" Precisely. And along with her, and possibly her entire family, her majesty would have no choice but to send you to the guillotine with them. "

Lowell Brichalles
"I'm sure my own house would say a guillotine is too good for me..
I may be in her Majesty's debt, but I find her pity wasted on me. In my case, all of the rumors about me have not been baseless.

I've begun to lose interest in finding any further means to break this curse. I find it oddly.. comforting in many regards. It gives a structure to my day I had found myself lacking before and an escape from a life I found stifling. I've grown indifferent to the brutality of this job as well."
He folded his arms.

"So out of curiosity again, how did you fall into this situation yourself? Ordinarily one does not find dark magic without explicitly looking for it."

" I was originally a slave from a northern kingdom. I was...given to a group of Arkaos nobility who liked to...experiment on young children using dark magic. I, unfortunately, instead of succumbing and dying, became one with the magic. "

Lowell Brichalles
"Quite a bit different than being sabotaged by one's own brother for the means of securing a house." He sighed, pushing up his glasses.
"I am deeply sorry to hear of more instances of filthy dregs in the nobility.. On children no less..
It's good that the Empress helped you escape and put your powers to good use."

" Yes. You could say...she was the light for me when I could only see darkness. It is why i will forever be deeply in her debt. "

Lowell Brichalles
"Light of your life, I'd say." He elbowed him playfully, giving him a rare smile.

"It may be in the realm of fantasy but indulge me for a moment, Gallagher. Do you think you would make a good Emperor?"

He froze for a minute. Then shook it off and kept walking. " We have already come to the conclusion she does not consider me in that manner. So no, i do not. "

Lowell Brichalles
"Just in jest, just in jest." He laughed at his reaction, deciding it was best not to push his buttons any further unless he wanted to almost take a knife to the chest from him again.
"That begs the question though, has anyone in the empire even caught her attention?
I heard that an elven prince from Caemid had a bit of surprisingly close relationship with her a time ago, but I haven't seen any signs of it myself. I believe I also have managed to scare him out of the empire." He shrugged.

" As far as I am aware, no. And she and the prince were close, at least when they were younger, before she became Empress. But there have been no talks of marriage between the two, and most likely never will be. "

Lowell Brichalles
"As I expected. Elves typically do not mingle with humans in that matter. Even in my country, they tend to keep their distance when it comes to courtship. Just found it interesting."
He stopped in the shade of a pine tree, staring ahead at a large castle with narrowing eyes as he shielded his eyes from the afternoon sunlight.
"So I take it that this is it?"