“Am I not strong enough? I admit I’m still inexperienced. If you’re not satisfied, I don’t know if he’ll accept, but my Master is staying with us, so I could ask Lord Conrad to guide me temporarily—”
“No, that’s not it. Wait. That’s not what I meant. My apologies, I phrased it poorly. I’m sorry.”
Jared was bewildered by the Duke’s wry smile.
“The Court Mages I know only take on pupils who are talented, those who have the potential to inherit their own magic. Or, they may guide talented individuals among their subordinates, not to the extent of a master-disciple relationship, but enough so they can lead their teams.”
“Conrad won’t likely be under Lord Murphy’s command. And he has no potential to inherit your Earth Magic.”
“That may be true… but aren’t you overthinking things?”
Conrad, the son of Duke Alway, would never become Jared’s formal disciple. While Jared himself often taught Conrad, who still lacked direction, he had no intention of making him a disciple. Even if he were to become a Court Mage, he was still inexperienced as a magician. Jared’s thinking hadn’t changed since the beginning.
While the Court Mages had a Mage Corps under them, the Dukes’ words made it sound as if Conrad wouldn’t be joining it.
Knowing that even the Duke had been an active member of the Knights in his youth, Jared’s handling of Conrad remained questionable.
He would nurture Conrad’s talent as a magician and train him in magic, including practical combat. Yet, he wouldn’t be able to join the Mage Corps.
Of course, it wasn’t easy to become a member of the Mage Corps, but Jared thought it would be possible for Conrad in the future, given his magic power and talent.
As Jared mulled this over, something occurred to him.
“Could it be that Conrad is the heir to the Ducal Family?”
If that were the case, it would be understandable to give him the means for self-defense and allow him to gain strength as a magician, while still avoiding him becoming a full-fledged magician.
No one would want to put their heir in danger.
Therese said that Conrad couldn’t become his disciple due to his current position and the elemental differences, but Jared felt the Duke was looking at it from a more different perspective.
“We would be grateful if you would continue to look after Conrad. However, there’s nothing in it for you. In the worst-case scenario, if word spreads about you teaching Conrad, others will start applying as well.”
“I’m not teaching Lord Conrad magic with any benefits or drawbacks in mind, so please don’t worry about that. He’s Olivier’s younger brother, and I’m also curious to see how far Lord Conrad can develop as a magician. Besides—”
“Besides?”
Jared gave a bashful, wry smile.
“Even though it’s decided I’ll be a Court Mage, I don’t really feel it. I’m still me, and I won’t change. So please, don’t worry about me and focus on Lord Conrad first.”
“Is that alright with you, Jared?”
“If you’re being considerate of us, we’re fine with it?”
“That’s not true. If I hadn’t intended to accept, I wouldn’t have accepted from the start. That’s the truth.”
When he answered truthfully, he could clearly see the Dukes’ relief.
The thought of teaching magic to others becoming a chore once he became a Court Mage was disheartening.
He was genuinely happy to be acknowledged, but the price of gaining status might be steep.
“Thank you, Jared. Please continue to look after my son.”
“Lord Murphy, I am truly grateful. Please, take good care of Conrad.”
“Older Brother, please continue to guide me!”
Being thanked by the father and son made Jared pull at his cheeks.
It wasn’t often that the Ducal Family bowed their heads in unison. While the Dukes were likely doing so with pure intentions, Jared’s stomach began to ache.
He just wanted them to lift their heads and wait for his stomach ache to subside.
“Little by little, now that I’ve accepted, I intend to teach Lord Conrad everything I can. More importantly, by doing so, I’ll be able to re-learn things myself, so you can rest assured that there’s no loss for me. Lord Conrad, I’m being gentle now, but I will be strict eventually, so be prepared.”
“Yes!”
Jared found Conrad’s eagerness endearing.
Whether he would be strict or not would depend on Conrad and the Duke.
Perhaps the day would come when he would know what role Conrad would play within the Alway Ducal Family.
“To be able to continue studying under Lord Murphy, who will become a Court Mage… that’s wonderful, Conrad.”
“Once again, thank you, Jared. If anything troublesome comes up in the future, don’t hesitate to tell me anything. I will support you wholeheartedly.”
“M-me too, I’m grateful.”
He hadn’t expected to be offered such all-out support, and he was more bewildered than anything.
He had thought he had treated Olivier’s brother and his family well because she was his fiancé. Of course, he was genuinely curious about Conrad’s future as a magician.
However, he hadn’t anticipated things would escalate so dramatically.
As he was set to become a Court Mage, Jared, unable to hide his confusion about how things were changing around him, decided he would consult with active Court Mages Adelina Bischof and Tres Brauer soon. And so he thought.
