“Voidkin?” Ansel repeated after the mage.

  “Yes, you are a voidkin.”

  “What even is that?”

  “Let us go inside, shall we? We have much to talk about.”

  He invited Gadric into the main lobby where Selena was overjoyed to have received a guest. She rushed to the kitchen to prepare something while they sat down.

  “Sir Asvete, what is a voidkin?”

  Gadric scratched his chin slowly. “The principle of magic revolves around the four elementals, namely fire, water, earth and wind. From the four basic elementals, there can be more devitations. For example, some fire mages may be able to cast blue flames. Some water mages cast ice. Some earth mages cast rot. Some wind mages cast lightning. Then there are holy magic users who are more or less priests. Finally, there are black magic users. Voidkin is a deviation of black mages.”

  “So, I am a black mage?”

  “Well…, strictly speaking, yes. But a voidkin is unable to cast magic on his own.”

  “What?” Ansel frowned. “A mage who can’t cast magic? Is that even a mage?”

  “A voidkin is unable to cast magic on his own due to the lack of mana. They also exhibit the lack of emotions. Seeing your stoic face, I see that you indeed exhibit such a trait.”

  It made sense at least. He wasn’t a weirdo. He was a voidkin.

  He continued, “A voidkin is able to absorb spells cast on him. They are able to cast black magic by using others’ mana but never their own because they never have any. Historically, the number of voidkin is low. And they are treated as more of an anti-mage instead of full-fledged mages.”

  “So, it’s probably good that I’ve trained in the spear.”

  “Yes, you are going to need some ways to fight, and the spear is certainly one of them.”

  “But how is a voidkin an anti-mage?”

  “They are able to absorb spells cast on them, making them very resistant to mages. And, if you manage to touch them, you can drain their mana. It must be a skin contact however. Voidkins have historically been known as the bane of mages.”

  Folding arms, Ansel fell into thoughts. His own siblings looked strangely at him, always telling him that he was weird. He was bullied by them as a result of being different.

  “Here you go, sirs,” Selena said as she placed tea cups along with a small plate of cookies. She was all smiles. It must have been nice for her to finally do something else other than household chores.

  “How could you tell that I was a voidkin? You acted as if you knew immediately.”

  “How could I not? As a mana user, I could sense my skin tingling the moment I approached you. The whole immediate area around your body feels distorted by your void trying to absorb mana. A voidkin is extremely dangerous to magicians. When you absorb mana from us by skin contact, you don’t just absorb it. You forcefully rip mana away from us, and rejuvenating mana lost by a voidkin takes so much longer if that’s even possible. Some mages never really recover fully.”

  “I don’t quite understand how it works exactly, but it makes a lot of sense to me now. Why I am different from others, why I don’t express emotions as frequently and normally as others, it all makes sense.”

  “Unless it's a strong emotion, voidkins won’t display it. That’s just how they are and why they are called voidkins; they are devoid of many things that are normal to others. At the same time, they gain an ability that’s absurdly strong against mages.”

  I never asked for it! He bellowed in his mind. He would have preferred a normal life.

  “Sir, I have a favor to ask. Please do not tell anyone what you’ve found out today.”

  Gadric beamed a grin. “Fear not. The mere fact that you sought out a mage outside of your liege’s domain means you wished to keep your identity under a wrap. And I can certainly see why. I am more surprised that you had the foresight to do this when you didn’t even know what you were.”

  “I am simply trying to be careful and live a peaceful life.”

  “Hard to believe that those words are coming out of a child … May I ask who old you are?”

  “Eleven, sir. Turning twelve in some months of time.”

  “Even as a mage, your intelligence and wisdom seems exceptional. Interesting indeed.”

  He took several cookies and finished his tea cleanly. “The quality of the cookies and tea is pitiful, but that’s to be expected for a backwater county like this.”

  Ansel took no offense since the guy was working for a duke.

  “You still ate them though. You even finished your tea.”

