Our morning daily climb of the lord's mountain was getting easier.

First, I had put on a bit more muscles by getting sore feet every day, practice makes perfect.

Second, the guards were starting to recognize us. We had met most of them so whatever turn-over they had at least one of them knew us. This sped up the checking process quite a bit and with six checkpoints it made a huge difference in time.

Finally, some of the peddlers and castle's suppliers started to know our faces too. Sometimes we could catch a ride and be allowed on the back of a supply convoy, sparring our feet for part of the climbing.

The princess was making commendable progress. She was bad with ideograms. She didn't feel like learning a thousand and more signs and now that she had learned my alphabet, she would never bother with the ideograms ever again. Instead, she would have me or Balout transcribe the wanted texts for her.

This included not only the books the old lord wanted her to study but also her mail.

Young princesses were receiving a surprisingly large amount of letters. She had some messages from the inner palace, be it to exchange a few words with her family or kins; but also for her social life. She was invited left and right: blades of course but also free citizens, young and old, boys and girls, were requesting to meet her for a tea party, a play or diner.

Most were to socialize and get closer to the ruling family through her, some were merchants looking to have her peruse their shop and wear their silks. She was the best advertising they could dream of.

A few were suitors. It took me some time to understand it but some foreigners and powerful blades were openly trying to have her marry them or their son.

Rarest of all were the few friends she had, who were genuinely inviting her to spend time with them.

Since our work was done with teaching her how to read, we spent a bit more time teaching her to write. It went smoothly, once she was committed she was a smart enough student.

The old lord then gave us more technical books to translate in alphabet. Books about etiquette, geography, diplomacy, but also about farming techniques, logistics or even astronomy. His library was an unending trove of knowledge.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, so he was intending to ride the wave of the princess' enthusiasm and cram as much knowledge as he could in her. To give her some relief and reignite her will to read, he would insert some great warriors biographies or some novels about monster hunters.

Most of my days were spent in the old lord's garden.

There Balout and I were to copy in the morning and tutor the princess in the afternoon. Gel and Mel were sparring with the princess or with Shizu when the princess had other matters to tend to.

The garden was a lovely place.

Never cold thanks to the magic taking care of the temperature. According to the princess, there should be pets and animals roaming around once winter is over but for now, I only saw a swimming lizard and a few fishes in the pond.

The old lord was enjoying his time with Balout and me.

We were only kids but we were putting up with his eccentricities and were quite good walls against which he could bounce ideas. We even got allowed to address him by name instead of the constant “revered lord”, “respected elder” or “Old Shield”. Thus “sir” or, “lord” or sir Iroto were fine with him.

He would join us near noon in the garden, more or less drunk depending on how early he had started his libations and how late he finished yesterday's.

Despite his drunkenness he still had a sharp mind. To the point that I started suspecting him to sometimes fake his state of intoxication. I checked his cup and by the smell, I could tell that there was indeed alcohol in it and not in small amount. The man's liver must be Chi strengthened if Chi can be used to that end ?

When he wasn't drinking, explaining to us an unknown ideogram, or debating about the subject of the book we were currently transcribing; he would receive visitors.

* * * * *

Not everyone was happy with our presence.

First was the “head maid”. I don't know what her real title was, nor what status she held. She was a severe looking middle-aged woman that dressed more like a fancy noble blade than a maid yet she was bossing all the servants. Not that there were many coming to the old lord's wing.

She held a lot of power because almost all servants were free citizens. So I was quite sure she was at least a blade or of equal status and she didn't like that we commoners got to drink tea with the lord and princess instead of acting as servants.

She especially looked down on Gelcaria and Melodi.

For Gelcaria I was used to it: her eyes brought her troubles often. Here, I don't know what kind of paedophile tale she was imagining about the old lord and I'd rather not know. I was more surprised by the way she looked at Melodi: with the utmost contempt like some filthy beast was sitting at the table. Sure, Melodi's table manners left much to desire but not that much.

It was my first time facing racism in this world. Interspecies racism to be more straightforward. I had hints that some people despised other species but I also saw more often than not productive interactions like with the tridents or the trolls miners and even interspecies deep relations like Peterell and Calido. So this was quite new, maybe something that was specific to the higher classes?

The head maid didn't hold any real nuisance power against us though. We were under the direct authority of Lord Iroto and bore his emblem, putting us out of her direct reach. That didn't mean we were safe from everything she could throw at us.

There were some petty moves, like impeding the supplies of our writing materials or serving us waste food. We cared little about her pettiness: we grew up eating far worse, the wastes of the Lord's table were delicacies to us.

Shizu was kind enough to warn us that she was spreading nasty rumours about us. It was part of her job to be aware of anything that could harm her master and with her ability to turn incorporeal I bet she was a good spy.

