Thirteenth Prince's Odyssey-Chapter 37: Before The Battlefield - I

The trip for the Eve of Idris sailed as smoothly. The celebration itself was more symbolic than grand.

But for Liam, the real victory wasn't in the tradition or the ceremony. It was that Queen Isabella had no complaints. Not a whisper of concern, not even a passive sigh — thanks to one rumor that had grown legs faster than wildfire in the palace halls.

Serena and Liam — "together."

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

And who else could've rushed that sweet piece of gossip to their mother if not his three sisters?

Evaline, Cassandra, and Elaine played their roles expertly. They didn't say anything directly, of course. Just passing remarks, loaded glances, and half-smirks when Serena's name came up.

Cecily, however, didn't care about any of it.

She was just happy to see Liam. She clung to him during the entire stay, bombarding him with questions and updates on her studies. For once, the palace didn't feel suffocating. Just... loud. Familiar.

Liam didn't waste time. The very next morning, he took Cecily to the Arcanum. And that's when he noticed it again. She wasn't just bright. She was blazing.

At only seven years old, Cecily showed clear signs of being a dual elementalist — her manas heart shifting between water and lightning during her practice attempts. Liam watched her with a strange sense of pride and distance. Of his fifteen siblings, her growth was the fastest.

No one at the institute was like her, not even Serena, who was a quadra Elementalist. Liam couldn't help but wonder what the future Lightning Conjuration classes of Carter would sound like. Cecily would be the only exception in that class.

He smiled at her. He praised her. But inside, something gnawed at him. Cecily, at seven, had stronger elemental control than Liam had at thirteen.

I was wrong.

All that training. All that pushing. The visions. The dreams. The memory fragments that felt like relics from another life...

He thought he was someone special. That some hidden power, some force beyond understanding, was guiding him.

But the revelation never came.

He searched the Arcanum for answers while Cecily played with glyphs. Shifted through scrolls. Asked veiled questions to Harold. Nothing. Not a single mention of a phenomenon like his.

This trip had done wonders for others.

His mother was glowing with relief over his "relationship."

Cecily was satisfied — elated, even — having Liam all to herself.

His sisters had given new material for palace gossip for at least two months.

But Liam?

Liam returned to the Institute emptier than before.

He rested a day before rejoining lectures.

The third day of the new month.

And like a looped memory, his first class back was Conjuration. And again, it was Professor Heath Carter.

Liam took his seat quietly. The lecture hall, usually packed shoulder to shoulder with murmuring students and rustling notes, now had empty seats scattered across the rows. A strange silence lingered in the gaps — not the kind born from discipline, but absence.

Carter entered moments later. The classroom's enchanted quill floated toward the board and began scratching in brisk, angular strokes:

Lecture 37: Weather Simulation

He didn't even look at the class before speaking.

"Ah... so it's that time of the year again."

Not a single student said anything.

"Even the Head of the Department of three subjects himself couldn't terrify students enough to keep full attendance in these next four months. I won't even bother trying."

Liam blinked. That time of the year?

And then it clicked.

House Wars.

The 10th Month of Idris always marked the official season for preparation. Students were allowed — unofficially, but practically — to excuse themselves from lectures to focus on forming strategies, practicing duels, and designing enchantments for the coming battles.

Some professors tried to enforce normal class schedules, but no one listened. Carter, evidently, had accepted the tradition.

And soon after that came the 12th Month, reserved for preparation for final exams — intense, ruthless, and comprehensive.

The last four months of the year were always the same, no matter which year of study you were in:

Chaos. Competition. And cramming.

In Carter's lecture on Weather Simulation, Liam found the subject to be far more than theoretical — it was elemental warfare dressed as environmental charm.

Conjuration spells mimicking weather patterns had practical applications far beyond ornamental magic. Carter listed a few, his voice clipped and sharp:

"Snowfall", often used by ice elementalists for festive or calming effects.

"Thunderstorm", a fearsome spell wielded in battle by lightning, wind, and water elementals — the triumvirate that could command its full destructive beauty.

"Mistify", a fog-conjuring spell used for obscuration, infiltration, and battlefield control.

And many more spells.

The real challenge began when Carter said, almost lazily, before the final hour of class.

"Conjure the basic form of any weather spell aligned with your element. Let's see what you're all capable of."

The massive hall of Core Magical Studies transformed instantly into a chaotic gallery of elemental chaos — miniature snowfalls, controlled downpours, and bursts of fog.

Each student managed at least one conjuration, varying in complexity and clarity.

Then there was Serena. Calm, steady, deliberate — she conjured three different weather simulations. One of them, Mistify, shimmered with a level of precision and density that most second-year students couldn't replicate.

Carter barely looked up and said a single word:

"Good."

That was high praise, by Carter's standards.

And then there was Liam.

He stood quietly at his station, arms folded. The magic circle in front of him remained untouched. The mana heart buzzed with potential, the lightning element eager to respond.

He could have conjured something — at least the thunder portion of Thunderstorm. His elemental affinity would have made it manageable.

But he didn't.

And Carter noticed.

A pause. Then, a voice sharp enough to slice air:

"Tut, tut. Pitiful."

He didn't look directly at Liam. But he didn't need to.

Everyone knew who it was meant for.

Liam said nothing.

He could take the insult — if it even counted as one. He knew the cost of showing his capability. And Carter's disdain... was better than curiosity.

After the usual round of classes and a quiet mana breathing session, Liam stepped out for his evening stroll with Serena. The sky had just started to tint gold, and the rhythm of the day was beginning to slow — until it was shattered by the all-too-familiar sound of his sisters' voices.

"There you lovebirds are!"

Elaine grinned as she approached with Cassandra and Evaline in tow.

