. His fists were closed tightly at his sides and the vein in his forehead noticeably pulsated with each breath. "That damn prince!"

Aisley lifted a hand to her mouth to hide the growing smile behind her fingers. It was no secret that she held an animosity toward the second Mallorne after an altercation one year ago, so it was hard to hold back the delight she took in seeing his displeased face.

She removed her hand when she saw Adrien and Prince Mikyle leaving the classroom. Adrien was looking down the hallway in the direction that Brayden had went with a concerned and slightly worried expression on his face.

Aisley walked over to them and greeted Prince Mikyle before turning to Adrien. "I was passing by when I saw Lord Brayden storming out in an obscene way while throwing out vulgar curses. I hope nothing bad has transpired?"

"Ah? To be honest, I’m still not really sure what’s going on with him." Adrien’s eyes, which had been peeled onto Brayden’s departing back, turned to her. "He was saying something about the Co– I mean father."

"Hmm. We’ll find out later what he meant by those words, but for now, it only seemed as if he wanted to start a fight." His highness’ eyes were glued to Adrien and he moved a step closer to him, taking his hand in his own. But the soft look in his eyes and the gentle tone with which he spoke with was diminished by the bitingly-cold smirk that marred his lips like a finely-sharpened blade. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Aisley felt a shiver run through spine at seeing Mikyle’s cold smirk. She could not help but to remember the reputation that preceded this prince and she was suddenly looking forward to whatever stunt Prince Mikyle was planning for the very crude and crass Brayden Mallorne.

Instead of giving voice to her inner thoughts, she turned her attention back to Adrien. "I know his Highness is perfectly capable of protecting you, but I would like to join you as you head to your next class in case Lord Brayden tries to pull something."

Adrien’s face shifted, revealing his emotions all too easily. It was obvious that the boy did not spend much time among his peers or mingling out in society during the social season where one learned to hide their true self behind a mask and to use flowery words like a sharpened blade. And although this would cause him to be devoured in high society, she found it quite charming that he was easy to read.

"Huhu!" She chuckled lightly. "It’s charming how easy it is to read your emotions." But he will need to work on it in the future, Aisley thought to herself. If he really is who I think he is, and if he is determined to live a long life with Prince Mikyle, then he will need to learn how to survive in high society where everything glamorous is all but a farce.

She reached up and brushed her thumb over the mole on Adrien’s face as naturally as she could, breaking every code of etiquette that had been drilled into her since birth. She pushed a bit of her Mana out, just enough that she could feel it but small enough that no one else could sense it. And then she sent it into the mole, feeling elated when her Mana was absorbed into it.

Aisley pulled her hand away, hiding the elation she felt behind a perfectly arranged mask.

Mana was a naturally occurring phenomenon that happened within their world and it naturally accumulated within the bodies of the living; especially within humans, dragons, unicorns, Phoenixes, and other great species. Once the Mana matures enough, it will develop an affinity for one or two of the seven elements. Once the elemental trait appeared, the body developed to show characteristics related to that element such as blue hair or eyes for Water, green hair or eyes for Earth, yellow hair or eyes for Air, red hair or eyes for Fire, purple hair or eyes for Space, white hair or golden eyes for Light, and sparkling black hair or obsidian eyes for Shadow. And all of this usually happened while the newborn was still in the wound or egg depending on its species.

But just because these characteristics appeared did not mean that all of the hair or the whole entire eye had to be that color. A person with the Water element could have brown hair with blue strands interwoven in it or brown eyes with blue specks. Much like Adrien’s blonde hair with small bits of blue interwoven throughout it.

Something else to keep note of was the fact that Nobles had long since practiced in arranging marriages with those who possessed a strong innate Mana Well which in time caused visible traits to appear that could only be found within certain bloodlines. It was like how everyone in the Velron Royal Family who was born with Mana possessed sparkling red eyes whether their Mana had an affinity with fire or not. Or how the House of Mallorne always had Mana with an affinity to water and how each member possessed a full-head of blue hair that was always the exact same shade of blue.

The House of Ceciles also had a characteristic that only appeared in their bloodline. It came in the form of a Mana-rich mole that was located near the mouth or below the eye. This mole allowed for the Ceciles members to exchange small amounts of Mana through it just by touching it. It was a rare physical trait that was only known amongst the members of House Ceciles and one of their most closely guarded secrets.

And that was exactly what Aisley had done. She had shared a miniscule amount of Mana with Adrien unbeknownst to him to see whether or not he was of Ceciles’ blood. The test had confirmed that one of his parents was indeed a Ceciles. And I know it isn’t father since he would never cheat on mother. That only leaves my long lost cousin, the former Crown Princess of the Shigaron Kingdom.

Adrien’s face turned red and his eyes rolled to the side in embarrassment. "Am I really that easy to read?"

"You are." His highness placed a chaste kiss on Adrien’s temple, uncaring of the public display. "But it’s cute."

Adrien’s lower lip puffed out as if he had found the term "cute" to be annoying.

The art classes were located in the basement of the west side of the building. The three of them arrived there, drawing plenty of eyes since it was unusual for Prince Mikyle and Aisley Ceciles to be in that part of the building.

"I’ll meet you in the cafeteria in three hours." Prince Mikyle gave Adrien’s hand a squeeze before letting it go.

"I’ll see you next time, Adrien," Aisley bade him farewell before following Prince Mikyle to the staircase.