I snapped out from my gentle slumber, into which I didn’t even notice when I fell.

- “Morning sleepy-head. Did you have a nice dream?” Liz’ asked me, gently brushing my hair.

We were lying under the tree near the lake. Right now, my head was resting on her lap.

- “With you by my side, my dreams start right after I wake up.” She snorted hearing my remark

- “Where did you learn that!?”

- “The inspiration came as I was looking deep into your eyes.”

Still smiling she looked above, toward the branches of the tree.

- “It’s so peaceful… I like it. Even though it’s a hard life, with both of us running since dawn till dusk…”

- “And from dusk till dawn as well…” I added.

- “… I wouldn’t change this life for anything else.”

- “Why did you bring this up?” Something was not right – she never talked about such matters before.

- “Recently, the Lord’s son offered me a job at his mansion. On top of a great salary, much more than I would earn here, he offered me free access to his library as well… but that would mean I would have to leave the village… and that we would see each other every month or so just for few days… and that’s something I can’t give up. I will decline his offer.”

An uneasy feeling took over my heart, on the one hand, I wanted to jump in the air and sing knowing that Liz would choose me over per passion and promise of an easier life, on the other one…

- “Are you sure? Books are your joy!... Staying here you would never read as much as in…”

- “It’s decided!... Your last words helped to win me over. Right now I love you more than I love books.”

- “Really?” The combination of her serious tone and playful eyes amused me greatly and I was struggling to not chuckle seeing her behavior

- “Yes, but only by !” she showed with her finger the difference between me and the books, which could be measured in millimeters.

- “So, I better try my best to not waste this petite advantage I have over these pesky books!”

- “Oh? And how are you gonna do that?”

- “I will just start with spoiling the hell outta you!” I said pouncing on her and beginning to tickle her.

- “My lord, excuse my intrusion!” Albert said entering the room. He was covered in dirt and dust, yet unlike most of the noble’s knights, he paid no attention to it.

- “I presume you have something for me?” Michael Diederik asked as he was putting aside the book he was just reading.

- “I believe so, my Lord.” Knight approached his liege passing a backpack filled to the brim with scrolls and books “… that’s all that scholar Thomas managed to find about this crest, as well as everything he considered to be connected.”

- “In just three days?...” The young noble was quite impressed, getting to his family mansion would take nearly a full day travel “… Albert, did you get any rest?”

- “Just enough to proceed with my quest.”

- “Go get some right now, that’s an order!” His tone suggested quite the opposite

- “As you say.” The huge man just slightly bowed his head.

- “Albert…” Young master stopped him one more time in the doorstep

- “Yes, my Lord?”

- “I’ve said this many times already, but I am grateful for your services. I could never dream to have a better teacher and protector.”

- “Your words are too kind, my…”

- “No. They are not nearly enough to thank you for your dedication. Albert, if you have any wish I could grant you, speak.”

- “… that’s very generous of you, but I am being paid plenty for my services…”

- “Everyone that works for us is being paid, yet no one shows your spirit and loyalty. Not rewarding such behaviors would bring dishonor to my family's name.”

- “In that case… I will gladly use your generosity, my liege… do I have to say it now?”

- “No. Think about it carefully. For now, go get some rest.”

One last time Albert bowed his head to Michael before leaving. As soon as the door was shut behind him, the lord's son almost pounced at the scrolls and books, losing himself in the studies.

- “Too slow!” Old Jonson slashed from above.

Narrowly, I managed to block the strike, yet the sheer strength of the blow made my legs give up, pushing me on my knees.

- “You have strength and dexterity, but you are lacking experience and technique! Come on! Don’t swing it like a stick! Stance! Keep the stance god damn it!”

Last three days were truly blissful, I have no idea how, but Liz somehow managed to convince everyone to leave me to her. The thing is, that right now, everyone was exploiting me three times as much, and as my body already managed to forget about the hardship of living in the village (thanks to Liz’ spoiling), every bruise and scratch hurt twice as much.

Stance? You want me to take a stance?! Very well! Here! I! Come!

I got up and inhaled loudly as I corrected my balance. Legs spread wide on the ground, slightly bending my knees. Sword held with two hands, left palm slightly below the right. And now, I waited.

I have been getting my ass whooped for a few hours straight, but finally I started seeing the moves of the old half-orc.

Once again, the colossal man moved onward. He raised his sword over his head using the distance to his advantage. Normally, if you raise a sword over your head you would leave your whole body vulnerable for strikes, but, if you are far away from your enemy, that would let you generate a powerful attack that would shake your enemy’s core even if blocked.

I waited till the very last moment before moving slightly to the side. His blade passed by my head for an inch or two, at the same time I prepared to slash from the side.

