The Inauspicious Route to my Happy Ending

He had enjoyed reading the novels because Lianna was kind of a badass. She had no problem with verbally attacking her harassers or even slapping them when it was called for.

And then he remembered the numerous antagonists. There were quite a few major villains and numerous smaller ones. The third prince was painted as an antagonist while the second prince was so unremarkable that he never even made an appearance.

But what had Adrien freezing was that Count Mallorne and his two eldest sons made up three of the minor villains. He wasn't sure about Adrien Mallorne since the boy was only mentioned briefly.

Adrien resisted pulling at his hair, knowing full well that it would only cause him physical pain.

There's no point in trying to persuade the Count and my new brothers from harassing the female lead, plus I really don't want to. I could try to amass power to extricate my newfound mother and myself away from the three bad apples, but I'm just now at the age to start attending the Academy. . .plus, I'm pretty sure they don't allow for divorce in this kingdom.

Adrien sighed heavily, the food in front of him no longer appetizing. How should he approach this? How can he approach it? Should he make a plan, or should he figure things out as he goes?

The only thing he knew for certain was that he needed to attend Tris Academy. That way, he'll be able to escape from the Count's violent ways. He also needed to keep an eye on Cedric and Brayden, his newfound siblings.

"The second prince is Prince Mikyle Velron. The third Prince is Lior Velron. Would you like to know specific details about the princes since you'll be attending the Academy with two of them?"

Adrien nodded his head. "Sure. To be honest, I don't remember anything about the Royal Family." The specific details might help him gain more memories, and figure out who to avoid. And even without the greater details, he was already gaining much from this conversation. Most of the names he had heard so far were of Hebrew and Old English origin from his old world.

But why is my name spelled the French way? Hmm, isn't Nadeline's name also an alternate spelling of a French name? Man, I'm glad Seo-ah read me all those novels growing up, it really expanded my knowledge of the different languages and culture to an extent.

Nadeline nodded her petite head, her short, wavy brown hair dancing with the movement. "Crown Prince Nathaniel is twenty this year. He is held in high esteem for being at the top of his year. Last year, he became engaged to the daughter of Baron Silva." That lined up with the novels about this world that Adrien had read when he was Seo-jun. "Prince Mikyle is nineteen this year. He is deemed as being quite average except for his looks. Two years ago during the biannual ball, which was held in the Shigaron Kingdom that year, his highness made the sudden announcement that he would not be seeking a female life partner, but a male one," Nadeline's voice had dropped into a conspiratorial whisper.

Adrien felt his eyes widened at the unexpected revelation. Based on the original Adrien's memories, in this world- or at least, in this kingdom- same-sex marriages were not frowned upon since quite a few commoners practiced it.

Same-sex marriages allowed for the couple to forgo any chances of offspring, helping them save on money in the long run while keeping the population under control. But just because the commoners don't frown upon it doesn't mean that the nobles abide by the same sentiments. Most nobles found same-sex marriages as sacrilegious! So it was surprising that a prince would willingly admit to being gay!

"It's a shame," Nadeline whispered. "I find the second prince much more charming than the others. Please do not tell anyone that I have said this, Young Master."

"I won't," Adrien promised the slightly sullen maid. "What about Prince Lior?" He asked, bringing the topic back on course.

Before Nadeline answered his question, she switched out the empty dinner plates with a desert plate. The dessert she had presented him was a type of pudding that was easy to digest.

"Prince Lior is sixteen years of age. He is rumored to be as intelligent as the Crown Prince but even more arrogant," her words could almost be seen as blasphemous. "There are also rumors that he is a Spellsword."

This world was your typical fantasy world, which meant that it had some form of magic. There were two main power types in this world, Elementalism and Swordmasters.

The basic and most common type of magic was Elementalism. Elementalism allowed for a person born with mana to use elemental magic. Each person's mana naturally aligned with one type of element, though in some rare cases, a person's mana could align with two different types of elements. The elements included Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Light, Shadow, and Space, and each of those elements had their own individual powers that were common yet unique to each individual.

The Earth Element had individual powers like Tree Manipulation, Dirt Manipulation, and Growth. The Water Element had individual powers like Underwater Breathing, Water Manipulation, Water Formation, Water Blast, and so on. The Shadow Element had individual powers like Shadow Manipulation, Shadow Movement, and Curses under it. Light Magic had Light Manipulation, Barrier Magic, and Healing Magic, among other things.

Space Elementalism was the rarest form but also the easiest one to see for those who could afford it. The rare Space Elementalists that were born were recruited by various kingdoms and paid quite handsomely to run Warp Portals all across the Continent to make travel easier.

That was Elementalism down to its basic form. Once Elementalism could be developed to its fullest, it could then be used to create complex spells which can be transferred to objects for use. The spells and artifacts were restricted to the type of element one was aligned with, but it allowed for a more unique and diverse array of magic. These were typically bought by those with little to no mana.

The other application was in creating and building mana based potions and tools. This form was called Alchemy.

The other type of power in this world were Swordmasters. Swordmasters could be broken into two distinct branches; Aura Users and Spellswords.

Aura Users were the apex of Sword Experts that were born with no mana and were able to hone their life force into a visible and powerful energy that could be fused with their weapon during combat.

Spellswords were the apex of Sword Experts that were born with mana and they were able to fuse their Elemental Mana into their weapon to create a fine layer around it. This fine layer was similar to an Aura and just as powerful.

So, the Crown Prince is an Aura User, if the book is anything to go off of, and the third prince is a Spellsword? Why does the second prince seem so underwhelming next to these powerhouses?

Adrien gave a brief nod of his head to show that he had heard Nadeline. "Tell me, when does the new semester at Tris Academy start?"

"In two weeks, Young Master. The Mallornes do not have an estate in the capital, so you will be required to live in the dorms with the other Young Masters. You'll be in separate rooms, and I believe the students are divided by their years."

Adrien nodded, pleased that he wouldn't have to share a room with his new brothers. Hell, he may not even be on the same floor as them!

Nadeline left with the empty food trolley after that.

Adrien stood up from the couch and made his way to the bathroom. He stood in front of the full-length mirror and placed his palm flat against it. "Seo-yeon, Seo-ah. I promise to not forget you and to live the way you taught me to." Adrien released a sigh, a forlorn expression morphing his bruised and battered face. "It'll be hard without you, but I hope the two of you can live without regret." He turned away from the mirror, still not used to seeing his new face that had been reflected at him on the mirror's surface.