Discussion

Returning to his estate, Merlin entered his mansion as Sebastian was waiting for him at the front door.

"Master, I congratulate you on receiving your Grimoire. Your parents would have been proud of you." Sebastian said, bowing.

Merlin smiled and said, "Thank you, Sebastian. For tonight, let's just enjoy ourselves, since 2 nights later is when we begin."

'With the Grimoire, my magic power should be approaching the stages of a Grand Magic Knight.'

Sebastian stood up and said with a serious disposition. "Are you truly ready, master? Maybe we should-"

"No, it'll be fine, Sebastian. The curse of House Caliban will come to an end, and the devil behind it as well. There's no need to drag this on for longer than need be." Merlin said, turning to the portraits of his parents on the wall, smiling as he entered the dining hall to receive his dinner.

Sebastian turned his head to the portraits along the walls of the entrance hall of the mansion. On it were the portraits of Merlin's parents, with his father having the same white hair as Merlin, having the most similarities to him due to the curse.

"My Lord, My Lady, your son has grown into a fine man. He has the most magic potential that I have ever seen. You can rest in peace, knowing that he will bring House Caliban to greater heights, as well as the Kingdom and the family." Sebastian said quietly, bowing to the portraits then following behind Merlin.

As Merlin was having his dinner, someone came knocking on his door. Sebastian went to greet the visitor. Entering the dining hall was his friend Julius, who he met many times over the past 5 years since they first met, always wandering around the town in search of magic that would interest them. Sometimes even leaving to the various villages around the Kingdom. Julius has now taken over the role of Magic Knight-Captain of Grey Deer squad.

"Merlin! I came by to congratulate you on obtaining your Grimoire." Julius said, taking a seat opposite of him on the long dining table. Noticing the staff that was leaning on the table, he commented "Sweet staff."

Merlin smiled and said, "I think you're more interested in what kind of Grimoire I have, rather than to congratulate me. And thank you, it is a fine staff."

Julius's smile faltered for a moment as he laughed, "Well, you may be right there. So, what kind of Grimoire did you get? What magical element is it associated with? How many clovers?"

Merlin smiled and put down his utensils, waving his hand. The staff then floated up and broke apart into translucent petals. The Grimoire in its disguised appearance appeared behind Merlin, floating there. Getting up from his seat, Julius went around the table and observed the Grimoire from all sides in haste, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Hmm, it seems to just be a normal Grimoire than Nobles would usually receive, especially a Royal," Julius said, rubbing his chin as he felt the cover of the Grimoire.

"Well, it seems that my spell at least works against Magic Knight Captains," Merlin said, snapping his fingers. The Grimoire exploded into a burst of rainbow Mana particles, littering the room as its true appearance was revealed.

The Grimoire didn't have a physical state, being completely made of Mana from all of the elements. The cover itself had to clover, being completely blank. Julius's eyes shone as he moved his hand forward only to have it pass through the Grimoire.

"Ah, I forgot to mention that only I can interact with the Grimoire once it is in its true state," Merlin said.

"This Mana… It feels so... pure? It's different from what I and others have experienced when performing spells." Julius said with a thoughtful look on his face. "What spells do you have within it?"

The Grimoire opened up. "Huh? It's empty?" Julius asked with a surprised face, crouching down, going on his toes and squinting his eyes, hoping that the spells would appear.

"Indeed. Hence why I need to disguise its true appearance. I don't need any unsavoury rumours to start floating around. Although I don't care about my own reputation, the reputation of those around me will, in turn, get affected as well from merely being associating with me." Merlin explained.

Julius nodded as he sat down next to Merlin, keeping his eye on the beautiful appearance of the Grimoire. He then asked Merlin, "So, are you going to join the Magic Knight's? You can just have your pick of squads and I'm sure everyone would be willing to welcome you in, 'Flower Magus' " Julius jeered at him, as the nickname that the people gave him stemmed from the fact that he likes to use flowers as an effect for his spells, as well as rumours of his magical prowess being known through the Noble circles.

"Although to the majority of nobles, they think that this moniker comes with grace and gravitas… The Vermillion's think different though, saying it's too girlish." Merlin commented.

"Well, it's better than what they call you under closed doors from what I've heard. There's a limit to flirting with noble girls and leading them on, you know?" Julius said with an exasperated sigh. "Besides, I've only seen you ever get closer to Mereoleona Vermillion, you best be careful she doesn't get jealous. I've heard that women from their household are quite… ferocious."

