“Jeremiah!”
His voice was filled with surprise and joy as he wrapped his arms around the little ball of sunshine that was now clinging to him.
“Why are you here?”
“We got the message about what happened in your Combat Class,” another familiar voice reached his ears. Looking up, Emilio saw his father approaching him, a concerned look on his face.
“We came as soon as we could.” Edmund walked up to Emilio and pressed a hand onto his shoulder. “How are you, son? I heard from Healer Adron that you went to classes. You should not have. When will you learn to take care of your body?”
Jeremiah had let go of him by now and was watching him get scolded. It spoke a lot about how scared and worried Jeremiah must have been that he did not try to speak up. Usually, whenever Father or Captain Killian scolded him for something, the little guy would speak up for him if he was there.
Emilio grasped his father’s hand and gently took it off his shoulder, before holding it in both of his in a reassuring grip. “I am fine, father. I just exhausted myself. Healer Adron himself said I could attend classes, as long as I came back to the Hub for tonight.”
Edmund sighed softly and nodded before his gaze turned to the Archmaster behind him, a touch colder.
“You said he would be safe. You gave your word!”
“And he is,” the Archmaster said, unbothered. Even without looking back, Emilio could tell he had the insufferable, all-knowing smile all over his face. His hands just itched to punch him.
“You mean, after you almost had him killed?”
Balsea, bless your soul.
“What?” His father’s tone was a smudge higher than usual.
“That is not true. Emilio was under my protection the entire time.”
“Except for the fact that he thought he was going to die!” Balsea growled. “And Evan almost ruined himself!”
“He would not have-”
“Enough,” Emilio said through gritted teeth, pinching the bridge of his nose as he let out a weary sigh. “This is neither the time nor the place for an argument. There are patients here. If you want to argue, take it outside. I’ll take Jeremiah with me.”
Emilio grasped Jeremiah’s wrist and made his way to the room where he had been put before. He took a glance at Evan on the way, frowning in disappointment when he saw that the boy was still asleep. Footsteps behind him indicated that they had decided to stop arguing and were following him.
“Wait.” his father’s voice stopped them. “What is that?”
Turning back, Emilio saw Edmund pointing to his hand. He looked down to see his newly acquired friend lounging lazily on the back of his hand. Sal had slithered into the sleeve of his coat and was not really visible except his head which was resting on the back of his palm.
“Ah.” The Archmaster spoke up before he could say anything. “That’s a Leviathan. Apparently, your son has a propensity for strange pets.”
“A what?!” Edmund’s voice bordered on a yell.
Emilio could not help throwing a dirty look towards the Archmaster. He would have taken the time to tell them so that they did not panic. This man, however, seemed to live for the chaos.
“Father!” He called, ignoring the smirk Archmaster Loren sported. “It’s fine. Sal won’t harm me. He … it seems he came after hearing about me.”
“What are you talking about?” Edmund asked, sounding bewildered.
“I can understand him, remember. He knew that I was the one who could speak to animals. He won’t hurt me.” Emilio raised both his hands and used his free hand to gently stroke the head of the Leviathan. “See?”
“Emilio…”
His father looked like he thought Emilio was walking to his gallows out of his own will. Well, he did not blame him for that thought. He could not really explain how he knew that Sal would not hurt him. He just did. It was this bone deep feeling that he had found a friend.
“Do not worry, Edmund,” the Archmaster stepped forward. “I am here to see what we can do to ensure that Emilio can do to keep his pet safely.”
Edmund looked at Archmaster Loren, incredulous. “Not to take it away?”
The Archmaster shrugged. “The Leviathan seemed quite attached to him. My Beast Taming Professor almost got killed today.”
Emilio could not help rolling his eyes. “The Archmaster is exaggerating. Sal was just agitated when Professor tried to separate him from me. I’m fine, the Professor is fine too.”
“Is that why you have first degree burns on the back of your hand, Young Master Florian?”
Emilio turned around to see Healer Adron standing with disapproval clear all over his face. Along with another familiar figure behind Healer Adron.
“Ronald!” Emilio exclaimed, a grin decorating his face as he ran past Healer Adron and wrapped the man into a hug.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Usually, Ronald would scold him for being all improper but he seemed to have missed Emilio as much as Emilio missed him. Ronald froze for a moment before wrapping an arm around him.
“Thank the gods,” he whispered. Emilio could hear the pure relief in his voice. His eyes softened and he pulled back to take good luck at the man he considered his friend.
“I must have worried everyone a lot, huh?”
“Young Master…” Emilio thought Ronald was going to reassure him or hug him again. But he didn’t expect to hear the familiar stern tone of his voice. “What’s this about first degree burns? What did you do?”
“Ah … nothing … haha…”
Emilio quickly hid his free hand behind him but it was caught, making him turn back to see Healer Adron staring down at him sternly.
“Oh no you don’t.” He had a no-nonsense tone to his voice. “I allowed you to go to classes on one condition. That you do not strain yourself. And you come back with a Leviathan AND burns?”
He ducked his head and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to. It just … happened … hehe…” he laughed awkwardly.
“Unbelievable.”
Healer Adron shook his head before gesturing at the door to his room, which Emilio had not realized they had reached already.
“Go in. I will take a look.”
