It happened one morning- one peaceful morning that caused me to not expect the sudden bomb that would be dropped onto my lap, by now, there are four more days left before the entrance exam starts on Pledge Academy and to say that Zathania has been training hard ever since instructor Quoketh came into the castle to prepare her would be an understatement- well, her training is irrelevant at the moment and the most important detail out of that entire ordeal is the simple fact that she's making progress.

Anyways, back to the bombshell- with four days left before the school year, a regular, sane, and stable human being would think that the following days would be slow, uninteresting, and completely boring right? Well apparently not because Igenous Sear Everlast, or as my siblings and I like to call him- “Father” - decided that it would be a great time to make preparations for a big event!

What kind of event you may ask?

Why- Vassalhood, of course.

Specifically, for myself.

I really didn't expect it, the damn thing came out of the blue so suddenly that it hit my face and left a bruise. And everything before that had been normal too; I woke up, greeted my current maid because Zath was too busy training-

“Parah,” the maid nodded in response and said, “Mistress, your bath is now ready,” with a bow before leading me to my bathroom, which I proceeded to enter to start cleaning myself.

All in all, a normal start of my day, and it is something that I've been repeatedly doing for some time now so… yeah, again, normal.

And I think it was the main why I was caught so off guard by what happened next.

Now, what came next is me leaving the bathroom to change, once done, I walked out of my room and into the dining hall, took a seat, waited for the food to arrive and just as my fork was about to strike the tender meat of my pork chops, my father, The King, decided that it was the right fucking time to give me “good news”-

“Neophyte, preparations for yours and Zath's ceremony is underway, I admit, it is a bit rushed but it would be worth it if it could get the young Phagea heir to enter the Academy with you unbidden,” I actually paused at that to properly digest his words and the more I read into it, the more I got confused because I just don't know what the fuck he’s talking about.

Ceremony? What? And why's Zath connected to it?

“Sorry, can you repeat that? I'm not sure I heard it father,” I said with a forced smile as I turned to meet his eyes, he stayed silent, most likely wanting me to guess his intent so you know what? They've been talking about it all week and it's the only thing that's come out of their mouths so here- “Is it marriage?”

The Queen did a spit take and so did a few of my siblings.

“Goddess no!” Falya said as she wiped her mouth, “a marriage that will start an alliance between houses would require both Phagea and Everlast to communicate and plan it together, Neophyte,” I resisted the urge to say that they'll do it behind my back anyways, so what's the point of saying it like that and simply nodded, “no, what your father meant is vassal hood,” I blinked, “Zathania would pledge her loyalty to you under the eye of the Goddess the day before you two go to the Academy, as that would ensure her entry even if she fails the entrance exam,”

What? What the fuck? I already have a vassal? I don't even have a land yet- “wow.” That was the only thing I could say, “that is unexpected in so many ways that I don't even know what to say anymore,”

“You can start with a thank you,” Bismuth said right next to me and I followed his advice and did just that-

“Thank you,” Igneous and Falya nodded, “and second, I don't have any lands?”

“But you're royalty, Everlast is your land, from back to front, everything here belongs to us even when other families officially have it,”

That's not how it works right? Right? That's literally not how that works- well… if Taxes are actually rent money that the people pay us then it does make some sense but… that's not important- “is this necessary?”

“I'm sure you're confident in Zathania making the cut and entering the Academy Neophyte but, let's be honest here, vassal hood may be one of the few things that'll allow her to go at this moment, or, if you want, we can always make him go to some random military corps and-”

I cut Pearl off, “Okay, okay, fine,” I conceded, “Zath needs to go with me instead of some random military group, I get it,” I sighed, “but why… all this? Why now?”

“She just got her Pledge, sister,” Byzanthine said dryly and with a tone that said I was stupid instead of everyone else, “we wished that we would've known that your lover would get her Pledge before she did so that we could prepare the church and reserve it months before the event happens-”

She was just dripping with sarcasm this morning huh? "Sorry, guess I wasn't specific,” I conceded again, stopping Byzanthine's rant, “but what I want to say is this: Why… you know, the church? Why not the throne room like everyone else?”

