"Runt?"
"Yes."
Annelise threw herself onto me and began crying.
She hadn't done that in many years.
It felt nostalgic.
"I told you I'd bring home a nice girl didn't I?"
Kelson placed his hand on my shoulder.
"She ain't from the village, so it ain't count."
"But, she's one of our own, so it more than makes up for it."
Annelise pulled Aura into the hug.
After that, I joined the couple in their living room surrounding the fireplace.
Annelise and I made hot chocolate, courtesy of Aura's spatial bag, in the kitchen while Kelson and Aura got to talking.
After the drinks were done, we all sat down around the fire, and I began to explain my last 7 months.
We were up until 1am exchanging stories about the last several months.
"Well," I said, "It's time for us to go."
"You guys are gonna gate back?"
"I was just gonna sleep in my annex again."
"We left the room how it was, except we've been keeping it clean."
"The guest bedding is beneath your bed."
"Alright you guys be careful up the stairs, we will goodnight son."
They closed the door, and I could hear them leave the entrance.
"Well, lets go."
"Wait one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Its the last part of your gift. Close your eyes."
Worriedly I shut my eyes.
I guess she didn't believe me as she covered my eyes with her right hand.
Suddenly I felt a warmth on my cheek.
It felt soft.
I raised my hand to my cheek.
"Did you just-"
She raised her finger to her mouth, as the corners of her mouth raised.
We stood in front of the porch for a while, me dumbstruck by her beauty, and she staring at whatever I currently looked like.
After a while we started to walk towards the annex.
"How did you like my gift?"
"I loved it, especially-"
She put her finger up to my mouth again and began to run in the direction of the annex.
Of course, I couldn't let her win so we raced to the entrance.
"You cheated, you flew to the entrance."
"Well you could've beat me, if you were a higher circle."
"That's a low blow."
"If it gives you more incentives, I'd do it again."
We laughed once more before I turned the key and walked in.
It really was still the same.
The bed was still massive.
I remember buying that bed with what few silvers I had saved to buy those books before I ran away.
"Aura you can take the bed."
"I'll take the bedding and sleep on the floor."
"Well you can give me a gift, even when you told me you didn't have one earlier."
"Really how?"
I cocked my head to the side as if I was confused.
"Don't make me say it. Muuuuuuu. Lucaaaaaas. You're so mean."
"You're such a weirdo."
She started to cry a little.
"I'm sorry."
I wiped her tears a little.
She was smiling.
"Oh you little fox."
I pulled up the covers, cast a proper silence spell and started tickling her until she really started to cry.
"Lucas you meanie."
She pumped her fists into my chest.
I caught one and pulled her close to me.
I put my hand on her head and stroked her hair.
Soon enough she fell asleep and so did I.
***
Morning broke as I got out of bed.
"Lucas. Don't go..."
I kissed her forehead.
"Don't worry, I'll be back in just one moment"
I rubbed her head and that was the end of it.
I showered and then went downstairs.
I made some coffee for Aura, and a hot chocolate for myself.
Man hot chocolate kicks ass in any world I guess.
I went back up to the room to see a half awake, messy haired blonde beauty.
Truly my heart was healed by this.
(Think that one meme of the dude with a serious face, but a laughing one in the background).
But in all seriousness, she was really cute.
I crouched down and handed her the coffee.
"Is it-"
"Yep made just the way you like it."
"But I don't like coffee that much."
"Well you don't like getting up either, princess."
"mmmm...."
I gave her a few more minutes and a towel to shower with.
I also contacted the duchy since I was still holding onto the gifts from the celebration in my small spatial artifact.
Thank you for your service, Makarov.
You have kept the cat fight from occurring.
As she finished her shower, I started our prep.
Lucy handed me the pillow via gate, and handed me a spatial bag.
"Mistress Alicia said 'Keep up the good work' and 'I hope Aura is winning over Charlotte right now'."
Hahhhhhhhhhhhh. Why are people like this.
First my floormates, and now my own mother?
Wait? Isn't Aura her daughter? If anything shouldn't she be saying to only be looking at Aura?
"Could you let mother know that I'm confused about her interest in my love life, especially regarding not favoring Aura?"
