After the initial shock of what Lissana had to say had passed, we had relocated to a room I'd never been in before, where Cier, myself, and Lissana sat in silence. I didn't know what to say, exactly. I'd been told before that holding a Conceit Fiend's crystal was a sign of noble blood, but I hadn't exactly anticipated that information becoming very pertinent to my life.

"Are you absolutely certain?" I asked after finally dredging up the nerve to ask.

"It is not a matter of certainty." Lissana stated. "Even from another world, especially from another world, noble and royal blood carries power, and that power can fuel both great and terrible magic. In a sense, your near complete resistance to magic is understandable in this context, it is simply an extension of Noble heritage." She clasped her hands together and rested them on the table. "And it puts your prior interaction with the Avarice Fiend in new light. Your capability to fight a Faith Vampire, Bahamut Himself granting you divine power, it may not strictly be a matter of personal achievement so much as divine right."

"Okay, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm a complete stranger on this world, that I was never raised as nobility, and that even if this were to become important, I can't exactly say who I am."

"Which is worrisome." Cier stated. "It may be you were called to this world not to become a hero or someone of great renown, but rather to be a sacrifice for nefarious ends." He looked at me. "An Avarice Fiend appearing to a pair of travelers is bad luck, but one appearing before one of Royal potential? It is no wonder it was drawn to you, you are a prize worth anything."

"It also changes the nature of how we would be expected to interact." Lissana stated. "By all rights, I would defer to you, rather than the other way around. Were you to decide to wrest this city from my grasp, there would be little I could do."

"Well, I'm not going to do that." I said. "And as far as I'm concerned, nothing has really changed. Kings and nobles are irrelevant on my world, and by extension, any sort of nobility I have is equally irrelevant."

Lissana looked at me. "From day one, you were resistant to bowing your head to me, always speaking to me on equal terms, rather than becoming subservient. Never once have I ordered you to do something, if you did something, it was because you requested it."

"Even a Dragon is capable of recognizing Noble blood." Cier noted.

"Regardless of your feelings on the matter, I have already sent Nash to the Capital, and since he will be teleporting via magic, he will be returning with a master Appraiser who can prove, without a doubt, the degree of nobility inherent in your blood." Lissana said. "Which is also why we are here in this room."

The door opened, and Nash came in with a Bahrati in fine clothing. He pointed to me silently before leaning against a wall. The Bahrati walked around the table and stepped up to me.

Before I could react, he rested his palm against my forehead and spoke an incantation. He then let go and grabbed my palm. "The spell I used will determine the truth of Lady Wyrashe's claim." He spoke. He jabbed his claw into my hand, and to my surprise, my blood came out a dark purple color before slowly returning to red. He licked my blood off his claw, and his brow furrowed.

"I cannot divine his nature further, something obscures it." He said. He placed a crystal sphere in my palm, which displayed my stats. The spot that had been marked '????' now read 'Lord', and showed three levels in it. The Bahrati wrote several things down before taking it back.

"I shall take my leave." He said before walking out of the room. I was still reeling from how quickly it took, I felt like it should have been a more drawn out process, like if this was going to be a thing, that it should have at least been a little more challenging.

Instead, I had someone show up and basically say, 'Yup, he's got Noble blood.'

We sat in silence for a few minutes, myself in shock, and the others... I couldn't exactly tell what they were thinking.

"This is... some sort of weird joke." I said. "You both are getting back at me for punching you brother in the face, right?" I looked at Lissana. "This doesn't make any sense, I mean, it's not like kings and queens were particularly special back home, most of them were just crazy idiots."

"We do not jest with such matters." Cier stated. "It could be entirely possible that..." He trailed off.

"The missing Prince." Nash said. "By Human lifespans, he would have already died of old age, if he was transported to Earth, it would explain the discrepancy."

"But not Rex's talents nor his differing magical talent." Lissana stated. "Unless him undergoing the trial to unlock his latent power is required."

