Miss Emily led me inside, into something that seemed to resemble an office. The place also had the makings of a storeroom. There were piles of what had to be herbs on one side of the room. On another there were three bookshelves. There was just enough space left for a table, a chair on either side of it.


    I pulled one and sat down. Miss Emily took the other. Then she continued staring at me.


    “So, you wanted to talk about something?” I asked.


    Miss Emily sighed, rolling her eyes. “I would think that you already know what I wish to speak of, my lord. Are you going to claim ignorance of something that is apparent?”


    “How about you tell me what you know, and I can fill you in.” I said, not meeting her eye.


    “And help you make a lie? I think not. Tell me who you are. And what you want. There are too many strange things about you.” Miss Emily demanded.


    I considered denying her. I was pretty sure she would just ask me to walk out if she did. Would that be worth the cost? Well… I was kinda relying on her to find out more about things. Like magic. The city. Would Oak even support me if Miss Emily turned me out? I needed that guy for a place to stay.


    Rejecting her wasn’t going to be easy. And she wasn’t being unreasonable either. Getting involved with politics was dangerous. The politics of noble families even more so. The royal knights’ presence protected them a little, but there were enough nobles here to keep old enmities going.


    “I ran away from my family.” I said. That wasn’t exactly accurate. Leif had caught me. And then let me go. I was sure of it. Leif had let me go into this lake, probably because of Story magic. Either he wanted to manipulate it, or it was manipulating him. I didn’t care. Either was bad for me.


    But I couldn’t very well tell Miss Emily that Leif might be watching. That would scare her away.


    “I see.” Miss Emily said, pulling out a teacup from her drawer. Then she picked up the kettle and poured.


    “Do you want some?” she asked. “The tea is still hot.”


    I looked at it. With her life magic around I wouldn’t have to worry about it being spoiled. And the kettle seemed enchanted besides.


    “Oh, sure.” I replied.


    “So then, what family do you come from?” she asked, pulling another teacup from her drawer.


    I looked at her for a second. Then I decided to go through with it. “The Eldanveir.”


    Miss Emily’s hand shook as she poured the tea. A hurriedly taken breath and careful control kept the tea from spilling, but I could see that the name had an effect.


    “I—I see.” she said, putting the kettle down and withdrawing her hands onto her lap. “What part of the family are you from? I hear that even the Eldanvier have quite a few branch families.”


    I sighed. I could just string her along and have her guess my ancestry one by one…but it was better to just come out and say it.


    “The Duke of Eldanveir is my father.” I informed her. “The Rose Princess is my mother.”


    That should give her a good picture of what my ancestry looked like.


    “The Duke of Rose is your grandfather.” she exclaimed. “The Emperor is your great-grandfather. Tha-that would make you the only living descendant of the Blade Emperor. Do you expect me to believe that?”


    I shrugged. “Not the only one. Leif Eldanvier is my twin-my elder twin brother.”


    Miss Emily stared at me. A few seconds passed. I picked up the tea and began drinking it. Miss Emily was still staring at me. I finished drinking the tea. But she had not finished staring.


    “Are you still there?” I asked. For some reason this made me happy. I did like shocking people. Even if it was just the number of important people I was descended from. Heck that wasn’t even all of them. The Empress was powerful by herself. And there was still the Founding Emperor.


    And of course the thousands of other royalty that I was somewhat related to. Oh, also half the nobility. The royal bloodline had spread far.


    “Are you being serious?” Miss Emily whispered angrily.


    I nodded.


    “I -” she stood up, rushing towards her book cases. Then she pulled them apart. I watched with fascination as she literally split a bookcase to reveal a secret cupboard. And inside that was a rather interesting collection of objects.


    I recognized a few of them, especially what she took out. A truth orb. A very special object that had to be imported from off world. The local mana system did not allow for such things. Not easily.


    How is it,” I began. “That a healer in the Lake of the Forgotten has a truth orb?”


    “This isn’t one.” Miss Emily clarified. “This is a fake that uses mind magic. The magic forces you to speak only the truth.”


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I froze, staring at the thing with renewed caution.


    “If I may?” she asked. I stared at it. This was a dangerous object. I had secrets, ones I did not wish to share. The transmigration. The Monarchs and their involvement. But I could also understand why she would want to confirm that I was telling the truth.


    “I will only confirm what I have said till now.” I offered.


    Miss Emily looked at me. “I shall use it again if there is need. But for now that will suffice.” Then she poured her mana into that bloody thing. I felt the Mind magic exert its influence on me. Just strong enough that I was not confident I could secretly resist it. An artifact like this could probably tell if someone wasn’t affected by the spell.


    But I could have resisted it if I gave it my all. The mana used was not enough to break through a proper field shield. That made me sigh in relief. Having mind magic that I could not defend against would make me nervous. As it was, I could stop at will.


    That was a nice assurance to have.


    “Tell me, who are you?” Miss Emily asked.