“Because we wanted the occasion to be special,” Igneous said with a smile, “and also because you are both Pledge Bearers and it would be blasphemy if our humble throne room is chosen instead of the Goddess’ church,”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Okay, I get it,” I replied, “so… Zath's gonna become my vassal huh?” I tried to smile, I really did, “what does that mean for me? And what about my own personal maid?”

“Do not worry about that last one,” Amber was the one to answer, “as me, Bismuth, Cobalt, and a few of Phagea's nobles have come together in order to provide your floor at the Academy's Dorm with weekly maid services that should prove satisfactory to you and your lover,”

“Okay, let me get this straight,” I started, “you're all saying that Zath and I are gonna live together on the same, royal provided floor in Pledge Academy's dorm room?” Amber nodded in confirmation, “then why not just… I don't know, ask her to continue cleaning for me?”

“... well if you want to treat her as some sort of house wife-”

“That's not the point though?” I said to Adamantite, “what I mean is…” I sighed and relaxed, “there's really no point in arguing about this, I should just… thank you guys for what you did so… thanks.”

We resumed eating and throughout, I didn't try to even remotely mention the vassalhood.

But I did think about it- because for the lack of a better term, this is… kind of life changing for Zath, Vassalhood doesn't just mean that she's gonna become my knight or whatever, no, it's kind of more complicated than that- because by all means, her becoming my vassal would mean that house Phagea, when she eventually takes over, would be under my arm politically speaking, sure, they would have a lot of leeway still but every decision that they make when it comes to producing, recruiting, and sending maids would have to go through me- or worse, the King first.

And to rub salt on the wound, the entire thing would be one sided except for maybe the Everlasts providing financial or physical support when House Phagea is in trouble- which is already impossible to happen.

Why the hell did Line even agree to that? Is it just for Zathania or..?

The question of why kept reappearing inside my head on occasion and I really couldn't help it could I? This is important to everyone involved- and I definitely like to think of myself as a factor here even when I mostly benefit from the arrangement. I mean, I don't want to ruin my relationship with Zath…

Sighing, I focused back on the present and suddenly found myself in one of the many gyms found across the castle. It was mostly empty, save for the sound of grunting and a punching bag getting struck, I wanted to leave but… maybe seeing who's inside of here wouldn't be so bad- walking forward, I stepped into the gym proper and, huh, “Byzanthine?”

My sister stopped hitting the punching bag and turned to face me, “Neo?”

Streaks of dark-yellow hair tied into a ponytail whipped sideward as she suddenly turned her head back, the sportswear that she was wearing was soaked in sweat and despite that, she still wiped her forehead with her wet sleeve, doing nothing more than just spread the sweat across her forehead, she placed a hand on her hip and started to calm her breathing, her modest chest no longer puffing up from the strain of exhaustion.

She tilted her head, “good morning?” She wiped her forehead again and frowned, I giggled and she sighed before walking over to an empty bench and grabbing a white towel, she started wiping herself and I waited, all the while she kept eyeing me, “do you want something?”

I found myself sitting in front of her, sighing, “not… really,” I admitted, “it's just that… you know, uhm- how do I say this?” I bit my lip and looked around, “I… isn't vassalhood a bit… predatory to be taken by Zath?”

Byzanthine blinked, “what?” She asked, “why- it's not predatory Neo,” my sister, more or less used to the technical terms used in businesses by now said as she crossed her arms, “you do realize that Phagea would have an authority that's only below us right?”

“Yeah but they already have that?” I said.

“Neo-” she shook her head, “no- no they didn't, being a Marquis isn't even close to being a vassal of royalty,” Byzanthine took the space right next to me and sat down, thinking, “how do I put this… well… for an example- how do you think I would… be compared to a baron when it comes to authority?”