—
The next hour passed by surprisingly quickly, Healer Adron took about half an hour with him. Not for the burns, those were healed within two minutes. No, he wanted to ensure he was alright and had not drained himself, so he spent the next 20-25 minutes running an array of tests all over his body. He also prescribed more medicine for him and stuck another endocoprus fluid box onto his wrist with another energizing medicine, despite several protests from Emilio.
“If you want to get well, you will listen to what I say.”
There was no room for argument.
Of course, his family, Balsea, and the Archmaster stayed to the side, quietly watching the process, chatting casually amongst each other. It was then he learned that Ronald went with Healer Adron because the Healer wanted to know if he has any sort of allergies or adverse reactions to any medication.
As his manservant, Ronald would have the most knowledge of it. Ronald had enthusiastically listed out everything, including some very embarrassing moments from Emilio’s childhood. Particularly one involving his tongue literally getting tied due to a mushroom he consumed and him being unable to speak properly for three days. Balsea guffawed at the mention of it and even Jeremiah giggled. He even saw Healer Adron’s lips curling up.
As embarrassed as he felt, he could not help the warmth spreading in his chest, as he saw the amount of people by his side had multiplied. He had never thought he would have anyone outside of his family.
After Healer Adron was done, the Archmaster came forward. He did not understand the complicated hand gestures, but he could recognize some of the basic runes… the man was probably drawing runes and sigils with his magic. His eyes were closed and he was chanting spells in one of the Arcane Languages, Emilio once again recognizing some of the root words.
After a moment, there was a heavy flash of purple light and Emilio felt something heavy settle onto his skin and seep into his bones. He was pushed down a bit by its weight for a moment. And then it was as if the weight dissipated. Emilio still felt incredibly warm, but the weight was gone. He was sure if he had any mana sense, he would be able to feel the Archmaster’s magic humming under his skin. As it was, all he felt was that subtle, fading warmth.
“Thank you,” he said softly as he looked up. His previous feelings of irritation and anger had subsided, though they were not completely gone. Still, he was grateful to the man for ensuring his safety. It restored a bit of his faith in him.
The Archmaster nodded. “I’ll let you catch up with your family.”
With that, he walked out, dragging a thrashing, protesting Balsea behind him.
Emilio smiled at the sight before turning his head to his family, who were no surrounding him. Jeremiah had adopted the familiar habit of getting onto the bed and burrowing into his side, while Ronald stood right beside him, shifting foot to foot like a worried mother hen. His father seemd as stoic as ever, but he could see the concern coating every line of his body.
“So, will you tell us what happened?” The man asked.
Emilio sighed and started to regale the tale of the fight. How it started, how they fought, how he won by the breadth of a hair, how Evan went completely berserk and how he ended up defending himself. Edmund listened quietly, Ronald gasped with worry, and Jeremiah ooh’ed and ahh’ed at all the right places.
Emilio may have exaggerated certain parts a bit. He could not help it, with the little boy looking up at him with stars shining in his eyes. He conveniently left out the part where the Archmaster had orchestrated the entire thing. He was sure his father had deduced that already, considering the lack of intervention from his Professor.
After that, they chatted about random things. How the estate was, how Jeremiah’s studies were going, how the duties he left behind were being carried out … how his mother was. He found that Mother had avoided everyone since the day he left. She had not even responded when his father had gone to inform her of what happened to him and asked her to come with them. It stung, knowing that he mattered so little to his mother. Well … he had always known that, but it still hurt.
They only stopped speaking when there was a knock at the door. The door opened to reveal Sebastian standing at the doorway, a small box in his hand, and Aunt Ayesha beside him with a bouquet of flowers.
“Ah,” the woman said as she took in the scene in front of her. “It seems we have interrupted something.”
“Not at all,” Emilio said immediately as he straightened, steadying his brother beside him. “Please come in, Professor Clarent.”
The Professor did not look at him. Instead, there was an intense stare-off between her and his father.
“Baron Florian.”
“Miss Clarent.”
They seemed to have exchanged a thousand words in that greeting. She then stepped inside, walking to the bed.
“Here.” She extended the arm full of the bouquet. “You were asleep the last time I came. Bringing new flowers seemed appropriate.”
“Thank you,” he said softly as he took the bouquet from her.
Her eyes then fell on the little bundle beside him, who had shrunk back at the sight of the woman with strikingly similar features to that of the Baroness.
“You must be Jeremiah.”
The boy’s eyes widened. “You know me?” He whispered.
She nodded, smiling. “I knew your mother.”
“Ayesha.” His father’s voice held a warning.
That voice would have had Emilio freezing and shutting himself up. But Auntie Ayesha completely ignored him as she spoke to Jeremiah, “Would you like to know about her?”
Jeremiah nodded hesitantly before biting his lip. He looked up at Emilio and then back at Auntie Ayesha. “Not … not now, though. I want to be with brother!”
Ayesha chuckled. “It seems you are as attached to your brother as he is to you.”
Jeremiah beamed and Emilio smiled at the sight of it.
Ayesha straightened. “Well, I have some things to speak of with your father. I will leave Sebastian here to keep you guys company. I believe he has something to give to you.”
She threw a pointed look at Sebastian, who flushed. Shaking her head, she sent one look Edmund’s way and then walked out of the room.