Izzy touched the eye patch over his right eye and winced. He couldn't really say it would be of any use anymore. He had lent Joe all his books on medicinal and healing magic, hoping something in there would help his eye. Joe told him that it might take a while before finding anything and that there was no guarantee that his eye could be healed. But Izzy didn't really care at the moment; he was more concerned over repairing Princess Mimi's broken heart.

"I hope you don't think I'm intruding on you or anything" Mimi said.

"No, it's fine" Izzy quickly replied. He could detect the hint of hurt in her voice; it was obvious that she blamed herself for the events that had transgressed the previous evening. "I wasn't really doing anything of importance anyway."

Mimi was looking around his grand library full of magic books. She didn't need any of them of course but it was the only thing she could do to distract herself from his eye patch. "Do you have all of these books memorized?"

He shook his head. "Even though I've been alive for a little less than a century, I have not yet come around to reading every single one of these books."

"You get sidetracked by other things?"

"Or I simply get bored. Either one."

The princess giggled. "So wizards are just like the rest of us."

"I don't expect to be different" Izzy chuckled. "How are you doing?"

"…I should be asking you that" Mimi said in response. She put down the book she had in her hands about mind control and possession to look at his face more deeply. With slight hesitation, she gently brushed her hand over his right eye, he didn't even flinch. They simply stood like that, looking at each other. "Is your eye even…there anymore?" She was a little scared of what the answer could've been but he nodded his head so she released a breath she hadn't even known she was holding.

"It wasn't stabbed too deeply so Joe was able to fix it up but I can't see anything form it" Izzy explained.

They were silent now, Mimi had moved her hand away from his eye and she had it hanging by her side. "I wish there was something I could do…"

"You sound like your grandmother" the wizard mused. "She was always concerned with others and their well-being. It was even more so since Ken first showed up during her era. You shouldn't worry so much, everything will be fine, I promise." He wasn't so sure if everything would be fine and Mimi knew that. He might've been saying that to reassure himself but it was ineffective.

"I hope so…" Mimi muttered. "I was really worried about you though. You tried to protect Yolei, I was afraid you might've been blaming yourself for what happened to her."

"That's funny…I was afraid that you would be blaming yourself."

Mimi shook her head. "Sora cleared those thoughts from my head already. I was hoping to do the same for you if you were feeling such a way. But I suppose only I would do something as stupid as blame myself for something that was out of my hands."

"That's not true" Izzy blurted out. "I…I blamed myself for what's been happening to you. Losing people all around you, I feel like there should be something more to do. It must make me sound stupid if I'm not blaming myself for the deaths of Michael and Yolei and rather for your sake."

"Why do you care so much for me?"

Izzy looked up and stared at her in the eyes before turning away quickly. "Because I made a promise to your grandmother that I'd always protect your family. In her final hours, she gave this to me which I think should belong to you." He took off a heart-shaped locket that he had hidden underneath his shirt and placed it in the princess's hands.

She opened it up to find her face in the locket but she knew that it wasn't really hers, it was her grandmother's. "The servants are right, the likeness is uncanny…But why are you giving me this?"

"Because it shouldn't belong to me" was all Izzy could say.

"Well…Why did she give you this in the first place?"

The princess could see how much he was hesitating to tell her. "I think it was because I was her only friend still alive. You see, all of our other friends, and even her husband, had all either died from old age or from some battle, I was the only one left. You were around four at the time when I was called to the castle to see her."

"How did you and my grandmother meet?"

Mimi wasn't sure if Izzy wanted to replay those fond memories of her ancestor but he then spoke up. "Her father, your great grandfather, wanted me to protect her even though I was still generally new at magic. Perhaps he believed that it would be better for her to have a mage by her side instead of knights. I did as I was asked and protected her since she was at the age of ten and I, twelve. Even though I was just supposed to be her guardian, she was always trying to be friendly with me; she hated me because I always behaved indifferently towards her or acted like it was simply my duty to defend her, nothing more. It wasn't long before my 'duty' became my desire to protect her. She was my closest friend…"

He sounded like he was on the brink of crying. "It sounds like you loved her more than I did."

"Well…I suppose you can say that it's because I didn't have many friends other than her" Izzy chuckled. "She was certainly someone special, being able to bring a smile on someone's face no matter what the situation was."

"I'm sorry for making you remember all that."

