The Magus Teacher

From the moment she was born, Anna had always questioned her purpose in life. She did not wish to call herself one of the "purposeless", living a life with no sense of direction, as one who merely lived from day to day with no real meaning to the events transpiring around them. A passerby, if you will. Even when she lived outside these castle walls as a mere breadmaker living with her parents, Anna had always yearned to make every moment of every second of her life count. One might laugh at the notion of a supernatural being(with an extended lifespan) questioning the meaning of their lives, but to her, it was meaningful to think that way.

If she lived to see a thousand years, why was it such a crime to ruminate on such an important issue? Watching her sister become a soldier in the army of the venerable knights of the West had caused her to consider her own goals more seriously than she had expected.

She could not fight as well as her sister did; the thought of combat never even graced her mind. In no uncertain terms, Anna believed that she was no different than a mere bystander watching things unfold before them, content with her meager livelihood.

When she was introduced and fell in love with one of the royal members of the Leonhardt family, her life had been turned upside down, for better and most certainly worse. She was tortured and interrogated over the disappearance of a single man; a man that she thought she had loved with every fiber of her soul. That single event altered everything. She was too weak to save her village from being burned or to protect her sister(not that she needed it), to save her parents who were - in all likelihood - deceased.


She did not wish for that event to be meaningless. She almost died. She was weak. She could not fight. There were so many things she told herself after it was over--- after she had survived that tumultuous tragedy in her life. From that day forward, the young magus-in-training vowed that she would stand on her own two feet. No longer wishing to be a burden to her loved ones, wishing to protect those she could call "loved ones", Anna decided to become a participant on the battlefield.

When her sister pledged her loyalty to the new King, she felt that to be the best course of action. And so, she researched ways of developing her supernatural prowess, seeking the best path towards her realizing her dream. As she had no sacred nor the proper skill to acquire a guardian beast as a partner, Anna chose to become a Magus. She made that decision partly because of the revelation that a passing magus had told her of her potential, of how if she had delved into the mystic arts earlier in her life, she would be one of the supreme warriors to walk the land. The magician also told her of a suggestion as to who could teach her...

Roaming the kitchen hall located within the castle, she had now currently found herself preparing a meal for the guest that she hoped would arrive. To be sure, Anna had never personally met the individual she was inviting to have a meal with her.... but the rumor around the castle is that he was always busy. To her knowledge, he did not yet have a defined role within the kingdom's hierarchy, affiliated with them currently in name only. However, his reputation was well-known through these walls and she had seen pictures of him through research. Zunza Lowellen. Some of the maids had entered the dining hall to set down the plates of food she had finished preparing not long ago. She was by no means a culinary master but Anna was very familiar with cooking enough to make an enjoyable meal if nothing else. Bowing to the maids and seeing them off with a beaming smile, she directed herself to one of the seats, hoping that the man of the hour had gotten her invite so that they might discuss a very important matter.

There had been, for the last few weeks at least, a number of requests that had been fielded to him from random aristocrats who were looking to have tasks done. After all, Johan and Zunza were close, mind you not too close, but it was clear that the two of them were after the same thing. Sugiuran superiority. Mind you their methods and thoughts about how they were to obtain that superiority were extremely different as Zunza was extremely interested in aligning with multitudes of species, much like the North, to strengthen their position. Sadly, Johan was like a rock that just wouldn't budge no matter how much he tried. Still, he took great pride in being a member of the Western Hierarchy and working to establish the West's glorious kingdom as it was put under new leadership. Still, the tasks that he was being handed were not too "worthy" of a man of his caliber, but then again he understood why these tasks were being assigned to him.

Not everyone was on board with the "Pariah" joining the Western Hierarchy or being as close to the new king as he was. So the tasks that he was being handed were not of glamour nor of actual diplomatic relevance. Some of them were little more than people asking for him to fetch important documents to bring to their office or to deal with unsavory sorts who were taking up residence near a well established royal house's manor. Needless to say, it was grunt work, but Zunza didn't mind. He didn't want to live up to their expectations of what a Pariah should be, and instead wanted to live up to the image of a man who was looking to rebuild his own family's name. Not that his family name meant much more than genetic selection and forced marriages to create the stronger offspring, but he wanted his family name to mean more than that. The pursuit of knowledge and the quest to preserve Sugiuran society among other things.