Merlin didn't say anything, to which Julius just continued talking, "You know, with the curse and all on your House, I'm still surprised that many Noble families are willing to still be married into your house. Especially the girls, they must know by now that they won't be long for this world if they do give birth."

Merlin nodded, "I can understand why you would be confused on this, but at the end of the day, the benefits that these houses get would outweigh the disadvantages. Even if they have to lose their daughters, ever since the start of the curse, no past ancestor of mine has ever complained or objected to marrying into our House."

"Doesn't make any sense, if you tell me," Julius said, shaking his head.

Ignoring him, Merlin smiled and brought his Grimoire down towards him, holding it in his hands as he said, "I have no interest in the Magic Knights. You should know that I do not like to be chained down and unrestricted. Besides, I'm the head of my own House, do you really think it would be wise for the only member of House Caliban to join the Magic Knights?"

Julius shrugged as he got up and leaned next to the window that faced towards the lower rungs of the city. "Anything is possible. You know the goals that I have planned for our Kingdom, but what are your own plans? What dreams do you have, Merlin?" Julius turned to Merlin.

Merlin turned to stare at the fireplace that was lit at the end of the dining hall, saying, "From a young age, I never knew what I wanted to do. I do have a goal in mind, but once I am done with it, I guess the rest is just up to fate. I'll stick around the Clover Kingdom and sometimes go out to explore, of course, not telling anyone or Sebastian might just hunt me down.

I don't have any lofty goals such as you, in your desire to become the Wizard King to bring about change, as gradual as it would be. I want to observe. I want to watch what the people of this Kingdom will be doing once you take the reins, it's going to be quite fun. Well, I guess making more magical artefacts wouldn't hurt, those are always so fun, especially giving them to people to experiment with. Just consider me as non-committed and wilful."

Merlin smiled towards Julius, who in turn shook his head and laughed, saying, "You truly never change, do you? So, where do you plan on exploring then? You know, if you don't want to become the Wizard King yourself, how about I give you a position once I obtain enough merits and achievements to take up the mantle."

Merlin thought for a moment, then said, "We'll see. But you better not try and chain me down with 'responsibilities'. Besides, Mereo is going to be joining the Magic Knight's but I'm not sure how long she will actually stay there for. That and the fact that she finds the Royal Capital is too stuffy for her tastes. So I might accompany her at times when she decides to leave or drag me out once she finds something interesting. Who knows, I've heard the Witch's forest has a lot of beautiful women there."

Julius laughed, saying, "You'll probably be skinned if they find you there. Well, you're the master of your own fate, so don't let me dictate how you should live. I should leave now, it was nice seeing you again, Merlin. Let me know if you find anything interesting!" Julius waved goodbye as he left the dining hall and the Estate altogether.

"Ah, I forgot to give him the new artefact that I developed," Merlin said, taking out a black metallic box that contained condensed water magic. Once released, in theory, it should shoot out a stream of water which was pressurized inside of the box, able to cut through stone… If it worked.

The rest of the night was uneventful, with Merlin merely spending his time tending to some of the duties that he had as head of House Caliban. Luckily he could use his magic to deal with all of the paperwork, granting him a lot of free time in between.

'Behind the curse of House Caliban, is a Devil. I can faintly feel its presence inside of the Estate, in that dark room where I was born. Purging the curse is easy enough, a simple spell breaker spell and pure Mana should do the trick. The problem is the Devil itself, as my own knowledge about them is limited. Maybe I should interrogate it before dispatching it. Or I could have it submitted to me. I could do with more loyal Butlers to lessen my work, as well as Sebastian's…'

Merlin was lost in thought in his office, going over his plans to purge the Devil from House Caliban forever, freeing himself and all future generations from the curse that plagued him.

Before heading off to deal with more of his work, Merlin subtly felt a feeling of being watched and stared at. Turning to the window, he saw a blackbird staring at him, looking him straight in his eyes.

"You do know it's rude to spy on other people, right? Quite a breach of privacy, might I add..." Merlin said to seemingly no one. The bird stared at him for a while longer, and with a twitch of its neck, it flew away, leaving some loose feathers behind.

Opening the window through Mana, the breeze blew the feathers into the dining room. Opening his palm, one of the feathers fell onto it. Holding it up to his face, Merlin muttered, "The Witch Queen, huh? What does she want?"

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Authors Notes:

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