Without evidence of the misdeed there wasn't much I could do. I just made sure we kept good relations with the few servants we met. Being nice and sharing sweets made the trick for most. Only those that were part of whatever faction the head maid was in kept giving us the cold shoulder.

The other troublesome fellow was harder to deal with.

He came a morning where only Balout and I were in the jade garden. The old lord was probably drinking somewhere else or still sleeping off his wine.

We were copying books, me about alchemy, which was a very rudimentary approach to chemistry. I would roll my eyes often when reading the nonsense written in it. Balout was transcribing a book about the possession laws in the empire, quite boring.

Our guest came unannounced. The old lord was receiving three kinds of guests.

The ones he liked the most were old people like him, friends that looked like nobles,scholars and soldiers for the most parts. They were his drinking buddies and would often get wasted while talking about their former days of glory or singing the praises of their grandchildren.

The second type were the courtiers and petitioners. Either lower rank blades, free citizens or rich traders who needed his help directly or to gain the ears of the Shieldlord, a bit like I did.

They were coming bearing gifts, either a fine bottle of the bubbly fruit wine from the Beastkins empire, or the strong alcohol brewed in the northern Shieldoms or one of the last bottles of the legendary millesime of barok beer from twenty years ago that was rumoured to be the best vintage ever.

The last kind was the fewest but the strangest bunch. It was hard to put a label on the diverse array: commoners, footsoldiers, wandering knights of Nasibor but also travellers from afar. Shady looking smugglers but also scholars in exile. All were coming to discuss with the old lord, sell him something or buy something. The conversations were kept low so it was hard to overhear them.

Our current visitor was belonging to the second type: a blade or noble petitioner coming to ask something from the old lord. He was ostentatiously rich, his clothes were of the finest silk and he had silver jewels that matched his pale skin. His eyes were reddish-brown, like embers or cherrywood.

He had his own suite following him: two guards in light leather and a beautiful maid in a short skirt that was showing her thighs. Their outfits were also first rate material: this leather was made out of some monster's skin and was highly durable and pricey and the cute maid was dressed in scarlet velvet. I bet she was more a bed warmer than a maid.

The petitioner was a teenager, which was unusual. He was looking like a 14 years old pampered kid. After a look around to make sure that no one else was here, he calmly walked our way with his company following suit.

We stopped our copying work to salute him. Balout and I were still servants and the kid was a noble, we had to bow to him. His red stare studied us for a while before he spoke to us haughtily “You must be that smart kid that is teaching the third princess?” He asked with a hint of despise. “I was curious as to what you looked like for her to accept a commoner's teachings.” He eyed me from head to toes. “Just a child.” he concluded.

On that he was right, just a kid I was and in no position to retort. I just bowed my head, inviting Balout to do the same. This teenager was the kind that meant trouble and I didn't want any.

“At least you know your place.” He was pleased. “I heard disturbing rumours about your behaviour with the Lord. Especially about a young whore you brought with you.”

This was a bit too much coming from a teen that had a bed-warmer by his side. I was fine dealing with the despise, it was expected coming from a blade or noble, but badmouthing my friends was an other story.“Smart people shouldn't pay heed to rumours but see the truth with their own eyes. Only the gullible falls for Shinpilo's weakest plot.” I replied with a wise beyond my age tone.

This made him laugh heartily. “True. That's why I'm here. I also know my grandfather can have quite the unsavoury company around him. So better to check the hearsays myself,” he replied playfully yet without any amusement in his eyes. His iris were ember yet they only carried cold calculation and mistrust against us.

He said “his grandfather” which meant he was a member of the Shield's family too.

The teen saw the gears move under my head and laughed again. “Yes. I'm the second prince. You'd better remember it and learn to know who the masters of this castle are,” he warned and teased me, flaunting his birthright. “So what is my grandfather's latest toy capable of?” He asked without curiosity.

He wasn't someone I could offend or dismiss so I bowed my head and truthfully answered. “I'm just a commoner's kid, my lord. I can just read and write.” I showed the low table that was covered with books and papers.

He approached the table and took a look at the books on it. “[Discussion about the Central legislation on land property]. You mean to tell me you can read this?” He asked with surprise raising an eyebrow in questioning contempt. “How old are you? Five? Six?” he looked more and more surprised.

“Almost six springs old my lord.” I answered, happy to exceed his expectations.

“And how come a six springs old can read such books?” he was befuddled.

“That's a long story and the reason why Lord Iroto hired us. I'm not sure I'm allowed to speak about my condition without his authorisation.” I reminded him who our boss was.

This answer displeased him. He kept rummaging through the books on the table, messing with our weak arrangement. He finally caught sight of one of the translated books and skimmed through it. “What is this written in? Is this what my sister is so proud of? That new writing technique?” he was more in disbelief than disdain now.

