Armad opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a bench with his back pressed against the wall. The room was spacious and brightly lit but it felt like a tiny, gloomy cage.

You are surrounded by Nestone walls. All spells (except meditate) and swords can't be used.

He had been sitting indoors for more than four hours already. He didn't know where he was or how he got there.

The worst part was he had been sitting with a humorless old man for the last three hours. An hour ago, Iliyasis had replaced the old man. He kept on smiling and repeating he wasn't his enemy but that didn't make it any better.

"I'll repeat myself," Iliyasis said with a smile, "I am not here to cause you harm, and I'll not stand by and let anyone mistreat you."

"That's reassuring." Armad said sarcastically.

The man ignored his sarcasm and went on, "my name is Iliyasisi but everyone just call me Iliyasis, I am the younger brother of the Duchess. This place is part of the Duchess' mansion. The only reason I am not letting you go is because she wants to speak with you."

"I can give you my address." Armad said.

"No, no, that won't do. The Duchess wants to see you face-to-face. Besides, your face is now popular, there are plenty of people who maybe looking for you. I fear what will happen if you fall into the wrong hands. Just a couple more days and the Duchess will come to see you personally."

Armad didn't know what Iliyasis meant by his face was now popular. The man refused to elaborate on that.

And that was how Armad spent the next two days in confinement. He wasn't cuffed, but the walls of the room prevented him from using any spell or sword. He could meditate and even learn about new spells in the books he was provided with. They gave him food seven times a day, despite knowing his reduced need of it.

Armad didn't feel any better. He liked to be in control and confining him in that room felt exactly the opposite.

He blamed his naïveté for bringing the woman home. Even if she was a weak, harmless woman, the safest thing would have been to leave her in Shid. Armad just couldn't abandon an unconscious woman in the middle of nowhere to save himself. She was somebody else's mother.

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On the third day, the long-awaited Duchess came to his rescue. Armad didn't know whether to be happy or sad. He knew very little about her. Maybe she was a good person, maybe not. What he knew was she had lied about her status, about being an Official.

Aish - or maybe that wasn't her real name either - was dressed in a pinkish robe that didn't extend below her knees, exposing her legs. Her face was much fairer and all the dirt that had blocked her eyes and ears was removed. Her hair was actually crimson not silver. It was the dirt that changed it.

"Leave us alone." She ordered. The young interrogator Iliyasisi and two other guards left the room, closing the door behind them.

She looked at Armad with a gentle smile. "Sorry for keeping you here. I was afraid you will run away and I will never see you again."

Armad glared at her. "Was that the only reason, Duchess?"

She sat on the opposite seat and put both hands on the table. "Um.. that may not be the only reason. The truth is... I have some powerful enemies which I don't think you can handle, yet."

She paused for a while before she continued.

"I want to know about you but it's not fair to ask you anything after everything you have done for me. So I will go first. My name, my full name is Aish Barren. I am the Duchess. I.. couldn't tell you. That wasn't an ordinary force field; I could have died if you didn't show up. I'll tell you all about it after you are fully rested. First tell me, is there anything I can help you with? Anything? I know I can't possibly repay your kindness, but I want to try."

"Well, now that you have mentioned it... I need a portal to the Fourth World and.. I don't have any savings. I also want any information about Triple-factor. I hope it's not too much."

"No, no, exactly the opposite. I will dig up any information we have on the Triple-factor and I will personally take you to the Fourth World. This is for agreeing to help me out of the force field. Now you have two more wishes: one for bringing me back home safely and one because I lied to you. I couldn't tell you my status because I didn't trust you. I'm sure you can understand.

"You don't have to list all your wishes here. Come, lemme show you to your quarters. We will talk about how popular you have become when you are fully rested."

"My quarters?" Armad simply looked at her.

"Yeah, as the new member of the family, you have your own quarters. You can leave anytime you want."

"Look, you don't have to feel like you owe me anything. I did what I did at the drop of a hat." Armad said.

"Haha... " Aish laughed. "I do owe you a lot. If you didn't show up, I wouldn't be here. But I am not helping you because of that, I am helping you because I want to."

"Should I ask you a personal question?" Armad said. 

"Yeah. Anything."

"How did you become a Duchess at such a young age?"

"At such a young age? I am celebrating my ninety-sixth birthday in three weeks."

"Ninety-six?"

She nodded.