Jeff was his house wearing his white and blue student robes on a cool day with Andrew and Annie. He had come home early today and had gotten the mail from the porch, which looked to be from the government.

"Hey, am I the only one here getting mail? Why is it only my stuff that gets left outside?" Jeff asked as he strode in through the front door.

"I get my shit, you need to get your own shit as well." Andrew shot back.

Jeff pulled back as the wild-haired redhead stalked past and made his way to his room next to the kitchen, which was on the right of Jeff as he was coming in. A cute brown-haired woman came out of Andrews' room in a mussed peasant dress and wished everyone a good day as she skipped happily out of the door.

"What's up with him?" Jeff asked Annie as he moved to let the newcomer leave.

"It's the trials, and having to ask a crafter for help, I suspect," Annie replied sweetly, the woman with red hair so dark it was almost black had a simple white blouse and brown pants on as she leaned forward to give Jeff a kiss, once the curtains were all let down of course. She fussed with his black hair as they talked.

"So what? Ryan got the same as him, arguably worse, but he's been just fine with it. Better even, if his recent light and happy attitude is anything to go by." Jeff said with only a small amount of interest. His focus was mostly on the light cut of Annie's blouse and the curves and various moles about her form.

Annie pulled his chin up and looked him in the eyes as she motioned for him to sit at the living room table opposite the kitchen.

"I'm no mind reader, but my woman's intuition says it's their views of themselves as scions." She said as they sat down.

"Oh, so womanly intuition covers magical affairs? Not just relationships?" Jeff said skeptically.

"It's a magical power all its own, now" She swatted his knee " Let me finish".

"Andrew is always in an environment where everyone is always telling how wonderful he is and how marvelous his future greatness will be. And for the first time you, me, your father can't always be there to bring him down to ground level. So those compliments have gradually, without even noticing, gotten under his skin and made his identity as a scion more important to him.

Ryan has always had being a scion as a core component of his very being. And I think since getting here he has started to push himself towards the more... heroic aspirations that others have ascribed towards him." Annie said.

"So Ryan started believing his own bull shit while Andrews just finding out how much being a scion is actually important to him," Jeff said after a moment of thought.

"Ryan started trying to be the better person they think he is, yes. Ryan has always known what he is while Andrew's kind of finding himself all over again. I think wanting his own personal fire hammer may also be a part of it for Ryan." Annie agreed.

They chatted for a little while longer until Andrew came in.

"What's this about going over to Ryan's house?" Andrew said as he drank some fruity drink in a bottle, specially made and delivered from the dorms kitchens reserved solely for the meals of scions.

Jeff raised an eyebrow to Annie at this.

"When I told them about Eli making the scions all custom items, the headmaster and Agatha said that the scions should do it together. You know, make it a group project to increase your bonds." Annie said.

"Why? It seems Ryan can do anything he wants without getting all friendly with us. He's the only reason Eli is making the items for us." Andrew said sullenly.

Jeff and Annie both looked at Andrew with surprise clear across their faces.

"Oh, you don't know? Well, you were right about Eli, Jeff. We asked him what he wanted to be paid in return for the items and instead of some long-winded spiel about just being glad to help us, he said he wanted help getting the parents off his back. Which Ryan gladly offered his services to do." Andrew said.

"What I don't get is how he can get that kind of pull with people just from being a scion. We couldn't get involved and shut down a noble houses intentions like that, let alone multiple ones." Andrew asked the table, more pointedly towards Annie.

Annie gave a deep sigh and looked at both of the men in turn.

"Ever since you boys first started out you always disdained working with the... let's call them fellow political players. That was always something I liked about you guys. But there is a price to that. By not participating in those kinds of games you have influence that is far more limited than someone like Ryan." Annie said.

"What? So we should have just hung around those soulless parasites?" Andrew demanded.

"No, I wouldn't change a thing about you boys, aside from your dress habits," Annie said as she took in the sloppy white shirt and brown pants Andrew had on and Jeff's lack of concern over his robes dirty foot area.

