William lay with his head leaning on the beige couch in the reception room of Cale's apartment, while to his right Philippa and Ben were chatting. Aletta, on the other hand, had moved to the bench by the room's window and was browsing one of Cale's thousands of books, which had caught her interest. A thousand was actually no understatement. Everywhere they looked were shelves full of books. In the entry room, all the walls were filled to the ceiling with them, the study to William's left looked similar, and when he caught a quick glimpse up the spiral staircase into Cale's bedroom, there were also nothing but books. You couldn't see the walls of half the apartment. The kitchen, on the other hand, almost looked empty and sterile, a modern cook top and a large table adorned the room, but what surprised William was the shelf with quite a few varieties of tea from around the world. Aletta had almost cried when she found her favorite tea from her homeland. Mirroring Cale's study, a spiral staircase in the kitchen also led to the second floor, where mages had set up four large beds and filled the room with rugs, curtains, and other decorations. A hallway on the second floor connected Cale's room to the guest room, separated by the large bathroom and Cale's even larger dressing room. The whole ambience, the neatly and nobly designed apartment, reminded William strongly of the palace, but equally so not at all.

When the front door opened, all eyes were immediately on the magician, who just entered.

"Cale!", the four guests spoke up at the same time.

"You're all still awake", Cale countered in surprise, although he had long since sensed that they were in the entryway. It was two in the morning by now and none of the four could sleep. They were a little uncomfortable going to bed without the owner in the house. "Were you guys waiting for me?"

"Something like that", Philippa confessed as he closed the door behind him. He then began to undo his tight uniform and combed his hair back with his fingers before tying his usual ponytail.

"It must be weird to spend the night in the Magistrat, right? You get used to it, believe me. How are you guys doing? Were you out on the town today?", asked Cale politely, before sprawling out on the couch as well. Philippa and Ben took turns telling about what they did today, but William completely blanked out the conversation and kept his gaze glued on the exhausted-looking mage.

After dinner, Cale had left directly to meet the 1st Magistrat's seat, apparently having to report to him whenever he was in town. Until now. Cale's apartment, his clothes, and the fact that he was allowed to have spontaneous conversations for hours with such a high-ranking person made William realize all at once who was sitting in front of him.

Caleb Leuen, the 12th High-Magician of Altona.

Until that moment, he had not realized the significance of his friend's position. The reaction of the other High-Magicians in the building, however, were only a small indication of what high rank Cale actually held. Yet he had never been arrogant or rude to them, but very loving and respectful. William had treated him all along like a good friend of the same age, but all at once, Cale seemed much older and more mature than the whole group put together. The responsibilities and worries that Cale must have, William could not even imagine. Compared to Cale, William felt tiny.

After the two Anuxers told them about their day, they talked for a few minutes before Cale wished them a good night and went upstairs to shower and get to bed. Following his lead, the others also left after a few minutes and crawled into bed, but William couldn't sleep at all. He listened to the sounds coming from the next room as he could hear his friends slowly falling asleep one by one. When Cale exited the bathroom, he disappeared into the dressing room for a brief moment before going to his room afterwards.

William rolled once in bed and tried to sleep, to no avail. He lay awake for nearly half an hour before giving up, quietly getting out of bed and opening the door in the intermediate hallway. It was pitch black, but dim, warm light came from Cale's room. Hesitantly, William closed the door behind him and walked to Cale's door. For a moment he stopped in front of it, as if he didn't know how to open it, but Cale had long since noticed him.

"Come in", he said, which made William flinch in surprise. Slowly he opened the door and discovered Cale. He was lying upright in his huge, low-lying bed, holding a blue folder in one hand as he looked toward William. "Can't sleep?"

William nodded in agreement and closed the door behind him. Cale tapped the vacant spot beside him to indicate that William could lie down with him. Silently, the swordsman followed his instruction as he glanced around the room. Just like on the first floor, the walls were full of books, but in between a few plants climbed up to the ceiling towards the window. When he had caught a glimpse of the room earlier, he couldn't see very much, as a long shelf blocked the view from the stairs to the bed.

"Are you still working?", asked William curiously as he lay down on a pillow next to Cale and looked with interest at the documents in his hand.

"You could say that. I'm reading up what happened in the Magistrat during the two years I was away", Cale explained, silent for a brief moment as he turned the page and then looked down at William. "According to the documents, quite a few guests are in the house. King Leonhardt of Sylve, Julius Venlan and Crown Prince Edward, as well as Chief Heriog and Chief Merensen. They will all be attending tomorrow's meeting."

"I see", he admitted quietly, nervously disengaging his gaze from the documents. It was as Cale had suspected. Many world-famous personalities were guests at the Magistrat and his father, of all people, was one of them.

"I'm afraid I can't take you with me, but there is a banquet planned for all the guests this weekend. If you would like, you are welcome to attend."

"Did you tell anyone we were here?" inquired William in surprise.

