I had never been effectively blinded before. Atlas never went for my eyes as they were worried it would affect my functionality. Not that they could get anyone close enough to me to actually put a mask over my face without me seeing them first. So this was the first time I was truly without my Aspect.

  I shivered at the loss. It felt wrong, like I was missing a piece of myself. The lack of eyesight didn’t even pass through my mind while I panicked over the lack of access to my Aspect. It felt like I was missing something fundamental to my very being, and I had no idea when I'd get it back.

  But I couldn’t stay here, I had to follow my routine. Shoving my emotions down, I stood up, only stumbling a little bit at the action. The two sets of memories were slightly disorienting. It felt like two overlapping sets of muscle memory, and given that one of those sets wasn’t used to being blindfolded, I had to fight to pull myself into my current life.

  The disorientation kept my mind off Aurin, which was a side benefit.

  Six steps to my wardrobe. I opened it, letting myself sink into the routine, pulling my sleepwear off and tossing it where I remembered placing a basket last night. The Matron would chastise me if she knew I was this careless, but she could deal with it.

  Inside the wardrobe, I pulled out my innerwear and slipped it on before reaching for my doublet. After buttoning up, I pulled my leggings on and threw my mantled overcoat on over top of everything.

  My Stats made the movements far easier than they should have been, both in recalling and pulling them off. There were so many buttons on my leggings, on my coat, on the fucking mantle.

  Finally, I put my shoes on, and there were more buttons on those as well. So I swapped them with the Boots of the Monarch through the System because those were far more comfortable. I kept the Monarch's footwear invisible to others so it would look like I was wearing my normal shoes.

  The boots made a comfortable hum on contact with the air, as if they were meant to be here. It almost felt like my feet were blending together with them because of how soft they were, combined with the hum.

  Patting myself down to ensure the seams were correctly in place, I took three steps to the right, turned forty-five degrees and opened the door. Walking out into the hallway, I closed the door behind me and took two steps left to lean against the wall to wait.

  While leaning here, I checked the System for messages and saw none. That was to be expected. I was the only one with a mental Stat that affected information processing, so my brain development was likely far faster than the others’.

  Ren: Hey! I'm awake, I may be detained at the moment, though. I can give more details once I figure them out myself.

  The opening of other doors and the sounds of shuffling down the hallway marked the other children heading off to wherever they went. I apparently hadn’t paid attention or cared about the other children the entire time I had been kept here. Occasionally, one would slow down as they passed me, only to be pushed out of the way by the kids they were blocking.

  That made sense based on who I was. I guess my personality remained even without my memories.

  Now that I had a moment to think, I debated looking up a way to remove the blindfold on The Stream, but decided against it. The Matron would be upset if she found out I—

  “Ren, you’re with me,” a male voice spoke down the hall. I automatically turned and matched the sound of his footsteps slightly behind and to the right.

  My new ears made identifying the location of sounds far easier. Also, the blindfold, having been over my face for the majority of my current life, probably helped as well. All that experience meant I was very well practiced in picking out specific sounds.

  Trying to think back, I couldn’t even recall what I looked like right now.

  A message from the System asking if I’d like to buy a mirror popped up, but I waved it away. What would having a mirror even do for me right now? Also, why did it keep asking if I wanted to buy mirrors? Was it trying to tell me something?

  While walking, I realized that we had made a wrong turn. Normally, I would be brought to etiquette lessons after serving breakfast, but instead of going to the mess hall, we were walking towards the Matron's office.

  This change in routine had never happened before. Was it related to my mind awakening, or did my mind awaken because something narratively interesting was about to happen today that would decide the fate of my life?

  Or was it just a coincidence, and I was thinking too hard about it all? That was probably the more likely answer.

  I maintained pace behind the man, who, upon thinking on it, I was pretty sure I had never met, keeping myself situated behind him such that I wouldn't collide with anyone.

  Then we took another turn, and I suddenly had no idea where we were. I tried to keep a mental map of our path through winding corridors. The ground under my feet changed from wood to stone, to rug running down the hallway. This signified that we were going to meet someone important.

  Only speaking with permission had been beaten into me, so I couldn't even ask where we were headed. Not that I would even if I hadn't been raised like that in this life.

