I'm lying on the grass somewhere far away from any building. With my left hand behind my head, I'm watching the stars.

I raise my right hand to the sky. I close and open it several times. Then I look at the palm.

"I will never get over it, will I?"

Dark and depressing thoughts refuse to leave my mind. For the most part, I manage to "forget" those memories. But there are a few nights when they come back to the surface.

I let my arm fall down.

"God or whatever you are, if you exist, I just want to let you know you are a mother fucking sadist."

A moment passes.

"What's your point? Do you even have one? What are you trying to prove? Am I just entertainment for you? Is it really that fun for you to fuck me over again and again? What's next? Can I even take a step without you torturing me?"

Funny, I don't believe in gods, but in these moments I forget that fact.

"What's the big idea? You want me to fail!? Then just fuckin kill me and be done with it!! Or do you love to torment me? Then congratulations! You've done a wonderful job so far!!!"

I almost yelled. I take a deep breath. And then another after a while.

"What the hell am I doing...? Cursing someone that doesn't even exist. Pathetic."

...

I calmed down. I raise my torso so I can sit.

"What's in the past is in the past. There's nothing I can do about it."

I cross my arms. I have to distract myself.

"So, the tournament is going to take place in two days. I'm assuming the fights are not to the death. Musclehead is going to try to kill me for whatever reason. I am going to be limited, but how limited?"

Nora gave me a quick explanation earlier today:

- We can only use Inner Magic and Personal Magic. Area and World Magic are forbidden;

- We can strike any part of the body of the opponent, except the head;

- The winner is determined when there is a "fatal" injury (like piercing the heart), when one of the sides passes out due to lack of mana or when one gives up.

I guess my limitation will be along the line of how much mana I can use. Probably between 20,000 and 30,000. Which puts me in a very precarious situation against some Servants, especially Musclehead. He has something like 40,000 mana.

"Whatever happens, if it comes down to it I will kill him."

Musclehead himself said that he would try to kill me and at the same time make it look like an accident. I guess the repercussions of ignoring the rules are bad. I'll try to play by the rules, but I will choose my life over the rules obviously.

...

.....

It's getting late. They are probably done with their little party.

I get up and walk towards our room.

...

I open the door and sure enough, with the lights still on, the princess is sleeping on her bed still dressed in her uniform, and Karli and the slut are sleeping on my bed. I look around and I see the bottle. They drank half of it.

"*sigh* What a bother..."

Glad they enjoyed their little party, but these two can't stay here. I pick up Karli and her bag with my arms and carry her to her room.

Luckily there's no one around to see us. We reach the room.

I put down her legs and hold her with my left arm. Somehow I manage to retrieve the key from her bag. I pick her up again when I opened the door.

Her room is just like mine. I walk in the direction of one of the beds, kind of hoping the bed was hers.

When I lay her on her bed, she quickly puts her arms around my neck and pulls herself towards me, kissing me.

"Hmph!?"

She caught me by surprise. I immediately push her away. Taking 2 steps back, I watch her as she clumsily sits on her bed.

"What's wrong Al? Am I not good *hic* enough for you?"

She opens her legs, clearly "inviting" me. She is drunk as hell.

I mutter to myself - "Just my luck, another slu...t..." - I look at her - "... slut..."

A thought crossed my mind. What if...

I aggressively walk towards her, grab her shoulders and force her down. I am on top of her.

For a moment, she had a surprised face, but in the next she was happy.

"Oh Al~! I never thought you *hic* were that way~!"

"Why me?" - I kiss her neck.

"Hmm! Because I like you."

I put my right hand on her breast and close my mouth to her ear, whispering - "We're both adults, tell me the real reason."

"Haa~! It's because I lik-" - I gently squeeze her breast and kiss her neck again - "Humph~ because of your power! Of your rank color!"

"You want to have a baby?" - I press my groin against hers.

"Hmm! Yes! I want to have your baby!" - She wraps her arms and legs around me.

I knew it. What about the slut?

"What about your Servant? Why did she try to have sex with me?" - I start undressing her blouse.

"Haa~. I told her to *hic*. If she did it with you, later I could take the semen from her and put it on me. It doesn't matter now hum~."

Maybe I misjudged the slut...

"And what was your big idea with the wine party?" - I put my hand under her bra, caressing her breast directly.

"I wanted~ Humph~~, I wanted to make you drunk like me haha. And then do it."

"I see, sorry for not noticing it."

"Don't worry, we are going to do it now~."

I raise up so I can separate myself from her. She thinks I did it so I could undress my clothes but...

"Go to sleep."

"Wha-? Guh!"- I hit the side of her neck. She falls unconscious immediately.

*sigh*

I get up from the bed and try to cool myself. I'm kind of amazed that worked.

"I didn't miss these schemes one bit..."

I rub my face.

Now the slut...

...

I brought her to the other bed. Fortunately, she really passed out so she didn't have any surprises like her Master. I return to my room after that.

Nora is on her bed. Just like the others I will not cover her with sheets. That will teach her a lesson.

I change myself and go to sleep.

...

.....

........

It's morning. It's later than the usual time we wake up. That's because I decided to let her sleep for a little while. Aren't I merciful?

I get close to her. She's still sleeping..

"Wake up."

"Hummmph..."

"Wake up drunken princess."

"Al... Shut up... You're too loud... Argh, my head..."

Obviously, even if unintentional, she gave me an order and I can't talk.

I poke her shoulders and shake her.

"Stop it~..."

And I can't touch her... The hard way it is then.

I extract some positive mana and direct it towards the bathroom.

"Al... What are you doing...? Guh..."

