“What?”
Emilio straightened, eyes wide, fury coursing through his veins at the Prince’s smug smirk
“Go out with me.”
“Your Highness… are you trying to blackmail me into becoming your lover?”
“Oh, hardly.” The Prince sounded almost offended. “I do not need to coerce anyone into becoming my lover.” And arrogant. “I only wish to spend a day with you.”
Emilio raised an eyebrow. “Truly?”
“Truly. Gods, you are so distrustful.” With good reasons. He did not trust this man as far as he could throw him. His father had always told him and his brother to be wary of the Imperial Family. He could see why.
“You fascinate me, Emilio Florian,” Prince Louise continued. “I wish to get to know you. But you seem determined to avoid me. I am only taking advantage of the opportunity that just fell into my lap.”
Emilio still stared at him warily. “And what makes you think Healer Adron won’t speak? What makes you think I won’t sic Sal or Balsea on you?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t do that. You care too much about people to do that. If you were the kind of person to do that kind of thing, you would have let your pet Leviathan bite me in the first place.” That was true. “And as for Healer Adron … well, the Archmaster likes you quite a bit. He will indulge you if you insist that your pet is harmless, like he has before. My words, however, hold a bit more weight, among the Aelorian nobility if nothing else.”
He clenched his teeth. That was true as well. If this guy spoke up against Sal, most of the Aelorian nobles would rally behind him. And others - the neutral ones - would panic as well. It would not be long before letters would flood the Academy demanding Sal be taken away. The very thought made his heart seize. Sal had not been with him very long but he already felt like a life long companion. Like he had known this baby Leviathan for lifetimes. The thought of not feeling the familiar weight on his arm left him feeling empty.
“So,” the Prince spoke, “spend a day with me and I won’t speak a word of it. I will make sure my group does not speak of it either. What do you say? It is a small price to pay, is it not?”
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He ended up saying yes.
He’d had a hard time holding Sal back that entire conversation and even as the Prince walked back after he got his answer, humming in satisfaction.
Emilio sighed as he looked into the mirror. Sal was now lounging in his bed while he went to shower and change into his night clothes. He felt utterly and thoroughly exhausted. And to think, he had to go to the Research Division on top of going to class the next day.
He looked down at his hands. He could see finger shaped bruises forming on his arm where the Prince had held it a bit too tightly. He ran a finger across the fingerprints. It stung a bit. He clenched his teeth, stamping down on his anger as he remembered how the Prince had essentially coerced him into a date.
He exhaled softly.
It was alright. It was just one day. He could humour the guy for a day. It wasn’t like he had much to him except his newfound powers. The prince was going to be thoroughly disappointed.
He changed into fresh clothes and walked out, only to find Balsea sitting on the bed and staring at him. Their purple pupils were so dark they looked almost black and they stared at Emilio, a frown marring their handsome face.
“Are you alright?” He asked.
Emilio sighed. Sal must have told him. Somehow, those two could communicate with each other. He did not know how. Because Balsea did not usually understand animals.
He gave a small nod and what he was sure was an utterly unconvincing smile. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
He could see Balsea’s muscles tense. The look in the fae’s eyes was now the very same they’d had when he had turned his bloodlust towards Hans. “Do you need me to-”
He shook his head immediately. “No. Do nothing, Balsea.”
“But-”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“But nothing. As I have told you before, he’s the Prince. He will be my Emperor in the future. My family is and will be subordinate to him. I cannot have you or you-” he turned to balsea’ “doing something in anger and endangering my family and home.”
Sal made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a “tch”. “You worry about the silliest things, child. We can just get rid of his entire fam-”
“No!” He snapped. “We are not even going down that line of thought. I do not wish anyone to get hurt. Understood?”
Silence.
“Guys, please.”
A collective sigh.
“Alright, alright.”
“Fine…”
Emilio exhaled softly in relief. “Thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I am exhausted and need to sleep.”
With that, he gently picked up Sal from the middle of the bed before setting him down beside his pillow and then lying down. He turned off the light and whispered a soft “goodnight’ into the darkness for Balsea before closing his eyes.
