Chapter 164: Time To Go

Time to Go

Felicia blinked when she heard Xander’s words.

For a moment, she just faced Xander’s outstretched hand. The slowly, her gray eyes shifted to him. While they were incapable of expression confusion, the emotion was written all over her face.

"Uh, I believe there is a very obvious issue you are overlooking if you want me to learn martial arts. Unless they can somehow cure blindness?" She said half-jokingly, but Xander just smiled.

"Nah. That being said, you don’t need to be able to see to learn what is on here. Let alone someone like you." Felicia raised a brow.

"Someone like me? If I didn’t know how to differentiate between tones, I’d have found that insulting?" At that, Xander shook his head.

"Nah, not insulting. Rather, even though you are obviously blind, I’ve noticed that you can navigate the world around you... remarkably well." He lowered his hand which held the orb. Not retracting the offer, simply explaining.

"The night alone you approached me was pretty telling. By yourself, you navigated a Ballroom filled with people, conflicting scents, and noises, and you found me. There was no hesitation when you said you found me either. Your spatial awareness is as good as, if not better than some people who have perfect eyes." He leaned against the chain of his swing.

"Actually, one of my companions has really good senses. And sometimes she says that if she doesn’t use her eyes, she uses her remaining forms of perception to construct a model of her surroundings in her mind. Allowing her to navigate the world clearly. Something tells me you do something similar. Am I right, princess?" He smiled faintly, and Felicia faced him, her head tilted ever so slightly, like she was inspecting a particularly interesting puzzle.

"Hm... Alright, I’ll bite. Say you’re right. What do you gain from making me learn martial arts? I can’t exactly leave the Palace to join your party. Though, that would be nice." She smiled faintly, and Xander just shrugged.

"Didn’t you tell me yourself? You want me to use my status as an ’Existential Razor’ to sever your fate of being tied to this place. Perhaps this is me doing just that. Moreover, with how your family smothers you, I assume they prevented you from learning things like advanced magic, correct? Wouldn’t learning martial arts and growing stronger be the ultimate declaration of stubbornness? Once more, like you said, the stricter the family, the better you get at lying. Wouldn’t this be the ultimate nail in the coffin?" Felicia looked at him, and he saw her intent bend slightly.

"... That’s a lot of words, but you never actually answered the question. Why do YOU want me to learn martial arts. Not what I can gain from learning them." She cut through the heart of the matter, and Xander just hummed.

"Honestly? I just think it would be cool." She tilted her head again.

"Cool?"

"Well, yeah. Besides me just wanting to propagate martial arts, particularly swordsmanship, don’t you think it would be cool for the blind youngest Princess of the Kingdom to actually be a scary martial artist? That would probably give a few people heart attacks." Felicia was silent, then...

"Pfft." She covered her mouth with one hand as she giggled. It was a gentle sound, much like the rest of her demeanor. And it was very much endearing.

"Heh. One moment you seem calculating and cautious, and the next, you’re surprisingly straightforward and simple. And I mean that in a good way. Honestly, it’s refreshing." She sighed and faced up, hands coming to hold the chains of the swing.

"... You’re right, though. If I want to break out of this fate of mine, I gotta be proactive to some degree, right? And yeah, learning martial arts when they won’t even let me learn magic has to be one of the biggest signs of rebellion I can take. Behind running away, that is." She faced him again. "So... alright, I’ll take you up on that offer." Xander’s smile widened.

"That’s great." Then he paused and asked carefully.

"Speaking of... why don’t you run away? I mean." He nudged his head in Finn’s direction. "He seemed to have no problem creating a clone that could fool even Archmage Irene. I don’t think it’s completely absurd for him to make a ’you’ that remains the perfect little princess while you go out to explore the way you want." Xander didn’t ask this because he wanted Felicia to join his group or anything. Instead, he was genuinely curious.

After all, unlike him and Xavier, where the Archmage was doing whatever he wanted and just helped Xander along the way, Finn seemed legitimately loyal to Felicia, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the Archmage actually did help her if she chose to run away.

