At my question, Charlotte appeared to get even more excited as she said:

“So you did see something! However, before I tell you anything, why don’t you tell me what you saw?”

Deciding to appease the excitement of the mage before me, I told her about the transparent something that seemed to surround both her and Ailya. That this transparent force appeared to be quite powerful, and that the fate of the two appeared to be intertwined.

“I see… But wait, what about you?”

“I, I didn’t have this force. Instead, I just have this weird distorted something surrounding me. Not even [Veritas] seems to be capable of telling me what it is, aside from the fact that it’s an anomaly.”

“Is that so? Hmmm, that’s quite interesting, isn’t it?”

With that, Charlotte finally got off of me as she headed to the bed and jumped on it. Once she finished getting herself comfortable sitting in a butterfly pose, Charlotte released the barrier separating Ailya from us and also released the restraints keeping her to the wall. As soon as she was free, Ailya immediately beelined to me as she stood in front of me and faced down Charlotte, attempting to put on a menacing a glare that was more cute than threatening

Seeing this, Charlotte let out a chuckle before asking:

“So my dear half-elf, could you tell us about how you met Alex? And what your relationship to her is.”

Although Ailya seemed to have no intention of responding to Charlotte, I told Ailya that it was fine to do so and to go ahead and answer Charlotte’s question. Although she seemed to be a bit hesitant to talk to Charlotte, Ailya eventually nodded towards me in acquiescence and began recounting the events of that fateful meeting…

“I-I met Alex in the outskirts of the sacred forest after being abandoned there by someone who called themselves a friend of my mom. Without my mom there with me and away from my home, I felt lost and alone in the world for the first time. I didn’t know what to do, and I was afraid that it wouldn’t be too long before those men who were responsible for my mom’s death found me and killed me too. However, not too long after that, Alex showed up in front of me and saved me from my despair. She offered to never abandon me and always keep me by her side. She even promised to make me happy. That’s why since then, I’ve been happier being with Alex than I’ve ever been before. And in order to repay her kindness I promised to serve her and will always do so as I devote everything I am to her, because I am her loyal subordinate and will not be afraid to protect her even against you!”

Although she had faithfully carried out my order, it appeared that Ailya still held a great amount of animosity towards Charlotte, as she let our her emotions in that last shout that were clearly meant as a threat to the mage. And while I accepted her sentiment, I preferred she didn’t attempt to foolishly aggro a level 400+ boss.

At Ailya’s response, Charlotte simply moved her eyes back and forth between Ailya and me for a while before simply muttering:

“That’s insane, you really fucking subordinated one of the heroes.”

Once again hearing Charlotte refer to Aillya in such a manner, I was pretty sure that the situation I was in was more complicated and troublesome than I thought at first, and that this was most likely related as to why that old man had been chasing after Ailya. Also, was once again wondering what Charlotte knew about Ailya, and just what exactly her relation to my dear subordinate was.

Seeing the uncertainty in my face, Charlotte smiled at me as she said:

“Right right, I did tell you that I would answer your question. Let me see…”

Then after looking up at the ceiling and putting on a pensive expression for a brief moment, Charlotte began her explanation saying:

“As to who I am, I am the Royal Mage of this kingdom, answering directly to his majesty the King. As for my relation to the girl over there, we are complete strangers to each other~”

Wait, Royal Mage? As in the most powerful mage in the kingdom who works directly for the King? Yeah, I can buy that.

“Even if you’re Royal Mage, why do you know about Ailya? Is she related to royalty or something? And why do you keep calling her a hero? And also, why do your fates appear to be so attracted to one another? You have to be somewhat related to her.”

“Man, you ask too many questions. Haah, Well the thing is, while Ailya is a rather special existence, I didn’t even know she existed until just recently. And it’s not that I knew about Ailya, it’s more that I knew that I knew about the two future heroes who are known as the children of destiny. It’s just by chance that I discovered she was one of them. Why don’t you use your [Veritas] to read her fate and see for yourself?”

Deciding to listen to her suggestion, I once again activated [Veritas] and peered into the strange force surrounding Ailya. This time taking my time to properly observe it, I was able to garner that what Charlotte was saying was true. The description that I received from [Veritas] told me that Ailya was one of two people who were meant to battle the Demon Lord for the fate of the world. And, after looking at Charlotte since she seemed to share a fate with Ailya, I decided to read her fate thinking that she might be the other fated hero. However, my assumption proved to be wrong as I saw that Charlotte was supposed to be one of the companions of the two heroes, not the other hero herself.

Seeing all this new information, I felt myself getting a headache and entering into a slight daze as I wondered what this all meant. If it was true, then, didn’t it mean that Ailya and Charlotte were supposed to fight against me? No, no it didn’t. Most likely, they were supposed to fight the ACTUAL Demon Lord. A truly fearsome and powerful existence that poses a genuine threat to world…

“So, what was the result?”

“You were right. She’s supposed to be one of two heroes fated to battle the Demon Lord, and you’re supposed to be one of the companions that joins them in this.”

“Ha ha! So you read my fate as well! Yes, that is my fate. So I’ve been told since long ago that it was my fate and purpose in life to be one of the important companions that would aid the heroes in saving the world. For that reason, I was taken into the royal palace and trained by the old Royal Mage. All in preparation for the fateful day that the two heroes made their appearance, and for me to join them on their journey at that moment. And look! Here is one of them..”

Then getting up from the bed in one jump, Charlotte did some rather impressive acrobatics in the air, as I wonder how the bed didn’t break from her jump, before landing beside me as she put her arm around my shoulder, erected an invisible barrier between Ailya and us, and said:

“But unlike what I expected, or really, anyone would have for that matter, our little hero seems to have already fallen under the control of a villain!”

Then, tightening the grip around me, Charlotte leaned closer to me as she said:

“Hey, what should I do. Should I rescue the hero from the clutches of the villain? Or do you have a better proposal?”

“I-I wouldn’t say the hero needs rescuing. I think she's quite happy with the situation.”

Turning to face Ailya who was standing in front of the two of us smacking the barrier, Charlotte asked:

“Is that true Ailya. Are you happy right now?”

“Very! Now get away from Alex!”

As she said this Ailya, began to bang at the barrier with all her strength. Clearly trying to get through it in order to protect me from Charlotte.

“So it she says she is~ Hey tell me, what are your plans with the hero anyway. Even if you didn’t subordinate her out of your own volition. There has to be a reason why you’re keeping her with you.”

“I-I don’t have any plans…”

“None? Nothing at all? There’s nothing you want to do?”

“No…”

“Now now, don’t be a stranger. Why don’t you let me in whatever it is the two of you are cooking up? If it’s interesting, I might just help you out you know~”