"Ask yourself this: why do you have to marry someone?"

Why do I... That's...

"B-Because my family... Because I-I... Because it would be... Difficult if I didn't marry anyone..."

Yes, because... That's the... Natural way right? It's how things are done. Every noble gets married. So why is he...

"SO THAT'S IT!?"

!!!

"YOU ARE GOING TO MARRY SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE IT WOULD BE TROUBLESOME NOT TO!?"

Wh-what?! N-No!! That's not--

"DON'T YOU THINK IT'S WORT---"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Just shut up!"

Shut up! You--! Why?! I-- I! I...

Damnit! Why am I crying!? Stop crying!! This is stupid!

*sob*

I can't... I don't... Just...! AAARGH!!!

"I'm going to sleep! Just leave me alone!"

I can't face him! This is so embarassing! Why am I crying!? His questions are stupid! Why did they upset me so much!?

I get under the sheets of my bed.

And what do you want?

That idiot! What's it to him? Why did he ask--!?

He left something on my desk.

Oh wow, your family would be so proud. That was a good noble answer.

!!! What's with that tone!? What's with that sarcasm!? What does he want from me!?

He picked up his clothes.

Noble Nightingale, go away. I want to talk to Nora.

There's no 2 different persons! I am me! There's no Noble Nightingale and Nora! I am Nora Nightingale!

He left the room.

What do you really want?

What's with that question!?

*sob*

Are you going to marry Vanadis just because your family is telling you to marry someone?

NO!! It's not about what they are telling me to do!! It's about...

Or do you want to become queen?

I don't care about that! I just...

You are just choosing an option someone gave you.

N-No! I am not...!

You need to make your own options.

What the hell is he saying!?

Why do you have to marry someone?

Because it's the natural way...

What do you really want?

...

......

.......... I don't know...........

As soon I realize that, my eyes burst into tears. I can't control my sobbing.

My life was always an easy and peaceful one. I never had to think about my future or make any complicated decisions. I just lived my life day by day... That's why this question... Bothers me so much...

*sob*

I don't know what I want. I don't like the idea of living the rest of my life like until now. But at the same time... I don't know what I want...

I spent 2 or 3 hours crying until I finally fell asleep.

-----

I'm dreaming again.

I see a green mage in his 50s is talking to Al mother inside a luxurious living room. They are both sitting on a couch with books on their hands and cakes on a table in front of them.

"The boy finally cheered up. He started to play pranks on his brothers like he used to."

"Indeed."

"He still doesn't talk to you?"

"Sadly my husband, he does not. However with time he will realize that what I did was necessary. We have to enforce our authority and not tolerate any kind of defiance."

"And you did well dear. He has to learn that we are not like them. Even more so considering what our country is expecting of him."

"Indeed... But aren't we expecting too much from him? Crirone is a big continent. Even if he's a white mage, can he really lead a campaign against all the other 3 countries at the same time? Deaestein will not be an easy country to conquer."

"He will manage. He is a bright boy and already knows more than a 10 year old mage. Who knows what he will be capable of when he turns 14? Besides, it's not like our country isn't a power to be reckoned with."

"Yes..."

They spend some time in silence reading.

"AL!!!!!!!!"

A female yelling voice can be heard from outside.

"I swear, as soon as I catch you, I will make you regret the day you were born!"

The green mage gets up and goes to the corridor to see what the fuss is about. He sees a young blonde girl at least 14 years old looking for something, or rather, someone.

"Ann? What's the matter?"

"Father! Al pranked us again!"

"*sigh* What did he do?"

"He put snails on my bed!"

Another blonde boy, at least 12 years old, appears.

"Did you find him?"

"No!"

"Damn that brat!"

"And what did he do to you Oliver?"

"He switched my lantern Light Crystal for a Cold Crystal! Yesterday when I went to the bathroom at night, I picked up my lantern and when I poured mana, it freezed my hand!"

The green mage has a smile on his face as he hears his sons stories.

"C'mon Oliver, he is probably in the garden."

"Yeah!"

Both of them run off.

The green mage comes back to where he was before.

"Our youngest son is doing one of his again?"

"And he probably will get away again hehehe."

Both of them laugh.

"Speaking of which, when are the princesses coming to our mansion?"

"Next week I believe. Hopefully Al will like them."

"The royal family are just like animals, aren't they?"

"What do you mean my husband?"

"Remember when Alddan was born, the royal family didn't loose any time and forced the King's daughter Juliet, 12 years old at the time, have children?"

"Yeah, I remember..."

"Poor girl. Officially they say the father of her daughters is Duke Demavend eldest son, you know, that good for nothing who ruined one of your parties?"

