It was currently deep night, and I was now once again sitting in a certain hidden alcove deep within the Fortress. The crescent moon's glow was bathing me in its soft light as I was fully engrossed in reading a thick old book.

A few days had passed since Margarette's unpleasant visit, and she hadn't made any effort to contact me ever since.

Thus, with almost visible relief, I was able to put my worries about what she might do next to the back of my mind and instead focus on trying to find a way out of this predicament.

This meant that I was now reading a very different book than I usually did. To Jenny's utter bewilderment, I asked her at our last meeting to bring me this exact tome, which contained all the laws governing the city.

I was particularly interested in the section concerning marriage laws, which I was now meticulously studying. I desperately searched for any possible loophole within the laws that would allow me to escape this betrothal without having to make an enemy of the Count.

However, so far, I have had no such luck and was forced to admit that the person who had written this clearly knew what he was doing.

'I guess they must have already thought about all the loopholes over time and fixed them, as I'm certainly not the first one to harbor such thoughts...' I thought dejectedly.

Meanwhile, Jenny sat beside me, watching as I read with clear perplexion on her unassuming face, as if she was struggling to understand why I wanted to read such a difficult book as this one.

Still, I couldn't help but notice that beneath Jenny's bewilderment, there was also something else. It almost looked like... longing, and it seemed like her spirit was in some faraway place.

Thus, with a sense of curiosity, I looked up from the book and asked her, "What's wrong?"

She blinked a few times as if surprised I noticed it, but then she forced out a smile, saying, "Nothing... Don't worry about it."

I furrowed my brows as this didn't seem like nothing since I had never seen her make such an expression before. But I didn't force her, and instead, we sat in silence for a while, gazing at the beautiful moon.

Finally, after a long while, Jenny sighed and looked at me. "I just wish for everything to return to how it was before... How I was before. I don't care about magic or power... I simply want to return to sitting in my little garden in the mountains while watching the cows graze the slopes behind our house and not worry about a thing..."

I quietly listened to her reminiscing about her lost home. I could sympathize with such feelings as I, too, sometimes fondly remembered the peace and quiet of the Forest behind our village and how I used to escape there at every opportunity.

'I guess all the pressure of court life must have finally caught up with her...' I realized.

However, her longing look and tender smile soon disappeared from her face as she dejectedly said. "But it's already too late..."

'What's that supposed to mean?' I wondered, but Jenny didn't elaborate further and returned to silently staring at the moon.

Well, I was in a different situation than her, but still, I wanted to get as far away from the Nobless’ intrigues as I could; thus, I returned to my desperate search in the law book.

However, in the end, I couldn't find anything that would allow me to get out of the betrothal without causing a scandal at the court.

I was reluctantly forced to admit that my only remaining hope was that Margarette wouldn't be able to stand it and break up with me herself.

'Well, whatever...' I closed the book with a resentful sigh. Still, simply getting engaged doesn't mean I would have to marry her anytime soon, certainly not until I come of age at least, and by then, I'm confident I will be able to find a way to cancel it, whatever the cost may be...

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Thus, while resolving myself to stop worrying about this engagement business altogether, I said my goodbyes to Jenny and returned home to settle into my usual routine.

I decided to put all my thoughts about the threat of marriage to the back of my head as I once again focused wholeheartedly on my magic training now that we were finished with the elixir crafting for the time being.

Still, at that moment, I had no idea that my much-welcomed respite wouldn't last for long, and not even a week later, my peaceful routine would be cruelly interrupted right when I least expected it.

***

It was late at night, and I was just preparing for tomorrow's lesson when I heard a heavy pounding on my door.

I instantly straightened up while slightly startled from being so abruptly interrupted. Then, with a silent curse, I went to open them while furrowing my brows, wondering who it might be so late, only to find an agitated-looking Jorn who regarded me with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Sir, but there is this weird girl waiting at the entrance, refusing to leave until she sees you... What are your orders?"

'Huh?' I blinked a few times in confusion as I didn't expect anybody tonight, let alone some lone girl.

"Who is she?" I asked with a hint of curiosity.

Jorn threw me an awkward look as he scratched the back of his head. "Well... She didn't give us her name, and I couldn't take a good look at her face as she was wearing a hood."

I raised an eyebrow as this whole situation was getting weirder and weirder.

Then, with a sigh, I decided to go check it out for myself as I quickly realized I wouldn't get any helpful intel from Jorn, who, as it stands, is an outstanding fighter, but when it comes to information gathering, he still had a long way to go.

Thus, I quickly put on a light coat and followed after Jorn, who led me to the main entrance area, where I immediately spotted a small figure cowering in a corner under the watchful gaze of another of Jorn's men who was making sure she didn't do anything funny.

But right as I was in the middle of the staircase, I froze in my steps as I already knew who it was. "Jenny?" I asked in utter bewilderment, "What are you doing here?"

Both the guards and Jenny raised their heads and looked at me in confusion. I instantly realized my blunder and quickly made my way down while pretending like Nothing had happened.

I realized it was her right away as I had already, from an abundance of caution, activated my magic sense while I was still on the staircase and saw the waves of essence radiating from her core.

I knew right away it was her as she was the only person in Ereneth apart from the Count himself who had such vast reserves.

Disregarding my confused guards, I quickly grabbed Jenny's forearm and dragged her to the adjacent room.

When we were finally alone, I furrowed my brows and repeated my previous question with a sense of urgency. "What are you doing here?"

However, instead of replying, Jenny grabbed my hands and pleaded. "Please, you have to help me!"

I was slightly taken aback by the evident desperation in her voice. But then I straightened up and asked, "Help you with what?"

"My parents! They captured them and are holding them in the dungeons under the Fortress! They said that if I don't do as they say, they will hurt them!" Jenny exclaimed.

"Wait, wait... What? Start from the beginning. Who are "they," and why would they want to capture your parents?" I raised my hand, stopping Jenny's incoherent rambling as I tried to make sense of it all.

She saw that I wouldn't budge on this, so ultimately, she sighed and slumped her shoulders while saying.

"Well, it's mostly Sir Roderick... but there are others. You see, there is a certain faction of nobles at the court, working together to strengthen their positions, and Sir Roderick sometimes works with them when it's advantageous for him, but he also tries to keep his distance from them... It's complicated."

She paused while she gathered her thoughts, and I nodded at her encouragingly for her to continue.

"Lately, Sir Roderick's lessons were becoming too difficult for me, and I had trouble keeping up with them... I tried to tell him that I'm trying my best, but he wouldn't listen... for some reason, he is convinced that I'm slacking on purpose to sabotage him..."

Jenny then started sobbing. "At our last lesson, I couldn't go on any further, and I collapsed, which made him angry... I never saw him so angry before. He stormed out of the room and said I will regret it... And then he kept me locked up in my room until one day when some other noble came and took me to the dungeons... I finally saw my parents after so long... but they didn't let me talk to them and said that if I cause any more problems, I will never see them again..."

She then raised her head to look straight at me. "That was when I decided to find a way to rescue my parents and escape the city altogether... And I need your help!"