Accusations and emergencies

A shallow exhale stirred the air in Lucas's room. Together with it came the motion that let his gray shirt fall down his chest, the last piece of his attire now assembled. Shuffling on his feet, he felt his body protest faintly, but it was only a dull sensation in his muscles.

'Friday...' he thought, a sombre feeling filling his guts. Focusing a little, Lucas scoured the expanse of his own mind, but his search came up empty. However, bitterness bit his throat as his hand found the handle.

Stepping into the corridor quietly, the white-haired man felt almost displaced. Every time his feet met the stone, it felt distant. The steady breaths were inaudible, and the lights of the manalamps all around seemed dim. It was like a tiny, unplaceable, yet important part of his mind was jumbled up with everything around.

Eventually reaching the kitchen, Lucas slowly opened the door. Immediately, he noticed Ina sitting by the table, eating a small portion of soup she'd prepared for herself. Opposite her, Nimue sat, the two talking in earnest.

However, that stopped the moment he entered.

"Oh, young master," Ina immediately shifted in her position. "Welcome."

Lucas smiled gently despite the foreboding feeling in his body. "Hey, Ina. Hey, Nimue," his amethyst eyes looked at the black-haired beauty.

He could've sworn he noticed her ears twitch as she turned, smiling brightly. "Good morning."

Lucas felt his heart flutter. Uncertainties of mind slid into nothingness as he sat next to her, their shoulders nearly touching. A bowl of warm soup was already waiting for him.

"How did you sleep?" Ina asked as she rejoined them. Her gaze was sharp, but no less motherly than usual. Scanning Lucas diligently, she gauged his reactions.

"It was alright," he shrugged. His words were sincere; his sleep was almost strangely peaceful, and even now, nothing but his own thoughts littered the expanse of his mind. In all honesty, it felt perhaps clearer than ever.

Ina, however, didn't seem convinced.

"We've heard what happened," she said. "That Breshnaw had it coming, I reckon," Ina almost huffed, her gaze bouncing between Lucas and Nimue.

Lucas felt a shiver go down his spine, his hand quivering slightly. The mere memory of that incident, and the fallout that had yet to arrive, would haunt him for many moons to come.

Nimue's expression soured, no doubt by the same thoughts Lucas had. "Ina, don't pester young master like this," she said, a tinge of warning in her tone.

"Don't tell me you think otherwise, Nimue?" the cook's brow raised.

"That's not the point. But it's a rather difficult subject to discuss at the moment."

"Oh, right..." Ina's expression softened, seemingly taking note of how Lucas reacted. "I apologize, young master. It's been a little vivid here recently, is all."

"It's alright, Ina," Lucas answered. "Are you all doing well here, considering what's happened?"

"Most of us," she nodded. "Everyone's a little shaken, perhaps, but they're doing well. Tessa looked downtrodden today, though."

"What's happened to her?"

"Imari said Tessa couldn't sleep all night. Apparently, she went to meet Lady Ismeria after what had happened and, if Imari is to be believed, said she was responsible for your presence upstairs. She apparently also accused Miri of something, though I didn't quite catch what. Supposedly, Lady Ismeria will remove her soon to set an example."

"WHAT?!" Lucas's hands almost slammed on the table. The chilly shiver on his back ran amok, his muscles tensing and quivering under his skin. 'No...!' his teeth gritted, nails scraping against the wood.

He glanced at Nimue. Her expression told him she also wasn't informed.

"Are you sure?" the elf asked.

"Well, it is Imari we are speaking of," Ina almost sighed. The house's gossiper wasn't a liar as far as anyone knew, but Imari wasn't the most reliable source of information. "But Tessa definitely wasn't in high spirits today. At least something of that is true, I'd say."

Lucas didn't speak a word more, his head lowering. The stinging sensation in his heart hurt like he'd been struck.

