I made it to the potions classroom and Mage Marks was talking to two of the young women from the class. I stopped walking and backed out to give them privacy, which they easily noticed. They finished their conversation with the teacher and then walked by me as they left the classroom.

Both girls gave me interested looks and then giggled a little as they disappeared down another corridor. I entered the classroom and went to my seat behind my usual workbench. I hadn't brought anything potion related with me this time, because I had put it all into my vault that morning.

Mage Marks gave me an odd look, one that was quite different from the one Eludora gave me before, because I just sat there and didn't do anything. “David? Aren't you going to study?”

“I left my potion things inside the vault in my dorm mansion.” I said and she caught her breath.

“Excuse me? What did you say?” She asked, a bit shocked.

“I left them at the dorm.” I repeated.

“No, about the other thing.”

“The vault?” I asked and she started to nod and then she shook her head. “The dorm?”

Mage Marks nodded. “Did you call it a mansion?”

It was my turn to nod. “Only I was allowed to live there, so I converted it into a mansion with all of the amenities that I would need.”

“Wait, what do you mean that only you were allowed to live there?”

“You know they assigned me to the ruined dorm building on the other side of campus, didn't you?”

Mage Marks sighed. “Yes, I found out when I started looking into all of the things you've been involved in at the academy so far.”

“Since the paperwork assigned it solely to me and restricts any other student from living there, I converted it for my own use.” I said. “If you like, you can come by to check it out.”

Mage Marks seemed surprised by that. “Are... are you inviting me over to your dorm room?”

“If you're worried about the dorm manager, there isn't one. It was classed as unsafe and written off as an unofficial training ground for the students, until it became too dangerous for them to use and was condemned.”

“They assigned you to live... in a condemned building.” Mage Marks said with a blank expression.

“It wasn't even safe to step inside.” I said. “I sent for my work crews and we started work right away.”

“We?” Mage Marks asked, once again surprised.

“I wasn't going to let them do all the work by themselves. Plus, I'm still the fastest in laying foundation bricks. It definitely needed to be reinforced quickly.”

Mage Marks had to think about that. “You went from the ground up?”

“Basement up, actually.” I said. “We replaced the missing supports and reinforced the existing ones, then rebuilt and replaced the walls of the basement. Once we had a solid foundation to build off of, we slowly repaired or replaced everything in the building.”

Mage Marks looked deep in thought for several minutes. “Then... yes. I believe I will accept your invitation to visit. Thank you.”

“Can you send a message to my maid, Hope? She can let the cook know that I'm having a guest over for supper.”

Mage Marks raised her eyebrows briefly, then she nodded and left the room. She locked me in, as if she assumed that I was going to try and run off and skip detention without her in the room.

That would be funny if I still disappeared on her. I thought and imagined her reaction, or overreaction. Yes, that would definitely be funny... until she assigned more detention.

I dismissed the thought and sat there as I debated brewing up a quick potion while I waited for her to come back, then remembered I was only allowed to study and couldn't do anything practical. Detention was supposed to be punishment and I let out a slight sigh.

I should have brought a book or something. I thought, not even considering the biology book or the civil construction book that were in my small pack. I wasn't going to look through them until I had to. Both subjects were much more interesting when you could do something with it, rather than read about it.

After a while, the door was unlocked and a very different looking woman stepped into the classroom. It was still Mage Marks; but, she wore a very nice blue colored dress with intricately styled patterns throughout the fabric. It was similar to the one that Helena had worn during the first Henrietta Family dinner that I had been taken to.

It was quite a nice dress and showed off her figure very well. The gold jewellery she wore was ornately decorated as well. Her hair was done up in a partial bun to leave her neck bare with one side of her hair done up in loose curls and it hung down over her left shoulder. I had never seen hair done like that before and it was quite eye catching.

“I can't walk very fast in this footwear, so I'm ending your detention early.” Mage Marks said. “We should reach the old dorm building by the time supper is ready.”

I understood what she meant, so I walked over to her and offered my arm to escort her.

“Thank you, Mr. Drake.” Mage Marks said graciously and took the arm to brace herself. “Ahh, yes. Much better.”

“You could wear other footwear until we're closer to our destination.” I suggested and she smiled.

“You've been taught about proper appearances, have you not?” Mage Marks asked.

I waved at the door as if that was my answer and her smile stayed as I escorted her out of the room. She locked the door and we left the building. It was late, so no one was around. It made me wonder why she would go through all the trouble to dress up so nicely if no one was going to see.

Just then, the door to the main administration building opened and several of the workers came out, including the one that had rebuffed me. She gasped at the sight of us and the others started muttering to each other.

I no longer wondered why Mage Marks went through all the trouble. I nodded at them, as did Mage Marks, and we walked by the stunned people and continued to move at a leisurely pace on our walk. Neither of us were surprised when a few of them followed us.

“Oh, dear god in heaven.” Mage Marks whispered as we approached the old dorm building and she saw what it looked like now, especially with the well trimmed hedges and the various topiary of animals. “Mr. Drake, it's... it's... beautiful.”

