Casper kept looking in disbelief towards the Princess. That situation was so unlikely and sudden that his mind went blank for a while, trying to process what was going on.
First of all, he was in the personal room of a member of the royalty (a Jarl), the two of them were all alone, without any guards to take a look at Casper. As if it was not enough, the Princess took off his handcuffs.
Besides, there was that strange behavior of the Princess. Casper was sure that she was the type of leader cold and calculist, without any emotions at all, that was always aiming to the most efficient ways, chasing after his goals at any costs.
The type of leader who would lose more than a half of the better warriors the District had, execute citizens in cold blood, and still be able to sleep comfortably at the end of the day.
Nonetheless, contrary to all his expectations, she showed him a personality that matched more with a bored and pampered teenager, that needed to bear the weight of much more responsibilities than they really want.
Casper was out of words to say, so he kept quiet watching the Princess venting about her day.
He hoped that she would stop soon, but she continued.
There came a time when Casper could not bear that situation anymore, so he asked the first question that popped up in his mind.
"Hey… I am not supposed to be in jail or something, instead of your room? By any chance, will you make me your slave? If that's the case I prefer to get executed."
She stopped to talk with herself, listening to what Casper had to say. When he finished, the bedroom got quiet, the Princess was looking at the ceiling with a poker face.
"Crap! Did I mess up with it? Maybe she is considering the idea of the slave thing!?"
Suddenly, she started to laugh, and at the same time as Casper felt relieved, he also wanted to sit on the floor. He was already tired of that situation, and his body was still harmed.
The Jarl lady was almost crying, laughing so much that she needed to hug her belly.
It took some minutes for her to get composed again.
She wiped her tears and sit on the bed, looking happily at Casper.
"You are funny, y'know?" Her voice also was very different from before. Her tone was more soft and sweet, she seemed to be all carefree and gleeful.
It was a huge contrast, taking into consideration the way she spoke before.
"F-funny, you say?"
"Yeah! And interesting as well. Very interesting… I mean, what kind of person would make such a joke in a moment like this. Not to mention the time when you did the same thing back then in the complex. That time I needed all my will to not laugh in front of the enemy."
Casper felt relieved that she did not hate him, because it would be tough to survive in that place with the Jarls conspiring against him.
"W-why did you bring me here?" Although part of his concerns was mostly solved, he could not understand the intentions of that woman at all.
"Don't worry. I will not arrest you. It was a lie."
"Why would you lie about arresting me?"
"I needed to do it to calm the mood of my warriors. They were sad and with their morale very low because of the current events, and it was making them question the Jarls' decisions.
"The majority of them was concerned particularly about you since your current profile fit more a Frelsi than a commoner or a warrior of any patent, let alone a Jarl.
"All of them were pissed off with your presence. So I made sure to let you among them, to raise their fury, just to give what they wanted. This way the decision would seem twice as pleasant, and they would be more glad."
Casper was astonished. It was another point to be impressed by that Princess. Even though she could be very spoiled and immature, she was not the least incapable.
There are different kinds of intelligences in the world that people can have. That woman surely had the one that most of the leaders must have to be so good at it: Interpersonal intelligence.
The way she was able to read the troops' mood and balance it doing cruel and good decisions, and making the good ones seem twice as good, was something incredible.
Casper could be smart, but he was sure that he would not be capable to do such a thing in a so natural and simple way.
What was more impressive was how the Princess talked about it, like it was easy.
"But… There is another reason for why you are here." She pointed at him, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Say it."
"You don't have a mask, nor a GBI in your skin. And it is very interesting… even disturbing and terrifying."
"Why everyone thinks that these masks and this GBI thing are this big of a deal?"
"Because nobody here in the District doesn't wear a mask. It is given to you since you are born. The maximum amount of time someone doesn't wear a mask in their lives is 2 hours if something goes wrong at the child's birth.
