Three weeks passed, all of the children of Marcus had grown more powerful in combat and even increased in ranks, meanwhile Vesper had grown more detached to everyone else only sparring with them and telling them their weak points.
Vesper spent more of his time cultivating his space element and gained basic mastery over his element which allowed him to hide himself from any sensory skill.
On this day Vesper stood in the training ground while watching all of them clash in pairs, Catherine against Jonathan, Damian against Theodore, Conrad against Aurora, Morgan, Morgana, and Amon against Adolfus, finally Benjamin against Celine.
After fighting for more than three hours they were all getting exhausted.
"Today's training has ended, all of you have the basics now, anything else can only be gained by truly risking your lives for it." Vesper said as he walked out of the training grounds.
"Hey Vesper, why don't we spar, since today is the last day." Adolfus' voice came through.
Vesper stopped and turned back, Adolfus stood at the middle of the largest circle and said, "Just fist to fist, no weapon, no element usage, just me and you, what do you say?"
Vesper did not say a word and walked into the circle, removing his top revealing his flawless and well sculpted upper body.
Standing directly opposite Adolfus he said, "Begin when you are ready."
Adolfus smiled a bit, not taking his words to heart and lunged forward. Vesper met his fist with his and both of them locked in a position, the strength of their bodies caused the air to ripple.
In a few moments they exchanged a flurry of blows, Adolfus was on the offensive launching kicks and punches, while Vesper blocked and dodged.
While it seemed like Adolfus had the upper hand, none among the audience could truly say he did, because while Adolfus did have the strike advantage, Vesper still had his face as calm as it was before the fight began.
Having trained with Vesper for weeks, they knew that this meant he was not even giving it his attention.
They continued like this for a few minutes before Adolfus made a roundhouse kick, which Vesper blocked but what he did not expect was for him to continue with his other leg, landing a kick on Vespers' face.
Adolfus stood and watched Vesper take a few steps back. A smirk plastered his expression, like it was saying, 'who told you to be arrogant.'
Vesper stood straight and spat out blood, then he let out a smile.
"It seems you have learned to lure your opponents, very well, let us fight seriously then." He said as he lunged towards Adolfus.
With ferocity only heard of in tales of madmen, Vespers attacks descended on Adolfus, in less than a minute Adolfus was pushed back.
Everyone's eyes widened in fright and surprise, all this while Vesper battled them they had never seen this level of ferocity, and they wondered why.
As if reading their minds, Vespers' voice spread across the training ground, when you make a madman bleed, you ignite his madness. At that moment they saw Adolfus jump out of the circle even before Vespers' attack landed.
Vesper stood still as his expression returned to their usual calm and he spoke, "What you felt was my battle will, this can only be forged after walking on corpse of the strong."
With that he left the training ground, even forgetting his robe.
Adolfus gaze was pinned on Vesper until he vanished from sight, with a sigh he got up and said, "Well my dear siblings, I have shown you something wonderful at the expense of my body, don't underestimate him, and he doesn't really want to bond with us any more, remember that Aurora."
And like that they all walked out to the royal dining for lunch with the Emperor and the Empresses.
Vesper walked into his room and waved his hand bringing out a parchment, then he injected mana into it and it formed a barrier around his room.
He sat down and moved his hands causing darkness to encroach the room, after an hour of meditating someone knocked his door.
He got up and the room returned to normal, his eyes that were pitch black reverted to their regular colour.
He answered and saw Catherine standing in front of the door, then we welcomed her in.
"His majesty wishes for you to be of attendance during lunch, he wishes to discuss something with all of us." She said as soon as she walked in.
"May I know why, it is your highness that passes the message to me, surely his Majesty would not send the first princess to this commoners room." He said while his face remained nonchalant.
"Why are you acting so distant Vesper, do you no longer care for Aurora, she has been torn from the moment you started keeping everyone at distance." Catherine asked.
"I don't understand you highness, I am merely an adopted son of the late Empress, and I hold no official title, I should not meddle too much with royalty as it would cause a scandal, so please, do not accuse me of keeping distance, I am merely understanding my limits." He said.
Catherine looked at his eyes but found no emotion in them whatsoever, she wanted to speak but the words refused to form, then she turned and left.
Vesper closed the door as she left and let out a sigh.
An hour later in the Royal dining, everyone of the princes and princesses were seated, Marcus walked in with his wives and the children all got up and said in unison, "We greet the Imperial father."
With a wave of his hands they all sat down, and Marcus said, invite Vesper in, the doors opened and Vesper walked in draped in black with his hair wrapped in a ponytail.
As he got to the table he bowed, "I greet The Emperor and the Empresses."
Marcus waved his hands and said "Sit."
Without further ado Vesper sat at the table and began eating.
Anna stared at Vesper and then said, "Vesper, I don't remember his highness telling you to eat."
Vesper dropped his spoon and looked at the empress while he spoke, "His majesty, had given me permission the moment he told me to sit, I have done as you have asked for the past two weeks, is there not a time I would be left to wallow in my own pain."
His reply stunned everyone including Marcus and all their gaze turned towards Anna.