"Yeah, I remember him. Arin was it?"

"Yeah. They should have married her with Demavend second son *sigh*. Anyway, I think that story is bullshit."

"What do you mean?"

"Arin is a green mage just like me. No way they would miss this chance to improve the probability of having higher ranked children. Think about it, even though they want our son to be integrated into their family, don't you think they want to marry him to the highest ranked daughter they have? To improve the chances of Alddan children being red mages or orange mages? Why would they make Juliet having children with a lower ranked mage when she was a orange mage herself?"

"Where are you getting at...?"

"There was two better choices than Arin, and I think they took one of them... The king is an orange mage and one of the Juliet brothers is a yellow mage... One of them is the real father of Juliet's children. Probably the king."

"..."

"Good thing the girl died after the second pregnancy. Otherwise, she would have been a baby factory just for our son."

"I never thought about it... You might be right... It makes sense..."

"The royal family will never be the same again. Since I am blood related with them, they managed to grasp some straws to make our son the next in line. As soon the king dies, he will be crowned. He will marry one of the Juliet daughters but that's just for appearences. He will have to make children with both of them until they have a red mage... And God knows what will happen next..."

"All of this for the war effort... We are really going to war aren't we?"

"As soon Alddan is crowned king, blood will be shed."

...

"I think that our fam▅▅▇▇▅▆▅▅▆▇▇▆▅▅▆▇▇▇"

What the?

"▅▅▇▇▅▆▅▅▆▇▇▆▅▅▆▇▇▇"

They are still talking but I can't understand what they are saying.

"▅▅▇▇▇▇▅▆▅▅▇▇▇▇▆▇▇▆▅▅▆▇▇▇"

The dream becomes even more confusing, the room disappears and the 2 mages also vanish. I only see strange forms moving. This is becoming creepy. Just like a nightmare. I can't recognize any shape. These colors are hurting my eyes.

After a while, I can see one humanoid shape crawling on the ground looking upwards to another humanoid shape standing. That humanoid standing is pointing a long shape to the other. The crawling shape screams something:

"▅▅▇▅▅▇▆▅▅▆▇▇▇!?!?!"

The other one replies:

"▅▇▅▅▇▆▅▅▆▇ters!!"

-----

I wake up.

What was that...?

I look at my left side. I can see light on the window curtains. It's morning.

I get up to sit. Al must be still sleeping in his bed. No... Wait...

"Al?"

He doesn't answer. Don't tell me...

I quickly get up from the bed and check behind the curtain that separates our beds. He's not there.

...

"That idiot! Did he really slept outside!? I was upset but he didn't need to do that! Idiot! Why didn't he come back!?"

I quickly start dressing my uniform. As soon I am finished I will order him to come.

I can sense where he is. He seems to be in the greenhouses. Did he sleep there?

While changing, I notice a note close to my book. It says "I'm sorry".

...

"... Idiot..."

...

Now that I am changed, I'll order him to come back.

"Al, come back."

I think that worked. It's a little unconventional how I have no way of knowing if the order got through in the moment.

Soon after, I can sense him moving. He is coming.

I need to apologize to him. Even if his questions were difficult and I didn't want to answer them... And I still don't... He ended up sleeping outside. Maybe his questions where out of line, but I think he was thinking about me when he asked them.

...

After a while, Al enters the room. He stands close to the closed door and looks at me with an expressionless face.

"Al... I'm sorry. Yesterday I shouldn't have freaked out like I did."

He doesn't respond and just keeps looking at me. Oh... That's right.

"Oh, I forgot, I told you to shut up. Sorry again, you can speak now."

He keeps looking at me without responding. What's up with him?

"So... You don't have anything to say?"

Still looking at me. What the hell?

"Ok fine! Don't answer if you don't want to!"

He facepalms and searches for something. Finally he finds the note from yesterday and writes something on it. Then he puts it back where it was.

I pick it up and read it - "I was given 2 orders"

2 orders? I told him to shut up... What else...?

...

After a while, I remembered that I told him to leave me alone. That's why he can't talk to me or bother me.

"Oh! That's right! You can talk to me now!"

"That took you some time."

"..."

Really? That's the first thing you have to say?

He closes his eyes for a moment, and then says something.

"Sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry. I was out of the line yesterday and I shouldn't have asked those questions or raised my voice."

"It's fine. I'm sure you were just thinking about me. You also didn't need to sleep outside! Why didn't you come back?"

"You needed time to calm down and think about things. You couldn't do that with me here."

I look down.

We stay in silent for a while.

Finally I look at him and raise my hand towards him.

"We're cool?"

He becomes surprised by my gesture. But then he smiles and grabs my hand. We shake hands.

"We're cool."

*******