  Eventually, he stopped and turned to knock on a door. I felt a whisper of something in the air tickle against my skin, then the door opened.

  The man stood to the side of the door silently, and with nothing else that I was supposed to do. I entered the room.

  “Ah, Ren, there you are, would you mind preparing a pot of caelune?” the Matron's voice asked of me.

  If she wanted to speak to me, why didn't she just bring me to her office? Ugh, fine, where the hell are the…

  A chime echoed from one side of the room, pulling my attention as I had been trained, and I moved over to the caelune set. It was always arranged exactly the same. There was some kind of traditional purpose to its layout, but my child self didn't pay attention when being told what that purpose was.

  Picking up one of the boundstones, I rolled it in my hand for a moment to check the size before placing it inside a rotary grinder to begin crushing the crystal into coarse gravel. With practiced motions, I filled a kettle with water with my other hand, lit a burner with a tap of my finger against a metal plate and placed the kettle over it. My mind wandered off as I went through the process.

  I wasn’t sure if the burner was magical, and that’s why it recognized my finger tap, or if physics in this dimension just allowed that somehow. Because I knew for certain that there absolutely hadn’t been an industrial revolution.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Actually, I had no idea what the magic system was, only that there was one. I’d need Aisling to tell me exactly what the mechanism was. She had a Manifest designed around interacting with and discovering magic, which I think was called Decipherment?

  While I failed to recall the exact name, the kettle began to whistle, and I poured the contents of the grinder through a sieve into a ceremonial pot. Placing that on a tray, I poured the remainder of the boundstone crystals from the sieve into a small bowl that also went on the tray.

  Picking the tray up, I turned and walked seven paces before bending over in a bow to place it on the table in front of where the Matron had spoken from. From there, I remained bowing, awaiting any further requests or instructions.

  “He’s very well trained for his age,” a voice I didn’t recognize spoke across the table from the Matron. It was a woman who spoke with a more melodic accent than I was used to hearing. “Only three tal’od you said?”

  “We believe he was also born with felin thae in addition to haelin thae,” the Matron replied, a hint of pride in her voice. That emotion leaking through almost pre-empted a startled gasp from me, but my other life’s experience crushed that reaction before it could present itself.

  It annoyed me that they were using terms I had never heard before to refer to me. The desire to take the language from their minds caused my stomach to sink as I recalled my lack of—no, don’t think about it. I already kind of knew the language, so an extra copy would interfere with my ability to speak it anyway.

  “A twinned thae? Was he born in the wild during a time of high-theric?” the unknown woman asked with a hum. When asking about my birthplace, her tone registered as bordering on hostile. “Also, can I ask what the blindfold is for?”

  “It is a training aid. He has been taught to follow instructions through auditory cues alone,” the Matron replied, clearing her throat before continuing. The other woman let out a noise of praise. “As for his region of birth, you know we would never allow a wild-one to enter our greathome. We found him in one of the villages bordering Sereth during a routine Calling.”

  Some of the words she used were compound combinations of words I understood individually, but together I didn’t know. What was a wild-one? Wait, was she covering for my glamour…?

  Oh, she was affected by it, wasn’t she?

  And the blindfold was to prevent disclosure of that fact before I was able to manage it for myself? Which meant she was the only one who knew of my capabilities.

  I almost let out a giggle, but kept my face straight.

  “Boy. You receive two contradictory orders from two frenthai of similar stations. How do you decide what to do?” the second voice asked. The word frenthai used meant something like ‘official’ or ‘higher up,’ I was pretty sure. It took me a moment to realize she was asking something of me, given I had been lost in analyzing what they were saying.

  Follow whichever one led to the most interesting outcome.

  “Follow the Matron’s order over anyone else’s as she is my frenthai.” The woman let out a chuckle but didn’t interrupt. “If she was not involved in giving one of the orders, then I would obey the one that was most beneficial towards her cause.”

  “I am not a frenthai, Ren. Please do not address me as such,” the Matron said with a cough when I finished.

  “Of course, apologies, Matron,” I replied, feeling myself tense up. I had the wrong interpretation, apparently. Was it a specific role then?

