A few months had passed since she first met her now-close friend Rai. Sindyl was in the Castle preparing for her Arcana lesson for the day. From Unusdies to Quinquies she would have various lessons from her private tutors. Some of which were to do with magic and fighting, while the rest were more focused on worldly knowledge that a noble was expected to know.

Sindyl mostly enjoyed being a noble, and the privileges that came with it. There were a few things that she absolutely hated about it though. The first was that there was an infinite amount of ‘potential suitors’ that she had to sift through and constantly deny. It wasn’t exactly something her father could do anything about either because it was deeply rooted in noble culture. The other thing that she hated was that noble life felt so isolated. Her only friends were the people hired to live and work in the Castle by her father, and Rai.

Her heart skipped a beat, because today she would sneak out of the Castle to meet him in Acies. It was their monthly meeting, as they would both spend the day with each other just like they planned to after they met and became friends. Even though her father ‘turned a blind eye’ to her monthly escapes, some of her private tutors who were part of the nobility wouldn’t approve of it.

One such person just happened to be her Arcana tutor.

The plan was simple. She would have to trick her tutor into believing that she would work throughout the whole lesson. That’s why she was preparing. I bet father would be proud of this plan. Well, that’s if I succeed. Fortunately, the lesson took place in one of the ground floor rooms with a window facing out towards the front gates. She would have one of her maids prepare a knapsack with a change of clothes into something less conspicuous, and have another maid find an excuse to drag her tutor out of the lesson long enough for Sin to climb out of the window. She had to avoid using magic because of the sensors installed by the head of security for the Castle. Since the sensors knew her mana signature, they could track her much easier if she used any magic.

This is so suffocating! If I ever have a kid I'll let them be much more free than this!

Sin finished her mental preparations and entered the makeshift classroom that her tutor had set up in one of the front rooms.

A tall, slim woman, who carried herself much higher than any normal person would, turned to Sindyl. “Hmph. I see you’re perfectly on time Princess. How wonderful, let’s get started then. Sit.”

Sindyl actually enjoyed her Arcana lessons, but she wished that the tutor wasn’t as pompous as she was. After meeting Rai and experiencing some of Acies and its residents, listening to the stories of the adventurers and travellers that made their way through the town, she found the non-noble people to have a charm that nobles couldn’t hope to emulate.

The tutor began the lesson with a quick quiz, “What are the tiers of techniques that people can achieve, whether it be with magic or through other means?”

Sin thought for a moment, she’d have to get through some of the lesson before her plan went into action. “The tiers go from low to high. The order is: common, rare, epic, legendary, and forbidden.”

The tutor eyed her with a silent fury, which was not so silent when she spoke, “Why did you place forbidden at a higher tier than legendary?”

Sin didn’t have an answer. It just felt logical for her to do so. Her heart rate was rising, and her anxiety was starting to hit her.

The tutor sighed with frustration, but spoke softly, “Forbidden techniques are forbidden not because they are powerful, but because they go against the order of the world. You should avoid placing them in a higher position than legendary techniques.”

Sin quietly nodded. She zoned out as the tutor’s lecture on common spells began, allowing her heart rate and anxiety levels to settle.

Sin’s knowledge of forbidden spells was... well... lacking, to say the least. She only knew of them because of what her dad told her, and it had something to do with ancient mages. According to her dad, her mother was studying the ancients and got cursed, which caused her to die in childbirth. Sin wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Not the whole cursed bit, but she adopted her mother's love for history, since the history of the world was always so fantastical to her. She wondered what type of lives the ancient mages would’ve lived, what kind of people they were. But, for now, she would have to be resigned in the lack of knowledge she has about them.

Minutes passed by as Sin’s thoughts drifted, then a knock on the door came. A gruff male voice came through the door, “M’lady, apologies for the intrusion. I’ve been told that your House needs some attention, something about a Hydra breaking loose?”

The tutor froze mid-step, the blood flowing away from her face as she looked to grow cold. “Lesson’s postponed, I’ll be back in an hour princess.” She spoke hurriedly, then rushed out of the room.

Success!

Sin had to move fast, The noble Houses were just on the other side of the Castle, and it would only take a few minutes for her tutor to realise that there was nothing wrong.

She opened the window and gently climbed over, careful not to fall on and destroy the flowerbeds that lined the edge of the Castle grounds. The groundskeeper takes good care of these, can’t be going and messing them up now can I. Sin always had an appreciation for wildlife, especially when people put effort into maintaining it. Her father said she got that trait from her mother, even without knowing her personally.

Sin looked behind a nearby tree. Great, it’s all here. She found the knapsack with the change of clothes. She could change in the restroom near the gate. Sin took an overcoat type robe out of the knapsack and put it on, covering her head with the hood. She then put on the knapsack and started running out of the Castle grounds.

After running for a while, she wound up in a somewhat desolate area, with a gate that led to Acies. There was a myriad of buildings around the gate, but the gate itself seemed bare. Just beside it there was a restroom that was split into a section for males and a section for females. She saw a scantily dressed succubus walking out of the female restroom, followed by a... man walking on all fours... with a leash around his neck? What the... She shook her head and went into the restroom and changed clothes.

Now dressed in plain brown robes with a hood covering her hair and a knapsack on her back, Sin looked at the gate. It was nowhere near as extravagant as the portals set up by the Commerce clan, but these weren’t meant to be accessible to just anyone. There weren't any people using this gate, since very few people went to Acies. Only denizens of the Underworld had access to these gates. Anyone could pass through them, but they were undetectable on the outside and could only be revealed with a command phrase spoken by a member of the Deception clan.

Thankfully they were adjusted to allow the command phrase to work when spoken in common, not just in the language of the ancients. She whispered, “Awaken, link the lands between.”

The gate spurred into life, with a thin layer of shimmering space in between its frame.

She stepped into the shimmering empty space in the gate.

Sin walked out of the other side, and was met by an empty house. It was somewhat clean, but there were no signs of anyone having entered the house since the last time she came through. She checked the air behind her, which rippled for a moment before settling.

After seeing the gate fade from view, Sin left the house.

The warmth of the twin suns graced her as she opened the door, a feeling that she grew to look forward to the more she came to Acies. As the door shut, the house disappeared from view thanks to the runes hidden within. In its place was an abandoned looking well, that looked to have been left to rot to the elements. A classic illusion set up by her clan.

The now-hidden house was on the far edge of the town, and she had to walk through the residential area into the commercial district to meet with Rai.

She covered her head with her hood tightly, and hobbled through the residential district with the air of a troubled beggar about her. Her father told her that walking like this would make people less likely to talk to her, and she found from experience that he was right.

As she passed through the commercial district, she made a beeline straight for Townsend Inn. Upon arriving, she came upon two familiar faces sat outside, chatting away.

One had his hallmark long black hair tied into a ponytail, with electrifying blue eyes, and the other had a massive mountain of a belly that he cared not to hide.