Chapter 13 How Could the Prince Be So Uncultured
Chapter 13: How Could the Prince Be So Uncultured?
“Why are you all so slow?” Vivian looked impatient, tapping her small leather shoes in irritation. “Such idiots, taking forever just to change clothes.”
She sat at the desk, surrounded by stacks of books piled higher than herself.
“I don’t see you being such a good student, why are you putting on this act?”
“Oh no no, these aren’t for me. They’re all prepared for you.”
Bai Li was startled. These are for me to study? He could barely understand the text on those pages. He was an expert in mechanical engineering, but when it came to cultural knowledge, he was merely average.
“I’m sorry, but I’m too uncultured to handle such an important task…”
Vivian’s expression turned subtle. “Therese, come here for a moment…” She ignored Bai Li’s complaints and called Therese away, leaving him alone.
With nothing else to do, Bai Li grew curious about what these books contained. But what he didn’t expect was that he’d be stuck here studying these old books for the next few days.
By the time Vivian returned, he was already fast asleep on the desk, completely disregarding her presence.
“Who’s being so rude, knocking on the table so loudly? Can’t you let a person sleep…” Bai Li got up irritably, stretching and muttering nonstop.
“Hey hey, as a vampire prince, you don’t even know basic vampire knowledge—what kind of prince are you? Besides, you still owe me a lot of things.”
“Did I ever say I wanted to be one? You old immortal. You’re good at making things up out of nothing. I’ve said countless times, what do I owe you?”
Therese watched them bicker back and forth, feeling like they were old friends squabbling with practiced ease, without any real hostility.
“No way out of this. You’re not leaving until you finish studying all this before the coronation ceremony. I don’t care what else happens—if you can’t handle it by the coronation, I’ll feed you nothing but sweets for a whole month.”
Hearing this, Bai Li became displeased. How could someone restrict his freedom like this?
Vivian looked completely indifferent. “You’re already in this state anyway, so I’m not taking advantage. If you can defeat Therese, that will prove your strength.”
Now Bai Li was relieved. Even with only one-tenth of his power left, dealing with a child shouldn’t be a problem, right? That’s what he thought, as a flash of cold light briefly appeared in his hand.
“Are you sure? Therese, go easy on him later. The Prince was seriously injured before becoming like this. You need to be gentle with him, otherwise he might hurt himself again by showing off.”
Therese nodded with a smile, and then Vivian led them both by the hand to the training grounds outside.
“Let go of my hand…” Bai Li muttered quietly, but Vivian pretended not to hear, sticking her tongue out playfully.
Actually, Vivian had previously established his identity as the new prince who was severely injured, lost most of his power, and temporarily transformed into a child. Bai Li only learned this now, but it made sense—since arriving at Rose Sanctuary, he hadn’t seen anyone besides Vivian, Therese, and the two guards.
Therese shyly tugged at her skirt, looking uncomfortable, seemingly struggling with something.
Seeing her like this, Bai Li thought she was afraid of him. He took the sword Vivian tossed to him, and with a wave of his hand, the sword was enveloped in a blue light. To his surprise, it quickly changed to the characteristic dark red of vampires.
“Um, Prince Brother, Therese won’t hold back, please forgive me.”
With a light fluttering of her sleeves, Bai Li tilted his head to dodge a fierce wind-slicing attack, leaving a bloody scratch on his face.
“Damn, that’s fast.” He released an ice shadow, but the next second, Therese appeared above his head. She kicked his shoulder once, and his illusion shattered completely.
“Not good, this is…”
He lifted his foot to discover thorns extending from somewhere had trapped him in place. By the time he tore free, Therese’s dagger was already at his throat.
Bai Li still had a trick up his sleeve. He froze the accumulated moisture in the air, forcibly freezing Therese’s dagger. But to his surprise, this was also just Therese’s illusion.
The real Therese was now in front of him, and when Bai Li met those sorrowful eyes, he knew defeat was inevitable.
At this distance, he couldn’t evade or counter Therese’s Dark Eyes. Hit by this paralyzing effect, he couldn’t move a muscle.
“Damn it…”
He could only watch helplessly as Therese took the sword from his hand, while he could do nothing. And throughout the fight, Therese hadn’t even used her soul weapon.
“Strange, why is Prince Brother’s sword so cold?”
Nearby, Vivian watched Bai Li’s shocked expression with delight. She seemed to enjoy seeing him humbled, as this was his own doing after all. She just hadn’t told him how incredibly skilled Therese was—the kind of strength you couldn’t judge from appearances.
Therese went over and hugged Bai Li, instantly releasing the Dark Eyes’ binding effect. His body nearly collapsed like noodles, but Therese’s embrace kept him from falling to the ground.
“It’s all because that bad person hurt Prince Brother so badly, that’s why Therese was lucky enough to win.”
Bai Li felt a lingering fear. From beginning to end, he couldn’t read Therese’s movements, constantly being attacked without warning, only able to defend passively. These were typical characteristics of wind element abilities, but how could a vampire master elemental magic? Although she was from the vampire royal family, it made sense that there were things he hadn’t researched before.
The Empire’s strongest wind element user was Link, the manager of the Crossbow Fortress affiliated with the Holy Knights, known as the Wind Speaker.
But even Link could only irritate him from a distance—Bai Li’s Blizzard Domain was simply too formidable…
Back to the present, Therese pulled him over, and Bai Li collapsed into a chair, having exhausted himself without achieving victory. Had he known Therese was this powerful, he wouldn’t have embarrassed himself. Now he couldn’t bear to imagine how smug Vivian must be.
“I told you not to show off. Look what’s happened now—you can barely move. But that’s fine, it’s better if you can’t move. Now you can focus on studying these books.” Vivian stacked books nearly as tall as herself next to Bai Li. She patted his head; after a fight, one needed rest. “Drink this and then start reading.”
Having no choice, Bai Li was nearly exhausted. He didn’t even question what was in the cup, just glanced at it—looked like water—and without much thought, drank it down.
After drinking it, he felt quite refreshed. “Remember, no slacking off. I’ve already arranged with Therese to keep a close eye on you.”
Vivian left in high spirits, leaving Bai Li staring at the pile of ancient books on the table, older than himself by many years.
“What is all this?” Bai Li lamented, those strange symbols like ghost drawings were making his head throb.
“Don’t worry, Therese will teach you slowly. Don’t worry, Prince Brother, let’s work hard together.”
…
From the study, Therese’s voice and Bai Li’s lamenting could be heard continuously.