Despite cheating, Mayliu was getting thrashed in this stupid board game. The Young Master of the House she was just hired to was eccentric, to give her first impression. He was relaxing comfortably in what appeared to be a gardener’s wheelbarrow full of cushions, in the middle of the servant’s quarters, mercilessly destroying anyone willing to attempt competing with him. Oh, at first she thought the other servants were ‘letting’ him win, like you would a child. She was wrong. She was told that he had recently recovered from a coma, had severe amnesia, and was never very clever to begin with. All of those things may have been true… but if the Young Master wasn’t clever, Mayliu was a complete buffoon. And Mayliu had never considered herself a buffoon.

By all accounts, he had never played the game before. It wasn’t even invented until the previous year! The one where he was unconscious! Yet when he heard that the staff was planning a game night after work hours, he couldn’t ask fast enough if it was alright for him to come too. She understood, even if she disapproved. After all, it couldn’t be easy being cart-ridden all day every day. Reading history books can only offer so much entertainment. But by asking his employees if he could come to their party, he wasn’t giving them a choice in the matter. Who would tell him no? Someone who apparently wished to be unemployed.

Finally, one of the older butlers sat down to play against the Young Master and actually put up a decent fight. The Young Master started smiling like the child he was and continued focusing on his match. One that he was steadily starting to lose ground on. Piece by piece, his army on the board was thinning down at a faster rate than the butler’s. A few of the servants, unsure of how the Young Master would take it if he lost the match, started to get a little nervous. It was all for nothing.

“Ah, it seems I’ve lost.” The Young Master said regretfully, knocking his Lordling piece over himself.

Only a coward gives up before they’ve even lost. No wonder everyone thinks you’re unqualified to be the Grand Duke.

“Correct you are, Young Master. I am surprised and also delighted you could tell. I had you in three more moves.” The butler responded professionally. Like the rest of the staff, he did NOT let his hair down for this ‘party’.

“Oh? Can you show me how? I saw it in four…” The two started pointing at pieces on the board and explaining the strategies involved in the Young Master’s loss.

Well, perhaps it is slightly more palatable knowing that he actually ‘had’ already lost, just didn’t bother to finish moving the last few pieces.

“Truly Young Master, if you would be willing to strike out with your Lordling, you likely would have beaten me handily. It is not prudent to leave your most powerful piece idling.”

“Makes sense. Though, having the protection target also be the most powerful is strange to wrap my head around.” The entire room collectively rolled their eyes in their own minds. Okay, even amnesia doesn’t forgive that statement when you are the heir of the Forrester’s House. The one led by Lady Forrester, one of the most powerful magic users in the world.

Not that you’d understand, being a crippled burden.

“I must admit, Young Master, I also had a bit of an unfair advantage. This game is quite similar to one I have played since I was a child.”

“Me too! The differences are a little startling though.” The Young Master smiled widely and the remainder of the room gasped. To his credit, he looked around confused at everyone being startled at his proclamation. Then, likely dawning on him what he just said, he laughed sheepishly.

“What I meant was, it feels so familiar when I play it, I must have really enjoyed it when I was even younger.”

That’s not what you said though! Mayliu screamed in her head. But what sense could she make of it? Did he have a moment where he remembered something? Everyone had said he had changed a lot since his coma, but the change was overwhelmingly claimed to be positive. The previous Young Master railed against his fate of being an illusionist by being mopey, childish, overly sensitive, and all-around kind of a jerk. Never entitled though. He apparently always acted like nothing mattered anyway, and even if the world was his playground today, it wouldn’t be for long. The stranger changes were in his demeanor. He seemed far more intellectual, and especially happier. Even being told about his magic and what it spelled for his future, he just seemed to shrug it off like it couldn’t be helped. If his memories returned… would he become this horrible Young Master everyone else remembered?

Well, not that it really matters one way or the other. He’ll find himself taken care of sooner rather than later anyway. There is no way His Majesty is going to allow this joke of a Forrester to protect the eastern borders. Even if every assassination attempt fails, the King will use legal means to ruin him and strip him of his title. Assassination would just be… cleaner. Preferable, even.

Yawning dramatically, the Young Master asked if he could be taught about the other games before he had to go to bed. He didn’t play any of them, he just nodded his head like he thought the rules were just what he expected. By the end of the game’s explanations, he was even pointing out ways they could change the rules to add variations in play styles. Some seemed crazy, while some had actually already been regularly used. To think he had come up with those rule changes on a first impression! The butler, in particular, was completely entranced by the Young Master’s ramblings.

When the Young Master finally left, most of the staff let out a collective and audible sigh of relief.

“Well that was weird as hell.” The Head Chef remarked from behind the book she had been reading throughout the night.

I don’t want to hear that from you, girl that shaves her eyebrows and hand plucks all of her eye lashes! Even if you’re right.

