I do not own Familiar of Zero

Honest Prince had finally arrived at the library!

Or that's what they told her. Sure her friends could be playing with her, again, but she wouldn't want to miss out on a chance to read her favorite saga's second part. She had been waiting for it for ages!

So with a small hop in her steps, she walked along the pathway in the magical academy's courtyard, towards the hearth of knowledge called the library.

Normally she would still be at the servants' quarter getting dressed in her black dress and white apron that marked her as a maid. But this morning she had decided to get up an hour or so early just in case.

There was no telling if others were after the same book as she was. Maybe some students knew about it as well! She quickly shook her head dismissing the thought. There was no way they would be already up.

From what she has seen and experienced, the noble youngsters sure valued morning sleep, sometimes even more than some poor vases. And on top of that, she was up and at it before even her own coworkers were up.

Was she beyond tired and did her deep blue eyes feel like someone had poured salt in them?

Yes.

But it allowed her to be one more step ahead of the competition. Despite what others might have said about her book tastes, she knew they were secretly just trying to cover themselves so they could snatch the book right from her fingertips.

The only people besides her who seemed to be awake were teachers and other staff preparing for the morning classes. Luckily for her, all of them seemed to be focusing on their jobs which hopefully meant that they weren't interested in the book.

It was worth getting up early, and on the plus side, she got to see the academy in peace. The sun had barely risen above the horizon coloring some of the academy's towers' tops with an orange hue.

And so far she didn't run into any student. She knew that they were the future "protectors of common folk", and she shouldn't think ill of them. But some of them just kept making the servants run around while they themselves bragged about the noble status and how it was an honor to be serving them.

Sometimes she wished she could just break something and make them clean it up while she-

"Good morning!"

She heard a loud shriek coming from the courtyard. It wasn't even a second after when she realized she had let out that sound.

After that, she finally turned towards her back letting her almost neck length black hair swirl in the air. Judging from the young voice that greeted her, she expected to see a young nobleman with a mean look on his face.

Maybe she had said what she was thinking out loud and he happened to hear her! There was no telling what would happen to her. Slowly but surely she lifted her gaze from her shoes towards the one who had greeted her.

What she saw was a young man who was quite tall and was without a doubt a noble judging from his clothing.

Soon the sense of relief took a hold of her as she saw a neutral look on his face. And his eyes didn't seem to hold any malice, instead, they showed confusion and a touch of surprise.

"Umm… is something wrong?" he asked sounding very sincere.

It took about a few seconds before she managed to respond. "Ah, sorry I was just startled that's all." She tried to sound more professional which just made him raise his eyebrow. "Well, umm… how can I serve you this fine morning?"

The young man didn't show disapproval which made her feel better, but he also showed slight discomfort that made her more confused than scared.

"Aright," he simply began. "To be honest, I'm lost and you seemed to be free so I thought I could ask you for some directions. That is if you have the time?"

The way he said it caught her off guard. It wasn't every day when a noble sounded so polite especially when talking to a servant, and he even asked if she wasn't busy.

So with a proper smile she easily answered, "Well, I'm not in a hurry so you can go ahead and ask."

She had to take a closer look at him just to make sure if he was a noble. He didn't seem to be wearing the signature student cape, but his looks did remind her of a rumor going around.

He gave short thanks and dug out a piece of paper from his pockets. After unfolding it he gave it to her. "I was told miss Vallière's room was at the tower of wind. But I simply can't find my way there."

The paper held simple instructions on where to go, it honestly made her wonder how he managed to get himself lost. But if she had to guess this was his first time at the academy, so it wasn't out of the question that he didn't notice the color of the towers.

She took a step closer to him and pointed towards a nearby tower. "We are currently near the tower of void, so the tower of wind is the second tower that way," she finished and pointed to her left.

He took the paper and gave a small bow. "Thank you miss…"

"Siesta."

"Siesta?" She nodded a couple of times. "Well, okay thank you miss Siesta. It was a blessing that I ran into you. Oh, and if we meet again you can call me William."

"Actually mister," she said stopping just as he was about to walk away. She contemplated if she should go with him and make sure that he would actually arrive at his destination. That way she could even ask about a rumor that was circulating between the servants. "I could personally show you the way to the second year dormitories."

"Just call me William and it wouldn't hurt to have a guide. But if you have other duties to attend to then I won't be in your way."

She gave a small smile and waved her hand. "I'm not in a hurry now, so I have time to show you around." And the library was only a small detour away so she wasn't really wasting any time. "But only if you're willing to answer a small question."

