His thoughts are interrupted by the room's door opening again, this time both of the twins enter the room, Raphael is using a freesia brooch per instructed. Good. “Take a seat”, the Prince says and the servants oblige, sitting in front of the man at the table. “I expect that your brother already told you what you're doing here” Nikias says not waiting for the man to answer, he gets up and walks towards his work desk, grabs a letter opener and goes back to the table. He isn't a fan of pain, but as it's necessary the man doesn't wait another second. I need a place where people won't notice, with that thought he crosses his legs, making a deep cut closer to his ankle. If the cut is superficial, the mana doesn't flow properly and the pact might not succeed. “Begin”, he orders and the nervous servants obey.

“I, Raphael/Lowe, swear upon my mana and my soul, to serve the second Prince of the Exos Empire, Nikias Gregor Chrysl with my life, and never betray him even in the last days of my mortal life” a faint black glow leaves both of their hands towards the cut, Nikias can feel the strangers mana flowing inside the cut, and after the glow stops, the pact is done. It's a strange sensation, the Prince thinks, he can feel the brothers’ mana flowing inside him towards his own heart. So that's how having mana feels like.

He isn't mistaken, but he isn't right as well, but he'll realize so, soon enough.

The man grabs a handkerchief, wrapping it around the cut for the moment. Nikias can feel his pressure dropping a little because of the bleeding, however his expression is calm, not showing that he is in extreme pain. For a moment he stares at the soup in front of him that has already gone cold, and once the pain becomes slightly bearable he looks back at the two servants.

“Now, let's start with the questions, remember that you can't lie after we made the pact.” Both men nod, and Nikias starts. “Since when have you worked for me?”

Is this a test or he really doesn't remember? Lowe asks himself but answers either way. “Four years”.

Nikias nods and thinks for a while before proceeding to the next question. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two”, Raphael is the one that answers this time. Even their voices are similar, the man thinks. So they started working for Nikias when he was fourteen and they were eighteen. 

“Did Andreas and Conrad work here already when you started?” The Prince starts tapping his finger on his chair. He's quite the impatient lad.

“No, Andreas was your childhood playmate before his family lost their money to gambling debts. He started working here this year.” Lowe answers, tilting his head wondering what the Prince expects to gain when those are things he's already aware of. Is he though? Maybe he truly lost his memory, but if that's the case, how did he remember about the mana pact? Lowe wonders but tries not to transpire his worries. “Conrad started a bit prior, he used to be a talented magician but he lost his powers recently and ended up working here.”

So they both lost something and came here to work for me. Why? Nikias reflects. “What are your honest opinions about my relationship with them?” Both men are puzzled, they aren't sure if this is a test or if the Prince is genuine about his questions. However, even if they wanted to butter up to him, they can't, as the pact also forces you to always be honest to the subject of the pact.

“Honestly, they were manipulating you a lot”, Raphael sighs. “They started pinning you against the Crown Prince and saying that he would kill you when he rises to the throne”. That's… it makes sense, but why would Nikias fall for such obvious tricks?

“If I may, your highness, you always had low self-esteem”. Lowe is the one speaking now. Ha, that must be a joke, Nikias? Low self-esteem? Him? With that face? That body? Well, sure his personality was described as the worst in the Empire but low self-esteem? That's simply unbelievable.

“Did I never look in the mirror?” He chuckles, but he knows that the men can't lie.

“As you can see”, Lowe points to the various mirrors in the room. “You did, however we cannot say what was the reason for your self-doubt.”

“If I may speculate, it's probably because your highness isn't good at anything, differently from your brother”, Raphael speaks out of line but he doesn't lie. Nikias did feel an inferiority complex towards Alkaios, and maybe that escalated and became hatred and self loathing, that's actually quite possible.

“I see,” Nikias says, bringing his hand towards his chin. “Can you tell me, why did you start working at the palace?”.

The brothers gaze at each other, they seem a bit wary of telling Nikias the reason, but it’s not like they can avoid it. ‘’We were sold to the magician’s tower of the north, as…’’ Raphael speaks but trails off, seemingly unable to continue his words. 

Lowe speaks up to complete his brother’s words. It looks like Lowe is more controlling while Raphael is more emotional. ‘’Experiment subjects’’.

Nikias is a little taken aback by the brothers claim, he knows they aren’t lying, they can’t lie to him either way, however, the books never mentioned anything about the magicians experimenting with children gifted with mana. ‘’What exactly were those experiments?’’ The question seems to bother Raphael, but Lowe answers with an expressionless face.

‘’We were children of the slums, they offered our parents food and a home in exchange for our lives. They agreed’’ It seems like even the pure-hearted heroine doesn’t know all the evil in this Empire. The thoughts of the man isn’t too far off, since Evangelia had a strong moral during the novel it was to expect that she would persecute all the evil-doers in the Empire, especially since she becomes Empress by the end of the second book, but it seems like even she, doesn’t know all that happens inside the Empire she was supposed to rule with love. 

