The Royal Revenge
Chapter 231: Teacher

Chapter 231: Teacher

Elys knew what a corrupted person looked it. The woman that taught her magic had been one for a very long time – well, at least for as long as she had lived.

Her name had been unknown to the Northern Princess back in the day, for she only allowed the little princess to call her as Teacher and told her not a letter to her real name.

Teacher lived in a small hut just south west of the Northern Kingdom. The King Alaric had been trying to convince the woman for quite a while to learn her tricks, but she wouldn’t even let him near her even just a meter from her doors.

As Elys had learned from her father’s explanation, Teacher had been adamant that she doesn’t like kings at all. One day, the Northern King came upon Teacher humming a little children’s rhyme, caressing what looked like a blanket she had wrapped around her shoulders.

It looked like that of a baby’s, and King Alaric suddenly had an epiphany.

The next day, the Northern King brought with him his precious daughter, merely just four years old. Her big round eyes were something to behold, looking up at the woman with a lot of sadness in her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Teacher had said.

"I brought my daughter," King Alaric curtly said, "she is my precious little one. And if you hate me so much for being a king, then perhaps you would rather teach a princess who would someday be queen of her people?"

Teacher’s brows arched upwards, and a sarcastic laugh echoed soon after. She looked at King Alaric, and then on little Elysianne and her big red eyes.

The princess looked at the Teacher not with wide-eyes like other children who might get afraid of a woman with several hundreds of boils on her face and body. The princess looked at the Teacher with confidence and not a single blink in her eye said she was afraid.

Little Princess Elysianne Whitecaster was calm.

’What is with this child?’ the Teacher had thought back then. ’She is eerily too calm for a child of her age.’

"What do you say?" King Alaric asked.

He was not kidding when he said he was hoping that the woman would teach Elys her magic. The woman glanced at the king with extreme irritation. She turned her back from the king and went inside her hut, leaving not a single word.

"Father, what should we do now?" the little Elysianne had asked back then.

"You are going to do just as what we talked about, Elys," the king said.

Elys was silent for a while. She then raised her head and nodded to her father.

"You understand what to do, I assume?" he asked.

Elys nodded her head some more, her tiny curls bouncing around her round baby face. She was eager to please her father and mother, and that of her ancestors at that. Cordelia would be jealous when she would hear of what Elys could soon do.

The other kingdoms would think twice to invade the Northern Kingdom.

"I can do it, father," Elys said, "I can do it!"

Learn the woman’s magic.

That was the goal of the father and daughter from the royal line of the Northern Kingdom. King Alaric had learned from scratch by himself, and he had taught what he could to his daughter.

Yet his knowledge would never be enough nor at par with those who learned from masters or species that have innate affinities to magic at that.

King Alaric went down to one knee, the only time in his life that he would ever bring himself to the ground. It was only for his precious daughter, his hope for the kingdom that he dreamed to make for his people.

A safe kingdom for everyone.

Elys looked at her father as he held her face in his big hands. The king back then was at his prime – his strength and prowess in battle was immense, and no one dared to challenge him in any battle.

But in front of his daughter, he was no king nor was he a warrior of the Northern Kingdom. He was just a father to a four year old girl, whose eyes and hair was like the fire and light of his hope for a better tomorrow.

Although he showed no emotion towards the little girl, Elys was still his daughter, and he cared for her as much as any father would.

"Father, don’t cry," Elys said as she started to sniffle herself.

Tears started to pool at the corners of her eyes, snot already dripping slightly. With a swift inhale, Elys braced herself and bit her lower lip which was trembling as it is.

"Of course, my little warrior princess," King Alaric pressed his lids to stop himself from showing his emotions.

He put on a brave mask and cold stone face, and then stood up straight. He raised his hand for a salute, and little Elys quickly followed him. Clicking her heels together and puffing her chest out, Elys saluted to her father as he bid her goodbye.

"I will be back, Princess Elysianne," King Alaric told his daughter, "And by then, I expect you to learn as much as you can."

The king turned his back swiftly and started to walk away from his daughter. Elys stood where she was left for about an hour or so, processing the reality where her father had actually left her in some stranger’s care – if the stranger would ever care for her at that.

"You know you shouldn’t be too trusting," she heard a voice speak from behind her.

Little Elys didn’t turn around, and kept her eyes looking at the distance where she saw her father’s silhouette disappear into.

"My father knows what is best for me, and I know what is best for my kingdom," Elys said with gritted teeth.

The woman scoffed and then said, "You may talk like an adult, but you will always be a child, little girl."

This time around, Elys turned her head and looked back at the woman she would soon call her Teacher.

Princess Elysianne dusted her dress with her tiny hands, and then turned around completely to approach the woman. She was leaning by her door frame, and was holding a cup of what smelled like honey and lemon.

"Please, woman, teach me your magic," Elys said to the woman.

"Did your father really think that I would teach you anything just because you aren’t a king?" the woman told Elys, "He thinks too highly of himself, and overshoots his shots. He is neither a good king, and by leaving you with me, neither is he going to be much of a good father too."

Elys was somehow triggered by the woman’s choice of words.

The little girl stomped her foot so hard that her foot actually got stuck to the ground, pieces of dirt flying around her.

"My father is a great king!" Elys pouted.

Her emotions were skyrocketing. Princess Elysianne got mad at the woman for calling her father basically incompetent to rule a kingdom and to be a good father to his child.

Elys always saw her father as perfect – the perfect husband, father, and king. There was nothing that the great King Alaric wouldn’t do to bring his people prosperity and peace.

"My father is the greatest king this whole continent would ever know of!" Elys said to the woman.

She only rolled her eyes and waved a dismissing hand at the little girl, "Of course, you would be biased, little lady, I understand that. He is your father, and you will always see him as your right and never your wrong."

"But what I say is true..." Elys said, her eyes turning teary but never actually permitting herself to cry. "Father is... he is... waaah!!!"

She knew that the bravado was a façade, but the little girl was to be commended for how long she held the calmness in her before finally breaking down.

"So, the dam has finally broken down, huh?" the woman sighed.

She scowled at the noise that Elys made, her displeasure at the sound of a child crying sending her horrible flashbacks.

"Faaaatheeeerrr!!!" Elys cried out, "I am scared! Huuuu..."

Snot was dripping down her nose, but the woman was intrigued by the fact that no tears were rolling down her face at that. The little princess was crying without tears...

With a clap of her hands, the woman caught Elys’ attention. Dark blobs flew from her clasped hands, and where her magic had landed, things dissolved with a menacing hiss.

"Alright, you should stop now if you really want to learn from me," the woman told Elys.

Elys and Teacher had spent many months together, and the princess soon learned all she needed to know from the beautiful garden that Teacher maintained from before.

Only then that Elys recalled that she had the same dream the night before, and she smiled at the memory of the beautiful place she had learned her magic from.