What happened after that, he did not know. The world shook for a second, and he lost consciousness. The next thing he knew, he was on his back, outside the seed bank. The box of Silverbirch seeds was beside him.

Nathan looked at the box, realizing that he would have to put that back. Oh, no. No, no, no. The seed nearly took him over the first time he went there. There was no way he was going back. The seeds would have to make do with having to grow. There were plenty of other boxes in there.

"I suppose something interesting happened?" Pulsie asked.

"Yes." Nathan groaned. "I feel like I could sleep for a decade."

"Oh good, you're not exhausted at all." Pulsie commented. Nathan paused. That did not sound good.

"What happened?" he asked.

"The Aer's back." Pulsie commented.

"Ok..." Nathan replied. That wasn't that bad. The Aer should leave once he gave him the seed.

"There is also a crowd outside the palace gates that wants its opinions heard on something."

Nathan groaned again, collapsing onto the floor. Even lying down on the hard floor felt better than getting up again.

"What do they want?"

"I didn't ask."

Nathan's eye twitched.

"Perhaps I should tell them to wait." Pulsie said. "If you're that tired-"

A scoff spilled from his lips as he closed his eyes. "Oh sure, let's tell the mob gathered outside our gates that they'll have to wait for me to finish my beauty sleep. That will go well."

Nathan groaned again, pushing himself onto his feet. A dizzy ache gathered at the edge of consciousness, making him clutch his head as he walked towards the elevator. And then huffed.

"Have the Princess come up and get me. I am not walking down the stairs right now."

"The Princess is asleep."

"Well, wake her up." Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Oh, sure." Pulsie sounded surprised.

"Have they burnt anything?"

"What?" Pulsie's surprise hadn't faded yet.

"The crowd. Have they burnt anything? Tried to get through the gates?" Nathan asked as he felt the elevator come up. Wait, what? Nathan sensed again, surprised that he was sensing it. That was new. Did the encounter change him somehow?

The amulet came off as he let his wings unfurl behind him. Hmm, it actually added to his balance somehow. Now to check them for changes. Nathan turned around, trying to check his wings without craning his neck too much. The exertion had his headache coming back with vengeance.

But it was worth it.

The black and gold in the wing had grown...bolder? The difference was difficult to describe. But it was there. The magic within had been redefined, remade into something stronger. The answer came to him in a rush of thoughts, and a renewed sense of vigor from his mana.

Master stage.

Nathan had broken into the Master stage. How utterly great. Now if only he wasn’t too fucking exhausted to enjoy it.

sc

When Nathan had arrived here, he had wondered why the Diery family had made their halls so bloody long. Now he saw why. The entire crowd of protesters could fit into a single hall. Now, it could be an illusion caused by his addled brain, but it seemed like the hall had expanded to fit more people in.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

A man stepped out of the crowd. Nathan noted the hands folded behind his back, the upright posture and the flaring mana. A proud one, huh.

But before the court could begin, the Aer interrupted.

"I demand that I be given priority!" the Aer pronounced, appearing in the air. Nathan had to stop the defenses from trying to strike him down.

The man from the crowd frowned at the Aer, opening his mouth to comment. Nathan raised a hand to stop him.

"Here. Take the seed." he held the box out. "Then leave us."

The Aer sniffed. "I would think that you would at least separate the specimen-"

"Lord Aer." Nathan growled. "I would recommend you take the seed and begone."

The Aer looked at him with distaste. "I think you could do with some more politeness. I doubt the Countess will be pleased with your decorum."

"I think you have outlived our hospitality, Lord Aer." Nathan warned, knowing well that he was overreacting. The idiot was getting on his nerves. And he was too tired to control himself.

The Aer's eyes narrowed, clearly considering whether to push it. Nathan held his gaze. The Aer had definitely known more about the seed bank than he was letting on. And he was about done with other forces playing tricks with him.

"If you wish to peddle your wares, then you may approach the Countess when she returns. Now, please take your price and leave." he said.

The Princess appeared behind him, her mana flaring as if to accentuate his words. At least she knew how to read social cues.

The Aer looked at them for a second, and then in an incredible display of magical finesse, teleported a seed from the open box before teleporting away in a quickly formed portal. The entire thing took less than a second. Even the Empress couldn’t have handled two teleportation spells in such quick succession.

A silence filled the air after he left. Nathan sighed, observing the crowd. This was a remarkably peaceful protest. Even if he had only witnessed a single protest in his lifetime, he had heard rumors. And the Emperor had made it a point to teach him about them.

"Please, state your case, Mr.-" Nathan inclined his head, trying to ask the headman to introduce himself. For the life of him, he couldn't handle these non-verbal cues and social rules.

"I am known as Headman Schoff, sir." The headman gave a short bow. Well, this guy clearly knew the social rules better than him.

"A pleasure to meet you, Headman Schoff. What brings you-"Nathan indicated to the crowd-" and your comrades here?"

"The people of Diery would simply like to have their voice heard, sir." the Headman said.

