With time to spare, Ieros decided to pay a visit to the flower woman, appearing through the gate. Upon returning, he saw that the Sentinel was watching over a curious flower woman, who was speaking in broken Atheran. It took a while for her to notice that he had arrived but when she did, she seemed to hesitate before raising a nervous hand in greeting.

“H-Hello.”

Ieros returned the wave.

“It’s good to see that you can speak.”

Ieros continued, business-like.

“Soon, I should be able to take you to other people, to society where you can be mo-”

Much to his surprise, she exclaimed, “No!”

When he turned his gaze to her, she blushed and bowed her head, mumbling, “I don’t want to go.”

Ieros sighed, “Whether you like it or not, you will have to go. I cannot have you staying here forever.”

She adopted a rather pitiful look but Ieros remained unswayed.

“You will go. That is that.”

She nodded meekly under Ieros’s cold gaze, rubbing her arm nervously.

Ieros continued to explain, “But that won’t be for some time, I’m afraid there is still much for you to learn. And from now on, you will be receiving lessons from me personally, the Sentinel has other things to do than to babysit you.”

She looked at the Sentinel but it was already gone, much to her unhappiness. As she looked despondent, Ieros made his way towards the cabin, gesturing that she follow.

“I expect that you begin to speak fluently for we shall communicate with words. I won’t be supplementing your education with my memories.”

She just nodded and entered the cabin. Ieros made his way to the table and took a seat, suddenly remembering something.

“Oh, that is right, you don’t have a name, do you. Do you have one in mind?”

She tilted her head curiously.

“Name?”

Ieros explained, “A title which you and only you will possess. It will make you unique in this world, one of the few things that someone cannot take from you.”

“Name...” she repeated, “I don’t know.”

Ieros thought a moment and, suddenly remembering the flower which she had been presumably born from, a black rose.

Ieros then looked at her and asked, “What about Rose?”

She thought about it, repeating it a few times before smiling and nodding.

“Yes, Rose!”

Ieros nodded.

“Very well then Rose, let us begin your lessons.”

Ieros proved to be a strict teacher, one that didn’t tolerate many mistakes but fortunately, whether it was because of her supernatural origins or perhaps an influence of the memories given to her, Rose was a quick learner. Within the brief time that Ieros had with Rose before he had to leave, she managed to learn how to greet others in a polite manner as well as begin her lessons on how to eat properly. But, of course, Ieros couldn’t stay forever so he prepared to leave, halting when Rose reached out and grabbed the hem of his robe.

He looked at her questioningly and she said, “Please don’t go.”

He placed his hand over hers and gently released his hem from her grip.

“I must go. Entertain yourself with the books in the cottage until I return, or take care of the flowers.”

Before she could stop him again, Ieros turned briskly and disappeared through a gate. All alone, Rose looked forlornly at the spot where he had gone before making her way to the cottage.

Upon his return to Seris, having passed the night at his garden teaching Rose, Ieros began to think of how to better protect the Princess. He was sure that the First Queen, for whatever reason, had decided to kill the Princess and he must prevent this. He had already eradicated her entire shadow network and should thus restrict her capabilities but this was not a hundred percent guarantee, there was still a chance that she could manage a successful assassination.

Ieros thought deeply on what to do, eventually deciding that he’d just have to stay by the Princess’s side and protect her from danger. He already had the advantage of expecting an assassination, it would be unlikely that an assassin would be able to slip past his defenses. However, should that prove to happen, Ieros had no qualms with slaughtering the entire Royal Family of Seris. He would most likely have to do that much in order to keep the King’s favor. Not that he wanted that to happen, he just had to be prepared for what may be an eventuality.

But he put such thoughts out of his mind for the moment, he needed to escort the Princess to the Dining Hall for breakfast. He exited his room and made his way to the Princess’s chambers, startling maids who quickly got out of his way. He paid them no heed and eventually stood at the door to her chambers, waiting for her to exit. After five minutes, she exited, a bit surprised to see Ieros standing a bit to the side. He bowed and she quickly recovered her composure, nodding her head to him before heading to the Dining Hall, the two golems following the two.

As they walked, the Princess decided to strike up a conversation.

“So Ieros, how was your life before you were discovered as a mage?”

Ieros replied, “It was peaceful and simple, a time which I wish I could return to.”

She turned to look at him, a bit surprised.