  “He is very well spoken, even if he may need training in special-labeling. I was not expecting that at his od, anyway,” the woman commented, using another compound word I didn’t know alongside the suffix from earlier as its own word. I was pretty sure od meant age, based on context. So I was three tal old? I sure wish I knew what a tal was. “If there are any incompatibilities, we can discuss another option, but for now, we can proceed with an introductory period.”

  “I believe he will surpass all expectations. He has been trained his whole life for this moment after all,” the Matron replied, and I had to stop my brows from furrowing in confusion. What had I been doing my whole life?

  Reviewing the life that I could remember, I had mostly been training to fill what felt like a house servant role.

  “Assuming Her Saevi appreciates his appearance, that is,” the woman said.

  The Matron let out a laugh like they were sharing a private joke, “I doubt that will be an issue, Mistress Celeri.”

  “Stand up straight for me, boy,” Mistress Celeri said to me.

  I raised my head and let out a short breath in relief. My back was thankful I was no longer standing at that weird angle, even if I could have kept it up all day if needed.

  There was silence for a few moments before Mistress Celeri made an undignified sharp intake of breath. My eyes widened under the blindfold at the breach of etiquette. I heard the Matron let out a soft laugh at Mistress’s expense.

  “You are correct. Shall we then?” she said, standing and moving on in a clear attempt to cover for herself.

  “Ren, you are with me,” the Matron said while she rose. “Bring the caelune as well.”

  They didn’t even drink it? No… of course they didn't, I would have heard that. Why was I made to prepare it in the first place, then?

  Picking up the tray, I followed them out into the hallway, ensuring I maintained correct positioning and didn’t clatter the containers while I walked.

  Only to twitch when something tickled my ear, making a quiet clack as the tray dropped a half centimetre. Their pace didn't change, and I wasn't scolded, so they must have missed it?

  “Do not meet anyone's gaze but Her Saevi's. Not Mistress Celeri, or anyone else. That is my last request to you. I should hope that you follow it for both your sake and hers,” the Matron's voice whispered in my ear that had been tickled. The vibrations made it itch, but I couldn't take my hands off the tray to fix the issue. There was another tickle as whatever she was using to project her voice left my ear.

  My eyes watered, and my hands shook at the injustice of being unable to itch my ear. I already knew how my glamour worked. I didn't need to be informed to use it properly, thank you very much.

  Wait… was I supposed to glamour the person I was going to serve?

  What was the Matron's play here? Did I influence her that much when I first affected her, that she was trying to put me in a position of power?

  No, there had to be some deeper reason, one that I couldn't fathom at the moment.

  They suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway while my mind tumbled over itself.

  “Not a single step out of place,” Mistress Celeri muttered to herself.

  I let myself preen slightly at the praise while someone knocked on a door.

  “Enter,” a child's voice called out from within, and the door was opened. I followed the Matron and Mistress into the room. “Celeri! Who is—ah, it's time already then?”

  There was an almost imperceptible hiccup in the middle of her speech, like she had to force herself to continue speaking.

  “That it is, Princess, I present to you Ren. The first candidate to potentially become your bound,” Mistress Celeri spoke, and my mind reeled at the word Princess.

  Her Saevi meant something like Her Highness then?! Ah fuck, had I been training as a royal retainer my whole life? What did bound mean?

  As if on cue, the strip of fabric fell from my face, and I was distracted from the wave of relief flowing through me when my eyes met those of a girl with tall rabbit ears sitting on a chair covered in furs. A book lay open on her lap. The inquisitive look on her face morphed into a smug grin while I took in her glassy eyes and almost doll-like proportions.

  She was a lot more human than I thought our species would look like.

  “He will do nicely, thank you, Celeri,” she said, snapping the book shut and placing it to the side.

  It took me a moment of staring at her before I realized I couldn't see her mental model at all. Glancing to the side at where the Matron was standing, her model, a mentor figure standing in front of a classroom of faceless children giving a lesson, was visible with no issue.

  Glancing back over at the princess, it was like looking into the void. There wasn't even darkness; there was just nothing.

  “Go on, greet your bearer,” the Matron said, placing a hand on my back and ushering me forward.

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