He scratched his head for a second before shrugging his shoulders. "Eh, go ahead."

She started walking and beckoned him to follow. They walked a good minute before Siesta slowed her walk and turned towards him.

"Do you happen to be the noble who was summoned by miss Vallière?" she asked bluntly to which he simply nodded. "Yeah, I had a hunch." It was the talk of yesterday and maybe talk of all time. There weren't many cases where a noble was summoned. "Pardon me for inquiring, but I heard a rumor about you calling miss Vallière mom and I just find it hilarious."

"Yes, I did." William's answer caught her off guard but she managed to keep the surprise off her face. "She is technically my mother after all."

Now it was near impossible to stop the look of uneasiness from forming on her face. He saw her look and motioned her to ask whatever was in her mind.

"Erm… how could you be her son? I mean as far I'm sure you are older than miss Vallière herself."

"Simply put I'm from the future." Siesta raised her brow in confusion and some doubt.

William scratched his head for a second again as he began thinking about how to explain his current situation. After a while, a metaphorical lamp lit up over his head.

"Does the story Warrior's past ring a bell?" For a few seconds confusion conquered Siesta's face before she remembered a story by the same name and her eyes went wide. "I see it does exist."

"You know Warrior's past?" she asked with a rather excited voice. There weren't many who had read that story so Siesta let her excitement get the better of her.

After a minute she managed to tone down her excitement and started thinking about why he had decided to bring the story up. It wasn't long before she connected the dots. "So are you here to defeat someone before they get stronger?"

"Not exactly," he answered but shortly stopped to think about something. "Now that I think about it, its sequel is a better fit for my case. But far as I remember correctly, it doesn't exist yet."

With that Siesta's interest peaked. He seemed polite and liked to read, and atop of all that he knew about stories yet to be told.

Some say that the duchess of the Vallière family is the coldest and the most serious woman they have ever met. Those who have worked under her would say that it would be an understatement. But her family knew that there was something else beneath her icy facade.

And Louise knew exactly what to do to bring out some of that warmth buried deep within her mother.

It was rather simple. All she had to do was to pick a nice day when her mother didn't have any duties to attend to or anything else to do. And invite her for a nice cup of tea outside in the warmth of the sun.

In fact, she was currently doing just that. They were sitting outside enjoying the tea and the weather right next to their picnic table in comforting silence.

It was true that it was nearly impossible to make the Commander of Manticore Knights to smile. But with enough honey and sugar, Louise managed to make her mother's lip twitch slightly upwards every time she took a sip from her cup.

Days like these were truly a blessing for the youngest Vallière. Her oldest sister wasn't there to judge her and she didn't see her mother look at her in disapproval.

"So, Louise de La Vallière," her mother said in a rather cold tone which caught Louise off guard. Did she do something wrong?

The clatter of porcelain could be heard as the Duchess set her teacup on the table and turned towards her daughter. Louise hoped to see her mother's neutral look but what she saw instead could freeze an entire small army.

"I received a report from the academy saying that you summoned a nobleman." The tone that her mother used demanded answers and promised pain at the same time making Louise feel a drop of sweat roll across her brow.

"I… I…" she stammered as she tried to get a word out of herself. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't answer, as if the air itself around herself tried to choke her.

The Duchess kept glaring at her making her heart pound in her chest. With every second her heart hit harder and harder until she could have sworn that anybody could hear it if they just stood near her.

Just as her mother reached for her wand, the world around her shifted and twisted until she found herself sitting on her bed out of breath. She checked her surroundings to see herself in her own dorm room.

"Don't worry it was just a dream," she reassured herself while trying to slow down her heartbeat. With a quick glance she saw that she had fallen asleep in her academy uniform again, but this time she had actually awoken in her bed.

The clock on the wall showed that it was way too early for her to be awake and she wondered what had awoken her. Sure sometimes she experienced some intense dreams. But usually, she liked to sleep like a log so it puzzled her why she was already up.

Her answer came soon after in a form of knocking on her door. The sleepiness in her eyes moved away to make room for annoyance and she raised herself off her bed and walked to her door.

"What!" she half yelled half asked as she slammed the door open. Only for her to freeze in her place when her pink irises met another set of its kind.

"Well, good morning miss- miss Vallière," William greeted awkwardly as if he didn't know what to call her. "For a second here I thought I was knocking the wrong door."

He should have asked for Siesta to lead him straight to Louise's room. Sure it was easy to navigate the academy outside, but he could have sworn that stepping inside the towers was like setting a foot in a maze.