  “It would be terribly rude not to finish what’s given. Besides, I do not wish to make that beautiful maid sad.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “You will understand when you get old enough, lad. By the way, were you the one who sent the soldier?”

  “Yes.”

  “He was talking about something interesting as well. Apparently, your liege, a baron, is looking for a wife with interesting criteria.”

  “Ah, that, yes, it’s true.”

  “I don’t know what has been going on in the Moshil region. Pray tell, what has happened and who is this Baron Durrell?”

  Ansel explained to him the recent conflict between the Rassier and the Vaze. He told him how Gavin Durrell was involved and how he came to serve him. Finally, he told him about the war they participated in.

  “Lad, that’s one for a storybook,” he replied in awe. “And you made it happen?”

  “I was one piece of it.”

  “You think I’d believe that? You were instrumental to the outcome. You made it happen.”

  Ansel simply shrugged away, not wanting to hear any more of it. Noticing that, he changed the topic as well.

  “Anyway, I thought that baron of yours was into some perverse play. But I now see that he was recently a knight who followed his own codes. That changes everything then.”

  “Huh?”

  “I know of a noblewoman who your baron might very much like. Lead the way to your liege, Page Ansel.”

  “Ansel? Who is that gentleman?”

  When Ansel knocked the door to his office, he was battling with papers which was something he never had to do as a knight. Those were reports from Ansel. One of the reasons he was battling was due to the fact that Ansel’s recently learned grammar wasn’t really complete, and Gavin was having a hard time understanding what the hell he was trying to say in words. He couldn’t even complain since it was him who insisted for Ansel to write in order to help him to improve.

  “Baron Durrell, my name is Gadric Asvete, a magician serving Duke Grimhill.”

  Gavin’s eyes widened at once because he recognized the name “Grimhill” which was the most powerful house in the kingdom. He stood up at once with Ansel’s reports flying about and bowed. “Sir Asvete! I welcome you to this humble place!”

  “At ease, Baron,” said Gadric. His rank was higher than Gavin’s. As a mage serving a duke, he would be treated as someone with a viscount title, basically three ranks below. “I am here merely as a guest, although I did hear your peculiar request for a wife.”

  Ansel stayed back, knowing full well that this was not his place to butt in.

  “Sir Mage, I have my reasons. I mean, I am 43. I cannot simply accept a woman who is way too much younger than me. I just cannot…” He frowned and turned his face away in disgust. “They are young enough to be my daughter or even granddaughter… How could I sleep with them?”

  Gadric clapped slowly with a satisfied grin. “I wish all men carried your wisdom, Baron. Hence, I bring you an offer.”

  “Yes?” Gavin looked lost, seriously.

  “I know of a widowed noblewoman. She is the first daughter of a count. Her husband died of a horse riding accident a month into her marriage. She lost her virginity unfortunately but never had a child.”

  Gavin gulped in anticipation.

  “She is 28 years old. She was widowed when she was 18 years old. For a decade, she refused to remarry but she may listen now. I will personally work on this deal.”

  That was 15 years of difference. It was still large but far, FAR, better than 30 years of age difference. Gavin instinctively knew that this was the chance he was looking for. His face stiffened at once, regaining his composure.

  “Sir Asvete, I would be more than glad to take this further,” he replied as calmly as possible. This was his know-how as a battle-hardened knight. The more severe the situation was the more sincere he would get. Gadric saw him through and beamed a very bright smile.

  “You are a self-made baron, I see. I am very satisfied. I am going to depart right away and inform the duke about this development. I dare say that you can expect a positive outcome.”

  He glanced back at Ansel. “Sir Page,” he called out softly.

  “Yes, Sir Asvete?”

  “We will see soon.” Then he vanished. Apparently, he cast a teleportation spell, evident by a flashing blue magic circle at his feet which progressively vanished after he was gone.