“We tried to find the room out front for a fountain and couldn't manage it.” I said. “It's out back with the gazebo.”

“Wh-what?” Mage Marks looked shocked.

“I'm going to be here for three years and made it both pleasant to look at and comfortably livable.” I said and nodded at the guards. They opened the ornate and gold filigreed front doors and I led Mage Marks up the short flight of steps.

“Sir, are the people behind you coming in as well?” One of the guards asked in a whisper.

“No, they are just looking at all the great work our people have done.” I said and both guards nodded in understanding. They shut the doors behind us and Hope was there with a huge smile on her face.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“My lord. Lady Marks.” Hope said and gave us a proper curtsy. “My lady, if you will come with me to the parlour to wait a short while? My lord needs to be prepared to receive you properly.”

Mage Marks nodded as she let my arm go and then followed Hope into the very nicely decorated parlour. She took in a sharp breath at the room and Hope winked at me.

“Sara's upstairs.” Hope whispered and shut the door.

I quickly went up the stairs and Sara quickly stripped me off. I put my bandoleer into the vault and then took one of the quickest baths ever. We had to skip the ritual this time and Sara promised to do it as soon as my company left or the very next time she came over. I nodded as she dressed me into one of my best supper suits. It was a charcoal grey with a stark white shirt and black tie.

I tucked the knife sheath under my arm like usual and put on the coat. The Henrietta Family logo was on the outside of the coat's shoulders and she tucked a handkerchief of the same white color of the shirt into the front pocket. Sara brushed my hair for barely a second, since it was still fairly short, and sent me on my way with a happy smile.

I went down the stairs and knocked on the parlour door before I entered. It was just common courtesy to give someone warning when you were going to interrupt them. Mage Marks looked over from her whispered conversation with Hope and her eyes widened at my very formal appearance.

“Please forgive my interruption. May I enter and enjoy your company as well?” I asked and her eyes somehow widened further.

“P-please.” Mage Marks said and set her tea cup down on the saucer in her other hand. I closed the door and walked over to sit beside her on the comfortable couch. Hope hid her smile as she did up a cup of tea for me and handed it to me.

“Thank you.” I said and accepted the cup and saucer. I sat back and crossed my legs, as if I always did so, and took a sip of tea. It was almost at the perfect temperature, so I blew on it and took another sip. Perfect.

“I was just telling Mage Marks all about the things we had to do to fix up the dorm.” Hope said.

“You can give her a copy of the repairs list if you want.” I said. “Perhaps the bill we submitted to the academy as well.”

“What?!?” Mage Marks gasped and her cup rattled a little as her hands shook on her lap.

“Well, under the boarding contract...” I started to say and then explained all about the provisions for improving the place to be suitably livable. Her mouth slowly opened as I talked, because the surprise she felt was too much for her to hold in.

“That... that's... audacious.” Mage Marks whispered, barely above a breath.

“Oh, I doubt they'll even acknowledge it, let alone admit that they owe me the money.” I said and smiled, which made Hope gasp and she stared at me. “You see, I fully expect them to ignore what I've done here. If they acknowledge any aspect of what I've done, they'll have to acknowledge all of it and not just the dorm.”

Mage Marks closed her mouth and seemed to be thinking things over. There was a knock at the door and then the door opened.

“Sir, madam, Hope. Supper is ready.” The kitchen helper said and bowed, then left.

I put the empty tea cup down, took the nearly empty one that Mage Marks was using and put it on the coffee table, then held a hand out to her. Mage Marks reacted automatically and accepted my offer as she stood and took my hand, then she shifted her grip expertly and wrapped her arm around mine.

I escorted her to the dining room and sat her at the seat to my right, then turned to look at Hope. She subtly shook her head and sat down at the servant's table without my help, which surprised Mage Marks.

“Mr. Drake...” Mage Marks started to say.

“We are eating at my table.” I said and sat down. “Please, call me David.”

Mage Marks took a breath to compose herself. “David, can I ask why you have a servant eating in the same room?”

“I could lie and say there's not a lot of room in the kitchen or that we don't have a separate room for it.” I said with a light chuckle, which made her smile. “The truth is, I have the same setup at the Henrietta Longshore Estate.”

“Why would you...” Mage Marks stopped herself before she finished the question.

“We have servers like normal, except they rotate for different meals, that way they all get to sit and share a meal with the lord and lady of the house.” I said and waved at the kitchen and let out a bit of magic. “Helena agreed with me that they need to see that we appreciate their hard work by not hiding them away when we eat.”

Mage Marks had taken a sharp breath at my casual use of magic, then the kitchen helper came out with a cart and served me a plate of food and a glass of wine, served Mage Marks the same, then went to Hope and gave her the same.

Mage Marks glanced at Hope and back at me. “You have a lot more staff at home?”

“Quite.” I said with a small smile and started to eat. “My second maid was quite upset that she can't live here with me.”

Mage Marks gave me an odd look as she began eating. “I suppose I can imagine why.”

“I hired her away from Grand Mage Henrietta's mansion before she could be fired for a stupid reason.” I explained. “She was very grateful.”