"Good work...that will be all for now.", said an aristocrat who had asked for some parcels from the grand library as he simply brushed off Zunza's existence with a wave of his hand. Zunza bowed and opened one of his special dimension doors and entered into his own pocket dimension to warp himself back to what had become his room: one of the many upper rooms in the grand library. Sitting down, with a loud thud at a desk cluttered with many different books on magical theory, Zunza thought about calling it a day, and diving into a cluster of books he had obtained from the library early this morning. He let out an audible sigh as he closed the book on advance psion manipulation theory and then tilted his head as he spotted a nearby letter laying on his desk. Perhaps a maid had came by, though things still looked as untidy as ever, and dropped off this letter on his desk. Perhaps another noble wanted him to save their cat, he mused.

He didn't hesitate to open the letter, finding inside a nicely written request for dinner, and checking the time he realized that he had mere moments to get ready. After all, it was impolite to turn down an invitation to dinner, and even more so he was quite famished from spending hours doing tasks for ungrateful nobles. Still, he did find it odd as he undressed, and redressed into more formal clothing, that someone would invite him to dinner with his reputation. He was after all to many, the Pariah, even though he wasn't such a bad guy. Still, reputation and gossip were king within the noble family circles, and that had been evident from the moment he had arrived in the capital. It didn't matter how much he had tried to shake it as he had dealt with the prejudice, but it hadn't matter how hard he had tried to work on that image. Well, until now. A person by the name of Anna wished to speak to him and he was more than ready to enter dialogue with her about whatever she wanted to talk about, once he looked appropriate enough of course.


Dressing as well as he could with the meager selection of clothes that he had, he opened another door to his pocket dimension, and entered inside of it taking only a moment to register the location he was heading to before exiting his realm right in what appeared to be a dining hall. His appearance in the hall would shock a few of the maids, but would probably be heavily interesting for anyone who was an aspiring magus. After all this wasn't something that was absolutely normal to see. "I am here to see the lady of the house. Sorry for the scare, it wasn't my intention.", he stated with absolute honest as he gave them a calm smile.

A smile graced Anna's lips as she saw the regal magus enter the dining hall. From first impressions alone she had discerned him to be an incredibly sophisticated man, as his clothing left nothing to be desired, appearing as if he were a member of royalty himself. The maids passed by Zunza, greeted him as was customary, and left the two to their quarters. Maintaining her joyful expression, Anna rose from her lavished seat as she bowed reverently before him. To a man coming from a lineage of such prestigious magi, she wanted her manners and the atmosphere to be as gracious as possible.

She had prepared the table in a graceful formation; the preparations for each meal were handled with genuine compassion as well as some research conducted personally by Anna, who analyzed the information she received from those around the castle who had served him meals. As a special addition, she had even prepared a delectable array of sweetened bread, an exclusive family recipe passed down from her mother. If one consumed enough of it, it was said to have healing properties, according to her parents. Whether that was a myth they used to make her eat it or an undeniable fact they took pride in, Anna could never tell.


From the archaic furniture to the anachronistic artwork adorning each wall within the room, one would be hard pressed not to admit that the young maiden hadn't given it her best to make him feel accommodated. In all fairness, nearly all of this furniture - from the pictures to pieces collected from museums on earth - belonged to Johan.

She could not accept praise for something outside of her station. On the other hand, it was nevertheless a welcomed addition, adding a marvelous nuance to the meal they would indulge in.

What was her reasoning behind wanting this dinner to go so smoothly? Zunza, possessing magical prowess not readily found in any mere Magus, stood at a precipice of talent that Anna could only dream of attaining. Therefore, her intentions should have been clear to anyone present within the room. If there was any confusion, she hoped to be as clear and concise as necessary, avoiding any misunderstandings.


"Such a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Zunza Lowellen. Up to this point, I had only seen pictures of you from the archives. As we're both serving under Johan, I find it surprising that we've never personally met one another beyond this dinner... but there hardly a need to complain now that you've accepted my invite. I hope everything is to your liking. As far as meal preference goes, I hope what I've prepared will please your pallet. I only had fragments of ideas to go off of from the maids around the castle who have personally met you. In any case, may we begin?"