Nathan nodded. "And what do the people of Diery wish to say here?"

The conversation was going a little slow in his opinion. Then again, who cared for his opinion anymore. Nathan rested his head on his fist, trying not to act like he was too tired to listen to their complaints. That would be rude. Even if it was true.

The headman pursed his lips, staring at Nathan for a moment before continuing. "I represent a faction that feels that the government has been moving too quickly with changes in recent months."

Nathan nodded. "What changes do you feel-"

"Please, sir, let me finish. " The headman interrupted.

"In a matter of months, there have been significant changes in how the county operates. I do not mean to question the wisdom of the Diery family, but I must-"

"Headman Schoff." Nathan forced a smile on his face. "I realize that you likely have a speech you wish to make, and in normal circumstances, I would allow you to make it. That is the least amount of courtesy I could give you. But as it is, you have caught me at an unfortunate time, and I must ask that you get to the point. This is not a noble court and there is no need for you to care for my feelings. I will not be offended just because you said a few mean words."

A murmur passed through the crowd, and Nathan was sure he had been judged. Had he passed? Well, what the heck did he care?

"Please, proceed."

"I find it disheartening that the government does not have time for its people's-"

"Headman Schoff." Nathan huffed, letting his voice blast across the hall. "The government has plenty of time for its people's problems. But as I told you just moments before, you have caught me at a bad time.

I have not slept in over thirty hours, have had to deal with some rather advanced mind magic in my weakened state, and then broken through to the Master stage for my trouble. I have had to deal with far more politics than I wished to in my entire life, in just the last twenty-four hours, so please, excuse me if when I say, get to the point."

"I-as you wish, sir." The Headman looked at Nathan confrontationally.

"The government has not consulted any of the village headman or administration before, I quote, building a new city, replanning the current cities, changing the entire army, rebuilding the roads through our farms, gifting Diery lands to foreigners, starting a trade war that has impacted the cost of crops-"

"I get your point, Headman."

"If you do, sir, then what are you going to do about it?" the Headman asked.

Nathan held his gaze, trying to seem like he was doing something deep and thoughtful, while actually pushing his brain to come with some kind of answer. There was only one that occurred to him.

"I am going to go over the changes with you. A number of things that you mention have not been decided yet, or have taken us by surprise." he said. "The government could use your help. As regent of Diery in the Countess' absence, I would like to invite you and any other representatives to take part in finalizing these decisions and taking any others. Is that satisfactory?"

"Oh." the Headman suddenly looked shifty. "That-is acceptable, yes, sir."

Why was that surprising now? Nathan was far too tired to think anymore about that.

"Is there anything else that this...protest wishes to bring to my attention?" he asked.

"No, sir." the headman replied.

"Then I shall retire until..." Nathan did some quick calculations. "One hour after noon. I look forward to seeing you in the administration office, Headman Schoff."

"Yes, sir." the headman bowed as he stepped away, following what was probably court protocol. Nathan wouldn't know, he hadn't learned that yet.

Oh well, there would be time for that. Nathan waited for the crowd to leave, a process that took far too long. A full five minutes, even with the crowd's cooperation and doors that seemed to enlarge to fit them. The process would have been even more painful if he didn't fall asleep in between. That was probably a bad idea.

But feck it, he was tired enough to sleep on this bloody uncomfortable throne. Why the heck would someone make a throne from solid wood? Add flowers in front of it? Nathan couldn't even relax his legs without stepping on them. And stepping on flowers that probably hadn't wilted for millennia or something seemed like a bad idea.

"Regent." the Princess said, jolting him from his sleep. "I was wondering if-"

"Can it wait till I wake up?" he asked, groaning himself back to wakefulness. And stepping on a few thousand-year-old flowers in the process. Oh, well. At least the flower didn't seem that damaged.

"Oh- I suppose." the Princess said, clearly reluctant.

The wise decision would probably have been to give her the time of day. The Princess was a powerful Adept stage, probably the youngest and most talented the county had right now. If what he knew of the Mad King's bloodline was true, she was probably the most powerful, too. The Countess would probably go out of her way to make her feel welcome.

Nathan? Now, he understood that, intellectually. But he couldn't even keep his eyes open long enough to focus on her. There was such a thing as priorities.

Stumbling through the corridors, he somehow managed to make it to his room without breaking something. At least he thought he didn't break something. Well, he would deal with it later.

Nathan jumped onto the bed, barely stopping, draping the blanket on him before trying to fall asleep.

"What are we going to do about the rest of the seeds?" Pulsie asked.

Nathan groaned, wondering if he could throw something at the plant.

"Can I just put them back in their place?"

Nathan paused. What? Did that idiotic plant just say that it could have handled seeds THIS ENTIRE TIME.

AN: psst...I made it. Well, it's technically after midnight here, but most of you guys are in the west anyway...so it works. I hope. Oh, and Ending Maker is a funny manga. So is Fate Points (that's actually a book on RR)