The Storm King

Elise didn’t have any plans for the Saturday following the second week since Leon entered the Knight Academy. She hadn’t taken on much in the way of official Heaven’s Eye duties since returning to the capital, so she found that her days could be difficult to fill. Every day, she would wake up relatively late and start her day with a few hours of magical training.

Her training did not include any form of combat training, as she felt there was little need for it in her position. Her physical training was spent almost exclusively dancing and exercising in a private courtyard in her mother’s estate that was filled with exotic trees, plants, and carved obelisks that raised the density of magic in the area to more than five times the normal level for the capital.

This training was paying off; she could feel herself growing in magical power at a rate that left her certain she could ascend to the third-tier in less than a year. She used to slack off in her training before moving to Teira which left her far behind her younger third-tier friends. After meeting Leon, though, she never slacked off again. She immediately started training in earnest after coming home.

Leon’s influence wasn’t the only reason she continued though; she found herself getting hooked on the physical aspects of magic training as she relished the feeling she had when she was finished. Her limbs were tired and sweaty, but her body was always filled with magic power. After resting with a long bath, the abundance of magic power in her body would fill her with energy and give her an almost euphoric feeling.

Elise’s routine wasn’t any different the Saturday that Leon planned to visit.

After a very late breakfast, she found herself sliding into boredom. She had met up with Valeria and Asiya the week before, so she knew they planned to stay at the Knight Academy over the weekend. This didn’t leave her with many options to alleviate her boredom. For a moment, she contemplated heading over to the Heaven’s Eye Tower, but that would involve dressing in fancier clothes and otherwise preparing herself to look like the daughter of the Tower Lord, a process she had no interest in undergoing at the moment.

After a quarter of an hour, she decided to read for a while. She wasn’t able to spend her time in peace, though, as she had barely been reading for twenty minutes when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She couldn’t help but frown because it sounded like at least four or five people were coming, far too many to be any of her Mother’s servants.

She sighed as she closed her book and turned her attention to the door, which only a moment later burst open to reveal her suspicions to be true.

“Elise, darling! There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” A woman with hair as bright red as fire walked into the library, accompanied by four men with highly varying appearances.

One was tall and lean and possessed a proud and noble bearing; obviously, he was a lower to mid-ranked noble.

The second man seemed to be of common birth; he had a healthy tan and a fit body, but he was of average height and did not enjoy the first man’s commanding presence.

The third man was a foreigner from the Samar Kingdom to the south; bronze skin, staggeringly tall, and built like a millennium-old heartwood tree.

The last man could barely be called a man; he appeared just old enough to be considered an adult. He was short, lithe, and had a round and smooth baby-face. He kept looking around timidly as if he didn’t feel like he belonged.

“Mother…” replied Elise with little enthusiasm, looking to the stunningly gorgeous red-haired woman who led the group. Elise, for the most part, ignored the other four—she had little interest in interacting with her mother’s concubines, so she gave them nothing more than cold, polite nods of her head in greeting.

“Oh my, that’s certainly a warm welcome, isn’t it?” responded the red-haired woman with a smile and good-natured sarcasm. She walked right over to Elise and took a seat directly across the table from her. She sat there and stared at her daughter until Elise was forced to sigh and speak first.

“So, what brings you here?” she asked.

“Do I need a reason to want to spend time with my only child?” the red-haired woman responded with a mock-hurt expression that Elise easily saw through.

“No, but I doubt you’d bring your newest toys if you just wanted to spend time with me,” said Elise while briefly glancing at the four men who were respectfully waiting at a nearby cluster of chairs and tables.

“I just want them to get to know you, as well as the estate,” the red-haired woman said with a look of complete sincerity.

“Sure, you do. Trying to persuade me to find some ‘toys’ of my own by parading yours in front of me surely isn’t what you were doing, right?” asked Elise with a sly look. Her mother’s face froze for a split second, then immediately turned into a smile of her own.

