Moonlight Ball

Sidrain walked out of the queen’s bedroom frowning; he couldn’t believe that Rosemary had said the words ‘thank you’ and he found it very odd and unsettling. Then his thoughts soon drifted back to Iris Elaine. She was famously known as Elaine’s adopted daughter, but she was also famous for having her name in numerous recent magic papers in which she’d written large-scale magic tower articles. Her magic was powerful and the way she used it was genius. All the elders of the tower coveted Iris as she was Elaine’s best student. She was a disciple that didn’t do anything without his command and she was also the woman who had contributed the most to deserve becoming the owner of the tower.

It was fourteen years ago that Sidrain had met her, that year he’d turned sixteen and was considered an adult. When a royal family member became an adult, they had to go to the Magic Tower and learn to control their mana. There, the two met one day perchance when Sidrain, who’d spent about a month in the Magic Tower and had learned to control mana, walked into the wrong room.

When sixteen-year-old Sidrain opened the door to fourteen-year-old Iris’s room, she was boiling something in a large black pot that had a shirt inside of it. When the door opened unexpectedly, she and a house fairy had looked back at him in surprise and they’d screamed in unison.

“Aaaah!”

Sidrain had jumped back in fright and the door had slammed shut. She hadn’t even been naked though so he’d wondered why she had screamed like that? He’d looked at the closed door in bewilderment thinking that she was meant to have shut it with her screaming, even if he’d walked into the wrong room by accident.

He’d taken a long look at the girl standing inside who stirred a shirt in the big black pot. She’d had short hair like a boy and had worn a knee-length navy blue dress which showed her skinny body. He wondered who she was and couldn’t leave because of his curiosity.

Knock.

The sound came from inside the room. It was the first time in his life that he had heard a knock inside a room. “Don’t you usually knock when you’re out in the hallway?” The girl had asked sarcastically. Sidrain didn’t answer and stood with his arms crossed.

The room was silent for a while before she spoke again in a faint voice, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For screaming.”

“Why? I walked into the wrong room so I understand why you screamed. I mean, it’s your room. You don’t have to be sorry,” he’d said gently.

“The Magic Tower was originally a maze structure, so visitors can’t help but wonder. I’m sorry.” The girl had mumbled an apology, sounding sincere.

Her whispering voice had been a bit husky and sweet, making it hard for him to stay angry at her. Sidrain had stared at the door with his arms crossed, “I didn’t look ahead because I couldn’t control my magic.”

“I told you not to worry about it,” she’d said, starting to sound annoyed.

Sidrain had frowned with astonishment. Shouldn’t she at least have opened the door or served him a cup of tea? And, she should’ve told him her full name too. But the wooden door had seemed firmly shut and she’d seemed unwilling to open.

Oh well, never mind. Sidrain had turned around. What’s the point of paying attention to such an uneducated, rude, boyish girl?

 He recalled thinking.

The girl had been deep in thought too, It’s a problem just because he can’t control his magic. If the crown prince himself is unable to control magic, that’s a big issue and if something completely out of control happens, the title of the crown prince may be in jeopardy.

Sidrain had clenched his teeth and tried to float away but his concentration had been interrupted by an annoying knock coming from inside the room again. “You do know that knocks are supposed to be done from the outside of the door right?”

The girl had giggled and ignored his question and had said, “Hey, I heard that you’re having trouble controlling your magic.”

Sidrain had thought that the girl wouldn’t ask him if she knew he was a royal. During the month in the Magic Tower, there were so many royal’s and there were a lot of people that clung to the crown prince. Women had approached him to get into a relationship and men had approached him to become friends. He hadn’t been interested in them and it had been tiring to be surrounded by people who only cared about their future, and not listening to his stories.

But it had been an unexpected question, so Sidrain had stayed and replied, “And?”

“Maybe I can help you? As an apology.”

“You?” She’d looked so young, around ten or twelve years old he’d guessed, what had she known that could help him? There was a huge age difference between twelve and sixteen and he hadn’t wanted to accept her offer. However, his magic had been out of control for a month and he’d been feeling nervous about that.

“Well, I’m good at mana control,” she’d said with confidence.

She can’t even open the door though? Sidrain had frowned, and the girl had made the knocking sound again as if she’d known his thoughts.

“Would you like to sit down for now?” She’d asked politely.

Sidrain had become very wary and he stared at the black pot, with the shirt inside of it, “In this place where there is rat poop?” He’d asked outright and he’d heard the girl clapping her hands. Then, the grass broom which had been standing in the corner of the room had begun to sweep lightly. I guess she does know how to use magic? He’d thought.