Mandy stared at Wolf. Her eyes wide with fear. “Wolf?”

The young man’s hands shook. The daydream of violence nearly overrode his will and resulted in bloodshed.

I almost snapped. Again. He suppressed his murderous intent, then looked Mandy in the eye.

“That’s wonderful!” Wolf grinned, but that hollow smile failed to reach his eyes. Even in her unbalanced state, Mandy saw something was wrong.

“I need to use the bathroom.” Wolf mumbled. Without waiting for an answer, he dashed out of the room, leaving behind the stupefied woman, afraid he might slay her if he stayed.

A moment later, Mandy sobbed again. This time, she didn’t shed tears of joy.

“It was an accident,” she wailed.

For an instant, a maniacal urge to kill the baby invaded her mind, but she struggled against the notion.

It won’t set things right, nor heal Wolf’s injuries. That grim consideration turned her happiness into despair as she considered ending her life.

***

Unexpectedly, Wolf ran into a public bathroom. He closed the door and locked it, then sat on the toilet.

I don’t have the Soul Force to prepare new spells, but I can probably squeeze enough to ready a Find Creature. If I seek quarter-elf bloodlines, and if that child is mine, it should register. No. I almost made a mistake. That thing isn’t a child yet, nor does it have blood. It’s hardly a fetus. Entities with at least a tenth of elven biological heritage other than me. It should yield a result if I’m the father.

Wolf’s mind churned while his Mental Aspect extracted Soul Force from scrolls with offensive spells. The Soul Force waste was extraordinary. Wolf barely gathered a fifth of what remained in them, but after damaging nine tapestries and further aggravating his injuries, he collected enough.

If I really sired a child, that would explain the damage my Mind Palace suffered. But how do regular people survive this? Mandy fainted, but she was otherwise healthy. If she suffered what I have, her soul would’ve shattered. No, that doesn’t matter. If the child is mine, that means in nine months to a year I’ll be more or less fine, and suffer from nothing but light scarring.

Several minutes later, Wolf chanted the spell, then searched for his target.

He shuddered. It’s there. Gods! Dad! I’m going to be a father! There will be another Hillman!

Wolf teared up, then bawled like a baby. He ran. In his headlong dash, Wolf smashed through the door of his tiny private refuge. That solid blow to the head helped Wolf regain a bit of his senses. Instead of plowing through the wall, chasing after the object of his obsession, he went around and used the lavatory exit.

Wolf sprinted past the frowning Frida and shot into Mandy’s room. The woman still cried, her face crumpled into a wretched grimace.

“Don’t cry! Please don’t cry!” the hulk with splinters tangled in his long hair said, cupping her tiny hand with his callused one.

Mandy stared at the crying giant. Am I crazy? Is he crazy? She didn’t know. It was impossible to make heads or tails of Wolf’s actions and sentiments. She tried to help him learn how to act like a normal person, but obviously failed to teach him how to convey emotions.

“I’m sorry!” Mandy wailed, but Wolf hugged her. His heart fluttered.

“Don’t be sorry!” He kissed her like never before; right on the ear. The smack was so loud it made Mandy’s head ring.

“You gave me the most wonderful gift!” As Wolf said those words, Mandy smiled. There was hope. He didn’t hate her, nor their baby.

Wolf wanted to roar, to tear down the puny building because it stifled him. At that moment, he was the king of the world. He burst into laughter, and neither Mandy nor Frida had any idea what was going on. They believed he’d snapped.

Unaware of their thoughts, Wolf imagined the future with a child. He pictured himself as a father, then shuddered in comprehension. Perverted Mage. The man with the tiniest instrument. The one who bedded every whore in Silver City.

The gravity of Wolf’s reputation smashed against his head yet again. This time hitting like Sunder the Mountains.

Just as Frida finally smiled, thinking Wolf had gone mad with joy, the madman choked. What have I done with my life?

