“You want to start a what?” Nisa said.

She was in her room, sitting on her chair. And a boy was sitting just in front of her. Similar to that one time she’d asked Jake to go fetch him. But Jake wasn’t here today. And the boy wasn’t sitting on the floor either. He was sitting on the bed.

“I told you, it’s just a club.” Legs crossed, he sat like he owned the place.

“Doesn’t sound like just a club. Besides, what club has the name ‘cult’ in it?”

“But it is. We’re going to invite noble br- kids and train them in the ways of Askavan.”

Nisa sighed. Ever since the boy had walked into the room, he’d been so damn passionate about this project of his. He wanted to open a club, a club for Askavan fanatics and teach them ‘proper’ religion. Nisa didn’t know the boy very well but she knew he wasn’t the type for that kind of shit. This was clearly a ploy and there was some backstory to this. But she couldn’t just pin deep suspicions on her fiancé either, that’d be a very unladylike display.

Instead, “Why nobles? We have plenty of commoners at this school. And nobles don’t really hold that big of a sway here.”

“That’s what you think,” he mumbled under his breath. “Commoners are dying faster than they’re enrolling. I don’t know who’s doing what but I’d prefer to have nobles.”

“And why do I have to be the club president?”

“Well,” he fidgeted. “I mean, you’re far more charismatic and…” And he went on.

Nisa sighed again, this time almost groaning. As the daughter of a duke, she’d seen her fair share of flatterers. She could easily bat an eye and not be influenced at all. However, this boy before her was not only flattering her but he was mixing in a lot of sweet truths and deliberately buttering her up in a way she actually liked… which only made her blush and fume. “Enough!” She exhaled. “Fine. But what will this accomplish?”

“Nothing much,” the boy stood up, leaned closer. “I told you, we’re going to change the world… so you can be free.”

Nisa frowned. “Are you sure you aren’t a reincarnated twisted noble from the dark ages?”

The boy smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, not really.”

“It was supposed to be a joke,” she snickered pressing his nose. So young and yet so… mature. She herself was mature for her age. Touted as the most talented among her siblings, she had a firm claim over her father’s estate. Or she would have, if it wasn’t born a girl.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that Nisa was indeed a genius and a hero candidate. However, even she paled in comparison to this five-year-old boy’s intelligence and sheer naivety. Sometimes she felt like maybe he was just pretending, pretending to be like this. But no, that probably wasn’t the case.

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Anyone with a semi decent brain wouldn’t do half the shit Sol had done. They wouldn’t be that stupid. He had to be a child. A child prodigy, sure. But a child nevertheless.

***

Later that day, Nisa sent off some important letters. Eight of them were addressed to the noble children of the academy, and one was addressed to the head master.

Normally, the headmaster never saw anyone below the viscount rank. And despite being the daughter of a duke, Nisa didn’t hold any titles. So, she couldn’t see the headmaster even as a princess.

However, that didn’t change the fact that she was well acquainted with him via letters.

The next day, she got some replies. Four out of the eight agreed to join her club. All four were girls. Not charismatic, he said. She rolled her eyes and opened another letter. This one from the headmaster.

Yes!

Delighted, Nisa ordered some fresh biscuits from the cafeteria straight to her room but then promptly cancelled the order.

She still remembered how her mother got ill in the first place. Let’s eat them only after exercise! And yes, she’d lately started walking more. As a noble lady, she couldn’t run in public. But she could at least walk around a lot. An influence from a special someone perhaps.

It was too early to say whether this would change anything at all. She still didn’t know if her mother was recovering or getting worse. But she trusted him, she trusted her fiancé. He was naïve, he was short tempered, and he was cunning. But a liar, he was not.

And that’s why… that’s why she couldn’t turn down his request. She knew he was using her. But she was using him too. A give and take relationship; her ideal relationship.

Nisa walked along with Jake under the pretense of going here and there and keeping tabs on the daily affairs. After a tiring bout, she went over to the boy’s side along with Jake and knocked on Sol’s door.

The door didn’t open. She heard some peculiar things. Things such as- ‘Ah, so cute!’. ‘Aren’t you just the cutest?’ ‘Gosh I could just eat you up.’

Was he with someone? He’s five… Nisa only found out about some special things when she accidentally read about hand holding and kissing in a book. She knew what kissing was when she used to pretend to be asleep but watched her parents kiss by the door; an activity showing love. Her parents kissed her too but those kisses weren’t the same ones they exchanged between themselves. And even as a child she could tell. But… but she didn’t know hand holding and the… other activities. Those were too lewd for her mind and… and the five-year-old was doing it with someone else?

And eat her too?

“Who is in there!” She knocked harder.

“Huh-what?” the door opened. “Hey,” Sol said. “You’re up early.”

Sol was in there. But Nisa didn’t see a girl. “Where is she?” she said, searching under his bed, inside the closet and… she opened the window and caught a wild Gerar changing his underwear. She closed the window without a word. “You’re into guys?”

“What, no…”

“So… who were you saying those things…” She mumbled, fidgeting a bit.

“Oh, this kid right here,” Sol said, producing a snake?

“SNAKE!!” Nisa almost fell over.

“Rude,” Sol said. “Look closer. She’s really cute and-”

“Get it away from me! It’s a snake!” She almost dragged herself away to the door, almost bumping into Jake’s legs.

Sol let out an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, okay.”

Nisa later found out that Sol had recently contracted a drake spirit and… she hadn’t been that embarrassed in a long, long while. So much so that she spent an entire afternoon in a bathtub and spent the next three days being sick.

But by the end of the week, the club ‘The Holy Cult Of Askavan’ was formed. Which in time would come to be referred as ‘The Cult’ but that was a different story.