The girl likely wanted to go out and see the sights in the city—she really loved that. But she didn't like going out dressed as a noble. Obviously, then she was limited to which places she could visit. They had to live up to noble standards, but Charlotte loved to enjoy the casual side of the city: food stalls, small bakeries, unique tailors, and jewelry stores that weren't quite up to the standards of noblemen.
At first, Charlotte didn't even recognize Alistair and screamed, thinking it was an intruder. That one did hurt, although he couldn't blame her. With a beard grown this thick and his clothes disheveled and dirty, he looked more like some commoner than himself. Only after hearing his voice and seeing his eyes did Charlotte calm down.
For about half a second, when she began bawling, she was worried about what had happened to him. It took a while to calm her down and explain what had happened. Well, some of it. He didn't dare to mention the siren or the severity of the storm. He said that he unfortunately fell overboard the ship and had to get to Fenrora by more mundane means of travel.
While Charlotte was listening and sobbing, the whole manor woke up. Servants ran to and fro equally shocked about Alistair's appearance and worried about what had happened. It didn't take long for the news to travel and reach the Duke and Duchess.
The Duchess was rushing as quickly as her sick leg allowed her, supported by the butler, her face marred with worry. When she saw Alistair, her eyes filled with tears and she pulled Alistair into a deep hug.
"My baby boy! What happened to you?" She asked, turning Alistair's face this way and that, examining for possible injuries.
"Mom, you are vastly exaggerating. I'm fine," he tried to pry himself free of his mother's grasp.
"You smell like seaweed!" Charlotte complained.
"A little bit of seaweed has never killed anyone," he muttered.
"Prepare a bath for my son at once!" The Duchess commanded, and several servants rushed away to get everything ready. "You go clean up, we'll get some food in you, and then you'll tell us everything that happened to you!"
Alistair was then whisked away by a group of servants who proceeded to push him towards the bath on the second floor. The attention was a bit much after not having servants for so long. He had grown used to doing everything himself. It was odd that everyone fussed over him so much.
Unfortunately for Alistair, not only did he see his father on his way up. He gave him the most disapproving look, shaking his head when their eyes met. So much for leaving a good impression when he arrived. But he also ran into his eldest brother, Richard.
"What pigsty did you crawl out of?" Richard covered his nose in disgust. "Have you decided to become a commoner yourself after spending so much time with them?"
"It's nice to see you too, Brother," Alistair said dryly and continued his way up.
Richard scoffed in distaste and continued on his way. Alistair barely suppressed a groan. He felt like his chances of convincing his father of anything were evaporating like dewdrop during summer.
Several hours later, after a good soak, being washed and shaved, Alistair felt more like himself again. The chefs had prepared a bountiful dinner for the whole family in the meanwhile, and Alistair was more than eager to dig in. He felt like he hadn't eaten anything proper in days. How he missed Melina's cooking!
Unfortunately, Alistair couldn't sate his appetite right away. His father demanded that he explain everything that happened to him.
Initially, he kept the same story he had told Charlotte. That he'd merely fallen overboard the ship and was forced to swim to the shore and travel by road. But his mother furrowed her eyebrows at the tale, not believing him. She likely picked up that he was trying to downplay the severity of the situation while Charlotte was around. Not that he'd want Richard to hear what had happened either.
"Really? You fell off the ship? How daft are you, little brother?" Richard mocked.
Yes, that was exactly what Alistair expected from him. Richard was utterly unable to say anything nice about anyone. All he ever did was complain about how utterly incompetent everyone around him was. Alistair felt incredibly sorry for all the servants that had to deal with him daily.
Alistair didn't reply; instead, he just glared at Richard, who was too oblivious to pick up on the hidden meaning of his words. Despite claiming to be the most suited to become the next Duke, the finer subtleties of language seemed to escape him. He never was able to pick up on the meaning between words, and always told everything rather bluntly.
"Not now, Richard," the Duke chastised. "Let's eat first and talk about this later."
The dinner continued in rather awkward silence. Charlotte was the only one who ever dared to speak up, but her conversations quickly fell short, thanks to Richard. Thankfully, as soon as he was done eating, he left, not even waiting for dessert.