"That's simple to explain. We at the duchy love ourselves a drama, especially a lighthearted one."
"So we like to watch your love life, as well as your academy life since it's so interesting compared to Matthew's and Ezechs'."
"On top of that the mistress likes to destress from work by watching your outings."
"Are you guys watching our every move?"
"No, of course not. Only when Aura wants it recorded for the future."
What.
"What? I don't think I heard you properly."
"Only when you are suspected of being in danger, which isn't very often, since you're relatively unknown, inside the academy, and have relationships with high ranking people."
Somehow I get the feeling that is not what she said.
With that I said goodbye to Lucy and she closed the gate.
Creaaak...
The bathroom door opened.
"Hey Lucas could you hand me my bracelets, and some other jewelry."
I roughly knew what she wore on a day to day basis, so I grabbed what I knew to be important, but grabbed some things that made her look like a royal tyrant of an empire.
After a bit she walked out with it all on.
"Wow, you really look like a princess now with the tiara on your head."
"Teasing me as soon as I leave the bathroom, how naughty, even after I put it on just for you."
Wow, all the blood rushed to my head.
She put her hands on my chest
"Okay, that's enough of that"
I grabbed her hands and put them back down.
"Awwww. I wanted to roleplay a little longer."
"Any longer and we might've not been roleplaying any longer."
"What, my 'charm' working on you?"
"Yes."
She started blushing.
"Stop teasing me. It's not funny."
She started to beat her fists against my chest.
I looked down at her.
She looked up to me.
"I wasn't."
And poof.
Head buried in my chest, face all red.
Her ears were burning.
So cute.
***
After a while, I told her we had to get moving.
"The weapon selection ceremony starts at 11:00 and we need to be there at 10:40 roughly.
Let's gate to our dorm first and set our stuff down then we can go.
After sticking around at the farmhouse for breakfast, we gated to the academy city, then to the academy around 10:00.
As we entered the lobby we found our respective roommates sitting in the lounge area.
Mark spoke up.
"Hi guys I was just introducing myself to Celeste over here."
And Celeste got right into the interrogation.
"And where have you two been?"
"Well I went home to my family, and she did too, as well as picking up some things from home.
I pulled out some souvenirs from Annelise and Kelson.
"Ooh very nice, but don't you two live together?"
"No?"
I don't think the two of them were very convinced.
Mark finally took his turn to ask questions.
"So, if the two of you don't live together, where do you live?"
"Well," I began, "While I live at the duchy I stay in the special servants quarters, since I'm Aurelia's knight, but when I'm off duty, I head home out of the capital via gate to my parents."
Nobody knew of my calling of the Duchess or Duke my parents.
And aside from Matthew and the 4 royal siblings, no one knew my nickname for Aurelia, and I think it's best I kept it that way.
"You don't live in the capital?"
"Nope."
"So how did you even become a knight?"
"Well, it's a long story."
In truth, the kidnapping of Aura was actually buried within the mansion's walls. Nobody knew of her kidnapping aside from the elite forces of the duchy, Barton and his son, Bolton, who by the way, only let me know of his relationship to Count Barton during my 18th birthday, and the Duke and Duchess themselves.
Aside from that the cover story of how I was picked up as a knight goes something like this:
One day, a maid of Aura's gets accosted in my village by some gangsters.
I came to her rescue, and since then when she came to the village I would receive her favor.
The Duke, curious about me, sent Bolton to test my defense skills, and upon seeing me defend myself, recruited me to the knights division, where my magical talents were also recognized.
Upon seeing this, Aura chose me as her appointed guardian knight, and I went through training for it.
And that's the story I tell since it avoids specifics.
I believe she tells it a little differently since she's 'closer to the Duke' than I am.
"Then give us the short version."
And so I did.
"Wow, Lucas you got really lucky huh."
Aura butted in.
"That's not true Lucas just dumbed it down too much to avoid any unnecessary detail, but I know the decision making process within the duchy."
"He worked really hard. He was there since he was a boy, and one day my mother told me to choose a knight from the training grounds."
Celeste, ever the romanticist, stepped in once again.
"How did you choose him? Shouldn't you have called all the knights to order in the grounds?"
