I returned to my castle later, with Alae accompanying me. The twins had chosen one of the most luxurious houses in the village but Alae had decided to follow me in the castle. Not that I really minded though, after all it was big enough to host more than a hundred people.

I didn’t ask her about her pledging although it bothered me a little. I didn’t understand why she wanted to serve me, who killed her father and made her mother abandon her. Was there some kind of underlying motive ?

Maybe she was planning to assassinate me during my sleep to take revenge on her deceased parent ? Well, she could always try but I was protected all the time thanks to Wahnsinn. He didn’t need to sleep so he was ready to slay any intruder at any time.

My Mana reserves were vastly depleted because of the massive scale warping and the reshaping of the entire village. I headed straight to sleep and changing clothes except for my mask that I kept on my face. It had become kind of natural for me to wear it.

“The rooms for servants are over there. I’m heading to my own bedroom. Good night, Alae.”

“…”

We separated and I headed towards my bedroom. I entered the bed I had created earlier with Creative Magic and pulled the sheets. I closed my eye and tried to fall asleep as soon as possible.

A few hours later, I was woken up by Wahnsinn who had felt some movement in my room.

He couldn’t see or hear anything due to my left eye and ear missing but he could sense nearby Mana. And he warned me of Alae’s presence near the bed.

I kept my eyes closed and waited. There it was… she was probably going to try to stab me in my sleep. Her attack would be countered automatically by Wahnsinn and she’d probably be slain as well. No need for me to bother moving. I had to replenish my Mana as much as I could so unnecessary moves were to be avoided.

I could now hear her footstep as she approached the bed. Finally, she was standing right next to me and pulled off the sheets. And right when I thought she was going to attack and be cut into pieces…

She sneaked into my bed and wrapped her whole body around me.

I see. It was naive of me to think I was going to be stabbed. Strangulation is what she had in mind.

That wouldn’t work either though. Wahnsinn could just use the properties of『Shadow Skin』to ensure her arms go through my enchanted body and are teleported back into the other world, Sigmas, cutting them from the rest of her body.

Still I didn’t move, waiting for her to attack and get passively slaughtered. It was a shame that I had to kill one of my citizens but it couldn’t be helped if she was going to get in my way.

I waited, waited and kept waiting… one minute… two minutes… five minutes. After ten minutes, I finally turned around and faced her, causing her to let out a little surprised squeak.

“Kya ! You’re still awake !?”

“… Can you tell me what you’re doing in my bed exactly ?”

“I… ahem, I… that’s embarrassing to say but…”

“Embarrassing ? Are you not going to try to kill me to take revenge on your father ?”

“Eh ? Eeeeeh ? You thought I was going to kill you !?”

“You weren’t ?”

“NO ! Not at all ! I was just feeling… a bit lonely you know ? So I thought it would be fine if I came and slept with you… I can’t ?”

She looked at me with puppy eyes. Well, it looks like I was seriously mistaken about her. Must be because of my bad experience with my previous girlfriend. Just because she was a slut doesn’t mean I have to start thinking all women are evil, right ?

“Yes, you can. I don’t see any problem… I’m the one to blame for your loneliness anyway, right ?”

“That’s not true ! You actually saved me you know ? You killed my father… who was torturing me every day. And mother hated me because of what I am…”

“What do you mean ?”

She started explaining that she was a Hybrid between an Elf and a human woman, that her human father tortured her when he learnt that she wasn’t in fact his daughter and her mother started hating the poor girl after her husband discovered she had cheated on him.

She was a girl that had lost hope in her family and was suffering from an endless physical and mental pain. And apparently, my arrival was the event that allowed her to escape this dire situation.

I could now understand why Alae was acting so clingy to me. It looks like I was everything she had left now and so she was depending entirely on me.

One thing tickled my interest though. In a book about the different races, I had learnt that Hybrids are a rare race of offsprings from interracial breeding and that they possessed strengthened Mana attributes from both of their parents.

Which meant she most likely possessed the Elf’s cell regeneration attribute which allowed them to use Healing Magic.

“Alae… can you use Healing Magic ?”

“Huh ? Healing Magic ? Was there such a thing ?”

“You didn’t know ? Ha, ha, ha… well… that doesn’t matter. What do you know about Magic ?”

“Hmm… not a lot. I know that people called Magicians can use Magic to cast spells but that’s about it.”

“I see… Do you have any plans from now on ?”

“Yes, I was planning on staying with y- I mean, not really… I don’t have anything to do now. Do you have any orders for me, my lord ?”

“I couldn’t hear the first part… well whatever ! Ha, ha, ha, it looks like things are getting interesting. From tomorrow on, I’ll be teaching you all I know about magic. Prepare yourself !”

