"It is indeed as we feared, Helios." Astromelicus announced after examining the princess. "There is not a single mote of mana in the princess' body. She is completely non-magical. I also tested her affinities, it came blank, not even a G rank."
It was a huge blow. Having a princess capable of performing the hero summoning ritual was a key deterrent to neighboring countries. It is a risky proposition, but a summoned hero can defeat entire armies. It was also why the other country was willing to marry Lumina into their family.
The occupants of the room stood silent for a long moment. The mood was grave. Someone sobbed and a few heads turned to look at the priestess.
"It is not your failure, young priestess." Astromelicus declared. It is unknown why the priestess was crying, but fear of royal retaliaton was not a far shot. "Your stalwart dedication to the princess' recovery is what allowed young Lumina to be now alive and well. You deserve praise, lift up your head with pride."
The King nodded. "Worry not, young priestess. I recognize your dedication and hard work both as King and as father. Lumina had only praise for your care."
'I did not talk about the priestess, what are you...' Aidan thought trailed off as he caught the King's white lie. He nodded and smiled at the priestess. "It is as father said. I am eternally grateful for your services, dear."
"I'm sorry, Helios, for not being able to do anything. It is not unheard of a mage losing some magic ability after the body was severely weakened, but a complete burnout is extremely unfortunate."
The King shook his head. "It is not your fault, old friend. I can only thank you for looking after my daughter." He looked at Lumina and raised an eyebrow. "I know she gave you some trouble during her brief stay at the Academy."
Aidan made a puzzled face, that was interpreted as Lumina pretending it had nothing to do with her. Not too out of character for the princess.
"That was something the princess herself overcame in her last day at the Academy, Your Majesty. She was the person that praised young Lord Aidan's spell the most." Astromelicus said matter-of-factly.
Aidan glanced at the headmaster. He could clearly remember the man standing ovation of his magic. And then Astromelicus winked! Mischievous old man!
"Father, could I have a moment alone with the headmaster?" Aidan broke protocol before Astromelicus could leave the room. There was something he needed dearly to talk with the headmaster.
"Regarding?" The King was suspicious. Unwittingly he was using his piercing gaze on Lumina. Aidan fought against the sudden fear he was feeling right now.
"Female issues." Aidan blurted the first thing that came to mind that would make the King not want to listen to the conversation. Claire froze and restrained her sudden urge to facepalm. "After I get confirmation from the headmaster, I will tell you. But I really don't want to trouble you with mere suspicion."
"Fair enough." The King put a hand on the headmaster's shoulder. "Old friend, my daughter is in your hands." And he left.
Aidan glared at the priestess and nodded at the door with his head. She also left. Claire was going to stand up but Lumina lifted a hand.
"Please stay and listen carefully, Claire." Aidan tried to smile, "I trust you completely."
Claire nodded and Astromelicus broke the brief silence.
"What is the problem, your Highness?"
"Headmaster, sir, could you please make sure nobody can listen in our conversation?"
The meek way Aidan spoke was completely out of character for Lumina. Astromelicus noticed but did not comment. He proceeded to cast a privacy ward around the room.
"Speak your mind, child. I am listening." But it had the effect of disarming the old archmage. He used a tender, caring tone.
"I believe there is a tether attached to me. Not a harmful one," Aidan completed his thought in a hurry when he realized he could be throwing suspicion on his own body. "Do you see anything?"
Astromelicus raised an eyebrow. He paused to think and then started to cast several spells Aidan never heard of.
"I can't see anything. There are no tethers on your person, Lumina."
Aidan pondered a while on the headmaster's words. He knew there was a tether linking his body to Lumina. If the most powerful mage and scholar in the country could not see it, what to make of it?
"Is there anything else?"
Astromelicus interrupted Aidan thoughts after a few minutes. He was finding it hard to think deeply this far away from his body. But he reached his conclusion after he regained his train of thought.
"The soul." He mumbled. "Headmaster, is it possible that this tether is linked on my soul?"
"Soul magic is forbidden and extremely rare, princess. And it still leaves a trace in the astral body." He reached over the bed and patted Lumina's head. "Don't worry, child. Losing one's magic is a fair price to survive those grievous wounds. If it is meant to pass, it will pass. Maybe you will regain your magic one day, maybe not. But there is no way there is some magic effect on your soul, rest assured."
