Life had been easy for Iain and Lilly Rottal. Their parents were minor nobles without much power. They had always lived rather solitarily in a bigger city.

Through cleverly maneuvering the social circle, their family had all the riches but none of the responsibilities of nobles.

When Madam Rottal finally got pregnant, husband and wife even decided to buy some land and raise their children in peace and quiet.

Thanks to their parents’ decisions Iain and Lilly grew up happily. They received their parents’ teachings and quickly learned to write and read. Even more advanced subjects like math and physics were thought in their family.

As they grew up, Iain began to learn smithing from his father while Lilly received their mothers’ legacy as a healer.

Only when they slowly neared adulthood did the pair of siblings understand how unusual and advanced some of these teachings were.

Sadly however, they didn’t have time to ask their parents about their origin anymore. Thomas and Silvia Rottal unfortunately passed away when their children were only 14 and 13 years old.

When the pair of siblings went through a hard time they received a lot of emotional support from the other villagers. Especially the former patients of Madam Rottal felt indebted to their family.

Therefore, life hasn’t been too harsh on Iain and Lilly even after their parents’ death.

Two years later, when the siblings had already taken over their parents’ former occupations, a terrifying plague unexpectedly haunted their village.

The young Rottals worked hard to fight against the rampaging disease. After saving many villagers they were soon celebrated like heroes. Especially the young Lilly, who wasn’t even of age at the time, won many admirers.

In this way the pair of siblings was deeply integrated in this little village where they still lived peacefully.

Like every morning Lilly could be seen putting some simple breakfast on the table. She had always been proud of the bread she baked herself following their mothers’ recipe.

Combined with the cup of milk and a little butter they received from Uncle Georg, this made a simple and honest meal.

Looking out of the small window next to their table, Lilly could observe Iain doing his daily training. Their father always emphasized its’ importance, so his son had been keeping up with it for years now.

Until this day the pair of siblings had great respect for their parents. They were the reason why Iain and Lilly could live their quiet life in this comparatively luxurious home.

A lot of things in this house could be considered far too advanced for their time. Applications like running water or heat insulation couldn’t even be found in some nobles’ manors.

Unfortunately, their parents never talked about where this knowledge came from. They only left them some books behind with even more outrageous inventions.

Iain liked to discover this future technology and was thus experimenting with something called electricity a lot. Lilly on the other hand followed more in her mother’s footstep, learning about this special energy called mana.

Although her mother emphasized to never reveal her magic to outsiders, Lilly decided to use her healing knowledge when the plague broke out in their village. After all, what was the use of learning this magic if you never helped someone with it.

Sadly, she quickly realized that she was too hasty at that time. After she tried her best to safe the old smith David’s wife, the ungrateful man accused her of being a witch.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Normally Lilly would have shrugged it off, but David swore that he saw her use magic. Since then, the young woman always had this slight worry at the back of her mind.

“What are you staring at sis?”

Iain’s voice suddenly came from behind Lilly. It seemed she was too bothered and didn’t even realize her brother had already stopped training.

The young woman had a wry smile on her face as she turned around.

“Morning, Iain.”

“Morning Lilly. What’s with that look on your face? Are you worried about those rumors again?”

Lilly’s shoulders sank lightly as she looked at her tall brother.

“Is my mind this transparent?”

“Well, this is the only thing that can worry you so much, isn’t it? However, you shouldn’t overthink things. No one would care that much to investigate us.”

The young woman already knew her brother’s stance in this issue. Iain was never fond of thinking too much about things. Depending on your perspective, you could call this either naïve or confident.

“Come on, little sis. Let go of those worries! They only dampen your mood. Here, let your brother give you a hug and everything will be good.”

With those words Iain quickly took a step forward, trying to hug his smaller sister. Lilly was startled for a second as she looked at the athletic, bare upper body of her brother.

Observing the sweat still dripping form the young man’s torso, however, Lilly understood what Iain planned to do. She let out a laughter as she took a few steps back.

“Eww stay away. Quickly go wash yourself, or you won’t get any breakfast today!”

“How can you be so heartless to your older brother? I’m just trying to comfort you!”

As Iain once again got closer and Lilly once again stepped back, they soon began to chase each other through the room.

Unfortunately for Lilly this room was only so big, so her only option was to get their table between herself and her brother.

Iain’s tacit seemed to have worked though, as Lilly had a big smile on her face again.

“You two seem to be in a good mood this morning.”

A sudden voice took the pair of siblings out of their playful mood.

“Morning Sophia. Are you doing better today?”

“Morning Sophia.”

“Morning guys. Thanks to you I’m doing great. I really thought I would never be able to walk again.”

I wasn’t normal for Lilly and Iain to eat breakfast together with their patients, but Sophia was obviously an exception.

Georg and Sophia had ever been very close to the siblings.

After their parents died those two almost became like a second family. Naturally this wasn’t the first time they ate together.

Seeing Sophia in high spirits, Lilly felt slightly relieved. Although the gentle woman tried to hide her feelings, Lilly could still tell that her best friend seemed slightly depressed the day before.

Not wanting to discuss Sophia’s injury any more than necessary, Lilly quickly invited her:

“Come, Sophia. Sit here. You have the honor of eating my self-baked bread again!”

A light smile formed on the older woman’s face.

“Then I won’t hold back.”

Before she sat down however, Sophia slightly raised an eyebrow as she spoke in a teasing voice towards Iain:

“You got more muscular again, hmm. Although I appreciate the scenery, maybe you shood at least wear something during breakfast, don’t you think so?”

Seeing Ian’s face slightly blush even under the thick, well-groomed beard he always wore, let the two girls break out into laughter together.

Although Sophia liked to tease Iain since he was young, the grown man still hadn’t learned how to deal with it. This made it all the more fun for the two girls.

Silently mumbling something Iain swiftly left the room escaping the girl’s grinning faces.

“You are too bad, Sophia. You know my poor brother can’t deal with your teasing.”

“I only want the best for him. If he can’t even handle me, how should he find a wife in the future. Your brother isn’t young anymore, right? He’s already 18.

Maybe we should bring him to Regensburg so he can talk to more girls.”

“You are right, but you haven’t found a man yet either right? You are already 25… “

Noticing an evil smile forming on Sophia’s face, Lilly hastily corrected herself.

“Ehm… I mean you are not much older than 20. You still have a lot of time. Of course.”

“It’s good that you know. Or else I’ll begin to search a partner for you. After all you just turned 17, you are old enough for marriage.

With how popular you are, I will find someone in no time at all.”

A shiver ran down Lillie’s spine. Contrary to most noble’s teachings, the old Rottals only ever wanted for their children to be happy. Therefore, the pair of siblings also believed in waiting for their perfect partner.

While the two girls were bantering, Iain came back in a new shirt. Although he was already wearing his work clothes, they were still of a higher quality than most villagers’ normal clothes.

This once again showcased their superior upbringings. However, while many villagers thought the siblings bought their clothing for a lot of money, Sophia knew that those were handmade by Lilly.

The older woman also received a few dresses form her friends, but she would treasure those and seldom wear them.

Whie nodding in approval at Iain’s appearance, Sophia noticed the young man looking at her smugly.

“Sophia, didn’t you forget something while having fun with my sister?”

“Me? I don’t think so?”

“But I just came across four very hungry soldiers…”

“Ohh…”