It’s not that bad if I have a son; then I only set an awful role model. Who knows, maybe he would be proud his dad had so many women before turning twenty. No. He might try to beat my record. Wolf shuddered, then thought of the worse alternative. What if the baby’s a girl? Gods, what will she think of me? Can I somehow hide it? How many memories would I have to alter? Should I slaughter these people?

Wolf considered the option for a moment, then shook his head, momentarily forgetting he wasn’t alone in the room. She needs people to be happy. And for that, the surrounding people must be happy too.

It suddenly dawned on Wolf why his father wanted him to live in a domain with a content populace. That way, Wolf would be happy too.

“Master. Master!” Frida shouted, snapping Wolf out of his mental meltdown. “You’re scaring Madam. She needs a calm, safe and peaceful environment.”

Wolf seemed so out of it, Frida used three words to tell him the same thing ‘get your shit together, she’s pregnant, not you’.

“Right. How are you feeling? I’m sorry if I scared you. I was so happy I didn’t know what I was doing. Sorry. I won’t do it ag—” Wolf blathered, choked on a lie and after several brief moments passed, Mandy giggled.

Could it be that his first reaction to unknown situations is to fight? She tried to reassure herself, already suppressing the terrifying memory from ten minutes ago.

However, while Wolf spoke nonsense on the surface, deep inside, he considered things. How to repair his reputation? How to create a safe and peaceful domain for his child?

I need to be a true lord; to set a proper example. That means I have to get rid of Wayde, but I can’t leave him hanging. So, I’ll help him capture the Northshield duchy. But to do that, I must first recover my ability to use magic.

Think, think… Conceptual Art is the obvious choice. But I would require thousands of women, or several select Mages, but which Mage would agree to that tradeoff? The ones close to death with no hope of advancing their Order.

Wolf thought and came up with a proper solution while excitedly conversing with Mandy. He could offer money or protection to elderly Mages, however, that wouldn’t be optimal and had odds of news spreading, further sinking his abysmal reputation. What he needed were women who stood to lose if word of them having an affair became public.

Headmasters! How many female Headmasters are there? How old are they? Other female True-Namers are worth considering. If they had hopes of advancing, they should be virgins, and my harvest would double. But what can I offer them that’s valuable enough for them to give up their path as a Mage?

While asking himself that question, Wolf gazed at Mandy.

That’s it! He found his answer. Internal Energy extends body’s durability and lifespan. What dying old True-Namers care about more than magic is staying alive. Wolf had a semblance of a plan. He would go around the outer duchies and try his luck.

I must tell Anna and Mandy that I’m going to do something shameful. But I can’t delve into details. I also need to draft a contract of sorts when negotiating with those grannies. Wolf shuddered while listening to Mandy speak of the time she spent together with Frida while Wolf was away. The two women hit it off and sparred often.

“I benefitted more than she did,” Mandy admitted, then saw Wolf shiver. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Wolf smiled and cupped Mandy’s cheek with a warm look in his eyes. “I suddenly got the chills.”

Mandy nodded, then continued talking about Frida. “And Sir Richard visited us daily. He even started exercising in the gymnasium to have an excuse—”

“Madam!” Frida exclaimed. Wolf looked at her, noticing her face turned weird.

Is Frida blushing? Wolf couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Even in this situation, something so absurd drew his attention.

“Sir Richard is trying to woo Frida—” Mandy started, but Frida suddenly screamed.

“Madam!” Panic tinged the scarred woman’s eyes.

“What?” Mandy raised an eyebrow. “That’s nothing you should be ashamed of. You’re not a little girl, and Sir Richard is among the most influential men in the duchy.”

“It isn’t proper! I could be his great-granddaughter,” Frida protested, but Wolf saw she was simply going through the motions.

Wait. Kooky old Smith mentioned this… Wolf realized. “What does your love-life have to do with me?”

When Wolf asked his question, Frida shut up and looked at the ground, while Mandy giggled.

“You’re her master. And she said she wouldn’t do anything without your permission…”