'Tessa comes from an orphanage in Weydan. If she's thrown out, she will have nowhere to go...' he thought. He still remembered when his father brought in the young girl, nearly eight years ago. Tessa was sixteen at the time - two years younger than Ophelia, and one year older than Aveline. She was to serve as help to the now-gone maid who, like Miri to Ismeria, was to serve as Ophelia's personal aid when the eldest Stormrider child married Illan. After two years, however, instead of taking over the proper duties, Tessa was delegated to a regular position in the manor, sharing a room with Lilia (and later with Imari as well). 'Maybe she has some kind of a plan for that, but... no, I can't just stand and stare. I should speak with her, and... maybe with Mother...'

With that thought, Lucas put his spoon down into the almost empty bowl. Immediately after that, he turned to leave.

"Young master," Ina called out. "Where are you going?"

"...to my room," he answered, looking back at the woman briefly. Then, his gaze flickered to Nimue. "When you're finished, Nimue, may I ask for your assistance?"

"Of course, young master," she answered, putting her own spoon down without blinking. In the same breath, she was already next to him, and the two were quickly walking down the corridor.

Lucas sighed, but the gesture was intermingled with a groan. Hastily looking ahead and behind, he confirmed that they were alone.

"Fuck... why did Tessa do that?" he asked, but the question wasn't aimed at the woman next to him. Rather, it felt like an expression of blank exasperation. "I thought she wouldn't speak a word... dammit!"

"This isn't your fault," Nimue responded, her voice like an antidote.

"It is, Nimue. I did that to her," Lucas retorted. "I told her to watch the food. I told her to report to me. But I told her to not speak of it to others... She seemed so eager to listen... And now, she will be thrown out. How is that not my fault?"

"Lucas," the black-haired maid grabbed his hand. "You did all you could to help the situation at large. And besides, we don't know if any of that is really true. Imari has a vivid imagination, you know that."

"Nimue, you know as well as I do," Lucas turned to face her as they halted. "Tessa shouldn't have a reason to even consider speaking to Mother. She definitely told her what she told me. I don't know why she did all that, but what else could've happened?"

Nimue's eyes ventured down, her gaze uncertain. Her ears also lowered, the elf seemingly pondering what to say.

"...so, what will you do?" she eventually asked. "Go to your Mother? Plead for Tessa? Explain what you've done to her?"

Lucas flinched. The lingering feeling in his guts rose like acid reflux at the very thought.

"I... I don't know. But I can't just be standing around doing nothing. Tessa is on the line because of me," he said, voice resolute. "I'm not letting that slide."

"Lucas," Nimue's tone turned measured, her hand clutching his tighter. "You're not responsible for everyone. Don't try to carry everyone's burdens."

"Even when Tessa is in trouble because of me?"

"Tessa did what she thought is best. So did you."

"She did that because of what I've done!" Lucas's voice rose slightly. "Am I supposed to just watch her get thrown out like that?"

"...don't. Don't go that way, Lucas," Nimue looked at him sorrowfully. "You did the same thing when your father passed."

"!" Lucas almost recoiled physically, a mix of shock and faint wariness visible in his tensed-up posture.

"You can't blame yourself for what you don't control. That doesn't--"

"What did you just say?"

Nimue flinched. Her hand slipped from Lucas's grasp as she made half a step back. The man looked at her, his gaze shifting between surprise and unsure wariness.

"I did what when Father passed?" Lucas pressed.

"I... you closed yourself," Nimue said, her tone sorrowful. "You just... always do this, Lucas," she looked at him, her eyes turning teary. "You treat things like every burden is yours to carry. You blame yourself for things you couldn't control. And you close yourself off because you think nobody will support you... even me," she raised a hand, wiping a small tear that rolled down her cheek.

"!" Lucas's hands quivered. The heavy feeling in his chest felt like it doubled in weight. He wanted to retort, to negate her words somehow, but the realization of the truth hit him hard. Nimue was right. When Valerian passed, he locked himself in his room for three days, unable to process his beaverment. The guilt he shouldn't have felt consumed him, just as it was doing so now.

