School day started again and exiting the rather mundane Carriage was Drak, draped in his new clothing. The dark blue jacket and pants showed a rather noble and expensive look, he never wore ever before. The sewing lines were all reinforced with golden threads giving those rims an elegant feeling, retaining usability even if trending styles would change.

The Boutique was rather frustrated with Drak’s demands as he wanted not only long usability but colour retention, self mending capabilities and high durability. While they could easily do this, those features were mostly used in Adventuring gear or from lower Clothing shops for less rich and esteemed people. A Duke’s Son asking for them made it a bit problematic, as at every step the designers asked at least twice if these specifications were really correct.

“Master, you look great in those clothings, radiating beauty and style in every direction!”

“Um… Thank you Celia, but I am still not used to wearing something that flamboyant.”

“...~”

“Please stop it, I am already conscious of myself, I want to get through this day without having a constant red face.”

“Do not worry, Master. The orders you made are already being created. Celia and Alice will also look rather good in their more ‘frilly’ Maid uniforms later.”

“Seria! You will have to wear them too!”

“I am aware and especially happy about it, as it is something Master bought and ordered especially for me.”

“I am happy too, but… It is such a nice fabric and glistening like Master’s Uniform.”

“Now, relax. If I have to s… wear something stylish, then we all should, right?”

“Master you wanted to say ‘suffer’ didn’t you!”

While having talks with each other, Drak finally found himself a bit more at ease. The looks to him had this time also some look of wonder, as his new outfit was rather different from before.

- Inside Class 108

“Hello Drak, your new Uniform is already ready? They worked really fast and you look great in it. How does it feel?”

“While the fabric is great, the looks I get are somewhat uncomfortable.”

“Do not worry about others looking at you. The most important thing is, you are feeling good inside the clothes and radiate the power of a duke’s son.”

“I will try. The best I can do right now is adapting to the new circumstances.”

With those words Eleonora had a small start.

“You are right, but everyone can adapt to new things, if they are dedicated enough. About the Cake, I have already made a reservation, it is again Room Eight, and hope to see you after Lunch.”

At those words a * crack * was heard behind them. Charles broke his pen he was using and threw the rest away while taking another one out of his table. Both Drak and Eleonora ignored him and just talked for a while longer until Class started.

-

Inside the Room 8 of the Mensa, Eleonora already waited for Drak to come. While she tried her best to look as normal as can be, her Retainers noticed something different about her.

“Everything okay, my Lady?”

“Yes, just thinking about how to approach the whole situation about the possibility of him not being the right Target. It makes me a bit nervous, as I feel like I don’t have everything under control.”

While lying to her Retainers, the Retainers themselves understand her worries.

“Not every time is a Mission fully in the grasp of our teams. Adaptability and reaction of changing perimeters is always needed, otherwise-”

A signal was given, which means their target was approaching the Room. Everyone got to position and the door was opened. Drak came this time with all his maids into the room. No one stood outside in waiting.

“Welcome Drak. I see you came quickly, have you eaten well?”

“Of course. But I have a little space left for a piece of Cake”

Some of the people inside had rather bad thoughts of ‘a rather big space’. No one seems to take the Mission right now seriously, as the target might be only one of the Maids and not this son of a Duke, which makes him secondary at best.

“Then sit down and let us talk. How was the small shopping tour you had with me last time?”

“It was rather eventful… but we are here because of you knowing a bit too much right now, aren’t we?”

“Eh? Drak, what are you-”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“To explain what Master meant, your People are right now trapped and do not see what we are talking about. You can speak openly.”

Seria rudely interrupted Eleonora, but she would not dare to be angry about this, as her life and maybe even the life of all inside this room were in the Hands of these people.

“Drak, I am sorry. You might already know, I am born with the ability to dream present and future events. The reason I was made to meet you is we are of similar age. I was already ready to meet you last year, but you were not on the list, even after your Father had called for the Documents to enlist you.”

“Yeah, he was eager to have the Documents ready, but it would have been strange if I came right after I was eligible, as I am a bastard Son.”

“That made it even more strange, as he already has the documents but sent them only after a year.”

“Oh. That, I had not realized, better be more thorough next time.”

‘Next time? What do you want to do next time?’

“...~”

“Nothing, really. I just want to remind myself to not leave hints around, that’s it.”

Eleonora was a bit shocked but remembered Alice next to Drak and was again shaken, as she could not even think without being mind read. She does not understand how that is possible, as she is wearing wards against it, but took it as a fact, that the Empire underestimated the Target this time.

“So Eleonora. What shall we do now?”

“Please, um… please call me Elly. And what I can offer you is a high Rank in the Empire of an Imperial Aristocrat, which is even higher than a King of your Count-”

“I do not need that, I wanted to know about what we are doing now, that you are knowing who I am.”