“Of course, that wasn’t my intention! But, now that you mentioned finding yourself a toy, I did see that pile of gifts that were sent to you by… what was his name? That son of a Duke from the Western Territories?”

“Tiberias,” answered Elise with a slightly insulted look.

“Right! He’s a handsome enough boy, wealthy family, noble heritage. If you want, I could have him made your first husband in an instant! Or even make him your concubine if you prefer!” The red-haired woman started working herself up out of excitement, so much so that she didn’t even notice Elise sigh and slightly roll her eyes.

“I’ve told you before, Mother, I don’t need your help! Least of all for man like him!”

The red-haired woman frowned. She was about to say something more when a young man suddenly entered the room and froze for a moment when he realized who was here.

He bowed to the red-haired woman with a “My Lady,” then turned to Elise. “Lady Elise, that young man you instructed us to watch for has just entered the Tower.”

Elise’s immediate reaction was to smile and jump to her feet, only to freeze when she looked at her extremely pleasantly surprised mother.

“Oh? Who is this young man you’ve been watching? Tell me, I need the details!”

The red-haired woman’s face was nearly split in half with her smile and her eyes were as wide as they could get in expectation. But, she didn’t get anything out of her daughter.

Elise hurried out of the library and made for her changing rooms with her mother following close behind. Elise wasn’t nearly as put together as she usually was when she spent time in the Tower, so she needed a few minutes to change and get ready.

‘Can’t do much with my hair, I’m going to have to go with something simple. Same with my clothes… Ahhh, why didn’t I go to the Tower today?!’

She pulled her hair into a simple loose ponytail but left enough to leave her face well-framed. The clothes she wore were exceptionally thin and did little to hide her body despite not showing much skin, so she decided to change into something a little more formal that would only show what she wanted to show. However, most of her formal attire would take too long to change into, so she settled on a loose dark red short-sleeved shirt and tight black pants.

When she came back out of the changing room, she found her mother standing in the hall with bright eyes and an ecstatic smile. The messenger stood just behind her with an apologetic look. Elise sighed, knowing that her mother had just grilled the messenger for information on Leon. She tried to ignore them, but her mother stopped her just as she walked out of the room.

“Hold on, darling, let me look at you!” The red-haired woman examined Elise from top to bottom, then smiled in pride, clearly not caring in the slightest at her daughter’s informal choice of clothes. “You look amazing! You could twist a god around your finger with your looks! That boy you’re interested in will be yours without a doubt!”

“I’m not interested in him…” Elise retorted in a quiet and unconvincing tone.

“Of course, you’re not. I’m sure you’re this excited to get going because you’re only interested in his money or status,” the red-haired woman said back in an equally unconvincing tone, causing Elise to frown and silently curse the messenger for bringing her this news while her mother was present. “Just remember, my dear, it is entirely in your own power to take anyone you want! You only need to be confident, be bold, and they’ll be putty in your hands!”

Elise nodded to hurry things along, barely paying much attention. She didn’t feel like she needed her mother’s intervention in these matters, especially not when she thought that that entitled shit Tiberias would make for a good partner just because he sent a lot of gifts.

Elise couldn’t help but shiver as she remembered the last time she spoke with Tiberias. The man had invited her to watch a chariot race and had gotten unreasonably upset when Elise turned him down. If they hadn’t been in the lobby of the Heaven’s Eye Tower, he might’ve made a bit of a scene, but as it was, he’d made it clear enough that he felt he was owed something in return for all the gifts he’d sent Elise, even though she’d returned nearly all of them.

Leon, at the very least, didn’t interact with her with any such expectations. He was shy and didn’t talk much, but that was fine, he was slowly opening up around her. He was also much more physically attractive, and more interesting, to boot—he wasn’t constantly talking about himself or how rich his family was, which, in the circles that Elise interacted in, was rarer than an albino griffin.