"Would you bring Charlotte's dessert to her room?" The Duchess ordered.
"What?! Why? I want to eat with everyone," Charlotte whined.
"We'll have tea-time later, but currently we need to discuss some things with Alistair," she persisted.
Charlotte threw a longing look at Alistair, hoping that he'd take her side.
"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later," he said apologetically.
Her face fell. "You better!"
Charlotte reluctantly left, often glancing over her shoulder in hopes that she might be allowed to stay. But soon it became clear that she wouldn't be and left with a loud, dramatic sigh.
"Make sure she isn't listening in," the Duke said to his butler, who nodded and went to check beyond the door.
They all waited while he checked, and once the butler nodded his head, the Duke turned back to Alistair. "So tell us what happened? Why have you suddenly decided to return home?"
Alistair took a sip of tea and then began his lengthy tale. Without hiding anything this time. He told them how the ship was caught in the storm, and he was thrown overboard. His mother gasped at this and grew visibly pale.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"It's alright, dear. He's here safe and sound, isn't he?" Father soothed as he noticed the Duchess's distress.
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry. I shudder to think that something so horrible had happened to you," she admitted.
"Unfortunately, that is merely the beginning," Alistair said, and continued to tell them about the siren that had saved his life, but also attempted to fool him and consume his lifeforce.
He didn't mention that he let the siren go. It was unlikely that the Duke and Duchess would ever meet the creature. What he didn't hide was the fact that the siren had taken Melina's form. The Duke frowned deeply at that, while the Duchess merely nodded as if she had been expecting that.
Afterwards, Alistair retold how he managed to get to Fenrora. Travelling partially by foot with the help of
"I'll send someone to check on the ship. See if it made it through and retrieve your belongings," the Duke said solemnly. "But you still haven't answered an important question—why did you return home so suddenly?"
"Because Sunglow is running out of time. The Church expedition is about to arrive any day now," Alistair said.
"So? Everyone knew they would come eventually. It is within the Church's jurisdiction to investigate all newly discovered passageways to the Monster Realm," Father replied nonchalantly and took a sip of his tea. "You're wasting my time now."
"Now, now, dear. Don't be so quick to dismiss our son. I'm sure he has a good reason for coming all this way. Sadly, I don't think it's just to visit us," Mother said.
"Sadly not. I have a few reasons to believe that the Church is planning something unusual for Sunglow," Alistair said, emphasizing the word unusual.
His father picked up on it instantly, arching his eyebrow. "What exactly?"
Alistair then went into great detail describing everything that the Church had done in Sunglow. The most concerning thing, obviously, was the spy that was gathering information about everything and everyone in Sunglow, especially Melina.
He also told his parents about Adrien and how the Church had tried to recruit him before he had even turned eighteen because of the magical abilities he had displayed. He didn't mention the past timeline just yet, but he knew that his story already had multiple points that shouldn't make sense.
"Why is everything revolving around that commoner girl, Melina? Why is the Church so interested in her? Why did she take the young mage under her wing when she's just a baker? Sure, her pastries are unusual and have proved incredibly useful for the Adventurers Guild, but I know there must be more to it than that," the Duke was tapping his finger on the table. He did that whenever he thought that he was missing some crucial bit of information.
Alistair knew that his father hated being in the dark. He had an extensive network of spies and informants. He was used to knowing everything about everyone, and Sunglow hadn't been any different. But obviously, he couldn't know a secret that was known to only a handful of people who knew how to keep their mouths shut.
He didn't know how to breach the lengthy topic of alternate timelines and magic and the end of both worlds as they knew them. Alistair had thought about it a lot, but decided that it was best to put the spotlight on Melina. It was essential for later.
"Yes, you're right, Father. There is more to it than that. Melina is, or rather was, an Archmage. The most powerful Archmage in both Human and Monster Realm," Alistair said.
It wasn't easy to shock the Duke and the Duchess. Alistair had rarely seen them anything more than mildly surprised. But the Duke lost his composure for a moment, gaping at Alistair, as did the Duchess, although she didn't try to hide it.