After bringing himself back to the present he found the pinkette just standing still and holding on to the door.

Louise on the other hand didn't say anything. She just stood on her spot while occasionally rubbing her eyes. After a minute she managed to get some of her bearings back and she asked, "W-why are you h-here?"

He dug out a piece of paper from his pocket and replied, "We have a classroom A4 reserved from eight to twelve."

Louise narrowed her eyes and took a look at her clock before turning towards William. "It isn't seven yet!" she exclaimed while trying to keep her voice calm.

William just raised his brow and looked at her like she had said something completely out of the blue. "The earlier the better, like you said."

The only thing she could do now was to let out a long sigh and contemplate if she could just close the door and go back to bed. But she had already risen and her "mentor" was waiting for her.

"Let- let me get my notes and I'll be with you in a minute." He gave a small nod and took a few steps away from the door.

'What am I going to do?' Louise asked herself as she picked up her notes and her quill. Maybe she could just try the summoning ritual again, but there was a chance she would end up just summoning the wandless mage again.

She looked over her shoulder through her door to the hallway where he was waiting. There was no backing out now, so maybe she should just go with it and possibly learn new things about magic.

The thought of learning something entirely new about magic usually made her feel excited. Only if her mentor hadn't hit his head causing him to think that she was his mother, things would have been a lot easier.

After one long deep breath, she turned around and stepped outside to face the challenges of the day.

William was leaning against the wall right next to her door. "Are you ready miss Vallière?" he asked again, sounding quite unsure for some reason. He shifted his full weight back to his feet and asked, "Umm… can I just call you mom, 'cause you know… it's just weird for me to call you miss Vallière."

Louise narrowed her eyes while trying to think how hard he hit his head. "I would appreciate it if you called me miss Vallière, but if you have to then you can call me Louise or a student when it's just the two of us."

"Oh, alright." It was odd calling his mother anything else than "mom". But maybe with time, he could break his habit.

He was about to ask if he could call her student in the public since he essentially was a teacher, but to his surprise, the pinkette was already walking down the hall.

With a small huff, Louise faced towards him and asked, "Are you coming or what? Classroom A4 is this way." She pointed behind herself with her thumb and waited for him.

He gave a small nod and started following after her. Originally he hoped he could have asked about the general things like, what her schedule was like or if she had any, how things ran at the academy, and where he could find a map. But he might have blown his chance judging from his pupil's constant frown and small mutters.

Yet despite the not so great start, a small smirk formed on his face as he looked towards the young girl in front of him. With a sigh he muttered, "So this is how it begins."

Normally the classrooms were buzzing with life as the students kept talking between each other much to the teachers' displeasure. But one classroom was completely silent, the only sound echoing through it was the clicks of a clock on a wall.

Yet despite the silence, there technically was a lecture being held between two people inside the room. One was currently sitting in the front row while holding her quill over some notes and patiently waiting for her mentor who at the moment was leaning against the teacher's desk.

Louise made a small fist and coughed into it in hopes to gain the wandless mage's attention. It was starting to bother her how she told him everything there was to know about how things ran at the academy, but when it was his turn to teach her, he seemed to get completely lost.

Her cough managed to drag him away from his thoughts and he responded by giving the pinkette a questioning look.

"Are- Aren't you supposed to start the class or something?" Louise asked as politely as she could.

William just shrugged before taking a couple of steps away from the desk. "Well, I was never good at lecturing. Hopefully, I don't mess this up." He rubbed his chin while going back to thinking for a minute. Louise was just about to try to get his attention again but William took a few steps closer and cleared his throat before she could do anything.

"I guess if we have time, we could go over basics before going for lunch." He checked the clock on the wall noticing it was getting closer to breakfast. "I'll tell you how to train for wandless magic and you could- why are you already taking notes?"

The hand moving the quill stopped and its holder lifted her gaze off the paper. "Hmm… oh yeah I was just making notes about concussions."

"About what?"

"Erm… nothing! Just keep doing what you were doing," she said quickly and made sure to keep eye contact with her mentor.

"Umm… okay." William took a few more steps towards the front row until he was standing right in front of her. "Well, I might as well teach you about the key to wandless magic."

With that Louise took a better writing position. Now she would finally receive some proper education. Maybe she would be able to learn a new way of doing magic which she could use right after this!

Her mentor took a more professional stand and tried to make himself appear more like an actual teacher. "The key to wandless magic is something called, intentional willpower depletion."

Before she could have even begun writing, she couldn't help but to stop and look at him with a look of doubt and disbelief.

