Dallion knew next to nothing about his grandmother. His previous self in this world knew even less. She had never been brought up by anyone in his immediate family, even his grandfather was quiet on the matter. Almost all the information he had obtained was through other people: Aspion, the Nerosal overseer, and a few others. As the story went, she wasn’t from a city, possibly even a noble. Dallion didn’t know her name, or what she had gone through. It was established that she had died before his grandfather’s banishment and well after giving birth to Dallion’s mother. No one ever mentioned her name, no matter the circumstances. At the time, Dallion believed it was because she had done something people disapproved of. Knowing what he did about banishment, he could see that she most likely simply had her name erased.

“I never approved of her choice,” the duchess continued. “Regardless of what that upstart achieved, I knew he would cause problems to everyone close to him. And I was right.”

“You knew who I was.”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on your family ever since their banishment. I couldn’t help openly or too much, but a small thing here and there was enough. The harpsisword, a skill, information and access to places you weren’t supposed to reach.” The army of echoes appeared, depicting scenes of Dallion’s past. “Even deals with the Order were made, but it was worth it.”

Dallion could tell she wasn’t lying. Yet, the truth made all his achievements feel all that much cheaper. It was like learning that every choice he had made was carefully planned in advance and there was nothing he could do to fail it.

The sensation of doubt only lasted a moment. Without a doubt, the favors of his family had helped him a lot, but they couldn’t control the Moons. Dallion was the one who had completed his trials, he had earned his achievements, not to mention that there were a whole lot of situations that the House of Elzani couldn’t be involved in. They didn’t know about Pan, the fallen south, of the world of furies he had ventured into.

“Just enough gifts to give me a chance?” he asked.

“You are my lineage, after all. There were a few moments in which there was some doubt, but if you weren’t able to achieve at least as much as you have, you wouldn’t have deserved the name Elazni.”

Arrogant even when she meant well. Given her position, it probably took a remarkable effort to have this conversation.

“For the moment, only a few know. Your exploits have allowed me to keep an eye on you without attracting too much attention. Others did it as well. At times, you were a source of constant betting. Would you do this? Would you fail to achieve that?” She waved her hand as she spoke.

“Did you win anything?”

“A bit, though not as much as I should have. You made more mistakes than not, and just when you got your act together, the emperor caused it all to end.”

This was a compliment Dallion didn’t expect.

“The emperor himself intervened?”

“Not the way you think. The moment he summoned you, all betting was off. No one would risk betting against the ruler, and if there’s just one option, there’s no interest.”

Oh, Dallion thought. So, it wasn’t the compliment he thought it to be a moment ago.

“Becoming a mage surprised me, as did defeating the Star.”

“You know about that?”

“Not at the time, but as I said, deals with the Order were made, and they have a tendency of giving out little favors for free now and again. Of course, with them nothing is for free—the price is just something that people haven’t considered.”

“And what happens now, great-grandma? Do I take on the name?”

“I promised my daughter that I wouldn’t force anything upon her or her family, so you still have a choice. You can pretend that this conversation never took place and leave. You’ll get some small trinket and honorary title to explain the summons, but after that, you’ll be pretty much on your own. I’ll still keep an eye on you, but now that you’re a domain ruler, helping would be all but impossible.”

True, apart from everything else, they were competitors now.

“You could accept the sponsorship and become a noble under the name you made for yourself. You won’t get the same support and privileges, but you’ll get a lot more than when you’re alone.”

Of course, in that case, he had to be mindful of his dealings with other noble families. Everything he did would reflect on Elazni and at some point even the duchess wouldn’t be able to shield him from consequences.

“Or you can officially return to the family as one of my heirs.”

“And start the game of inheritance,” Dallion added.

“No need to worry about that. A quarter of the house must die for you to become next in line for control. You’ll have to go through the usual tensions for position within the family, but that’s about it. Plus, you’ll have my granddaughter to step in if needed. She’s one of the next hopefuls for my position, so you should be fine.”

By that, she probably meant that no one would attempt to kill Dallion in the street. Nobles were the last to accept a sudden wildcard joining their ranks, especially if that wildcard threatened their position in the family hierarchy.

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Any advice anyone could give? Dallion asked mentally.

Go for it, dear boy, Adzorg said. It would be foolish not to take advantage.

Didn’t you use to tell me to be careful about the invisible strings of any deal?

I did and that didn’t stop you from making all those terrible deals with the general and the Mirror Pool. In this case, though, what better could you hope to gain? The personal support of the emperor himself?

A smile appeared on Dallion’s face. There was nothing higher than becoming an awakened member of the imperial family. Way back at the start of his journey in this world, the death of a distant imperial relation in Nerosal had started a war between the empire and a few neighboring countries. Dallion had been just a newbie then, but he could acknowledge the political power that the position held. Now the same and more was offered to him.

“Will it come with a cage?” he asked the duchess.

The woman looked at him for several seconds.

