“A-Are you alright Aurelius?” Lucina asked.

  Aurelius was sprawled across the cafe table, drawing eyes from everyone in the establishment. His cup of iced sweet tea was sat collecting condensation next to his face.

  Tiberius and Lucina had an outing every week. Given that they were in different classes, they used the time as a weekly date.

  And Aurelius always followed.

  The reason was simple.

  Following two financially irresponsible teenagers cast the most attractive spell of all. ‘Free expensive food’.

  Third wheeling was a small price to pay for such a lucrative return on investment for his friendship with Tiberius.

  However, that particular Wednesday afternoon did not invoke the usual happiness for Aurelius.

  The reason was quite simple. It was that horribly intense sage, Ms. Yeltz!

  “I-I’ve been pushed to my limits for 3 straight days- I can’t even feel my face right now.” Aurelius responded weakly, his voice raspy from his horrible exhaustion.

  “Is she making you do that much work?” Lucina asked curiously.

  Aurelius sat up straight and almost started to complain about that horrible horrible commission mage. However, Tiberius’s dumb face with his bourgeois cookie immediately shut him up.

  He had that horrifying contract!

  Tiberius stared at him curiously. He likely guessed that it had something to do with the contract that the Commission had gotten him and Lucina to sign, as well as the asylum worthy story that Aurelius had spewed during their lunch on Sunday. However, as a practitioner of notary magic himself, he knew better than to push Aurelius’s luck on even small things such as this.

  “It seems that you and Tiberius both had some anti-divination magic cast on you. It’s the strangest thing!” Lucina commented, sipping her tea elegantly.

  “Haha-It’s just the Commission. You know how they are about tying up loose ends…” Tiberius answered nervously.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “I get that, but the enchantments that they’ve placed on you guys are super weird!”

  “They usually cast a full body enchantment set to wear off within 3 months for something like this, but they’ve gone full premium and just enchanted your brain entirely!”

  “It takes a magister to cast something like that!” Lucina explained.

  “W-Wow Lucina, you seem very knowledgeable about these things.” Aurelius managed nervously, scouring his memory to recall the terms of his contract with the Commission. Her current line of questioning seemed very close to entering dangerous territory!

  “I might only be a second generational Caelestis but my father still is an archmage in the House. Of course I would be knowledgable!” Lucina responded haughtily.

  “I didn’t know he was an archmage. I thought he was just a high mage?” Aurelius asked curiously.

  “Nono, he was bestowed his title when he was a high mage. He’s refined his magic to be registered as an archmage.” Lucina answered proudly.

  “That puts your father in the upper echelons of the House!” Aurelius exclaimed, impressed.

  “He worked hard to get there. We’re still just a minor noble though, they wouldn’t bestow a bigger title on a household who joined their ranks so recently.”

  “Eh, titles don’t matter as much these days. It’s not like it comes with territory like the traditional Royal titles. He probably still earns as much as an archmage does in the House.” Tiberius commented, munching absent mindedly on his cookies.

  “What part of the Caelestis House does your father work in?” Aurelius asked, becoming more invested in Lucina’s story.

  “Isn’t it obvious? He does ‘Fortune Telling’ just like me.” Lucina answered casually.

  “How’s that even different from normal divinations?” Aurelius asked incredulously.

  “The House mainly makes its income from divinations, as well as some water based charms. Our House has built its business on the large contracts that we have with merchants and institutions like the Commission.”

  “Our soul-shape is primarily based on water, but we’ve specialised in carving our souls to best utilise its abstract application of divination.”

  “We’ve actually focused so much on it that our physical applications of the water elemental magic is close to non-existent!”

  “But the shape is the most advanced of the kind for divinations that are available to water elemental mages.”

  “The House and its mages are split into 3 categories. We have the Fortune Telling sect, the Tracker sect, and the Charm sect.”

  “The Charm sect is the smallest of them all, since our luck charms are a small part of the business.”

  “My dad is one of the managers of a House department in the Fortune Telling sect as an archmage with 2 layers of the Caelestis soul-shape.” Lucina explained, continuing on to elaborate on how the House has stagnated in its research into increasing the potential of the soul shapes.

  “So that’s really what my House does. I suppose we’re a little lacking when it comes to a few areas as compared to the other 11 Magical Houses, but I’d say that demand for divinations are relatively stable these days.” Lucina concluded.

  Aurelius listened with interest. After all, climbing the ranks to join a House was the dream of every mage. And here was Lucina, a second generation Caelestis! She was practically set for life as a member of the House, with the magical resources and jobs practically guaranteed for her.

  “Anyways, would you like me to tell your future? I do read fortunes quite frequently, especially about my friends, mostly to improve my magic. But I would like to challenge myself to read into yours today since there are some advanced anti-divination magic cast on you.” She offered, her eyes twinkling.

  Aurelius snapped out of his thoughts at the offer, as he blinked slowly to consider it.

  “Err… Sure?” Aurelius responded, curious to see what kind of messed up future that Lucina would foretell.