"No, I kept quiet. However, I think Aletta would like to talk to her father, which is why I offer this in the first place. I just wasn't sure about you", Cale explained in a relaxed manner, while William remained silent. He was grateful that Cale kept his presence a secret, even from his mage friends, because he wasn't sure he even wanted to see his family. "You don't want to see him, do you? Your father, I mean."

"Not really. Do you think it's disrespectful?"

"Not at all. It's your choice, so do what you want. I just thought it might be a good opportunity to talk to Crown Prince Edward. Didn't you think you would miss him?"

"Yes, I do", William confessed, turning his back on the bed, so he could look up at the ceiling. "I don't know if it's worth the trouble. If I want to talk to Ed, father will inevitably find out I'm in the Magistrat. I wouldn't even know what to say if he approached me."

"Would you like some advice from me?", spoke up Cale, slapping the notebook together, while William nodded in agreement. "I would. Grab Edward and go somewhere where you two can talk in peace. Away from your father and away from all the people who might bother you. The longer you drag this out, the worse the situation will get, and I think you realize that."

"I kind of am, yes", William conceded defeat. "I'll think about it and let Aletta know tomorrow. What about you? Are you going to go?"

"I'm going too, yes, but mostly just because Grischa is forcing me. I don't particularly like events like that."

"Neither do I", William threw back. "And neither does Ben."

"I thought so", Cale replied with amusement, turning slightly to the side to rest his hand on the window sill and let his gaze circle over the city. "At meetings like this, you always feel like all eyes are glued on you. Then, if a mishap happens, I could sink into the floor."

"Has anything like that ever happened to you?"

"Quite a bit", Cale replied with amusement. "But that's human. By now, I'm pretty good at ignoring it when people stare at me. It's still unpleasant, but nowhere near as bad."

"I still lack that talent", William threw back, suddenly remembering the conversation he'd had with Ben this afternoon. They'd gotten to talking about the legendary swords, and that's when William had learned something about their past that had raised questions. "That reminds me: Ben and I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Are you related to the Paseru family?" replied William, looking up at Cale, who was doing his best not to look surprised.

"Paseru? No, not that I know of. My parents are both from Sylve", Cale replied matter-of-factly. He knew a Paseru - Master Jonat Paseru. The swordmaster who used to carry Zurakekama and had taught Cale how to properly handle a sword back in the day. But since Cale never had contact with the old swordmaster in this life, Cale did not mention this. At the same time, he also did not want to discuss his parents past further. While he knew his father's family tree, he had never been able to find out anything about his mother. The only thing he could really find out about them was that his father was a soldier and his mother had mastered magic - though not really much. So he couldn't say with absolute certainty that he wasn't related to the Paserus - even if his family didn't look like Frignezer visually. "Why do you ask? Who are the Paserus?"

"A family from Frignez who also seem to be in possession of one of the three Kama swords. I thought perhaps you might know something more about them."

"Unfortunately, no", Cale replied, even though he did. "I'd have to ask the Elder. He was the one who brought Karekama to the Magistrat that time."

"And Mirajkama?"

"The same. No idea where the sword disappeared to or who is currently wielding it."

"Too bad", William muttered, closing his eyes. "Would have been interested to know what the past of the three swords is."

"You're not the only one", Cale replied with a smile. He had once spent a few years trying to find out more about the three legendary swords, but it was as hard as finding information about his mother. At some point, he had simply given up on both; after all, he had more important things to do. "I think I'll have to set out again."

"Again? Where are you going?", William returned, straightening in surprise. Cale, however, pointed his finger at the small figure standing on a roof of the Magistrat, waving at him. "Is that Sir Mirai?"

"That's him. Likes to do that. Climbing around on roofs, I mean. A bad habit we both picked up from Grischa", Cale explained, pushing the blanket aside as William's attention lingered on the blind magician. How in the world did Yusuf know Cale was in the apartment? Through his mana sensitivity, perhaps? "I still owe him a crystal and a conversation."

"The Levione?" interjected William, turning around to the back. Cale was just making the documents disappear into the shelf behind the round table and pulled out a small casket containing the blood-red crystal. "You really have a Levione?"

"Yes. I'm not as poor as you might assume."

"Then why are you giving it to Sir Mirai? It's really valuable, you know. If I remember correctly, this crystal alone made Duke of Mornet very rich", William interjected, but had to remind himself that this wealth had also brought consequences. The Duke's second son, Jarle of Mornet, had committed suicide a little over four years ago, and to this day the public did not know why. William had therefore always suspected that wealth had destroyed the relationship within their family. Duke Inar of Mornet, who had married into the nobility, was known to place a lot of importance on his wealth. Perhaps he always had a need to prove that he was in no way inferior to his elder brother. A desire that had to account for the death of his second son.

"I know. Yusuf was doing something important for me and wanted this crystal as payment. He loves red things and when I told him about the Levione, he really wanted one."

"He's blind, isn't he?"

"So what? Isn't he allowed to have a favorite color, too?", countered Cale with amusement, even if he couldn't really comprehend it himself.