"Who restored the whole castle? I don't think Vesemir could do that all by himself," says Ciri as she touched the new gate that seemed to resonated power from it.
"Let's just say that I visited Kaer Morhen before going to Vergen," says Vincent as he touches the gate he and Vesemir made together.
"You made it?" asks Geralt surprised as Vincent nods.
"I and my wives lived here for a month. We paid Vesemir by helping him restore Kaer Morhen and hunting our food while he taught us about the monsters and their weaknesses," says Vincent as he opened the door in the gate and enters the fortress.
"My question is why you aren't using your body?" asks Ciri as she notices that Vincent was still looking like a Nord while following him inside.
"It's to not scare the people. I think only a handful knows my real appearance here in this world," says Vincent as he looked at Geralt.
"You know that people can be nervous around my real appearance even Vesemir was nervous at first too until he adapted to us," says Vincent as Geralt looked at him before they walked a bit in the courtyard when a black-haired woman wearing black clothes rushed at them.
She hugged Ciri before taking Ciri's head into her hand while saying, "Do you know how worried I was about you."
"Yen, I'm not a child any longer," says Ciri as she smiled at her.
"And who is this?" asks the woman in black as she looked at Vincent.
"This is my teacher, Vincent Highwind," says Ciri presenting Vincent to her as Geralt was now looking serious at him.
"You could present her to me too," says Vincent looking at Ciri.
"Right, Vincent, meet Yennefer of Vengenberg. She is my mother-figure," says Ciri as Yennefer walked toward Vincent.
"Nice to meet you, Vincent. In what have you taught Ciri and why does your family name the same of the Empire that appeared in Aedirn and took over Kaedwen?" asks Yennefer as Vincent smiled hearing that.
"Well, I taught her how to survive against the Wild Hunt and the other is-," says Vincent when Ciri interrupts.
"The former emperor of the Highwind Empire or better said the first emperor of the Highwind Dynasty," says Ciri as Vincent looked serious at Ciri.
"What did I say something wrong?" asks Ciri as Vincent sighs.
"You know sometimes I don't want to reveal myself to people. Why do you think I am running around like a Nord and not like I normally look like," says Vincent when both Geralt and Yennefer stared at Vincent surprised by Ciri dropping the bomb upon them.
"So you really are?" asks Yennefer in a nervous tone.
"I am Vincent Highwind, the first emperor of the Highwind Dynasty and also," says Vincent as he took his real appearance by using illusion while saying, "I'm not a human but an Au-Ra, a humanoid Dragon."
"This explains why Saskia joined the Empire and why you guaranteed that the Black Dragon wouldn't attack anyone that left him alone," says Geralt as Vincent nods.
"That's right, I can transform into the Black Dragon that terrorists Velen. But I did it because I had a reason to do so. The people of Velen were sacrificing their children to some monsters that called themselves Crones. They thought they were gods," says Vincent as they could feel anger building up in his voice.
"What did you do?" asks Yennefer curious about it.
"I showed them that Gods can bleed and die too," says Vincent as he calmed down.
"Anyway, we shouldn't let the others wait. They would want to see Ciri and Geralt. Just keep it secret who I am. You can say that I am a mercenary from the Empire. Most of the younglings are mercenaries or adventurers before they join the Legion or become Royalty," says Vincent as he looks at them.
"Right but maybe we can talk about having a sorceress at your court. We can deal with many things that are in magical topics," says Yennefer as Vincent burst out into laughing while Ciri only smiles at Yen.
"Yen, everyone can use magic in the Empire. Vincent himself is a strong mage even if he denies it heavily as he sees himself as a warrior mainly," says Ciri shocking them once again.
"Everyone in the Empire can use magic?" asks Yennefer to Vincent who only nods.
"Every living being is infused with magic the moment the sky touches your skin. Or at least that's what we say. It is a bit more complicated but the moment you stand under our sky you turn into a mage. That's why we don't see each other as mages. Mages are only those that go and study magic," says Vincent as he explained it to Yennefer.
"We should move to meet the others," says Geralt as he was surprised by this again while Vincent dissolved his illusion.
They walked for a bit when a woman with red hair approached them. She took Ciri in her arms before looking at Geralt and Yennefer. Then her eyes wandered towards Vincent and stopped there.
"Who is the person beside you, little sister?" asks the redhead while keep looking at Vincent as if she couldn't take her eyes away from him.
