Arvell's eyes widened with shock at Lykos's revelation.
'Zen's a noble? How can you tell?'
Lykos seeing Arvell's genuine confusion just sighed.
'I guess you aren't that used to people with no mannerisms for you to notice. Only people who have been raised in noble houses have that level of grace and elegance.'
Arvell raised an eyebrow. fre(e)webno(v)el
'I wouldn't really use 'grace and elegance' to define Zen.'
'You do realize he is out in the wilderness? People like him normally live tended to by countless maids and butlers. Just like how you were in the past. I guess since you rarely interacted with other children outside of the royal castle you aren't used to interacting with commoner children.'
'I understand that the upbringing of a commoner child and a noble child is completely different, but is it that easy to tell?'
'Normal children don't typically swear on their honour for example. Also, do you think a bandit group as big as the one before would make that much profit from selling one kid? A boy at that?'
Arvell nodded his head.
'I do admit did find those two things odd. I assumed they kidnapped him for some other ulterior motive. However, if we were to take into account that he is the child of a noble, everything would make sense.'
'Do you think he's worth getting to know now? Getting on his good side will help you immensely with attending Sky Sword Academy. The difference between having a lord's letter of recommendation, and going in as a simple commoner is nothing to scoff at!'
Letting out a tired sigh, he begrudgingly nodded his head.
Arvell wasn't the type to deny his mistakes.
He was the type to accept them and improve.
'How do I interact with boys my age? I don't have much experience.'
The only boys that Arvell was close to in his age group were the first prince and the eldest son of the duke of Marlam.
However, his elder brother was still 5 years elder than him.
His other brother Carnis was 2 years older than him, but he tended to avoid Carnis if possible due to his stuck-up personality.
Other than this, he had no experience with interacting with other boys his age.
Despite being as smart as he was, he wasn't that used to interacting with other people.
The king didn't want his noble sons to mingle with commoners and lower-ranking nobles such as barons and viscounts.
His only friend his age was Lukas Marlam, however, they were close after spending a lot of time together as kids.
Interacting with someone he hardly knew with the same level of familiarity felt wrong to Arvell.
Thus he decided to ask the only person who knew his predicament.
However, due to being sidetracked, Arvell forgot one key detail.
The person who he asked was Lykos.
'Interacting with boys your age isn't too hard! All you need to do is…'
Arvell's eyes opened wide in confusion.
'I really need to say this? Is this really what kids my age do?'
'Exactly! I've been around for a long time, so I know a lot about this stuff! Leave it to me.'
After telling him this, Lykos flashed a mischievous smile.
Arvell despite feeling something was off, decided to trust Lykos's words.
After all, it wasn't like he had any better idea.
Arvell looked reluctantly at Zen who quenched his thirst by drinking some of the water from the flask.
Bracing himself, he cleared his throat.
(cough cough)
"So… Zen. Do… you have any girls you like?"
Zen spit out the water he was drinking, completely dousing Arvell who had a front-row seat to the water show.
"What in the lord's name are you talking about? Where did that even come from?"
Zen looked at Arvell with apparent bewilderment
Arvell reached into his bag and removed a towel from his inventory while making it look like he simply removed it out of his bag.
As he dried his soaking face, he glared at Lykos angrily.
Lykos of course didn't seem to care as he was rolling on the ground with laughter.
While he didn't find the question itself that funny, Arvell's current face certainly was
'Why did I even trust this asshole?'
Unfortunately, no matter how much he lamented his decision to trust Lykos, it wouldn't change the past.
He looked at Zen who was staring at him with a mixture of confusion, embarrassment and shock.
(Sigh)
"I'm not used to interacting with boys my age. I was told that talking about girls was a good way to get to know other guys. It seems that the person who told me this was unreliable."
Zen looked at Arvell with a puzzled gaze.
"So you were just trying to break the ice… I do admit the two of us rarely ever talked unless we absolutely needed to. But still… Talking about girls… is… well you know? It's kind of embarrassing."
Arvell nodded his head.
"I get what you mean. I was confused as well when I heard boys our age found that kind of talk interesting."
He paused for a moment.
"Do they even consider it interesting?"
Zen embarrassingly nodded his head.
"Boys do tend to talk about what girls they like during their free time. I assume it's the same for girls as well."
"Is being in a relationship even that good? My first 'relationship' was pretty fun and we got along well, however, my second one was… How do I put it? It was a chore."
Only nobles tended to engage their children at such a young age, so Arvell refrained from calling them his fiances.
However, as he thought about Ethelline, his entire face scrunched up in displeasure.
The two of them never got along well, even though Arvell had originally done his best to.
It was as if the girl saw Arvell as nothing more than an eyesore.
Being a prince confused Arvell for the last few years.
However, he didn't care too much about her opinions after that one time she badmouthed Lily to his face.
He just refrained from talking to her if it was unneeded.
"A chore huh? That sounds rough… you have my condolences."
"It's fine the two of us 'broke up' for good."
"It's better to be single than be in a toxic relationship."
"I agree."
Feeling that the conversation was primarily focusing on him, Arvell felt a need to redirect the topic of the conversation back to Zen.
"What about you? Are you in a relationship?"
"I am actually… She's a little scary, but… she cares about me a lot."
'So he has a fiance already. She's probably someone of similar social standing as himself.' Arvell thought to himself.
"What do you mean by 'scary'?"
"Well…"
Zen paused for a moment as if he was delegating what he could or couldn't tell Arvell.
Naturally understanding this, Arvell didn't pressure him.
Zen didn't trust Arvell enough yet to tell him everything.
After all, what's gonna stop Arvell from kidnapping him and selling him after finding out he was a noble's son?
It wasn't like he could beat Arvell in a fight.
In a sense, Zen was completely at Arvell's mercy.
However of course Arvell had no intention of doing this, as it would make him no better than the bandits he killed.
But it wasn't like Zen knew this.
"I feel a cold gaze from her whenever I talk to other girls in front of her… No matter the reason. However, when I turn to look at her, she just has a cold smile. Somehow… I feel like I am staring death in the face."
His entire body shuddered as he remembered that feeling.
Lykos whistled audibly.
'Looks like poor Zen here is going to get henpecked in the future.'
Arvell suppressed a small chuckle after hearing about Zen's predicament.
"However," Zen continued, "She cares a lot about me, even going out of her way to personally cook me meals when I'm not feeling well, and feeding me herself. In all honesty, I'm glad that she's my fia- I mean lover."
Arvell sighed audibly.
"I guess I'm the only one who has no luck with women."
"What about your first relationship? You said that went well right?"
"Well let's just say our families didn't get along well, so we had to call it off."
"I'm sorry."
Arvell let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"It's fine. It was a while ago, and I've moved on already."
Zen looked at Arvell with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm honestly surprised someone as handsome as you is currently single. You're incredibly strong as well as, smart. I was sure someone like you would be hunted down by girls."
Arvell gave him a wry smile.
"I simply wanted to get stronger. If I want to pass a magical academy's entrance exam, I need to be strong enough to beat everyone else. It's that simple."
"Hmm… If you are planning on attending a magical academy, Sky Sword Academy is your best choice in all of Elantrya."
'That's the plan,' Arvell thought to himself.
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