"I didn't want to. And he was kind of like me, but weaker, and a knight as opposed to my mage capabilities."
Alright, they clearly believe it, time to finish this up.
"We were both really young then, so her making noble friends outside, before her official debut didn't occur except for the noble families inside the duchy."
"So when I could keep up with her without making her feel like she was being toyed with, since Aurelia has a strong pride, she decided that I would be her knight, even if it meant having to wait."
"So why are you in the mage course and not the knight course?"
"Because, I've always been a mage, not a knight."
"What does that mean?"
"I mean, I was an orphan who awakened mana on his own."
"Didn't you say you had parents?"
"Adopted."
"I-I didn't know, I'm sorry."
And cornered. That's how its done.
"It's okay, I'm not bothered, you didn't know."
Mark was touched by that. I guess he felt a connection since he spoke up.
"I am too, how did you become an orphan?"
I turned to Aura to give her an out to put her stuff, and the body pillow of me she had, away.
"I know I've told you a little, but if you feel uncomfortable hearing this at any time, you can leave Aurelia."
She nodded her head.
"My life before the duchy, and Aurelia wasn't great aside from my parents."
"What do you mean?"
"My biological parents are alive, but I was disowned, and chased out."
"What. Don't tell me you're some kind of noble's child with a deep secret."
"No way. My dad was a drunkard, and my mom and I bore the brunt of his misgivings."
"He would beat my mother who would in turn shield herself by directing him onto me."
"I guess he eventually got bored of that, and decided he liked the streets, and gambling more."
"After a few years of my mom beating me, and begging on the streets for our living, she grew tired of me, and chased me out of the house."
"That's when I awakened my mana, and after running for so long I turned around to realize my mother was nowhere in sight."
"I had long outrun her tyranny. Anyways I found myself on a field and decided to sleep there for the night."
"Of course, I had money save from begging hidden away from my mother that I had kept inside a bag that was organized to avoid making the noises a bag full of a few hundred iron pieces."
"Anyways, I was found by the farm owner, who at the beginning was rough with me seen as I was a street rat, and not a pauper. In the end he and his wife took me in and took to taking care of them and the farm, since they gave me food, clothes, and shelter."
"My foster father taught me many things in our short time together, like carpentry, how to care for all sorts of farm animals, and how to grow and harvest crops."
"How long were you with them?"
"Only a few months, but we spent them like family."
Celeste was a mess of tears, and Mark was tearing up.
"How old were you?"
"When I ran away? Just turned twelve. When I left for the duchy? Nearly thirteen."
"Good god Lucas."
"I'm sorry."
The two apologized for their questions.
"It's alright."
"Anyways I need to leave and get ready for the ceremony."
Celeste turned to Aura who also was crying although silently.
"I'm going to head back up, some of my makeup is ruined."
Aura and her held hands and left through mana elevator.
"For what it's worth my mother died giving birth, and my dad left."
"Thanks for telling me Mark. It takes strength."
I guess that's all he needed, because he started to cry too.
With that I left to my room to put the spatial bags and gifts away.
Thankfully in our second year I don't have to worry about roommates, as you can live off campus, or be ranked high enough to get a single dorm.
With my stuff set down I went back down to the lobby to wait for Aura.
10:35.
The 4 of us were really gonna cut it close.
Aura, just what are you doin-
"Hey, Lucas, do you think you can do that?"
"Aurelia, what are you talking about right now?"
Celeste blushed.
"Yep, just give it to me."
This time it was Mark's turn.
"What the hell?"
"Grab her."
I signaled for Celeste to hold onto Aura as I held onto Mark.
She pushed her mana into me as I warped us using an actual artifact, to the academy's designated area.
"Lucas, did you just use an artifact?"
"Lucas, was that an artifact?"
These two were surprisingly in sync.
"Yes."
The Dean walked out and used sound magic.
"Alright students, today is your day, this is the weapon choosing ceremony, there are about 100 of you, there are naturally 9 levels to this building, each with their own unique weapons."
"Remember a compliant 6th tier weapon will almost always be better, than a 7th tier weapon that dislikes you."
From the 5th tier onwards, some of these swords contained sword egos, spirits, and sword wills that could resist your handle.
However, I had a plan in mind already.