I give her a wink as I finish my words, and you can practically see her freeze. I can easily imagine a loading symbol above her head. I give the now-even-more-shy Alonso a glance but focus mostly on Aria and her reaction. She does not blush, but the question certainly gave her pause. Interestingly, after she 'restarts', it does not seem like she dislikes the idea. Instead, there is a small glint in her eyes. Further musing is temporarily put on pause as she coughs lightly into her fist and answers.

"Very well. First question; are you a noble?"

Seems like a wasteful question to be honest, but it's actually a bit tricky for me personally. While back in the game I was granted a noble title, I am not even sure whether that kingdom still exists. After all, while I do not know all the noble families, I do know a good bit, and the Acquarone house is not familiar at all. Besides, while the commoners might be a different matter, most nobles should have heard of me, thanks to the actions that led to my Child of War title. Thinking up to here, and recognising the fact that if that kingdom did fall, then my noble title no longer exists, I can only answer honestly.

"I'm not sure."

Clearly, she was not expecting that answer and she jumps onto my response.

"What do you mean?"

Should I just outright ask if that kingdom still exists? That would be giving away quite a deal of information though. While I do not mind if it comes about naturally, I still want to enjoy this air of mystery. Not to mention that if it turns out that the kingdom has been gone for millennia or something, then things might become inconvenient. Her question was certainly valid though, so maybe I should just let her treat this one as a freebie and give her another? That'd be unsatisfying though...ah, whatever, I'll just go ahead and give her a chance to find out. In the worst scenario, I can just kill this bunch and start over with someone else.

"Mmm, answering that question is a bit difficult, so let's do this. I can just ignore this question, so you still get three more, or I can explain my answer, but that'll cost you a kiss."

If the glint in her eyes earlier was not just my imagination, she'll probably count that as two wins in one, unless her noble pride doesn't want to let me get one over her. She looks like she's thinking at the moment, but I feel it's less about whether to take the deal and more just making guesses regarding the reasoning of my answer. Soon enough she finished whatever it was that she ruminated about and nodded her head at me.

"I choose the latter."

I smile lightly, and after a moment, I decided to collect the kiss later. Well, time to do some explanation I suppose.

"I do not know whether the kingdom that gave me my noble title is still standing, so I do not know whether I am still a noble or not."

I see her narrow her eyes, so I figure I might as well do her the favour and tidy it up.

"Yes, I am aware that kingdoms don't just fall overnight. Alas, I found myself awake after an unknown period of time. While I did not have a chance to investigate yet, I do have a few reasons to believe that the time passed has been significant."

As I speak, I see her return to her earlier demeanour. Her back is straightened, her eyes boring into me, and her expression is mostly neutral. Even Alonso, who I admit I have been somewhat ignoring in favour of his sister, no longer looked like a shy mess, but a sharp young master, even if he still is noticeably introverted. Well, at least they are competent, a good sign as far as I'm concerned.

"Since I already said so much, would you happen to know about the Kingdom of Barulgia?"

It takes only a moment for her to furrow her brows, her eyes in deep thought. Well, that's already a sure sign that it's not around. Still, I let her think as long as she wishes. Or I would, if not for the fact that I can hear someone approaching again. Soon enough, Grande's voice sounds once more.

"Miss Aria, we are ready to continue."

Aria, apparently still in thought, just gives out a simple, "Go ahead", and continues thinking. Grande does not seem to mind, as soon enough the carriage starts moving, and I can hear the horses trotting beside it. Two on each side, and two pulling the carriage. Based on the sound, Grande and someone else is at the front of the carriage driving it. Now that we have started, I can appreciate the cushioning even more. While the ride is not as bad as I would have expected of a world that likely does not have suspension springs, it might have been a mild annoyance anyway if the seats were of a worse condition. Ah, the benefits of nobility. Eventually, Aria seems to snap out of thought and shares a small look with Alonso before facing me, with a slightly complicated expression.

"I have not heard of a kingdom of that name. While I did not research history extensively, I am still aware of all human kingdoms that exist or have existed in the past six hundred years. I would consider that it may have existed on another continent, but you did talk about the Ancient Empire..."

