The servant room in the [Princess] apartnt was lavish. It should be expected, since a lady-in-waiting for such a regal character is often a younger daughter of nobility, in the palace to make connections. I snapped my fingers and sorcered up a privacy ward inside the room.
"Make yourself comfortable, Julia. I think they are skinning Mirina alive, politically speaking."
"I'm fine, thanks to my maker," her lips ford a wry, tired smile. "What should we do now?"
Pointing at the bed, I summoned a shadow- and sent her to doze off underneath the blankets, "I'm going to sleep, you should go outside and gather information about Lonid. I guess you are six centuries outdated."
Offended, she scoffed, "I spent these last weeks studying recent history and nobility rosters at the Academy, so you know."
I gave her a wry smile and lowered my head, "I'm sorry, Julia. Look, I'm no longer your boss. You do you, I'm sleeping over there."
With a sigh, she caressed the crown of my head, "You are my mistress' mistress. I'm sorry, I'm just distressed by the situation. Will you look after her?"
I leaned into her hand. We both knew that beast-kin usually only allowed family and lovers to touch their ears. I wasn't bound by that ntality but we both needed reassurance.
"Julia, you're truly free. Even Mirina will let you go if you ask her. And I'll do my utmost to keep both of you safe in this den of scorpions. I'm going to do exactly that right now."
Our mutual worries, hers more than mine faded as we spent several minutes sharing our thoughts and fears.
"I watched over you through four lifetis, Haru. You are worthy of my loyalty."
"Thank you, Julia. May fortune smile on us."
I left the room, invisible and intangible, shrouded by arguably the highest Stealth score in the whole world. While I walked, my mind wandered. To one that wove her path among Gods and Demons, this petty squabble might seem inferior but I believed my attachnt to everyday life and willingness to live my life as that particular individual was what kept grounded, kept sane.
Rebirth and childhood were always relief valves to wash away my past life's worries and sorrows in the river of ti. That's why I chose to go to the orphanage. A taste of normalcy, of the mundane life among orphans, the social contact and interactions, even the bullying.
I saw what immortality and an eternity of isolation could cause to a sentient being's mind. Kel'Caldor abandoned all of his humanity (even if he wasn't human, to begin with), even the High Elves of Fulgen beca bored and petty in their lofty giant trees. The others beca like that, not giving a damn about the everyday mortal's life because lingering attachnts would eventually turn into pain.
Just like Arista. The rmaid was still scarred by Lakerta's trauma, and her coping chanism was to deny her origin and affirm herself as an individual with so inherited mories.
Maybe I'd grown, matured. Maybe it was Haru's psychic makeup that grounded so. It begged the question, was I the sa person living several lives or several people sharing their mories through their soul? Which one was more important? Why did I have to use this gimmick of thinking about myself and my previous lives in the third person?
In one thought experint, I wondered about assuming a past life's form and living as her, throwing my current self away like an undesired garnt. Yet, I found myself unable to. On a fundantal level, I liked being Haru, just as I liked being everyone I once was. The new experiences in every new life helped soften and weaken the sorrows of past ones. Lorna's twilight and inevitable passing, for example, didn't drive mad with grief anymore.
But in the end, my self-image mattered only to . The others around , the Gods, my friends that transcended my mortal existences, all of them treated the sa. Nenandil. I missed the fairy already. She once told to live my life freely, to be whoever I wanted to.
Therefore, I chose to be Haru today, as I was soone else yesterday. Reinvent , refresh my mind with new sights and experiences. That's why one psychologist once recomnded changing cities every five years. I did that, only on a larger scale.
Smiling to myself, I reached my first destination. The room where the Royal family was debriefing Mirina.
Lonid's Royal family was huge. The King had six wives, and each one of them bore three children at least. Out of twenty-four siblings, the oldest prince was thirty-seven years (~50Ey) old, the youngest princess was but a baby less than a year and two months old. A winter child. Mirina at sixteen years (~21Ey) was around the upper half of the ladder. But the dynasty rules favored males so she would never inherit the crown unless so disaster happened.