Yet, orc-blood dodged. That shouldn’t be possible – the way he twisted his body! Someone as muscular as him shouldn’t be able to coil and twist like a panther, yet before my very eyes, that was the thing that actually happened.

He blocked my strike and using the momentum generated by our swords colliding he turned around and slashed back. I blocked his attack, stopping his advance, but he kept pushing with his body trusting onward. His sword once again danced dangerously close to my face.

In my eyes, the world blurred for a second. I could have sworn that I was seeing two Jonsons, one – the grey one - was moving slightly faster than the other, as if being "ahead" in time.

I saw “grey Jonson” twisting his body and slashing from my left, so in advance, I raised my blade in defense, and in the very next second, our blades collided where they were supposed to.

The “grey” followed with a thrust, so I decided to shorten our distance making this attack futile.

Is the thing that I am seeing… the future? That’s definitely the actions of my opponents! Did I awaken some kind of battle sense? No, these are supposed to be achieved after years of life-threatening combats, not after a week or two of sparring with an elder smith.

The grey “illusion” of thrusting Jonson disappeared. Apparently, I made him change his strategy. Does it mean I took over the initiative in our sparring?!

Let’s see!

I slashed from the left, in advance, I saw half-orc protecting that side, leaving the other one unprotected.

At the last second, I changed my footings performing a pirouette slashing from the right. The blade touched his skin and a small red cut appeared on his arm. Making me drop my sword.

- “By the Three! I am sorry! Mister Jonson are you all right?!”

And then, I was hit with the sword handle in the guts.

- “You scratched me, kid, not bad. Not bad at all.” Indeed, the half-blood seemed to be quite pleased “… something changed in your battle style, out of blue it became much harder to read your moves, at the same time you read all of mine perfectly. Why?”

- “I… don’t know…” I said still fighting for breath “… I just started… dunno? Seeing? Your moves, quite literally.”

- “Goddess of War must have blessed you as well, truly, you are favored by divines… and here you wish to stay as a farmer. What a waste of talent.”

- “There is no more noble purpose than to help those who you love, Mr. Jonson.”

- “Aye, aye, spare me this bullshit… Yet still, I am just as amazed as annoyed. In less than a week you managed to keep your tempo versus me – orc blood who was training most of his life. If you became a duelist or adventurer, you could earn quite a lot.”

- “That’s not the path I choose.” I said with a bored expression. Ol’ man was stubborn, so you had to respond to him with the same stubbornness.

- “No, you said you want to help everyone in this village. Winning one tournament would give you enough gold to aid this village for a year or two… but, whatever. Waste your talents. But now, put the sword aside. It’s time to teach you about sword-forging. We will start with the basic – the metals…”

And so, the lecture started.

- “Miss Elize, can I borrow a moment of your time?” The very next day the young noble approached the village’s beauty as she was cleaning the inn.

- “But of course, how can I serve you today, young Lord?” she asked with a purest, bright smile on her face.

- “The other day I was talking with your… fiancée, and couldn’t help but notice the pendant he was carrying. The one with your family crest.”

- “Oh, that’s… to be honest, I don’t have a single memory of my life as a noble, I was but a kid back then… so…”

- “Do you want to learn more about your legacy?” he asked right away catching Liz off guard.

- “I beg your pardon?”

- “You see, I asked one of my men to fetch me a few books from my mansion to learn about your roots. Lady Elizabeth Stelek, do you want to learn about who you truly are?”

- “No!...” she said with a tone full of resolve, aggression even “… I perfectly know who I am. I am Elize, daughter of an inn owner. A weird village girl who loves books. I have a cozy room and a person I love. I have a perfect life, even if it is a humble one. What I used to be does not matter. If we become too greedy and don’t appreciate what we have, we would lose it. Just like my father.”

- “It wasn’t greed of your father that banished you from the capital. Quite the opposite. Nearly twenty years ago, the country suffered a famine. Your father found a way of resupplying land under his jurisdiction, proving every other Lord, including the King, to be foolish and short-sighted. During one gathering of Lords, he would try to save the country by lecturing the King how he should govern a country, back then, his majesty was… young. And hot-blooded. One thing led to another, and your father offended him, in a really, really foolish way, by comparing him to his ancestors… and brother.”

The current King was the younger of two kids of the previous kingdom’s head. His older brother died in a hunting accident, this way, younger Uther got the right to crown. The thing is, his brother was perfect in everything, leaving Uther to live in his shadow.

- “That was just the beginning of a chain of events… but, long story short, the king adopted your father's ideas, claimed them to be his own… and your family…”

- “Shut up already, would you kindly?” Elize said with a cold tone and expressionless face.

Micheal froze awestruck, not knowing if he heard the right thing.