Finally, she managed to extricate herself from her mother and hurried to the Heaven’s Eye Tower. The estate was just behind the Tower, so she only had to quickly walk through a magnificent garden and she had arrived.

When she pushed the door open and entered the lounge, she naturally drew the gazes of men and women alike. However, despite many of those who suddenly had their eyes glued to her being high nobles and obscenely wealthy merchants, Elise didn’t spare any of them a single glance. Her eyes swept through the entire lounge until she found the familiar silhouette of Leon at a table happily digging into the special meal on the day’s menu: lightly cooked duck with a side of vegetable stew. The meal came with a heavenly aroma that was undoubtedly the reason why Leon had decided to eat before continuing with his business.

As Elise made her way over to his table, he paused for a moment after hearing the commotion but seemingly decided to ignore it and proceed with his meal. Several seconds later, Elise brushed her hand against his shoulder and joined him at his table, drawing out an amusing reaction as he pulled himself away and glared at her in indignation, before realizing who it was who’d just violated his personal space and banishing that indignation completely, replacing it with a wide and unabashed smile of greeting.

“It’s good to see you, Leon!” she whispered with a smile to match his.

---

Although the red-haired woman left the estate after Elise did, she arrived at the Tower first. She was, of course, the Tower Lord in charge of not only Heaven’s Eye operations in the capital but also in the entire kingdom. It was a position that demanded an individual with exceptional magical strength, and she did not disappoint.

Given her position, the wards that blocked magic senses and provided other such defenses against remote surveillance did nothing to block her magic senses, so she was able to watch Elise enter the lounge and make her way over to Leon without delay.

She very carefully observed Leon. Everything from the strength and stability of his third-tier aura to his table manners was seen by the red-haired woman, and she wasn’t particularly impressed. She wasn’t disappointed, either, but she couldn’t help but feel that Elise could definitely do better.

For instance, Tiberias, who had been unambiguously trying to court Elise by sending gifts and invitations to parties and small get-togethers, was from an incredibly powerful and wealthy family, and was quite magically talented as well. He was even better looking—at least in the red-haired woman’s eyes.

But, whenever she saw her daughter around Tiberias, or any other strong, handsome, and rich nobleman, Elise could barely stand to be around them for more than an hour. She certainly didn’t smile as genuinely with them as she did with Leon.

Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind, and she heard a familiar voice softly speak into her ear.

“Well, what do you think about that boy?”

She couldn’t help but smile and lean back into the arms of her first husband, the man who was now in charge of all the Heaven’s Eye guards in the city.

“All of you, get out,” she commanded, looking at the servants and the four men who had been following her the entire day. They all respectfully bowed and made to leave, though the nobleman in the group slightly frowned and hesitated before doing so.

“I don’t think that one likes me very much,” said her first husband when the nobleman finally left the room.

“Don’t worry about him, I’ll fix his attitude later,” responded the red-haired woman with a smile.

“Good. I’d hate to have to break one of your playthings. Again.” The man chuckled a little morbidly and smiled with something that resembled anticipation, almost as if he wanted that nobleman to try and attack him so he had the excuse to cut him down.

The red-haired woman turned around in his arms and gave him a coquettish smile. “Don’t you dare break my new toys,” she said playfully.

“Speaking of toys…” he reminded her.

“Ah yes.”

The two turned their attention away from each other and back to Leon, who the man could see through a magical light projection he’d called up. This sort of magical engineering was extremely complex, so much so that only the Heaven’s Eye Guild and the Four Empires in the south had the knowledge and techniques to utilize it.

“I suppose he’s adequate, at least compared to the nobles this far north,” said the red-haired woman.

“Only ‘adequate’, hmm?” the man replied teasingly.

The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“Maybe I do…” he replied.

“Jordan…” she warned.

Jordan only lasted a few moments under her fiery gaze before spilling the beans. “Lord Ajax contacted me with a report on a young man, the only man in fact that Elise showed much of an interest in back in Teira. He’s called Leon Ursus and carries a gold card.”