"Did I hear something about willpower depletion?" She hoped that she had heard wrong but she was confirmed by her mentor's small nod.

There were countless risks involving mage's magical strain. If a mage were to try and push their willpower to the limit, they at first would feel very tired and exhausted. But if they would choose to push even further, it could lead to coma or even worse.

Louise had read about mages who had sacrificed themselves by performing incredible feats of magic that could make square mage awe. But those usually only happened in stories or folklore.

It did explain how nobody had figured out how to do wandless magic. Who would willingly go through such a thing just to test something? But a second thought arose in her as she thought about it. There had been plenty of cases where mages suffered from willpower depletion. Although it wasn't highly likely, there was still a chance somebody could have discovered it by accident.

"Umm… should I be concerned?" Louise couldn't help but ask. William on the other hand just inhaled as a troubled look came over his face.

"Well, there is a chance," he began not easing the pinkette's worry. "A very small chance but still a chance! That your heart will stop beating."

Louise's face twisted into discomfort and she just let out a small worried hum escape her mouth.

"But worry not, for it can only occur if you lose consciousness." He tried to reassure his student which didn't seem to help at all. "Besides I know for a fact that nothing bad will happen to you."

"How can you tell?" Louise asked once she remembered she should be writing everything down.

She quickly started writing everything he had told her while still keeping her ear out to hear what he would have to say.

"It's rather simple. If you would suddenly die then I would be never born and all of this wouldn't have happened," she gave him another look of disbelief and annoyance with a hint of anger which made him relive some not so nice memories of his home.

Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Louise just lifted her index finger making him wait as she was finishing something on her notes. After a second she set her quill in the inkwell next to her notes and rubbed the bridge of her nose while letting out a long sigh.

"Just… please stop with these games," she began in a toneless voice before an angry look came over her face and she pointed towards him. "You are not my son!" she yelled and pointed towards herself. "Nor am I your future mom!"

With that, she slumped on her own seat and after a small breathing pause, spoke more calmly, "Just stop your nonsense about time travel and please, tell me who you really are."

Once she looked back towards William she saw his look of confusion with a hint of disappointment. Without saying a word he silently walked to an empty seat right next to her and sat down on it.

He gave a small chuckle as he said, "I wouldn't lie. 'Honesty can be powerful if used right,' that's what my brother taught me."

He hoped to see a look of realization on Louise's but to his dismay, she still wore her neutral mask. It wasn't long before a new idea popped in his head, and a small smile formed on his lips.

"How about I'll tell you a little secret. It could cause some problems, but I'm sure it will make your day!" Louise just lifted her brow, but at least he knew she would be listening. "I could give you a hint about your element or I could tell who you-"

Before he could finish he found himself pulled slightly downwards by his vest. The hands which held him in a bow belonged to none other than his student.

"My element, now."

It wasn't a simple demand, it was an order born out of years of desperation and anger and now all of it was focused directly at him. But despite her harsh glare and her actions. She was still at least a head shorter than him and he had already gotten used to even more frightening glares.

Well, that was what he told himself as he felt a small droplet of sweat form on his brow. Still, he managed to keep himself together after experiencing a not so pleasant short flashback at the moment and took a hold of her hands and pried them off himself.

"You know this suit wasn't cheap," he pointed out while checking out his vest and straightening any wrinkles formed from the previous stretching. "But at least my ear is still intact so that's great."

With a glance towards his apprentice, he saw her still glaring at him like she was ready to jump at his throat at any given time. So he made a silent prayer and hoped that what he was about to say wouldn't cause a figurative, or a literal explosion.

He took a short deep breath and asked, "Can you list me the elements that form the holy Pentagon?"

Louise lowered the intensity of her glare a bit. "Water, earth, wind, fire, and the founder's long lost legendary element of void form the Pentagon of magic." If she would have to bet on it, she would say that even commoners knew about the holy pentagon, so it made her wonder why he asked her to bring it up.

William rose from his and made his way to the classroom's door before turning around to face her again. "Well, guess five times."

"What do you mean-" Louise started before her eyes went wide and she froze. "No…" That was all she could mutter as she kept staring at him like he had grown a second head.

"You figured out quickly," he muttered and opened the door. "I'm going for lunch now, do you wanna join or should I pick up something for you?"

Instead of staring at him, Louise was now looking at the floor while staying completely still and silent.

"I'll… go get something for you," he said awkwardly and stepped outside leaving the pinkette behind with thousands of thoughts going through her head.

AN: See you in a month or two. (Hopefully.)