The Reborn Magus and His Prince

Chapter 21

So he thought but it's been days and his chance never came to inquire more about the marquis. Alex had been with the twins who came back after a fruitless search for the Minnie and they left the case to the authority. It was not an appropriate manner if he would ask about the noble in front of the two brothers. And after that dinner, it had been followed by another dinner again the next day until it became a habit for Alex and Yulian to spend them together in his room. During their conversation, he'd been having a difficult time raising his concern, afraid Alex would find something strange with his constant questions about the marquis. For a moment, he even considered befriending the mohawk but every time he would come near, the other would run in the opposite direction. So Yulian gave up on that idea. There's only one person he could turn to now.

Another weekend came. Alex had gone to the palace as per his brother's order last night. He said along the line that he have to attend some gathering that some noble had to arrange.

Emilia had invited him to visit her house when she found out that the prince had left. In those days, a strange rumor circulated the whole campus that even the indifferent Emilia had heard and somewhat believe. The prince and Yulian are in a relationship! Many saw that the two had rolled in the grass in secret doing god-knows-what and even frolicking in the dark hallways in the dormitory. Those kinds of gossips were exaggerated, of course. She was going to ignore those when one day, Yulian had talked to her that he's unable to join her for dinner as he's going to accompany a friend. Which was fine by her, her roommate whom beginning to befriend her had also invited her, so it was a perfect timing. Only for later, she found out that Yulian's actually been eating together with the prince, alone, in his room. That's what cemented the rumors to be true but no one wanted to mention it including her in front of the two people involved.

Yulian politely declined her offer and send Emilia off. He had a plan of his own.

From his room, he used his teleportation magic and arrived at the backdoor of the House of Mirth. The place was the same as he left it, full of piled trash. He pulled the door handle acter unlocking the lock but it won't budge open. He realized the owner had put an additional latch inside. Without much choice and to avoid suspicion, he walked around to the front.

The owner saw the boy coming from the back alley while he was painting the signage of his pub. He had a frown on his face.

"You- how did you get there?"

"Magic." Yulian answered truthfully but the face the owner was making tells him otherwise.

"Out with your jokes and quickly leave, I'm busy and I'm close for today." He returned his attention to his signage, determined to finish his job and ignore this strange kid who appears out of nowhere.

"I see that you made full use of the coins I gave you," Yulian remarked. He leisurely strolls in front of the pub. The building did not look old anymore, it had been repainted to its original color making it stand out from the rest of the building in the street.

The owner smelled another easy income coming his way so he brought down his paintbrush. "Alright, kid, let's talk inside."

Yulian settled himself at the counter like last time while the older man poured him a drink, but not water this time. He took a whiff from the glass and... it was just an orange juice.

"Can't have you drink alcohol in my place, don't want anyone reporting."

"I'm not a minor, I'm eighteen same with the McAlister's."

The look he casts on him was full of doubt. His eyes went up and down at his body. "You telling the truth or not, it ain't matter to me. You get the orange juice."

"Never mind. Thanks for the drinks." Rather than wasting his time in arguing about his age, Yulian wanted to get down to the matter he came here for.

"Actually, Mr...?"

"Dunne, the name's Willy Dunne, kid."

"Mr. Dunne, " he continued. "I'm sure you have heard about a name of Marquis Stewart. Tell me about him, any details that you know." He put five silver coins on the smooth counter which Dunne had taken with a flash of his hand.

Watching his money gone in a second with his very eyes makes him want to cry in blood. That almost all of his allowance was given by the chief and his fellow folks in Ruke.

"The Marquis Stewart, " Dunne cleared his throat after getting those shiny silver coins. " what do you want first to know?"

Yulian raised his shoulders, "As I said anything you know. Start with when he was born, marriage, his heroic deeds, scandals, every single thing. Oh, and don't forget his address. It's the most crucial part."

Dunne contemplated at his stalker-like requests and thought to himself, this kid's too odd. But he kept that to himself and started his narration about someone's life that he only knew from afar, he told the young kid everything that the general public knows including the baseless gossips and malicious rumors about the marquis.

By the time he had finished his story, the kid had a look of fascination and an abnormal twinkling in his eyes that the owner only saw in those groups of neighborhood wives gathering together. The kid also had taken down in his notes the address of the marquis like a diligent student doing his homework. The owner of the pub only shook his head at this strange young man he encountered twice.

After Yulian had gotten what he came here for, he bolted to the exit after saying his thanks. But his feet paused and backtrack inside.

"Mr. Dunne, another thing. I would greatly appreciate it if you keep our little transactions only to the two of us."

"You are an odd kid, always asking about people instead of spending your time studying in the school but I ain't caring about your little detective game. As long as I'm satisfied with the money, I won't care and I won't tell anyone."

Yulian nodded in satisfaction at his answer but as he went out of that pub, he was shedding tears. He was penniless! He's afraid he can't go back in here for a while. If only he got his fortunes when he was a magus, he could hire more secretive and thorough informants. But then again, his precious jewels and treasures must have already been robbed by those hypocritical people.

Yulian went teleported back to his room at the dormitory. His teleportation magic was only limited to places that he had been to and places that he had a vision of its appearance. So he had to put off in scouting the marquis' house and since he had no money to use to go to the marquis house, it's better to wait and borrow some coins from Alex again. Speaking of him, he wondered when that prince be done with his duty and return?

Enough of him, he had to first organize what he had gathered based on the information given by Dunne.

Yulian sat down at his desk, he clasped his hands, two forefingers touching his forehead while he closed his eyes.

The marquis was a knight serving in the palace, he came into power when the former king died and Alex's brother took over the throne. From the start, he was one of those people who had supported the current king when he was only a powerless prince that's why the king valued his loyalty. This information was a fact as this coincides with Alex's story.

Now, the most interesting part was the manor and land given to him that he currently lives in. Marquis Stewart inherited all those things from a dead person, another marquis that went by the name Dan.

He bet all of his hairs that Marquis Dan was Tim's father. The fallen noble who later was prosecuted as he supported the wrong royal blood.