Duel of Wills

WINIFRED

"It is quite literally the bare minimum."

"The bare minimum! Can you hear the audacity on this girl to tell me it's the bare minimum?! What does a child know about standards?!"

"Apparently a lot more than you. Your tastes are as unseasoned as your choice in words. You are the most boring man I have ever had the displeasure of listening to. Men like you can only get wives because society is heavily flawed and highly dependent on your mediocrity."

"You shouldn't be the one to talk, being an obvious beneficiary of society's favours. Someone like you can only be somewhere like this because of his highness's grace. People like you don't deserve such things."

"I love when people think that just because they're mediocre, others are just like them. While you walk around thinking you're the gods favor on man, I know exactly why I'm here. I'm here against my will. Do you think I would personally choose to spend a day with insufferable royals like you constantly making me feel guilty for existing? Frankly, if a child is 'flawed' we blame it on the environment and that means the people around them are quite, what's the world, absurdly stupid. I won't blame you for having superstitions. I indulge in superstitions myself, even though they're quite different. I think I would get progressively stupid if I keep talking to you. Idiocy is contagious. So, Lord Grace, shoo."

"Did you just..."

"Want me to repeat it? Shoo! No one wants to see a disgraceful dog wagging their tails here. Shoo!"

"This is why children need to be disciplined properly. If I were your tutor, you wouldn't have the liberty to say such things to someone older than you. But I'm glad I'm not stuck to someone who clearly has a difficult future ahead of them."

"Says the person insulting the future Saintess. Tell me, is it also one of you talents to be clueless?"

"Someone like you, become Saintess? You're just a pawn. By the time you're older, there would already be someone to replace you."

"Isn't that interesting? I can tell you now, there is no one who can replace me. It's intimidating, right? I'm just a young, blind child but the mana I possess is more than you can ever get in your lifetime. I know that's the real reason you keep acting hostile. You used to be on top of the world but here, even a pebble at the side of the road would be more interesting than you."

"You…"

"If you try to hurt me, Bishop Matthew, Lord Silver and Lady Freya would defend me. They don't care about going up against someone like you for a weak little girl. But what about you? If you were to suddenly lose all your magic and were reduced to an ordinary lord, who would support you?"

He was silent. It was easy to tell that it was one of his fears. When used against him, it was quite effective at shutting him up.

"I'll circle back to my main point. It is the bare minimum to apologize to Lady Freya for dragging her honor through the mud by calling off your engagement so suddenly. But you don't think you need to offer an apology and since you're stupid, I'll forgive you. Now, leave us."

"My lady, I think you've done quite enough," Lady Freya's quiet voice entered my ears. He barged into our classroom and wanted to cart Freya away because he had a minor inconvenience that only she could fix. But since she was in the middle of a lesson and he was being rude, I didn't let her go. We went back and forth and he only shut up now.

"Has he gone yet?"

"…no, my lady."

"Throw him out then. Just because the prince isn't around doesn't mean I will allow myself to be disrespected. I'll be sure to report this to the prince as soon as he arrives. If you think he won't be able to do anything, well, just wait until he returns."

I heard the door slam and I sighed. Finally, I got rid of him. Being such a nuisance and for what?

"I don't need an apology, my lady. My lack of magic wasn't the only reason he called off the engagement. Let's just say…all the men in the upper circles have seen my drawers."

"It must've been quite the party then."

"…it was. Anyways, let's continue with the lesson."

"I'm quite curious. What kind of party brings together all the men of high society together?"

"It's not the type of party a lady should be concerned with."

"I'm more concerned with how you got there. Since a lady shouldn't be concerned with it, she certainly shouldn't know the location, right? So, how did you get there?"

"My lady, I love that you are curious but your curiosity shouldn't…"

"You were kidnapped and he had something to do with it. You kept your mouth shut because no one would believe you, especially since he was the one who started those rumors. Men keep a secret amongst themselves and say that women gossip. And because of your uncontrollable desires, you kept going back for…more."

"My lady, perhaps we should halt the lesson here for today. You can…take the rest of the day off!" She abruptly said and stormed out. I picked up my cane and navigated my way to Nathan's room, hoping he was back.

"You're here again," came the voice from his familiar. He didn't like me but honestly, it'll take the sky falling for me to care. If I didn't happen to see the sky fall, well, that's a pity.

"It's important for me to be here. You can't hate me for that."

"He's already on his way back. Stay far away from me. Monster."

"Rude."

I was offended. Being called a monster by what I've come to know is a talking crow is an insult, especially to my very fragile ego. But he was right. Nathan arrived soon.

"Oh, you're here. Lessons ended early?"

"Rudely interrupted by Lord Grace and cancelled by Lady Freya. Only the second one was my fault."

"Thanks for clarifying that," he chuckled, putting all that was in his hands to the floor. I knew he had carted away more. It would be hilarious to see the cathedral's treasury being empty because it was choke full of stolen artifacts. The money there was probably mostly also stolen because of the war.

"Did you get what you need?"

"Unfortunately, no. I didn't find my eyes. I sent several clones of myself into every corner of the empire and out of the empire to find my eyes. There is not a single trace of my body left. Even the body I was buried in wasn't mine."

"Was it the body of a woman?"

"How did you know?"

"Hunch. Were you always a woman?"

"No. I possessed her before they could sever my soul permanently. Those bastards didn't know I survived so they won't be expecting me. But I did get something to help with your dreams. I'm surprised it still exists, since it's the most delicate thing I've ever made."

"What is it?"

He smiled and walked closer with something in his hands. I felt something cold against my forehead and reached to touch it. It was some kind of precious stone with a chain attached to it.

"I crafted it for my beloved when they were being tortured by harmful thoughts and dreams that left them delirious. I thought it might help you too. I also call it the Eye of Salvation so you can occasionally see through it if you focus your magic."

"What a useful tool. It must be beautiful as well. But this beloved of yours…"

"I will tell you all about it when the time comes. Now, why don't we go have lunch outside. I am seriously famished."

"One day, there won't be an escape route for you, Nathan. But yes, let's go eat."

This bastard lifted me off my feet and cradled me in his arms, grinning from ear to ear. Although there were a thousand one complaints to be had, I didn't say anything and just let him carry me. We had to go pick up Darryl from the training grounds and get him to join us for lunch.

I could hear Darryl's grunts long before we arrived at the sparring grounds and I had to ask for an explanation.

"He's sparring his teacher."

"That should be normal, I think?"

"Lord Grace is not holding back. It looks like he's pushing him further than his limits. This cannot be good for Darryl."

"Well, stop him!"

"I don't have the strength to do that right now."

"Lord Silver, be a dear and stop the fight. Who knows, I might even reward you with a kiss on the cheek."

His grin dropped and he stared me dead in the eyes.

"You promise to keep that end of your word?"

"I promise to keep to my word."

He placed me gently on the ground and charged ahead like a madman.