“At least you’re displaying reasonable intelligence,” the noble said at last. “Unless you’re a ruler, life in this world is in a cage. The one I’m offering is simply larger and nicer than most.”

At least you’re honest. “In that case, I accept. What do I need to do?”

“Just say the words once we’re back in the real world. The wheels will start turning on their own afterwards.”

Dallion had already made his choice. He was just about to confirm it openly when a new voice came from within his realm.

Welcome back, Master Dallion, a female voice spoke. Your grandmother would have been proud.

Millenia, in true time, had passed since he had acquired the harpsisword, but not once had she spoken using her own voice. She had never given an explanation outright, but it wasn’t difficult to guess that it had to do with the weapons’ previous owner. One day soon Dallion intended to have a long conversation on the topic. If anyone knew details of that side of his family, it was her. Right now, he had to get the process started.

Upon his return to the real world, Dallion acknowledged his heritage. It was nothing more than a few simple words that changed his life more than anything up to this point.

Within minutes, one of the metalins escorted him outside of the room and into the Elazni section of the palace. There, he was officially acknowledged by two overseers and one imperial scholar, then allowed into one of the guest buildings. While smaller, the place was impressive in its own right, making any archdukes he had seen so far look like paupers.

“Welcome, young master,” a pair of tailors said in unison. “Do you have any preferences regarding your attire?”

Both of them were over level sixty. Come to think of it, every servant Dallion had seen in the palace was at least that much. The only people who weren’t, were children and lesser noble relations.

“Keep the hunter elements,” he said without even asking what his options were.

“Of course, sir,” the lead tailor—an old man with long gray hair nodded. “Any mage elements?”

“No.” Dallion was adamant. Magic was way too useful to remind everyone that he had it. With him being a new addition to the family, there would be numerous nobles who would view all of his achievements skeptically. Pretending they were right was only to his advantage. “I’ll take care of anything magic.”

“Understood, sir.”

It took them less than a few seconds to take his measurements. Each of the tailors split into twenty instances, meticulously doing their job. Once they were done, Dallion decided to take advantage of his new status and go take a bath.

An entire pool of water occupied an entire room in the guest mansion. Half a dozen fury servants were also present, but Dallion dismissed them.

“So, this is how nobles live?” Dallion lay in the water, casting a few four-circle spells to clean himself. It felt a shame to waste the entire pool just for a bath, even if he could afford it.

Imperial, Adzorg corrected. Most nobles don’t get anywhere close.

“Imperials…” Dallion repeated.

Better make the best of it, though. I have a feeling that the honeymoon will be sweet but short. Even considering your circumstances, you’re just a baron and there are a lot of other young blockheads of similar rank itching to get into trouble.

“Won’t the echoes in their personal realms have something to say about that?”

In theory, yes, but that’s a double-edged sword. They might be even encouraged by those very same echoes to try and provoke you. Also, it’s not the same for domain rulers. Sending echoes there could be viewed as risky or poor taste, even when it comes to friends and family.

So, domain rulers didn’t accept echoes easily… just like Euryale. Could it be that she, too, had come from a noble family? The ease with which she had risen to prominence in the Alliance of Sone and Steel suggested it.

“In that case,“ Dallion closed his eyes, “I might as well enjoy it.”

The bath lasted over two hours. When Dallion was done, the tailors were still patiently waiting for him in the previous room. There was not a single emotion of reproach. Both of them bowed, presenting Dallion with a selection of four outfits for him to choose from. Each of them had the crest of Elazni—a five gem necklace below a lyre.

Music? Dallion thought.

It made sense. The skill must have been passed down from the second empress to her descendants. That was the reason his mother had awakened with it and how she had shared it with Dallion.

The fabrics weren’t made of gems, to his relief, but rather made of exotic animals, some of which Dallion had seen while a hunter. The knowledge that the unselected sets of clothes would be destroyed made his heart tighten. The only solution was to keep all of them, which he did. For the time being, he chose a shirt of sun spider silk, jaguar leather trousers, boots of swamp dragon leather, and a jacket made of shadow griffin feathers. The practicality of the outfit left a lot to be desired, but it would do for a city environment.

“Thanks,” Dallion told the tailors out of habit. “You can go.”

With a low bow, they did. Just as they exited, Liya entered.

“Getting used to it?” she asked in a casual manner.

“It doesn’t take long to get used to comfort, lady.”

“Duchess,” she corrected.

“I thought you said you were a lady.”

“Only when grandma is there. You’ll need to get used to that. Family heads always hold the title among members of their family, even if others have the same.”

You did this deliberately, didn’t you? Dallion looked at her. According to his music skills, there was nothing but mischief emanating from her, but for someone raised on music skills, emotions could easily be masked and hidden. While obeying her grandmother’s orders, it was also possible that she disapproved of his presence.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dallion said, deliberately omitting her title.

“Good. Now let’s go to where you’ll be living.”