Chapter 16

Despite showering him with all my love and affection, as if I were his mother, this little rascal snorts at the mere thought of me calling him a baby...

How can you be so cruel?

Do you know how much I love it?

And I know he's not a helpless little bunny with horns anymore, but that's redundant. He'll always be my little one, whom I'll spoil with lots of love... Always!

"Princess... please concentrate. The ritual has stopped due to a lack of magical energy..." Arthur pointed out to me as he adjusted his glasses. Because I stopped supplying mana after my outburst, the ritual began to lose power, and the connection was becoming very fragile.

"Ah..."

Realizing my mistake, I quickly composed myself and injected more magical energy while frowning at my bunny. I'd have to "talk" to him about the baby later... right now I should make sure I complete the ritual.

Good Drupi! Listen to what I'm saying and listen to me... Inject your magical energy into the magic circle!

I sensed her confusion and bewilderment, and I immediately realized that the meaning of certain concepts hadn't been conveyed correctly. Concentrating more, with my will strong, I tried to convey my ideas until Drupi understood them, and a light of understanding finally seemed to shine in Drupi's eyes.

Soon after, my beloved horned rabbit released his own mana into the Taming Magic Circle in rather cautious amounts. Immediately, I began to feel how the ritual blended our magical energies, strengthening the spiritual connection between us so that it was extremely resilient and firm.

Not only that... The light emanating from the magic circle suddenly became overwhelming as it released powerful waves of energy, causing him to narrow his eyes as he exclaimed "Woo...!" in surprise.

"The emblems are forming!"

Hearing Arthur shout that with a serious voice and expression, my eyes widened and I saw how on the back of my hand appeared complex magic circles of at least three layers superimposed in a trinity, inscribed with an ancient magical language that only Arthur himself should be able to understand.

With a strong gust of wind that lifted my long skirt and revealed a pair of blue panties to the world, they began to draw a large surge of mana from the world's atmosphere almost as if it were a black hole, powering the rest of the ritual for us as the complex magic circles also began to glow as they turned like the gears of a clock.

It was simply too mystical; I was amazed at how the ritual that originally seemed so simple suddenly became a "Great Magic" that I only saw in anime and games.

Suddenly, I felt a powerful sensation of nerve stimulation that easily surpasses what I would normally feel with the flow of internal mana.

"Ugh! Why is this happening all of a sudden?"

I've never heard anything like this before! Can we finish this?

"Cheer up, princess! Drupi is doing very well, don't be embarrassed!"

With those words I opened my eyes, which I had closed at some point due to the sensation of pain, and I saw how Drupi, although trembling like me, acted quite indifferently.

No way! My baby was going through the same thing as me, and yet I'm the only one who's bothered by it?

This should have been as sudden for him as it was for me, but the magical beast I raised handles it better than I do. As its trusted owner and tamer, how could I possibly be any weaker-willed?

Thinking about this, I put on a firm expression and endured the unpleasant sensation. Suddenly, I felt a rather uncomfortable warm sensation on my arm, which startled me.

Glancing around, I noticed a complex magical engraving design forming, which, to be honest, looked more like a tattoo of some kind than a magical engraving. It pulsed with a power that seemed subtle at first glance, but somehow I felt it was more than it seemed.

Something like I shouldn't be fooled by what he showed.

Is this the tamer's emblem...?

"It's so beautiful...!"

Although it was like a tattoo, I couldn't help but exclaim at the cute design that captivated my eyes and made me forget the unpleasant feeling earlier possibly caused by the mana feedback in my magic circuits.

I'd certainly seen something similar in-game when I chose to become a tamer, but this definitely looked cooler in reality. Especially with the acquisition process, which was honestly very mystical.

From what I remembered, injecting magical power into this thing strengthens the connection between a tamer and their tamed beast, allowing them to communicate even over great distances and issue commands.

