52. Reuniting Breakfast (part 2)

Nathan must've noticed that I am drilling my stare onto his face, and he definitely noticed that I have realized. Instead, he just smiled at me softly.

"I'm okay, Jonah. You don't have to worry."

No. I've known you long enough to tell that you're lying.

Next to me, Lily looked quite glad. She seemed to be buying into whatever Nathan was saying, which is definitely easy for her to do since she likes him so much. Nyssa also didn't notice because she just never really paid attention to anyone else other than me.

It sucks… but I'll keep all of this for now.

Instead, I formed a wide grin and lifted my right hand at him. Nathan quickly noticed this gesture and quickly lifted his right hand for a firm handshake as well.

"Welcome back! I hope you haven't been bad, when you are gone!" I said quite jokingly, and Nathan only laughed.

"Well, it could've been worse!"

This bastard… he is definitely pushing himself.

"Let's go inside. Your mother is waiting." Nyssa said from the side, and I was quickly reminded of why I'm here. I turned my gaze to the door and realized that it is now open, and the butler I've known for a long time is waiting by the opened door.

"Let's go. I'm betting you haven't had breakfast?" I asked Nathan, and he only laughed.

"When I'm this thin? That sounds very nice." Nathan jokes as he follows behind me, and Lily follows along as well.

The four of us went inside the mansion with Nyssa leading the charge, and we arrived at the dining room all together. Seeing that there's two more people coming in, the chef realized that the breakfast he made wasn't enough, so he quickly went back to the kitchen to cook some more.

"Phew~, nice house." Nathan said as he sat down on the big table at the dining room, and I chuckled hearing him complimenting.

"Oh, please. You got an even better one."

"I never said anything about comparing! You're always so negative."

"What I said wasn't negative, though!" I joked back at him, and Lily looked like she wanted to jump in at Nathan.

"I disagree. Fiordall's smelly castle can never be as good as this." Lily said so coldly, and both me and Nathan can only open our eyes wide at her.

God damn, Lily...

"You nobles and your fancy houses." Nyssa commented from her seat next to me, and Nathan quickly lifted his hand.

"I'm not a noble--"

"Shut up, prince."

That shutdown from Nyssa was instant, and Nathan lowered his gaze immediately. My gaze turned towards the hallway when footsteps arrived, and I noticed my mother had arrived at the dining room.

"Oh! Your friends are here!" Mother said the moment she landed her eyes at the dining room, and both Lily and Nathan stood up to greet her with nobility.

""Good morning, Madam."" Nathan and Lily said at the same time, which was definitely shocking to see that they got it so simultaneously. 

That's definitely their royalty title proven, which is levels beyond what a simple noble like me can learn. The etiquettes belonging to royalties will always be far more modest and courteous when compared to nobles, even though the life etiquettes of the nobles are a million times more polite than commoners.

"Apologies for the intrusion. We would've liked to tell you about our arrival first, but since Jonah allowed us in…" Lily said with courtesy, and Mother laughed hearing such a tone being used.

"I see! It's fine, it's fine! It's an honor of mine to have four of the five Guardians of Avenor to eat breakfast at my dining room! Enjoy your time, I will be at the garden." Mother said quite cheerfully at us, and both Nathan and Lily bowed one more time to her before she left. 

The two then sat back down on their chairs across from me, and I could hear Nyssa giggle.

"Talk about not being a noble…" Nyssa said after Nathan sat down, and the guy let out a sigh.

"I get it. You win, Nyssa." 

"You owe me a mansion, okay prince?"

"W-What!? How-When did I ever--"

Before Nathan could complain, the breakfast arrived. The chef came back to the dining table with plates of baked bread, and the maids also brought with them multiple jams of different flavors.

As we ate breakfast, we took turns at what we were doing during our holidays. It's been a few days since the holidays began, and I only just got home last night. Nyssa came with me, so our holidays aren't exactly comparable to what Lily and Nathan had.

We all turned to Nathan to tell us about what he had been doing for three months, but he rejected, saying that he wants to tell us when Eric and Frisena are present. Seeing that even Frisena got involved, I knew immediately that what Nathan was doing was nothing simple, so we all skipped his turn and went to hear Lily's story instead.

Lily's story… was actually quite crazy. Her mission started a month ago, and she was investigating a labyrinth near the territory of the light federation Citus that became popular quite recently. It was guessed to appear around the same time the headmaster and Zero spawned that ancient society city thing in the middle of the desert, so it has been there for quite a while.

And upon her search for an entire month, she found two things that were just so absurd. One, is the fact that she met and fought a girl our age that has five origins. The girl was able to utilize fire, water, earth, lightning, and wind origins all together, all at the same time, and even combine them to create the most deadly combinations possible.

Which… already sounds absurd. It was even more absurd that Lily won that battle, but she mentioned afterwards that they weren't really fighting seriously.

The second surprising part that she found… was actually even more insane.

"You found a prophecy?" Nathan asked from being so confused, and everyone else was just as curious. Lily nodded quite grimly at us, and it seems like things are even crazier than we anticipated.

"Actually, it was Elizabeth, the girl with the five origins who found the prophecy. She found it when she was exploring the labyrinth at Citus, and she couldn't even read it at first. But, after she got a hold of the magical staff, she suddenly had the ability to read ancient texts, and she carefully remembered what the words on the walls were saying.

The prophecy was about the revival of the War Demon, Omega. It was very long, and I wrote down everything that Elizabeth told me. But, there's one part of the prophecy that just… bothers me. Not because it sounded insane, but because it has already happened."

Lily took out her notebook from her storage bracelet, and she opened up to a certain page. She read the part that she wanted to see, and she began reading the verse that was a part of the prophecy.

"It goes like this: '… In the darkest sandstorm and the brightest morning, the black and white prince will dance…' That is the first part that I found intriguing, which is definitely about the headmaster and Zero. But, it's not done.

The second part goes: '… Under the hands of the five children of Avenor, the black and white prince shall kneel…' Which is exactly what happened. We beat the headmaster and Zero, so this verse definitely predicts such a reality." 

Lily finished the two things that she found to be intriguing, and we all began processing what we heard. Hearing that the two parts were so realistic, I began to question whether or not this could be serious. It could be just some writing on the walls done by some cheeky bastards who went into the labyrinth. There is also a possibility that Elizabeth, the girl Lily talked to, was actually lying to her.

However, the verse that comes next truly opened our eyes.

"Lily… what is the very last part of the prophecy?" Nathan asked with high curiosity, and Lily closed her eyes before speaking the truth out loud.

" 'Under the battle of darkness and the awakening… the War Demon shall scar the world.' " Lily read out the final verse of the prophecy, and we all opened our eyes widely.

… Well, that wasn't really helpful. However, something tells me that it was very-very bad.

Because if this prophecy was truly genuine… then it reveals to us that the War Demon will really come back to this world. And if that happens, who knows what will happen to this land.

"Let's keep the serious talk until we see Frisena…" Nathan suggested while scratching his head, and we all agreed in silence. 

"For now, I want to learn more about the… final exam."

Hearing that, we all began filling in Nathan about what the final exams of the semester is going to be. It's a bit special, since it wasn't exactly an examination like what we had at the beginning, that is the entrance exam. It's something else far different, and unique only to the Ellennoire academy.

The final exams… is a combat tournament.

One versus one, every element against every element with no exceptions, multiple matches at the same time in a double elimination format.

For sure, something Nathan is going to be excited about. I'm just wondering if he was even close to being physically ready for it, considering he looks so thin.

However, it seems like there are hidden truths that only he knows about. 

After all, he just looks more confident than ever.