“Ah, yes. I can swear to never tell anyone about your true Identity and can give you even more benefits to make sure you are satisf-”

“Still not what I want. I just want to go to this School uninterrupted there is nothing I want from you as a Person or from the Empire.”

“But, you must have a goal to go to the School and make this place your home for the upcoming years. The Empire can give you easy access to those things, as long as you swear fealty to the Empire and support the Imperial Rule.”

“I have a goal, but right now I am currently working on creating that goal, while trying to hide. Why should I stop now and get it handed to me, just because of what I am?”

“I do not know the true goal of someone so powerful as you, but if the Empire knows it, then we could help you achieve it. Even marrying into the Imperial Family is an Option, as I was ready to give myself to you.”

Eleonora was ready to marry him and have his children which would create a new Imperial branch for all the benefits he could bring. Albeit she does not even know him that long and he might look different, but for the Empire, she could sacrifice her body and Soul right here and now. The conviction inside her Heart was that big, but…

Looking around she saw strange looks on the faces of the Maids and Drak looked also not amused. While everyone had a different Emotion emanating from them Eleonora notices Alice’s look and felt it familiar.

‘Those disappointing eyes. I felt them look at me before, haven’t I? The failed Vision!’

“I… I am sorry Drak! We are doing this the wrong way, so at first it would be better to ask you what you really want, so I can help you while keeping your secret! I will swear to not say anything even to the Empire!”

Realizing she is right now in a dangerous situation she needed to work on instinct and react how her Retainer told her shortly before the meeting. If she does not, she has no Idea what could happen. Failed Visions always came with a harsh cost for her or for people around her, so while she has no Idea what will come, she can at best throw her last chance to Drak by asking him herself.

“First of all, we need to make sure you will not suddenly betray me. The Peeper might be undetectable, but can not be sustained over long time, so here is a contract.”

“Peeper?”

Not understanding what he meant, Drak was putting a leathery contract on the table with engraved circles. The Contract was nothing she knew herself, but noticed the strong magical power on this piece.

“Is that leather? Some kind of Beast?”

While dazed, Seria started to explain.

“This is a special contract, created by engraving highly Magical ink with binding circles, which makes it nearly undetectable. To create it it needs the ingredients to be as similar as possible to the creature, that is signing the contract, which means the Ink had human Blood in it and the contracts leather is made out of human Skin. The best way would be if those Ingredients, were sourced from the creature itself, but Master did not like that Idea, and made it with more magical strength to overcome any discrepancies.”

Hearing ‘human Blood’ and ‘human Skin’ Eleonora started to shiver and was horrified by the implication of what was set in front of her. Drak saw this and eased her worries a bit, albeit clumsily.

“Do not worry, the owner of that was a mass Murderer and was better of dead, sooner rather than later. It might be vile, but not if the source is more vile than the gathering of the resources.”

“Ah, I… I understa… and!”

The shivering of Eleonora shows how little this made her ease up.

“So as you can see, the Contract says not to talk about secrets you have not sourced directly from your Spies or by yourself excluding your annoying Prediction abilities and secret talks like we are doing like this one right now, to make it an authentic cat and mouse play for your Spies, as otherwise they might suspect something. Also you have to keep the deductions about me and my People as inconclusive as we want you to. There are many clauses, but you get the gist of it. Seria closed all of the loopholes you could exploit and when you are in any way close to break the Contract you will feel it inside of you, which is also undetectable for others, as it is soul based.”

“Understood… wait, soul based?!”

‘This is a Soul Contract! Those things in old Legends?!’

“To sign you have to prick your finger and put your blood in this circle.”

Pulling out a pitch black needle, Eleonora had a realization.

‘Needle? My first Vision!’

Taking the Needle with shaking hands Eleonora pricked her finger and put it in the small circle to seal the deal. Feeling a sting putting her finger on the Contract she pulled back out of shock and saw her blood drawn in a thin line to the Contract out of its own.

‘Red String!’

The Wound closed and the Contract was finished. Drak gave the Needle and the Contract to Seria, who put it away.

“As we have not much time, we need to come to a closure. Is there anything else, you need or want to know?”

“Ah, yes. I still want to know what your true goal is. I can not work with you, without knowing what it is, you want to achieve.”

“Well, you are right. You at least should know, what I really want and why I do what I do.”

Hearing the seriousness in Drak’s voice she bears herself to hear the ultimate Goal of Drak. If it is something that threatens the Safety of the Empire, she would never work with him, even if she or all of her Subordinates die, but he seems to be reasonable, and can maybe be swayed later.

“The reason I need to finish this School is, I need the Certificate for my true goal.”

Swallowing her saliva Eleonora listened carefully wishing he would hurry up with the exposition.

“All the Borders to all the Kingdoms would open right after I get this piece of Paper, and with this I can become what I always wished to be: A travelling Merchant!”

“...what?”