"Thank you, headmaster. I am sorry for taking your time." Aidan realized that he would have to reveal too much too soon if he were to coax any further help from the headmaster. He could not allow his true condition to became known for them.
"Don't worry, Lumina. You are one of the cornerstones of this country's future. Spending a day to look after you is an honor, not a bother. Now if you excuse me."
"Two last things, headmaster." Lumina stopped the archmage from leaving. "Aidan's original spell, is it safe?"
He answered after a pause to think. "Yes. I have a copy of both his and your spells in my personal spellbooks, as other copies in both the academy library and the royal library. Don't worry for I also know the value of those two spells. But what else do you need?"
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"Could you visit Aidan and examine him too? I am worried he has not awakened yet."
"His injuries were even worse than yours. That boy shielded you with his own body. Such bravery. He kept casting spell after spell even while the rampaging beasts mangled him. Free-form casting, out of desperation. I could only investigate the site after you both were carried here, but the solid intent of his magic lingers in that place even as we speak now. To protect and save you."
It was impossible for Aidan to hold back the tears. He did not remember anything after his stone wall broke, the trauma erased his short-term memory. But he found himself more prone to these emotional outbursts in a girl's body. Claire sat on the bed and hugged Lumina, and the headmaster thought convenient to slip out of the room to talk to the King and fulfill the princess' last request.
Astromelicus left the princess to her tears. Of course the girl would be hurt after losing her magic. But what she said made the gears in the old archmage spin. Soul magic. The boy's Underworld aptitude. The lingering mana he found on the site of the attempted assassination.
He would need to delve deeper in this mystery.
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A week later it was announced that the caravan that was meant to take Princess Lumina to the Holy City was scheduled to depart in three days. They could not delay any longer or the caravan was going to be stuck in the snow. Already the first crystal flakes of ice attempted to cover the world in white. But in the dead of the night, the source of the nation's worries slipped out of her bedroom to sneak into a boy's room, of all things. Getting past the guards at the entrance of the royal ward was not easy but they were more worried in stopping people from entering.
"Sora, it's me." Aidan announced himself as he stepped into his own room in Lumina's body.
"Princess? I mean, Aidan?" Sora rose from her futon. She was wearing a nightgown and her silhouette against the moonlight filtering in through the window enticed Aidan's instincts for a brief moment, before it naturally vanished. He was getting more and more used to the princess' body.
It was only awkward how Claire took over control of all the events where Lumina's body was exposed. From bathing to dressing up and even when using the chamber pot, he was not allowed to do anything. He could only stand still while Claire cared for the princess. Even the priestess was not a constant in Aidan's life as a princess anymore.
"It is me. We need to talk about our escape plan. I believe Lumina will die if she is separated from my body for too long or too far. And maybe even I will die as well."
Aidan recalled what Astromelicus said after he examined his body. He still had his magic, but all his mana was being spent on something as soon as it gathered even though the archmage could not see any ongoing spell effect on him. It was as if the mana vanished. There was also the matter of his affinities being all messed up, dropping to almost negligible levels. But at least he was still a mage.
"I checked the laundry schedule. I am sure we can escape in the laundry cart. Tomorrow will be a good day."
"Fine then. Let's review the plan once more."
They talked about their plans to escape for a while when suddenly Sora's ears twitched and she pointed at the door. Aidan walked next to it.
"Come in, Claire."
He threw the door open, and the handmaid was there. She was obviously eavesdropping but Aidan's call allowed her time to compose herself.
"Aidan. You should not be out of the princess' room." Claire spoke in a soft voice.
"Come in, I will explain it to you. It is better if you are here, saves me the trouble of misunderstandings later."
They entered, and Aidan sat on the bed next to his own body. He took his hand and placed it on Lumina's lap. Moments after touching his own skin, the fog around his mind cleared.
"Claire, taking Lumina away from my body will be the end for both of us. In the best case it will be the end of Lumina only as one of us will wake up in my body. As you heard headmaster Astromelicus' report, my body is burning every mote of mana it can gather to sustain Lumina's body. This is why it can not wake up. I don't know if I swapped bodies with Lumina, but the point is, the closer I am to my own body, the least the magic is stressed sustaining a tether between us."