  “Excuse me? But your horse…”

  Horses ate a lot even though their diet was mostly hay. And, with just one maid in Selena, it was him who fed the horses. His schedule was very much overloaded at the moment. Adding one more horse wasn’t something he wanted. Meanwhile, Gavin looked pale.

  “Baron? What’s wrong with you?”

  “Am I … finally getting married? I thought it was just too late…, but could this be it?”

  He was a forty three years old knight who refused to marry during his prime years because he didn’t want his woman to suffer from poverty. And it wasn’t as if he was never given a chance. He did receive plenty of offers during late teens and 20s. He refused them all sternly and claimed he’d only marry after he became a baronet at least. When he was younger, people applauded him for his lofty dreams. Alas, as he became older, the eyes on him changed to more of scorn. He became a man who missed his chances. By the time he was 41 years old, all seemed to be lost. He failed at his life. It was when he picked up Ansel from a recruiting event. The boy was disqualified for being too weak physically. That single decision on that day altered everything for him.

  “The daughter of a count…,” he mumbled, looking very pale. “And Duke Grimhill…”

  This was not the best deal. No, this was far beyond that. He was just an old knight a month ago and now he was about to forage a connection to the most powerful figure in the kingdom.

  “Ansel…,” he called out weakly.

  “Yes, Baron?”

  Then tears started to drop from his eyes.

  “Thank you… Thank you…”

  Even as a voidkin, he felt something warm this time in his heart.

  More folks returned to the town, and the tavern was taken over by the relatives of the soldier who mentioned Finnic about his family circumstances. The first thing they did as soon as they took over the tavern was clearing out debris in its immediate area which kickstarted a town wide action where Ansel gathered all available men, some of whom were local town folks, to clear out the road to the manor. They knew that this needed to be done for everyone. In the end, half of the roads were cleared of rubble and debris. At last, the road to the manor was clear.

  “Not bad, you communicate with your horse with your thighs! Make it learn that, when you tighten your legs, it will run!” Finnic instructed Ansel from afar. The horse the mage left behind, it eventually became Ansel’s. He rode his horse in circles in front of the Durrell manor for a while before finally slowing down to a stop.

  “You are getting the hang of it,” Finnic remarked.

  “Pretty easy, this.”

  “You know the farmer who sold you the emergency wheat sack?”

  “Oh? Oh, them. What about them?

  Finnic assisted Ansel to get off the horse. He was a bit too small in physique to get down easily.

  “They asked about you when I was patrolling. They thought that you were just some errand boy.”

  “I am.” In a strict sense, he was indeed just an errand boy.

  “Right, you are,” Finnic chuckled. “Anyway, I told them you are the second in command.”

  “I guess so.” Also in a broad sense, he was indeed the second in command. Nobody had more authority than him other than the baron himself.

  “I don’t think they believed me though.”

  “How are the people doing?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  There were twice more people at the moment although even then their number exceeded only 60.

  “Some found their home gone, so housing is going to be an issue. They are building some huts with whatever they could salvage from burnt and destroyed homes, but that can only go far.”

  The town had a lumber mill on the east edge, which was currently abandoned. With the iron mine, the town was capable of producing the necessary materials to build structures without relying on other communities. This was an important aspect to consider. But then, of course, a blacksmith was going to be needed.

  “By the way, Finnic, with the tavern opening soon, we are going to need to tackle the mine and get it running.” Once the mining resumed, the town’s economy would finally restart and the market would open eventually. “So, I need you to recruit some soldiers.”

  “I will get on with that… I am assuming here that we should recruit among the town folks? How many?”

  “Five or so probably. I mean, we’ve got slightly over 60 folks. I don’t think we can recruit more than that.”

  “Right. Ask Baron to import some weapons and armor from Crisuri, will you? We are going to need some.”

  Ansel nodded. “It’s painful that we need to purchase those when we have the materials to make them here… But we don’t have the means to make them.”

  “Let’s give it time. I mean, the town is clearly recovering.”

  He muttered, “Too slowly though… Hmm?”