A few prolonged seconds passed as the two stayed in the corridor, only their breaths signifying the passing time. Lucas felt the sweat bead down his temples, his heartbeat quickened, and blood pressure elevated. However, looking at Nimue, he only deflated.

"I'm sorry, Nimue, I just... I don't know what to do," he admitted. "It feels like it's the only thing I can do."

"I understand, Lucas. But you have to understand that the time for actions is over. You can't help Tessa now. You have to accept that fact."

"And let her be thrown out?"

"That's called 'consequences', Lucas. You did your best, and it wasn't enough. That's just 'life'," she responded. "Yes, I'm sorry for Tessa, and yes, I think it could've been avoided, but it's happened. Now, the best thing we can do is handle the aftermath and learn from our mistakes."

Lucas closed his eyes. A silent whiff of air followed as he leaned on a wall. He didn't want to agree. He didn't want to see Tessa thrown out, especially as a result of his own actions. However, he knew they had no options. He had no grounds to defend Tessa unless he uncovered his class.

'Learn from mistakes...' he huffed lowly at the thought, his eyelids slowly parting. 'You sound exactly like Father, Nimue...'

"...do you think we can at least support Tessa when it's all over?"

"Support? How so?" Nimue's head tilted slightly.

"I don't know, maybe a pouch of money, or maybe we can go to Gareth and ask him to take her in as a maid. Or, I'll talk with someone--"

"=Human!=" a voice suddenly sounded, echoing against the stone walls.

Lucas flinched, both he and Nimue looking in the direction. A small ball of blackness rushed, the cat's shape forming as it approached.

"=...Cileres?=" the white-haired man frowned. "=What are you doing here?="

Suddenly, the cat stopped a few meters from the two. The gaze of its bronze eyes locked with his before it landed on Nimue. Lucas couldn't help but see something flicker in the cat's expression (if he could even read a cat's expressions at all), like a faint layer of hesitance as it flinched.

"=Have you seen Princess?=" Cileres inquired, a layer of urgency in his tone. The cat looked at Nimue briefly, almost as if wanting to ask her as well.

Lucas shook his head. "=No. Why do you ask?="

"=She is gone,=" sounded the reply. "=We're looking for her.="

"=What do you mean?=" Lucas's brow raised, but a strange sensation ran down his spine like an icy rivulet.

"=An hour ago, she asked me to do a patrol around the estate. But when I returned, she was gone.="

"=Gone?="

"=She left, and she's blocking me from reaching her. I only have a vague sense of her, but I can't place it.="

"=How did she slip away? Didn't anyone see her?="

"=Ginis was standing guard, but she didn't leave through the door.="

"=What?=" Lucas suddenly looked at Nimue, his gaze shifting to an obvious question.

"Her room is on the first floor. There's no way she jumped," the elf said, a visible layer of suspicion emanating as she scanned the cat. "=How could she have made it out?="

However, another voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Lucas."

The white-haired man's eyes immediately snapped in the direction, meeting the gaze of Ophelia's blue orbs. The voluptuous woman walked quickly, every step punctuating the gentle sway of her curves. However, she wasn't alone. Aveline walked, a neutral gaze aimed at him. As her gaze turned to Cileres by his feet, something strange passed her face, like faint recognition, which waned as her violet eyes scrutinized Nimue briefly.

The tensile atmosphere between the two was palpable even from the distance. Lucas felt a pang of nervousness travel down his throat and into his stomach, stirring the acid within. He knew that look.

"Did you see Princess today?" Ophelia asked as the two came to a halt a couple of steps away.

"I didn't," he shook his head.

"Don't lie to us, Lucas," his busty sister warned with a frown.

"I'm not. I haven't seen her today. Why do you ask?"

Aveline sighed, "She's vanished. We don't know exactly when or how, but she slipped past her retinue. We're currently doing a sweep of the estate."

"Do you think she could've gone out?"

"Our guards would've seen her," the robust woman shook her head. "Getting past one guard by the door I can understand, but not getting past the wall."