‘’Afterwards we were sent to the tower, that place…’’ Lowe’s words falter, even his cold exterior can’t hide the disgust he feels towards it. ‘’They experiment on mana gifted children like us, they buy us from our parents in the slums and do what their hearts desire with us.’’

‘’They’re disgusting’’, Raphael finally finds the courage to speak. ‘’We ran away when we were 16, we spent 10 years inside that hell’’.

‘’Later we decided to come to the capital and report it to the knights’’, Lowe laughs at their previous selves, at their naivety and their disgusting hope. He rushes his fingers through his short disheveled brown hair, averting his eyes from the Prince’s, uncomfortable, yet the anger transpiring through his tone ‘’But they drove us off because of our stench’’. The knights have sworn to protect those in need, but it seems that not all of them are truthful to their oath. Some even only obey the orders of the Emperor or the Crown Prince. Nikias was often the subject of the knights foul mouths.

‘’So, after we decided to work as mercenaries, there’s where we met you sir’’. Raphael seems calmer soon as the story doesn’t mention the tower anymore, it’s probably a subject they find hard to talk about. ‘’You were kidnaped by us, but the ransom never came’’.

Nikias was kidnapped at 14? Why? And if the royal family adores him so much, why did the ransom never come? Something isn’t right. However, even if the story doesn’t make sense, the men aren’t the ones lying. 

‘’Our boss pitied you and asked us to take you back’’, it sounds more like a joke, in order to survive, the youngest prince had to resort to the pity of a mercenary. ‘’When we were back you asked if we were up for hire’’.

‘’The money was good so we accepted’’. Their reason is quite free-spirited, it also seems that they were after money to survive more than the pride of lowering themselves to a foul-mouthed Prince. ‘’Don’t get us wrong, being a mercenary wasn't that bad but compared to the calm life as your servant, it’s considerably worse.’’

‘’Yeah, we have warm beds and warm food, that’s not something a kid from the slums can acquire easily’’ Lowe says with a weak smile, his dull black eyes meeting the Prince’s again as the subject of conversation lightens, Nikias understands the men better now, they weren’t fortunate like him and they were grateful for the opportunity they couldn’t acquire otherwise. As someone that lived three years on the streets, it is a sentiment I quite understand. If someone offered me a job that gave me security, a roof and food? Maybe I wouldn't have been… Well there is no use wondering about the past.

‘’I understand’’, the second Prince says with a sigh. Accepting the whims of a spoiled brat is better than starving, that's for sure. ‘’But what I don’t understand is, why no one paid for my ransom?’’

The brothers seem as confused as him. ‘’We don’t know’’, Raphael says.

‘’After we started working for you we saw how much the Emperor and Empress appreciate you, so we truly don’t understand why you were abandoned like that’’ Lowe continues. Abandoned… If Nikias felt like they abandoned him, they would be able to manipulate him easily. Yeah, that’s probably it, a mercenary would never let go of a good prisoner, unless someone told him to make it feel like Nikias was left alone and no one would come for him. 

‘’Did you guys ever observed someone really close to me, but they seemed suspicious in your eyes?’’ Nothing beats the observation skills of those who were always on guard, waiting for their deaths.

‘’Now that you mention it…’’ Raphael says with a contemplative expression. ‘’There was one of the Dukes that visited you quite often… what was his name again…’’

‘’Duke Sawdon’’ Lowe says with a disgusted expression. ‘’He always treats you like his servant, yet you seem to adore the man’’.

Sawdon, that name was never in the novel. It seems that knowing the novel doesn’t mean I’ll know all that will happen here on forward. The novel was more focused on war and diplomacy than the politics inside the Exos Empire. Nikias nods, he’s out of questions for now, he acquired more knowledge about himself and his surroundings. The man has a great deduction skill, but that doesn’t help if you don’t have the facts to deduct the information from. When he lived as Vahe, the man was constantly praised by his wits and his capability to survive on his own.

‘’One last question,’’ Nikias says after some thought, ‘’How does one have their mana measured?’’ The question makes the brothers sigh, it seems that the old Nikias always talked about his own mana a lot, or better, the lack thereof.

‘’Your highness, it’s impossible for you to suddenly have mana, mana is bound to one’s soul’’ Lowe answers, annoyed. ‘’Unless your soul changes, there's nothing to measure’’. The pact seems to loosen their tongues as they don’t seem scared of speaking the truth, well, even if they wanted to appease the Prince with white lies, they wouldn’t be able to anymore. 

Their honesty is something Nikias likes. As now I know they'll always be sincere, it is nice to have people around me that have lives similar to my own. Even if he can't say that out loud, as Prince Nikias lived quite differently from Vahe.

‘’Just answer my question’’, just because he appreciates their honesty, doesn’t mean they’re allowed to go against him anyway. 

‘’There’s a device in the palace’’ Lowe sighs.

‘’Can you fetch it for me?’’ Nikias smiles, in the other men’s eyes, the smile is as creepy as it can be, almost mischievous, as if he’s planning something interesting. Of course the servants can’t read his mind, but the smile is enough to make them shiver. 

‘’Yes, your highness’’, the brothers answer at the same time. Nikias shakes his hands, signaling for the men to move at once.