I closed the book and left it on the table. Later I would finish, but for now that had to wait. Moving in the noise's direction, I reached the window on the left side of the door that led to the courtyard. I scanned the people outside to find out who would be my new bodyguard. Seeing the two on horseback, it was obvious.

They were dismounting. One of them was a sturdy man in his forties, wearing black leather and plate armor. He carried a sword, shield and a dagger on him. The other one was a woman. When she pulled back the hood on her cloak I was surprised by how young she was.

She couldn’t be older than twenty-two. Clad into snug leather and chain armor, armed with two swords, a bow and lots of knives. Pair this with a beautiful face and slim body and she was quite the stunner. But it was not her beautiful look that made me freeze for a brief moment. While I was staring at her, I suddenly saw something move inside her body. It looked like a ghost of a second being that hid in her, overlaying itself with her normal appearance. She still looked absolutely beautiful, but in a more seductive way.

I turned my head and observed the other people that were watching her. Seeing their starry eyes, I was sure that they hadn’t noticed it. Nobody seemed surprised or showed any other sign that they had seen something abnormal.

I only saw the change for a brief period before it vanished from view. Now the woman looked no different from any other, albeit more beautiful. Still, my gut feeling told me that what I had seen was not my imagination. Maybe my observing- and people reading abilities had changed while I had passed over into this world. I would have to test that theory out in the future.

I felt my protective instinct breaking forth thinking this suspicious woman would become the guard of my dear little sister; I had to act immediately.

____

POV Amanda Brightcloud

Standing in the courtyard, Amanda was observing the arrival of the new bodyguards. She watched them dismount from their horses, inwardly happy with her husband for sending a female and a male. The woman would be able to integrate herself with her daughter splendidly and the older man could show Aron how a proper warrior behaved.

Before she could walk forward to greet them, her son Aron moved past her from the side entrance and walked swiftly towards the young woman. Standing in front of her, he stated in a self-confident and resolute manner, “You, follow me! You will be my bodyguard from now on.” With that he turned his back on them and walked back towards the direction he had come from.

Amanda observed as the female bodyguard showed an annoyed expression for a split second before regaining her control, following her son towards the side entrance. Everything happened so quickly, Amanda could not stop it. Being left with the second bodyguard, she let it be. Aron should have a reason for wanting the girl. He had always been mature for his age.

Sometimes she wished that he would be a little less mature and be more impulsive. Maybe having a woman around him would make him open up a bit. She would observe from the side, but for now she would not interfere.

___

POV Sephiroth

Sephiroth had been in a foul mood since she had gotten the order to play bodyguard for the children of her commander. Everyone else would have loved it as it signalized the trust and belief in one's skills to let them protect their own children, but for her it was the worst possible outcome.

The reason for that was that Sephiroth was not human. She was a half demon. Being not human was not a problem as such, but as she was stranded in the human empire because of a teleport spell that had gone wrong, it made everything much worse. Humans were known for their beliefs into the superiority of their race. In addition, they thought all demons were evil beasts that had to be killed. If they found out she was part demon, they would kill her without hesitation.

One could now think why not flee as she could hide her demonic side. But that was only the case as long as nobody would scan her thoroughly. Sadly, if a civilian wanted to leave or enter the human empire, one had to undergo certain tests. Sephiroth knew that they would find out about her race if she underwent these tests.

Because of that, she had joined the military hoping to use a mission to get out of the empire without being recognized. People in the military didn’t have to undergo these strict tests. Theoretically they would be tested during admission, but depending on where you joined you got different treatments, that also included the intensity of the tests.

It didn’t mean that other races could easily infiltrate the army. Every soldiers that got to a certain rank or was exposed to important knowledge was thoroughly investigated. But Sephiroth was still only a normal foot soldier, she was able to circumvent that.

Everything had been going well. She had contributed quite a lot, using her stronger than normal body and additional tricks to successfully accomplish countless missions. Her superiors were very happy with her. Soon she had planned to ask for an assignment outside the empire.

But at the last moment she had gotten the order to protect the children of one of the commanders. She couldn’t reject it. It would look suspicious and would cost her quite a bit of trust and goodwill. So she had gone along with it. Hopefully, it would not be for too long.