Hope laughed softly and then coughed to try and cover it up, which made Mage Marks smile.

“Mage Marks, has there been any word on my boosted cleaning potion?” I asked.

Mage Marks nodded. “It's one of the reasons I accepted your generous supper invitation.” She said and reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “If you are allowing me to use your first name, please call me Greta.”

“Very well.” I said and she put the piece of paper on the table beside my plate. “What's that?”

“An order.” Greta said, her voice a mixture of amusement and disbelief. “A very ridiculous order.”

I paused eating and picked up the folded piece of paper. When I read what it said, I was surprised. “You're right. That is ridiculous.” I said and sat back in my chair. I wanted to do it and that felt odd.

“What is it?” Hope asked. She knew better than to get up and come over to me to look for herself.

“An order for ten thousand vials of boosted cleaning potions from the Mages Guild.” I said and looked at Mage Marks with a question on my face. “This bottom number...”

“...is the price they are willing to pay, not including the ingredients and vial costs.” Greta said and that really surprised me. “If you agree, they will provide both the ingredients and the crates of empty vials.”

“Oh, wow.” Hope said, even though she didn't know the amount of money they were willing to pay me, because she knew that ten thousand vials cost a lot, as did the ingredients to make that much potion.

I sat there and read the note again. Something seemed off to me, because I felt like I needed to do this for the guild. I wasn't sure why that was, however. I decided to try using Sense Magic and the note glowed slightly.

Greta gasped as it did and dropped her fork. It clattered to the floor and she ignored it. “No! That... why...”

“Obviously, they want me to do it.” I said and cast Dispel on it. The glow snapped and disappeared, as did the feeling that I needed to make all those potions. “I knew there was something wrong with the ridiculous number. Ten thousand potions is too much for the Mages Guild to handle for their own personal use...”

“David!” Hope gasped and then blushed at her mistake. “I mean, my lord.”

“What is it, Hope?” I asked.

Hope tried to ignore Mage Marks' smile. “They were going to sell them.”

I glanced at Mage Marks and she sighed.

“I'm going to wring the neck of that little...” Greta stopped before she uttered the threat fully. “David, can I have that note back?”

“Why?”

“I want to show it as evidence to the enchanting teachers to see if they can figure anything out from the paper, then I'm going to shove it down the Mages Guild maintenance manager's goddamn throat.” Greta said, her voice full of anger. “How dare they try to give you a compulsion enchantment through me! I'm so embarrassed!”

“You look angry, actually.” I said.

“When I finally burn through this anger tonight, I'll be cuddled up in bed and hugging my pillow over them making me into a fool again.” Greta said through gritted teeth. “I can't believe that they... no, I do believe it. What I can't believe is that I fell for their tricks again.” She shook her head. “David, please forgive me for delivering this... this... piece of garbage.”

“Well, I suspect it's them trying to get me to pay back some of the embarrassment they've suffered over losing their secret about the testing crystals.” I said and Greta sucked in a sharp breath. “I'm a bit surprised that they waited this long to try something, actually.”

Greta let out a sigh. “I think... no, I'm pretty sure that...” She put her hand on mine and gave it a squeeze. “I think that's one of the reasons you're having such a difficult time with some of the teachers and most of the staff at the academy. The guild lost a lot when they didn't have access to all of that free magic.”

“It wasn't free.” I corrected and her eyes widened. “It cost a lot of people their magic potential.”

Greta nodded, albeit reluctantly. “The guild has already settled things with quite a few families of the people they've tested multiple times in the past.”

That brought my mind right to my training XO, Anna Carter. They had tested her so many times that she couldn't make a mage light glow for more than a few minutes. She could still make my knife glow, though.

“I don't suppose you know what families?” I asked and she shook her head.

“No, I... I think... yes, I'm done.” Greta said, her voice firm. “I've had enough of them and their stupid politics.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “As long as you're a member of the guild, I thought...”

“You thought wrong.” Greta said. “I think you also have the wrong interpretation of what graduating the academy means as well.”

I put the note down and reached over to cover her hand with mine. “Tell me.”

“I'm sure that you believe that as soon as you graduate, you'll be a mage in the guild.” Greta said and I nodded. “That's not what happens. When you graduate, you are accredited as a mage. That's it.”

“What?” I asked, confused. “I thought the point of graduating the mage academy was to join the guild.”

Greta shook her head. “No, David. All you'll be is a mage when you graduate. You have to apply to be a mage with the guild. They don't have to accept you.”

I blinked my eyes for several moments as my thoughts tried to absorb that large chunk of vital information. It took me another minute to get my mouth to work and then I smiled.

“I won't be stuck as a low member of the guild when I graduate.” I said and my smile grew bigger.

“David!” Hope gasped and tears came to her eyes as she saw something on my face. She stood up, a little shakily, then she walked over to me and knelt on the floor as she hugged me and cried. “I saw it.” She whispered and pressed her lips to my cheek, then she hugged me even tighter. “I saw your smile. Your real smile.” She breathed and her tears rolled off of my treated suit coat and fell to the floor.