It was a pleasant surprise that Assassin wanted to talk. The Master had feared that an Assassin would rather stick to the shadows, vacating the light at all times. But it seemed that Marie-Anne had no problem acting like a normal member of society. It would do well to hide her identity, but also make her more noticeable. Random people showing up during the Grail War was reason to suspect them enough. The Magi didn't put much stock in coincidence or happenstance, for every effect there is a cause. She also appeared to humor his request of counting houses. He gleamed in response to her answer. This information was arbitrary, but further proved her talents.

It had taken Jacob most of the night to formulate an identity for Marie-Anne. He knew that it would have to be two fold, one for the public, and one for any other Masters that happen to discover that he was a Magus. It would only take one phone call to anyone at the Association for anyone to figure out that Jacob was a Magus, and from their tracking his family and associates would be simple, leaving Assassin looking like a servant. What he came up with was something that would work well, but left him unsettled.

"[color=MediumSeaGreen][i]I thought that more truth than lie would go a long way in our relationship and our ruse. If anyone asks you about me tell them we just met and that you don't know me too well. Tell them you are a cousin from my father's side, his side is the non-magical one. His name is Burton, my mother is Harva. Make up a reason for coming here on your own. Just keep me up on your lies so I can duplicate them. That should cover you in the public eye.[/i][/color]" This was the simple part, a white lie that they were related would give most the security that nothing funny was happening. Anyone that looked into this story would give themselves away that they were up to something, which lead him to the other half.

Scratching the back of his head he doubted it for a moment, but knew it was the strongest route to take. "[color=MediumSeaGreen][i]If anyone presses you hard for information, or you identify them as Magi or a Master, tell them that you are a marriage candidate.[/i][/color]" Jacob found himself stumbling over those last two words. "[color=MediumSeaGreen][i]My family is very particular about our blood line, there are a lot of factors that they feel should go into the woman bearing my child. Regardless, this leaves a lot of wiggle room. We don't have to act like we don't know each other too well because we don't. You don't have to pretend to know anything about Magecraft, forgive me for assuming that you don't. Lastly we can be ourselves around each other, as we are 'getting to know' each other.[/i][/color]"

This was a bit unorthodox, but just like a family member would satisfy most people, a marriage candidate would demand some courtesy for Magi. Some in the magical community held themselves to higher standards in the pursuit of knowledge. The Millford line has been arraigning marriages for as long as the family name has been known. It produced the healthiest of offspring by attempting to eliminate any mental or physical defects due to "unclean" family history. In the past Jacob has had two such candidates sent to him, both of them being offered a large sum to live with him for a month. None of them worked out as a meaningful relationship in his eyes, so no wedding bells rang yet.

The greatest benefit of this lie would be the security it offered the both of them. Attacking a marriage candidate was as bad as attacking the family directly. In the Association, this would ruin a reputation and burn quite a few bridges, scaring a family for generations. "[color=MediumSeaGreen][i]I want you to maintain any sense of neutrality you have for as long as you can. The moment you give yourself away as a servant, we loose a huge edge. I don't even want them to know how tall you are, the less they know the more we stay hidden. If you must attack, leave no witnesses and make damn well sure you kill both the master and the servant. Do what you have to to maintain your identity. Is this reasonable?[/i][/color]"