Said disaster had no intentions of happening, so they were safer than they could ever imagine.
"What about the guests you brought?" The King asked his daughter.
"A classmate I'm fond of, Haru is a half-dwarf-kitsune. She's studying to be a [Wizard]. Julia is a disenfranchised noble-born lady from Windere that was down on her luck. She proved to be a very capable administrator and organizer so I took her as my lady-in-waiting. None of them are any threat to Lo… our family," she almost finished with a lie.
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"They're spies!" One of the older siblings accused. Pointing a rude finger at Mirina, he bellowed, "Prove they're not!"
With a smirk, Mirina shot back, "As soon as you prove you're not a traitor, dear brother. Pray tell , how does one prove such things? How easy it is, to raise a finger and shoot obscenities at the Sun! But Galbarar's light warms the impudent as well as the pious. I can assure you both Haru and Julia stared at the sun and ca out unburned. They and I are of one mind. We are of one goal. Lonid's Royal family will prevail."
That told they had a way to detect lies. Mirina's slip of the tongue was probably what prompted her brother to raise the accusation and he was certainly one of the people with lie-detection abilities in the room. She had worded her answers very carefully.
"The crown of our ancestors, how did you co to possess it?" His Majesty continued the interrogation.
"An Adventurer from Windere produced it, identified it, then gifted it to . It is a cautionary tale of not wishing for that which doesn't belong to oneself," she replied. "Archmage Baldric and King Bernard wished for sothing that didn't belong to them and paid for their greed with their lives. Didn't you read the letter I sent with the crown?"
"That's a lie!" The King roared, his calm finally overridden by his conceited hubris. "Locksley murdered Bernard and his family because he coveted Lonid's glory!"
"Then why did he aid Lonid after the Demon Lord's devastation? He was the one that killed the demon and ended the invasion! The man that sent supplies and helped with the reconstruction. He even tutored the young Bernard II!" Mirina pointed out. "Father, Lonid, and Windere are sister nations. Don't lend your ear to those greedy warmongers. Windere is by no asure weak! Look at the facts."
"It's crumbling apart!" Another [Prince] proclaid.
"Answer , dear brother," Mirina rebutted. "Tell one other nation that could endure two decades without a Ruler without descending into chaos. Go ahead, I'm waiting."
"The dwarves created their own nation! It is only a matter of ti before the rest of Windere falls apart," He reasoned back.
"They will rejoin Windere peacefully not before long," She stated calmly. "We need to wait. I can assure you that anyone that attempts to harm Windere will suffer. I do not wish that for Lonid."
"The Tabard is gone," the one that accused of being a spy retorted, "without it, they can't even crown a new King. Windere is vulnerable and ripe for the taking."
But he was right. I was a spy and I was actively spying on them at that very mont. With my two beady green eyes.
Mirina snorted. "From whom did you hear that, beloved brother? Do you believe that's true? Are you perchance allied with the self-proclaid Lord Torgo?"
"Windere is at its weakest! A dying beast, ripe for the taking!" He avoided the question and spouted propaganda.
"Fool!" Under pressure, the [Princess] lost her composure montarily. "A wounded beast is the most dangerous one. Approach it without care and the worst will co to pass!"
"Daughter," the King spoke warmly as a father should, "you seem to know sothing we don't. What gives you so much certainty that Windere won't fall?"
She froze. Her forehead glistened.
I spoke to her mind.
Mirina rolled her eyes and let her shoulders slouch. "I understand father. If you are using my guests like that, I have one demand."
"Say it," he replied.
"Postpone all talks of my wedding until after Sadian's attack. If Sadian fails to breach Windere's walls, you'll cancel the engagent. Better yet, send My fiancée with Duke Holcot's forces as "observers" to help Sadian. I can assure you he'll not co back."
Callous, smart, self-serving. That was my girl. Did she just tell to make her fiancée a war casualty? Aweso.
"Granted," the king smiled.
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