Blade Over Magic

Certain Truths

’You know in hindsight, dancing with the youngest princess of the Kingdom in front of most of said Kindom’s most influential figures, including the King himself, is probably not the greatest idea.’ Xander thought to himself as he felt the gazes of most of the people in the room fall on him. The number of intent lines he saw directed his way was stifling, and a great deal of them showed off alarm as, no doubt, his risk assessment in the minds of many rose of dramatically.

"I do apologize for this," The princess said softly as they danced. "However, it’s difficult to approach you without getting seen at all. If I invited you somewhere private while trying to remain hidden, then had it been discovered, the fallout would be far worse than what it is now." Hearing her explanation and seeing her genuinely apologetic intent, Xander sighed.

It made sense, but Xander still had some doubts.

"Why did you come to me directly, then? You could have had someone invite me to wherever. It seems unlikely a whole princess wouldn’t have people to do her bidding, especially since..." He trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

Hearing this, she let out a quiet laugh.

"You’re pretty direct. That’s nice, everyone likes to dance around the very obvious problem. But you’re right, I get doted on quite a bit and have many servants at my beck and call." Xander twirled her around and held her close briefly before the separated. It wasn’t inappropriate, and simply part of the dance, yet the faces of many onlookers still turned ugly.

"But?" Xander raised a brow.

"... But for that same reason, it’s a bit hard for me to have true autonomy." She sighed. "Most of my servants answer to my parents. And some of them answer to my siblings. After all, despite my blindness, I wasn’t ruled out of the succession race, so they still prefer to have eyes on me to ease their minds." Xander’s eyes showed a trace of surprise.

"That sounds stifling." He commented.

"It is, but I’ve learned to live with it." She hummed, fingers intertwining with his.

On the mezzanine, Curtis, Aubrey, and Falael who were sitting at an area somewhat close to Xavier looked at this scene with varying degrees of worry.

’Everyone is staring at him like they want him removed. And not just from the ballroom. Is this really fine?’ Curtis voiced his worry, and Falael nodded in agreement.

’He said he’s going to have a private conversation with her as well, didn’t he? If they see him going somewhere unseen with her, the rumors are going to be wild.’ She didn’t seem worried that Xander might be doing anything inappropriate with her. She trusted he wouldn’t. But she was very much concerned about the potential fallout.

Aubrey looked at everything before sighing.

’Theresa no way he doesn’t know this either. Whatever it is they will discuss, it’s so important that he’s willing to take the risk. I just hope it’s worth it, in the end.’

Eventually, the dance came to an end, and the princess looked at Xander.

"Would you be interested in following me to have a drink?" She asked, and Xander lingered for a fraction of a second before nodding.

"That would be nice." With that said, the princess began to walk, and he began to follow her, and Xander watched in real time as numerous intent lines turned very dangerous.

’Is this what Samuel meant by me not being hasty with violence tonight? Because I would not be surprised if someone tries to assassinate me in my sleep at this point.’ He sighed inwardly and subconsciously glanced towards the throne.

There, the regal figure of King Hemlock VII, and... He was also looking at Xander.

’Yeah... I might be screwed.’ He quickly looked forward again, resigning himself to his fate. There was no turning back at this point.

Xander and the princess made their way to another mezzanine, and walking past all the figures who were already seated there, they sat at the last set of chairs.

Immediately the sat, the princess tapped the table in between the chairs, and a magic circle lit up before around them, purple walls materialized to create a room where no one could see inside, but they could see outside.

She then took out an amulet and injected mana into it, and Xander watched as wave rippled out and filled the room.

"Phew. There, no one should be able to pry, not even Miss Irene." The princess said with a radiant smile as Xander looked at her.

He could guess the creation of the room was a feature all the lounges had. That said... an item that could obscure the gaze of an Archmage within their own domain? This princess... definitely wasn’t simple.

Despite her eyes being closed, she seemed to sensed his gaze and chuckled.

"It’s not that serious. If she really wanted to, she could easily break through this layer of obscuration and look inside. She’s just being nice." She pocketed the amulet and looked towards Xander.

"Now, I’m sure you have many questions. Go ahead." The mood in the room changed.

The youngest princess still looked like a delicate flower. Still appeared blind. And yet, the demeanor she gave off... was one of utmost confidence. Her intent reflecting this.

’Definitely not simple.’ Xander sighed and was silent for a moment, then he decided to ask straight up.

"Samuel said you knew things regarding...?" He intentionally left out the last word, and.

"Transmigration, right? Indeed, I know quite a bit." She hummed, and Xander blew out a breath, his heart started to race. She really did know. Then she went a step further.

"I’m guessing you want to ask things like how I know, or what caused your own Transmigration to occur, and what my intentions are. Correct?" Xander made a face.

"Well, yeah." He huffed. What else was there to say? The princess covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Alright, let’s get to it then." She leaned forward and asked. "Now, what do you know about fate?" Xander blinked, then his gaze turned thoughtfully.

"Fate, huh? Isn’t it the concept that states everything has a destined path and direction it is meant to follow? That every action, thought, and decision everyone makes is already predestined to follow and end in a specific manner." He leaned into his chair. "Some say that even if one is aware of their own fate and tries to avoid it, the actions they take will inevitably lead them right back to said fate. It’s absolute, in a sense." The princess nodded.

"That’s the gist of it. Very good." She twirled her thumbs. "And to be clear fate does exist, but there is something you missed." A shocking set of words.

Xander’s eyes narrowed sharply. Fate existed?

The princess continued.

"It spreads far and wide. With many falling under its influence. However. It is not absolute. At least, not in the conventional sense." Xander’s eyes twitched. He looked at her intent lines closely, yet there was no trace of deceit.

"Elaborate." He finally said.

"Alright, then." The princess leaned into her chair, her smile never leaving. It sort of reminded him of Samuel, but where he was constantly scheming, she seemed almost excited.

"Think of it like this. Everyone has a fate, and that fate is in the form of a string. All these strings are interconnected. Even if two people on opposite parts of the world have no knowledge of each other, they both may know someone, who knows another person, who knows another person, and so on, until a connection eventually forms. Hence, everyone is connected through fate, and all these strings form a massive tapestry." She tilted her head.

"Now, how does this imply that fate isn’t absolute? Well, in the first place, fate doesn’t actually have a strong hold on individuals. Or rather, individuals who don’t exert much influence. For instance, the fate of a simple commoner working their job will be far less intertwined with the fates of others. Hence, it’s less likely for them to be pulled in a certain direction, while the fate of a King, who is intertwined with the lives of millions and more, is far more susceptible to being pulled in a certain direction. In both cases, the choices the commoner makes are far more likely to aim wherever, while the choices of the king are far more likely to aim towards something specific." Xander’s eyes widened.

"So to summarize, fate isn’t absolute, and its influence on someone is determined by how intertwined their fates are with others. So the more people and things they are intertwined with, the more likely they are to be influenced." Xander summarized.

"Bingo. There are other factors as well. For instance, if two people who are already strongly intertwined enter a certain proximity with each other, there is a high chance that they will get entangled, directly or indirectly. I simply call this entanglement." Xander was silent for a moment as he digested this information.

"So, what? My status as a transmigrator causes me to be intertwined with many things at once? Is that it?" He ventured a guess, and the princess shook her head.

"No. Though I could see why you’d think that way. But no." She rested her chin against her palm as she said simply.

"You, my friend, are a hole. A puncture. A tear. In the tapestry of fate."

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