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Valerian said, ‘This is not as good as Mother Diligentia’s.’

Azula could see his eyes fluctuating with emotions he could not express. She wanted to console him, but Valerian closed his eyes and soon he calmed down. He asked, ‘May we proceed?’

Azula nodded and said, “So where were we... Yes, the rune combination. Now that you have combined five runes, you can cast second-grade spells. Now I will tell you about how the spells are classified, ready?”

Valerian nodded and the Princess continued, “So, for example, spells like, Luminare only require one rune to be activated, while Sanatio Lucis takes three. So any spell that may need runes ranging from one to five is called first-grade spells.

Now if you take grade two spells, they need five to fifteen runes to be activated. What do you understand from this?”

Valerian thought and said, ‘The number of runes for each grade is twice more than the previous grade. Going by this idea, grade three will need a maximum of thirty runes, and grade four will use sixty runes.’

.....

Azula nodded and with a smile, she praised, “Very good. You have this point taken down nicely.”

‘How many grades are there?’, questioned the boy.

Azula shook her head and said, “The grades are not specific, I only know that an Archmage is capable of casting spells of grade seven. There are records of even more powerful mages but since I have not seen them, I have no idea.”

Valerian fell in thoughts and then he nodded, he said, ‘Thank you.’

Azula smiled and then asked, “You mentioned for the officials to be recruited by the tests, I understood that point, but how do you make sure that we only have the best people recruited, what if there was any logical friction?”

‘Logical friction is a normal thing to happen, it can be solved with higher evaluation. If two people pass on solutions that are applicable in one situation, you ask them to explain the flaws of their answers, not a lot of people can do this, looking for something wrong in their work. The one who can find most of the flaws in their work will be chosen as the official.’, his answer sent the princess into deep thoughts.

Valerian ignored her and then he began to read the book once again. Azula worked up a plan for the examinations and then said, “You keep on reading, I will go to see if the things in the palace are going on smoothly.”

Valerian nodded and Azula walked out of the library. The time passed quickly and it was already night. The teachings from the princess helped Valerian a lot in learning the things mentioned in the books.

He only woke up when his stomach grumbled. He put down the book and turned around to walk out when his gaze fell on the trolley filled with cakes and pastries.

He hesitated but then he decided to eat them. While Valerian was feeding himself with soft and sweet cakes. Rectus was standing on the balcony of the city palace, looking down at the gardens.

“What are you doing here on your own?”, a voice sounded from behind him.

Rectus did not turn around to know that it was Quies. He said, “Thinking.”

Quies came to stand beside him and said, “About the boy?”

Rectus nodded slightly. The butler said, “Knowing your nature, you probably want the child to be closer to you, just like he was with your sister?”

Rectus put up a self-deprecating smile on his face and said, “I am useless, no?”

Quies gazed at his face and said, “You might not understand, but you are you and not your sister. Valerian was raised by her, if you think he will get close to you like he was with her you disrespect both, yourself and your sister. Just be yourself with him.”

Rectus sighed and said, “You know, the actual me never held anyone but my sister in regard?”

Quies said, “Then don’t you think you have a lot in common with him?”

Rectus was surprised, he looked at the steward beside him with eyes wide open. Then the man moved away leaving Rectus alone on the balcony.

The Mage stood at the side and looked at the vast garden. What Quies said was correct, he just needed to be himself. The idea was nice, and he needed to imply it smoothly.

...

Azula was busy dealing with the problems caused by the lack of officials. The city was going through a shortage of food, lax security, and rampant merchants.

A night passed and the people of the city found out that the princess was recruiting officials from all over the city, the minimum requirement was that the person must be able to read and write and must be above eighteen in age.

They were not restricted by their birth, even if it was a cobbler, as long as he could meet the requirements, he can participate in the exams.

Priscilla stood in front of the princess and asked, “Your highness, the exam date has been set to three days later, and the venue is decided as well. What shall we do about the questions?”

Azula was sitting in a rocking chair reading the few documents from the archives of the city council. She said, “Do you know the real-time troubles we are facing at the moment?”

Priscilla nodded and Azula continued, “What we need to do is to find the solution to these problems in the shortest time possible. So, just ask them how to deal with these. If the answer is not up to the mark, then reject them. If someone ties, then give them another difficult problem to ask.”

The maid nodded and the princess said, “This method is indeed very wise, the people in the city will have a chance to break free from their shackles, your highness.”

Azula shook her head and said, “Where can I come up with such an ingenious idea? It was Valerian.”

Priscilla was shocked. She did not expect the child to come up with such a way to ease up the trouble. She hesitated but Azula caught her expression and said, “You want to apologize to him?”

Priscilla froze, but then she calmed herself. Azula said, “Do I not know your temperament after all these years? Go to him, but do not get angry if he ignores you. The only way you can get things to smoothen up between you two is to give him something he needs, what he needs is knowledge, and training. Help him master the magic, show him how deep and vast is this sea of magic and strength.”

Azula was a good leader, she could tell what Valerian wanted and that Priscilla was a good teacher for the child. That said, she waved her hand in dismissal.

Priscilla bowed her head and left the room. It was now up to her, whether to follow the path shown by the princess or not.

...

It was night time and Valerian was still reading the books inside the library. He was relapsing to his old habit of staying indoors and reading all that he could, to deal with the darkness, he had cast four illumination spells.

Why did he use such a method? Well, a book on how to control the mana flow mentioned an exercise to cast multiple low-grade spells and try to have them all produce similar output.

At this moment, the fourth ball of light was the only one with a steady output while the rest were producing fluctuating lights.

Suddenly, the door of the library was pushed open and the sound caused Valerian to be distracted. He frowned when the three blobs of light vanished. Valerian turned his head around and saw Priscilla walking over.

His gaze turned cold and he raised his hand. Priscilla stopped in her tracks and said, “I apologize.”

Valerian did not want to hear anything and cast a spell, ‘Gustus.’

The wind inside the library picked up the pace and it blow right in the face of the maid. This was a warning, if she did not leave, Valerian will attack.

The intense hatred shown by the child shocked the lady again. She did not expect him to be so cold. She bowed her head and said, “What happened earlier was a planned action. I needed to confirm your potential, her highness was against it but I needed to know.”

Valerian let out a snort and using his hands he asked, ‘Who are you to know my potential? What are you? Vita? Leave me alone.’

He was even more pissed when he found out that it was all planned and the princess allowed it.

Priscilla said, “I am the blood guard of her highness, do you expect me to trust you so easily? What if Rectus lied? What if the way you came into contact with her highness was an act? I cannot look away from my duty to protect the princess.

The spell I cast was not something, Her Highness was aware of. I apologize to you sincerely. Please give me a chance to redeem myself.”

Valerian kept gazing at her but did not reply. The atmosphere in the library turned even solemn with the silence.