“They can't compare obviously,” I replied.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because they don't have that many people under them,” I raised an eyebrow, “so they don't have that much manpower-”

She bonked my head, “Are you stupid? Is everything in your head just a fight to you? Manpower? Really?”

I pursed my lips while rubbing the spot that she hit, it didn't hurt but my pride got struck with a heavy blow damn it! “Okay, then what is it then other than a Baron being unable to revolt against a princess because they lack manpower?”

“Okay, first off,” Byzanthine raised a hand, “Barons in the past have overthrown Kings so it's not really a matter of manpower but public opinion and morale,” I actually nodded at that, “but we're clearly getting off track here so let me ask you another question- when a crisis comes and there's no Royalty because they're somehow busy-” with how many we siblings are, I genuinely doubt that would ever happen, “- or whatever, who do you think people go to for leadership?”

“Uh… the Duke?” I said rhetorically, “They should be the closest one to us right?”

Byzanthine stared at me oddly, “Neophyte, there are no dukes in Everlast.”

“Well I didn't know about that! Be specific!” I retorted.

“Okay, fine, I'll give you that-” she conceded, sounding tired, “but that's not the point, what is, I think, would be the fact that there are multiple Marquis’ present here in the city as well as a few… businessmen and houses that have their own political influence, and simply put, they can't override each other but we could, and becoming our vassal would allow the house to have that very same authority, do you follow?”

“Yes?” I said, mostly getting her point, “so Phagea would be able to override stuff during emergencies-”

“Not just emergencies, my sister corrected, clicking her tongue, but all the time.” She emphasized, “they would be royals in all but name, and it’s not like anyone can refuse, since, you know, The Goddess oversees vassal hood,”

“Oh. That’s why it’s a spectacle.” Realization struck me then. “Huh.”

“Yes, huh,” Byzanthine smiled, patting me on the back, “that way, I think, no one can refuse your marriage with Zathania should the time come,”

I sighed, “you as well huh?”

“Come on, you don’t need to hide it, there’s only the two of us here!” Byzanthine grinned, wrapping an arm around my neck and pulling me close, “come on, tell big sis about all the things that you did with your girlfriend,” she wagged her brows, “I heard that you went with her to the library during the night when we were kids?”

Okay, who the fuck snitched on me- “don’t worry!” She waved me off, “Zathania said it after Graphite asked her about the uh, thing… of you being smart. I think.”

“... you’re fucking with me.”

She clicked her tongue, “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Neophyte, your mouth has just been dirtied,” I rolled my eyes, “but that is actually a pretty good explanation for why you’re so smart aren’t you?” She smiled, “heading down to the library to read and study instead of sleeping like us peasants, man… we really wasted so much time huh?”

I chuckled weakly, well, I guess it is a good reason, but that’s not really why I did it though because I didn’t really know much about the world as a whole save for the things that were shown in game and that simply wasn’t enough because, I knew because the moment that I learned there are more areas than the ones I went to in Everlast, I pretty much decided to want to keep up with the rest of the world or else I’d fall behind.

Okay, maybe I was a bit too paranoid, overstudying like that but it was for a good reason- and also, I’m pretty sure it’s because of those nights that I… uhm… moved on from what happened to the Hero- the little time I spent reading books on the library helped with the sleepless nights, if anything really.

It was my way of coping and you know what? If that also became the reason why people think I’m smart then I’m gonna go through with it in full throttle, might as well solidify it and make them believe that’s what actually happened.

I smiled wryly, “well, I tried to get you guys to join me once-”

“That was a one time thing!” If Byzanthine noticed my lack of focus a moment prior, she didn’t show it when she gave me her winning smile, “you didn’t ask again after we said no the first time! Damn it Neo!” I giggled when she started to wrestle me, “You could’ve pushed! You know how stubborn and hard headed we all are!”