Anna decided to return to her chair as she kept her gaze locked on the regal magus. She did not intend to let this chance go to waste.

His magic had not shocked her as much as some of the others he had encountered over his many months spent cooped up inside of the walls of the Western capitol and that surprised him enough to arch a brow. The maids, who had originally been quite shocked by his sudden appearance out of thin air, gave their good days as if nothing had happened, but he could tell by the way they left the dining hall that they were actually quite interested in how he had accomplished such a feat of magical expertise. He gave a slight smile and even a quaint wave to them as they left, feeling pretty good about himself that they were impressed rather than spending their time flinging insults at him. Yes, this was much better. After the faintest foot steps of the maids left ear shot, Zunza turned himself toward the lavish spread upon the finely decorated table.

His eyes scoured over the finely crafted and elegantly placed platters of food that had all been hand made and with purpose. There was a flare of compassion that seemed to emanate from the delicacies placed before him, each dish having been made with motivation and purpose, but also made to be as delectable as possible. Even more shocking was the fact that several of his favorite foods were present. It seemed the young lady had been paying him a great deal of attention since he had arrived in the capitol. While creepy in a way, he could respect that she had least taken the initiative to know the man who she had invited to dinner. What was even more impressive is that she would go to such lengths to insure that he was comfortable and even more so welcome here despite his heritage and the ire his family name drew from the more "loyal" nobles and citizenry.

He adjusted his glasses as the young lady neared him and turned away from the savory treats on silver platters to take her in for who she was. She had an air of elegance about her, beautiful, and proper. It seemed odd to him that such a person would take any interest in him what so ever, but he was more than willing to hear out what sort of proposal she had for him, and to also enjoy the meal she had prepared. To be honest, he was quite famished, and had not eaten in probably close to a day due to obligations and meetings that he was required to deal with and be a part of. Not that he was complaining, but sometimes these things did interfere with his research, and his lunching hours. Still, he found himself staring at the young lady, and averted his eyes to not be blinded by the radiance of her beauty or to draw her ire.

She spoke to him calmly and with a tone of preparedness that the young man Zunza just didn't have to give her at that moment. She knew a bit about him, but to him? Well to him Lady Anna was a mystery wrapped in an adorable package. He nodded his head as she finished saying what she had to say. Learning a bit about her from the minuet details presented by her own statement, but not enough to give her a reply that would have even half as much nuance or conviction.

"You know a bit about me it seems, so you can color me surprised that you would ask me out to have a meal with you. The Lowelen family after all isn't too popular around the kingdom as of late, not for lack of my own trying to restore our name, but due to the disappearance of my father. I assumed the reason that we have never met is because the other nobles tried their best to keep me busy and as far away from the capitol as possible and for that I am quite sorry we never had even a moment to openly hold a conversation.", Zunza stated in earnest the only things that he could think of to explain them never crossing paths before, but in reality there could have been plenty of reasons. Still, this reasoning was not without flaws, but it was the only thing that he could muster as a reasonable excuse.

"You, of course, have me at a disadvantage my lady. I only know your first name, but yet you know a great deal more about me. Care to level the playing field a bit?", he said with a smile as she returned to her seat that she had been in before, eyes never leaving him, and causing him to fluster a bit in the process. He hadn't been stared at like this since the day he was born and those stares had not even been of love, but of a simple hunger for power. After all, he had been born with Mystic Eyes, the strongest ability that a Sugiuran could ever hope to achieve, and his eyes were special. So special in fact that he needed to wear glasses as to prevent intense pain and migraines while his eyes were open. He joined her at the table, never once dropping his gaze from the young lady as he sat down next to her, choosing to be more intimate over the common methods, and more noble teachings to sit at the other end of the table. They could talk to each other more coherently and without risk of mishearing one another this way.

Even if Zunza was taking a furtive glance as he beheld her lovely features, Anna hadn't noticed in the slightest, her attention focused solely on his words as he began to speak. His voice matched his handsome traits as he spoke with an air of sophistication in his tone. If she were to compare the two, his voice carried the same sort of maturity and grace that Johan did, albeit the two voices may have varied ever so slightly in terms of personality. If Zunza spoke with grace, Johan spoke with a domineering tone that sent shivers up the spine.

