NTR Quest 7 - Academy - Hear Him Out (Patreon)

The reaction to you suggesting you would hear the Prince out was about what you expected. Merit argued that the Prince had unknown intentions and that there were not enough wishes for all of them if his goals did not align with hers. Esther mumbled something about three being a number of power and that adding a fourth would mix things up. You ignored both of their complaints in favor of probing the Prince for what he was after. After all, knowing why he wanted to join was useful, even if you planned to decline.

You pulled him off into an empty classroom, away from the two girls. As you grabbed his wrist rather forwardly he did not openly protest, but instead made a slight, discomforted mewling sound as he was dragged off.
“Shouldn't the other two be here?” He asked, looking up at you with his intriguing emerald eyes. They were not green in the normal sense, as that color existed naturally, albeit rarely among elves and humans. The pools of the green within his irises seemed to almost glow.

“Or... Are you completely in charge?” It was an innocent enough question.

“I'm not, but those two were definitely just planning on bullying you.”

The Prince averted his gaze awkwardly, his lips curling down  in worry at the realization. Along with his attention grabbing eyes, the boy's lips were unusually plush.

“Oh.”

“I'm not in charge. They'll probably have to approve of you if you want to join, but maybe they'll be more open if you give me a good reason.” You remembered as you were talking to him that you were not his guardian. You were not there to vouch for him, you were there to be convinced. For some reason, as he was staring up at you that fact was lost on you, but while he was looking away you were suddenly able to retrieve your nerve.

“You also need to give me a good reason.”

“I don't want anything. I just want to survive. That is why I wont ask for anything if you all win. I think the connections people make here are more important, anyway.” He offered timidly, still glancing away.

“If you want to be safe why don't you just lay low and study?” You were skeptical, because if the Prince truly wanted to stay out of trouble he would not have been accompanying the upperclassman that familiarized those girls.

“That isn't an option for me in particular because-” As the Prince spoke it annoyed you that he was averting his gaze. Avoiding looking someone in the eye when speaking to them was a social faux pas in the Kingdom, especially where it concerned the royal family, so he of all people should have adhered to that standard. You stared at him assertively.

“Why aren't you looking me in the eye? Are you lying?” You placed a hand on his shoulder, only for him to recoil and bat it off. He stared up indignantly. For the brief moment when your eyes did meet you felt faintly taken aback.

“Because I'm different!” He forced himself to look away. You figured out that he was making an effort to shy away from you. As he stepped back you closed the distance.

“What? You think you're too good for it? You might be a Royal, but you know what I am, right?”

The Prince nodded. “Yes, I know... It's not that.”

“So what is it? You still haven't given us a reason. Just a reason to avoid you. What are you bringing to the table except problems?”

His lip quivered. “I... Can I show you something?”

“Yeah.” You said shortly. It was the Prince's turn to grab your hand and pull you out another door. He took you down a few right turns in the halls until you reached a grand hall. It was vast and wide and far too big to have any business being in any part of the school. At the head of the hall, before all the tables and seating there were three portraits. At the center in Blue framing was a dark-skinned woman with blue eyes and a large mane of frizzy jet-toned hair. She was smiling gently down at the hall in her portrait, sitting comfortably in a high chair with a book on her lap. To her right, framed in red was a beautiful beastfolk woman with long red ears tipped with white. She had crimson red hair. She was sitting with one leg over the other and seemed to be looking elsewhere within her portrait. Finally, to the left was a domineering woman framed in green. She had on her head a set of curved horns that looked to be of stone. She was of course beautiful and her skin was scaled slightly around the sides of her neck, and on her arms where visible. The most striking thing about her however was the way in which she looked down from her portrait with emerald eyes that almost glowed. Even the image of them drew you in. The Prince turned you away from them so that you were facing him. He looked at you briefly enough to flash you his own set of those same eyes. Seeing them both, one after the other, made you sure of it.

“Lauda, Tintamere and Coda.” He said frankly. The hall was completely empty so you could both speak unhindered.

“You're related to Lauda, the Dragon?” You tilted your head curiously as you put it together.
“But that must mean...” Even if it was private, the Prince quickly grabbed you and pulled you out, through a few more turns until you were somewhere sufficiently private. Once you were, his shoulders slumped.

“Yes. After Vagar, every member of the Royal Family have been dragonkin, and have inherited all of their traits from Lauda.” You were stunned by the revelation. It was information that could start wars and topple the Kingdom itself. Dragonkin was a word that dragons used, but for the rest of the world they were simply known as beastfolk. For the vast majority of humankind, even those in the relatively open Kingdom you resided in, beastfolk were still second-class citizens. Yet the humans were secretly being ruled over by them. You guessed that part of the openness to both elves and beastfolk may have had something to do with the secret.