Felicia fell silent for a few seconds, then afterward, she sighed and stared into the distance, legs moving back and forth to make the swing move just a little.

"I’ve thought about it, I won’t lie, but... This thing we are preparing for. It’s bigger than me. Bigger than a lot of things, actually. As much as I’d love to run away, there’s only so much aid I can provide compared to while I am in the Palace. From here, my usefulness skyrockets." She faced him again, giving him a sweet, crescent-eyed smile.

"I guess you can call it responsibility, but I can’t abandon my ’post’ to fully pursue my own desires. Fate or not, I have a role to play. And I intend to play it till the end." Xander stared at her, his eyes widening slightly.

’... Responsibility, huh?’ He looked down, then back at her.

"You’re very mature, Princess. If you became the queen of this Kingdom, you’d probably have my support." Despite being blind, Felicia rolled her eyes.

"Look at you and your silver tongue. I’ve already given you information about your origins and am putting another Transmigrator in your care, meaning you have his special abilities at your disposal. If you want me to give your something else then I’m tapped out." Xander snorted.

"Gee, can’t give an earnest compliment and not be accused of wanting something in return? Being a guy is hard?" She raised a brow.

"Somehow, you strike me as someone who finds it hard to guess what women truly want." Xander stiffened, and Felicia threw her head back to laugh.

"Hah! I knew it!" She shook her head with unbridled amusement, and Xander cleared his throat to mask his embarrassment.

"A-Anyway, I guess that’s all?" He said, and Felicia quickly regained her composure.

"Mhm." She turned to the cabin. "Ben! Come on out." There was the sound of things moving, then the door opened as Ben’s figure rushed out with a bright expression, a black suitcase in his left hand.

He paused, looked between the two of them, then looked down, suddenly at a loss for words. Xander chuckled as he watched the boy’s intent lines tangled, a mix of excitement and reluctance evident.

"Good to see you again, Ben. Now, is there anything you want to say to the princess?" He gave him an avenue to express his feelings.

He looked at Xander gratefully before looking at Felicia.

"I... Well..." He began. "Th-Thank you for housing me all this while and like... um taking care of me. I don’t want to imagine how I’d have been if not for you. I’m really grateful for everything." He turned to the Archmage who hadn’t moved from his chair like a statue.

"Thank you for everything too, Mr Finn! Runes are actually pretty interesting!" Ben beamed.

’Interesting, huh? Right, since he has ADHD, he learns based on interest rather than necessity. In that case, he must have been a good student.’ Xander smiled and patted Ben’s head.

Finn just nodded slightly, and Felicia also waved at him with a gentle expression.

Ben stared at them for a few seconds, then his lips began to tremble. Felicia sighed and got up from the swing, Xander taking a step back to allow them some space.

"Hey, Ben, look at me." She got on one knee she was looking at him, and Ben was doing his hardest not to cry as he reluctantly made eye contact.

"You’ll be fine, alright? Don’t worry, we’ll see each other again in the future. It’s just going to be for some time, and Xander will take care of you. You said you wanted to see the outside world, right?" She held his cheek tenderly.

"Now’s your chance." Ben sniffed and rubbed at his eyes.

"O-Okay... I will..." He looked up again, his eyes red rimmed, but he was smiling.

"Thanks again... for everything." Felicia just smiled softly.

"Don’t mention it." She then gestured to Xander who waited patiently. Ben turned to him, then turned to Felicia who nodded, as though giving him the go head.

Ben finally moved, walking towards Xander, and the opening from before appeared once more as he fell in step behind him, turning once more to wave at Felicia and Finn. Xander also waved, and just before he stepped through completely...

’Thank you for talking with the Princess, and take care of Ben well.’ Finn’s voice echoed in his mind just as he stepped through. But when he turned, surprised to hear his voice, the doorway had vanished.

Xander blinked.

’... Huh.’ That’s all his thought, the he smiled to himself.

’Alright, sure.’ He then faced his front, catching the eyes of everyone in the room. Eyes that were directed at Ben.

’Okay. Time to introduce him to everyone.’