“It is just a simple coding I came up with. Nothing too fancy.” I belittled my achievement. I didn't want the boy to dig deeper into this. I wasn't sure what Nutusi or the old lord would allow me to reveal.

He still kept looking at it, trying to decipher something. “How strange.” he stated, “The same patterns keep repeating themselves but do not make a single ideograms. Where does this come from?”

“I just told you, young lord. I came up with it.” I was a bit passive-aggressive here, I must admit my tone wasn't as polite as it should be.

The young lord didn't care about it but raised a suspicious eyebrow “You're trying to make fun of me? Where would a commoner find the time at six springs old to come up with a writing system? Are you trying to make a fool of me?” He was starting to get upset.

Just as I was feeling this was going to go south because I couldn't provide him the answers he wanted I was saved by the gong.

“What are you doing here, dear brother?” the third princess appeared at the entrance of the garden.

She was flanked by her bodyguard and followed by two sweaty and bruised Gelcaria and Melodi.

The prince didn't answer the greeting, he overlooked his sister and instead paid attention to my friends in her back.

His eyes were full of scorn when seeing Melodi and burned with indignation when he saw Gelcaria's amethysts eyes.

“Dear sister,” he finally acknowledged her existence, “what strange company you have here,” he said with disdain. “So it was true that you failed to find opponents at your level and had to rely on beasts and harlots?” he sounded amused. His guards snickered but were the only ones to.

The princess didn't frown, she had donned her “princess' mask” on but the girls behind her were throwing murderous gazes at him. I wanted to calm the both of them, I knew how dauntless they could be but this wasn't the right foe.

“Please brother. Do not joke so unpleasantly about my training partners,” the princess graciously replied. “Since when does the prince have time to come make fun of little girls?”

This was a subtle retort. Maybe a bit too subtle because the catgirl and the purple eyed girl looked at her as if betrayed. At least the prince got how he was made fun of. “You're right little sister. I shouldn't bother with such petty concerns but I heard disturbing rumours and was worried about you.” he falsely claimed.

The princess was still in full princess-mode and had the cutest smile ever, looking like the most beautiful and happy little sister one could wish to have. “Thank you kind brother. I will tell grandfather about your concern with the people he entrusts me to.” She presented the threat with a joyful tone, looking genuinely thankful.

This shook the prince a bit. Making fun of commoners or his younger sister was one thing. Facing his elder was another. It took him a second too long to look confident before replying “Dearest sister, you know how I am concerned about our family. My suspicions were only natural when one knows our grandfather's... peculiarities.” he finally blurted.

This made the princess happy, she looked like a patient hunter who caught her prey in her trap. “I'll also pass on to him your concerns about his judgements.” She kindly replied with a cruel glare of mischievousness.

The prince was caught now. He looked for a smart reply but found none that would help him out of the corner he was in. “Don't be like that little sister. I was just worried.” He uneasily replied, “It was nice meeting the people you spend so much time with, quite the company one might say.” He pointed at me and my friends with amusement. “And I was curious about how you finally learned to read. You've always been more brawns than brain.” he was making fun of her now, “What an exotic way of writing. I can't wait to recount that to elder sister and father.”

If this was his last card it didn't seem to work on the princess. “I've already told them about it but feel free to share any concern you could have with them. Father supported grandfather's decisions.”

This was the final blow for the prince. He decided it was time to retreat: “I will then. Until then I wish you to entertain yourself with your commoners.” He meant it as an insult but it was quite the petty one, why should we be blamed for our birth status? Without waiting for an answer he left under the angry glares of my friends. For a second I feared Melodi would hiss at him and create an incident but she was spent after the morning training and just conveyed her anger through stare and a slight snarl. I doubt this impressed either the prince or his guards but it was better than her leaping on him.

I waited for him and his suite to have left for a while before warning my friends not to try anything against him in retaliation. This was far above our league and we should just shoulder his puny attitude. The girls were unhappy with the idea but Balout and the princess supported it.

Princess Moatimu apologised for her brother. “He isn't that bad. I believe he genuinely cares about me but he can be quite over protective sometimes. In his defence, I must admit that you all are quite the unusual bunch to have around. Only our grandfather would bring commoners around here” she was pointing at us: “A baker's son, a Beastkin, an Akolaï touched one,” this made Gelcaria shudder with uneasiness, she disliked to be reduced to her eyes, “and a Shinpilo's blessed one.” She ended with me. “You must all understand that as members of the ruling family we were taught to be wary of Shinpilo's plots and how those aiming to hurt us from the shadows would pray for his help. Thus his concerns.”

It was a weak point to make but since she took the time to defend her brother he couldn't be that bad.

At least I hope so. A prince with a sister complex wasn't the kind of opponent any of us would want to face.