The thought of using magic in new ways was wonderful to Rue, but it also caught the attention of a certain someone who had been lingering outside their door.

"Librarian Barry, welcome. Would you like to join us?" Karl asked as he sensed the dragon about to knock.

The blue dragon stared in wonder at the open field that Karl had turned the apartment into.

"That would be lovely. I see that you already started with the showing off your power portion of the lesson." The blue dragon replied, unashamed of being caught eavesdropping.

Then, a second dragon appeared at the end of the hall, and Crown Prince Lukas followed the Librarian into the room.

"Oh, this is wonderful, isn't it? The illusions feel so real. I can even smell the flowers in the clearing. Avatar, I do hope you won't mind if I sit in on the training session?" He asked.

"Of course not. It's not secret knowledge, even if it is private tutoring." Karl agreed.

"Now Rue, Cara just used a spell on you, did you notice?"

Rue frowned at Karl's words. She didn't feel any different, and she hadn't felt any magic.

But when she looked down, her pockets were turned inside out.

"The pocket thing is for dramatics. The [Pilfer] spell is a most wonderful bit of sorcery, which I will teach you soon.

When others are looking to make trouble for you, they will often seek to plant evidence, or steal a valuable item that has been left in your care. But with the pilfer spell, you can discretely remove it from them, and place it in your storage.

If the incriminating evidence is not found where they say it will be, it doesn't take long for others to realize that the whole thing was a setup.

Now, Sister Cara is a master at placing items in other's pockets as well, but that is not a skill that I would ask a Princess to learn. Nor is it one that would be officially approved by any Royal Court. So, the next thing that you are going to need is a confidant.

If you have one person that you can trust implicitly, they can take care of the dirty work for you."

Crown Prince Lukas chuckled as Karl finished his speech, and Rue turned to him with eager eyes.

"Is what he says true? Do you have a person like that?" She pleaded.

Lukas smiled and patted her on the head. "Of course I do. You know Nyx."

Rue frowned. "I thought that Nyx was your consort? Like, your mistress, but without the fake promises or the intention to marry."

Lukas' face went suspiciously blank, while Librarian Barry began to laugh.

"Princess, Nyx is not a lady of the court. Nyx is an Incubus with a fondness for bold and dramatic makeup." The blue dragon explained softly.

Princess Rue just shrugged. "Is there a difference? My mother was an Elf."

Cara walked over to whisper in her ear. [All Incubi are boys. The females of the species are called a Succubus.]

"NYX IS A BOY? No! He's too cute. Not possible." She blurted out, which finally cracked Prince Lukas' composure.

"Oh, this is priceless. I'm going to have to tell him later." Lukas began, before noticing the gleam in Rue's eye.

She was definitely thinking something age inappropriate.

But really, Princess Rue was mentally calculating where she went wrong. Sure, she'd never seen Nyx in a dress. But his hair was spectacular, his accessories perfect, and he moved with a level of catlike grace that she had been trying for years to emulate so that she didn't embarrass herself during her posture and grace lessons.

Being an incubus was an unfair advantage.

"But where do I find someone like that?" She asked after giving up on trying to understand how a mere boy had managed to surpass her skills.

Karl patted her shoulder gently. "It's not easy to find the perfect person. That level of trust is the hardest thing in the world to truly obtain. However, if you don't have a person like that, you can cheat.

You either get someone to swear a binding oath, sign a blood contract, or gain leverage over them that they value more than their life.

Alternately, you can do like I do and just summon one, should you gain the skill."

Then, he called out the Epic Guard, who stretched gracefully as she examined the room.

"Is that a Ghostwood Treant?" Librarian Lukas asked.

"It's a Guardian, a summoned creature. But she patterned herself after a Haint. They don't look exactly the same, she looks more like a Treant and less spectral, but I have never met a Ghostwood Treant, so you might be correct." Karl agreed.

"You met a Haint? No, sorry. Please continue your lesson. I will ask my questions after." Barry apologized, as he added the question to his notepad.

Princess Rue's eyes went vacant as she examined the spells in her class tree.

"Okay, if I go far enough up the tree, there is a summoned Void Companion that I can call on. If I keep that active all the time, it can work as my assistant while I look for my own Nyx." She decided.

Karl nodded, but Lukas had practical questions.

"How many skill points will it take to get to that Companion?" He asked.

Rue frowned as she counted. "About a hundred if I go straight there? It's halfway up the tree. But there are other good things I want, like the [Void Step] and [Void Shield] spells that aren't on that branch."

"So, it will be some time before you have it. Perhaps it would be better for us to focus on finding you a suitable person. Normally, they will work as your personal maid, as Princesses don't usually have business assistants or butlers.

Not that we could allow a Butler into your room unattended once you were grown." Lukas added.

Finding friends was already difficult, Rue thought. And now she needed a bestie that wouldn't ever betray her.

She had a long way to go.

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