Nero didn't move from the armchair. He sat with his head low, fists clenched, eyes closed. It was the same feeling as when he learned about his level cap. The prince could take anything from him and he could do nothing to stop him. He was sure if it weren't for Amaryllis presence, he might've done exactly that. That blasted Valanasnitch. He didn't need two seconds to know who was his contact. It was obvious. Who in the village had an agenda against him? There was one person. How couldn't he notice it?

What should he do about it? Recalling the conversation, he noticed Amaryllis said "village trollop" at the end. Did they know? Nero raised his head and looked around. The visitors were gone, Amaryllis was still on his shoulder. Glom and his parents sat on the couch.

"Nero?" Rhynne called.

Shaking his dark plans of bloody vengeance aside, he answered. "Yes, mom."

"Mary, is it safe to talk?"

"Yes. I just activated the bubble," The fairy replied. "They will know we have one set up but they can't pierce it without my knowledge."

Half of the tension in the room vanished. That family was used to danger and strong emotions. All of them stared death in the face more than once, including the two guests.

"Good," Byron clapped his hands. "Nero, if circumstances were better, I would like to congratulate you on your first named request. I won't. You'll have to do it though."

"Sorry, son," Rhynne said. "Katia was working as Valanaagornif's informer this whole time. They know almost everything. She made some kind of deal with him to ease the treatment her son received."

Nero gripped the arm of the chair. His voice rose as his indignation grew with his words. "She sold us. Her kin. Why the hell are we even together if our own kind betray us?"

"One bad apple," Amaryllis mused. "Can ruin the entire crate."

"You two," Rhynne pointed at her husband and son, "Won't do anything to her now. We need to settle this situation before doing anything."

"I will negotiate the details of Nero's request with the prince," The guild master said. "And I'll travel to the front with Nero. I need to put the castle I sold where the brat wants."

Something didn't sound right. "You sold a castle?" Nero asked.

"Yeah. The minotaur king's castle," Amaryllis said as one comments the weather. "We told you I looted it. Where do you think your sister's furniture came from?"

Nero filed that under the "too surreal to consider" archive and moved on. There was one plus to this story.

"You can loot a castle? What did you do, lift it and store in your dimensional pouch?"

"Correct," The fairy smirked, savoring Nero's confusion.

He didn't care. Nero lifted his shoulder, causing the fairy to fly and hover in front of him. "You're 'looting' my house-tree then. One issue solved."

Amaryllis just nodded and smiled. She flew to an empty space on the second couch, next to Glom.

"You'll be safe with the prince's personal retinue," Glom said. "You might be bored with the duty of opening and closing the portal as they ask. I think you should use a build focused on resistances and healing, just to be on the safe side."

Nero could see why Glom recommended that. Assassination wasn't a distant possibility. He moved on to his next question. "If he is buying a castle, why does he need me?"

"Because he can. Curiosity, I think," Byron answered. "Payback too. Even if you didn't intend to, you helped take his bride away from him. He didn't like it."

"Fuck him," Nero cursed, angry that his sister's past came up again.

"That's the spirit," Amaryllis cheered then deadpanned. "But keep it bottled. You are not killing the prince even though he deserves it. Get that silly desire for revenge out of your head." The pixie sighed. "Seriously, Nero. The best way for Cyrstal to get back at him is to lead a happy life. She needs you."

"Yet I am going away for months," He remarked bitterly.

"You're coming back," She held his chin and pulled up. "Earlier than 'months'. This war will be a short one, although I can't see who is going to win."

"We believe you can, son," Byron tried to cheer him up. "Just keep your head low and stay out of trouble. It is the best-paying doorman job ever."

"Eh? Are you a prophet now?" Nero asked the fairy, half-joking. She nodded, less than a span in front of him. "No way."

"Fairies are linked to the threads of fate. We can feel their tug and we can look at them too," Amaryllis explained. "When I asked you to cause an overflow in a Dungeon, it was because I saw that event as a possible way to end the war and save a lot of people."

"Still not happening if I can avoid it," Nero brushed the subject aside. "And I have another request for you, my fairy godmother," Nero teased.