"The power of a King." Nash shuddered.

"This doesn't change anything." I said, slamming my fist into the table. Everyone snapped their attention to me. "I'm still a stranger in a strange land with very little to my name. The chances of my being here actually affecting anything is slim to none."

"Unless a succession crisis was to be called." Lissana stated. "Tell me, Rex, is your family name 'Tyral'?"

I opened my mouth to say it was close, but not close enough, but my voice caught in my throat. "My last name is-" 'Tyral..?'

"That may confirm it." Cier stated. "But he is right in one regard, at present, this changes nothing, and with his curse in place, it would be difficult to prove his identity regardless."

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Nash stepped toward Cier and shouted, "And so we allow an injustice to continue?!"

"The man before us is officially named Rex Rotenkaiser, and as things stand, letting what has happened become common knowledge could very well make him a target." Lissana stated. "And while his status as a descendant of the Crimson Emperor cannot be verified as of this moment, that does not change the fact that he is largely defenseless."

She looked at me. "And for the sake of maintaining appearances, nothing shall change. The official story of what has happened here shall be that I saved Cier while you, in a blind rage, attacked him. You will receive an official pardon from me for your actions, my brother will be considered mad and be stripped of his title, and while your name will be written in the annals as one bearing Royal blood, you will be considered at best a royal bastard, and thus ineligible to claim the throne unless you remain the sole living heir."

"Thank you." I said.

"There is a caveat." She said. "If your continued presence within my household becomes politically disadvantageous to me, such as rumors of you being a commoner and a consort to me, I will not hesitate to reveal that you are of at least Noble birth, and that I am hosting you in my home as would be expected of me. At the very least, you can carry on as you have."

"Lissana." Nash stated. "I-"

"Lady Lissana." She snapped.

"My apologies, my Lady." Nash said. "I believe it would be more prudent to-"

"I will not use him!" Lissana shouted. "It stands against everything that I believe in! He is not a pawn for me to use for my own benefit, and any attempts to use him for my gain will be considered no less than treason!"

Nash bowed. "My Lady." He said.

Lissana looked at me. "Is this agreeable?"

"Yeah." I replied.

"Then we proceed as we have before. By law, I must report as to your status as a Lord, but I can at least keep it quiet for you. Nash, you will accompany me. Cier, I want you to ensure the rest of the staff are aware, this way rumor doesn't spread. The more we try to hide it, the more people will notice something is hidden. We leave hints, nothing more. The more it seems like common knowledge, the less likely anyone will look deeper."

She only had so much leeway, what she could and could not get away with. A bare minimum of exposure, a bare minimum so that I could continue on as I had been without drawing too much attention to myself. And the name I'd chosen, an attempt at a cool name, ended up becoming unintentional foreshadowing.

Was it really any surprise that the person calling himself King Crimson Emperor would in fact be some manner of royalty, no matter how distant..?

O-o, O-o. O-o, O-o...

To distract my mind, and to get away from anyone who was too curious, I went into the cursed items room and spent time cataloguing the cursed items. Cier had a system that he showed me, and since new ones slowly trickled in, it was always good to get them dealt with within a couple of days, but we had a backlog of them from the trip to the Capital.

"Ring. Made of silver. Designed to enhance the prowess of the user to match the stamina of a Canician, instead turns the wearer into a Canician. Worn around the phallus." I sighed. "And I touched it with my bare hands."

It was a good thing that Beatrice had alcohol on hand, though considering the nigh indestructible nature of magic and cursed items, I could just put it in acid. Still, once properly sterilized, I tested it by wearing it on my hand, which did nothing. I did consider using it properly, but without Cier here to make sure nothing went wrong...

"And that was a weird mental image." I muttered. "'Does not work when worn on non-standard extremities. Not tested with required extremity. Sterilized with alcohol before testing.'" I wrote. "Yeah, I've seen enough porn to know where that would lead."