  He noticed a man on a horse, approaching slowly.

  “I seem to recall a similar scene before…”

  Indeed it was a déjà vu moment for him. Silver hair swept back and ocean blue eyes. This time, however, he was wearing an exquisite robe.

  “It’s Sir Asvete…”

  Noticing Ansel, Gadric waved. “Page Ansel, I bring good news. Let us meet up with your master.”

  “Why didn’t he use teleportation magic to begin with?” he whispered to himself, fearing that he’d leave another horse of his this time as well.

  “Sir Asvete!” Gavin stood up from his desk as soon as he saw him enter, dashing to him to greet him. “It’s good to see you.”

  Gadric responded proudly, “Baron Durrell, I bring you good news. The deal is done.”

  His face lit up, full of smiles. “I cannot believe it! I just can’t believe this unbelievable news!”

  Once the mood calmed down a bit, Gadric began to explain what went down.

  “She is the duke’s niece. Therefore, he was rightfully livid when I mentioned your age and rank. However, when I explained your circumstances, his ire was cooled.”

  “The duke’s niece…,” Gavin mumbled. In other words, she was way, waaaaaay, out of his league even with the baggage of her age and a divorce. The fact that she was marrying two ranks down would have been enough to discard the whole marriage talk.

  “Under normal circumstances, a marriage of this level should take at least a year to prepare. However…, given your age as well as hers, it has been decided to rush things. Do you agree, Baron Durrell?”

  He gave him a firm nod behind his desk. “Of course, Sir Asvete.”

  He was 43. She was 28. They didn’t have time to waste a whole year for marriage preparations.

  “But, Sir Asvete, please tell me. Did she accept or was she forced?”

  “I will not lie. She refused at first just like any other times, but I’ve convinced her as her godfather.”

  What’s a godfather? Ansel wondered. Of course, this was not the moment to butt in and ask.

  “Why has she refused to marry all these years?”

  Gadric took a moment to organize his thoughts. “All noblewomen expect arranged marriages. She was no exception. As the first daughter of a count, she fully expected that. However, her first marriage was something of an oddball where she and her deceased husband knew each other pretty well beforehand. It may not have been love, but they certainly liked each other enough to erase the feeling of a forced marriage.”

  “I see…”

  “She dreads a loveless marriage. She said she’d rather remain single than be locked in a forced relationship.”

  “What did you tell her? How did you convince her?”

  “I told her about you earnestly. How an old knight managed to find himself a bit of a break in his twilight years. How you refused marriage offers because your potential partner was too young and how a child was your most trusted advisor. Needless to say, she was intrigued. Baron Durrell, this backwater county might just be what she needs, a break from everything she has known.”

  “I see… I will try my utmost to please her.”

  “Do not do that, Baron.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Just be yourself. Let her feel home.”

  “I see…”

  Gadric explained further that she had already departed in a carriage and was on her way along with a few members of her trusted staff.

  “Again, under normal circumstances, you would need to meet her parents as well as the duke. But we are omitting all that for now. When you feel settled down, please do pay us a visit with her. The duke is eager to see her doing well.”

  Gavin gave him a firm nod. “I shall do that.”

  “And I am going to stay here until she arrives and settles down.”

  “Of course, Sir Asvete. As her godfather, you have the right.”

  “Excuse me, sirs,” Ansel chimed in. “What is her name?”

  Of all this time, nobody mentioned her name.

  “Ah…, right! Her name is Isabel Grimhill. Page, you may call her Lady Durrell when you meet her.”

  “Understood. And, if I may, Count Rassier will bring this up when he finds out that you somehow got married to a count’s daughter, Baron.”

  “That is a valid point,” Gavin agreed.

  If what shouldn’t have been possible continued to occur with Gavin, the count was obviously going to ask about the one behind his recent, unbelievable, successes.

  Gadric had a curious look on his face and asked, “Are you not on good terms with Count Rassier? Wasn’t he the one who promoted you, Baron?”