“A gold card?” the red-haired woman asked in disbelief, easily guessing what her brother didn’t put in the message.

“Yep. Lord Ajax didn’t come out and say it, but I suspect that this boy is probably the son of Artorias Raime. As I recall, he and his wife named their kid Leon as well, though they never did get him registered here before the incident at their home. Of course, I don’t have any proof, but…”

“A son of House Raime…”

Jordan leaned in to whisper into her ear. “Given that family’s history, I’d say that Elise chose well.”

“You may be right,” the red-haired woman agreed with a smile, after several more moments of thought. “But she doesn’t really seem to be giving it her all to make him hers…”

Jordan turned his brilliant green eyes back to the light projection. Indeed, Elise wasn’t being nearly as forward and intimate with Leon as her mother had always tried to teach her to be.

“You know, Emilie, being so forward and boldly seductive doesn’t work on everyone, despite what you’ve taught her…” he said slightly admonishingly.

Emilie turned to stare at him with a sadistic smile. “And what do you mean by that?”

“I’ve been watching him since he entered the Tower. My first impression of the boy is that he isn’t too fond of contact with other people, physical or otherwise. If our daughter were to follow your philosophy, I think it would drive that boy away. Giving him a bit of space is better, trust me.”

“You’ve been watching him for what, ten minutes?”

“That doesn’t matter, I’m usually right about these things and you know it! Besides, it would behoove us to keep his ancestors in mind if we have to intervene for any reason. You haven’t forgotten the results of your own seduction attempt with Archduke Kyros, have you?” Jordan gave Emilie a cheeky smile.

A frown appeared on Emilie’s gorgeous face when she remembered being turned down by Leon’s grandfather. She had never been rejected before, especially not when using seduction tactics that would put what she taught Elise to shame, but she was turned down after she tried every trick in the book to tempt the late Archduke into becoming one of her husbands. Unfortunately for her, no matter how shamelessly she threw her body at him, Archduke Kyros adamantly refused to join a harem, preferring instead to have a harem of his own as a statement of his nobility.

Emilie’s frown lessened a little, but just as Jordan was about to relax, she pushed him back into a nearby chair and gave him a vicious smile.

“You’re definitely going to pay for reminding me of that particular failure…”

“Am I?” asked Jordan with a defiant smile. “Well bring it on, my love, I’m looking forward to it…”

Emilie climbed onto his lap and began pulling Jordan’s clothes off as fast as she could. Jordan tried to do likewise to her, but she ended up tying his hands to the chair with silk ropes she pulled out of her soul realm. Jordan struggled a little, trying to take the initiative, but Emilie just continued smiling at him and tied him down tighter.

In the end, she had to physically tear off some of his clothes after tying him down, after which she ‘made him pay’ for several hours.

---

Leon felt more than a little disappointed when he didn’t see Elise in the lounge just inside the entrance of the Heaven’s Eye Tower upon his arrival, something that Xaphan quickly picked up on.

[Well that girl doesn’t seem to be here, isn’t that a shame…]

Leon could tell the demon was trying to provoke a reaction, so he didn’t respond. Besides, while he was disappointed, he wasn’t entirely surprised. He hardly thought that Elise had nothing better to do than serve the people who showed up at Heaven’s Eye, but he’d thought that since she worked here, then she might be managing the lounge.

As he took a few more steps into the lounge, a beautiful attendant approached him and bowed. Like all the other attendants, she had a gorgeous face, a great body, and a tremendously expensive-looking black dress that showed it off.

“Welcome, Good Sir, to this Heaven’s Eye Tower. Is there something I can help you with?” She gave him a seductive look and a playful smile that promised all sorts of things, but Leon was hardly fazed. Compared to Elise, or even Valeria, this woman’s charm felt a bit lacking. He supposed she was probably a delightful person, but she just wasn’t the person he wanted to be spending his time with.

