The Prince Of Magic

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After they had entered the fog, Hugo quickly instructed the captain to drive the yacht to the right far side of the island.

It was there that Hadrian and the rest saw a large floating platform that was facing the strange isle.

They had not saw it then when they entered, but after Hugo used the radio to contact someone, the barrier that was hiding the platform unraveled after he had finished speaking to someone, causing Hadrian to assume that Hugo spoke to someone who was inside the platform.

Several minutes later, Hadrian and the rest disembarked the yacht and found themselves standing on the outside area of the floating platform with a group of people waiting for them.

Leading the group was a middle-aged man with dark blonde hair and brown eyes, who was dressed in a neatly tailored black suit.

Calm and collected he may seem outside, there was a glint in his eyes that gave away his excitement and slight nervousness as he observed the people disembarking the yacht.

After Charlie, Dia and Arturia stepping into the platform first, Hugo and Hadrian were the last to exit. The rest of his retainers were simply waiting for them, looking around in wonder.

When Hadrian came near, the middle-aged man in the black suit slowly approached him with a smile, surprising Hadrian for a moment.

"Welcome to the Watch, young master. My name is Edward Miles, and I'm the Chief Director of this humble organization." The middle-aged man, Edward Miles, introduced himself.

'So, this is Edward…' Hadrian thought as he shook the man's hand.

"Hello." The young heir greeted with a small smile.

While his greeting was genuine, Hadrian can't help but give the older man a pitying look as he recalled his grandfather's words in their last conversation, to which Edward was inwardly curious about what it was for. But, it was so quick that the older man thought he was just imagining it.

'Eh? Is it just me or is he pitying me for some reason?' The Chief Director thought.

He couldn't have been more right then and there.

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After the meet and greet was over, Hadrian and the others were led inside the platform.

To their surprise, what they had seen from the outside was not the rest of the base.

Rather, it was simply a part of their headquarters. Below the floating platform leads down to the rest of base, which was underwater, so they have to take the elevator to get there.

Hadrian had to marvel at the sight of high-tech machinery and devices within the base.

'These are state of the art technology supporting this base, but what's this? The power source surrounding this place uses magical energy, but also natural energy.' Hadrian mused, recalling the Moon Cell's report as he looked around the interior of the underwater base.

When they stepped out of the elevator, Edward Miles led Hadrian and the others to the meeting room where they can speak in private.

As they went and followed the older man, whispers and stares followed at Hadrian's wake, which never ceases to amused the retainers.

"Is that the Prince?"

"What?! Where?"

"Whoa, those guys at the Clock Tower are not kidding about his aura…!"

"Someone that beautiful should be a sin." A young woman sighed wistfully.

"Why's life unfair, man?" One man complained.

"He's got many guards around him, man. Shit's insane!"

"Well, he is the heir to the Schweinorg house, ya know."

"Damn, he's dangerous in all kinds of ways." A woman in her early 20's commented, staring intensely at Hadrian's form.

"As expected of the Crown Prince." The man beside her agreed, mistaking her comment as disapproval.

"I meant that as a compliment. Not in a negative manner, stupid. He's s.e.xy."

"He's still fifteen, you witch. You're sickening to be having the hots for a child."

"Moron, I don't care about that. We're magi, so when had we ever care about things like age differences. Only the normal folk would care about useless things like that. He's still hot and gorgeous, and what are you implying, eh? Are you saying I'm old!?" The woman angrily said.

"Ah… Hm? What are we talking about again?"

In response, the man standing beside her received an elbow to the gut, courtesy of the woman.

The retainers chuckled, amused at the reactions of the staff as they followed after their oblivious Master, whose attention was with Edward and Hugo as they conversed among themselves.

"He he, this never gets old." Astolfo whispered to Charles, who was walking beside him.

"It never does." Charles agreed with a grin.

The rest of their walk was spent in silence as the Chief Director and some of his staff guided them to the meeting room. As they followed, Hadrian and his retainers spent their time looking around the base, observing how the members of the Watch worked and interior of the base.