"Archmage? Son, what are you saying? That girl is merely eighteen years old. I did a thorough background check on her. She lived in the orphanage up until a few months ago, when she moved to Sunglow and reunited with her grandfather. There realistically isn't a time at which point she could become a mage of any sort. Much less an Archmage," Father objected. "Unless that is some changeling taking a human guide, same as the siren."
Alistair wasn't too shocked to hear that his father even knew about Melina's familiar relation to Master Gilbert, although it did prove that there was somebody in Sunglow who was constantly relaying information to the Duke.
"No, she isn't a changeling, but rather a time traveler. Melina has already lived twenty years in the future, become an Archmage, and witnessed everything that has happened," Alistair said. "That's how she knows so much about magic and can create magical pastries and tame ember wyrms like it's no big deal."
Father and mother looked even more shocked than before, although Alistair didn't think it was possible. The Duchess openly gaped, something he'd never seen her do.
"T-Time traveler?" She blinked, then cleared out her throat and composed herself. "Alistair, perhaps we should call a healer… I understand the shock after being in the sea at storm and then influence of the siren must have—"
"No, Mom, I'm completely fine. The siren hasn't scrambled my mind, and before you say anything, Father, this isn't something that Melina has convinced me of. It is something I remember."
"Something you remember?"
Then Alistair went into a very long and detailed explanation of the previous timeline and his
But after that came the hard part. Explanation about the worlds being split apart, his and Melina's role in it, as well as Church's. He explained how Melina, from the very beginning, was working hard to avoid the same horrible outcome that led to the world's eventual demise.
"So how is it that the time got rewound by twenty years?" The Duke asked after Alistair was finished, rubbing his temples.
"I don't know that. I suspect that it was the work of an Architect or perhaps the System itself," Alistair said.
One thing he wouldn't reveal to his parents was that Melina was capable of rewinding time. While he trusted his mother and believed that his father had the best interests of his people in mind, he knew that his father also wasn't one to hesitate using all resources at his disposal. Revealing that somebody was capable of rewinding time could only lead to more trouble.
"I see. If the world indeed was heading towards destruction, then I suppose it isn't far-fetched for the System itself to intervene," the Duke said thoughtfully.
"Now do you understand why I've come here. I believe it is paramount that you use your influence to oppose the Church. We suspect that there is someone among their ranks who also remembers the past timeline and they will try to speed things up," Alistair said.
"Yes, if they came to retrieve the other Archmage candidate, then it is a very reasonable assumption," Father said, then stood up. "I need to go and confirm something. We'll discuss our next course of action in a few days."
"A few days? Father, they might be coming to Sunglow at this instant," Alistair protested.
"If it was so urgent, then you should have brought this information to me earlier. Judging by how quickly you got close to the Archmage, I imagine you've known this for a while now," the Duke objected.
Alistair couldn't argue with that. Frankly, he didn't want to rely on his father and was doing this as a last resort. They needed all the allies they could get to oppose the Church. Yet his father, as always, didn't deem it the right time to act.
The Duke strode away, and Alistair was left alone with his mother. Unable to contain his anger, he smashed his fist against the table. "Why is father always like this?"
The Duchess came up to him and soothingly rubbed his shoulders. "Do give him some time. You've just unloaded quite a bit of information onto him. I frankly still can't believe half of it. Mostly that you actually married the princess."
Alistair blinked. "That was the most surprising part?"
"Oh, ever since you were a boy, you were a romanticist just like your father. I couldn't believe that you married someone you didn't love. But I suppose you don't intend to do that again."
"Father is a romanticist?" Alistair exclaimed. He couldn't imagine anything remotely romantic in his cold father.
"Very much so," the Duchess chuckled. "But you might just have him beat. I imagine that requesting help against the Church was only half of the reason why you came here."
Alistair smiled. His mother knew him too well. "You're right, Mom. Will you help me?"
"Of course, I will!" She said with a smile. "I'd be a fool if I rejected an all-knowing Archmage from becoming my daughter in law. We'll convince your father."