Having gotten her mood under control they arrived at the estate. Knowing that she and Richard would have to guard a boy named Aron, and a girl named Lea, she prepared herself mentally for having to babysit a girl for most of the upcoming year. It was normal for a female bodyguard to be assigned to a female charge. But only seconds after she had dismounted, a sixteen-year-old youth walked up to her.

“You! Follow me! You will be my bodyguard from now on!”

With that he turned and strode back towards the building he had come from. Suppressing her emotions, she quickly followed her new charge. She knew that she looked stunning. That had brought her a lot of troubles in the past. She feared that he was smitten with her. That was the only logical reason for him to pick her instead of the sturdier build Richard. He looked much more fearsome than her. On face value, he would be the stronger guard.

Hopefully she could divert his attention elsewhere. She would never agree to any shenanigans that the young noble might had in mind. Sephiroth steeled herself. But instead of arriving in a bedroom, they arrived in the library. At that point the young noble turned himself towards her, looking at her with clear eyes.

——

POV Aron Brightcloud

Having arrived back at the library, I stood in front of my new bodyguard and noted again how gorgeous she was. Luckily, I had not the mind of a sixteen-year-old youth. Instead, I was a jaded twenty-eight years old war veteran/detective who had seen how nasty people could be. Beauty on the surface was surreal. Knowing that, I suppressed my urges and didn’t pay attention to her curves anymore.

“My name is Aron. As you know you will be responsible for my safety for the foreseeable future. I understand that you will need to implement certain procedures to ensure that nobody will harm me. Tell if I have to act in a certain way or refrain from doing certain things to make my life safer.”

Seeing her acceptance, I spoke further.

“During the time we are in the presence of other people you will address me as young master. But if we are alone, it is acceptable to simply call me Aron. I care little about etiquette. That’s all about this topic. Now some general information. The servants will bring your luggage into the room directly beside mine. You will have a direct connection to my rooms. You can ask one of the maids to show you around tomorrow so you will get to know the surroundings.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Having finished my narration, it was time to get some information from her.

“If you have questions, you can ask them now, otherwise I will ask some of my own.”

Watching her stay silent, I focused myself. Now came the interesting part. “Tell me about yourself. Who are you and what are your strengths?”

Seemingly indifferent to my direct questions, she answered them. Even so, I could see that she was not happy.

“My name is Sephiroth, I work for your dad as a scout and am one of his most trusted followers. I am very proficient with swords, throwing knives and the bow. As a scout I am used to living in the wilderness and stay hidden from my enemies.”

Listening to her, I noted that she spoke about her strengths, but she didn’t reveal any actual information about herself.

“Good to know. What about you as a person? How did you grow up and what did you do before you joined the army under my dad?”

What then followed was an untrue story of her being an orphan that had somehow survived as a beggar in the streets of a neighbouring city, before she fled from some tugs into the wilderness. There, she had lived and honed her scouting and fighting skills. Later she had been found by my father, since then she had been working for him.

I had to pay attention to give nothing away, I could feel it clearly. It was like I had an additional sense that told me if she was believing in what she told or not. Even so, I didn’t alert her I had caught onto her lies. Nodding, I played the clueless boy. I didn’t stop asking her questions. This was a splendid opportunity to find out more about my ability, clarifying its powers in this new world.

Some questions were simple, or I knew the right answer already. I still asked them to verify what my gut told me. The more answers I got, the surer I was that my ability to read people had upgraded into a sort of lie detector. It needed to be tested further but this result gave me a lot of security in dealing with people. At the end, I asked her the most important question. “Do you plan to do anything bad to me or my family?”

As the question had come unexpectedly and with no connection to the previous questions, it stunned her for a second. Having caught herself, she shook her head. Looking straight into my eyes she answered, “Aron, I would never harm you or your family and am loyal to your father, believe me.”

Although she had lied about the loyalty part, it was clear that she had no ill intentions towards us. I was sure to a certain degree that she was no immediate threat to my family.

“Good, then that’s all.”

I walked towards the table, seated myself and continued reading where I had left earlier. Leaving Sephiroth to herself.

