“Thank you. As expected, there’s only Puti.”
“We have to help each other to survive.”
“I’ll write up the official document as quickly as possible and send it to the mages.”
“Thank you.”
Like that, Puti showed the aides an appropriately kind yet impeccable appearance and solidified his position. Puti’s face was full of satisfaction as he left the office.
‘This is why I serve as His Majesty’s attendant!’
No matter how difficult it was, one of the reasons he held onto this position was because of the thanks he received from people.
Those kinds of greetings that made him feel like he was somebody.
A kind and competent attendant who notices His Majesty’s mood and gives appropriate advice to those around him! It was the perfect image of an attendant that Puti desired.
***
Seoho laughed at Rosetta, who kept looking back at him even as he was about to leave the room. Did he know how funny it was to say he was going to the office but keep turning around as if asking to be held back?
“Rosetta, I’m just studying. In this room where I always stay. Moreover, Puti is here with me too.”
Rosetta tended to view Seoho like a fragile glass doll that couldn’t do anything without him. He didn’t dislike it, but he still didn’t want to ruin Rosetta’s daily routine.
Rosetta grabbed Seoho’s hand.
“But since it’s the first day, wouldn’t it be better if I stayed with you?”
Seoho removed Rosetta’s hand that was fiddling with his own hand out of habit.
“I’m not a child, so it’s fine.”
“…Alright. Mage Aris?”
When Rosetta turned to look at Aris, he bowed his head.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I’ll leave him in your care.”
In contrast to the dry greeting he gave Aris, Rosetta looked at Seoho with a face full of regret, then left the room as if he had no choice.
Only after Rosetta left the room did the atmosphere settle for proper greetings. Seoho felt grateful for the class that had been arranged three days after he told Rosetta he wanted to study.
‘Since he paid attention, I should work even harder.’
Aris sat down, took a sip of the tea Puti had brought out, and opened his mouth.
“Today, let’s just lightly decide what kind of way we should study.”
“Yes. I greeted you earlier, but I’m Lee Seoho. Please call me Seoho.”
“I don’t have a surname and I’m Aris. Please call me Aris.”
At those words, Seoho voiced something he’d been curious about since before.
“Puti is like that too, and Angel didn’t tell me her surname either.”
Aris let out a small exclamation and asked.
“Shall I also teach you the common knowledge of this place while studying?”
It was welcome news for Seoho.
“Is that okay?”
Seoho and Aris’s gazes turned toward Puti. Both had unconsciously taken this action because they thought Puti knew Rosetta’s heart best.
Puti nodded as if it was fine. Since Puti didn’t oppose, Aris immediately answered Seoho’s question.
“First of all, those affiliated with the temple abandon their surnames. We mages also abandon our surnames the moment we enter as imperial mages.”
“What about Puti?”
“Puti is like that because he’s a commoner. Commoners don’t have surnames.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Well, I’m also a commoner.”
As expected, it seemed to be a place where a class system existed.
“Since Puti is His Majesty’s direct attendant, he’s still treated as quasi-nobility.”
Aris, who had said that, winked at Puti while looking at him. Seoho, who let out a laugh watching Puti grimace at that shameless face, asked.
“What’s the reason for abandoning surnames?”
“It means to be loyal to the imperial family and devote oneself to the temple.”
When Seoho nodded, Aris returned to the main topic.
“First, let’s resolve the reason we decided to meet today. Shall we talk about writing?”
“Yes.”
“You seem to be able to communicate, but it’s not your original language, right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you read writing?”
When Seoho looked around searching for something to read, Aris took out paper from his breast and passed it to Seoho. Fortunately, the meaning was naturally understood.
“Yes, I can read it well.”
“Then you’ll learn it quickly.”
“Will I?”
“Yes. It doesn’t seem like it will take long.”
Seoho was relieved.
“That’s good.”
“Then today, I’ll just lightly teach you about spelling.”
“Yes. Please do.”
Whether it was because spelling wasn’t difficult, or because he could easily read the meaning, Seoho quickly memorized the spelling.
It was almost embarrassing when Aris clapped his hands while looking at Seoho as if impressed. As Seoho let out an awkward laugh, Aris asked.