"This is Vincent Highwind, a mercenary from the Empire and my teacher. Vincent, this is Triss Merigold, a sorceress like Yennefer," says Ciri presenting each other.
"Nice to meet you, Triss," says Vincent as he gave her a smile making Triss turn rosy like a teenage girl in front of her crush.
"Something is wrong with your love bird," says Yennefer seeing that.
"I know, Triss wouldn't do something like that," says Geralt as he found it strange that Triss would blush.
"That is one of Vincent's blessings. It is different from woman to woman but it seems that Triss is desiring him now," says Ciri seeing that.
"What do you mean?" asks Geralt as Vincent heard them.
"She means to say that some women and men are attracted to me just by seeing me. I try to avoid them as much as possible but one of them was impossible to avoid since she is a Huntress," says Vincent as Yen looked at him.
"Who gave you this blessing?" asks Yen as Vincent smiled.
"It was Dibella, the Divine of Art, Love, Music, and Beauty. She gave me the blessing even though I didn't ask for it," says Vincent to the little group ignoring Triss.
"We should keep going before she tries to pull me into a room. One redhead already accomplished this task let's not make a second one accomplish it," says Vincent wanting to leave as fast as possible.
"Maybe we should stay that way Geralt can see who he choice go after another man," says Yennefer finding it funny.
"Not funny, Yennefer," says Geralt as he walked towards Triss and drags her away.
"I should follow them and see if everything is alright," says Ciri as Vincent nods.
"You should, once she isn't near me she should turn normal again," says Vincent as Ciri nods and leaves Yennefer and Vincent alone.
"Trouble in Paradise?" asks Vincent as he looked at Yennefer.
"Not really, just that he chose Triss over me. I should have known that it would happen sooner or later," says Yennefer as Vincent puts his hand on her shoulder.
"There are more fish in the pound. You just have to find the right one," says Vincent wanting to encourage her.
"I know, but what if he was the right one?" asks Yennefer feeling a bit hurt thinking about that.
"Well, there is now another world in which you can try your luck," says Vincent as Yennefer begins to chuckle from hearing that.
"No one wants an infertile woman," says Yennefer as Vincent placed his hand under the belly.
Energy started to enter her body as Vincent removed his hand and says, "It seems to me that you are quite fertile. Maybe you just needed to wait for the right healer to find you."
"Did you really?" asks Yennefer as she touched the place Vincent put his hand on.
"Yes, my wife Anra would be better at this but I did the best I could. Once everything is over you should find her. She will complete it," says Vincent as he sees tears falling down Yennefer's cheeks.
"Did I do something wrong?" asks Vincent as Yennefer shakes her head.
"No, on the contrary. My biggest wish was to have a child. When Ciri entered my life, I thought I completed that wish but now I could give her a little sister or brother," says Yennefer as she cleaned her face.
"Good to know just don't try it with me since my wives wouldn't forgive me," says Vincent bluffing since Aedirn was a province of the Empire making Yennefer a perfect candidate for Mina to choose as Vincent's next wife.
"You have many wives?" asks Yen as Vincent sighs.
"Yes, I married a woman of every province that is under the Empire's control. Most of them are dead as well as my children and their children," says Vincent feeling pain as a tear runs down his cheek.
"How is that possible? You look like at least fifty years old and from what I have heard the Empire is on its third Emperor," says Yennefer confused about everything.
"How about we sit down and drink something. I need to drink so I can talk about it without sounding that I pity myself," says Vincent as he needed a drink.
"The castle should have something strong," says Yennefer as she thought she found a friend with the same pain she feels sometimes.
They went for the castle as they passed some people on the way. They were talking to Geralt about something that and they didn't look pleased at all. They reached the castle and entered finding Vesemir talking to a man with scars on his face.
"Vesemir, nice to see you again," says Vincent as he went for the old witcher.
"Vincent, you returned alone. Where have you left the others?" asks Vesemir as Vincent smiles and explains to Vesemir that they were in Vengerberg at the moment.
"I need a strong drink," says Vincent as Vesemir knows what Vincent needed and turned to the other man.
"Eskel, bring the strongest drink that you find in the kitchen," says Vesemir as Eskel was confused why Vesemir was showing Vincent so much respect.
He leaves to get the drink when Yennefer asks, "He knows who you are really?"
"Yes, he was the first to know it," says Vincent as Eskel returned with a bottle handing it over to Vincent.
Vincent thanks him as he walks away with Yennefer towards a table that was across the room.