I use a bit to create Physical Magic to open the faucet. Then the rest to control the water. I gather enough water that could fill a bucket. Then I bring the water to my side in the form of a sphere.

"Uh...?" - She tries to look in my direction.

I launch the ball of water against her face.

"KYYAAAA!"

She abruptly gets up. On her knees still on her bed, she looks at me with angry eyes and wet hair.

"AL! What the hell!?!?"

This scene is funny for someone like me. So she naturally sees me with a smile, pissing her off even more.

"Grrhmph! TAKE THAT!"

She uses magic to raise something behind me. I look behind and see some of her books flying. She launches them against me and I easily evade them.

She tries again and levitates even more books, but this time I use negative mana to negate her mana.

I look behind in her direction with a grin, but then...

"Hyaaa!"

She throws with her arm one of the books I evaded earlier to my face, making me lose my balance for a second. She immediately takes the chance to knee me in the belly and pushes me to the ground. Where did she get that strength!?

She also fell. Layed on the floor, she is on top of me holding my arms to the floor. Saying that I am surprised isn't enough to describe how surprised I am.

"And let that serve as a lesson. Forget my previous orders."

"... Well played. Inner Magic?"

"Yes. I know a little. I can only use strengthening."

That explains it. But still, it's embarrassing for me to fall so easily. At least it's a good reminder that I shouldn't underestimate anyone.

Drops of water are falling from her hair.

"So... How much longer are you planning to stay like this? Your hair is kinda wetting me."

"Hmph! It's your fault!"

"Ok then. Stay like that. I like a good strong woman. And this position isn't that bad."

"Youuu...! Youu...!" - Her face is red like a tomato.

"And it also looks like I made your hangover go away. Aren't I a nice Servant?"

"You're. So. Dead...!"

...

The rest of the morning passed with a case of a Servant being abused...

...

.....

........

We ate the lunch alone, her friends didn't appear. After that, we were planning to spend the afternoon training on the campus, but a maid of the prince staff, not the same I saw yesterday doing the "service", appears in front of us as soon we left the cafeteria.

"His highness has requested your presence, please, if you would follow me."

We follow her to the front of the academy. There, we see a 2-horse luxurious carriage and the royal bastard inside. He has an annoyed/bored face.

"C'mon, get inside. We are going to the capital."

"So soon?"

"The guys back in the palace want to meet your Servant. What a bother..."

Nora walks inside, I follow her.

"It's one of those parties?"

"The old hag wants us to attend it. You both might get lucky and run away from the party with an excuse like "Oh no! We have to prepare for tomorrow! Please excuse us!" meanwhile I have to spend hours shaking hands and smile. What a fucking waste of time."

The carriage starts moving. His staff of 4 maids follows us in another carriage. His knights are around us on their horses.

He spends the whole travel cursing his luck and complain about the party. Which was a pain because it took at least one hour to finally see the city.

It's bigger than I remember. They made a new layer. There are 2 walls. One is in the interior and is the one I remember. Inside it are the old buildings and the royal palace is in the center. The new one is taller and engulfs all the buildings outside of the old wall.

"You seem awfully interested in the scenery."

The royal bastard notices me watching the city.

"It's a huge city."

"It is."

Nora is also looking at me.

...

After a while, we reach the gates.

"Let's not call unnecessary attention. Close the curtains. Your debut is tomorrow."

I close the curtains on the left side while Nora closes on the right side.

We pass through the city and then finally reach the front gates of the palace. I open the curtain.

The three-story palace is in the middle of a small island. Around it there are extravagant gardens, fountains and statues.

The river around the palace is artificial and it was created for 2 reasons: for aesthetic purposes and in case of an attack they can easily use the water to create a wall of ice.

The luxurious gate is outside that island. Behind it there is a bridge.

"His highness has arrived, open the gate!" - A knight yells.

The gate opens and the carriage advances. We pass the bridge and the gardens, then finally we reach the front of the palace.

The royal bastard opens the door and exits. - "I hate long trips." - He says that as he stretches.

Long trip? This guy doesn't know what a long trip is.

Nora exits right behind him and I follow her.

A few moments later, an orange mage woman in her 50's with an expensive looking red outfit and a crown on her head exits the palace and walks in our direction, accompanied by 2 maids, 1 odd looking mage (which I assume must be a Servant) and some mages.

"Welcome home my son."

"Hi mother. I brought them as you asked."

"So I see. Welcome Nora, you have grown into a fine young lady."

"Thanks your majesty." - Nora replies as she bowed.

"And you are her Servant correct?"

"..."

"Answer your Queen, Servant!" - A green mage behind her yells.

"*gentle laugh* Let it be Cornilleus. There's no need to be hostile."

She gets closer to me.

"Let's introduce ourselves. I am Aldorah VII. You?"

"... I believe it's Alddan."

"Nice to meet you in person Alddan." - She removes the glove from her right hand and raises it - "Would you be courteous enough to kiss the hand of a lady?"

I look at her hand.

I got the message. She wants to show the other nobles that I respect her as my queen. If it's either to avoid future problems with me, or to show her power, that's another story...

I gently grab her hand and kiss it.

"What a gentleman." - She smiles - "Let's go inside and have some tea." - She looks at Nora - "I already heard about your dreams, but I want to hear it again from you directly."

"Yes your majesty."

"Don't be so formal with me dear, you know me better than that. Obviously I also want to chat. I want to know what you have been doing."

"... Ok, Aunt Dora."

"See? That's better. Let's go."

The queen turns her back and walks towards the palace. The people that were behind her make way and we follow.

I look around me. How can this beautiful place, that almost looks like a paradise, have so many dark secrets?

*********

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Next chapter coming up tomorrow or saturday :3