The next day, Arian didn't regret his decision not to accept the beast egg, but that he talked with the two girls personally.
Partly because he himself hated, how easily he warmed up to commoners. Wasn't the betrayal of his best friend every proof he needed that commoners couldn't be trusted?
Then he told himself it was only because Maloc and he didn't get along well at that time. If he and Maloc hadn't fallen out, or if he'd had a completely different representative, he would have decided differently. Then he wouldn't have broken etiquette so easily and spoken to ordinary people in person.
Which meant, partly, it was Maloc's fault as well. And yet, the deputy only accused Arain of acting out. In the following days, he acted like a little child who had been denied his favorite sweets.
While not overstepping the line by outright refusing Arian's commands, Maloc made a point by always sounding annoyed when he had to talk with Arian or to pout or look disinterested, when they went to class (an activity Maloc hated).
Arian had hoped Maloc would stop this behaviour if given enough time and space, but when he was still acting like a sourpuss two weeks later, Arian had to seriously think about how he would deal with him.
His first idea was to punish Maloc for his behaviour and then fire him.
But there was Marie's advice as well. That he should be nicer with his subordinates, since he needed them now more than ever. Losing one of his servants would hurt Arian greatly since his party with ten guards, one personal maid, and one deputy was very small.
If he wanted to fight for the throne, he needed supporters. And right now, he had basically none.
On top of that, who would replace Maloc?
Of course, Arian didn't need a representative, but it was still tradition that every royal member had a deputy.
And Maloc wasn't just anyone. He was the second son of a duke. Even Arian, at the height of his power, when he was still considered crown prince, would have hesitated to offend a duke.
Arian knew he had to deal with the situation as Marie had told him: he should try to Maloc like he was his equal.
But this was an alien concept for him, since he had never treated his servants that way.
He rarely opened up to his servants and always made sure that the difference in status was abundantly clear.
But now, he had to change the way he interacted with his staff and how he treated them- not just Maloc, but his guards as well. Arian needed time to adjust and to figure out how he would go about it.
After all, not just Maloc but even his guards were slacking off. They didn't take the job at the academy seriously, as they often yawned during classes or laughed and joked around while on guard duty.
These were all things they would get punished for in the palace, but now that Arian needed every servant and every supporter he could get, he couldn't just go around and punish anyone. His talk with Marie had made it clear to him.
And yet, by not punishing them, they started to lose their loyalty, as they didn't have to fear the consequences of their actions.
Arian wanted to tear his hair out and scream in frustration.
So the awkward situation between the prince's servants and himself continued.
Luckily, not everything about his situation was unpleasant.
Some things even improved, like the lessons, which Arian started to enjoy more. They were still boring since he knew everything, but weirdly, he felt like he belonged there- like he was needed. For the first time after turning paraplegic, he actually felt useful.
Because if the teacher couldn't answer a question, the students turned to him. And sometimes the students wished for more insight. For example, in a lecture that talked about the most common beast breeds, famous beasts, and the different needs these creatures have, or why you should be careful of them, Arian could give examples, since he had met many more beasts than the teacher of that subject. After all, as the crown prince, Arian had met every famous beast tamer and their beast, while for the teacher, meeting a beast above the rank of Dainty was already a sensation.
By giving the students more insight, he also got to know them better.
With each passing lesson, he at least learned one new name. He even started to pick up habits and recognized faces.
For example, he now remembered the names of the two guys who had fought the first time he arrived in the dining hall for breakfast. The brown haired one was called Muddy and the one with blonde hair was Hazel.
In terms of habits, Arian realized, as long as Pidgeon wasn't in his present the boy had the habit of forming his lips into a cocky smile.
With each passing day, Arian felt more comfortable in the desert. He even managed to relax a little.
In the palace, he always had to wonder about the ulterior motives of the people he interacted with; he always had to think politically and had to be perfectly prepared for every meeting. Here, everything was more relaxed. The students wanted to learn, and even though there were tensions due to gang affiliations, the excitement of learning how to tame a beast overruled everything else.
Soon Arian noticed Muddy and Hazel sitting together during Breakfast and talking about how excited they were about getting to know their affinities.
Arian was looking forward to that test, too. One's affinity always said something about one's personality. Even though he felt kind of embarrassed to admit it, he really hoped Shivani would not have an affinity for fire, but for air. That way, she could keep her egg, and everything would be fine.
He was also quite interested which demesne suited Satori the most. The quiet girl, who seemed to only break out of her shell when talking about things that truly excited her, was difficult to assess.
Arian's personal bet was that she would have a connection with earth. She seemed like the type who deeply respected the world in all of its forms.
Regarding his assessment of Muddy, Hazel, and Pidgeon, he would have associated them with fire, since it was always seen as the element linked to destruction or war, and all three of them excelled greatly at the material arts lesson.
The lesson taught by the principal, teacher Javis, personally was really popular among the students. As it was one of the only lessons that happened outdoors. Since the lesson was held late in the evening, the desert had cooled down significantly, but not as much as during the night.
It was the perfect temperature for a good workout. And teacher Javis had a great teaching style. Most of the time, he allowed the students to work in groups; they had to solve problems or think about strategies on how to defeat the other groups.
Today, the students had to figure out how they could utilize useless things as weapons.
All of the students worked eagerly, as losing meant preparing breakfast and cleaning after every meal of the next day.
Arian hated to admit it, but this kind of teaching made teacher Javis's lesson better than the material art education Arian had received.
Actually, the beast taming academy Arian had attended didn't even have such a subject, because the school assumed that the students had already been taught material arts by a private tutor.
For Arian, this meant material arts lessons were all about learning a particular fighting style and then practicing the style without any mistakes. Was a movement wrong, Arian would get punished with a good beating.
Seeing the students having fun with it was refreshing.
As he watched them, testing out household appliances as weapons on straw puppets, he had to admit that Shivani was doing really well, too.
So maybe it will be fire for her after all, Arian thought dejected as his gaze drifted further to Satori.
Again, she was the complete opposite of Shivani.
The ugly girl struggled as sweat dripped from her face. To Arian, she looked utterly exhausted. And even though she had darker skin, she appeared quite pale to Arian.
Is it just me, or does she actually look sick?
Arian didn't have the time to ponder about it, however, because teacher Javis came his way.