To her surprise, Zunza spoke of his father and his prior history with the kingdom, of how their reputation wasn't viewed in as positive a light as she first expected. However, those minor things mattered little to the vibrant woman, as her sole intention still revolved around serving a wonderful meal, to leave a lasting impression upon her guest.

Of course, she had her own reason for bringing him here, but if she had to delve slightly beyond the surface, then it wouldn't be false to assert that she wished to meet him in person.

In any case, Anna continued to listen to him as he gathered himself before speaking again, leaving her speechless, with a two-fold reason as the culprit. The first? She had forgotten to introduce herself! Reflecting upon her introduction--she sounded more akin to someone trying to host an interview than a dinner; mentally cursing herself for this critical blunder, she hoped it would not ruin the ambiance of the meal. She wanted to make him feel welcomed, not interrogated.

The second was that as soon as he reminded her of the fact that he knew little to nothing about her—he sat down beside her instead of at the end of the table, an action uncustomary from a man of noble status. This second action caused her to almost fall silent, her milky-white cheeks now tinged with red. She was at a loss of words right no.

He was significantly taller than her, as she had to direct her eyes upwards in order to maintain her focus. She wanted to keep the conversation engaging; Anna did not wish to bore him to death with information about herself. After all, even if she had accepted being welcomed into the kingdom long ago, she was still but a meager bread-making woman who had simply been given a stroke of luck – along with her sister – as a result of the kindheartedness of the King. Clearing her throat, she gathered some of her composure – which was steadily declining due to being so... near him, in his presence.

“Ah... m-my apologies! Where are my manners? Hehehehe... My name is Anna Lebenstein. I am the sister of Reinhilde Lebenstein, one of Johan's accomplished soldiers within the west's elite.

We are... two different people as you can tell. The battlefield is her mother, and she is its child... while I'm uh... as embarrassing as it is to admit it, I don't really have a defined role within the kingdom. I tagged along with my sister; that's the best way I could describe how we ended up here. As you well know, Johan has a generous heart, as he once told us he considers most of the west his family.

My sister requested that she serve him as his right hand... as for me, I don't properly know my fighting techniques. Therefore, my role is whatever tasks the maids or soldier might ask of me, as the symbol of morale. However, I'm not particularly content with that. A magus around this castle recently told me of my potential... and I wished to be able to explore it. Anyway... would you like try the food?”

Anna did not realize that she had forgotten to add the part about her wish to be trained by him. She really was poor at her negotiation methods; instead she found herself wanting to make him feel as appreciated as possible. She had no idea what these older noble folk had against him, but Anna Lebenstein would make him feel like a king! She gracefully cut the loaf of her “special” recipe bread, and brought it towards his mouth.

“Here, try this. It's a family delicacy, from the Lebenstein to you. “

When the pinkish hue of embarrassment passed over her face, Zunza realized that his original intent of making this a more intimate conversation had effected her in some form. Zunza had never noted himself as attractive as he had never had the time to spend on such vanity. He was a researcher, a Magus, and the head of a defunct noble house. There was no time for such trivial things as wondering if his hair looked okay or if his overcoat was properly buttoned as such thoughts distracted from his goals. Making the West the strongest kingdom and his pursuit of magical theories and research had always been paramount in his eyes and his endeavors. Sometimes that rubbed others the wrong way, well in reality it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way because he had very few "allies" within the capitol who understood him.

Most men and women were much too busy judging him for his name or for his eagerness to research magical theory which was easily mistaken for aloofness. He spent a great deal of his time away from the majority of other nobles, not because he wanted to, but because his magical studies always seemed to trump the company that he somehow found himself around. Most of the West favored a strong sword arm and physical aspects over the more ethereal arts of psion manipulation and magic. It was not anyone's fault save for the legacy left behind by the forefathers who had founded the kingdom as their ideals had trickled down much like a waterfall splashing down on the rocks that were his fellow country men. Johan understood him and a few of those he revered as friends seemed to at least accept him at a fundamental level.