  “It is true that the count has indeed granted me this town. But the process required to make it happen was borderline impossible. It would have been impossible without my page,” Gavin explained. “And look at the town. It’s in tatters. I feel as if the count wants me to fail. He also seems interested in taking my page away from me.”

  Gadric looked at Ansel for confirmation which he gave him a nod. He gave the whole situation a thought and then spoke.

  “If you are concerned about the count’s involvement, fear not. Your page may come under my care.”

  “Huh?” Ansel blurted. He had no intention to leave Gavin yet.

  “You may take my last name, Asvete, and become my pupil.”

  “Ansel becoming Sir Asvete’s pupil?” Gavin wondered aloud. “Are you a mage, Ansel?”

  “Sort of, sir. I am something called a voidkin.”

  “Voidkin? What is that?”

  “Allow me to explain,” Gadric intervened, stepping forward. “A voidkin is a mage who has a void instead of a mana pool. Thus, they are unable to cast magic on their own. However, their void has an ability to absorb spells and drain mana of other mages.”

  “An anti-mage?” Gavin blurted, and Gadric beamed a grin.

  “Pecisely, Baron. A mage is considered a weapon of mass destruction. A mage casting a fireball upon an army can decimate hundreds if not thousands with just one spell under right conditions. Such mages will fear the sight of a voidkin because their spells won’t have much impact.”

  “Interesting. To be honest with you, Sir Asvete, I’ve never heard of a voidkin. I did feel that Ansel was a mage, though, due to his high intelligence.”

  “Voidkins are not particularly useful compared to mages. You could say that their role is niche. Regardless, he is still a mage and should be educated properly. And I wish to perform that deed.”

  “Sir Asvete, I am not going to leave the baron,” Ansel declared.

  “You don’t need to. I will educate you while I am here. And taking my name will ensure that your count won’t be able to manipulate you easily.”

  “Do you not have a family, sir?”

  “I do not. Some mages procreate this way by passing their last name to their pupils. My master passed his name to me, and I wish to pass mine to you. This method ensures quality instead of blindly putting faith into bloodline.”

  “That is …” Ansel started to scratch his chin slowly. “The complete opposite of what nobles do…”

  “Indeed, they invest into their bloodline. We, mages, do not. Granted, some mages do physically marry and have children, but our ranks depend on how well we can wield magic. With no guarantee that a mage couple will have mage children, their children will end up becoming rich commoners most likely.”

  “Can mages not hold a hereditary title?”

  If they couldn’t, Ansel’s whole plan was in tatters.

  “They certainly can. But they are rarely given titles like baron, viscount, and whatnot. Their titles are usually junior magician, court magician, senior magician, grand sage and such. They are all non-titular titles.”

  Seeing Ansel’s deeply concerned face, Gadric grinned and added, “Fear not, lad. You are currently working on the path of a warrior and you are a voidkin, hardly a conventional mage. As long as you walk the path of a warrior, you will be granted hereditary titles.”

  His face lit up at last. “I am glad to hear that.”

  “Do you accept my offer then?”

  “I do. Can’t hurt to learn the ways of magic.”

  “Indeed. You are now Ansel Asvete. You are not a noble, but the name ‘Asvete’ will hold some weight to nobles.”

  Gavin beamed a smile at Ansel. “Now I can call you Page Asvete then.”

  The days became busier after that point. Gavin decided to clean the manor thoroughly after bringing in two more maids. He also brought in an internal designer to pretty up the interior a bit. According to Gadric, they had roughly a month before her arrival. Finnic also had two new recruits and were training them up to be semi-useful. Meanwhile, Ansel and Gadric were in the back of the manor where it was pretty quiet all things considered.

  “This is our first lesson. Therefore, basics first,” Gadric said. He was a good distance away from Ansel. “I am going to cast a spell on you, and you will take it. It won’t hurt you much and, for the first time in your life, you will sense mana entering your void.”