“Y-Yes, my lord !”

“For now, let’s sleep. We need to be as healthy as possible for Magic training. Good night, Alae.”

“Good night, my lord !”

We both fell asleep rather quickly. Or that’s what I think at least. Alae was very agitated. Did the idea of learning Magic excite her that much ?

***

I woke up in more pain than the previous day. My burnt left side was aching due to Alae hugging it tightly. The pain of the burn was constant but today it had reached a point that was nearly intolerable.

Alae looked cute in her sleep, slightly drooling. Up until now I hadn’t really paid much attention to her but since she was going to be my student, I took a better look at her.

She had long silky jet black hair and a well shaped face that showed no imperfection. She wasn’t too tall nor too small and was the just right weight. She’d surely grow up to be a beauty although right now, she only looked like a cute sleeping angel.

However, after staring at her face for a good minute, an image of Blume superposed itself with hers which caused me to frown. As if feeling my disgust, Alae opened one of her eyes and looked at me.

She was staring at me as if she had seen something strange… oh I know. I wasn’t wearing my mask. She couldn’t see my face because of the darkness in the bedroom yesterday but now she had witnessed my identity. Not that she’d know who I was though.

Since it had come to this, I decided to go ahead and show her everything.

“Alae. Since you’re going to be my student, I will show you the entire me.”

“What do you mean ?”

“Yesterday, I called myself Joker. Consider Joker as the host of two souls : Zwölf Kreizig and Wahnsinn.”

“I-I don’t think I understand… do you mean that there is someone else inside of you ?”

“Exactly, although you don’t have to fear about my personality changing. I am in perfect control of my other personality.”

“Mhm… ok…”

She looked a bit anxious after hearing this but she soon forgot about it as we headed outside the castle to start practicing the basics.

We spent half of the day practicing. One thing I noticed is that she Alae wasn’t picking up things as fast as me and I needed to explain to her the same thing multiple times in order for her to assimilate it.

Even after acquiring the theory, she had to do a long session of trial and error before successfully casting Beginner level Cindril Magic spells.

At the end of the 5 hours we spent training together, she managed to master Earth Spike. It looked like she had an easier time working with Earth Cindril than other elements.

As we ate the lunch I had brought from one of the houses, I noticed that despite wasting a lot of mana on so many spells, she didn’t seem tired at all, which must have confirmed the fact that she had a ridiculously high Mana reserve, probably way higher than mine when I started.

The twins were eating with us as well.They had been watching our training session and had decided to start training by themselves. Although they didn’t want to study Magic as much as Alae, they were practicing the same moves I remembered Hell and Tras executing.

Not only were they doing it, but the movements they were displaying seemed flawless to me. Having watched Tras and Hell practicing so much, I could tell that these twins had the ability to be highly skilled swordsmen.

“Where did you learn how to execute these moves ?” I asked.

“We didn’t learn… we just saw Hell doing it.” Burs answered.

His brothered nodded and added “We can copy and reproduce whatever we see… it’s useful, right ?”

Indeed, such an ability showed a lot of potential. Of course it was incompatible with Magic due to knowing its rules being indispensable in order to cast spells, however I could teach them Magic myself.

Hearing that I would start teaching the twins too, Alae started to pout in silence. Well I guess she is annoyed she won’t be privately tutored anymore but that shouldn’t hinder her training.

We spent the rest of the day training together and went home when I decided it was enough training. I have to admit that not having a day-night cycle is disturbing but at the same time, it was also possible to go sleep whenever we felt tired.

I went back inside my bed and I let out a small cry of pain because of my left side. The intense pain had subsided the entire day and it had tired me out faster than previously. It was already a miracle I could handle this much pain for a whole day without fainting.

Before closing my eye, I felt Alae sneaking inside the sheets as well.

“Do you intend to sleep here everyday ?”

“Can I not, my lord ?”

“I don’t see any problem in doing so.”

“Ah… thank goodness… I mean, did it hurt just right now ? Do you feel pain in your left side ?”

“To tell you the truth… yes. Only healing Magic can cure the burnt skin, which is why I asked you if you could use any. But this much… even though it hurts, I can handle it. Don’t worry about me.”

“My lord… I promise my lord !”

“Promise what ?”

“Before my 18th birthday, I will definitely find a way to use Healing Magic and I will cure you from this curse !”

“Ha, ha, ha. That’s nice of you… Don’t push yourself too much, ok ?”

“I’d give my life for you, my lord ! But yes, I will most definitely master Healing Magic and heal you. And then, when that happens..”

“When that happens… ?”

“That’s a secret !”

She giggled and closed her eyes. We fell asleep soon after. Still, I wonder what she is planning. The drooling face she makes while sleeping makes me kind of suspicious, after all.