She began to speak nervously at first, but gained some traction as she began to gain at least some momentum in getting her point across. She gave him her name and what a name it was! A well known soldier's sister, not just any soldier, but one of the elite few to be named as Johan's blade. An honor, truly an absolute honor that most warriors in their right mind always dreamed about gaining through either accomplishment on the battlefield or accomplishment in the council meetings. But Anna wasn't Reinhilde. She was Anna Lebenstein, a young lady who had yet to accomplish anything since her arrival at the capitol. It was clear from the way she spoke that she longed to do at least something of equal merit to her sister and he couldn't blame her as he understood what it was like trying to live up to one's family name. Even if that name was a name that was scorned by the very people one worked to aid.

When she spoke of her potential his eyebrows raised again and he lowered himself a bit to get at eye level with her to better assess her latent talents. While there were many different rituals that could be done to at least aid in comprehending one's potential as a Magus, Zunza did not wish to ruin the meal by pulling out the tools of the trade which he always kept on his person. He stared into her green eyes, his own face going flush as he realized that he could now be considered a simple gawker, and he went back up to his full height more than a tad bit embarrassed. He adjusted his glasses, doing his best to hide his embarrassment, but the image of her bright green eyes were now etched into his head.

"S-some researchers theorize you can assess one's magical talent by looking into their eyes. I suppose they were wrong or maybe I'm lacking the necessary tools to accomplish the task?", he said with a slight stutter as he tried to still his heart. Zunza had not had much experience with the opposite sex due to there not being many prominent female Magus around to at least hold a proper discussion with. His close circle of allies were fellow Magus and none of them were nearly as feminine, gorgeous, or absolutely stunning like Anna was. He supposed he understood why she was a symbol of morale around the capitol, because he surely felt something that he had never felt before when looking upon her. "No matter, Lady Lebenstein... I do believe that anyone can learn the ways of magic if they do so push themselves to at least attempt to educate themselves properly in at least the basics. Though to become a truly amazing Magus one must be willing to give their all to the pursuit of knowledge and research.", Zunza said as he recovered rather swiftly even if the strange buzzing feeling in his chest still persisted every time he took a glance at her.

That is when she did something he had not been prepared for. Zunza had come to this dining hall with every intention of feeding himself and enjoying the company of someone who at least tolerated him enough to want him around. But now the game had changed. Cutting off a piece of bread, a sweet odor filling his nostrils, and a feeling of euphoria filling his mind, she picked it up with a fork and placed it near his face. The once calm, collected, and almost stoic individual that Zunza had been...shattered. The buzzing feeling slowly overwhelmed him, but Zunza did his best to hide it by simply taking the whole slice of bread into his mouth from her fork while his face had literally turned completely to the shade of red. One might confuse his head with a tomato. The tastes of sweetness that assaulted him from two fronts, his mouth, and the girl in front of him were almost too much to fight against, but Zunza was a man. He was one of the greatest if not the greatest Magus in the Western Kingdom, he would not allow these weird feelings to distract him from enjoying his meal, and the young ladies presence.

"It...its really good!", Zunza exclaimed as he tried his best to tame his emotions. "Truly one of the greatest sweet breads I have ever consumed, my compliments to the chef.", he stated as he gave her his seal of approval.

Anna was perceptive enough to understand when someone was gazing at her versus being analyzed; the gaze held a certain glimmer of passion, be it lust or genuine affection.

Analyzing someone was far more neutral, as one could read you through their eyes, assess a certain feature about you, and make a passing comment as the magus(the one who told her of her potential) did.

To which category did his gaze fall into? The former or the latter? His eyes seemed as if they were trying to maintain composure; Anna was unaware as to how charming she truly was.

Even if she had never been born into royalty, she nevertheless possessed a grace distinguishable from women born in the villages of their homeland. Her sister once compared her to a fairy-tale princess; one born into poverty, only to be wooed by the prince and live happily ever after. To be sure, she believed in her sister's words as any sister looking for affection from their older sibling would.

However, fate taught her more so than anything that fairy-tale's were fantasies that could eventually become a curse - poisoning the mind of young women believing that prince-charming would take them away to a future free of hardship. As such, Anna wished to have the skills necessary to protect herself, her sister, the king, and even Zunza if he so desired. She had already experienced a form of hell – both mental and physical – that tested her sanity.

Compared to that, staking her life on the battlefield was merely trivial; in fact, she very much welcomed the thought! When he averted his gaze and spoke with a slight stutter in his tone, Anna had clenched her fingers, fervently reciting mental prayers that her potential was real and that the passerby magician wasn't merely stroking her ego to compliment her. His next words had quelled her worry to some degree.


