The Apathetic Mage Loves Cats

Chapter 6: Prince

Luckily, Romand's study was located in an extravagant building to the left of the castle. Supposedly, every kingdom's main castle had to create a building designated for mages whenever they came to visit their kingdom. However, this was the only place where Romand has a study on solid ground. That also meant though that he often traveled back and forth in order to get supplies and to get a different feel of a different project on land and in the air. According to Romand, there was a difference between the two; but I just think he likes to be annoying. Furthermore, Romand traveled frequently in order to give potions and other products to the high-ranking officials on the ground. He often traded for these items for things that he wanted or favors he would bank in the future. I personally would never use Romand as a service dog like these nobles were doing, but who cared what happened to them? If Romand wanted to kill them, then that was their own fault.

On my second trip, my arms were filled with multiple books and bags, groaning under the weight of it all. My mind was wandering aimlessly around what I should do in order to make Romand's life a pain in the ass when a small voice sounded out behind me as I walked down the corridor directly in front of Romand's place.

"What are you doing?" I froze and turned around to see a boy, probably a year or two older than me, standing at the edge of the corridor. He had cotton candy pink hair and a soft child-like face, which was fitting for a child of course. He was dressed in red dress pants and a dress shirt, with a dark red vest over the top and a white-collar in the front. I huffed and made wild gestures with the items in my hands.

"I'm a servant," I told him, annoyed that I was being stopped. He frowned and moved in closer to me.

"You don't look like a servant." He stated, looking me up and down. He was right, considering my outfit was a black mage cloak lined with red and a white button-up and black pants underneath. I looked like every other mage, but it still annoyed me that he thought I couldn't be a servant. Regardless, I shook my head and turned around, continuing towards Romand's study. "Do you need help?" He asked. Me, not really caring about the consequences, happily accepted his offer. Only regretting it as I watched him panting, carrying in the last few boxes and dropping them, collapsing in a pile on the floor of Romand's entrance.

"Are you okay?" I asked, setting mine down in a gentler manner. Despite what I was thinking, I was surprised to find that he could barely manage to carry a box full of empty jars, let alone a box of books. So, essentially, he saved me exactly one trip, when I anticipated cutting down my runs by at least half.

The little boy continued to pant on his hands and knees, barely managing to give me a small smile in return. "Did I help?" he asked meekly, his green eyes shining. I frowned, a little surprised at his response. Why would he care about that?

"You save me like a trip, so sure," I told him. His smile grew, a satisfied tint in his eyes as he nodded.

"Good." Just then, a large shout sounded out from the corridor. The boy seemed to know what it meant, and his face quickly turned worried. "Hide me!" He demanded, looking in my eyes with slight fear. My frown deepened as I moved down to start opening up the boxes at my feet. I seemed to have a long journey ahead of me if I was meant to clean this place while Romand was doing whatever he was doing.

"Why?" I was indifferent about the whole situation, but it did pique my curiosity.

"I can't be seen! It will be bad for both of us. I promise." If this was like a typical novel, the protagonist (me), would protect the main female lead (in this case this strange boy), from those pursuing threat. Then, they would fall in love and live happily ever after. However, there was no main female lead, and I didn't like romance. So, it all was pointless.