I looked at the next item. "Mask. Black silk. Became cursed during intercourse with a mage. Does not come off." It looked like it was meant primarily to conceal one's identity and not for any particular sensual reason, though I could never really know with people. Which also meant the initial owner had likely been someone of noble birth who didn't want to be discovered. I sterilized it first before dunking it in water and hung it to dry.

"Okay, what fresh hell is this?" The next 'item' was clearly some medieval fantasy version of leather fetish gear. I looked at the accompanying note. "Leather armor, transmuted into male sensual wear. Owner reports a Contract that went awry when the mage he partnered with changed the armor to suit her preferences in the middle of a dungeon. Changed initial enchantment from user grows stronger with each successive strike against an enemy to user grows needier with each successive strike against an enemy." Underneath this, Cier had written 'Let's just destroy it and be done with it.' It seemed even he wanted nothing to do with it.

I looked at the next few items and decided I was just going to leave those alone for now. I got up and walked over to the armor that remained where it stood. "Lodran's gone, so I can resume cleaning you as necessary." I said. The armor looked at me and nodded. "Are you sentient?" I asked. It nodded. "Can you speak?"

"I prefer not to." Its voice was deep, almost demonic. When it spoke, I imagined myself wearing the armor, and my voice sounding like that.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Armor." It replied. "I protect the weak."

"By making them wear you and then never coming off." I said.

It nodded. It made sense, if it was initially designed to protect the wearer, the logical conclusion was to never be taken off.

"Is moving hard for you?" I asked.

"I am able to move unassisted." It stated before stepping away from where it stood. It took hold of me with surprising strength. "Will you wear me?"

"I'd rather not be trapped in a suit of armor." I said.

It let me go. "You need not wear all of me." It said. "You can resist the desire to wear me, so you could make do without the helmet."

"Why do you want me to wear you?" I asked.

"It brings me happiness when I am worn." It said.

I took the helmet off the armor and, after a moment of hesitation, I set it on the chair and put the majority of the armor on. The inside of it was surprisingly comfortable, like it was cushioned, plus it adjusted to fit me. My movements were unhindered, and it reminded me of when I'd worn the Avarice Fiend's crystal. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw myself wearing this armor instead.

"Do I not feel right?" The armor asked.

"Yeah." I said.

"To always be protected, to never fear attack. An imposing force that no others can overco

me. That is what I offer."

I looked at the helmet. "As nice as it feels, I will have to decline." I said.

"I am patient." It said. "This much is a blessing to me."

"So... You clearly have some degree of sentience, were you always armor, or did you exist in some form before?"

"I existed briefly in darkness before I came to being in this form." It replied. "I have protected many, and have been worn by powerful heroes and Adventurers. Perhaps you would become just like them?"

I could easily see my character Rex wearing this armor and not really caring about it, but for myself...

"That isn't exactly the kind of life I'm ready for." I replied. "Do you have a name, or something you're called by?"

"Armor." It replied. "As that is what I am."

"What about... Cecil?" I asked.

"Cecil?"

I nodded. "Because your design, as well as your cursed nature, calls to mind the Dark Knight Cecil from Final Fantasy 4, though in his case, his armor wasn't strictly cursed."

"If that is what you wish to call me, then I will accept that name." It replied. "I notice you haven't taken me off yet. Are you considering putting the rest of me on?"

I shook my head. "No." I said. "I'm just letting you have some enjoyment. I mean, it must be few and far between for you."

"That is true." It said. "You are the only one who is capable of wearing me and not putting all of me on."

I stood up and took the armor off, when I had all of it off, the pieces floated into the air and reconnected. The body walked over to the helmet and put it on.

"If you ever decide to wear me, I will be in here, as ever." Cecil stated.

"By the way, the cape-" It looked at the cape and pulled it around its front a little. "-do you like it?"

"It is a fitting addition." Cecil replied before walking back to where it usually stood.

I left the room after saying farewell...