Lucas frowned. Something about the situation smelled strange to him. He didn't know all the power Seraphina held, but he understood the limitations she was under. Limited to only two low-rank spirits at most, it would be impossible for her to do grand feats. Maybe, just maybe, with the help of two sylphs, she could've broken a jump from the window of her room, but getting past the wall was indeed unimaginable. Yet, something about this felt off to him.

"=Cileres,=" he spoke, his eyes locating the cat by his feet. "=Did Seraphina learn how to summon an intermediate-rank spirit?="

The cat shuffled by his feet. "=No, but she did learn something else. She knows Spirit Parade.="

Everyone in the corridor looked at the cat in shock. However, the reactions were divided into two groups.

"That cat... talks?" Ophelia asked almost subconsciously, stupefied.

Aveline said nothing, her expression slightly more controlled, yet nonetheless surprised.

"=What's Spirit Parade...?=" Nimue murmured, her eyes glancing between the cat and Lucas. Immediately, she noticed the clear shock and disbelief written on his countenance.

Lucas turned to her lightly, his violet eyes still glimmering with uncertainty. "=It's Liveren Family's Origin Magic. But I thought she didn't have it...?=" his gaze landed back on the cat.

"=She awoke it when she argued with Lis'te yesterday. I doubt she can control it fully, yet. She used it on instinct yesterday and hasn't done so since.="

"=Wait, they argued? What about?="

"=Quite harshly, mostly about the situation as a whole. I understand why Princess would want a moment alone. I don't know, though, why she would block me off,=" Cileres sighed, a begrudging sense of defeat in his tone.

Lucas didn't answer. The corridor was filled with momentary silence as he thought about the situation as a whole. With Spirit Parade, the situation looked vastly different, provided Seraphina could actually control it.

'If it's only for a few seconds, I suppose even a first-time user could manage. A support-type magic probably has lower backlash than an attack-type. Something stinks. I have a bad feeling about this...'

"...Does anyone know the time?" he asked aloud, prompting everyone to focus on him.

"The time?" Ophelia's brows rose as she made the most perplexed expression he'd seen on her in a while. "What use is that?"

"Just... do you know?" Lucas repeated, feeling a heavy lump in his throat.

"I think it's about twenty minutes to noon," Aveline shrugged. "How's that relevant?" she added, her brows corrugating. However, something unknown seemed to glimmer within her violet eyes, like the tiniest bit of understanding she couldn't have had.

Lucas's heart sank. This situation, suddenly, started making much more sense. If Seraphina really could control Spirit Parade to summon a few air spirits, getting past the estate's wall was possible.

'...noon at Weydan...' the thought rang in his head dully, yet with an ominous tone.

His fingers trembled. He looked at Nimue. The black-haired woman reciprocated the gaze, a glint of understanding lurking within.

The white-haired man turned to his sisters.

"I know where she is. We have to hurry."

-Meanwhile-

The gaze of her ocean-blue eyes was fixed on the impressive building before her. The massive Academy, the pinnacle of Etnal engineering, stood even more imposing than any book could ever describe.

Seraphina inhaled slowly, her gaze darting sideways. Yet, the innumerable people going back and forth didn't seem to pay her much attention, everyone ignoring the green-haired elf clad in a blue dress and wearing a gray cloak.

Then, her gaze landed on the book she had in her hand, lines converging into a detailed description of the building she had just marveled at. Near them, small scribbles not belonging to the author converged into tiny comments, no doubt the work of Lucas. The tiniest of smiles graced her face before her fingers clutched, the lecture closing with a silent rustle.

A heavy feeling stung in her heart. She knew well this was reckless. She knew, and she still did it. Because, when she thought about the unfairness of what's happened lately, Seraphina couldn't help but grit her teeth.

'Unruly...' she thought with dismay, stepping forth along the Academy's wall. 'Maybe I am. Maybe, for once, I want to embrace it.'

