Later that day we were called to the director's office. The boy, David, wake up some time afterwards with some bruises. You would think that my slap would be the most damaging element on that little event, but no. Surprisingly, it was his attempt at flying that made most damage to his body. Maybe it was the cake that protected him? If that was the case, that cake is really something else.

Me and Nora, inside the main buildings, are heading to the office in the highest floor.

"I was never called to the director office before..."

"Are you the perfect student type?"

"No... It's just..."

"Nervous?"

"A little. To be honest, I think this is just a formality and nothing will happen because of your rank and my situation. The director would be in trouble if my family or the royal family even dreamed about me getting punished. But still..."

"Situation?"

"Oh, yeah... I still haven't told you about it... I'll tell you tonight in our room. For now let's just hear what the director has to say."

"Ok."

Considering her hair and what she said, my guess is that an engagement is involved in her story. And like I guessed, she must be from an important family. It kind of reminds my situation too, before I rebelled.

Nobles... They play some interesting games. Usually, each couple has at least 3 sons, and the one with higher rank is used for the family main goals. The others are used as "reserves" or for less important goals. By goals I mean alliances, trade agreements, peace offerings, etc...

But of course, the main goal of every family is increasing their chances to have high ranked children. When an red mage has children with an yellow mage, the chances of having a red, orange or yellow mage is higher. That's why each couple has several children. In a way, having a baby is like playing lottery. Imagine my parents- no, my family faces when they heard the news that my mother new son was a white mage.

Why are high ranked mages so important in the end? Well, part of it is because of appearences. Who wouldn't respect a noble house full of yellow mages? In fact, the royal family always tries to have orange mages or higher as successors. They will pick a 6 year old orange mage as the new king or queen instead of 20 year old brother with a lower rank.

Another part is because of the power. Duels happen. And wars too. Having 1 or 2 extra orange mages can make the difference on a battlefield.

Some families can also be brutal. They won't hesitate sending a violet, blue or light blue mage to be trained as a Knight for the Royal Army. This is almost like banishing them from the family. But it isn't that bad, they can still have a good life, unlike the normal black hair soldiers.

We reach the director office. Nora knocks on the door.

"Excuse us, can we enter?"

"Yes."

We enter. It's a luxurious office with a considerable space. In front of us there's a huge desk and a couch where the green haired director, in his 40's, is seated. Behind him there is a big window.

"C'mon c'mon you both, sit. I have too much work to do, so let's get this over with."

We sit on the two chairs in front of his desk.

"Mr. Director, I'm terribly sorry about my Servant behaviour, I--"

"Oh just forget that. We both know that I can't do anything to you. I was planning calling you in today anyway, incident or not. I have some things to tell you. And forget the formalities, just call me Adrert."

"I... Yes Mr. Adrert..."

Nora looks awkwardly away.

"So, where should I begin? Hmmm, well, you both caused quite an uproar in the capital. Better prepare yourselves, things will only get complicated from now on. Every family will now go after you and your Servant. And I am not refering just to our country families. This information will leak to the other countries without a doubt."

Our world has 2 main island-like continents separated by the ocean. On our continent, Crirone, we have 4 countries: Gastein in the West, Deaestein in the North, Deobourhiel in the South and our country Coeburg in the East. The other continent Terand, East of Crirone, is controled by the Ediviel Empire. Or at least it was like that in my time, in 900 years many things could have happened. All of them have a system similar to our country, the nobles are the ones who rule.

"..."

"Your family is one of the most important trading families of Crirone, so I guess they will cover your backs. But still, expect a lot of backstabbing opportunists. You too Al, Duncan or whatever your name is. I'm pretty sure a lot of ladies will try to get you naked, so try to control yourself if you don't want to have many babies calling you papa."

Considering Servants still have organs and function like normal humans, they can still have offsprings. So it's obvious many ladies will try to get me to impregnate them, in hope of increasing their chances of having white haired or redhead kids. But I am a Servant, so I'm pretty sure they will just say the baby is from someone else. This also happened in the past, thus why I don't sleep with any random woman.

"I think his name was Alddan, Mr. Adrert."

"Riiight... You had another dream then? Well, another thing I have to say is that they found only 5 white mages in the capital records. 2 are from 200 and 1000 After Calamity and almost nothing is known about them. 1 died as a child in 3450, so we can scratch that one, and the other 2 are from 1500 and 2800. None of them is called Alddan or any name that starts with Al. So yeah, either your dreams are giving you wrong names or our friend here never existed. Try to search for these people in the legends."

