Lilia had tracked Cater down and reminded him of their bet. By stroke of odd luck, Kalim was present and equally curious to the answer. Like how he knew all the secret ins and outs from day one, rather than stumble through them like everyone else.

Cater thought of how to proceed, then internally shrugged before he said "Time travel...or something close enough to it that it makes little difference."

"Oh?" said Lilia with interest.

"The last thing I remember, before waking up in the coffin to be sorted into my dorm during the initiation ceremony, was the terrifying sound of ice, rock and earth coming at me with speed. Then came the cold, a sharp biting pain...then nothing. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the coffin wondering what the hell was going on and expecting to be sent to Heartsabyl like last time."

"Last time?" said Kalim confused.

"I thought as much," admitted Lilia. "It's not uncommon for mages to awaken new powers or perform untold feats of magic when they are faced with an unwinnable situation. Especially those of faerie blood."

Cater snorted, before he saw the look on Lilia's face.

"Wait...seriously?"

"While the bloodline appears to have thinned out considerably, I sensed the faerie blood in you within the first week," said Lilia cheerfully. "If given the right...incentive...you could easily awaken as either a half or even a full fae. Something seems to have triggered the blood in you to go from dormant to almost active."

"What sort of incentive?" asked Cater seriously. Seeing the surprised look on Lilia's face, he gave a tired smile. "Last I checked, faeries treat their own better than humans do."

Lilia had a sad smile on his face hearing that. Cater's home life was well known by this point, as was the bare minimum of what his mother had done.

"Wait...so time travel is possible?" said Kalim with wide eyes.

"Last time I was a student, I was in Heartsabyl and let's just say my third year was a little too exciting. I'm thrilled I'm in Pomefiore now, because Trey is an asshole who refuses to actually deal with his housewarden."

"Exciting how?" said Lilia, interested and accepting the change of topic.

"Long story short, someone ends up in the initiation ceremony who shouldn't have...someone without magic from another world. Not just that, but a familiar breaks in and causes all sorts of trouble until it was kicked out and eventually bonded to the Otherworlder," said Cater. "But that wasn't the reason I called my third year 'exciting'."

Seeing he had their full attention, Cater's expression turned dead serious.

"There was a spate of Overblots in every dorm on campus, starting with Heartsabyl. Riddle was only the first, but for some reason the Otherworlder was present for the rest," said Cater.

"That's rather serious," said Lilia frowning. "Do you remember the names of the afflicted?"

"Riddle. Leona. Azul. Jamil. Vil. Idia," said Cater, naming each person he could remember. "I think Malleus was one of them, but I couldn't tell you for sure. I only heard about Idia's Overblot second hand."

Kalim went pale at that.

"Jamil?" he said upset.

Cater gave him a calm look.

"From what I heard after the mess was over from one of the freshmen who happened to be close to the Otherworlder, Jamil apparently used his signature spell on you and tried to get you removed as Housewarden, but the Otherworlder managed to bring in Azul and the Leech twins and caused the truth to come out. As a result, Jamil snaps and goes into Overblot. Apparently he's been hiding his true potential to keep from overshadowing you, and he hates it."

Kalim frowned.

"But I never asked him to do that!"

"His parents, and possibly your own, likely told him to do so. Add in the fact that you often act without thinking and give him more work, and it was only a matter of time," explained Cater. Kalim winced at that.

"What can I do to help?" Kalim asked, seriously.

"I think at this point, your best option is to make it clear you want to try and do things without Jamil coddling you," said Cater carefully. "Which is why it's a good thing I already agreed to act in his place this summer. I have no intention of holding your hand the entire time."

Kalim looked rather eager, but Cater knew that might change. The other boy had never really had to struggle his entire life, so this might be the wake-up call he needed.

"Oh yeah, didn't you mention something about a possible internship for my fourth year?" said Cater, remembering the other part of their bet.

"Indeed I did," said Lilia, glad he remembered. "I was talking to a colleague of mine, and he said he'd be open to a temporary apprentice once he heard about your skills. Especially your signature spell...you did say they share memories, correct?"

"Pretty much. It's really similar to that one character from the manga Idia-sempai recommended, only I'm not as...overpowered," said Cater. The manga in question being a fairly popular one called Naruto.

Idia was still a little baffled as to why one of the biggest extroverts in the school had befriended him. On the plus side, they shared a similar taste in reading material and had a love for a semi-obscure music group.

"Well the one I mentioned happens to have a similar position to Kakashi, if that helps. Only he runs the entire group," said Lilia.

Cater thought back to the manga.

"He's not a massive pervert like Kakashi, right?"

Lilia chuckled at that.

"Not really, but he has a similar skill set."

"So basically it's the fairy equivalent of the ANBU," said Cater. Lilia nodded.

"The first year is to test your skill set and see if you're worth training as his replacement," said Lilia. "There are others, but he would need to see if you're worth giving the extra training. And it won't be immediate...you'd have at least a decade before your name would be up for consideration unless you manage to make your reputation high enough to be considered early."

Well that was a relief. Cater did want to explore the world properly, not be stuck training for an admittedly prestigious position.

Kalim was happy for his friend. It looked like Cater would do well for himself once he graduated at this rate.


Richard looked at the report from the therapist. While they didn't go into detail about the mandatory session he had made his wife attend, the results were almost damning.

From what the doctors could determine, his wife had suffered some form of untreated pospartum depression, and since she had never wanted a male child, had turned her anger and frustration on Cater until she refused to acknowledge him as her own flesh and blood. Worse, she had gone out of her way to dote on her daughters and ignore her son until things had escalated to the point they were now.

The therapist, having talked to both girls at different times, had called it 'golden child syndrome'. It was a good thing they genuinely cared for their younger brother and that the attention their mother had given them had been divided between the two, because it could have been a lot worse.