Although, one of his retainers, Astolfo, couldn't contain his wonder and excitement as they went around the base.

The pink-haired servant looked like a child touring around the aquarium, which might not be far off in this case. The Chief Director seemed to be giving them a short tour of the headquarters as they headed over to the meeting room, seeing as they had been walking around and stopping by in different areas now that Hadrian thought about it.

Their subtle perusing came to an end when they arrived to the front entrance of the meeting room, which they were soon ushered to enter and they found themselves seated in front of a long polished table made of dark wood with intricate details. The three chandeliers aligned above the table serving as a light to brighten the room, while a large window to the left showed a beautiful underwater view.

"Master, look! There's a family of dolphin over there!" Astolfo pointed out excitedly, tugging the sleeve of his jacket to get Hadrian's attention.

"Yes, I see it." Hadrian smiled, feeling happy at the sight of sea animals as well.

As someone fond of seeing spectacular scenes of nature, Hadrian also felt happy to see the beautiful underwater view before him, much like Astolfo in this case. Seeing the sea animals was only the added benefit of coming across such a sight.

The brief respite however was interrupted as an audible cough made itself known, catching everyone's attention in the room.

When they turned to the source, they saw Edward Miles seated at the head of the table, who began to speak.

"Well, now that we are here, let me first say that it is an honor to have you here, young master." Edward Miles bowed his head slightly to Hadrian's direction.

In return, Hadrian gave him a nod of his own, but remained silent as he let the Chief Director continue.

"But, as I've been informed of your straight approach in business, we will just get right down to the issue. As I'm sure you have been informed by Hugo over there," Edward nodded to Hugo Faust, who was sitting to his right before he turned back to Hadrian. "We require your assistance on an important matter that relates to the Watch."

"So I've been told, but Hugo hadn't elaborated more on the issue other than the fact that it concerns you." Hadrian said in a thoughtful manner, recalling the conversation he had with Hugo while they were on the yacht on the way to the floating platform of the Watch. "That, and because of the Spider."

"Then, please allow me to elaborate on this matter." Edward cleared his throat, straightening his posture. "The ones that we suspect targeting the Spider might be related to the mass murders occurring around the world. This, of course, is an important issue that must be taken care of immediately."

Contrary to what Hugo and Edward were expecting, Hadrian did not looked surprised by the grim revelation. Instead, he appeared calm and composed, legs crossed as he leaned back in his chair.

How could he be surprised anymore since it was one of the things that he had always been suspecting of?

"How sure are you?" The young heir asked.

"About 87 to 95% sure." Hugo answered with a wry smile.

"And opa's thoughts on this?" Hadrian asked next, expression thoughtful.

"He also thought the same." Edward said. "In fact, we had been discussing this topic last week."

Hadrian hummed, remaining silent as he mused over the issue while the rest (sans his retainers) waited with baited breath before he spoke again.

"Okay, then tell me what you all think of the ones targeting the Spider. While it's great to know that the subjects are related, the problem still remains the same and we need to make a move against whoever is after the Spider before they can begin. Knowing the ones that you're suspecting will be of great help in this case." Hadrian stated.

Hugo and Edward looked at one another, then Edward looked to his secretary, who was standing patiently behind his left.

The secretary was a woman with regal features and slim yet fit built.

She was dressed in a white long-sleeve blouse with a black vest, a black pencil skirt that reaches down to her knees, black stockings and a pair of high-heeled shoes. Her features were of European descent, a pair of green eyes and long brown hair that was tied into a neat bun.

"Ana, if you would." Edward said to her, gesturing with his hand.

"Certainly." Ana said curtly, stepping forward to give Hadrian a white folder that was held in her right hand.

Hadrian gave her a nod of thanks, which was acknowledged, before he turned his attention to the folder in his l.a.p.

"The information we have is still incomplete, but the one in that folder might help." Edward said.

With that said, Hadrian opened the folder and began to inspect the contents within.

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