The next moment, he felt the bed dip behind him. Before he could turn back to see what was happening, he felt an arm wrap around his waist and gently pull him back against a firm chest, which rumbled as the familiar voice of his fae friend spoke.
“I have heard that humans take comfort in physical contact with their loved ones, so I thought…” they trailed off, sounding painfully hesitant and awkward, so unlike themself.
Emilio relaxed in the fae’s embrace, feeling safe and warm. “It is comforting, Balsea. Thank you.” And then, after a moment, “goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
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“And here are our magical plants. We strictly separate them from the regular ones. Of course, they can be mixed and bred together and each has its own unique characteristics and benefits. But to ensure maximum purity and reduce the possibility of contamination - and, you know, the magical plants somehow ending up killing the normal ones - we separate them! And even the sensitive or poisonous ones are kept in separate glasshouses-”
Emilio tuned Lamnia out as she rambled on. It was the first time he had seen her so animated. Granted, they had only met a few times, but still. It seemed that her reserved nature was forgotten once she started talking about plants.
“I see you have been showing Emilio around.”
It was Professor Gias, coming out of one of the glasshouses, a runic mask on her face and similar gloves on her hands, glasses created with unique spellcrafting covering her eyes. Those glasses were something most researchers had, especially those who worked with volatile organisms. They not only protected the eyes but also allowed the researcher to see everything in as much detail as they needed to. Made sense to use them when researching magical plants.
In her hands was a medium-sized pot. Inside the pot, there was a tree standing at a modest height, reaching just above the woman’s chin from her waist. Its thin stem emerged from the fertile soil in the pot, crowned with clusters of beautiful purple blooms that seemed ordinary and unassuming, but shimmered every now and then where the sunlight hit them. Each flower was a work of nature's craftsmanship, the petals unfolding in delicate layers, with a beautiful. small ice blue pistil in the middle.
“Dreamersbane,” he whispered softly.
Professor Gias looked at him over the petals and tilted her head. “Have you seen this before?”
Emilio shook his head. “No.”
A soft sigh left the woman. “I suppose I should not be surprised.”
Emilio blinked, realizing that he had been entranced by the plant that the woman held. He looked up at the druid, only to find her smiling back at him. “Can you tell me more about it?”
Emilio tilted his head and took a few steps forward, reaching out to touch the tree, almost missing the panicked “Careful!” Lamnia said from behind him. “Don’t touch-”
Too late. He already pressed his fingers gently against the petals. “It is a flower that brings memories and mind to life. It may seem like an ordinary wildflower, but the dreamersbane has a potent pollen that, once released into the air, is quite dangerous, especially for those with weak minds. Those who inhale its intoxicating fragrance find themselves drawn into a realm of dreams unlike any they have known before, made up of their own deep-seated memories.”
He frowned. “But that’s not all. These visions are not mere retellings of the past. They can easily turn into nightmares. The dreams induced by the plant can easily take on a sinister turn, twisting and distorting into grotesque manifestations of fear and despair. Shadows lurk in every corner, whispers echo through the darkness, and the dreamer finds themselves trapped in a nightmarish labyrinth of their own making.” He tilted his head. “This kind of thing is particularly useful if you wish to make anyone confess something. In the hands of skilled alchemists, this turns into a powerful weapon for interrogation and torture. They need to be careful, though, too much of it can drive anyone into insanity to the point of the person killing themself.”
“Well done,” Professor Gias smiled. “Anything else?”
Emilio’s eyes flicked up at the woman, who was now staring at him unerringly. He blinked before looking back down at the petals he was holding. “Yes, the … poison, so to speak… gets more potent the darker it gets. So to get the most efficiency, you must know when to harvest it. Usually, the best time is from midnight to about an hour before dawn. Better if you are able to get it during the first few days of the lunar month when the moon is new and has little light. You have to be careful though, since the high potency means you can end up trapped in your own mind.”
“So it has no efficiency now?”
Emilio shook his head. “No. Not much, since it’s still light out. You could get sleepy and dizzy though”
Professor Gias tilted her head.
“Then… why are you not getting dizzy?”