- “You are so forceful about it! I told you so many times that I don’t want to hear about it! Is bullying women a thing you do for a hobby? I had a higher opinion about you… my Lord.” The last words were spoken in such a dead-cold manner, that they nearly sounded like an offense.

- “I… don’t understand. You will be able to have anything you want… The King quite often speaks about the mistakes of his past… if you would enter the King’s manor claiming who you are I am sure that…”

- “That, right now, is simply impossible. I have already dedicated my life to a certain man and to a certain village.”

- “Come on! Promises and engagements between peasants hold no value! I can cancel your engagement vow as I stand!”

- “Can you also cancel divine oath?!” she raised her palm showing a black mark of the Oath

- “W-what is that?”

- “I was being serious when I said that I already chose my path. Aster is a magnificent, wonderful, and pure person. Not once, not twice I was wondering if I am worthy of someone as selfless as him. But, he chose me, he pledged his life to me just as I pledged to him. Since that day I am living a dream. I don’t want to go to my - as you called it - previous life. Definitely not without Aster. That would be a nightmare!”

- “He… chained you to himself…”

- “Quite the opposite. Also, a few days ago we were discussing your offer – to work in your mansion. He was the one telling me to go! And the more he insisted, taking into consideration only my well-being, the more I knew that my place was beside him. So, my Lord, I ask you for the final time, never, ever, bring this matter up again…” she tried calming down, breathing in and out a few times“… I am very grateful for your concern. Alas, it was unnecessary.”

Liz picked up a bucket and left the inn, leaving the noble alone.

As if his whole life escaped his body, Michael approached one of the barrels, grabbed a cup and filled it to the brim. Then, he sat down lost in thoughts.

Oath. The Divine Oath. Who, in heaven and hell, even use them nowadays!? Some older noble houses when they wanted to clarify their deals – yet!... but peasants?! For engagement purposes?!

....

All this time, all he wanted, was a companion.

He might be smiling, looking confident and strong, but, the truth is that he was so very lonely. Never, in his entire life, he had a person he could call a friend. There was no one would understand him. His love for books, his desire for philosophical disputes!

Everyone he ever met, had those dead-cold eyes. They were but shadows, just pretending to be his friends to later use this friendship for their personal goals, in the end, who doesn't want to have a high noble as a friend? It opens so many doors...

Even his possible marriage "partners", were so dull, lifeless, like dolls set for sale. All those little princesses, so overly arrogant, reading nothing but romance novels and poetry as if there weren't thousands of other books on the shelves!

And his father. The most love-less person he ever met, concerned with nothing but his family reputation. Saying that he was strict, was like saying nothing at all. Every failure he punished with sticks or starvation, nothing less than perfection was acceptable.

He didn't complain. Not even once. He knew that there were people having a far worse life than he did. Slaves, people who were wrongly accused and such, beggars on the streets of capital' slums fighting for scraps. And so, he learned. To be a better person. A better lord. Someone who would bring some happiness into the lives of those in need.

In this dark, grim life, in which he learned to pretend and in which he gave up all his hope for a soulmate... he found her.

No, it wasn't love at first sight or anything like that, instead, that was a slow process of constantly growing admiration. One, she treated him kindly and with respect, yet it was not forced, fake etiquette, instead, it was just the way she was acting on a daily basis. She was always smiling, even to smelly drunkards who barely had a coin to pay for their beverage.

Her wisdom and knowledge boundaries were wide, limited only by access to books. They would have so many conversations about so many different subjects, and each and every time she was able to both amuse and surprise him.

And finally, the way she treated him just now - she didn't care for money, nor position. Every other person seeing a chance to improve their fate would jump right in. In spite of the odds. In spite of the Oaths. Even if she would be marked as an Oath-breaker...

At this point, Michael didn't even notice how beautiful she was, or, maybe instead of saying that he didn't notice, it would be better to say that he didn't care.

Yet... That was like a cruel joke from the divines. To show him everything he ever desired right in front of him... that he could never get.

His heart was aching, the feelings he thought he lost a long time ago returned, painfully piercing through his heart. It was like an open hole in his chest, greedily swallowing all the blood from his body, never having enough.

And so, he sat down lowering his face, not even being able to weep.

At first, all he wanted was to hire her, to spend some additional time together, to befriend her, but once he learned she is of noble blood, that the marriage COULD actually happen between them...

... just to see the Oath mark.

A joke, isn't it? Wonderful one! Perfect from the beginning till the end! Because, in the end, until they live, it is impossible to get rid of it without marking them with the taboo of oath-breakers...

And then, the realization came.

Because, maybe, there is a way.

Because, he still wants to change the world for better, so he can get a little bit selfish, right? Just once in his life, he truly desired something. And he desired it, so much...