“I was looking to buy…” Leon trailed off as a heavenly scent hit his nose, the delightful aroma of something that he couldn’t really identify. His stomach rumbled and he felt his desire to shop around start to die.

It was subtle, but as she waited for him to finish his statement, the attendant’s expression began to change to a look of annoyance. “I hope it’s no trouble, Good Sir, but may I see your account card?” the attendant asked, carefully keeping any exasperation out of her voice.

Leon could still pick up on it, though, and annoyance cut right through his hungry thoughts.

“It is a trouble, so how about you instead take me to find some of whatever they’re eating over there?” Leon responded with an unexpectedly forceful tone and a nod to some of the other patrons in the restaurant. Leon was himself quite surprised by his outburst and his cheeks went a little red, but the attendant seemed even more taken aback. The look of annoyance vanished, but no warmth replaced it. Instead, she just led him over to a private table, and after Leon gave her some of the silver he’d received from the Knight Academy for his stipend, she left to go and arrange for the kitchens to send him a meal.

Leon ate relatively slowly, savoring the food that was so delicious it nearly brought a tear to his eye. He was so taken with his meal that he ignored everything else, even Elise’s entrance ten or so minutes later, the attention she drew, and the whispers she left in her wake.

Leon didn’t notice her until he felt something brush up against his shoulder. His first instinct was to lash out at whatever had just startled him, years of living in the Forest of Black and White teaching him that if something had snuck up on him then it was usually hostile. However, as soon as Elise’s features filled his vision, all of that hostility melted away, and he felt a smile bloom across his face.

“Um… Hi… You, uh, you look good,” was all he was able to say with his heart nervously beating so fast after Elise’s sudden appearance that he could hear the blood rushing through his head.

“Really?” she asked with a little uncertainty, “I threw this outfit together pretty quick…”

“It suits you,” said Leon with a slight nod as he took a deep breath to stabilize his startled heart rate. Her outfit was indeed significantly less overtly sexy than what she had worn when they had met previously, but he quite liked the significantly more casual look she had now.

“Thank you!” responded Elise, giving him a glowing smile.

It was only now that Leon became suddenly aware of the attention that Elise had gathered, but it was for a reason that sent another spike of panic rushing through his body: he felt a hint of killing intent winding its way through the lounge and finding its way to him. He immediately cast his gaze around, taking in the throngs of nobles and wealthy patrons of Heaven’s Eye giving him and Elise varied looks, but none of them looked overtly hostile.

None of them save for a single person, a handsome young man with black hair and a powerfully-built body.

Tiberias, Leon thought his name was. He was a fellow trainee at the Knight Academy, a third-tier noble and the leader of the Black Vipers, if his memory served him well. He looked like he had just gotten up from a nearby table of other trainees, nearly all of them Leon recognized as being in Tiberias’ unit, but had frozen in place only a few steps away.

He stared at Leon and Elise, his aura roiling and churning with uncontrolled emotion, the barest hint of killing intent winding its way through it. But as Leon glanced over at him, he seemed to come to his senses and only a moment later, turned back toward his table and sat down, then pointedly looked anywhere else save for Leon’s direction.

“I should probably hurry up and finish…” Leon absent-mindedly said aloud.

“Please, take your time!” said Elise, still over the moon from Leon’s unexpected compliment.

In spite of Elise’s slight reassurance, Leon still finished his meal in short order. Elise quietly watched him as his usually stoic face gave way to pure joy despite his haste, smiling all the while. Leon felt awkward being the only one eating, but Elise refused his offer to buy her something, choosing instead to just watch him eat with a patient smile, which only made him eat even faster.

After the few minutes passed that Leon needed to finish, Elise asked, “So, what brings you here today, Leon?” Her captivating voice filled Leon’s ears, sending any other thoughts that may have fought for his attention scattering to the wind.

