Lily frowned at the gold thread in her hand, willing it to become firm. Stubbornly the thread was limp between her fingers.

“Imagine it’s a pole, or a staff. Hard and rigid.” Blackwing had told her, when she’d given out the assignment. Lily blushed slightly remembering it, she still wasn’t sure if Blackwing had used deliberate innuendo or not, but this gold thread was just not interested in becoming stiff.

Lily sighed and set the thread down. She was trying to push out her mana, but while she could somewhat feel something sluggishly moving inside her when she did the cultivation exercises she’d been taught, it didn’t seem to want to come out.

Was she really able to become a mage? It seemed an impossible dream to her. When she’d jumped on the chance to become the court wizard’s personal seamstress, she’d been willing to do anything to get a chance to rise out of poverty. Though the wages of a seamstress weren’t that bad compared to a farm worker, the exorbitant prices of renting a bunk in a shared one-room apartment had consumed most of what she earned.

When she’d been told that she was to be given room and board here at the court wizard’s mansion, she’d been ecstatic, with almost no expenses, her small wage was now quite generous. But she felt as if it was unearned.

Jason had only really needed a few hours of work from her, and the few uniforms and torn aprons she’d repaired since starting her new employment hadn’t exactly filled her schedule either. What if Primrose sent her away for being idle? Lily had lived in fear of losing her new job those first few days. What Primrose had said in the carriage… was that what was expected of her? To be a mistress? If it was Jason, maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. Wouldn’t it be better to just get it over with if that was the price she had to pay?

So she’d humiliated herself by flinging herself at Jason, only to be rejected. Lily had felt like dying from embarrassment. But then, thinking about it, she was sort of glad, glad that Jason hadn’t actually forced her to go through with it. Lily had really thought about it, and decided that she admired Jason more for being upright and honorable. But at the same time, she felt disappointed. Maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t been so honorable, Lily thought to herself.

Still, she had been happy to wait, to keep trying, to keep making herself available, until she got through to him, made him see she wasn’t just looking for a place to stay. In the meantime, she had begun to enjoy her life at the mansion, looking for ways to be helpful, she had even started learning to cook! Everyone was so nice, even Primrose wasn’t nearly so scary once you got to know her a bit.

And now, this? A chance to become a mage? Lily had felt like she was floating on air.

Then Jason had left for the dungeon, and she found herself worried. He was not an adventurer, never been trained to deal with the dangers inside that dreadful place. He was being sent deep, to a level where many adventurers had already died. What if he didn’t come back? Lily was shocked to discover how terrifying that was to her.

It wasn’t even losing the opportunities Jason had provided for her, it scared her because she had started to care about Jason. Why had he been so stubborn? Lily blushed again thinking about the bath she’d prepared for him. She’d been certain she’d convince him to take the initiative while she was doing that… she’d been so provocative. What if she never got to be with him because he died and that had been her only chance? Should she have tried harder?

“What you thinking about human? Your face is all red but I don’t see your mana moving,” Blackwing scolded her.

“I’m sorry!” Lily said with a jump of surprise. She’d gotten so lost in her thoughts, what must Blackwing think of her? Wait… what did Blackwing think of anyone? She was a bird. Lily still wasn’t used to interacting with the strange familiar.

“Hmmm, maybe take a break. I poke your soul some more later, see if that makes it easier.”

“Poke my soul?” Lily asked nervously.

“Doesn’t hurt any, just stirs things up, makes mana flow faster. Don’t worry, I don't eat souls, not anymore.” Blackwing explained absentmindedly pulling out a stubborn undercoat feather with her beak. Those got itchy as new ones grew in.

Not anymore? Lily stared at Blackwing aghast, but said nothing.

The door to the workshop suddenly burst open and a worried look Primrose ran in. “Blackwing! The king’s been attacked. I need to know if Jason is still alive!”

Blackwing tilted her head before responding. “He’s alive, I can feel his soul through our bond, but why does an attack on one human make you worry about my human?”

Primrose shook her head, “This must be a plot, a magical attack on the king while the court wizard is away? Can’t be a coincidence. I was worried that they might have set a trap for him as well.”

“Magic attack?” Lily repeated, “As in a rogue mage? Is the king alright?”

“He’s alive, the healers are with him, but no one is sure how bad it is. The royal guards are in an uproar. Rumors everywhere… I’ve even heard say that the court wizard is behind the attack, presumably that’s why he wasn’t here to prevent it.”

“That’s impossible, Jason is off rescuing the king’s nephew.”

“True… except, that nephew has already shown up today,” Primrose explained.

“What?! But that letter…”

Primrose pursed her lips, “It might have been false, or maybe the nephew is working with the princesses and tricked the king into sending that rescue mission. I have no idea. We need Jason to come back as soon as possible. He needs to be here to defend himself, to be seen. Maybe go help the royal guards hunt down who really did this so no one can try to frame him for it…”

“I go fetch Jason,” Blackwing offered.

“You can do that?” Primrose asked, “How?”

“I talk to dungeon, it let me fly in through the backdoor. Dungeon knows where Jason is, I will ask.” Blackwing explained.

“The dungeon core will listen to you?” Primrose asked, looking hopeful, and did not appear to doubt the impossible statement. Lily was just stunned. Was such a thing possible?

“It better,” Blackwing said with a caw, “I’m older than it is, it will listen.”

“The dungeon is hundreds of years old!” Lily protested.

“I go now,” Blackwing said, spreading her wings to fly out the window.

After Blackwing left, Lily and Primrose stood silently staring at the window.

“Is that really true?” Lily finally asked, “Wouldn’t that make Blackwing hundreds of years old?”

“More like over a thousand,” Primrose muttered. “But so far as anyone knows, it's true. Blackwing has been around for a very long time.”

“What is she?” Lily asked fearfully

“So far as anyone knows, she's just a familiar, but there’s a lot of rumors. She’s not powerful, although she can use a little soulmancy, no one has ever seen her use conventional magic. But the previous two wizards she attached herself to were both very powerful and famous in their time. Rumors say that she was the first familiar, and was the one who taught her first “master” the rites to bind a familiar, a rite he then shared with the rest of the wizards who lived back then, but there’s no proof that’s true.”

“Wow… does Jason know that?”

“Probably? Who knows.” Primrose shrugged. “I only know because the Academy’s headmaster is my ex and we write to each other all the time.”

“Wait, what?”

Primrose sighed, “I used to be a lot like you, got a wizard for a lover, was given new opportunities, though I don’t have any mana core to speak of. I learned accounting, and everything else I needed to know, and got a position as assistant head butler. Years of experience later, here I am. I still remember that man fondly, despite the fact that he long since left me for a string of younger lovers… Just take my advice, Lily, don’t get too emotionally attached. Jason will probably leave you behind someday.”