“Yes, Chef Raylin. That encounter was rather odd. Though, perhaps he’s just lonely having been couped up in the library for a month. Poor child is handling things very well, considering.” One of the other maids retorted with a smile. The Head Chef was apparently well liked, despite being rather blunt. Though, that could just be because when the Head Chef cooked you a meal, you knew it was her and not an assistant by taste and texture alone.

Considering?! Considering nothing! The kid’s got more golden spoons shoved down his gullet than he knows what to do with! He had the dedicated healing services of the Lady for a full year straight! Even if such a service could be bought, it would cost enough money to build a dozen mansions made out of other… smaller mansions! Not to mention the death of thousands of villagers because of her not doing her other, more important job. Whatever. Those issues will be resolved sooner rather later.

While Mayliu ruminated on the slaughter of her countrymen due to the negligence of the one individual people had entrusted their safety to, the Head Maid arrived in the servant’s quarters.

“Attention! Marigold seems to have gotten food poisoning, and cannot attend the Young Master this evening. I need a volunteer.”

Ugh, finally.

“I’ll go, Ma’am.” Mayliu offered, straightening her apron and leaving the room while a furious Head Chef rounded on the Head Maid, yelling about slander. Mayliu shut the door behind her.

Of course Marigold has ‘food’ poisoning, Raylin. Though the poison didn’t come from your hands.

Mayliu walked the darkened hallways, not bothering to activate the lighting enchantments due to the moonlight filtering in through the windows. Besides, she had been trained to function normally in poor lighting. She stepped up the stairs to the second floor, making her way quickly to the Young Master’s room, her cushioned flats causing her to walk silently. Entering his room, she gingerly shut the door, twisting the knob before closing it to avoid the loud clack of the springs engaging against the metal plate. The Young Master had already been dressed for bed before he had come to play games in the servant’s hall and a knight had already placed him in his bed.

What a pointlessly extravagant bed… Shame they’ll need to replace the sheets, they look soft. Mayliu thought ruefully, drawing closer to the relaxed Syron. He looked into her face as she came up next to him, staring into her eyes. He frowned as Mayliu cycled her magic and conjured a dagger into her hands.

“To be honest, I half expected someone to come for me sooner.” The boy drawled. Since he didn’t seem to be screaming to save himself, Mayliu allowed him a few last words. It definitely wasn’t that she was chickening out. She just wanted to savor his last words.

Right, because blessed kids never have to wait for anything their whole life, do they? Mayliu thought bitterly. She lifted the dagger to stab into his heart but he just kept talking as though she wasn’t about to murder her, startling her into staying her hand. Mayliu wasn’t afraid of anyone walking in on her, since no other servants would be coming until morning and the Lady was so exhausted, she had retired before the so-called ‘Game Night’ had even started.

“A couple weeks ago, I witnessed a Trial for an initiate in the Wardens of the Woods. She had gotten distracted by something and hadn’t noticed the goblin about to lodge its axe into her head. Naturally, everyone in the Fort had screamed for her to pay attention, but she claimed she only heard one voice. It was mine, strangely enough. Given that I was even weaker back then and I was further away from her than most of the others, I couldn’t figure out why she claimed that she only heard me. Logically speaking, that was nearly impossible. Until I remembered one thing…”

Mayliu looked down at the boy that had been talking calmly for nearly a full minute with her dagger poised to strike his heart, trying to wrap her head around why he was both telling her this, and why she was bothering to listen. Her instincts screamed at her to kill him and be done with it, but her mind kept reminding her that he was just a boy that didn’t choose to be born a noble. He was even pretty decent, as far as human being go. But still, he wasn’t dying because of his sins, but rather his mother’s. She had to stop focusing on him, and get back to work before the entire eastern countryside had been razed.

“You see, I don’t understand magic. Like, at all. I read about it… but it’s difficult to learn more without a proper instructor. It would look horrible for me to have a magic instructor, since no one likes my ‘aptitudes’, nor does anyone want me to become stronger. It’s fine. I understood… so I’m brought back to that girl’s Trial. I had been practicing cycling my Magic soul pretty much constantly since I learned about how, and I desperately didn’t want to watch that girl’s brains go splat, you know? So I had the magic cycling, and I had intent.” At this point, the Young Master slowly plugged his ears, still staring Mayliu in the eyes.

“This is going to suck, but I haven’t figured out how to do this without visualizing it with my eyes open.” Mayliu finally put his story together in her head, wondering once again why she hadn’t already stabbed him and returned to her handler. He was talking about doing magic, and his magic was why no one wanted him to succeed…

Why am I so distracted…? Am I… drunk? I was definitely here to kill him, right?

“Flashbang.” Syron claimed, twisting his face slightly and shying away from whatever he was expecting.

White, blinding light and a boom so loud the windows rattled went off right in front of Mayliu’s face.