  Having said that, a shard of ice appeared over his left shoulder. It was the size of an arrow in length but much thicker.

  “Do not evade it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The ice shard darted toward Ansel and struck his right shoulder. Instead of freezing his shoulder, however, the ice shard looked as if it went through him, but nothing came out the other end.

  “Did it hurt? Mind you that my knowledge regarding voidkins is based on books. I did meet one decades ago but never worked with him.”

  “It did a bit. But it was like a needle poking me. It hardly hurt,” he replied. He touched his left hand over his struck right shoulder. “And it feels weird.”

  “How so?”

  “It feels like a faint thread of chilly energy is flowing through me.”

  “Where is it going?”

  “I think it’s heading to my belly or abdomen.”

  “Lad, if you were a normal person, your right shoulder would have frozen solid. Your void absorbed my spell and gave some of its mana to you. Very amusing indeed.”

  “How do I cast magic with the mana I’ve just absorbed?”

  “You probably can’t. You don’t absorb all of it. If the spell is 100, you will probably receive 10 to 20. The ice shard was the most basic ice spell. One tenth of its mana won’t be able to cast any spells probably.”

  “I see…” There was a look of disappointment on his face.

  “Fear not, lad. Now that I’ve confirmed that you are indeed a voidkin and that my ice shard doesn’t really hurt you, I will cast a barrage of spells on you. Let’s see if we can endure it.”

  “Go ahead, sir.”

  Tens of ice shards appeared around Gadric, floating idly for a moment before darting toward Ansel. All of them struck him.

  “Not a single wound on you, lad,” Gadric said with astonishment. “Very very interesting. This amount of ice shards would have outright killed almost anyone.”

  Ansel looked to be enduring some sort of pain. Holding his breath for a moment, his face became red. Eventually, letting it all out and bending forward with his hands on his knees, puffing.

  “You must feel overwhelmed,” Gadric noted.

  “I guess you could say that. I feel really cold, and chilly threads are moving all over my body.”

  His whole body felt itchy, very itchy.

  “That’s my mana. Other mage’s mana will feel different.”

  “I see.” But perhaps due to being a voidkin, the desire to scratch was weak, and he was able to overcome both the sensation and the desire to scratch.

  “You should be able to cast a spell or two. The equivalent spell of the ice shard for black mages is the shadow bolt. However, given the fact that you are walking on the path of a warrior, there is another spell that might be far more convenient for you.”

  Ansel gulped, waiting for him to continue.

  “It’s a spell called the shadow, a conditional invisibility spell.”

  “A conditional spell?”

  “It doesn’t work under sunlight. As long as there is shade, you are able to cast it and completely hide your presence.”

  He could see plenty of applications for such a spell. It was indeed a very useful spell for him to use in conjunction with the spear.

  “How to cast a spell is simple, at least for mages. All you need to do is imagine the spell in your head. For the shadow bolt, just imagine my ice shard in black. For the shadow, imagine yourself in darkness.”

  Because they were behind the manor by the mountain, they were already in shade. Closing eyes, he imagined himself shrouded in darkness. He sensed tingling on his skin.

  “Good, you are invisible now,” Gadric remarked.

  He tried to see his own hands and, lo and behold, he couldn’t see them indeed.

  Awesome…! He was truthly grateful toward Gadric who had the insight to teach him the shadow spell instead of telling him to just use the shadow bolt.

  “Are other mages able to cast similar spells, sir?”

  “Certainly, wind mages can cast the sneak spell which erases one’s scent and sound but doesn’t make one invisible. It’s as good as being invisible under darkness however.”

  “I can certainly see that.”

  “And holy mages can cast the invisibility spell but works exactly the opposite way compared to yours.”

  “So…, works perfectly during the daytime and in shade and doesn’t work under darkness?”

  “Correct, good. Oh, I forgot to mention, but your shadow spell becomes the greater invisibility spell under complete darkness, meaning not only does it make you invisible, it also erases your scent and sound.”

