The Prince Of Magic

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Their stare down was interrupted, however, by a gentle voice that caused the two to blink in surprise.

"And you got one of your retainers nearly eaten and your ribs broken. My, such luck you have, Hadrian." A gentle voice interjected, followed by a giggle.

Shifting their gazes away from each other, they turned their attention to where they heard someone spoke.

It was Reines El-Melloi Archisorte.

The princess of the El-Melloi house was staring at the Schweinorg heir with focused eyes, her smirk was hidden behind the porcelain teacup that she held to her lips.

Hadrian's bright cyan eyes narrowed as they set upon her, frowning a little when he sensed a hint of schadenfreude from her via Empathy.

The bright blonde haired young woman might have a comely appearance and a gentle voice that can fool most people, but not Hadrian.

Upon meeting the former, Hadrian didn't know what to think of her, and even now, it was still unclear. His impression of her is that she was someone with a bad personality, which she even admitted herself.

On the other hand, she also happened to be his former mentor's master. Not in a master-to-student kind of way, but a master-to-slave viewpoint.

Hadrian was not privy to the important details, but his former mentor had once explained to him that he had brokered a deal with Reines in the past before they had met.

When he asked why, Lord El-Melloi II simply answered him that "it was to make up for a dumb mistake he made a long time ago".

Unwilling to pry into the older man's life without good reason, Hadrian had left the matter alone.

But, he does try to keep an eye on problems related to his former mentor and the El-Melloi house from time to time.

One can never really tell what might happened to the older mage, especially when he was involved with a dangerous family such as the El-Melloi.

The way the true heiress of the El-Melloi house treats his former mentor was a bit upsetting to Hadrian, but he keeps it to himself since he doesn't want to make the older man's situation worse.

From what he had gathered, Lord El-Melloi II had been forced to integrated into the household due to his actions in the previous Holy Grail war that he had participated in.

The older man joined the war that his own mentor, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, had also partaken.

Eventually, as the war went on, the two were paired as enemies and battled one another.

But, due to the interference of Arin von Aelfryth, Lord El-Melloi II (who was known as Waver Velvet at that time) managed to survive the elimination safely, but without his servant.

When Hadrian heard of it (and saw it via Moon Cell) for the first time, he was surprised.

He thought that he was the first person to have had interfere in an elimination battle in the war via Command Seal, but his father had done it as well, almost in the same manner as he did.

The way his father had done it was a lot smoother and prepared than what he did.

Hadrian, on other hand, didn't know what he was doing at that time.

His entrance into the fight was rather clumsy, and he had been unprepared when Rani and Rin Tohsaka tried to attack him, with them assuming that he sabotaging their battle when he was only trying to help them by making them aware of Julius B. Harwey's machinations.

Fortunately, things worked out in his favor and the three of them were able to survive the black cloaked bastard's trap.

Rin's headlock after that event was a painful experience for him though.

Returning to his thoughts on the matter, his former mentor was able to survive the battle, thanks to his father's interference. The mage then had offered to assist his father in his battles, nearly the same way as Rin Tohsaka and Rani had done for Hadrian.

And then, his father was designated to battle Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.

Arin had won in the end, but it had caused his former mentor in a crucial bind with the El-Melloi house.

His actions, from the beginning to the end of the war, had led him in the sights of the El-Melloi.

When the war was over, and Waver Velvet was the only one to return to earth safely, the El-Melloi had put two and two together, having done investigations of their own and they were displeased by the answers they found.

Unsatisfied, they went and kidnapped him at the first chance they got.

But, they cannot kill him since he was an acquaintance of the Schweinorg house, whose influence can be felt in every corner of the moonlit world. Harming a good acquaintance of a magician of the Kaleidoscope was a sure instant way to destroy the house, physically and status-wise.

And so, they opted for a different method.

The result ended up with Waver Velvet changing his name to Lord El-Melloi II, replacing Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald as the Lord of El-Melloi house.

However, behind the scenes, his former mentor had no power nor the authority in the house. Instead, it was the princess of the El-Melloi, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, who was the true heiress.

Simply put, Lord El-Melloi II was a figurehead of the El-Melloi house until Reines El-Melloi Archisorte becomes old enough to replace him as the new Lord.

With his magic crest held as hostage and dangerous threats at his way, his former mentor had no choice but comply with most orders of the bright blonde haired young woman.

A fact that, sometimes, upsets Hadrian since there was nothing that he can do to help the older mage, not that he didn't try.

Believe him, he did try, but Lord El-Melloi II was a prideful mage.

The man can simply ask his grandfather for a bit of help, but he didn't do it since he had a sense of responsibility to see through his end of the deal.

Also, it might just be Hadrian's opinion, but there was a high possibility that Lord El-Melloi II felt partly responsible for Kayneth's demise in the war.

He did assist his father in their battle, so it was highly likely that the man felt guilty.

Of course, Hadrian didn't asked Lord El-Melloi II about his past. The man often looked contrite by the mere mentioning of his mentor's name.

So, Hadrian had to improvise. He had searched through the Moon Cell's records and discovered the older mage's involvement in the war.

He keeps it himself since he doesn't want to bother him with the details and questions, but it doesn't mean that he would ignore the El-Melloi's treatment to the professor.

Forcing down his annoyance, Hadrian huffed and turned his head to face Lord El-Melloi II instead of Reines.

"Yes, what luck indeed." He said in a neutral tone, ignoring the young woman's giggle from behind her glove covered hand.

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