“Oh? You don’t like your current status?”

Ieros said, “It is neither pleasing or displeasing, I just find it to be slightly tedious.”

She chuckled.

“Yes, I can see that.”

After a rather long pause, she said, “Then what about your magic, do you enjoy doing it?”

Ieros answered, “I do, it is one of the few pleasures I know.”

She looked at him again.

“You don’t look as if you are enjoying it right now.”

Ieros returned her gaze for a moment before looking on ahead.

“I enjoy it when it is up to me how to use my magic. Right now it is a mission and I don’t have the time to have fun.”

She was silent, unsure of how to answer to that.

Stolen novel; please report.

Eventually, she just said, “Well, I hope that you can enjoy doing magic a lot more.”

Ieros was then in turn unsure of how to respond, eventually just choosing to remain silent. Eventually, the two reached the Dining Hall where they took their seats, Ieros a bit surprised to see more people at the table, most of them being young women. They were the princesses of Seris, most likely brought here by the King in order to woo Ieros. But whereas they might’ve succeeded with Ieros, they would meet no such luck with Ieros.

He took his seat by the Princess and merely had a polite conversation with the other princesses nearby, cutting it off as soon as he could, his attitude quickly offending the other princesses. Eventually, one had had enough and she attempted to slap him, although the golem interfered, her hand striking against its outstretched arm.

She cried out in pain, slightly overdramatic as she demanded that Ieros get down on his hands and knees to apologize to her. Ieros then stopped eating, placing down his cutlery. He slowly stood, directing his cold silver eyes on her, freezing the unfortunate princess in place.

He asked, “Why must I apologize?”

She blustered, “You harmed me so-”

Ieros said, “You were the one to strike me.”

She quickly changed tack.

“You insulted me and my-”

Ieros said, “I did nothing of the sort.”

She angrily said, “You ignored my pleasantries and-”

Ieros gave her a look a father might give to a disobedient child.

“I returned your platitudes and resumed eating. Where was the insult?”

She said, “When you ignored-”

Ieros leaned in close and repeated, “Where. Was. The. Insult.”

She attempted to speak but found that she couldn’t say anything, Ieros’s presence was simply too overpowering. She bit her lip and quickly exited the Dining Hall, Ieros coldly surveying the rest of the princesses who avoided his gaze before taking his seat. He resumed eating, the Princess slightly surprised. She couldn’t help but remember the nervous boy she had first met in her father’s throne room, a boy who was so uncomfortable in her presence that he decided to leave.

But here, he actually drove the other party away, nothing like her first impression. While that impression had been mostly forgotten by his earlier actions, she always thought that at heart, he was still that nervous boy who had put on a tough act. But this was a bit drastic for an act, he wasn’t the same boy that she had first met.

The rest of breakfast was carried out in an oppressive silence, many of the princesses excusing themselves for they had lost their appetite. The Princess was similarly so, although she had lost her appetite wondering about how different the current Ieros was from Ieros. Meanwhile, the King wasn’t too perturbed by Ieros, finishing his meal and then standing, the remaining diners standing as well. He waved dismissively, the diners taking their leave while the King directed the Princess to accompany him.

“Come with me, Princess. We have business to discuss.”

The Princess bowed her head, “Of course, your Majesty.”

As the two walked, followed by the Prince and Ieros, the King said, “Well, what do you think of Seris?”

The Princess replied, “It is not too different from my home, but it isn’t the same.”

The King nodded, “I understand that feeling. I—as a young prince—once traveled to Athera, I felt the same as you do now.”

Glancing at her, the King continued, “I also didn’t want to marry an Atheran Princess at the time, even though it would’ve brought peace to our two nations. For I already had a love back home and to her my heart belonged. Is it the same with you?”

The Princess shook her head.

“No, I’ve simply been too busy with my duties as a Princess to fall in love.”

The King chuckled.

“Ah, a workaholic. Working is good but one must take breaks from time to time.”

The Princess replied, “I try to, but I just find that I am unable.”

The King said, “Something always has to be done, is that right?”

The Princess confessed, “Yes, it often feels that way.”

The King turned to his son.

“My son is a hard worker when he puts his mind to it, unfortunately, he doesn’t put his mind to it all that often.”

Turning his attention to Ieros.

“What about you, do you focus on your work?”

Ieros answered, “When it is needed of me, I work. When it is not, I do not.”

