“Why are you opening your eyes at me like that? Did you already forget this teacher of yours?!”

“…Of course not, teacher. I’ve just been having trouble sleeping.”

“Tsk, tsk. For whatever reason would a six-year-old child be having trouble sleeping?”

Yuan reached for the cup of tea in front of him, but he froze. 

His hand was shaking from the aftermath of the poison.

Cedric frowned, but Yuan spoke before he could ask.

“They say I am supposedly a cursed child who will eventually bring this kingdom down in ruins.”

WHACK!

The old man smacked the prince’s head with his staff.

“Are you an idiot?! You believe such nonsense?!”

Yuan rubbed the top of his head. 

It looked painful, but it wasn't.

He looked at the angry old man who sat in front of him.

When Elara mentioned his lessons, he remembered.

He had been studying magic for nearly a year.

The memories had returned when he fainted after the prophecy, but he hadn't thought much of them then.

A few lessons had been canceled afterward.

Today, they resumed.

“Don’t you remember who I am? I’m Cedric the Great! There isn’t a mage in this kingdom that can match me!

You think I would take in a cursed child as my only student? HAH! What absolute utter nonsense. I will not have such lies distract you from your lessons.”

“…I understand.”

Yuan studied him again.

“Hah! To think the queen’s request landed me with a talentless little brat like you.”

Yuan stiffened.

“The queen… asked you to teach me?”

“Hm?”

Cedric stroked his beard.

“Well to be exact, the queen requested that you be taught magic… and then the king sent me.”

“Why?”

“Hm…? What do you mean why? What greater joy is there than to learn magic!”

“Do I have talent?”

“T-talent? Well… hm… No. Not really.”

That’s right. From the memories that he recovered, he knew he had no talent.

A whole year.

Cedric once mentioned that talented children could sense mana within days.

Average children might need a month.

Yuan had spent an entire year trying.

Even he knew it was pathetic.

Talent or not, it didn’t matter.

He wasn’t planning to stay in this palace long enough to become a mage.

He had expected magic to be useful.

Instead, it was breathing.

Just breathing.

No fireballs.

No flying.

No power gained overnight.

Just years of patience.

“Yuan. You’ve been practicing hard this past year. Trust me! You’re almost there.”

The old man was loud, prideful, and impossible to deal with.

Yet he looked happier about Yuan's progress than Yuan himself.

He also remembered that in his first life, this was the last lesson he ever attended.

He couldn't remember the conversation after.

Only the sight of the old man walking away.

Shoulders slumped.

As though he had failed his only student.

‘I don’t have to do that this time. I’m… leaving this place soon anyway.’

“I trust you, teacher. I want to keep trying.”

“That’s my student!”

“But can you teach me how to do the breathing technique again? I can’t remember…”

Cedric’s face turned as white as his hair.

But there was nothing Yuan could do. He only remembered certain things from his first life, and that didn’t include the class details.

After complaining for nearly an hour, Cedric finally began teaching him the breathing technique again.

It was simple enough in Yuan’s mind, and he obediently followed.

Breathe in.

And breathe out.

He repeated the rhythm over and over, concentrating on whatever might be flowing around him.

He continued to do this with his eyes closed for a few minutes.

Then, he felt something.

Unlike the mana Cedric described, this warmth didn’t drift through the air.

It felt as though it had been sleeping inside him all along.

In his mind, it looked red.

A warm sensation that pulled closer to him when he breathed in. 

‘Is this mana?’

Yuan wasn’t sure, but he held onto the sensation, following it until his breathing drew it into his body.

The warmth flowed through his chest and into his limbs.

For a moment, even his fingertips felt light.

He wanted to feel it forever if he could.

But just as quickly as it came, the warmth disappeared.

Yuan opened his eyes.

“It hasn’t even been 30 minutes yet. I told you, you have to be patient. Close your eyes again and continue.”

“Um… teacher…”

“What is it?”

“I think it worked. I… I felt something.”

“?!”

“It was warm… and it came into my body… but it disappeared.”

Cedric’s eyes opened wide.

“Boy, give me your arm. Quickly!”

Yuan held out his arm. Cedric immediately grabbed his wrist.

Cedric closed his eyes.

Something coursed through his body.

It felt similar to the red warmth.

Yet somehow different.

If the warmth inside him was red…

this was blue.

Cedric’s eyes snapped open.

"Hm... I don't feel anything..."

Cedric let go of his wrist, unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes.

For the rest of class, Cedric had him continue to concentrate on mana.

Each time Yuan closed his eyes, the strange red warmth returned.

‘If this isn’t mana… then what is it?’

Cedric couldn’t sense the red warmth at all.

Before his teacher left, he looked towards the door and left Yuan a warning.

“There are a lot of rats in the palace. Be careful.”

Yuan glanced at the door.

The queen's spies again.

They no longer bothered hiding their footsteps outside his room.

After Cedric left, Elara came into the room soon after.

Yuan’s hand stopped halfway to the teacup.

He had never seen her look at him that way before.

“How could you not tell me about the assassination attempt? Do you know how I felt when I found out through the whispering between the knights?”

Yuan lowered his gaze.

If she knew…

she would never let him out of her sight again.

‘I was hoping she wouldn’t find out for a little longer…’

Elara knelt down in front of the prince and carefully held his hands.

“Yuan… I know this mother isn’t trustworthy. I don’t have as much power as the king or queen… but I told you, didn’t I? I’ll do anything to protect you.”

His fingers curled slightly in her hands.

"I just didn't want you to worry."

She smiled softly.

“How can I not worry? You are my precious child.”

“…”

“I’m going to meet the king tonight and make things right.”

She released his hands and straightened her dress.

Tonight.

This was his only chance.

He watched as Elara walked away.

When she returns, he would no longer 

be here.

While Yuan climbed down from his window in the middle of the night, a maid slipped into the main palace.

She checked behind her twice before entering.

Her hands trembled as she opened the door.

Inside the room was a thin screen that divided the maid and another woman. The maid couldn’t see the woman in the darkness but even if she could, she would not dare lift her face.

She kept her eyes on the floor and knelt on the ground in front.

“So tell me, how is he doing?”

“Your highness… I’m afraid the maid has failed to complete her task. He was seen in the garden today in perfect health.”

“I already know that. Is there nothing else?”

“…”

“Don’t you want to see your daughter again?”

“Y-your highness! Please… please don’t hurt my daughter.”

The maid cried.

“As long as you tell me the truth, I promise she will return to your side.”

The voice was gentle.

That somehow made it worse.

“The prince claimed he felt mana… but his teacher said he was mistaken.”

“What?”

“It’s the truth!”

“…”

A tapping sound echoed across the room. 

It must be a mistake.

Unless…

No.

Years ago, she had made sure the prince would never sense mana.