“What capabilities of yours make you believe that you can stop the war?” the Princess locks her gaze on me and fishes out another scroll from her bag of holding before I can run away.

[Curse Received: Paralysis of the Limbs]

I feel my legs and arms go slack, and my mouth opens again.

“My understanding of magic is probably one of the most advanced in this world. I firmly believe that, in due time, I will be strong enough to take on the challenge.”

“How can your magic be so powerful?” she asks, skeptical.

“I’m a gifted person,” I feel that something dangerous is almost coming out of my mouth when I hear a voice in my head trying to reassure me.

I’ll keep a lid on the most secret things. Otherwise, I think this is a great development. A feat worthy of a Vanedeni [Hero].

“Define why you believe to be a gifted person,” Princess Laura huffs, unsatisfied with the nature of the answer. Apparently, how she formulates the question makes a big difference in the amount of detail she gets.

“I have always been extremely gifted in mathematics and physics. My teachers made me skip several years of school education because I was too good for it. If I had wanted to, I could have graduated high school passed my tutors’ tests at ten. Even though I behave like an idiot on purpose, most of the time, I can solve incredibly complex problems that no one seems to grasp well enough.”

“Describe your results on the Cantrips, then,” she says, frowning even more.

“I can complete the 23 Cantrips better than anyone else I know. Most likely better than your Ancestor.”

Princess Laura’s frown deepens while looking at the blue inside the crystal.

“How do you know there are more than 23 Cantrips?”

“I own a magical relic stolen from a great treasury read it in a book, and then my tutor taught me all the Cantrips.”

The crystal sparks tremble for a second before they turn blue.

Trivial.

“Why do you have a puny class like [Luxmancer], then?”

“[Light Mage] and its advancements are very strong classes if you know how to manipulate spell matrixes into different elements. Plus, thanks to the knowledge of my world my teacher has taught me, I can create deadly spells from simple [Light] spells.”

“Who are, or have been, or were, your teachers?”

“My teacher, singular, is a mysterious man whose real identity I don’t know myself. He’s one of the greatest [Archmages] even to tread this plane. His name has been forgotten by most, but he’s still at the apex of magical theory. His feats are, in fact, forgotten only in words, not in the great changes they had brought to all the continents. But even if he’s great and I’m only a speck of dust compared to him, I still have some worth as a [Mage] on my own.”

Goddamn, Juler.

Once again, the [Supreme Archmagus] messes up the crystal, which flashes a vivid blue.

“Where is your teacher at this moment in time?”

“He taught me all I needed to know to follow in his footsteps. Left me notes upon notes, and then disappeared forever.”

Lord Juler, please, can we tone the drama down?

The woman is satisfied with the answer.

“So, you truly believe, even after experiencing the might of my Ancestor, that you could be strong enough to end this conflict?”

“Princess Laura, can’t we stop—yes, I firmly believe so.”

“And would you be reluctant to participate in the war?”

“A part of me would be. The other part would relish the action.”

The woman takes a few moments to ponder my words. Her face never crinkles nor shows any doubt.

“Why are you in a bakery, then?”

Oh, hell. Lord Juler, could you help—

No, child. You need to hear yourself. This woman is doing you a favor.

“I don’t want to put myself in a position where I could fail someone else’s expectations of me.”

“Expand on that,” Princess Laura says without the minimum regard for my privacy.

“I am a good baker, and I can do this casually. I don’t need to be a professional. I don’t need to try so hard that failing would make me miserable. I could close the bakery tomorrow and still be happy about my choice in life. If I step on a bigger stage, I’m afraid that any loss would make me as miserable as doing paperwork.”

“This is…”

Princess Laura knows she just tapped into something very deep in my thoughts, something that only a truth spell could force me to say. I don’t even know whether to feel embarrassed or wish God would just smite me to death at this exact moment.

Yes, I fear loss. Yes, I fear going on a bigger stage.

I went through amazing baking and cooking courses in Italy and apprenticed under great Chefs, even if I didn’t tell my mother that part. It took me a few months just to get to their level. The experience others needed years for I could reach in a week. Great Chefs got angry with me because they knew I would become greater than them; others encouraged me to pursue this more seriously. I ignored them all and went back home to open my own little bakery.

A great life isn’t suited for just anyone. I have seen in those Chefs, in some of the people whom the universities had sent to speak to me, the great sacrifices they had to go through. And the problem is not even the sacrifice but the cost of failing when the stakes are so high. When you have to put aside your family, friends, love, and everything else in your personal life to try to become great, what happens after you fail? What happens when your attempt is unfruitful?

I slowly recline my head to my chest, sighing.

“I’m sorry, Joey, but I have a few more questions.”

I would shrug if my arms worked properly.

Wait, isn’t this the first time she actually used my name?

“Would you like to fight for a mighty feat, for something greater than just what you are doing now?”

I laugh before the curse can compel me to answer.

“Yes,” I answer out of my own volition.

The lights flash blue again.

“And you would fight for us if we married?”

Guess what.

Blue, baby.

See, that would have been a very nice last question to this interrogation. But alas, Lady Luck is never on my side, is she?

“But would an amnesty from all existing paperwork be more appealing to you?”

Oh sh—

“Yes.”

And it flashes…

Blue.