True Identity

Author's Reply - Someone asked me if there's going to be a smut scene in the future, let me tell you there will be. If it wasn't the case then I wouldn't have put 18+ in the tags. 

However, it would be still far off in the future because I refuse to write a smut without a proper context or plot that is acceptable for me, besides he's still a kid physically at this point and if I were to make a smut right now it would either look like a child p*rn or a shotacon hentai.

—

"M-mistress Frieren! I apologize for my unsightly display, I didn't know you disliked your fame!" Lawine once again apologized, this was becoming more common as the time went.

At this point this girl has apologized to me several times already, and then to Frieren next.

After explaining to her that Frieren dislikes her fame and the center of attention, she realized why Frieren was hiding away from her, right now she was behind my back cautiously looking at Lawine's form.

It kind of reminds me of a cat or sort, either way, thanks to this somehow Frieren broke from her shell and was now standing beside me and not from behind.

Lawine's willingness to acknowledge her mistake was something that Frieren could appreciate, now if only the others could learn from her.

"It's fine…at the very least you acknowledge it, unlike those nobles from the castle…" Frieren shuddered as she recalled the event which happened a while ago.

Lawine could only look at her with sympathy, which was a bit strange. Why would she sympathize with her? Did she perhaps experience something similar?

"Right, who are you anyway? Why are you with Stark?" Frieren asked without any particular reason.

"Ah, yes. I haven't properly introduced myself aren't I? I'm…" Lawine stared at me for a bit, then continued. "Lawine von Zentrale Länder."

Bending her knees a bit, gently grabbing her dress to the side and bowed a bit as she introduced her full name.

This act alone was a greeting solely to those who are part of nobility, although I don't recognize her last name, but apparently Frieren did which was a surprise considering she's the type of person that won't bother remembering things like this.

"That last name…are you perhaps..?"

Lawine shook her head and replied, "It's not what you think, the current king isn't my father but instead his younger brother who is the current Erzherzog (archduke) of the kingdom."

Now that's a plot twist, I knew that she was a noble but to think she's part of royalty! Her father's rank is just below the king!

If that's the case then, why didn't the guards didn't allow her to get inside the castle?

Wait, now that I think about it. It was strange that she spoke with those guards for a bit and after that they acted like she's a stranger.

It was an obvious ploy of her asking them not to tell me about her status, which I honestly couldn't blame her for. With how important she is in this kingdom I'm quite surprised that she didn't have a guard or two alongside her.

There's also the fact that in a few years from now on, she will participate in the First-Class Mage exam which is famous for its difficulty and high death rate.

Why did her family even allow her to participate in such a dangerous exam? Did something happen in the future for her to risk it?

Honestly, I'm curious but I didn't have the answer. After all, my knowledge is a bit spotty and too specialized for me to know each character's background.

Although I was surprised for a bit, it didn't really last long, so what if she's part of royalty? In the end I don't care much as long as it doesn't affect my life.

Lawine glanced at my direction after she fully introduced herself, expecting something from me.

"What? Did you expect me to be shocked or something?" Judging from her surprise, I'll take that as a yes.

"W-well, a bit yes, most people would be surprised to hear it." Lawine quickly regained her composure.

"I was surprised, but it didn't really stick as I'm already aware of your nobility status." I pointed it out.

Lawine blinked in surprise and replied. "You do?"

"Well, yes considering the quality of your outfit and not everyone wears a dress, then there's also your postures and manners, anyone who isn't stupid would be able to guess your high status upbringings, but I didn't expect you to be part of royalty which was something surprising for me." I admitted what I noticed of her.

Lawine looked embarrassed at my observation of her, then stared back at me with a somewhat bitter expression.

Which was a bit confusing, however it didn't take me long to understand why she's acting like this.

Then I quickly let her know that it's completely unnecessary. "Lawine, listen I don't care about your background, even if it turns out that you're a princess. I will not change the way I treat you, it matters not if you're the archduke's daughter, to me you're just Lawine, a mage apprentice that I met today."

Hearing that from my mouth, her previous expression immediately disappeared replacing a surprised and relieved look on her face. "Truly?"

"Truly, so don't worry about me treating you differently because it will be happening soon, or do you want me to?" 

"No, no! I'm fine with this! Remain the way you are, I won't accept anything less from you, thank goodness my first friend in a long time won't suddenly act respectfully like the others.."  Lawine realized that she blurted the last part as an accident because she got caught off at the moment, which showed her feelings about friends acting differently toward her after knowing her status.

"Oh? I'm your friend? I didn't know that." I teased her.

Lawine looked flustered at that, and quickly replied. "A-are we not friends..?"

"We are, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks we're friends." It wasn't hard for someone to befriend me, if you just have a decent conversation with me and our interests align then we're already friends.

There's no need for something complicated.

"I'm happy about your friendship and all, but it's already afternoon, Stark and I have to find an inn so stay in for the night." Frieren reminded me.

"Oh, right I suppose it's for us to separate for today." I replied as I looked at Lawine.

Who was looking at the two of us with a surprised look and said. "I haven't really asked this before because I wasn't sure, but what exactly is the relationship between you and Mistress Frieren? I don't think that the two of you are merely acquaintances."

That's a fair question, what exactly is my relationship with Frieren?

A few weeks ago, I would say she's merely a stranger, then a few days after my 'companion', a week after traveling with her my 'mentor'.

Right now, my relationship with her is…

"Her student and caretaker." That's basically how I define my relationship with her, she's technically also my friend but I don't think she sees me that way.

Frieren probably sees me as an interesting human child that she's with and occasionally teaching that child a spell, and that's it.

Lawine totally ignored the last part, she only focused on the first word of my sentence. "Mistress Frieren is your magic teacher?! No way! No wonder you had that much mana! If your teacher is the mage of the hero's party then it's no surprise for you to be that powerful despite being younger than me!"

As if she found the missing piece of a near complete puzzle and solved it after. Lawine totally misunderstood my situation.

And Frieren herself didn't really refute her statement, making her solidify my standing as Frieren's disciple.

Nor do I have any intention of correcting it, because it's a perfect cover in the near future if someone asked me about my unusual mana reserve for my age.

With this as my background, people aside from Frieren wouldn't question my magic abilities completely acknowledging it thanks to Frieren's fame and won't ask me things that would lead to the existence of the community.

—

It took her a while to calm down and as if she finally understood the mystery about my background, she said. "Mistress Frieren and Stark, if the two of you don't mind, I want to invite you to my family's mansion to stay in for the night, so that you won't bother looking for an inn anymore."

I'm completely fine with it, after all who doesn't want free accommodation and besides sleeping in a mansion beats any kind of inn.

However, the decision lies with Frieren, but thankfully she didn't mind and reply. "Sure, it's better than looking for an inn tonight."

Lawine excitedly said, "Please follow me! You surely won't regret this, now let's go."

After that we followed her to where her family mansion is.

—

Author Notes: Well, they're staying at the capital for a few chapters at most, then after that there would be another time-skip.

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