While he would need to speak to Cater, the therapist concluded that it would require time and a lot of patience before the family dynamic could be mended.

At the very least, Relena would either need to admit she was wrong...or be removed entirely. Since she was the chief instigator, he was leaning towards keeping her out of the family therapy sessions until she saw reason.

It didn't help that every time he tried to bring up what she had done to their son, she had changed into a woman he didn't recognize in the least.

It was a damn mess. At least he didn't have to worry too much about Cater. His son had sent him a message...along with a copy of the contract he had signed...which meant he wouldn't be returning home yet again for the summer.

Prudence and Candance were somewhat unhappy at first...until he told them who Cater had signed a contract with. The second he heard the name "Al Asim" he had to reevaluate his son all over again.

Not only was he making a reputation in the upper circles his wife frequented through his videos, but now he had an in with one of the richest, most well regarded merchant families in the Scalding Sands...and would be serving directly under their heir, no less.

It made him wonder what sort of heights Cater would reach by the end of things.


Cater looked with glee at the letter from his new favorite cousin. Silva was the one he had been drinking with at the family reunion that had been delighted to know the source of his favorite liquor.

Inside the letter were travel tickets to Harveston for the annual sled race. There was also a note that the people they would be staying with also had an envelope so they could enjoy the festival properly and if they were so inclined, join the sled race.

The family in question? The Felmier family, who also happened to source the same liquor Cater and Silva so enjoyed.

The only question was, who should he take?

"You received an invitation to a rural festival from your cousins?" said Rook with interest.

"It's the annual sled race," said Cater enthusiastically.

"What's so special about it?" asked Vil, curious.

Cater repeated a lot of what Epel told him about the race, and he had been fascinated.

"You get a sled for one person, and it's pulled by stuffed animals. The racers sled all night through a mountain pass to reach the end, and the winners supposedly get good luck all year," said Cater. "There are four people to a team, and the winner is based off the team's collective average."

Vil looked intrigued, as did Rook.

"And this is a local festival?"

"Oh it gets better...the mountain that it's on has strong ties to the Fairest Queen," said Cater gleefully.

Now he had Vil's full and undivided attention.

"Are you sure of that?" he said intently.

Cater nodded.

"I know for a fact that their orchards date all the way back to the time of the Fairest queen. Now we all know that the queen poisoned the princess with an apple...but what happened to the apple after she took a bite from it? Or the other apples that had to be in that basket to keep her cover story?"

Vil's eyes widened.

"Wait. Are you telling me they very likely have apples that originate from the seeds of the apple she used?"

"I'm almost sure of it," said Cater. "At the very least, I doubt the princess would have bothered to take care of the apple tree that had likely poisoned her. So it's likely that the servants or the locals took the apples since it was free food, and someone planted the seeds to grow their own crop. Not only that, but I suspect that the land that the village stands on also used to be the location of the very cottage the princess took refuge in."

Vil was definitely going now, as was Rook.

"How many people to a sled team?"

"I have tickets for at least six, so that's four for the sled team and two to watch," said Cater. "We just need a few more to go with us if we plan to make our own team."

"You sound unusually invested in this," said Rook, amused. It was good to see Cater so lively.

Vil had to agree with that sentiment.

"You kidding? The liquor they produce there is some of the best I've ever had! They chill their apples in the snow, and it's one of the few sweet things I can tolerate!" said Cater with enthusiasm. "It's so hard to find outside of Harveston, and if I play my cards right I'll be able to get some directly from the family that produces it for a much cheaper price!"

"So we need at least two more to make a proper sled team, since this sounds too fascinating to not at least try once," said Rook. He was definitely interested in the idea.

"Do we get to pick the plushies we have racing or is a preset one?" asked Vil.

"You get to not only pick the animal, but the fabric you use," said Cater. He had heard that from Epel.

"Oh-ho? And what sort of animals are permitted?" said Rook, interested.

"It has to be woodland creatures. Things like rabbits, bears, deer, squirrels..." said Cater. "It is based off a legend of forest creatures helping someone in need after all."

Now he just needed to get an extra racer so they could participate.

A few hours later...

"So did you manage to get an extra racer?" asked Vil.

"Riddle agreed to join us," said Cater cheerfully. "I think his dorm is driving him batty, because he looked particularly eager to get away from it."

Vil privately suspected it was because Riddle had come to look at Cater as an older sibling and wanted to spend more time with him. He didn't voice this opinion though, and the two were good for each other in a non-romantic sense.

"Well that's good," said Rook.

"Malleus is going to be joining us as well," said Cater. Rook and Vil nearly choked at that.

"What?" said Vil, surprised.

"I ran into Malleus on the way to find Lilia and he asked why I was in his dorm. I told him about the race and he sounded interested. I know the poor guy almost never gets invited to anything, so I asked if he wanted to join us. Lilia looked really pleased I invited him," explained Cater.

"He's not joining the race, is he?" asked Vil.

Cater shook his head.

"I highly doubt the plushies are able to handle someone of his magical levels," said Cater. "We can always leave him as a reserve option in case one of us has an accident before the race."

"Sensible," said Rook.

"Also, since Riddle is going to be part of the racers I have the perfect team name for us."

"Team name?" said Vil.

"Yeah, each team has to register with a team name," said Cater cheerfully. "I thought Queen's Heart as appropriate since it reflects on both the Fairest Queen and the Queen of Hearts respectively."

"I like it," said Vil approvingly. The Fairest Queen's legend was rather explicit in what she had planned to do to the princess after all. "So when do we leave?"

"The day after tomorrow," said Cater cheerfully. This was going to be loads of fun!