Six hundred years at the very least, and could easily be more I suppose. Well, considering my circumstances that is not exactly anything special. Now that I think about it, might be better like this anyway. No need to worry about previous relationships and I get to enjoy all the changes that have happened. Still, I hope my forest is still alright; I liked the home I built there, not to mention all my collections. Technically it should be protected strongly, since I did base my domain over it, the magical defences should all have enough mana to run indefinitely...in theory anyway. Hundreds of years can bring a lot of change, might just be that some bored powerhouse decided to go ransack me.

"Hmm, I wonder if that means that if someone asks my age, I will have to say I'm over six hundred years old? Makes me seem like an old hag pretending to be young..."

I give a playful sigh at the end of that, hoping to ease their moods. Clearly, before this, they still believed me to be around their age, so this revelation is probably a surprise. Though even if we do not count the period of time I was 'missing', my character age was still fifty-something. They'll probably also guess that I am not human, though that's not exactly something I was planning to keep a secret. Seeing them let out small smiles, I consider it a success. Time to go back to the topic and get myself more kisses.

"Well, I suppose that means I am not a noble. Your second question?"

Apparently, Aria does not seem to want to dwell on the topic of my age either, though I am sure she will be keeping it in mind anyway, as she responds right away while leaning back and relaxing again.

"I had different questions originally, but they would not be as useful now. Considering your circumstances...Do you have a soul-bound title?"

A smart question indeed, seems she is taking figuring out my identity seriously. While titles can be gained by anyone for nearly anything, soul-bound titles are a little different. While a soul-bound title is not necessarily unique, they are still titles that have been inscribed into a soul. While circumstances vary, it is generally based on two things; the actions and the people. Firstly, the actions, means that the action or actions related to the title are grand enough to make a presence in your soul. Secondly, the people, simply means that your title must be recognised enough that the wills of the people can act on the presence, and burn it into you. The more powerful the people, the more their will is worth, so you can get a soul-bound title even if it's not recognised by a lot of people, as long as those that recognise it are strong enough.
A good way of understanding is that the actions are like dry fuel, while the will of the people is what ignites that fuel. A title becoming soul-bound requires the fire to burn long and be large enough. If you don't have enough fuel, the fire will burn out before it can make a difference. If you try using only a tiny spark to ignite it, instead of a torch, then the fuel could simply not catch fire long enough to not go out.

Now, as far as I am concerned, then the answer is yes. Both Child of War and Mother of Elvenheim are soul-bound titles. I should even be able to feel them in my soul once I try to look for them, which might be actually interesting to find out; I am curious what my soul is like, considering the fact I transmigrated here and all. Well, I'll try that another time.

"Clever girl. Yes, I do. Your third question?"

She seems to have a mixed reaction at that. Part of her is glad, perhaps because it'll be easier to figure out who I am that way; soul-bound titles aren't exactly common after all. The other part...well, I am not sure, interestingly enough. My senses for what others are feeling is certainly much sharper than it was before, I blame that on the social skills I collected in-game, but I suppose it's not enough to read people like a book. Well, soon enough she is ready to ask the final question.

"Are you an Apostle?"

I must admit, I was not expecting that question. Alonso had a slightly worried expression on his face at the question, not that I can blame him. Apostles were the chosen of a Deity, sometimes more than one. While a Deity could have many followers and could bless them accordingly, each Deity can have no more than one Apostle. An Apostle and their Deity were tightly connected, and while the details are unknown, having an Apostle comes at some sort of cost to the Deity, as they only have one when the times call for it.

In the game, the plot starts with the player becoming the Apostle of Fate. A Deity with no followers in the world, totally unknown. Investigating the identity of Fate is considered the main plotline, but the game kept it quite loose and many people did not even bother with it. Personally, I finished the plotline early by accident. There are many endings of course, but most of them centre on finding out who or what Fate is, and why you became their Apostle. On the other hand, I simply cut the connection between Fate and me, causing me to no longer be its Apostle. It was an accident because I was actually trying to get rid of a curse placed on me. The curse was very strong as it attached itself right to my soul rather than my body, so I tried to experiment with my domain, channelling its power into soul magic, which I then tried to use to cut off the curse. I was successful, but as it turns out, a tad too successful. Because my level of soul magic was not that high, I did not condense the power enough, effectively making it that instead of a scalper I used a meat cleaver, cutting off both the curse and the connection to Fate at once.