"Oh, you noticed that?" She asked, surprised. "You were so absorbed by your dark, brooding thoughts..."

"Mary!" Rhynne curbed the pixie's teasing.

"Yeah, I did," Nero sniggered. "And I have my 'first wish' ready."

"What is it?"

"Sit here, let me tell you," Nero offered a hand and she sat on it. "You're telling the girls."

He opened a portal and threw the pixie through. She giggled and vanished behind the closing portal. Nero stood up.

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"I know I don't have a choice, but I don't like it. Mom, dad, professor, thank you for your support. From the bottom of my heart. I'm going to the Dungeon to hit something. I'll be back at dusk. I'm positive Amaryllis can get out of the shelter if she wants. No, maybe not. It's better if I leave a portal open while I go delving."

Nero sat and browsed through the cards in his bandolier. He settled in a particular skill set geared to only extend the duration of a spell.

> [Mage] - white - bound to Nero.

>

> +4 Endurance [+2]

>

> +6 Reason [+3]

>

> +4 Willpower [+2]

>

> - [Extend Spell] - Multiply the duration of any spell that has a duration by Reason / 4.

>

> - [Persistent Spell] - Spend two times the base cost of a spell that has a duration. The spell now lasts twenty-four times longer.

>

> - [Optimize Spell] - Upon activating this Skill card, choose one spell (Spell chosen: Shelter Portal). The choice cannot be modified. Halve that spells' base cost.

>

> - [Toggleable Spell] - Spend 4 points of mana in addition to the cost of a spell and select a code word. The spell's effect can be turned on and off by anyone that speaks the word nearby without dismissing the spell. The time spent deactivated still counts against the spell's duration.

>

> - [Resilient Spell] - Add your Vigor to your Willpower to determine the resistance of your spells against tampering.

>

> - [Sllippery Spell] - Add your Agility to your Willpower to determine the resistance of your spells against tampering.

He did some math and with that build and his current Attributes, the portal would last for fourteen hours for nineteen mana, draining one point of mana for every fourteen hours. If he taught the code word to others, they could exit and enter the shelter whenever they wanted.

"You should read the royal proclamation you gained," Byron handed him a scroll.

Nero opened it and sifted through the legalese and the empty words of praise to the king and his wisdom and maybe the length of his tail. But the document stated that Nero, his family up to the fourth degree, and employees - including spouses and children - were exempt from any military service to the kingdom and pardoned from any previous crimes.

The document went an extra length to state "Crimes that may or may not have been committed to the date of this proclamation." It was also with tomorrow's date.

"It means you have amnesty for anything you do today," Byron explained. "If you want to break someone's neck, for example."

"Byron!" Rhynne curbed them, angry. "No neck-breaking! Let me deal with Katia."

"Well, I'm opening the portal in the same closet as before," Nero announced. "The password to toggle it is... anyone has a good idea? It should be something hard to come by in a normal conversation."

"Enantiomorph," Glom suggested. "It is the relation between an object and its mirror image."

"Fitting," Nero laughed, "I can't see that word coming up in any conversation. I'm going to open the portal. Amaryllis should've had enough time to explain it to the girls."

Nero readied himself. He steeled himself to be punched, despised, and to receive the anger of his wife and sister. He triggered the Skills, spent the mana, and opened the portal with the code word in mind. The portal opened and as he expected, everyone was by the stone arch. He prepared for many things, but not to being hugged by a bawling Altia.

"Nero! I'm sorry. It's my fault!" She mumbled between sobs.

Crystal and Amaryllis walked out of the portal. Nero soothed his wife for a while until the [Chemist] calmed down.

"What is your fault?" He asked.

"I went around asking if someone had a spinning wheel to sell. People got curious why I needed one and Katia came telling me some horrible things."

That explains a lot but begs the question. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"You were too busy with the construction of the wall. I didn't want to bother you. And now, they're taking you away."

She hid her face on his shoulder. Nero looked around, everyone was watching. He raised his free arm and called Crystal. The [Enchantress] shook her head, pointing at the shelter.