"Don't be…It's reminded me of why I need to protect you and the kingdom from the warlock. It was all very special to your grandmother, so it's all special to me as well."

"I wish I was as great as she was."

Izzy grabbed her hand and quickly pulled her into a close embrace, breathing in her scent as he held her. "You are so much like her…It sometimes breaks my heart when I see you because I mistake you for her. But you're not; you're your own person but someone truly special."

Mimi returned the embrace. "Thank you…" After they released each other, Mimi took a few steps towards the door. "I should be going now…My new chef is preparing a meal for me."

"Davis?"

"How did you know?"

The sheepish smile the wizard returned to her only made her giggle as she walked out the door. They waved to each other and soon as she was gone, Izzy sat down in his chair at his desk. He closed the door with a wave of his hand and he sighed. He was bothered…He had no idea how to deal with Ken and now there was a second thing weighing on his mind.

"What am I supposed to do?" he whispered.

-X-

TK stared out the window as he watched Cody instruct the new knights that their court had gained from the duchess's death which seemed very wrong in his head but what were those knights going to do? After the previous night's events, his father had asked for seventy-five percent of the knights in Yolei's court so that they could increase security at their castle. He knew that it was important to do so, he just wished it didn't feel like taking advantage of someone's death.

"How are your wounds?" Noriko asked from the door.

"They're fine" TK muttered.

She was able to detect the curt tone he was giving her so she walked over to him and sat down on the windowsill beside him. "What's got you so moody today?"

"My father…"

"Ah, so it's the usual."

TK got back inside and started randomly rummaging for nothing around his bookshelves, he was just doing it to occupy himself. "It's just, he's kind towards the kingdom and his subjects but when it comes to me and Matt, he's incredibly oppressive. He won't even let us go down to the village unless we have a score of knights to accompany us."

"He's only trying to protect you" Noriko reminded. "That's the only reason he's so tough on you two."

"I know…But sometimes, I wish he wasn't always around…"

"That would either make the kingdom a matriarchy or your brother the new king and I don't think he wants that pressure on him right now" the knight said. "Besides, in another world, it's possible that he isn't always around. And I'm sure that TK misses him very much."

"So you say…" TK scoffed.

"You should be happy with what you have." Noriko was about to leave his room when his voice called her attention back.

"Do you know whatever happened to Yolei's handmaiden, Kari?" he asked.

Noriko stopped and a few thoughts struck her. "Oh, I see now, you're not bothered by the fact that you can't leave the castle without extra protection, you just feel like you'll never have another moment alone with your maiden anymore."

He blushed. "Sh-She's not my maiden! She told me that she had to think about it…"

Noriko chuckled. "Well, to answer your question, I heard that she is working at Princess Mimi's castle now."

"So she didn't want to work here?"

"Her brother is there."

"…Yeah, I know."

Noriko sighed and walked back to him, straightening his back and then lightly slapping his face. She stared into his puzzled eyes with an expressionless face. "You have self-esteem issues and you tend to behave as if the world should revolve around you…It's good thing you're handsome." She left it at that and left the room.

"Well that was weird…" But he supposed he couldn't really blame her but he didn't completely agree with her either. He walked back to the window in time to see their new knights sparring and Knight Taiki had just beaten Zenjirou who reacted badly and immaturely to his loss. It kind of reminded him of a match between him and his brother, he was Taiki though. "Wish I could go back…"

-X-

Sora went over to help Kari bring back the clothes from the river so that they could hang them to dry. As they were doing so, she noticed Tai watched from a second floor window. He stuck his head back inside when he noticed that she had seen him. She had to wonder though, was he looking at his little sister or at her?

After she had finished that one job, she went upstairs and found him at his usual station, outside the armory. "You look like you're hard at work" she remarked after he greeted her.

"I always am."

Sora nodded with a knowing smile. "So, it wasn't you who was just watching your sister and me."

"Sorry if it looked like I was spying" he sighed. "I was just kind of worried about Kari since she just started working here and everything that had happened with her previous mistress. I just can't believe all that actually happened last night though."

The seamstress nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean; it was only a week ago that we were able to walk the streets of the village without having to worry about getting ambushed by an evil warlock. We're living in scary times."

"Do you think that things will always be this way for the rest of our lives?" she asked. "Constantly living in fear?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so; it's bound to end eventually. Izzy is far more powerful than he was the first time this had happened and the knights have even improved since our ancestors. Cody and Noriko nearly killed him the day Michael…Well, you know."

