“Come sit here,
I have a story I wish to tell you.
A story you might find very interesting.”
Elira spoke as she patted on the spot next to her.
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“I have no clue what you are thinking.”
Kael muttered.
“Whaat? It’s nothing. I just want to tell you a story, why are you being so defensive? It looks suspicious, you know?”
“…”
Kael stared at the woman in silence.
Then, he just sighed and sat next to her.
Elira’s smile widened and then, she started.
“So this is the story about a beautiful Princess, the Flower of her Kingdom, a girl loved by all. A girl who always answered with a smile, respected a noble and a servant alike, a girl who wasn’t just beautiful from outside, her heart was even more beautiful.”
“Sounds like a fantasy.”
Kael commented.
“A fantasy indeed.”
Elira nodded with a smile before she continued her story.
“The Princess was perfect in every way, she was cheerful, respectful, beautiful, and talented. So talented that every time the Princess revealed her strength, she was stronger.
She was excellence incarnate,
Perfect in everything she did, her magic was so wonderful that even the most experienced mages raised their hands in defeat when placed against her, and every single time, she smiled at her opponents and thanked them for going easy on her, instantly flushing out any frustration or resentment they might have had.”
Elira chuckled and,
“Honestly, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the Princess had everyone wrapped around her fingers.”
“Sounds too perfect to be true.”
Kael was sceptical.
Especially now, when he was in a position where he doubted everything he saw or heard about.
Elira nodded at his words again,
“Indeed, just like you say, it was too perfect to be true.
The Princess was too perfect to be true, so much that no one noticed her dark side.”
“Dark side…?”
Kael narrowed his eyes.
“She became Corrupted.”
“Corrupted?”
Kael frowned at those words.
He had no clue what it meant.
“A Human becomes corrupted when he lets the Power Of Corruption consume their Bonds.”
Before Kael could ask or say anything, Elira explained.
“It is a dark power that corrupts beasts. Usually, it is difficult to corrupt Bonded Beasts because of their connection with their Tamers, but if the Tamer allows it, it is possible.”
Elira stared at Kael and continued,
“Why would a Tamer allow it, you wonder?
To strengthen their Bonds.
The Power of Corruption strengthens a Beast to a significant level. In some cases, it pretty much doubles the power of Beasts.
Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?
Then why is it seen in a negative light?
It is because corruption lowers the Bond’s intelligence, turning it into a mindless wild beast that acts on its instincts.”
Elira explained, and in an instant, Kael connected this with what happened with Tobias and Laughter.
Tobias allowed his Laughter to be consumed by the Power of Corruption.
Meaning that he was a Corrupted Human.
‘So it wasn’t just him… those people are out there corrupting everyone…’
Kael started thinking about it.
The Court Mage, however, wasn’t done yet.
“But even then, keeping the Bond’s lowered intelligence aside, looking at things from a practical perspective,
Isn’t it better to have stronger Bonds? Even if they have lower intelligence, as long as they follow orders, isn’t it better for humankind in general?”
Kael didn’t like that line of thought. Elira, however, seemed oblivious to it and continued,
“The answer is no.
This isn’t good for humankind from a practical standpoint either.
The Corruption weakens the Bond between the Tamer and their Bond. Because of this, even when the Bond grows stronger, the Tamer does not.
It is gradually weakening the overall strength of Tamers, which is bad for humankind.
There were also cases of Tamers losing control of their Corrupted Bonds and other environmental effects, but you will be taught all that in your future lectures. We aren’t here to discuss all that.
We were discussing the story of the Princess.”
Elira smiled and,
“The Princess who was loved by all was Corrupted, and when the King found out, he banished her out of the Kingdom and sold his own daughter as a slave.”
“What…?”
Kael’s expression changed.
Sold…?
A Father selling his own daughter as a slave…?
What ridiculous world was he summoned into?
“Don’t be too surprised, it was already the King’s mercy that he didn’t order her execution. The only reason she survived even after it was revealed that she fell to corruption was because she was the King’s beloved daughter, someone he loved with all his heart.
But before a Father, he was a King.
And the Princess’s actions brought shame to the Kingdom.
The King needed to deal with this situation as quickly as he could, and that is what he did.
All the records related to the Princess were erased. It was made so that the Princess never existed in the first place. Even mentioning her became a taboo.
The King wanted her to be out of everyone’s memories.”
Elira then stared at Kael and,
“This is also the reason you couldn’t find anything related to her, no matter how hard you looked.”
“…”
Kael turned silent.
He wanted to deny Elira’s claims again, but…
He had more questions.
“If it is taboo to mention her… why are you telling me all this?”
He questioned directly.
It was a multi-layered question, and Elira’s answer here was extremely important for Kael.
“You want to know about her, don’t you?”
The mage smiled playfully.
“I am just asking, you did go against the King’s order, after all.”
Kael answered with a light smile, still not admitting to anything.
“It doesn’t feel right.”
Elira answered.
“What?”
“Princess Lavinia, I find it hard to believe that she was Corrupted.”
“Why?”
“Even if I keep my emotional bias aside, from a practical standpoint,
She had absolutely no reason to be Corrupted.
The people who turn towards the Power of Corruption are usually people who are desperate for a way out, people who have reached their limits, people stuck at a lower level, unable to rise no matter what they do.
The Princess wasn’t one of these people, far from that actually,
Her Magic Talent was the best there is. Well, before a monster like you appeared, but I don’t count you in the equation.”
Elira shrugged.
“Anyways, as I said, she was the most talented Mage there was, a Mage who had an affinity with every element one could think of.
If she lacked anything, it wasn’t talent, I assure you that.
She had no ‘limit’, she could grow endlessly, even without a Bond.
She wasn’t desperate, she had everything one would be envied for.
Falling to Corruption only had demerits for someone like her.”
Elira then looked into Kael’s eyes and turned silent.
Kael tilted his head, noticing her hesitation. He continued to observe the mage, urging her to continue.
“And all of this is just a practical analysis.
If I add my personal understanding of the Princess to it,
I can never believe that someone like her was Corrupted.”
Elira spoke, her eyes looked so confident that even Kael was taken aback.