Chapter Text
Sebek Zigvolt. Prince Malleus’s royal retainer. Sebek Zigvolt. A loyal guard. Sebek Zigvolt. A good student. Sebek Zigvolt. The loudmouth from Diasomnia. The student who was always too loud or too disruptive. The boy who always lost to a mere human. Sebek Zigvolt. The kid who nobody seemed to be friends with or like. The one who-
“Zigvolt. Did you hear my question?” Professor Trein said sharply, practically glaring at him. He in fact did NOT hear his question with his rather loud thoughts.
“Could you repeat it please, professor?” Sebek asked hesitantly. Getting a detention would be disgraceful and give his liege a bad image.
Trein only shot him a weird look and moved on smoothly, now explaining the historical significance of spindles. Spindles, one of the most important artefacts of Briar Valley. Sebek, of course, had studied over every book on Briar Valley and the Fae War, to not be such a shame to Lord Malleus and the royal Draconia family and knew plenty about something as simple as spindles. Now that his thoughts were on Master Malleus, he noticed he did seem rather distant with him nowadays. Exams were still quite a few weeks away and yet he and Lilia didn’t seem to be able to spare the time for him nowadays. Master Lilia was always telling him to become friends with one of the humans in his class, but now he seemed more tired when he brushed off Sebek’s loud demands or enthusiastic praises. As class ended and he walked past his classmates, he heard some of them whispering.
“Hey, didn’t you notice Sebek didn’t yell out once? Let’s hope he can stay quiet for the next few classes as well.”
“Or maybe until graduation! Doesn’t he know nobody wants to hear his endless praises of Malleus Draconia-senpai?” They laughed behind him.
Sebek walked straight to the empty training grounds where he would usually spar with Silver, not that he had any chance of winning most of the time. It was technically time for lunch, but he had no appetite. After all, why not spend his time doing something useful? If his grandfather knew he was regularly losing to a mere human, he’d get quite the earful. The dull smacks of the wood against the straw dummy wasn’t quite as loud as usual. His moves were getting sloppy. That meant an extra hundred strikes, according to his own practice system. A guard of someone like the Young Master could not afford to become careless. That meant being in top shape at all times, and the fastest way to do that was practice until he physically couldn’t continue. Before long, he realised the sun had set and he had missed his last class entirely. If he no longer had to go to alchemy, he might as well continue. It wasn’t like stopping now could fix his attendance.
For one horrifying second, the world faded into black before he rightened himself, stubbornly fixing his feet to the dusty floor. There was a dull pain in his stomach, but he barely registered it. Skipping lunch and dinner wasn’t a new thing for him and it happened more often than not recently. His arms felt like they were going to fall off and that was normal too. Nothing was any different from his frequent practices and so blacking out startled him a bit. Sebek paused, looking down at his water bottle. When was the last time he took a break or even drank water? He was sure he was training non-stop for the past few hours, but he couldn’t remember taking a sip of water since this morning when he ate a piece of toast for breakfast. He didn’t even notice falling, but he knew he was suddenly on the floor, exhausted. The hunger and thirst clawed at his gut and throat painfully, and he couldn’t bring himself to get up. His vision turned dark again, but this time with a moment of terrifying finality.
When Sebek opened his eyes, he was in his dorm room with Lilia staring disapprovingly at him at the side of his bed. He was instantly mortified.
Did Master Lilia find me on the ground like some sort of damsel? How dare I inconvenience him with bringing me back to my room! I definitely looked pathetic and weak. I have disappointed him and the Young Master! Imagine if anyone else saw me like that!
“Sebek, you’re working yourself too hard. Remember to take breaks and drink water, alright?” Lilia sighed tiredly.
Sebek felt a stab of guilt for worrying him. “It won’t happen again, I promise.” He said miserably.
“Are you losing your voice, Sebek? You haven’t been shouting in anybody’s ears recently. I could always make you some soup. I hear chicken broth is a simple recipe.” Lilia offered.
“No, Lilia-sama! You mustn't concern yourself with making me any sort of food!” Sebek basically screamed at the thought of being forced to consume any of Lilia’s biohazardous ‘meals’, his worries forgotten temporarily.
“Whatever you say. If you ever want any food, just ask me. I need to practice cooking apparently, with Silver’s reactions so far.” He gave Sebek a half-hearted smile and walked out of his room, closing the door with a soft click.
Sebek suddenly collapsed against the pillows on his bed, all his strength leaving his body in an instant. He found himself wishing Lilia had stayed longer. That weak smile Lilia gave him made Sebek feel like he was placed in front of a shooting squad. They were obviously growing tired of him, and even Silver stopped asking him to spar with him. He must get better, show them that he was worth their time and concern all over again, no matter how he did it. Sebek studied the calluses on his hands, proof to him that he had been working hard, but neither Malleus, Lilia nor Silver seemed to notice or care. What was the effort worth if he never could surpass Silver or protect Malleus? It didn’t matter how hard he trained, but what the results yielded. That was the mindset that was always hammered into his head by Grandfather. Do whatever must be done to protect the throne, even if it meant working himself to the bone, apparently. Sebek had always lived by these rules, and yet suddenly he started to doubt whether it was worth it. With the rough skin of his hands bleeding and bruised, maybe there was another way for him to get better, instead of brute forcing it.
No, this is the right way. If it wasn’t, Grandfather would never have told me to do it this way. Master Lilia and the young master would’ve stopped me, would’ve told me to rest. Why would I question them? Hesitation is mutiny. Even if there was another way, it would be better to stay on the path Lilia has taught me on. This is surely the fastest way to become the guard Prince Malleus deserves, someone who is good enough for him, to be worthy of protecting someone like my liege. If I fail at the only reason Lilia and Malleus took me in, I would be such a disgrace to my family and the royal family. I will become the best guard Master Malleus and Master Lilia could ever have hoped for or work myself to exhaustion. It's already much less than I deserve. I will make them proud if it’s the last thing I do.