Plus, they can be magically stored inside the Master's Crest as if mimicking the function of Pokemon storage balls, which is very useful for transporting anywhere... not like I'd use something like that on Drupi if I didn't have to anyway.

More than that, there was the ability to use the tamed beast's abilities through it. In fact, if the bond was strong enough and the beast had its master's affection and sufficient intelligence, it could even use the mage's abilities to a certain extent!

Isn't it amazing? Drupi could use the bewitching charm to make female rabbits fall even more in love, or the absolute command to punish unruly male rabbits if they didn't fall in his place.

Although I will never allow him to be so mean to other cute and adorable horned bunnies!

Being a tamer had many benefits, though many of them were only achieved with sufficient effort on the part of the tamer. Incidentally, Drupi also had a similar emblem on his back.

"It's finally finished..." Arthur exclaimed with a big smile on his face as he looked at the beautiful magical pattern on the back of my hand.

“…Jairo-sama, you owe me an explanation,” I said in a cold voice.

Completing the magic ritual is fine and all, but good sir, could you explain to me why you didn't warn me it would hurt like this?

"Oh... that?" Arthur acted as if it didn't matter much. "I didn't warn her about the pain because I was afraid she'd get too nervous, something you shouldn't expect with any magical procedure of this kind. Since the pain during magical engraving isn't extremely severe or anything, just try to avoid unnecessary worry..."

"That's bad!"

She yelled at him in a scolding tone, "You can't hide something like that from your student and expect him to take it easy! That hurt pretty bad, you know!"

"Master Merlin did it to a disciple and I didn't see him complain as much as the princess."

"How old was that person and how many magic experiments did he do in his life!?"

“...I was 25 years old and had already completed several dangerous magical works.”

It seems he finally realized the problem, as his voice became weaker and weaker at the end, what an idiot.

Was I supposed to expect a girl like me, who'd never performed any volatile magic experiments and had suffered a few accidents in the process, to have the same pain tolerance as a seasoned magician? What a joke!

How can he be so stupid? I know he barely has any normal social interactions with people who don't use magic... But come on!

I really wanted to cry in pain! If that had happened... Dad would have killed him!

I have no doubt about that!

What?! You made my beautiful daughter cry with your stupid magic ritual! I don't give a shit that you're a disciple of some damn Archmage, I'll torture you day and night for your offense!

Then I will annihilate your entire family, send all your property to be fed to all the dogs of the empire because that's all you're good for, and finally I will erase all your history and make everyone pretend that a house that produces scum like you will be treated as nonexistent.

Prepare yourself, Arthur the Great of Jairus, for your imminent doom and the fall of the House of Jairus!

I imagined my father grandiloquently announcing such things as he prepares his army and destroys House Jairus, with Arthur dying in a dungeon… Later, an Archmage with a friendly smile descends and destroys us with beautiful gems…

Okay, maybe I'm a bit dramatic in some ways, but believe me when I tell you that the Duke of Dranalian is perfectly capable of carrying out such a heinous revenge. (Just like Merlin.)

In the game, my father was a hidden boss.

It's not a joke

Simply defeating the villain Claudia, the 'False Ekaterina' as she was jokingly called by some players in the HAD community, would cause the Duke of Dranalian to chase you madly even though he should be aware of his daughter's evil deeds.

In the end, you can't reason with the powerful Duke who even surrounds you with his most loyal and powerful knights with unwavering murderous intent on their faces, so there's no choice but to kill them... if you have the skill, that is.

My father is the second most powerful knight in this world, after that evil and arrogant crown prince... someone not to be trifled with.

And while I don't think my sister will turn into some evil villain who disguises herself as me in her lifetime, my father's temper is still there, you know?

Not even his mother, the woman he loves most in this world, can stop him when he goes berserk! In fact, I think it's quite possible she encourages him to punish Arthur with a cold expression. Yes, she thinks she hurt me enough to make someone who doesn't normally show much emotion like me cry out of nowhere!