"Who was it that said he wasn't interested in anyone again?" Evaline added dramatically, cupping her hand around her ear. "Can't seem to find that person now..."

"Wait! There he is!" Cassandra gasped mockingly. "Just with updated standards."

"He is a prince, after all. Let's not say such scandalous things," Elaine said, feigning seriousness.

Liam sighed, enduring the usual teasing with the patience of someone who had grown up with far too many siblings.

"What are you even doing here?"

"Oh, don't worry," said Cassandra. "We have very important matters to discuss."

"With you guys," Evaline chimed in, grinning.

"Us?" Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Well, duh." Elaine looked directly at Serena. "Actually, more to Serena than you."

"Wait — what happened?" Serena asked, brow furrowing slightly.

"It's about the House Wars," Cassandra said, folding her arms. "And since you are an Orlean — " she looked at Liam, " — you don't get a choice. You're automatically part of our house."

Then they all turned to Serena.

"As for you..."

Serena blinked. "Uh... I don't know. I haven't thought much about participating. I was kind of leaning toward staying out of joining an alliance — "

"Well, you're going to be an Orlean anyway," Evaline cut in. "So why does it matter what other groups think?"

Before Serena could react, Elaine and Cassandra pulled her into an embrace. She glanced over at Liam, who only gave her a helpless expression as if to say Just bear with it... I've got no authority here.

"So it's official," Evaline said cheerfully. "You're both in the Orlean House!"

"Yay," Elaine added with mock excitement.

Then, with a grin, she added,

"Just a little reminder — the Orlean House has never won a single House War. So... you've got lots of responsibility."

"No pressure," Cassandra smiled.

"What?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, I know why," Serena said, suddenly thoughtful. "The Orlean family's never had full strength in the Institute. The princes are usually not enrolled. Only the princesses form a house. And since the Orlean alliance doesn't serve any political or strategic benefit to other students, they never join it."

She looked at the sisters and then said, more seriously:

"But now, with — Liam — maybe it's different."

Elaine beamed. "See? I knew she was smart!"

"Okay, but why does it suddenly become my responsibility now that I'm here?" Liam protested. "Can I... excuse myself from this?"

"NO," all three sisters snapped in perfect unison.

Liam gave a crooked smile. "You do know what realm I'm in, right?"

"Hey, hey—" Cassandra held up her hands.

"Don't worry, she knows." Liam glanced at Serena.

"Oh Well," Evaline said, "you may not be the strongest in terms of the realm, but Cecily says your brain more than compensates for it."

Liam looked at them, awkwardly scratching his head.

"What? Am I wrong?" Evaline asked.

He didn't answer.

"Then it's settled!" Elaine said, grinning with confidence. "This time, we'll definitely make the top ten."

"Top ten?" Liam repeated.

"It's realistic," Evaline nodded.

"No — I didn't mean that. I meant we've never even gotten into the top ten before.

His sisters all glared at him.

"Don't say that now," Cassandra said. "You have no idea how serious this tradition is."

"House Wars aren't a game, Liam," Elaine added. "They're legacy."

"And this time," Evaline said, putting a hand on Serena's shoulder, "we're not aiming to survive — we're aiming to win."

Liam looked from their excited faces to Serena's unsure expression... and sighed.

This was going to be a long few months.

"So what is this House War?" Liam finally asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do I even compete about?"

Elaune perked up like a tutor excited for a new student.

"As the name suggests — there are alliances formed by a lead House... and then we have an actual-scale war."

"What?" Liam blinked.

"Don't frighten him," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "It's a war simulation."

Evaline chimed in, "It's a knockout-style battleground simulation. Just like we have the Crucible here at the Institute, there's another Colosseum — smaller in scale, meant specifically for House Wars."

"Oh..."

"Each house," Cassandra continued, "gets randomly allotted a battleground. Forest, canyon, ruins, marsh — you name it. You have to strategize based on its strengths and weaknesses."

"Then comes the knockout phase," Elaine added. "Two matches for each pairing. A home event and an away event."

"Meaning," Evaline clarified, "you fight once on your battleground... and once on theirs. Same opponents, different advantages."

"Simple," Cassandra shrugged.

"How do they even judge a war simulation?"

"The Heads of Department and Associate Professors are the judges," Evaline said. "Each gives a score out of twenty — ten from the HOD, and five each from two associates."

"They give actual explanations for every point they cut or reward," Elaine said. "From strategy, spell efficiency, teamwork, magical stability — everything's evaluated."

"Then the total score decides who advances to the next round," Evaline finished.

Liam looked skeptical. "There's more rules, right?"

"Yes," Cassandra nodded. "But that's the core of it. What do you think? Want to go through with it?"

Serena looked at Liam expectantly.

"It's not just for fun," Elaine said, more seriously this time. "It's one of the few chances we get to apply what we've learned. You don't think we study all this just to brag about how much we know, right?"

Liam didn't answer right away.

But he was starting to understand — House Wars weren't about glory. They were a proving ground.

A place to see if all that theory, all that mana... meant anything at all when it counted.

Liam crossed his arms, glanced at Serena — who gave him a half-smile, half-prayerful look — and exhaled.

"All right," he said. "I'm in."

There was a beat of silence.

Then all three sisters erupted.

"Yes!"

"I knew you wouldn't chicken out."

"See? Told you the Orlean blood wasn't watered down."

Serena let out a soft laugh, and Liam looked away to hide his smirk.

"This doesn't mean I'll be leading anything," Liam muttered.

"Oh, of course not," Cassandra replied innocently. "We'd never put that pressure on you."

"Yet," Evaline added with a wicked grin.

"You lot are worse than the professors," Liam said.