Chapter I Part Two

When I turned five months old, I could crawl. I almost cried. For months I had been at the whims of my mother and the maids if I wanted to move. They had to carry me everywhere. Otherwise, I was left to stare at the roof of the room for hours on end. The freedom to move on my own power was something I hadn't considered before my death, but it wasn't something I would ever take for granted again.

By nine months, I could walk. Relearning was a pain, but it was worth it when I didn't have to drag my knees over the stone. My new mother took great joy in watching me walk. My father, on the other hand, didn't seem to have time to watch me walk.

By the time my first year in this new world came to an end, I was starting to understand the language. There was still a huge gap in my knowledge, but I could follow most conversations.

From my language acquisition, I learned more about the world around me. I learned I was Calixte Arc, the third prince of the Aquitaine Empire. My father was Francois III Arc, the Emperor of Aquitaine. Despite the empire being a constitutional monarchy and the throne sharing power with the Imperial Assembly, my father was the single most powerful man in the empire. That was why I didn't get to see him much. He was running the empire and overseeing a war with the Reich of Prussia.

I got plenty of love from my mother, Katherine. She was the second wife of my father, and the mother of my two older brothers, Henri and Xavier. She was the first person I ever spoke to. She was the first person in my life to speak English. She called the language Britannian, but it was English. The reason she spoke English was that it was her native language. She was born Katherine Pendragon, a princess of Britannia.

"Your father doesn't want me to speak to you like this, but you both are half mine. Half of your blood is Britannian. You are the future of House Arc and Aquitaine, but you are still Britannian. You should know my mother tongue."

I didn't interact much with Louise, my father's first wife. She was the mother of my two sisters, Victoria and Euphemia. I was much closer with her daughters than I was with her.

One day, one of my siblings or I would ascend to the throne, but despite this, we somehow became close. At the very least, they treated me with kindness. Euphemia was only a week older than me, so the two of us were always babied. I thought that might have played a part, but Henri, Xavier, and Victoria all seemed to get along just as well.

When Euphemia and I turned two, a renowned teacher was summoned from a Arene. He was an old man with a long bushy white beard, and he served in Lord Leschere's court. He taught the Lord's children and he became something of a legend doing so. He was born a peasant in Florentine, and that made his rise to the personal tutor of a prince and princess all the more impressive.

His name was Master Kieten and he was versed in all fields of study. Or the fields that the Aquitaine Empire considered important.

He began by teaching Euphemia and me basic math and the alphabet. The alphabet was similar to the one I learned in my old life, with the same letters. Only some of them were pronounced differently in Aquitese. When we memorized the letters, he moved on to grammar. He taught us how to read and write.

By the time I was three, I was more or less fluent in the language. There were still words I didn't know and couldn't translate from English, but I was getting there.

He spoke fluent Britannia, so that made it somewhat easier.

Master Kieten was also the person who revealed magic to me. Euphemia had scraped her knee in one of his lessons. I watched dumbfounded as he put a hand over the cut and a dual yellow light flashed from his hand. When he pulled away, her cut was gone.

I tried to ask him about it, but he refused to speak about it. We were in the middle of a math lesson and math is what we would do.

I cornered my mother later that night and asked her about it.

I had seen enough fantasy anime to know magic when I saw it. I wonder how old I had to be before I could start learning magic. When I brought it up with my mother, she laughed. "Magic? As in sorcery? My dear, true sorcery has been lost since the Cataclysm. The same Cataclysm our empire was born of."

"So... I can't learn magic?"

The realization was crushing. I lived in a full-blown fantasy world, but magic was still out of my reach.

My mother saw the look on my face: "Most sorceries have been lost to us. Only the Art of Healing remains and even that we have very little knowledge of it. At least when we compare what the healers in the Age of Sorcery could do. While our creations last hardly more than a lifetime, theirs has withstood the test of time. Some enchantments predate the Cataclysm. When you're older, if you want to learn, I will speak to your father about it. Though I believe he has other aspirations for you."

When I tried to ask what those aspirations were, my mother wouldn't say.

"Who would teach me?"

At this, my mother smiled. "We don't know if he will say yes yet. I'm sure he'll want you to learn the more traditional form of infusing mana to strengthen your body. Of course, there's no reason to say that you cannot learn both and if he agrees, I have the perfect teacher in mind."

"Who?"

My mother smiled. "Me, of course. I'm better than the high healer and all his apprentices."

I nodded, considering this. I would much prefer my mother to teach me than some stranger.

"What do you mean by the traditional forms?"

"Before guns became the masters of warfare, there was the age of swords and spears. In that era, knights dominated the battlefield. They would use mana to strengthen their bodies, allowing them to perform superhuman feats. Even today, those soldiers and sailors born with mana still learn these forms and become a reckoning in the trenches."

"Not everyone has mana?"

My mother shook her head. "No. Sometimes peasants or merchants might be born with mana, but that is no guarantee they can pass it on to their children. Only when both parents have mana do we know for sure that so will their children. Every child of the aristocracy is born with mana. Though most of them go on to become healers."

My mother was right. The world I was reborn in didn't resemble the medieval fantasy world I would have expected. Knights and swords were a thing of the past here, replaced by firearms and trains. The lights in the palace weren't powered by magic, but by electricity. One of my father's favorite pastimes was to listen to games on the radio.

I asked Master Kieten about technology and he spent two hours lecturing me. From his lesson, I learned that technology had been advancing since the year 500 when muskets and cannons were introduced to the battlefield. Since the year 721, this world resembled the early 1900s from Earth. Gaea, unlike Earth, never seemed to advance past that age.

I wondered why Gaea had stagnated while Earth continued to advance, but I doubted I would be able to figure it out. At least not yet. Maybe that was just the nature of fantasy worlds, to remain in one state.

Or not. It wasn't like I had ever seen any other fantasy worlds. Until I had been reborn, I would have said such worlds were fictional. I wondered if the multiverse theory was real. Could there be hundreds or thousands of other worlds?

When I brought the subject up to Master Kieten, the old man merely blinked. "Other... worlds? I am told that the heavens may be full of other planets. Worlds where we have not set foot on."

I shook my head. "No, not other planets. I mean parallel worlds. Like different realities."

Master Kieten laughed. "My boy, such things belong in the realm of fiction. I fear that this is the only reality. It might be nice to think about a world that isn't constantly at war. A place where the trenches are but a nightmare, but that is not reality, my boy. Giving time to such outlandish thoughts are a waste. You would be better spent studying, your highness. One day, you might rule the great Aquitaine Empire."

He patted me on the head and walked away.

Or maybe there were only two worlds. Earth and Gaea.