“Well, I’m looking for a good bow,” Leon quietly stated. “I’ve always been fond of archery, but I let my old bow back home and need a replacement. I’m also looking for some enchanting supplies to practice with.”

“Of course! Let’s head upstairs and see what we can find!”

Elise almost jumped out of her seat before taking Leon’s arm. However, she didn’t press herself against him and even seemed to be trying to give him a little more space. It was a minute difference in her behavior, but one that Leon noticed and appreciated. It seemed that the more familiar Elise was with his muted personality, the more space she gave him, and for that, he was quite grateful.

The two made their way to the magic lift and rose to the second floor. Along the way, Elise decided to strike up a conversation, since she was fairly sure that Leon wasn’t going to do so himself.

“So, how has it been, your time so far in the Knight Academy?” She kept her tone light and inquisitive, making sure not be too pushy.

Leon thought for a moment before answering. “It… It has been quite exhilarating…”

“Really? How so?”

“Well, there are plenty of strong people giving me ample opportunity to test myself. Plus, I’ve always been fascinated with enchanting, and being at the Academy is my first opportunity to properly learn.”

“I can understand the second reason—learning about something you enjoy is always fun—but you find testing yourself against strong opponents to be exhilarating?” Elise asked with an amused smile.

“I guess… I learned how to fight from my father, and in all the time he was teaching me, I never won once against him. He was a very strong fighter, but sparring with him never brought me the same excitement I’ve found in fighting other people, especially after coming here. In the Academy, there are people that can match me for every one of my moves but aren’t so much stronger than me that it’s clear they’re going easy and could effortlessly break me if they tried…” As he spoke, Valeria appeared in his mind with her glaive and cold attitude, and Leon couldn’t help but smile a little in fulfillment. “…though there are also a few… somewhat irritating individuals…” The image of Gaius replaced Valeria’s in his head, causing his smile to disappear.

As he was speaking, they arrived on the second floor of the Tower where the merchants were based. Leon could find his enchantment supplies here, as well as a good bow if he wasn’t looking for something custom made. If that were the case, then Elise would simply take him to the third floor with the blacksmiths and enchanters.

“So, you’re having fun?” Elise asked as she led Leon to a respected merchant well-known for representing reliable manufacturers of spell paper and specialized ink.

“I am,” Leon answered with a simple smile.

“That’s great to hear,” she said. There was something more she wanted to ask, but she hesitated a little which led to a momentary silence between the two of them. Before that silence could be broken, they arrived at the desk of the merchant Elise sought, and after a few minutes of talking and a few hundred silver coins changing hands, Leon had acquired enough cheap spell paper to last him for the foreseeable future.

As they made their way to the merchant Leon would need for his bow, Elise made up her mind to ask Leon what she had been thinking about.

“Have you ever considered other paths than the Knight Academy?” After she asked this, her hold on Leon’s arm unconsciously tightened just a bit, but neither of them noticed.

“I did, though not for long…”

“Why not?”

“My father told me stories about the knights of the Bull Kingdom, and I guess I just always kind of wanted to be one…” Leon had finally managed to relax around Elise, due in no small part to her slightly more distant behavior, but as he spoke his face went a little red again.

“I see…” Elise responded. “I… Is there…” She tried to continue on to the point of her asking that question, but the words stuck in her throat. Despite Leon’s inquisitive look, she wasn’t able to finish her question and just brought him to a respectable Heaven’s Eye bowyer.

There was a short back and forth with the merchant to find Leon what he was looking for: a simple but well-made bow with minimal enchantments. The bow he used in the Northern Vales had a crude enchantment carved by Artorias that would speed up the arrow as it left the bowstring. However, Leon now had to get back in the habit of practicing to keep his skills sharp—he no longer had his father around to push him to keep practicing, something which slightly dampened his mood as he thought about it. He settled on a relatively short recurve bow made of a beautiful dark red wood that looked like it had been polished to a near mirror shine. The bow had little in the way of ornamentation, but Leon quite liked its clean aesthetic.

