“My big sister is the eldest so she’s the one my father actually cares about. Her and my two little brothers. Everyone else, he’ll get really angry about it, but he won’t stop you from doing what you want. Since most of us are girls, even from his mistresses, we’ll probably be used for political marriages. I’ve been engaged to my fiancé for four years now. Eventually, I’ll get married. I’m not in a rush to please anyone though. Megan, yes we have similar names, it’s annoying, just had a child. A sweet little baby boy named Sean. Father hopes he will be the next head of the household instead of you, Alister… Not that I support that sort of thing. Or Felth. I think Father is a little too obsessive over it. It goes Megan, me, Rachel, Xantia, Trinity, Felthinus iv, Belgi, and Holly. Everyone’s a girl besides little Felth and Belgi. But Belgi’s from a mistress. Father wants boys. Megan is nineteen, two years older than me, and her husband Darren is twenty-two. They’re cute. I don’t like Darren very much but he’s not a bad guy. I’m happy I didn’t have to get married to him though. He’s definitely not my type.”

“Morgan!” Blas said, exasperated, “Would you breathe between your sentences? I get that you want to tell the kids your life story but we’re already at the manor.”

“Oh! That was fast!”

“…You spoke nonstop for thirty minutes,” he sighed, “Alister this house is only a little larger than ours. Morgan, could you show the kids around? I have a lot to handle for the afternoon and evening. I’ll be lucky if I can eat dinner with the family at this rate.”

“I thought we were making good time, love?” Alliana commented.

“We are, but I’ve got a sinking suspicion the instant I’m in the office here, I’ll be bombarded with papers until the moment I leave. The duchy’s capital will be far worse, though.”

Alliana looked to Alister and Wisteria as the carriage opened, “If you two want to wander about the city you must only do so with Morgan or one of us. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Lady Alliana.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Don’t worry. I am far more mature than my appearance may suggest. I’ll keep the two of them safe. We will have his guards, their magic - whatever they may know, and my skills,” Morgan said, giving Alliana a reverent bow after she stepped down out of the vehicle. The manor was a wider building than it was tall, the siding made entirely of the wood of old ships painted grey. The accents along the windows and door were gilded with gold, painted a clay red beneath it that matched the tiled roof.

Alister stared at the house as people moved around him, servants settling in, bustling to get ready for the night. For a moment, the wonder gave way to sadness again. His friends would have loved to see this.

He looked at Wisteria and gave her a small smile that didn’t touch his eyes. Somehow he had to make friends again. More than just Wisteria. Existing as a noble without friends would be painful in this new world. At least he had her so far. She had to work so hard to keep at him and force him to treat her as a friend, though. He wasn’t being fair to her. Alister sighed, moving to her side.

Morgan walked up behind the two of them and placed a hand on his head, “So are you two betrothed or something?”

“What!? Ew no!” Alister shouted.

Wisteria blushed and coughed awkwardly into her hand, “Ah… no. I don’t think of Alister that way either.”

“I am both too young and too old for her. Don’t tease me like that. I hear enough about it from the guards and the servants,” he huffed, arms folding, “I do not intend to seek out any sort of romance.”

“Ever?” Morgan asked.

“Not until I am an adult. At least. I enjoy Wisteria’s company as a friend. Nothing more nothing less,” he said and Wisteria vigorously nodded in agreement.

Morgan held her hands up, “Okay okay. I got it. No googly eyes for you two.” She dropped her hands to her hips and swapped topics suddenly, “What level are you two? Do you have your thing yet?”

“My… thing? Yes, I have my system. So does she. She’s level ten. I’ve only managed to get to level three so far, much to my chagrin.”

“What did you choose for your class, Wisteria?”

Wisteria shook her head, “Nothing. I’m waiting for Alister.”

Morgan pursed her lips, “Oh lord that’s too cute. Okay. What do you two think of taking a surprise trip and your cool cousin getting Alister some more levels? Just gotta promise not to tell your parents.”

Alister had no hesitation, “Absolutely. Let’s go.”

Wisteria gave a nervous glance to Alliana, who was giving instructions to some servants, “What about his guards…?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, waving her off, “It’s not a big deal to slip them.”

“Oh, you’re a terrible influence. I’m going to get along with you just fine,” he laughed.

“Alright follow me,” she said. Morgan shoved her hands in her pockets and wandered into the manor. She walked through the dark wood interior and into a spare room on the right-hand side. As soon as they were in she closed the door before the guards could come in. “Open the window,” she whispered, “then hide in the wardrobe. Give it a couple of minutes, they’ll come in, and leave thinking we snuck outside.”

True to her words, something she had done dozens of times herself, the guards came in and cursed and left to search for them. Alister knew he’d be in trouble later, but he was still pissed off at his parents for that earlier argument. They could do with a little fright. Wisteria was less certain about the whole endeavor but followed along without arguing it. She wanted him to level up too, and his parents were too cautious about it.

With the guards looking outside in one direction, the three of them snuck out the other side and hopped the wall surrounding the manor with Morgan’s help.

Alister had a mischievous grin as they jogged away from the house and ducked between two nearby noble buildings into an alley. He looked positively alive, “I haven’t gotten to do anything like this in so long.”

“Your past life, I’m guessing?” Morgan asked, peeking her head around the wall, “We’re all good, but walk quickly. You two stand out more than I do.”

“Yeah, past life. It was a very long time ago, though.”

“How many years?”

“It was before the fall… I’ve guesstimated around five thousand.”

“What? Seriously? Damn… You’re like from the end of the stone age. You know that, right? Or- or like the copper or maybe even the early bronze age.”

Alister’s cheeks reddened, “Yes… I am aware that my past life is archaic by today’s standards.”

“Honestly I’m amazed you even speak our language! Even if you had the same base language, with that much time, it’d be totally and completely different by now. Maybe it was because of the eight years you didn’t have your memories you learned the modern language of the land?” Morgan pondered, mostly to herself, “That’s wild… Did you even use metal then?”

That garnered a huff from him, “Yes we used metal! I was a mage, after all. Alchemy was a perfectly suitable way to form basic metals. We did not mine for things, usually, however… There is a lot that’s different. A city this large would have been nigh unimaginable. I can’t even consider the capital. That city must be insanity.”