“No matter, Lady Lebenstein... I do believe that anyone can learn the ways of magic if they do so push themselves to at least attempt to educate themselves properly in at least the basics. Though to become a truly amazing Magus one must be willing to give their all to the pursuit of knowledge and research. “

Hearing those words caused her her already lovely smile to beam with elation. She was pleasantly surprised with Zunza and the way he carried himself, having expected him to be a difficult man to please. Most nobles from the Leonhardt era as well as advisers still believed that the sword stood above all.

Magus were looked upon lightly, with some even going as far as to say that the metaphysical acts performed were little more than parlor tricks. That Johan was not a magus and stood at the precipice of physical combat gave them all the more ammunition, albeit undeserved.

The expression that she would remember the most today is when Zunza had consumed the slice of sweet bread from the fork. It an expression that warmed her heart and caused her to laugh all in the space of a single second. She was flattered to be complimented on her food as any woman indulging in the culinary arts would.

“The greatest? Really? Thank you! My mother taught me how to make it. One of her favorite stories about this bread is how soldiers would tell her how it made them feel as if they could lift mountains, that it had healing properties. To this day, I still think of it as little more than a fable. If you liked that.... how about this? “

Anna wrapped her fingers around a knife nestled neatly beside her, gracefully slicing a portion of steak as she brought it his mouth. Even though some might think mixing sweet with spice might distill one's appetite—if the flavors were right, it made for a unique combination capable of satisfying even the most judgmental critic. As she did so, she said,

“I recall you saying that there was a theory that magus could assess talent by gazing into the other person's eyes. When you gazed into mine, did you see anything? If you harbored any thought that you might upset me by staring, I do apologize for giving off that impression. Do you need to take another glance?” As she posed that question, Anna gazed deep into the regal magus' eyes with her enchanting emerald orbs.

Fairy tales, ah yes the beautiful stories told to children to make them believe in the unbelievable, and to hold out hope for a brighter future that was just around the bend. Oh how at a young age Zunza had believed so much in those tales as they had been an escape from the arduous life of an heir to an esteemed family and even later in his life when his father had disappeared in the North. Such things had made him hold out hope, but eventually even that hope had died. The belief that he would see his father again withering like a flower without water or proper care. That, however had nothing to do with the beautiful lady in front of him offering to continue to hand feed him. Even if it was like a fairy tale in may ways to be waited on by someone who seemed to hold herself up so well that is. He blinked at her nervously, wondering why she was going to such efforts to feed him like this, but daring not to question her resolve to do such things. After all, he was a sane man, and any sane man would ask for such treatment even if it was a tad bit embarrassing to admit.

Still, he had to wonder as to what this meeting pertained to, and as to why she was going to such lengths to insure that he was treated well, almost too well at that. Somewhere in Zunza's mind he wondered if this was one of Johan's ploys, after all the Lowelen family's blood line was indeed something of a Western nuke even if the majority of nobles looked down on the family they realized the power of hereditary inheritance. Zunza was a product of careful genetic manipulation and genetic selection. His mother had been a stolen eastern noble, her sole role in life had been to produce an heir with a mystic eye at birth, and they had in a way succeeded at the cost of his mother's own life. It had also left Zunza as a remarkably powerful Magus in his youth, a power that had only grown over the years of his life through study, and practice. He was a good deterrent, even if Johan would not admit him to be as such, and he knew that half the reason he had been given the position he had been given was to re-establish the nuclear arsenal the West had once had. So maybe Johan wanted to set him up with a proper lady of a high ranking military family so that the replenishment of the arsenal could begin in full.

Or maybe Lady Anna was of her own mind and wished to actually discuss something with him? Either way he knew that this was more than a casual dining experience, but he didn't want to be rude, and ruin the atmosphere by bursting the bubble with the truth. Instead he decided to, greedily, allow the young lady to spoil him in such a manner that would make most of the men around the universe jealous. "I'm sure your mother is quite proud of you, Lady Anna. Your culinary skills are top notch and I can say without a doubt that I am enjoying every second of partaking in your display of skill.", Zunza said with honesty as the young lady went to go slice him off a piece of meat for him as his mind wondered to something that she had said about the stories her mother would talk about. Stories of how people would talk about how they felt after indulging in such fine cuisine. In a way he could understand what they had meant. After all, these people had ate something that had been cooked from the heart, no ulterior motives, and no seedier undertones. Of course they had felt elated to eat it and had become invigorated. He felt extremely similar at this point and moment.

