Prologue: The Conferment Ceremony

The first time I saw the twins was at my master’s conferment ceremony. This was ten years ago, and I was eight years old at the time. My master, the famous mystic Gundabad, became the court mystic of Tredland that day. Due to his advanced age, my master was excused from kneeling before the royalty, he merely bowed to pay his respects, but I, having been trained in etiquette by my master, smoothly went down on one knee diagonally behind him. Normally, His Majesty would probably have allowed us to stand at ease after the formalities, but this was an official ceremony, so I had to remain that way through the whole event.

While this whole ceremony had nothing to do with me, I was present merely as my master’s apprentice, I still listened to and observed the proceedings carefully. I would be joining the court alongside my master, and quite possibly inherit his mantle some day, so I wanted to learn whatever I could about the members of the court, the royal family, the decorum and anything else that might prove useful.

That said, the majority of my attention was quickly grabbed by the most unexpected element present: the two little girls sitting on the queen’s lap. They looked to be about five years old, barely young enough to sit on an adult’s lap without raising any eyebrows. They had blonde hair in twintails and cute, pretty much identical faces. Their bright blue eyes were complemented by the silver tiaras upon their brows. One of them wore a white dress, while the other wore pink, both suitably cute and fashionable for royal princesses.

I was quite confused to see the princesses present. According to the customs of this kingdom, they would have their official introduction to the court at the age of ten. As far as I understood the matter, to see them present in an official ceremony, one that had nothing to do with them, before the introduction, was very unusual.

The twins’ attention seemed to be fixed on me. Perhaps they were puzzled to see another child present. As I returned their gaze, they smiled and waved at me. The action was simultaneous and almost perfectly mirrored, as though they had practised it beforehand.

After briefly weighing my options, I responded with a friendly smile and a wink. Being so close to the centre of all the attention, right before the eyes of the royal couple, I couldn’t make any too conspicuous movements.

The princesses had no such restrictions. They were probably only instructed to stay silent and stay put on their mother’s lap. They showed me their pearly white milk teeth and their little pink tongues. It was somewhat ill-mannered, but they were young, so they would probably be forgiven with mild scolding. The queen didn’t react, so she either didn’t notice or didn’t care enough.

I responded by raising my right eyebrow and giving them a wry smile.

Our game went on until the ceremony was over. The little princesses were probably bored, so it was no wonder they got so into it. I felt somewhat proud for having been able to entertain them without attracting too much attention to myself. At some point, the king noticed our exchange, but he ignored us and focused on the ceremony. The queen, naturally, witnessed everything, but she merely smiled and observed us in silence.

* * *

I was reminded of this event from ten years prior, as I knelt in my master’s place, receiving the same honours he did back then. The twins, now beautiful young women only about half a year from their coming of age ceremony, were present once again, but this time they had their own thrones beside the queen’s throne, and the smiles on their faces held a lot more warmth than back then.

“Edwin, we hereby declare you the court mystic of Tredland, from this moment forth until death or dismissal!”

King Albert Francis was a jovial-looking man in his sixties. His hair and beard were all white, but his back was straight and his voice was powerful and dignified. After extolling my genius quite a bit, in order to convince those who were sceptical about my youth, he finally named me the new court mystic.

“As per custom, we also grant you the rank of high councillor, the court noble title befitting of your new position!”

Tredland had a unique system of court nobility. High-ranking servants of the crown, who lacked a suitable noble title, automatically received one. This bestowal was for life, but unlike normal landed noble titles, it was not hereditary. While court nobles normally didn’t hold as much practical authority as landed nobles of equal rank, it still gave them enough authority to speak on equal terms, which helped their work considerably.

The high councillor was the highest rank of court nobility, equal to the count. Besides the court mystic and some retired officials, such as my master, only the chancellor held the same rank. This was how valued mystics were in this world.

“In addition, we grant you the right to a hereditary family name. Henceforth you will be known as Edwin Colton!”

Naturally, His Majesty didn’t just randomly assign me a name. Colton was the name of my birth village, and I had been consulted about the matter beforehand.

Next, we went through the closing formalities, but my mind was already mostly occupied with thoughts about my future duties. Relying on my training and the memories from ten years ago, as well as my familiarity with His Majesty, I could be quite relaxed during occasions like this. Instead, I worried about my increasing workload, which would bite into my research time. I was already technically fully trained, so it wasn’t a catastrophe, but it was still unpleasant.

Well, on second thought, I had already gradually taken over most of my master’s duties, so perhaps the change wouldn’t be all that substantial.

* * *

“Congratulations, Ed!”

During the party held in my honour after my appointment ceremony, the twins approached me and offered their congratulations in perfect harmony. They didn’t do this all the time, but it was not rare for them to say the exact same thing at the exact same time. They were extremely, extremely close, practically inseparable, so it was no wonder.

“Thank you, Your Highnesses.”

Unlike the princesses, who casually used my shortened nickname, I addressed them formally, since we were in public. However, the smiles and looks we shared were very sincere and intimate. After all, we had become close like siblings during the last decade.

Compared to when they were five years old, the princesses were a bit easier to tell apart now. They had almost identical facial features, but there were other distinctions. The older sister, Mira, usually let down her hair, allowing it to flow straight down below her bottom. Meanwhile, the younger sister, Anna, still preferred twintails, which gave her a more childish look. In terms of physical development, however… Anna lost a few centimetres in height, but compared to the slender Mira, she had developed clearer feminine curves. The difference wasn’t too great, though, and I would never go as far as to say that one was more attractive than the other.

“You know, Ed, I was reminded of when we first met.”

Anna nodded vigorously to her sister’s remark.

“Same here, actually…”

As the three of us dived down the memory lane together, there was no space for anyone to interrupt, and as was often the case, we spent the whole occasion together. This deprived many ambitious members of the nobility the opportunity to make our acquaintance or deepen one, but that was half on purpose.

We had long since realised that we didn’t really need anyone else but each other.