Chapter 22 - A meeting long due

"Who could possibly want to see me at this early hour?" John mused as he was informed by the Grand Duke that someone was requesting a meeting.

"Just take a moment to freshen up," the Duke replied smoothly. "Hans will escort you to the breakfast table when you're ready. There's no need to hurry. You'll meet them soon enough."

"Ugh, fine," John sighed in exhaustion. "I'm too tired to argue with you right now."

"Good. Now go on, Hans," the Grand Duke called to the butler assigned to the young prince. "Take the prince to his room."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Hans acknowledged and led John back to his room.

. . .

Later in the morning, after John's training, the Duke returned to his office to attend to some pressing matters. "Your Majesty, the teacher wishes to see you," the Grand Chamberlain's voice echoed from the newly repaired wall that had been shattered just a day prior.

"Let him in," the Duke said, putting down his quill.

The old man entered the room and greeted the Duke, "Good morning, Dante. I see you have changed quite a bit since we last met."

"Good morning, Headmaster," the Duke replied with a slight smile. "I see that you, on the other hand, have barely aged at all since our last meeting."

"Why are you keeping me from seeing the boy?" the old man asked, frustration creeping into his voice.

"Please, calm down," the Grand Duke replied, a patient smile on his face. "There's no rush. The boy doesn't even know who you are yet. It's in your best interest to take things slow."

"Ugh," the old man, referred to as the headmaster, groaned and ran his hand through his hair.

"I understand your eagerness to see him," the Grand Duke continued, placing a hand on the headmaster's shoulder. "But rushing into this kind of situation is not wise. The boy is likely already overwhelmed with everything that's happened."

"I apologize," the headmaster said, hanging his head in regret. "The news of his survival sent me into a frenzy. I've been searching for him for so long, I couldn't contain my excitement."

"I can imagine," the Grand Duke said sympathetically. "But rest assured, the boy isn't going anywhere. I won't be sending him to fight the beasts until next winter. You'll have plenty of time to build a relationship with him before telling him anything."

"You're right," the headmaster said, taking a deep breath. "I'll be patient. I just want what's best for him, and if taking things slow is best, then I'll do it."

"That's the right attitude," the Grand Duke said with a nod. "Just make sure not to startle him when you finally meet. He's been through so much already, we don't want to add any more stress to his life."

"Of course," the headmaster replied, nodding. "I'll make sure to approach him with care and understanding."

The Grand Duke smiled and patted the headmaster's back. "I know you will. Now, let's go have some breakfast and discuss our plans for the day."

"Sounds good," the headmaster said with a small smile. "Lead the way."

"Ah, these bracers really limit my movement," John sighed as he entered the grand duke's castle. He wiggled his fingers to test their mobility, struggling against the metal bands encircling his wrists.

"You're here! Good, take a seat quickly," the grand duke called out as he saw John. "Meet Sir Oberon, he'll be your tutor in court etiquette and the history of the empire."

John took a seat at the dining room table and was introduced to the old man who had entered earlier. "Nice to meet you, child," Oberon greeted the young prince with a warm smile.

"The pleasure is mine, sir," John replied, bowing his head respectfully.

"You won't have to worry about his qualifications," the grand duke explained. "I personally invited him from the Republic of Scholars. I bet you didn't think I could find someone this competent, did you?" he added with a chuckle, digging into his breakfast. "Let's start eating before it gets cold."

As they ate, Oberon asked John, "Your Highness, have you had any lessons in etiquette before?"

"I'm afraid not," John replied, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin.

"Interesting," Oberon mused, stroking his beard. "Did you choose not to, or did His Majesty neglect your education?"

John was about to respond when a cough from the grand duke cut him off.

"Excuse me, I may have probed too far. We'll assess your knowledge after dinner. I'll be conducting a basic test to see what you know and what I'll need to teach you." Oberon apologized as he nodded slightly

"Understood, sir," John said, returning his attention to his breakfast.

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"Now your majesty," Oberon said, wiping his mouth after finishing breakfast. "If you could show me to the room where I'll be conducting my lectures, I would much appreciate it."

The grand duke replied, "Yeah, let's go. John, you follow us too. I believe you will be starting your first lecture right now."

John, who had finished his breakfast a while ago, stood up from his seat. "Indeed, but as I said before, I'll need to take a test to check my basic knowledge," Oberon said.

The duke nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure it ends before 4. John has another training session with me then." The grand duke walked out the door.

John walked loosely behind the duke and asked, "Eh? Didn't we just finish training 20 minutes ago?"

The grand duke turned around and asked with a hint of confusion, "Yeah, and?"

John sighed and shook his head. "Nothing."

'At this rate, I won't get any time to do my own training,' John thought to himself. 'How am I supposed to form a core if I don't get time to practice controlling my chaos energy?'

A couple of minutes later, the grand duke showed John and Oberon into the room where their classes would be held. "This is it," the grand duke said as they entered the fairly wide empty room with only two desks and a board.

"I believe this will be enough for John to practice court etiquette and dance," the grand duke continued. "Oh, right. John, your dance instructor will arrive in a week. She should have come by tomorrow, but there was a landslide on her way, so she had to take a different route. Now, I'll leave the two of you to do as you wish." The grand duke patted John on the back and walked out of the room.

"See you later then, your highness," Oberon said as he lightly bowed at the grand duke and closed the doors behind him.

"Now then," Oberon said, pulling out a stack of papers from his spatial storage ring. The sight of the papers made John's face go pale. "I have to answer all of this?" the young prince asked.

"I'm not answering it, and I don't see a third person here," Oberon said with a wide grin on his face.