She shoveled in another bite of food into his mouth before he could say anything and he was forced to chew it up. In honest the combination was indeed splendid and walloped him with multiple different flavors that sated his appetite in only a way that a master chef could, but there was something about the way it was prepared that also effected the dish. The food was made with care, a great deal of care, and had a taste that was not too nonequivalent to a nice home cooked meal, not that Zunza had many of those over his life, but he knew what cooking with passion was. This was a passionate meal without question.

When she began to speak it took him a few moments to process what she was saying to him, but everything that she said made him feel like she was baiting him to stare more into her enchanting eyes. To perhaps fluster himself some more and embarrass himself. "I do believe you have potential as a Magus, Lady Anna. Though I do think if I stared into your eyes any longer I would begin to have impure thoughts and as a gentlemen I must treat a proper lady such as yourself with the respect that she is due. Besides, I'm sure there are far better men to be asking to stare into your eyes.", Zunza spoke respectfully and dutifully as he nodded his head. "Though the meat is indeed divine. You are a natural chef, Lady Anna.", he quickly followed up.

From the moment she laid eyes upon him, Anna's initial assumption of Zunza is that he would be indistinguishable from all the other nobles, that he would be the type of man who wished to be waited upon and served only the finest meals. However, Zunza hitherto had been anything but pompous or self-assured. There was an air of humility that exuded from his aura.

He had complimented her as if she were a true noble woman. With every bite she fed him, he had responded with kind compliments, praising the benevolent maiden for her efforts. In truth, she almost felt terrible about her foolish prediction. There was not an ounce of privilege to be found in the way he
acted, not a single amount.

Even when she gazed into his eyes, he answered with the resolve of a gentleman, whereas other men might have taken advantage of the had
situation.

He had definitely impressed her with his mannerisms. Upon hearing those sacred words of potential and promise, Anna's smile widened in happiness as she closed her eyes and pecked him affectionately on the nose. Returning his gaze once more, Anna grasped his hands and shook them almost violently, her body trembling with excitement.

"Excuse me if I invaded your personal space. When you mentioned that a magus could discern the talent of another just by gazing into their eyes, my curiosity got
the better of me. That said, you give me far too much praise. I don't consider myself a noble lady. I am only royalty through Johan's blessing.

You see, in the previous era before Johan inherited the throne, the Leonhardt family were the reigning family, a true symbol of nobility. I was merely a bread-maker who was lucky enough to end up in a relationship with the prince of that family... but it ended in a cruel way. He, along with all the members of the family, disappeared without a trace. A cult who worshiped him with a fervor had interrogated me, and tortured me when I could not provide them with answers. "

Her gaze went sullen for a moment. She brushed her fingers through her blonde locks of hair, revealing a scar around the nape of her neck, one Zunza had most likely failed to notice.

"They left me with this as a reminder of how useless I was. Far be it from me to disagree with your kind words... but i do not believe I am worthy of such praise. "

Anna did not mean to dissuade him from complimenting her; she merely felt that she was unworthy of such respect.

At first Zunza wondered if he had said something wrong to irk the young lady before him in some manner or another. After all he was prone to rambling on without thought at times and the few friends that he had usually told him to silence himself or that he was just rambling on about nothing. At those times he usually would quiet himself and try his best to hold his tongue until questioned or otherwise. While those times usually went rather quickly and he was allowed to return to the conversation, with Anna things were a bit different. He found the time spent between each sentence or prose that he spoke to her was filled with an almost audible silence that dragged on. He found himself wishing for her to speak, begging her to give him some kind of morsel of information about herself, and pleading with her to continue to speak with him. It felt odd, as most of the time he had dealt with pompous nobles and arrogant politicians looking to make a name for themselves by tolerating Johan's "pet" adviser. While he despised talking to the arrogant upstarts, he found himself enjoying the casual conversation they were having, and if not for these little pauses of silence he could almost consider himself to be having fun. Fun was not something Zunza had in close to four years.