"I'm just saying that everything comes with a price. You guys avoided a lot of the backstabbing, petty intrigue, and shady deals of the court. But while Ryan has to deal with those things here, he also gets to do things you guys can't through his connections. Not better or worse, just advantages and disadvantages." Annie finished.

The boys both took a moment of reflection at this and then went back to their respective rooms.

Jeff went up the stairs and into his room. It had a wooden bed of dark oak bed to the right and a nightstand to its left. The main source of light being the big window opposite the entrance door.

He looked down at his mail and saw one was a letter of confirmation for the women he got with child at the academy. As he went to open it, he heard some footsteps coming up behind him.

"So how have the classes been going?" Annie said as she went to look out the window, taking in the view of the academy grounds and central tower.

"Good I just-" Jeff stopped as he went over the letter.

There were several names in the letter that he sort of recognized as they were similar to some of the local names but with slight changes and others he had no recollection of. These were all in the column saying he had gotten them with child. Which wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact he hadn't been with any other woman aside from Annie. He looked up and saw Annie looking at him with a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

"Oh is that the confirmation letter? Those were supposed to be going out later today. Here, your times too valuable to waste filling out-" She moved her hand to try and snatch the letter out of Jeff's hands but he backed off and put it behind his back.

"Annie. Are you-" Jeff got closer and whispered to her

"Are you skimming money from the breeding stipend?" He asked faintly.

"Don't be ridiculous, what would I even spend that money on here? It's all going back into the main fund. It just takes a few turns along the way." She huffed, seemingly genuinely offended as she tried to reach around Jeff's back to get the letter.

As they wrestled Jeff thought about how she had handled the new paperwork saying how many women he had gotten with child, how the Front counselors never heckled him over his lack of baby-making, or how the women here never bothered him for a romp after their first attempt to seduce him.

The answer to all of this actually made him smile, both on his face and in his heart.

"And just what are you so happy about?" Annie asked sullenly, sounding much more like a teen than an early 30's woman as she tried to pry the letter out of his hands.

Jeff let go of the letter but then shot her a cocky grin.

"Annie, if you don't want me to fulfill my 'duties' you could have just said so. But does this by chance have anything to do with you forcing me to taste your womanhood since we got here?" Jeff asked cloyingly

Annie pouted at this and crossed her arms.

"No, why would it? It's not like I had a problem when that little slut put her lips on you." She said bitterly.

Jeff wondered what she was talking about at first but then he remembered back to that first day when he got here that he had immediately put out of his mind. A blond student with pigtails came out and introduced herself to him by kissing him on the lips. A kiss that Annie was right beside him to see. Come to think of it she hadn't bothered approaching him again, even going as far as leaving the canteen whenever he went to eat.

"Making those skanks taste me whenever they tried to use their whoreish charms on you never crossed my mind," Annie said, turning towards the window.

Jeff's heart wriggled with happiness as he dropped the windows curtains. Then he took Annie's hands and pinned her to the bed as he kissed her.

"You naughty wench, keeping me from my sacred duty. You will have to be punished." He said in mock anger as she cooed in joy under him.

Then a darker thought interrupted his playtime as he considered what would have happened if the review had gone through. They would have certainly found that these women didn't exist. That Annie slipped up preparing the oil lamps now seemed like too big of a coincidence.

"Annie. That record room fire. Did you do that on purpose?" His voice now betraying a very real anger.

"I...uh," She said, clearly knowing that she had been caught.

"You almost died. Do you know how many nights I spent just laying there worried sick about all the ways you could have died and all of the diseases that could have still killed you as you recovered?" Jeff growled as he got up, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

Annie got up and fidgeted with her hands nervously as she looked at Jeff's feet.

"I...I'm sorry" Was all she could think to say.

"Never again. Anything involving the two of us we work on together. All right?" Jeff said as he put a hand under her chin and forced her to look in his eyes. She also teared up and nodded in agreement as they hugged.