"The three of us are not leaving until tomorrow when the edict becomes valid. It might be a trap," She explained but it was visible she was bothered by the proximity of the prince. "Even if it is not his style. But if the Guild Master says the document is valid, we can trust it. Bast won't act against itself."

"Can we trust him?" Altia asked Crystal. "Will Nero be safe?"

"Yes and no," She spoke, overcoming her disgust. Her family needed to know her opinion. "Even though he's a monster, he won't go against the contract, it is beneath him. But it is a war. Nobody there will be safe."

"He's on his last ropes, my sources told me," Amaryllis said. "The King is not happy with him and what he did to you. He can't show weakness, though. His Majesty basically told Tyre to fix his own mess or don't bother coming back."

It was interesting how Amaryllis never used the right treatment for the prince but did for the King.

Crystal nodded from inside the shelter. "In sticking to his pride to hide his son's heinous acts, he showed a weakness of character." The two eanlings were watching from inside. Crystal reached out through the portal and held Nero's shoulder. "You can't avoid going now. Just go, keep your head down, let him use the shelter and come back. If the worst comes to pass, there's one thing you can do to survive."

"What is it?" He asked.

"Dismiss the shelter," She pointed behind her. "It will dump everything and everyone out. Recreate it, step inside, and hunker down. They won't waste resources tracking you down in the middle of a war."

Nero felt it was possible. He'd be buried in a pile of stuff and recreating the shelter and getting inside was a matter of seconds. There was only one problem.

"Wouldn't it be a violation of the contract?"

Amaryllis answered. "Not if your life is endangered. Since he's hiring you for a noncombatant specialist position, you are not supposed to fight. Just make sure you wait until the last moment. Let the stupid pride and bravado to the ones full of it."

Nero could swear he heard an "SH" next to her last word. Maybe he misheard.

"Okay, my fairy godmother," he joked and saluted. "Why did you tell him that, by the way?"

"Just the relationship between guild master and a member wouldn't cut it," The fairy explained. "I needed to establish a personal bond to both keep his paws away from you and justify my presence here."

"But we might as well make it official," Rhynne stopped watching from the side and barged in their conversation. "So, Mary, would you be my son's godmother?"

"Only if he gets to spend spring with me," The fairy demanded.

"Two weeks after thawing, one week before summer," Rhynne negotiated Nero's time? "Travel time at your expense."

What was that supposed to mean? Were the two speaking in code? Was this some kind of filial obligation he'd have to comply with? What would he be forced to do during spring?

"I'm sorry, but what does it mean to me?" He asked.

"If I'm going to be your godmother," The fairy thumbed her own chest, "You are going to spend the spring with me as my child. During the other seasons, you'll be Rin's child. Don't worry, nobody is going to eat your memories or your time."

"Is that a thing?" Nero got just a bit afraid. The tales of changelings and children spirited away by fairies coming to mind.

"If it was due to an obligation or bargain that wasn't held in good faith, then maybe," She answered quizzically, leaving Nero even more confused. "But it was I who offered it, so it is in the best faith. There's nothing bad about spending time with me. We'll travel the world, work at the guild, maybe I can take you to exotic Dungeons. I could use a good hand managing the rank-I Dungeons that aren't cleared very often. It would be good for both of us."

Nero looked around for any validation.

"What the guild master is offering," Glom said from his almost-forgotten position on the floor, "Is a good offer. You'd have her tutelage during an entire season. And since she is based at the capital, you could visit and help at the Lyceum as well. Don't forget you have access to higher education now and we fully expect you to attend classes. Mrs. Altia and Ms. Crystal are already enrolled, but I'm sure you can find that we have discount scholarships for your two employees," He waved a hand in the direction of the open portal.

"Yes," Crystal agreed with the squiig. "Fotia and Knazer have to stay under your employ if they remain in Bast, otherwise the proclamation won't protect them. In fact, that bastard must be betting on you slipping up. That's the reason I haven't set foot out of the portal."

"So," The pixie flew in front of Nero's face. "Would you be my godson?"