His father's disappearance, the slow death of his family's estate and business dealings, and the eventual complete collapse of what could be considered his inheritance had wiped the concept of "fun" from his mind a long time ago. Still, Anna was actually helping him to cut loose and be himself for the first time in years, so he supposed this was as close to fun as he may have had in a long time.

The audible silence was ended, but not in a manner that Zunza had expected. The usually composed man had dealt with a lot of things in his life, but had never had any sort of affection placed on him in the manner of a peck on the nose before. Especially from someone who he believed to be far beyond his social standing in the world in terms of both beauty and class. His face turned a deeper shade of scarlet than some would expect was possible of his species and as she clutched his hands and shook them in excitement he could tell that he had not irked her at all. In fact she was quite happy to be told such things and he didn't quite understand why?

To him, at least from his initial take of the young lady, Anna had struck him as an upstanding noble of the domain. A compassionate, considerate, and kind young lady who would clearly represent the best aspect of the West if given the chance to show her stuff to the general community. He added humble to the list, as she graced him with another offering of information about herself, and he found himself listening to her intently. Much like a young musician listening to a delightful hymn, Zunza listened to Anna with absolute attention and enthrallment.

As he listened and learned more about his host, his eyes never left hers, and his hands never stopping from holding on to her hand as he heard of her troubled past. He clutched softly, but firmly on to her hand as he was regaled with a tale of her past and the hardships that she had over came to get to this point in her life. He could see some similarities between the two of them, but she had gone through so much more. She had lost the one that she had loved and had been treated in appalling manner by a group of cultists, a cult that he would most certainly look into dealing with after this dinner date was through. For a moment, there was quiet as she finished her story, and spoke her peace. That moment passed far quicker than one would possibly think as Zunza's left hand would go up to her face and he would calmly flick her on the nose.

"Lady Anna, you have been through so much, and I can't even begin to comprehend what fortitude it took to tell me of all people about it. It takes a far bigger person with a far greater deal of confidence than I, to tell a man like myself about such horrible tragedy.", Zunza said with complete poise, his eyes had not once drifted to her scar as he viewed it as irrelevant. It did not define the strong, passionate, or enthusiastic young woman in front of him. "I, however will not allow you to sully your own good name with the ignorance of vile scoundrels. What those people view of you is not what I view of you.", he gave her a confident smile, it was all he could really do at the time to instill a little courage in her. "You are far more a noble woman than many of these other nobles and you are a far more kind and compassionate a young lady than anyone I have ever met.", he spoke with absolute honesty, not once did his eyes leave hers, or his firm grasp leave her hand.

"It doesn't matter if you have gone through so much pain and hardship or if the other people think little of you. All that matters is what you view of yourself and how you strive to make people realize who you truly are. And as far as I can tell... you are far more a noble than someone like me.", he said with a nod before releasing her hands, realizing that he may have been holding them for far too long. He also averted his eyes, a tad bit embarrassed as to what he had been doing only a moment ago. "My family is a joke, my nobility a mere product of genetic selection to create the strongest heirs, and the most powerful leaders in terms of skills and martial prowess. I should be the one ashamed of who I am...I will never allow you to be down on yourself when the one who should hate who he is clearly is me and me alone.", Zunza spoke from the heart as he removed his glasses, a momentary spike of pain filled his head as he turned to face the young lady for the first time with his real eyes.



"I am truly a monster, a being born into this world to be nothing more than a weapon to fight the Northern aggression, or to bring an end to the East. My mother, if I could even call her that, was kidnapped from the East, and forced into a marriage to bring me into this world...a freak of nature born with a genetic deformity that would force my Mystic Eye to appear....I can't even turn them off like a normal person. I am forced to wear glasses, thankfully to hide my shame as the continuous use of my real eyes causes me pain.", Zunza stared into her eyes to see if she would fear him. Most did when they saw the weird eyes of his and labeled him as some kind of freak.

Some knew of the Lowelen's family history of performing the process of genetic selection as they looked for the most skilled, the strongest, and the most adaptable Sugiurans as to steal their gifts and mix their bloodlines to obtain power. He was such a case. A being born of a horror story that did not deserve praise or a noble's life style.