As expected, I also don't appear on the capital records. I am from 3736 After Calamity. On one hand, it makes sense I wouldn't appear since they wouldn't want me to shame their noble heritage and history. On the other, did I really leave no footprint in history? Did the nobles back then made me disappear like that? Or... Did I never exist...?

"Another thing I have to say is that your may-be-fiance is coming here sooner than expected."

"Prince Vanadis is coming? Wasn't he supposed to appear on the tournament day?"

"Yes, he was, but he probably wants to check out your Servant. Or maybe he wants to talk with you. Or both."

"..."

Adrert looks at a pot at his side. Picks it up and pours the liquid into a cup. It's coffee.

"That was all I wanted to say. Any questions?"

"No Mr. Adrert."

"Ok then, chop chop. I have many things to do."

We get up and head to the door, but before that he says:

"Oh, by the way Alddan, do your Master a favor and don't beat up anymore students or Servants from now on. They might resent her because of that."

"..."

I chose to be silent. We exited the office.

We had dinner with Nora friends. Muscle Head today was very insistent and wouldn't shut up about a "friendly fight". To be honest, I was very close to punch him. Being awake for more than 24 hours can make anyone short tempered.

After that, we finally arrived our room.

"Al, do you want to take a bath?"

"Now that you mention it, I could use one. Is it ok to take it in the bathroom?"

"Yes, make sure to clean things after you're done. Just open the faucet and pour mana into the bathtub. It has some Heat Crystals below the bathtub and they will heat the water. Take the pajamas with you."

Faucet? What the heck is a faucet?

After picking up the pajamas from the dresser, I open the door to the private bathroom. It's similar to the boys bathrooms. A toilet, a bathtub, a heater... The difference is...

There's a funny thing on the bathtub. It's a tube with a circle thingy. I'm going to assume that's the faucet.

I put my hand on the circle thingy and turn it. Water comes out.

"Huh... Tecnology..."

....

After I took my bath, I put on the pajamas. It feels nice being dressed in something so light after spending so much time with the same clothes. My clothes are ordinary but my coat is another story. It is made from special materials. All of it. I can store there 5000 negative or positive mana. Compared with normal armors, it's light and allows me to move freely. On the other hand, it won't protect me from physical attacks.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I exit the bathroom. Nora is reading a book.

"It's all yours princess."

"Did you clean it after you were done?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, I'll be done in a moment."

She enters the bathroom.

My bed looks so attactive today. I think as soon I lay down, I will fall asleep. So I better not. Nora has something to tell me.

I look at the book she was reading. "Petals of Far Away Land". It seems like one of those novels where the prince saves the damsel in distress and everyone lives happily ever after. Pity the reality isn't like that.

I hear the faucet pouring water.

I better take this time to think about the current situation...

- There are no books in the library that talk about me;

- I don't appear in the records;

- I traveled 935 years into the future;

- Both times that Nora gave me orders, I couldn't refuse them;

- I don't know if I am like the other Servants.

I have no idea if I existed or not. The only way to find out would be by going to Qahs Holm or by looking for clues in history books. It seems like the nobles back then did a good job making me disappear from history, so I probably won't appear in any of them. I have to search for my family name and look for clues in discrepancies or obvious lies. There's no way they could erase my family from history, they were a very old family that participated in many historical main events.

"Hmmm..."

But still, going to Qahs Holm would be the best bet. I wonder if I could convince Nora to go there... I would need a very good reason, I cant just say "hey nora, let's go to Qahs Holm".

"Man... This is going to be tough..."

Raising an army, finding supporters and fighting the nobles is already a tough challenge. But with this... How the hell am I going to do this...?

Even if I discover I existed or not, what then? I'll still be a Servant. How am I going to get out of this situation?

"*sigh*"

There are 2 solutions: Either I find a way to get out of this contract or I convince Nora to fight with me. Both are very unlikely...

I'm sure no one bothered to research how to cancel the contract. And even if I manage to cancel it, will I die because I will not be able to replenish the mana? And Nora is a redhead from an important family and is probably engaged with the prince. That's every noblewoman fantasy. How the hell will I convince her to throw all that away?

"...damnit..."

The more I think about it, the more frustrated I become...