"But, ok, if you don't have a mask, it can possibly be that you are from another District, but… Without a GBI, there is no way you are even from this world. All the people over the world have a GBI, and there are no exceptions registered in history."
"What does GBI means?"
"General Born Identification. It's the most important 'document' of a person. Some day you will see how it looks like. It's kind of a tattoo."
"They tattoo it on your skin as soon as you are born?"
"No, it's kind of a birthmark. Your own genes do it. Centuries ago, after the Great Territorial War, it was made the only global law in the world: every person had to have a GBI. So they modified the genes of the population artificially. From that generation, the GBI's started to appear."
Now that she explained, Casper started to understand all of that situation. It was not just the mask, and the GBI was not an ordinary thing. In fact, it would not be a surprise if someone did not consider him as a human. He was a true anomaly that could not be named.
"Well, anyway, what I want to say after all this explanation is that you are so peculiar and impossible that I can't let you wandering out there as you please. And, as far as we don't know anything about you, we need to discover."
"Do you want to study me?"
"Yes, this sort of thing. We need to know what you are exactly and from where you came from."
"But… is that necessary at all? I mean, in the battle I helped your troops. That's not enough to trust me? And, besides, if I really wanted to do something to you now, I would do it easily."
"I know. You indeed seem pretty reliable, White warrior, but your behavior and motivations towards the District aren't the only things I am concerned about."
"So what is it?"
"Who assures me that nobody like you will ever appear again in the District?"
Casper got silent, realizing what she was implying.
"When the time came and another White Warrior appears, I want to be prepared.
There are some limitations and rules that can just exist with the masks assistance, limitations that are not imposed for people like you. Now, you are against a couple of rules of the District and a worldwide decreed, so you can be considered the freest person of this District and world."
"I see… I can understand this much… Maybe, because of this condition I am in, I could activate the tower right?"
"Exactly. People who wear masks can't manipulate the operation of that Energy core. But you could do it since you are not even wearing one.
"Usually, people who reach a range of 3 meters radio of the tower cannot go any further, because the masks restrict it. In short, they wouldn't even make it until the platform around the core."
Casper scratched his chin while looking to the ground, pondering over that fact.
"Maybe… Maybe that's what Sionnach had thought when she trusted me to go on my own towards the tower when she was fighting against that Frelsi." Casper thought.
"By the way…" The Princess continued. "The only ones who can have access to this tower are some Frelsis, the Jarls, and Aesir, with a few exceptions for Generals."
"I got it." Casper was still deep in thought, absorbing every information he had obtained.
"Also, what's your name, White warrior?" She got up from her bed, walking towards him slowly.
"My name is Casper… And, please, stop calling me like this."
She was a bit confused as to why Casper had asked her to do so, but it was not like she cared about addressing him by a nickname or not.
"My name is Vick, King Leif's daughter. It is an honor to have your cooperation, White warrior, or better, Casper." She bowed very slightly, putting her right hand on her chest. It was an elegant gesture, and Casper was dumbfounded on what to do again.
"Maybe it's like Japanese people, right? I just need to bow, right?" Casper precisely imitated her bow as she did.
"What an insolence… How dare you revere me with such a slight bow?"
"Huh? But, you did the same with me!"
The Princess looked to him as if he was a baby, then started to laugh.
"What a situation, man…" Casper quietly looked at her while she laughed in amusement.
"Why are you laughing so hard for. I know I am ignorant about this world's rules and culture, but…"
"No, it's just that… That…" She was struggling to finish her statement. "W-well, you know, I am always surrounded by people trying to spoil me and treating me as a god or something. I am a public figure, so I always need to keep up appearances as well. It's a lot of boring stuff.
"That said, see someone acting with such boldness and insolence towards me makes me want to laugh a lot. It's something out of my world, for sure."
"I… I see… And, well, also, you said something about cooperate…"
"Ah, this… Well, as I said we will study you. That's why starting today you will be living in this castle."
"No way…"