Honestly, that was a bit bittersweet. In the game, being the Apostle of Fate meant I had accelerated experience gains in any skill or magic, which was basically how the game went about making the player the main character. Once I cut that off, I lost that benefit. Most of it anyway, I somehow absorbed part of it when destroying the connection, so I still learned faster than the NPCs. It did give me some other benefits though, the most notable being a unique passive skill, along with a bonus to my domain. The former was called I belong to myself, and made me immune to any mortal soul curses, and gave me a huge bonus to resisting any influence on my soul, the bonus was doubled when the being trying to cause an influence was a deity. The bonus to my domain not only made channelling its power into my spells easier, but it also made it possible to have two domains at once.

Still, I suppose I should answer, I am not an Apostle anymore after all.

"No, I am not."

Her relief was obvious, same for Alonso, which makes sense. It's not so much that being an Apostle would be an issue, as much as the fact that it would signify something big is coming. Deities don't just appoint Apostles for no reason, after all. Be it some huge foreign threat, a war between Deities or anything else, the appearance of Apostles is rarely a good sign.

"Well, now that this is over, how about those two kisses you owe me?"

No way am I letting her forget, or let her think that she can get away with it if she doesn't mention it herself. Right away, you can see Alonso become a bit red, while Aria looks a bit annoyed. No need to pretend you don't want this honey.

"You never said the kisses need to be right away, can we do them...later?"

Hmm, playing hard to get? Or maybe, I think for a bit and glance at Alonso, maybe she does not want her brother to see it? I do not mind an audience personally, it does spice things up a bit, but I suppose I will let her off since it's true that I did not specify when the kisses must happen. I'll figure something out though.

"Well, alright."

Just like that, I turn my head back to face the ceiling and close my eyes. Since it's a matter of waiting for us to arrive or be attacked, I might as well take the chance to think a little, be it about what I should do moving forward, as well as what my situation is like. After all, I am far from finished inspecting what I can do.

Probably a bit uncomfortable with just talking between each other without involving me in the conversation, the siblings just stay silent during the journey, perhaps they went to sleep themselves.

I inspect what I can, which is not all that much. I am not actually casting any spells, so I cannot see their effect, but through what I can best describe as meditation, I somewhat dive into my magic schools. The best way I can describe it is that it's like looking at a starry night sky, and bursts of colour appear around certain stars, representing the magic I have access to.

The biggest is my Nature magic, a big green blob in the centre of the sky. Blood and Illusion are both next in line, more or less equal. Past that, there are dozens of splashes everywhere, a consequence of me trying a little bit of everything I suppose.

The splashes of colour aren't standalone either. Overlapping is common, as some things just aren't standalone. Mixing with all the colours are other aspects related to magic, such as enchanting, which relies on imbuing magic into forms, as well as magic circles, not so much as a type of magic, but more of a method of using it. Maybe for normal people, it would not even be so visible; but to me, magic circles, and runes which are also visible here and there, were integral parts of how I use my magic. While in small engagements they were hardly necessary, it is thanks to them that I could lay waste to entire armies. The magnificent view of hundreds of beings bursting into a bloody mess, and then using another magic circle to use that blood to kill twice that again, stays with me to this day.

I gaze at these colours, feeling my connection to them, and just like that hours pass.

As the sun goes down and night comes to be, Grande knocks lightly from the front of the carriage.

"Miss Aria, we will be stopping to rest now.”

I open my eyes and find both Aria and Alonso to be asleep, both leaning on the walls of the carriage. I stretch lightly and talk to Grande in a quiet tone.

"Miss Aria and Mister Alonso are both asleep. Will you be preparing any food for the evening?"

Grande, taking my cue, also responds in a quiet voice.

"Yes, we were planning to make a simple meal, Miss Aria and Mister Alonso have some higher quality food for themselves as well."

As he answers, I get up calmly and look at the siblings for a bit. After a brief moment, I take out a small pillow from my inventory and place it down where I was laying and then I lightly pick up Aria, taking care to not wake her, and place her down on my seat so she can lay down with her head on the pillow. I take out another one and place it on the other seat too, shifting Alonso so he is laying down as well. I finish by taking out two blankets and covering them. While doing all that, I respond to Grande after he finished.

"I will go stretch my legs a bit then, though I'll be close by in case someone arrives. I have good hearing, so shout loudly and I will come back right away."

He responds with a brief, "Alright", and I exit the carriage. I look at the guards setting up for a little while, and then head out to the nearby forest, as it would seem the carriage has been driving alongside it.

Perhaps I should hunt something to let them have a nice meal?

MarkedBites

Infodump chapter, but that's just how it goes sometimes.