She thought of Cileres as she'd told him to patrol the area earlier. A queasy feeling stirred in her abdomen. She knew he was the only person truly on her side. However, she also knew another thing: to him, her safety took precedence. He wouldn't have allowed her to go, and would've told Lis'te immediately. That was what had happened last year, when she'd gone to Rigus's sewers. Her little adventure (vile-scented as it was) only lasted half an hour. That was why she'd suppressed her connection to him. He was still feelable, somewhere in the depths of her mind; the bond between a familiar and their summoner was impossible to break just like that, after all. However, just dulling the connection was enough.

Suddenly, she stopped. Looking to her side, she noticed some men working. The nature of their work was unknown to her, but what she did recognize easily were the mana stones they were using. With some strange tools, they appeared to be measuring something before setting them into the ground, less than a nail's length sticking out, before scribbling something near it with some kind of tool. As they finished, one of the men grabbed a wooden panel. With a charcoal piece on a stick, he carefully marked something on the paper affixed to it. As he finished and put the thing away, the process repeated.

'Etnal is the most technologically prosperous country out of the five on the continent. I can't help but wonder, what is the purpose of doing all that, though? Are they... marking something?'

Eventually, she shrugged to herself lightly. Perhaps there was some kind of infrastructure reformation taking place. Maybe those mana stones were to be used with some kind of new invention that hadn't yet reached Inallel.

Seraphina sighed lightly, deciding to stop her pondering.

As her steps carried her forth, the young elf found herself standing closer and closer to the trio. Her eyes, so far darting all over the place, were now glancing more and more toward a large bag they had with them, a few mana stones glimmering within as they were just about finished with their job.

Her heart beat stronger, with more haste. A familiar feeling deep within her flared up, like a mix of anticipation and slight arousal, yet heavier in its meaning. An unscratchable itch, per se, which only grew stronger as she approached.

She looked around. The streets were mostly empty. The men were focused on their work.

'No.' she quietly berated herself. 'You don't need it, Seraphina...'

Her hand twitched by her side. She knew it was wrong. That little desire, which she'd been taught to suppress as she could.

Yet, with every step closer, her desire only grew, as did the tension within her muscles. It felt like an open flame had burst in her heart. It was an intrusive feeling. Irrational, yet gnawing at her. She fought it internally, trying to quell it.

But...

As she stepped away, she brought her other hand up. The small mana stone within glimmered, and immediately, she felt her heart abate its rhythm, a feeling of satisfaction coursing through her. It was enough to make her whole body tingle pleasantly, like she'd just received a gift.

Was it wrong to listen to her feelings? Of course not. Was a bird wrong for feeling hunger and quelling it by finding a seed?

Was it bad that she came here on her own? Why would it be? Everyone deserved a little time alone, didn't they?

Was it improper of her to do it the way she did? Seraphina scowled at the thought.

'If Lis'te won't listen, I'll make him.'

The green-haired elf slowly stepped forward, foregoing her ponderings. Stopping on a bridge just west, she looked down the river. Cis, as it was called, flowed quietly, unbothered by the emotional turmoil still rampant in her soul.

Guilt of her act nipped at her spirit, but she only exhaled softly. It was familiar to her. Small. Forgettable. It would pass. It always did.

Seraphina sighed lightly. Looking around for a few seconds, she noticed a blonde woman in robes similar to what Lucas had worn when he attended the Academy. She was a few paces away in a similar position to hers, her elbows on the railing as her amber eyes appeared entirely transfixed on the river, seemingly finding herself in her own world as she watched the water flow. A quiet hum left her closed mouth, the rhythmic sounds strangely catchy.

The Liveren Princess watched the human woman for a couple more seconds. Something about her seemed almost familiar. Didn't Lucas say he met someone who matched her description...?

However, before she pondered too much, the woman in question straightened up in her position. The swell of her curvature became more pronounced as she quickly ran a hand down her attire and, none the wiser to Seraphina staring at her, walked away in the direction of the Academy, still humming the tune to herself.

But just as Seraphina was about to follow her, she heard something. It was dull and muffled, but still hearable to her ultra-sensitive ears.

An explosion happened in the distance.