Chapter 889 - 889: Unexpected conversation

"And what are you boys talking about?" she asked.

The Crown Prince responded at once. He stepped closer to Julian and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, as if they were merely two young men sharing private conversations.

"We are just catching up, Grandma," he said.

The Queen Mother's gaze moved from her grandson's smile to Julian's face.

For a second it lingered there, as if studying them both deeply.

"Catching up," she repeated. "A broad phrase. It can mean anything from friendship to trouble."

"In this case, only conversation," the Crown Prince said lightly. "Lord Kraven has become far more interesting than the stories made him sound. I was making sure the man matched the rumors."

Julian bowed his head just enough to play along. "I hope I did not fall too far short, Your Highness."

"Not at all," the Crown Prince replied.

His hand remained on Julian's shoulder a moment longer than necessary.

"He recovers quickly. That alone makes him worth watching."

The Queen Mother gave a soft hum, neither fully convinced nor bitchy to press the matter.

"Watching is fine," she said with a sigh. "But don't overdo, you two."

The King glanced back at the sound of her voice, and the Duke slowed half a step as if ready to intervene if the exchange turn awkward. But the Queen Mother only turned forward again, apparently satisfied that whatever she had interrupted could wait.

The Crown Prince finally released Julian's shoulder and continued on.

"You are very cunning, Your Highness."

The Crown Prince smiled. "Is that a compliment?"

Julian smiled as well. "It certainly is."

"It does not entirely sound like one." The crown prince glanced ahead toward the King and Duke, then back to Julian. "But yes. When you live in the court, surrounded by hundreds of cunning people, you learn to become this way. If you do not, you are eaten long before anyone bothers to remember your name."

They walked a few steps in silence, their pace matching the slower movement of the escort.

"You yourself are a cunning individual," the Crown Prince continued. "That is what makes your change so impressive, Kraven. The man described to me in older reports and the man walking beside me now do not feel like the same person."

Julian kept his tone light. "People grow. Even disappointing sons."

"Some grow," the Crown Prince said. "Few grow this cleanly."

The corridor turned, following the long eastern stretch towards the guest wing. Mana lamps glowed more frequently here, signaling the thorough preparations that the duchy had done for the royal guests.

Julian used that brief silence to shift the conversation. "If I may ask, Your Highness, how far has your own cultivation progressed? The capital rarely advertises the exact power of its heirs."

The Crown Prince looked mildly pleased by the question.

"Direct. I do not mind that." He adjusted the cuff of his sleeve as he walked. "I am close to Arch Mage. I can feel it, but it has not opened. Its getting irritating."

"That is already remarkable," Julian said.

"It is expected," the Crown Prince answered. "Remarkable would be breaking through early enough to silence half the court. Expected is simply refusing to fall behind."

His eyes slid toward Julian.

"Which brings me back to you. How did you reach Arch Mage so quickly? Do not tell me it was only fortune. Fortune helps a man once. It does not rebuild him."

Julian gave a small shrug. "I simply meditated."

The Crown Prince stopped walking for half a second, then continued as if the pause had never happened.

"You simply meditated."

"Yes."

"That is not an answer."

"It is the true one," Julian said. "I found a method that suited me, sat with it, and did not stop until the result appeared."

The Crown Prince's smile thinned. "You say that as if every mage in the kingdom is not already doing the same."

"Most meditate," Julian replied. "Fewer do so without distraction. Fewer still abandon every weaker path the moment they recognize it."

"And you recognized yours immediately?"

"I recognized what was useless," Julian said. "That was enough."

The Crown Prince was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, there was a sharper edge under the politeness. "I envy you talented ones."

Julian glanced at him. "Your Highness is hardly without talent."

"Talent and efficiency are not the same," the Crown Prince said.

His voice remained controlled, but there was a clear hesitation beneath them now.

"I am taught by the greatest instructors in Hermes. I had time, resources, protected chambers, refined medicines, and more guidance than most mages will see in a lifetime. And still I feel like I am not enough. While a man who left this duchy under disgrace returns as an Arch Mage and calls the process simple meditation."

Julian did not smile this time. "If it helps, the process was not gentle."

"I did not ask whether it was gentle. I asked how it was done."

"And I answered," Julian said. "There was no ancient order waiting for me with open arms. I found one path, tested it, and forced it to work. That is all."

The Crown Prince studied him sideways. "You speak like someone who believes pain is an acceptable teacher."

"Pain is often an honest one."

"That," the Crown Prince said softly, "is the first thing you have said that truly sounds like the reports of your older nature."

Julian met the look without flinching. "Then the reports were not entirely wrong. They were only incomplete."

Ahead of them, the escort slowed as attendants opened the outer doors of the guest wing. Light spilled into the corridor from the prepared chambers beyond. Servants stood ready with lowered heads.

The Duke gestured respectfully for the King to enter first.

The Crown Prince exhaled and let the tension in his shoulders ease by a fraction, as if choosing not to press the matter further in public.

"You are either very fortunate," he said, "or very good at making dangerous things sound ordinary."