Chapter 306 - 306 A Growing Bond (2)
"Now enough about me, it is your turn to open up."
After having told Mrazivý most of what he had to say about his past life, Marcus wanted to get to know her better.
"Okay, I guess that you have paid for a decent chunk of my past so what did you want to know."
Thinking about it for a minute, Marcus ultimately decided to start at the beginning and asked about Mrazivý\'s childhood.
"Well, there is not much to tell about my childhood, it was pretty boring and routine at the time. The first thing I really remember is having my hand slapped by my etiquette instructor when I was three. It was certainly brutal for a little girl, but I actually had it easy compared to some of my sisters since my mother is only the king\'s fourth wife. After that all I remember was my days being filled with different classes to make me the perfect princess. My teachers would always tell me to be like my sisters who all excelled at things like dancing and being presentable. But when I turned ten that is when I finally found something I was good at."
Mrazivý then looked out at the still pond in front of them with a smile on her face reliving the moment.
"The day after I turned ten, I started a new class, swordsmanship. Every member of the royal family begins receiving combat training when they turn ten, and I excelled quickly with the sword. It was far more fun than the boring etiquette and politics classes I had before, and my instructor picked up on my talent quickly."
Becoming quite animated Mrazivý told Marcus about her most memorable moments when learning the sword.
"And by the time I turned eleven with how hard I had worked on my training I actually made it to level thirteen. Before I started, I was only level four, so it was considered quite the achievement. However, around that time I also became interested in reading stories about adventures and found some records of Boreas and his exploits in the royal archives. Those were some good days, when I was able to freely learn what I wanted."
However, after saying that a scowl appeared on Mrazivý\'s face, and she said, "Unfortunately not everything could stay the same forever, and when I was twelve, I was introduced to my first fiancé. It had been apparently arranged since I was born, and I was to be wed to the son of some viscount in a far-off territory in the west of the kingdom. But there was no way I was going to go through with that, when my dreams of adventurer were blossoming, so I begged my mother to let me have an audience with my father so I could have it broken off."
Sighing and taking a moment to breath Mrazivý held out her hand and created a small ice flower in her hand, before saying, "Luckily my father did care about me a bit, and I have the royal family\'s signature blue hair and even the blessing of frost. So, I was able to convince my father that I would be able to better serve the kingdom as a warrior than just as a token to strengthen relationships with some viscount, and he agreed. Of course, it was not like it had not happened before and it was the advice of two of my other sisters who had done the same that got me through this. Nevertheless, he did give me a condition, I would have to prove to him how serious I was by learning ice magic in a week. Of course, since I am here now you can already guess what happened."
Mrazivý then fired of a few tier one ice bullet spells into the water to prove her point, and some of the rainbow-colored fish came to investigate the disturbance, but quickly left when they found nothing but ice.
"Then after that I continued to train until my fifteenth birthday, when I began trying to convince my father to let me be an adventurer. It took some time to wear him down, but after around three months he finally relented after I convinced him it would be good training. Ah it was fun, it really was. Going out and collecting resources, fighting monsters and beasts, and making some companions to travel and fight with. Of course, I knew that my group was just made up of members of the kingdom\'s army, but they still treated me like a friend more than a princess."
With that Mrazivý was pretty much done giving Marcus the abridged version of her life.
"And now I am here with you in depths of a ravine in a secret cave with a musical shrine. My life has not always been the adventure I dreamed of as kid, but I would not trade it for anything." Mrazivý said with a smile on her face.
"Now that I we have told each other about ourselves, there is one last thing I want to know, what is it that you like about me Marcus."
Stunned by Mrazivý\'s question Marcus simply looked at her in a daze for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Well I will not lie and say that you being a beautiful princess did not have anything to do with it. But I also was pleasantly surprised to see how easygoing you are. When we first met, I was sure you were going to have me arrested or something for appraising you. Luckily though my perception of the greater than thou princess was quickly shattered, and you turned out to be a pretty good person. You are also fun to be around and are not shy to make jokes and act like yourself. Also, you are strong and adventurous. Overall, I just enjoy being around you and having fun together just like today."
As far as Marcus could remember this was the most enjoyable time he had experienced since coming to this world. Certainly, he had other memorable moments like when he saved Lilia, or hatched Roxene, but this was the moment where he was enjoying himself the most.
"I see you think I am beautiful huh. I guess I am even so beautiful even a monster can appreciate it." Mrazivý said with a playful smile.
"Yeah, you are almost as beautiful as me." Marcus said while chuckling a bit.
At that Mrazivý began punching Marcus in the arm, and with her high strength stat the stairs they were sitting on actually began shaking.
"Okay I give I give. You are at least as beautiful as me."
The two of them then began laughing few a few moments, before Mrazivý scooted over and leaned her body against Marcus.
"I am willing to give it a shot. I never really thought I would get the chance to try and find a relationship on my own terms, but with you I feel like it might be possible. I doubt I will ever find anyone like you again who does not care about my status or has some other agenda. So, I know if I pass this by without a fight even though it may be hard, I will regret it for the rest of my life."
Yet as Mrazivý leaned against him and both of them felt their minds\' racing, the tranquil scene around them abruptly ended as both of their danger senses went off like crazy, as their silent stalker finally made a move as they lowered their guard.
Marcus then shoved Mrazivý out of the way and cast his radiance scales spell, while also deploying a mana barrier.
But the attack coming for him smashed through both of his defensive abilities, and Marcus felt and incredible force hit him as he went flying across the room.