Claire nodded. "Yes, this sounds logical. But what are you doing here this late at night. One might think...!" And Claire's mind ended up in the gutter.
The handmaid made a scared face as realization hit her. Aidan nodded.
"I am sleeping next to myself tonight as an experiment. I think the more time I spend next to my body, the better it will be. Maybe it is the key to a full recovery." He said with a mischievous grin.
"I cannot allow this!" Claire raised her voice. Sora looked around, afraid someone was hearing.
"Shut up, handmaid." She hissed. "We are trying to save the princess, not dishonor her. If you want to, spend the night in this room to make sure nothing strange happens. Besides, whatever Aidan wanted to do with the princess' body, he would've done already."
Claire got tomato red from both embarassment and rage. How this impudent beast...
"Claire, don't frown this much. And don't make rude thoughts. I forbid you." Aidan put his best 'princess' mask on. Three out of ten in the Claire meter. But enough to make her pause.
"I am staying then. And sleep in your clothes!"
"Of course. I will only keep feet and hands touching."
Claire watched with her heart on the throat as Lumina climbed in a man's bed for the first time ever. Sora used a silk ribbon to tie hands and feet together. Lumina grinned and buried her face on Aidan's neck.
"Good night, Claire. Good night, Sora."
Morning came and Aidan opened a slit on one eye. "Just a bit more, Sora..." He trailed off to doze again. It wasn't morning yet, still dark outside.
"C'mon, we need to take the princess back to her room." Claire pleaded, shaking Aidan awake.
They untied the ribbons and Aidan massaged Lumina's wrist. It was a bit sore, but he was feeling awesome!
So awesome indeed that he felt a strange energy stirring inside him. It took a while for him to realize it was mana.
"Candle flame!"
He chanted. A small flame appeared over Lumina's hand. The amount of mana he had available was minimal, less than what a baby with a barely passing aptitude would have. He supressed the flame lest he spend the precious mana he gathered.
Claire looked at the place the flame was, and back to Aidan smile plasterred in Lumina's face.
"Magic!"
"Yes, but it is my own, not Lumina's. It seems my body was able to gather some mana during the night I spent with both bodies close to one another. We really need to keep Lumina the closest possible to me. Who knows, maybe the princess will wake up in my body. It will be a scene to behold." Aidan stated full of schadenfreude.
"No, it won't. Hurry up and get the princess' body back to her bed."
"Okay!" Nothing could erode Aidan's mood. "Lead on, Claire."
Claire had to work hard to distract the guards so Aidan could sneak back in the royal ward, but everything went fine.
Aidan sat on the princess' bed and waited for Claire to enter the room before dropping the bomb.
"Claire, we are escaping the hospital tonight. I cannot let the princess be taken away. It would be a death sentence."
Claire put a hand too her chest and controlled her breathing after a few moments. "Why I am not surprised? Fine, I will get supplies. No way I am letting you take the princess body away without me watching over her chastity."
"Then let's get ready to escape, shall we?" Aidan spun around and gave Claire a mischievous smile.
"How are we getting out?"
"Riding the Laundry cart. Nobody will look for a princess inside a dirty hospital laundry basket."
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"And in the end here I am, in the princess' body without you watching over her chastity, Claire." Aidan sighed in the dark abandoned smuggler tunnel. He placed a hand on Lumina's generous chest. "But I think it will be alright. I'll take good care of her."
'It would be too awkward to touch myself anyway.' He thought.
Aidan squeezed Aidan's hand. Every night spent touching, every day spent in close proximity increased the amount of mana available by a little. He took a ration potion and sippped a bit, dripping the rest slowly inside his own body's mouth. While Lumina had recovered a healthy body, Aidan's own was too thin. Ration potions weren't supposed to be the only source of nutrients for an entire year.
He will soon have to take drastic measures to wake up his own body, whomever was sleeping inside it.
After the effects of the ration potion wore off, he woke up Sora and the two girls dragged the unconscious boy to the other end of the tunnel. Aidan prayed for Claire's safety, but until he sorted out this mess he was in, there was little he could do to help the handmaid besides that letter.
He had a long way to go.
And he had to walk on the princess' shoes, of all things.