“It seems to have ended too early, so shall we return to our earlier conversation?”
“Common knowledge?”
“Yes.”
It certainly had ended too quickly. After pondering for a moment, Seoho brought up what he was most curious about.
“Then please tell me exactly what the Power of Dawn is.”
“The Power of Dawn?”
He was curious about the magic that Aris said he used too, but what he was most curious about was still matters related to Rosetta. Just as Rosetta paid attention to Seoho, Seoho was also more interested in Rosetta than others.
In fact, since coming to this place, he spent most of the day with Rosetta, so there was no reason to be interested in other things.
“Yes, I think I can roughly guess what magic is like… But to call it divine power while also calling it the Power of Dawn, what exactly is that power?”
Seoho still didn’t understand what the difference between holy power and divine power was.
‘Both clearly seem to be powers related to god, but why are they divided?’
Also, why did they call Rosetta’s black mist divine power while simultaneously calling it the Power of Dawn?
At Seoho’s question, Aris gauged Puti’s reaction. It also meant that Aris alone couldn’t decide whether or not to answer this question.
Seoho quickly followed Aris and stared intently at Puti. Then Puti nodded. At Puti’s permission, when Seoho looked at Aris with a bright smile, he began his explanation.
“You’ll find out soon anyway, so it should be fine. If you’re by His Majesty’s side, you’ll have no choice but to know. To be precise, there are several types of divine power.”
Aris wrote the words ‘divine power’ on white paper.
“Magic can also do various things like creating wind, water, fire, lightning, or causing earthquakes, but it still doesn’t compare to divine power. To be precise, you can think of divine power as a much more powerful and pure force than magic.”
It was still somewhat unclear. As Seoho was tapping on the desk, Aris suddenly raised his hand. Then, without any warning, a small fireball appeared in his hand.
When Seoho’s eyes widened, Aris grinned and held out his hand. When Seoho carefully brought his hand over Aris’s hand, he warned.
“It’s hot, so it would be better not to touch it and just confirm whether this is real fire.”
“Yes.”
Seoho nodded greatly and observed the fire above Aris’s hand. It really was fire. As Seoho was staring intently at the fire, he extinguished it and continued his explanation.
“If we can create a small spark with 1 unit of power, you can think of someone with the divine power of fire being able to create hot lava with 1 unit of power. It doesn’t strain their body at all either. However, they can only use fire.”
Aris seemed to be quite good at explaining. Seoho asked with a face full of curiosity.
“So I should think of it as being specialized in one magic?”
“Well, that’s also correct.”
“Then what kind of power is the Power of Dawn?”
If it was the power of fire, it was clearly specified to be related to fire, but dawn was quite ambiguous.
“In fact, there have been very few people in history who received names from god and used divine power. So when His Majesty first received the name Dawn, we also couldn’t immediately figure out what kind of power it was. We only found out after His Majesty used the power.”
Taking a breath, Aris continued.
“To be precise, His Majesty’s power should be called a dawn close to night.”
Dawn close to night. Seoho recalled Rosetta’s black mist.
“Is it because its appearance is black mist?”
“That meaning too, and the ability suits night rather than morning. You can think of it as similar to annihilation. Of course, there are various abilities besides annihilation, but that’s what he usually uses.”
Even after hearing the explanation, it didn’t feel clearly defined. Seoho let out a small sigh.
“It’s difficult. It seems to be different from the dawn I’m thinking of. To be precise, it’s different from my name…”
“Pardon?”
Seoho explained.
“Rosetta and Puti heard, but the meaning of my name is dawn lake.”
“Really?”
At Aris’s surprised face, Seoho smiled and answered.
“Yes. It’s an interesting coincidence, right?”
“It is. But you said it’s different?”
Seoho spoke while recalling what his parents often said.
“The reason my parents named me dawn lake was because of the conception dream.”
“Conception dream?”
“So, it’s a dream you have after becoming pregnant with a child.”
Aris nodded greatly. Since the listener’s reaction was good, words naturally flowed out.
“In the dream, the surroundings were so dark that they were frightened and running away as if being chased by something, when suddenly they saw a sparkling light. When they ran toward that light, a lake that would only appear in fairy tales appeared in the middle of the forest.”