I watched her covertly while I played the young noble that was engrossed in his book. Her behavior would give more information on how she would behave if she thought I wasn’t paying attention to her. I had to be sure I didn’t have a ticking time bomb next to my family. My enhanced lie detection gave me an edge, but I didn’t fully trust my new abilities just yet. If there was a logical explanation for her lies, it was counterproductive to estrange her with pointing out her secrets.

Sephiroth reacted professionally and walked over to my side, positioning herself in a way to have the window and the entrance in her sight. She didn’t move or asked anything, she simply stood there like a guardian statue.

It looked like finding out more about her would be harder than I thought. Her behavior still gave me some information. She was mature and patient for her age. Understanding I would not find out more details, I focused on the book. The chapter I was reading now had the name magicians and their familiars.

A magician was a dangerous weapon that could do immense damage to his surroundings, but they also had weaknesses. They were not as fast or strong and durable as a melee fighter. This was due to how they used the won energy of killing monsters to develop their magic instead of their bodies. Because of this shortcoming, magicians had developed different tactics to guard against others. One such strategy was making a contract with a familiar.

After contracting a familiar, it was a mage’s most trusted companion who grew alongside him and protected him. Every mage would bond with their familiar at the enrollment ceremony during their first year in magic college. The professors would hold a ritual to boost the power of each new student so they could reach further towards the other planes where the familiars lived and contract a being that was aligned with themselves and as powerful as they could handle.

While reading it became darker and darker. Slowly the evening had arrived. At a certain point Sandra came over and asked if I wanted to eat with my family. I thought about it, but decided against it. As Sephiroth was here, it was time to further my plans regarding building up my strength.

I looked at the maid and replied, “Tell my mother that I am busy studying some books and I’ll eat by myself tonight. Bring two meals up to my rooms, you can go now.”

“Yes, young master, I will do that immediately.” She answered before turning and walked away.

I watched her leave before I stood up myself and moved toward my rooms. I observed my quiet guardian. She noiselessly trailed behind me, her focus on our surroundings.

Entering my apartment, I walked through my bedchamber and entered a second room that I hadn’t paid attention to this morning. It was a cozy living room. I planted myself in one of the armchairs and mentioned for Sephiroth to do the same.

I watched her as she gracefully slid into the chair opposite from me. I could fully relate to the starring personal when the bodyguards had first arrived this afternoon.

Seeing that I had her full attention, I didn’t beat around the bush and immediately began with the main topic. “As I became victim to an assassin attempt, I realized how little I know about paying attention to my surroundings and fighting. I never want to have that happen to me again, so I have decided to learn how to fight and defend myself. I want you to be my teacher. My father only sends the best he can get, so I am sure that you will be excellent.”

Outwardly she didn’t react to my order, but inwardly I could feel that she didn’t like it. Reading her, I was sure that she thought I was a proud and arrogant noble, who had no clue about hardships and perseverance.

“As you wish Aron, but if you really want to grow strong, you have to follow my command to the last syllable during your training. I have to push you to your limits otherwise this entire endeavor is meaningless.”

Seeing the glint in her eyes, I suddenly felt that she would use this opportunity to push me around to her heart's content. I felt a shiver going down my spine, I suddenly had a bad premonition. I strengthened my resolve. This was my chance to become strong, I had to take it!

“Okay, you may have the lead and decide fully by yourself how I should train. During my training you will be my superior and I will follow every command you give, as long as it is about training.”

“Good, if it is like that I will train you, but be aware it will be painful.”

I imagined seeing a sadistic smirk on her face. At that moment I had the feeling that maybe I shouldn’t have taken her as my instructor, but it was already too late. I wanted to grow stronger; she was the right person to learn from.

“No problem.”

“Good, if that’s the case we will begin tomorrow morning when the sun rises. I would recommend you to go to sleep early tonight. Tomorrow will be a long day.” She smiled at me at the end of the sentence.

Now I was sure she had definitely a sadistic streak. I followed her suggestion and went to bed early. At the beginning I had troubles falling asleep. I was edgy about tomorrow. Common Andrew! You were over one and a half year participant in an elite soldier program, it can’t be that hard, relax! Forcing my thoughts to quite down, sleep finally arrived and I drifted off towards the dreamland.