Adrian just stood there for a second.

’Fine, whatever.’ Adrian thought.

He pulled his shirt off and dropped his clothes on a chair before stepping into the warm water.

Adrian completely ignored the lavish decorations around him. He just stared at the two most powerful men in the entire Crestwall Empire.

Silas and Draven traded a few quick, silent glances.

Draven broke the ice first. Because the heavily scarred Marquis was incredibly blunt, and his mind was clearly miles away from actual politics.

"Do all mages pack something that massive?" Draven asked casually, gesturing a thumb toward Adrian’s waistline. "Or are you just a mutant? Because I clearly do and even mine isn’t that big. Mean while this guy here, has got a chopped off sausage instead."

The duke smacked the back of Draven’s head in response.

Adrian blinked. He looked down at himself, and then back up at the Marquis. He was totally thrown off.

"Uh." Adrian muttered. "I do not really know. I have never seen another mage completely naked. Well, other than you I guess..."

Silas burst out laughing. The elegant, refined Duke actually threw his head back and laughed loudly.

Draven just shook his head and smirked. "It was not a real question, Baron. I was just saying that it is impressive."

"Thank you." Adrian coughed awkwardly.

He quickly stepped down into the hot water to hide himself. It would be different if a lady complimented his length though.

The immediate rush of heat hit him and the relief was completely instant. All the stress, the fatigue from riding, and the anxiety from the royal court just melted away. His muscles completely relaxed and he felt like he was flying.

He leaned his head back against the smooth stone edge and let out a long sigh.

"Thank you." Adrian looked at the two older men. "For standing up for me back there."

"Do not mention it," Silas waved a hand dismissively. "You are literally helping my daughter, Adrian. You are making one of my biggest, impossible dreams come true right now. Of course I am going to protect you."

Draven crossed his massive, scarred arms.

"I only did it because of him," Draven pointed at Silas. "This idiot has never taken such an aggressive step for anyone before. If Silas is willing to trigger a civil war for you, it means you are a man worthy of his complete admiration and respect. And if you are worthy of his respect, then you have mine as well."

Adrian frowned slightly as he looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Wait," Adrian said. "Do you two have history?"

Silas and Draven exchanged another look.

"We were batchmates in the Royal Knight Academy." Silas smiled warmly. "We were best friends."

Adrian suddenly realized that these two weren’t just political allies. They had that deep, unspoken brotherhood going on. They were secret best friends hiding behind their noble titles. Because until now, he couldn’t even tell that they were normal friends.

"While I was busy bleeding in the training yards," Draven grunted, splashing some water at Silas. "And studying magical theory in the Mage Academy... this idiot was running around the capital flirting with every single noble girl he could find."

Draven pointed a finger at the Duke. "And that is exactly why I am a B rank knight today, and this lazy bastard is still stuck at C rank."

Adrian’s eyes went wide.

’Damn. These two are ridiculously strong.’ Adrian thought.

He looked at the Marquis with a serious expression. "Wait. You are a knight too?"

"Yes," Draven nodded. "I trained in both disciplines. I am a fourth-circle mage, but I am also a B rank knight."

Adrian’s brain immediately went on an overdrive. Since he was currently using a method to connect his mana veins and physical muscles, he wondered if Silas knew anything about it. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Does the mana inside your veins help power your physical knight techniques?" Adrian asked quickly. "Does it merge at all?"

"Not really." Draven answered instead. "The magical and physical systems stay completely isolated. But my mana breathing method does help me replenish both pools at the exact same time. It is much faster, and compared to regular knights, my recovery speed is incredible."

"Oh," Adrian said. "That is cool."

Adrian leaned forward, lowering his voice slightly.

"Well, I can give you a technique," Adrian offered. "A training manual where you can connect your mana veins with your entire body. You can use the pure mana inside your veins to directly power your physical knight skills. I do not really call this being a knight or a mage. It is more like... a Magic Knight."

Draven just stared at him. The water rippled slightly as the Marquis went perfectly still.

"That is a really cool name," Draven said slowly. "Are you being completely serious? You actually possess a method like that?"

"I do," Adrian nodded. "But you have to keep it a secret."

"Of course I will keep it a secret," Draven said, "But are you absolutely sure you want to just give me something that valuable? A technique like that... it would be infinitely more precious than even a top-tier knight manual."

"Well," Adrian grinned. "Good things are supposed to be shared between friends, right?"

Silas and Draven both froze. Then slow, genuine smiles spread across their faces. They looked like total idiots grinning in the hot water.

"I really wish I had met you sooner," Silas laughed softly. "I knew about you, of course. I knew you came from the Sterling Duke bloodline. But you are pretty young, and we were never the same age, so I never thought there was a reason to socialize or make a connection with you."

Silas sighed. "As a Duke, I interact with your older brother frequently. But I do not like the man. He is way too much of a schemer, and everyone else in the high court is exactly the same. Even if you help those people, they never pay you back and they never see you as a friend. Every single interaction is just a cold transaction."