It would suit his purposes quite fine, though it wouldn’t be of much use in fighting something of the third-tier or higher unless he got lucky and hit them in a weak point, as he had done when he fired an arrow into the mouth of the snow lion back in the Forest of Black and White. Arrows fired from it would also struggle to penetrate even poor-quality armor, but Leon didn’t intend to use the bow in actual combat unless he was able to figure out how to inscribe some powerful enchantments upon it. That being said, these weaknesses also had the effect of making the bow far cheaper than many other bows that Leon could see.

In addition, he bought a quiver and two bundles of thirty arrows. Unfortunately, even with the relative cheapness of the bow, the price still cleaned out all but a small handful of the silver coins Leon had.

When Leon brought that up with Elise, she smiled at him and took his gold account card over to a floor runner waiting nearby for precisely this sort of thing, spoke a few words, and the runner scurried off. Elise did this with a subtle touch, ensuring that none of the merchants or other patrons of the Heaven’s Eye Guild around saw the card and that the runner didn’t know who the card came from. The runner returned not even five minutes later and handed Elise two thousand silver coins and the gold card, who then gave them to Leon a few seconds later after leaving the sight of the runner.

“So, withdrawing money is just that easy?” Leon asked.

“Withdrawing money is just that easy for gold card holders,” responded Elise with a smile. “You get a lot of credit for having that card. It’s just assumed that you have the money you request, and an invoice will be sent to Teira where your records are stored. They’ll take care of everything.”

“Well, that’s certainly convenient… Are these cards particularly rare?”

Elise smiled at Leon’s question. “Oh, yes! Most nobles can’t ever hope to get one! They’re typically only reserved for Royalty… Didn’t my uncle tell that to you back in Teira?”

“I don’t think so…” replied Leon, a little quieter than usual. It made a certain kind of sense to him that House Raime would’ve had a gold card in the past, as they were Kings in their own right before the First Bull King built the kingdom by subjugating or conquering his neighbors.

With Leon’s business finished, the two just walked around a bit like they were window shopping—this space inside the Tower was surprisingly dense with merchants who had their wares out, so they had quite a bit to look at. As they walked, Leon told Elise some stories about what he’d been doing in the Knight Academy, and when he asked about her, she furnished him with some stories about her time in Heaven’s Eye. By the time they had meandered their way back to the magic lift, it had been more than an hour since they’d made their way up from the lounge.

There at the lifts they stood for an awkward few seconds as their conversation, which had been pretty steady during the entire time they’d been together, died down. Leon wanted to ask her if she was doing anything else during the day and if she’d like to do anything with him, but he found it difficult.

“So, um… Would you… T-thanks for accompanying me to buy these things…”

Leon stumbled over his words, and he silently cursed to himself when he couldn’t ask what was actually on his mind.

“Of course, Leon… Remember, whenever you come back, look for me!” Elise seemed just as sad that their time together seemed to be coming to an end, but she gave him another one of her dazzling smiles which he couldn’t help but return.

“I’ll do that…” he replied.

“Wonderful! Oh, I almost forgot, we’re making some progress with those ingredients you commissioned us to find. Hopefully, it shouldn’t be too long, a matter of months at the most!”

Leon nodded appreciatively to her as the magic lift finally arrived. By the time they’d made their way back down to the ground floor, Leon had long since put Tiberias out of his mind and didn’t even try looking for the young nobleman.

Elise escorted Leon back to the door and saw him off with a brilliant smile. The smile he returned wasn’t nearly so breath-taking, but it was still a far cry from his usual impassive demeanor.

After walking a dozen steps, Leon glanced back at the Tower and saw Elise still standing by the door. When they locked eyes, she gave him a short wave, then walked back inside. Leon’s mouth turned into a brief bitter smile before resettling back into his usual dispassionate expression. With his bow and some enchantment supplies in hand, it was time for him to get back to the Knight Academy and get to practicing.