Finley Cai Aies Hall April 17th, 20XX

I awoke in my chambers and couldn't help but scowl as I recalled the events of the General’s visit as well as the fact that she would be here for the next week.

While I hadn't paid a lot of attention during the lessons on how male fairies were generally treated I knew enough to recognize that I was a prince and should have been treated much better than I had been.

Still...

I launched off the bed and into the exercise routine I had been taught but had admittedly been slacking on recently.

The feeling of being completely powerless, of your fate being completely determined by someone else's mood was….. unpleasant to say at the least and I really had no one else to blame for my inability to resist but myself.

I was entirely unwilling to experience such a disheartening feeling again.

I placed a locking spell on the door and then began to practice my magic using the method I had gleaned from my mother's journal.

And although I had been told that just taking the doorknobs off the doors was as good as locking them, it would do nothing against Cambridge, Corin and Esmarelda who held full access to the castle save for a few rooms.

I launched myself into the air, giving myself a few moments to gather my balance and then I slowly released the natural resistance by body put up and let my magic completely leave my body until it crystallizes into a golden sphere around me.

It's so bright

I internally grumbled but I couldn't deny how awesome it felt, feeling like I was at the center of the world inside my sphere.

I stayed in that position for a bit, just focusing on the flow of magic inside my own bubble but then I slowly and carefully opened up a small hole and let the tiny bits of rust-coloured magic from the outside enter until I had gathered enough to form a small soccer ball sized sphere.

Almost as quickly as I did that I closed the hole back up and began to separate the magic from the other impurities. Especially since this was the Royal castle, where even the servants could use magic effectively it had been recycled through so many people’s spells until it had become so…. disgusting.

Slowly but surely the impurities began to separate from the actual magic particles leaving bright gold flecks in their place.

Although I apparently did this naturally by existing it was a lot faster to do it in person and it also helped with my magic control.

I incinerated the impurities with a small fire spell and then repeated the process until the whole room was filled with bright golden particles of magic at a much higher density than it had already been.

Then with a large breath, I forcefully condensed the sphere into a small bubble, no larger than a marble and swallowed it.

Huk!

I couldn't help but suck inwards as a large amount of magic ran rampant through me and I was nearly forced to cast a spell just to get rid of it but I withstood the discomfort and began to control it around me, attempting to let it get used to staying there.

It was only after it settled that I was able to move again.

I was to have dinner with the general in about an hour from now so I had no choice but to begin getting dressed in the preselected clothing.

Although I still stood by my complaints about the unnecessary ornateness of the clothes, I had to admit that they were pretty ingeniously designed as they provided slits for the wings so they could unfold and fold with ease but the discomfort factor outweighed whatever praises I had.

It was heavy and each movement felt like I was being weighed down with a pound and a half of gold.

There was also the fact that it required a fair bit of flexibility in order to fit the wings and my arms into their designated slits at the same time but there was no way I was taking Corin up on her offer to dress me. Even if I acted immaturely around her it would be excessive to completely let her treat me like a two-year-old infant.

Before I headed out I made sure to solidify a thin layer of magic around myself, like light armour. After all who knew if the general would decide to randomly attack me again.

I lifted a hand to my face and felt around for the gash but I wasn't exactly surprised when I found it wasn't there. Even while training with Theodulus all my bruises and cuts would be healed within a half hour but it still always came as a surprise to me.

Theodulus had told me to quickly accept that I would heal quickly so I wouldn't panic if I was ever hurt in battle. But there was the first fact that I didn't think I would ever even be allowed to partake in battle and the other was that even if I could I had no such intentions.

As soon as I opened the door I was met with the concerned face of Corin but she didn't ask me anything about why my door was locked and instead just began to lead me to the dining hall. She sat me down at the head of the table and then left soon after, isolating me in the room.

For the first ten minutes I was fine with waiting but then another half an hour passed and I got bored. Then another hour passed and I was annoyed.

I didn't necessarily have to eat since most of my bodily functions were managed by magic. As long as I could breathe and process the magic around me then that took care of hunger, thirst and even the need for sleep but I had been looking forward to the meal and more importantly, I did need to confirm the alliance of the Ruan family.

The only good thing about being attacked in such a manner earlier was that I now had greater leverage against her. After all, attacking a member of the royal family was grounds for an instant execution and it would have been carried out if I had told what had happened to either Corin or Cambridge.

I finally lost patience as the third hour dawned and got up, intending to return to my room and resume my practice instead of wasting time.

However, it was after I had been flying for a quarter hour that I realized something pretty important...I didn't actually know the layout of the palace.

I mean, in my defence I really only spent my time in about three rooms. Esmeralda's office for lessons, the courtyard for self-defence from Cambridge and a few etiquettes and other stuff from Corin.

I wandered around, debating whether to call out to one of the somehow imposing staff for help or to try and figure it out on my own when I suddenly heard the not so quiet voice of Esmarelda.

“ YOU WISH TO CANCEL THE ENGAGEMENT?”