“Originally every member of our family had scales and horns and claws and we used glamours to remain human, but gradually the blood diluted enough that we retained a mostly human appearance, even without magic. Mostly.” He hesitantly lifted his shirt and showed that his side was lightly scaled, like a dragon, while his belly was mostly bare.
“No horns.” He said with a weak smile before adding.
“But there's one feature that would never diminish.” He pointed to his eyes.

“Your eyes? So what? Probably the least inconvenient thing to have to keep.”

“Says you.” The prince uttered in frustration.
“All Dragons have innate gifts. Lauda and her kin have something called a Geas.”

“A gay ass? What?”

“No! Listen, look at me.” You looked down at the prince as he said that. The timid boy sounded annoyed for the first time.
“What are you?”

As you stared into his eyes you said without thinking. “A Hero? A man? What are you asking?” After the fact you realized what you let slip.

“I apologize.” The prince said, looking away again.
“But you were being incredulous and I needed to demonstrate. T-to be fair, I only asked you something I already knew on purpose.”

“Okay, okay, I get it...Go on.”

“When you look into our eyes you can't lie and you can't tell when we are lying. You can't break a deal that has been made and agreed upon by both parties and...”

“What?”

The Prince blushed. “You will find us naturally attractive in... Some way. They are mildly mesmerizing, to begin with. This is what the green Dragon, Lauda's power was.”

“So for more than a century your family has been traversing court intrigue with political, Dragon Super-Magic?”

“Something like that.”

“Why do you need MY help?” You asked rather forwardly.

“I have no interest in the throne. I thought agreeing to come here would satisfy my brother, the Crown Prince. If was able to live quietly and lay low, as you said, that would've been fantastic. Instead, I was immediately pulled into immoral acts like what you saw. I... I am in constant danger from my Home. There are many people in the faculty as well loyal to my brother. I am sure that he wants to get me out of the way.”

You sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of your nose as you thought. “I have no way to tell if you're lying by your own admission.”

“That's right.” He nodded.

“But... It sounds like you could've gotten more or less what you wanted if you just used your skills without telling me any of that.”

“That... Is also somewhat right.”

You threw your head back and dragged your hand down your face. “Ugh... It's a hard sell if I just tell them that you don't want anything and you're just joining to bring us trouble. Are you willing to use your abilities for us?”

“I would have said no if I had any other choice, but to have the protection of a Hero and two other capable students I'll offer you all of my skills.”

“So that's a bit easier. How should I word it? You know some weird mind magic?”

“I think that's the easiest way to explain it without revealing anything, yeah.” He said, brightening up a bit once the conversation turned.

“Do you want to use your ability to make an agreement?” You asked pointedly.

The Prince shook his head vehemently. “No no, I trust you.” The short, blonde boy smiled up at you admirably. Your hearth thumped as your eyes caught his for one of the few times in the conversation. You explained away any feelings by reminding yourself about what he mentioned in the last portion of his ability.

“My name is Aiden.”

* *

“Mind magic? That's crazy useful! Why didn't you just say so from the beginning!” Esther reached up and slapped  Aiden on the lower back, just because it was as far as she could reach.

Merit closed in on him as well. “You value connections more than anything? Well, I can get behind that.” She smirked, rubbing his shoulder forwardly. The girls tail was wagging. You knew she would not believe it if you said that he wanted nothing, so you fed her the more practical line he mentioned about wanting connections. Aiden looked over at you nervously. He was not being bullied but somehow he seemed to think of what was happening as being worse. His cheeks were fully flushed while being surrounded very closely by Esther and Merit. You cleared your throat.

“So... We have a 'full' party at this point. We should probably do something, right?”

“So true.” Merit turned to regard you.
“Students are beginning to raid temples for points. We have decided that there is no benefit to exerting ourselves but we can... Stir up a bit of trouble.”

Esther raised her hand. “The forests! They're hunting for game and other rare herbs in the forest! We can ambush them and steal their stuff.” She offered.

“W-wait...” Aiden gulped.
“You all are... Aggressors?”

You forgot that one fact when inducting the prince. You planted your face in your palm and sighed.  “Listen, it's... We are going to need to build influence within the school.” You offered weakly. His shoulders slumped and he nodded just as weakly. The two girls smiled and practically bounced up and down with excitement maliciously, waiting for a vote. You could guess that Aiden's vote was going to be yours, so you were ultimately the one to decide.