Chapter 30 - Magic Blooming

It was a bright sunny morning in the last day of Year 710 of the 50th General Calendar, there was joy In the air of most worlds in the Devildom's territory. This was not only due to the end of year celebrations but also because it was the tenth birthday of the newest addition to the Devilian royal family.

In other words, it was Arthur's birthday. As Layla watched her mother inspect her party dress, she sighed thinking about the events that had happened within the past two years.

Within the following days after her duel against Arthur, she came to understand the reason for looks of pity she received that day.

To sum it up nicely in one word, Arthur was the very definition of 'whimsical'.

He acted as he pleased with little regard for the consequences, snuck out to play around when he was supposed to be having lessons, he even seemed to enjoy messing around with any nobles he encountered.

One day, he came across a situation where a higher noble was trying to take the best seat in a restaurant that was booked by a lower ranked one.

He just laughed evilly and went into the restaurant with a bag of platinum coins he always carried around in his hands. He used said coins to buy the restaurant, and then kicked out the higher noble before gifting the restaurant to the lower ranked one.

When later asked why he did that he just replied saying,

"Huh? No real reason, just felt like."

His whimsical attitude and adventures would be fine if only he did not drag Layla almost everywhere he went, regardless of her will.

One time when she at a tea party hosted by a young noble lady, he waltzed right in and told her to follow him.

When she asked where he wished for her to follow him to, he smiled and said,

"I dunno yet, I'll think about it on the way, I guarantee it's definitely gonna be more interesting than gossiping over tea though."

His reply was the epitome of tactlessness, he simply reduced the tea party, an event for socialization between ladies of the high society, to nothing more than a gossip fest.

The one who hosted the party was the daughter of a marquis, when Arthur realized that his words were insulting he laughed and asked her,

"So it's not like I'm wrong, even if I was, what are you gonna do about it?"

The answer: nothing, he was a prince, she was just the daughter of a marquis, she did not have the sufficient status to refute his words, she could only grit her teeth in vexation as she watched Arthur drag Layla out.

If that was all he did, she would not have too many problems, however Arthur dabbled in a lot of things. On the outside, he gave everyone the feeling that he was an average prince with above average talent, excessive kindness and a little carefree attitude, not too smart but not dumb either.

He had almost dispelled all the rumors saying he was some sort of one in a million years genius that had previously spread.

However, those who knew Arthur were fully well aware of how much of a crafty genius he was. He once took Layla to a casino, where he played and won a lot of money, far too much for the casino to just let him go.

The boss invited him for a game and lost spectacularly, although he later realized it, he still had no idea how Arthur managed to cheat him without using any magic or artifacts.

After duping the boss of the casino, Arthur used him to gain connections to the underground world, the 'dark side of society'.

He began to participate in various underground auctions and events, both barely legal and illegal ones. Sometimes he led a bunch of knights from the royal castle over to the locations of these auctions to crush them.

To prevent this, the auction committees usually changed locations, sometimes even going as far as to hold the auctions in different star systems every time, yet Arthur still somehow found out the locations and appeared to wreck their events.

Sometimes, he personally took part in the ensuing battles with the excuse of gaining battle experience. Despite being in the superior stage of the Master realm, some inferior-stage grandmasters could barely stand a chance against Arthur and his barrage of artifacts.

This led to the leaders of these underground societies to realize that they had to curry his favor in order to continue doing business. Some of them tried to find out how he kept on knowing their locations, however he just laughed whenever they asked him such and replied.

"It's obviously because I'm a genius."

His slight inner narcissist usually surfaced in such situations.

After the check was completed, Layla entered the vehicle alongside her mother to go to the castle for Arthur's birthday celebration party.

On the way, she was thinking on how she was going to be paraded around by Arthur as tool to ward off other ladies.

Sighing to herself, she remembered the various noble ladies who had tried to gain Arthur's favor and if possible, snag an engagement with him despite him being below ten years old.

'It can't be helped, his face is a work of art.'

That was one the main reason for this, Arthur was just too handsome, to the point she worried for all the girls who would have their hearts broken in the future.

She also worried for herself, as she feared getting attacked by the jealous girls who had crushed on Arthur.

'The bloodshot glare that the Jostron House's young lady was giving me at the last banquet still gives me chills just remembering it.'

The reason she was the target of their jealousy was simple. To them, she was the one Arthur liked. To her, the thought of that was simply ridiculous.

'Although getting engaged to such a pretty boy would be the best, unfortunately the boy in question doesn't seem to hold the slightest bit of romantic affection towards me, not even a slight crush. He treats me like a little sister he can use to ward of other ladies from bugging him.'

That was simply the situation, although Arthur held feelings for her, they were the kind one would have towards a younger sibling. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, others seemed to see it that Arthur fancied her and his actions of dragging her around was him declaring her as his future bride, simply thinking about all the misunderstandings he caused gave her headaches.

'I'm barely ten yet I have more worries than a hundred year old.'