    “I am Aphra Eldanveir, son of the Duke of Eldanveir and the Rose Princess. The younger twin of Leif Eldanveir.” I answered. The mind magic pressed on me, trying to force me to say more. That question…it was framed very openly. The magic knew that I wasn’t telling the whole thing.


    Miss Emily looked at me, and then cut off the orb.


    “Is there a reason the son of a Duke knows so little about mana? I have seen you fail at tasks that you should be able to do in your sleep. Tell me, does that sound normal to you?”


    I shrugged. “I was not given many of the opportunities my cousins had. Father did not like my face.”


    Miss Emily scoffed. “That I can believe. And yet, it makes me wonder. What else are you hiding?”


    I squirmed under her gaze, but I would not be saying more. Finding out my ancestry was not particularly hard. I had my mother’s face. And my mother had a very large statue. The kind that was literally taller than mountains.


    There were few people on the royal continent that would not recognize my ancestry on sight. At least the royal part of it. Now being a transmigrator, that was something I was not willing to share so easily.


    “I suppose I shall let it rest for now.” Miss Emily said. “And I hope you shall not question me too much about my past.”


    I stared at her, wondering if I should press the issue. I was curious to know what was going on with her. But that was a rather large risk to take just to fill my curiosity. No, I was better off just letting her be.


    “Then we are in agreement.” I answered her.


    Miss Emily nodded. “Now, I am sure you face many issues with mana. Tell me about them.”


    I took a deep breath, collecting my thoughts. This was it, what I had been waiting for.


    “So first, I want to know how to tell how much mana I have. And where I can get spells, I will need some to actually use my power properly.” I said the first things that came to my mind. But there were probably more to be had once I actually sat down to think about it.


    “Oh and also, I had this interaction with Darkness and Light. That’s what got that guy injured. I was casting a Darkness shield using his suffering as base. Like I do with healing. But then Light interfered by imposing protection on me, which destroyed the shield.”


    Thankfully I was able to get a panic shield up and save him. Oh, and also should I be careful using fire magic around here? I don’t think it would be a problem but -”


    Miss Emily raised a hand, stopping me in my tracks.


    “How is it that you don’t know how to sense your own mana, but you have already learned how to emotionally mana shape to such a large degree?”


    I blinked. “There’s another way to do it?”


    “Yes.”


    <hr>


    The very edge of the universe.


    A palace stood in space, larger than most planets and significantly more sturdy. A bird flew towards it, whistling a silly tune as it revolved around the palace. The sound should not have echoed in space, and yet it did. For as far as a million miles away the tune was heard, the bird declaring its presence.


    “Would you mind coming in?” An annoyed voice yelled from within the palace.


    “I think I shall sing some more instead.” the bird replied. “The view is nice.”


    “There is no view. There isn’t a planet around for a million light years. I remember you making sure of that, Queen of Fae.” the voice replied.


    “Yes, I do like looking at my work. Doesn’t it make you feel appreciated? Seeing the result of your hard work.”


    “Perhaps it would. If I wasn’t trapped in here. Another thing I should blame you for.”


    The bird scoffed. “Oh please, we both know you were trapped for a whole of three seconds. The rest of it was just you trying to get sympathy, Arbiter of Monarchs.”


    A silence filled the air as neither of them spoke. Then the palace disappeared like it had not been there in the first place. In its place stood a man. Not a human man, though his form could be called similar. If humans had no arms and legs and looked similar to a box of flesh with a head emerging from it. A dozen appendages emerged from the box, wiggling in space.


    “If you’re trying to scare me, you’ll have to try harder. I don’t get tickled that easily.”


    “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” the Arbiter stated. “Now do you wish to speak of why you actually came, or shall I have to suffer through another century of your speech?”


    The bird transformed into a little girl. The girl wore but a single rag, little more than a brown piece of cloth. With black hair and black eyes, she looked like a random beggar on the street. The universe shuddered at her appearance, cracks spreading across space.


    But neither Monarch paid any attention to it.


    “I would like to ask you to stop it.” she said. “Do not interfere with the House of Manevorus, it shall not end well for you. Jeriverus is quite upset, and you know how it gets.”


    The Arbiter of Monarchs scoffed. “Are you done?”


    “No, I still have a century of conversation left in me. Do you want some tea?”


    The Arbiter rolled his eyes, cracks in space spreading out from where his appendages touched. “Leave. Or I will make you. I am the Arbiter of Monarchs girl, do not warn me about a child just a few million years old.”


    “A hundred million.”


    “What?”


    “Jeriverus Manevorus, Queen of Magic, Death, and Destruction is a hundred million years old. I was significantly younger and quite a bit weaker when I interfered in your plans, Arbiter. There is a reason the Monarchs of the Edge do not rule the universe. Do not forget it.” The little girl walked away, a portal appearing before her.


    “Fae.” the Arbiter called out.


    “What?”


    “I hope you like being tickled.” the Arbiter said, his appendages wiggling even faster.


    “Oh you motherfucker -” the Fae Queen began yelling before she was pushed into her portal.


    The Arbiter of Monarchs just smiled. “The Game is not yet won Queen of Fae. Not yet.”