Seriously... It's so dangerous! My stupid guardian is lucky he didn't make me cry, because my father must have appointed someone to watch us from afar in case Arthur commits a serious "transgression" against me.

Cry in that situation?

Death warrant.

It's not a joke

"I-I'm sorry, princess! I didn't think things through and ended up causing possible trauma...!"

How did you come to that conclusion?

I was speechless.

"I'm not traumatized... I'm worried. If he had shown any serious signs of pain, my father would have killed him..."

"What? If there is a proper explanation, even if there is such a misunderstanding that..."

“No, no,” I interrupted, wanting to be clear. “Father would kill him, Jairo-sama, there’s no doubt about that. If there’s something that pains me, the reasons why it happened will only be relevant once the “appropriate” punishment is applied… and I highly doubt you’d want to do that.”

"Ha... hahaha... what did I get myself into...?" Arthur turned deathly pale as he seemed to contemplate his life choices.

Was he planning on stopping being my guardian after explaining that to me? I didn't really blame him. It's scary to be killed without even hearing an explanation, especially when being a mage can be almost as dangerous as being a warrior with all its experiments and all that.

Some would even prefer to be clergymen and endure fasting and long rituals of prayer and worship than that...

That said, it would be bad if he left me like this... Although, come to think of it, once he decides on something, it's rare that this person would just give up on it anyway. He's pretty stubborn... or at least that's how I remember him.

I hope it's the same now.

"I'm sorry if I scared you by saying all that."

—No, it's not the princess's fault—Arthur just sighed, trying to calm down, then he raised his head, adjusted his glasses and looked at the magic tattoo (Emblem) on the back of my hand and Drupi's back, who was looking at him as if he were a pathetic man with her red eyes (I could feel it from our connection, actually)

Then he walked towards me and suddenly took my hand with a certain delicacy, as if it were a precious object as he raised my hand.

"Mmmm… Jairo-sama?"

"Hold still for a second, princess. And whatever you do, don't try to force your mana through the emblem until I'm done.

He said it in a firm voice, his face focused and his eyes analytical as he looked at the emblem. I listened and tried not to move...

But can I be honest? I felt uncomfortable.

It was a little embarrassing how Arthur caressed the emblem on the back of my hand with his meticulous fingers, and it gave me a strange feeling that made me blush.

Considering how he even leaned down and brought his face close, his sapphire eyes seeming to sparkle magically in her hand, I almost had the strange illusion that he would kiss her elegantly, as is often done with those noble ladies in mangas, and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

...Gods, I should stop thinking nonsense. I'm sure it's the system that makes me have such strange trains of thought...

<The player should stop accusing the system of things it didn't do. These thoughts are probably a normal reaction for a girl who starts to feel attracted to the opposite sex.>

Foolishness!

Regardless of my thoughts, my embarrassment, or the little unknown episode with the system, Arturo stroked his clean-shaven chin as he reflected to himself, before beginning to speak.

"Incredible... the stability of the Tamer's Crest is exquisite, and the magical connection made of mana between Drupi and the princess couldn't be more robust. Even the artificial magic circuits created by the ritual are of high quality..." Arthur sighed in joyful amazement as he continued, "The compatibility and intimacy between you and your tamed beast is so high that now that I think about it, not only is the resulting Crest on the verge of perfection, but the atmospheric mana used was lower than normal."

"Is that so?" Waving my hand against my face, which had been a little warm for some reason, I answered as calmly as I could. Not noticing any of this as he continued to stare at my hand, Arthur continued:

"The princess might not understand much of what I'm talking about, since it's about ancient magic, then..."

Before he could continue with his words...

-Take your filthy hands off my daughter, you scoundrel!

Suddenly, a powerful and furious voice echoed throughout the palace garden, causing us to hurriedly look towards its source in fear... And there stood my father alongside my personal maid, Jessica!

What are you doing here, father!?