"But now Cody can't fight anymore" Sora reminded.

"But he's training knights now and they're learning to be even better than he is."

Sora stared at him for the longest time and she was starting to realize why Kari had said her brother was one of the most eerily optimistic people she knows. But she also mentioned that his positive attitude was incredibly contagious. The handmaiden giggled. "Then perhaps you should ask him to teach you. Your skills have been a bit lackluster lately."

"Hey! That's not true!" he exclaimed. He sounded a bit upset but inside, he was happy that he could smile back on her face. "As a matter of fact, I've gotten way better with the way of the sword."

"I bet I would be able to beat you just like how I've always beaten you at village soccer."

"You were always lucky."

"I think I'm lucky just having you here to protect everyone."

Tai paused as he let these words settle on his mind. He felt the heat rush to his cheeks and he noticed that the same thing happened to Sora which meant she had just realized the words that had left her mouth. He wasn't quite sure what to say and neither was she, thankfully, the other guard on duty beside him spoke up.

"Miss Sora, I think it might be best for you to check up on the princess and make sure she doesn't need anything else to be done around the castle."

Sora and Tai were both happy to get out of the awkward silence. "Yes, thank you, Sir Kiriha" she said. "I'll see you later Tai…"

"Yeah…Later…" Tai nodded. Once she had gone down the stairs, he turned to the blonde knights next to him and bowed gratefully. "Thank you…"

"No problem."

-X-

Ken grumbled to himself as he sat in the dark cave, nothing seemed to be visible from three feet away from him. All he could do was sit there and pout like a child who had just been punished by their parent. He glared over to the person hidden in the shadows.

"I don't understand why I have to be your underling" he spat spitefully. "And of all people, why did it have to be you?"

"Be quiet" the person replied. It didn't sound high enough to be female and yet, it wasn't deep enough to be male, the gender was unidentifiable from voice alone as it would seem. It could be female if she was speaking softly with barely any emotion in her voice. "You're irritating."

"Why are you doing this again?"

"To get revenge."

"Ah right…" Ken nodded. "Although, I have to ask, don't you think it's kind of a petty grudge? And furthermore, don't think that all of these deaths are unnecessary?"

"You're the one who caused mass destruction years ago."

"Yeah, but I was signed under a contract with Jim and that was back when destroying stuff was loads of fun" Ken told her with a giddy smile. It dropped instantly and he slouched as if the most depressing memory had resurfaced in his mind. "But then I was sealed away for several years and I was forced to do nothing was think and these thoughts about moving to some quiet countryside away from all of this stupidity of living with mortals came to me so I resolved that if I was ever freed from my seal, then I would do just that. But then you had to drag me into one of my contracts!"

Another voice came from the opposite side of the first. This one could easily be determined to belong to a male. "It was kind of surprising at first. I thought it was strange for a mage to be bound by contracts in order to survive on Earth but apparently, you're not even a mage."

"No…I'm the creation of a demon" Ken replied emotionlessly. It was clear he didn't like talking about his past. "That demon used his own genes and implanted them into me and my older brother, we became monsters. But at first, we used our powers for good and everyone treated us like we were incredible prodigies but then they started calling upon us for only their selfish benefits. My brother and I were fed this greed for years until it consumed us and we ended up hating mortals despite having been ones before."

"But you're not a demon" the first voice stated. "Why must you need contracts?"

Demons would only die if they were to walk upon the Earth but if they had a contract signed with someone (Sometimes multiple people), they are able to survive. Even if they are released from a contract, they still obtain their payment, the person's soul but they must immediately return to the underworld until they are called again by an ancient ritual forgotten in history.

"No, technically, I am not a demon" Ken agreed. "But the genes imbued into me render me unable to withstand the content of Earth air, just like other demons so I must have a contract to share in the genes of the mortals to which I am bound to. In which case, you are the person I share such capabilities. My mother signed a permanent contract with us so that we may stay on this world forever. Unfortunately, because she signed a permanent contract instead if a normal one, she must endure the pain of her soul being torn out of her for the rest of eternity. I can hear her screams even up to this very day. She was a foolish woman…I'd rather die than live like this…"

The second person didn't seem very comfortable with listening to this so he decided to return to a subject to something closer to their original one. "So if you're neither demon nor human, then what are you exactly?"

Ken smiled this time. "Exactly what I have been called for decades…A freak."