  “I am assuming that the holy counterpart spell does the same but in the opposite direction.”

  “You are correct, very good.”

  “By the way, sir, does this mean healing spells won’t work on me, either?”

  “Yes, healing spells won’t work on you. Your void will absorb spells of any kind, friendly or foe. Potions may work, but I am uncertain. This also means …” He hesitated.

  “Sir?”

  “If you ever find a female mage you like, sadly for you, you two won’t be able to get together.”

  “Ah…” He realized what he meant. As a voidkin, any skin contact meant forceful absorption of mana.

  “Do voidkins even fall in love?” he wondered aloud. He wasn’t asking Gadric.

  “I will cast spells on you daily in the morning so that you will accumulate mana to practice spells. Once I leave, however, you must conserve your mana and use it only when it’s absolutely necessary.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

  “It would be nice to have a fellow mage for you to recharge you. But a mere baron having a mage under his command is unheard of already.”

  “How rare are mages, sir?”

  “Not rare if you count those who can sense mana. Somewhat rare if you count only those who can wield mana. Rare if you count only those who can manipulate mana. Those who can wield mana can become mages, but they can only go so far. As far as I know, your liege, Count Rassier, has just one mage. My liege, Duke Grimhill, has five mages.”

  “In other words, should the count battle the duke -”

  Gadric interjected, “An immediate defeat unless you participate in which case he does have a chance.”

  “Where should I stand, sir? On the duke’s side or the count’s side?”

  Having his hands behind his back, Gadric looked up to the sky. “Objectively speaking with only cold hard truths, you are better off working for the count since your value will be immeasurable. If you join the duke, they will treat you like a hidden card since they don’t really need you.”

  “Shouldn’t you be telling me to join the duke? You serve him.”

  “We, Asvete, walk on our own independent paths. My master served someone entirely different. I fully expect the same from you. I will not blame or disown you even if we end up facing each other as enemies. Oh, speaking of which, there is another Asvete besides you.”

  “Your pupil, I assume since you don’t have a family. By the way, sir, how do I cancel the spell?”

  “Just say cancel in your head. Yes, she is a pupil. Her name is Russet Asvete.”

  Ansel’s body appeared out of thin air like magic. Well, it was magic.

  “Who does she work for?”

  “Don’t know. She is in the kingdom of Novar. The last letter I received from her was about 5 years ago. She said that she was going to marry a count, and that was the last I heard from her.”

  “Novar?”

  “A neighboring kingdom. It’s small, half of our kingdom’s size. But it sits between us and the empire of Sol and acts as a buffer zone.”

  “The empire of Sol?”

  “Sol means the sun, lad. It’s the largest nation on the continent. They have a history of frequently invading Novar, but we’ve helped them out every time.”

  “So…, she is a countess?”

  “Probably if things went her way. It’s one sure way to tie a mage down for a noble house if they don’t have many good incentives to keep them tied to them. She will be the literal protector of their house for her whole life. Not a bad deal if you ask me.”

  Ansel felt that he needed to see the map of his kingdom at least. It was time to ask Gavin about it. He did promise to show him a map before, but things had been so chaotic for him to remember.

  “Sir, may I ask a question? It’s unrelated to magic.”

  “Ask away, lad.”

  “What is a godfather?”

  “Ah -” Gadric smiled. “Basically a guardian of someone. Only their parents may appoint one. I’ve taken care of Isabel ever since she was born. She is very much a real daughter to me. I want nothing but happiness for her. I wouldn’t have pushed for this marriage if I didn’t believe it’d work out for her although I wouldn’t have pushed this if Lord Durrell was a baronet. Three rank differences is just too much to overcome.”

  A downhearted expression dominated his face, and he continued, “Let’s call it for today. Rest up and try to get used to my mana.”

  Ansel bowed toward him deeply. “Thank you, sir.” He did mean it from the bottom of his heart. This morning had been single-handledly the most productive period for him.