The King nodded.

“Yes, that sounds very much like you, although what do you do when work is not needed to be done?”

Ieros thought a moment before replying, “I listen to the stories of ancient shadows or spend my time in libraries, doing my best to further understand what Magic is.”

The King asked, “What do these shadows say?”

Ieros answered, “Mostly of things that most men go their entire lives without seeing, about strange and mystical happenings deep within the forest and of the times when the immaterial become the material. They speak of the flow of energy of Life itself, of the beginnings and ends of countless things. I must confess that I’m still struggling to comprehend all that they say.”

The King took this in, walking in silence for a few moments.

“And these shadows, do they serve you?”

Ieros shook his head.

“If I ask, sometimes they will answer but most of the time, they would rather help by sharing knowledge than taking action themselves.”

The King then inquired, “Do these shadows interfere with the lives of humans?”

Ieros shook his head.

“The shadows merely watch and remember, they do not act. They simply do not care enough to interfere.”

This time the Princess asked, “What about the Sentinel? Did it not interfere to save your life?”

Ieros said, “The Sentinel is not a shadow, at least, not anymore. It must either be so old that it gained the power to manipulate the material or it is a fragment of some long-forgotten god.”

The King asked, “Why did it bother to save your life?”

Ieros replied, “I must confess that I do not know. Perhaps there was something about me that was just different from the rest, I was... special, for a lack of a better term.”

Hearing his words, the King snorted inwardly, special, of course, he was special. This boy was the genius of the century, there were none possessed even half of his magical talent. But before they could continue their conversation, the group had reached a remote place deep within the palace. This possessed many spells regarding protection, spells that not only prevented physical breach but from prying eyes and ears. It seemed that it was here that the King and the Princess were to discuss the terms of peace between Athera and Seris.

It was here that Ieros commanded his golems to stay behind, as well as allow the King to cast his Ruling Magic to seal Ieros’s powers. Of course, as Ieros’s powers weren’t fully that of mortal origin, he wasn’t completely powerless but it was better that the King didn’t know that. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to defend himself. Anyways, the King too entered without his personal guard, it would only be the King, the Prince, the Princess, and Ieros.

Ieros stood by as the King and Princess discussed the terms of peace, the Princess steering off the topic of marriage to the Prince until she couldn’t anymore. It was then that she bluntly stated that she didn’t wish to marry. Of course, the King tried to convince her to do otherwise but she was adamant. The King didn’t feel that it was necessary to push for marriage under threat of war, after all, it was only a marriage. Even if this could be viewed as an insult to his nation, he didn’t think that it was worthy enough of war.

But he didn’t surrender without a fight, he pointed out the possibility that without marriage, a war was a very real possibility. He assured her that war would not be because of the refusal but it wouldn’t do anything to prevent a war as a marriage would. However, the Princess said that she was fine with the consequences, although she too didn’t wish for war. The Prince remained mostly silent during all this, he was only slightly disappointed and perhaps a little insulted that the Princess did not wish to marry him.

He viewed himself as quite the catch for the ladies and to be refused hurt his pride. He was also disappointed in the fact that he had lost the chance to be with one of the more finer women that humanity had to offer, although this wasn’t of too much consequence. There were more women out there that were easier to access. As for Ieros, he was slightly confused as to why the Princess did not pursue marriage, it would basically guarantee peace between the two nations and was that not the goal?

He concluded that it must’ve been some personal view of hers which prevented her from deciding to go with the marriage. He thought this to be rather foolish but as peace was eventually accomplished anyway, with the King giving orders to the cartographers to write up a treaty which the King and Princess would officially sign few days later upon its completion. The treaty mostly detailed actions that the nations wouldn’t commit against one another, such has tariffs on their goods, the wrongful imprisonment/persecution of mostly merchants that originated from their nations and obviously the preparations of arms at their adjoining borders.

But there was one additional condition that the Princess acquiesced to, the possibility of a marriage between their two nations in the future, whether it was her or someone else. And as much as the Princess wanted to refuse, she knew that to go that far was too much. She couldn’t deny that such a thing would basically ensure peace, no matter how she felt about it.

When this was done, the King and the Princess shook hands, the King smiling as he said,

“Well, I don’t know about you but all this deliberating has made me hungry. Shall we head to the Dining Hall?”

The Princess smiled as well.

“Yes, I too am rather hungry as well.