Morticia

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

His Grace gestured for a knight to come closer. A knight holding a potted plant came into view and placed the thing on a nearby table.

"My lady, I want to ask you to look at this plant and tell me if you see anything." His form of address changed as there were knights present. I nodded and landed my gaze on the plant and scrutinized it.  I don't see anything... I looked at the Archduke with a confused face. 

"Try to inject a bit of mana in your eyes. Imagine glazing your eyes with it then look again." He stated. I nodded and released a bit of mana before imagining something like wiping it on my eyes. I then looked at the plant and was taken aback now that I saw sparks floating around the plant. 

I've never seen anything like it before. They're golden and look like fairies dancing around the plant,  though these sparks take no shape. They just float around the stems and leaves. I reached out in a daze, curious how it would feel. As my fingers slowly drifted in the golden sparks, black flames erupted from my hands and engulfed the plant. I quickly took my hand back and with my widened eyes looked at the archduke with confusion and fear.

"What... What did I... What happened..?" I stuttered, fear crawling on my skin. I looked at my shivering hands dreadfully and wondered why that happened. I controlled my mana a lot easier than when I first awakened since I have this magic device. Why...

"It's alright. There's no need to be afraid." An emotionless voice rang out and brought me back from my thoughts. I looked at the archduke in confusion. 

"This is normal. At least in your case," He stated matter-of-factly. " The type of dark magic that you have isn't like mine. My spells focus on the mind and aura while yours focus on life forces. I don't know the extent of your powers since you've just awakened but you should be able to practice necromancy." 

Necromancy... I looked at the plant and noticed that it wasn't burnt to crisps even though I saw it being engulfed by the flame. It looked like those withered leaves in autumn nearing winter. But this feels devoid of life. 

"You absorbed its life force." I shot the archduke a look of disbelief before I gazed back at the plant. 

"Then, How do I give its life force back..?" I asked. I was still worried about this. I've read a lot about all types of magic and I've read about necromancy too but it's always poorly viewed. 

" Well, imagine the image of the life force and release it in your hands kind of like you're holding it in your palm," I closed my eyes as he said that and did what I was told. I imagined those golden sparks dancing around my palm and holding it in place. It felt warm. I opened my eyes and awaited the next instruction. 

"What do you feel?" 

"It's warm"

"Good. Remember that feeling. That is how a life force felt like," He crossed his arms and sat on a stool. " Now, try to gently push the life force in your hands with your mana. Be careful and do not let your mana mix with the life force if you don't want to create undead. Undead plants are a hassle by the way." 

I slowly proceeded to transfer the life force from my hands to the withered plant. As I did so, black flames erupted from my hand but they didn't engulf anything. Instead, it's gently pushing golden sparks in the direction of the withered plant. Slowly and slowly pushing it, I finally gave back its life force and the plant immediately sprang up to life.

Just like what happened before, my mana in the form of black flames engulfed the plant but instead of what happened earlier, it looked like it was played in reverse as the plant got back its life force.

Beads of sweat rolled down my head as that scared me. Also since I can't maneuver my mana that well although it's stable now. I need to practice hard!

Wiping the sweat, I glanced at the archduke to see what he thought. He nodded, seemingly satisfied, and I sighed in relief.

"Have you, by chance,  any prior knowledge of magic, My Lady?" The archduke asked after a minute or so.

"Ah, yes," I answered as I scratched my head. "I've been studying magic since I was a child although I can't use it back then..." I used to sneak into the imperial library whenever I was alone and spend the rest of my time there. No one tries to find me so it's alright.

"I guess that's why you easily learn. You easily grasp what I say. This is good. It seems our lessons will be at a much faster rate." The archduke muttered having lost in thought. I guess that's it. I have nothing to do other than read all the books back in Mortem. I can't even go out on the pretext of the Emperor being 'unable to bear all the fawning gazes men will give his 'beloved daughter'. It's no wonder those information has been engraved in my heart...

" Well, let's end our lesson here for today. Practice controlling your mana and maneuvering it in the meantime." The archduke's words brought me back from my thoughts. I nodded and took a mental note of it.

"By the way, This is Sir Kalian, he's one of the imperial knights sent here by the emperor." He gestured for the knight that brought the plant. He had bright red hair and chocolate-brown eyes. His skin is pale and full of freckles. I wonder how he maintained his skin color... I thought knights train in the sun? Most knights looked tanned...

"Greetings, Sir Kalian. My name is Ticia. It's a pleasure to meet you." I curtsied as I greeted him. I'm relieved I've been hiding my hair color for these past few days. Although it's still white, it's more of a grayish white rather than the lustrous white it originally is. Imperial knights would certainly know the difference.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, My-"

"There's no need to be so formal with me, Sir. I am not a noble anyway and only came from a merchant family in Stellaris. My family isn't that well off too." To support the disguise I have, I played the role of a commoner girl from a merchant family. Make it a merchant family in Stellaris and it'll be hard to confirm my identity.

I once heard that my father's been trying to suppress that ever-growing empire though he's having trouble sending in spies since the ruler's very particular about who gets to enter the land. Even people from within need to get their planned ventures outside the empire approved before being able to go out. 

"Sigh... I don't even know why the archduke insists on calling me that..." I pretended to be distressed faking that the reason the archduke called me a lady earlier was of his own accord and I am not a lady of noble lineage myself. Although it looks like His Grace got what I meant, he still looked slightly panicked which was quite amusing. 

"I- Well... It's a force of habit, My- ... Ticia." With my scrutinizing eyes, he immediately changed his form of address to support my claim. 

"Ahem... Anyway, that should be it. You should go back. We'll meet once a week and remember to practice the control of your mana in the meantime. It should be easier since I gave you a stabilizer." He cleared his throat seemingly embarrassed and reminded me of the things I need to practice in the meantime. I nodded and took a mental note of it. 

"Also, I trust you'll keep her safe. She is still my guest so I need to make sure of her safety." The archduke said and the knight nodded in understanding. I greeted the archduke goodbye and went on my way with Sir Kalian.