3 Marcus Lancaster

The setting is the town situated near the Myrad Palace. Inside an old magic shop. Time, 6:00 am.

Marcus' POV

It'll be another uneventful day for me. As I entered the same room I've been in since I was a child, I can't help but to think when was the last time I went somewhere else than here.

My grandfather supposed to run this shop. He is a good old man with a strong passion for magic. He used to say " Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen. " I think it's from a person with the name Wolfgang or something. Grandpa is a great man, he used to help everyone in need, unlike my father, who left me when mom died.

When he left, grandpa took me, raised me and taught me everything I need to survive this world if he's ever gone. He said that I can be a much better man than my dad. Because of all those things grandpa did for me, I decided to continue running this shop even if he's long gone, he passed away in his sleep with a smile on his face, you could say he's happy to lived such a fulfilling life.

" Items for Mr.Lancaster! " the door swung open and comes a guy wearing a black bowler hat and carrying a large box.

" Please just put it on that table, Albert. " I said, pointing at the table near the bookshelves at the right side of shop.

" You seem quite sad today Mr.Lancaster.. " he said as he tries to find the notebook on his bag. " Tired of same old days keep going on and on? " he asked, handing me his notebook to put my signature on it. Grabbing a pen, I flipped the notebook's pages to find the end of the list and put my signature on it.

" It's not that I'm tired of running grandpa's shop but I guess I just want something for a change. "

" Then why don't you try to find another job? You can run your shop half a day and do something else. " he said grabbing his notebook and turning away to leave. " Nothing will change if you'll keep doing the same thing everyday. Good luck. "

" I don't think I'll find any interesting job out the-- " I got cut off when the door opened once again.

" Is this Gordon Lancaster's shop? " asked a guy wearing shady clothes.

" Yes, I'm his grandson, Marcus. "

" Good.. " he walked towards the counter where I currently am and took off his hood. " I'd like to give you a wonderful job offer. "

" Y-Your majesty! " I quickly bowed down. " King Howard, whatever it is that you wanted me to do, I'll do it. "

" Now, now, you don't need to be so formal. " he said with a gentle smile.

" I can't believe it, the king himself went to see me, it's such an honor to-- "

" Hahahaha! " he chuckled. "I know it's really an unexpected visit. But please hear out my offer, Marcus. "

" Whatever it is, I'll do it for you, your majesty. "

" Then, I'd like you to be the princess's tutor. "

" The princess.. Princess Elayne's tutor?! " the king wanted me to be her only daughter's tutor?!

" Yes, my daughter Elayne. You see, I'm worried that it'll be difficult for her to go on some local academy because of her status. So I decided that I'll just hire a tutor for her. "

" But, why me? "

" Your grandfather and I were good friends back then. You may not know this but, Gordon used to be my father's most trusted ally. Your grandfather helped my father a lot, and when I was a kid, I remember that he once saved me when I almost drown in a pond, it was shallow but as a kid, the water terrified me. " laughing on his own story, the king looked at me again. " And, one of my reliable source told me you're great on both strategic and magic. So, will you accept? "

" I'm not that good but I'll do anything for you, your majesty. "

" Then it's settled! From now on, you'll be the princess's tutor and bodyguard. I expect you to take care of my daughter very well, Marcus. " he said.

- - - - -

And that's the start of my everyday life with the princess. I leave the shop to Drew, one of my friends in town. But I check on it every Sunday.

So far, this whole tutor thing is going well. Princess Elayne is really smart for her age, there was once a time when I was teaching her a strategy when it comes to sneaking onto the enemy's base and she seem very knowledgeable about it, she even thought me some new strategies, it's too risky but it'll probably work in the right situations so I wrote the strategies she proposed just in case.

She's great and all but, she keep avoiding the magic stuffs, it looks like she's not fond of magic even though I sensed great amount of mana in her.

One day, after I demonstrated water magic.

* Flashback *

" Marcus, that's amazing and all but I can't do that. " she said that like she's dead serious.

" What a pathetic thing to say. " l said. " With that mindset, do you think you'll survive in this world? "

" What are you saying? " she asked with a shocked face.

" You must be thinking you'll be fine because you're the king's daughter. " I'm sorry, but I must do this. I slowly approached her with a glare. " Just so you know, someday, when you're outside the kingdom, no one will come to save you if you get attacked by monsters. " This is for your own sake--

" STOP! " shouted the princess as I felt a great amount of energy exploded right in front of me.

* End of Flashback *

That powerful energy, it must be because of her magic unleashing for the first time but it can't be just that. Her emotions, it's overflowing. It's almost like she experienced something terrible in the past. Could it be...?

I should observe her more.

To be continued . . .