Laughing depreciatingly to herself, she shifted her thoughts to the second ceremony that was supposed to take place today.

'Arthur is supposed to have his magic blooming today, yet for some reason the royal family only announced his birthday.'

When devils are born, their magic and energy manipulation abilities were barely ten percent of what they were truly capable of. This went on for ten years before their magic blooming. Although it was called 'Magic' blooming, it was an ocassion where they awakened all dormant energies they possessed and not just magic.

After all, magic is not the only energy devils use, some devil bloodlines give them the ability to use energies like aether or ether and they awaken these too alongside their magic.

It was theorized that it happened that way simply because it took ten years for the young devil's body to mature and become strong enough to hold the enormous amount of energy they possessed, as such it remained in a dormant state before then.

When a devil reaches the age of ten, their magic blooms and they gain their original energy amount.

This was also when the devils gained their first pair of wings. Their wings were useful for more than just flying, they could act as energy conductors allowing for smoother and faster manipulation of energy. They could also be used as something similar to a magic staff that amplified the strength of magic attacks.

The stronger the devil, the more pairs of wings they had and of course, the more the benefits of these wings. Some even had wings sturdy enough to block powerful attacks aimmed at them.

As Arthur was officially ten today, it was supposed to be his magic blooming and he was supposed to gain his first pair of wings too.

It was also supposed to be announced to the attendees of the celebration, however, unlike Creuserey and Cattleya's tenth birthdays, this was not announced.

'I remember him saying something about not being able to manipulate his energy at all, I thought it was joking as usual but it seems there was more to his statement.'

After arriving at the castle, Layla made her way to the waiting room where Arthur was to be, upon arriving there she met someone she had never seen before.

He was a tall man, with a black tuxedo and black hair, his dark eyes seemed deeper than the night sky and they fit perfectly on his handsome angular face.

Seeing the unknown man, Layla's first thought was,

'He's not as pretty as Arthur?'

She felt it was rude to think such about someone she just met but she couldn't help it.

'I should greet him first.' As she thought that the man spoke up with a voice was deeper than she expected.

"Green eyes and black hair, you're the one called Layla right?"

Surprised that he seemed to know her Layla forgot about greeting and couldn't help but ask.

"You know me?"

Layla was the daughter of a grand duke, her name and face were known in various parts of the Devildom, however this man seemed to be strangely familiar with her, as if he knew her personally.

As he opened his mouth to reply, they both heard a familiar voice from the door.

"Dad! You there?"

Arthur then entered the room and walked up to the man before engaging him in a conversation. As for Layla, she was simply stunned.

'Come to think of it, I'd never met his dad before, Arthur doesn't talk about him much either. I heard he's a god from Olympus'

It was then Arthur turned to look at her,

"Hey Layla, this's my dad."

"Call me Hades." Hades spoke as he ruffled Arthur's hair.

"Mom's gonna get mad if you do that." Arthur complained as he freed himself from Hades' hold before walking up to Layla.

"Oh wow, you look pretty today, more so than usual."

Layla wore a silver ball gown dress. The pearl powder, sprinkled over the hem of the dress, shimmered like a star whenever it caught the light. The dense droplet diamond, attached to the chest line, stood out.

The designer said that it was a work of satisfaction that made one praise a lot until their mouth dried, and it was worthy enough. It also went well with her dark hair.

Her hair was neatly curled up and secured with a pin adorned with pearls. She also sprinkled pearl powder on her hair.

Although she was used to such comments from Arthur, she could not help but find herself blushing slightly at his words. Recomposing herself, she replied.

"You are equally as dashing today, your highness."

That was naturally true; Arthur was dressed in a silver suit that matched him well as if they were one body. In his chest pocket was a handkerchief that had the crest of the royal family neatly embroidered on it.

"Geez I told you to stop with the honorifics, it's too stiff."

"Yes Arthur."

Arthur then re-arranged his hair before grabbing her hand.

"Dad, mom's in the west tower lounge."

After saying that he pulled her out of the room and continued.

"Let's go someplace private, I have something for you."

Layla could only let herself be dragged along by him while thinking.

'Would we make it back it in time for the party?'

Fortunately, they did make it back, right on time for their names to be announced by the chamberlain.

"Entering! Prince Arthur Vaughn and his companion, Lady Layla Eryrth!"

Upon entering the hall, all eyes were on the both of them, a few jealous gazes too but they simply ignored it all and made their way to the center of the hall where the other members of the royal family stood.

Arthur then gave a short speech and raised his glass in the air for a toast.

"Well, this is to me, my family, you all who came to celebrate with me, and... me again."

There was a small laughter as the sound of glasses clinking resounded across the hall.

Layla heard a small mutter from Arthur just before she took her drink.

"Too bad I won't be getting it huh?"

Before she could ask what 'it' was, Arthur had already put down his glass and began to drag her to the center of the dance floor.

"You're supposed to ask for my permission first you know?"

"Don't sweat the small stuff."

She sighed as she began dancing with him, completely forgetting about what she wanted to ask moments prior.