"*sigh* ...Let's just... Take one step at a time. I always found a way to solve my problems, this time is no different."

Yeah. I need to think positive. I'm just tired and I need some sleep.

....

After a while, Nora comes out of the bathroom in her pajamas.

"Al... You really like to stare out of the window."

I'm standing close to the window, looking outside.

"What can I say, I like staring at the moon."

"Only the moon?"

"No, I also like to stare at another things."

"Like what?"

"Sorry but I prefer not to say. Last time you put me reading legends all night. I can't take another one like that."

"You........"

She is looking at me with an angry face. Cute.

"Anyway, you earlier said you were going to tell me something?"

"Yeah."

"...And?"

"I'm wondering if you deserve to know..."

"You are hurting my feelings princess..."

"Keep that up and I might end up hurting you even more."

"How so?"

"How about I order you to beat your own crotch until you pass out? That might put a stop to your little jokes."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

I better step back on this one. I don't want to find out if she's serious.

"Ok ok, sorry Miss Nightingale."

"Hmph, whatever. And call me Nora."

The symbol on my hand shines.

"Ok Nora."

She looks at my hand in surprise and says "oops". Great, she gave me an order without realizing it. God damnit woman, be careful with what you say would you?

"I'm going to prepare some tea while I explain my situation. It's kind of a long story so bear with me."

In short, Nora is more or less betrothed to prince Vanadis, yellow mage. Nora father is the older brother of the queen, mother of Vanadis. Nora and the prince are cousins.

Nora's father, Seril, was to be the successor but when his sister was born, he lost all his chances to the throne, because he is an yellow mage and his sister is an orange mage. That's why Seril resents the queen.

Seril was later married off to one of the daughters of the Nightingales, one of the most important merchant families in Crirone continent. Nora's mother is a green mage. It was very unexpected when their first daughter was a red mage.

When Nora was born, Vanadis was already 2 years old. The royal family wanted Nora to be married to Vanadis. However, Seril didn't want that and the Nightingales wanted to marry her to the royal family who gave better offers. So the Coeburg royal family engaged in negotiations with the Nightingale family, as did the other royal families from the other countries.

In the end, Coeburg offered the better deal and the Nightingales agreed. However Seril, as one of the parents, used his right to impose a condition on the marriage contract:

Nora will marry Vanadis only if she agrees to it by her 20th birthday.

"Both families were enraged by the condition, but they had to respect it. When I was younger I liked to think father did it to protect me or something like that, but... He only did it because he doesn't want me to marry the Coeburg royal family. He still resents them."

We are both sitting on my bed.

"I see. And if you refuse to marry Vanadis?"

"My family will just make me marry another royal family. So it doesn't really matter."

"Hmmm... And what do you want?"

"I guess I prefer to marry Vanadis, at least I know him."

"Oh wow, your family would be so proud. That was a good noble answer."

"Huh?"

"Noble Nightingale, go away. I want to talk to Nora."

"..."

"What do you really want?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. Are you going to marry Vanadis just because your family is telling you to marry someone? Or do you want to become queen?"

"No, I-I... I don't really want to become queen, I just... I have to."

"No you don't, you are just choosing an option someone gave you. You need to make your own options."

"W-What?"

"Ask yourself this: why do you have to marry someone?"

"B-Because my family... Because I-I... Because it would be... Difficult if I didn't marry anyone..."

She is very insecure about her answers. I get up and raise my voice unconsciously.

"So that's it!? You are going to marry someone just because it would be troublesome not to!? Don't you think it's wort---"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Just shut up!"

The symbol on my hand starts to shine and I can't talk.

She's crying. Maybe I went too far?

"I'm going to sleep! Just leave me alone!"

The symbol shines again. She gets up from my bed and gets under the sheets of her bed. Still crying.

Maybe I went too far, but running away from your problems won't solve them...

I pick up a sheet of paper, write "I'm sorry" and put it next to her book. She needs some time to think and calm herself, so I better sleep outside. I don't feel compelled to leave. I think that last order just makes me unable to bother her. So I am leaving because I chose to.

There was a good place inside the greenhouses where I used to take naps. Hopefully it's still there like I remember. If not, oh well, I'll find a way. Always do.

I exit the room after picking up my clothes.

"..."

On the other hand... She said she doesn't really want to become queen... It seems the chances to convince her to join my cause are not that slim...

*******

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