Chapter 13

An Unsteady Heart

No one said anything for a while, just watching Noah with different expressions. Eyolian was the one who broke the silence with a careless laugh. She found Noah’s nonchalance amusing given everything happening to him and around him.

Noah seemed confused as he turned his head slightly to the side and asked, "Is something funny?"

Eyolian laughed a bit more and then decided to speak. "No, nothing's funny. It's just not every day that someone says good evening to me when they were in a coma this morning and then accompanied by two knights in the evening. God knows where they came from."

Noah looked at the knights and felt he needed to explain. "These are knights from the capital, or so claimed that Donfer Bornar. You can just ignore them, though they are a bit noisy."

A voice with a metallic tone came from the direction of the knights, and everyone turned to look their way. Although the knights remained motionless, the one on the left was leaning against the platform wall with one hand.

Noah smiled and made a movement with his eyes to emphasize his words (a bit noisy).

Eyolian was about to say something, but she stopped before speaking when she saw Elowen on her way to hug Noah. She did just that, burying her face in his belly.

The little girl seemed to notice something and asked with curiosity and some alarm, "You're hungry, haven't you eaten anything?"

Noah patted her head and explained his reasons. "I woke up in a place that wasn't my room. Of course, my first concern wouldn't be food. Besides, just because I am in someone's house doesn't mean I owe them for the food."

Elowen seemed about to protest, but Lady Elara interrupted her and ordered, "Elowen, why don't you go and bring the boy some food. I'll watch over him for you."

Elowen looked a bit hesitant, but her trust in Lady Elara was higher than her doubts. She grabbed Noah's hand and forced him to sit on the bench next to Lady Elara. She looked into his eyes and said seriously, "Stay here, Auntie will take care of you, she's very nice, just like you."

Noah seemed at a loss for words but nodded. Elowen headed towards the castle, making sure to stay as far as possible from where the knights were standing. Eyolian found the situation amusing in its strangeness, but she had questions to ask. "What do you mean knights from the capital? And who is this Donfer Bornar? Do you want to talk about what's happening with you?"

Noah kept his usual cold expression as he moved his gaze from Eyolian to Lady Elara, who was looking at him with curiosity and silently evaluating him. He took a deep breath and began to speak. "I think knights from the capital explain themselves, imperial knights for more context. When I woke up, I found them with me in the same room, and they didn't answer any questions I asked. At least until the other person came..."

Before Noah could finish his words, Eyolian interrupted with a reprimanding voice. "IMPERIAL KNIGHTS, you say. And you have the nerve to ignore them and call them noisy."

Of course, Eyolian didn't mean any of her words, even Noah looked at her like someone he couldn't recognize. But in the end, he just shrugged and said, "All I see are two people doing their jobs. I read something in the past that said the knight's rank doesn't matter while performing their duties. If anything, I respect anyone who does their job right."

Eyolian didn't say anything, she was at a loss for words. She just looked at Noah as if he were the biggest fool humanity could produce. Her different behavior in the presence of the knights served the purpose of appearances and avoiding suspicion.

Just as Eyolian prepared to explain and improve her image a bit, Lady Elara spoke first. "What you said applies to all knights except the imperial ones. They were created to deal with cases that exceed the authority of a regular knight. Each imperial knight has enough authority to be just under the imperial family alone." She spoke coldly, returning to her usual self.

Noah seemed to be assessing the words as he focused on Lady Elara beside him. He looked directly into her eyes and said, "I didn't know that, I'll keep that in mind."

He looked at Eyolian for a moment and then back at the woman beside him. "I apologize, Lady Elara, Eyolian here overwhelmed me with her questions so I didn't give you a proper greeting. But I suppose that's my fault and mine alone."

Lady Elara didn't say anything for a while, she just looked into Noah's eyes as if evaluating his sincerity. Finally, she waved her hand dismissively. "No need, but do that in any formal setting."

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Noah nodded his head with a small respectful bow, not taking his eyes off Lady Elara's. After a few moments, Noah quietly asked, "Lady Elara, if the rank of imperial knights is this high, why does everyone seem to ignore them, even you?"

Before the woman could answer his question, Noah hastily said, "You know what, I don't want to know, but I'll be more cautious in the future. More importantly... can I share with you what happened to me? I want your opinion on what you think my next step should be."

The woman tilted her head slightly and inquired, "Why me? What about Eyolian here?" She ignored his first question as if she hadn't heard it.

Noah looked at Eyolian and then back at the woman, saying, "I'd be happy to hear both of your opinions. But as for you, it's only appropriate to ask, and you seem to know what you're doing, or you're just very good at pretending to know."

Lady Elara smiled at what would have been an insult from Eyolian's perspective. But Eyolian was pleased inside. She wouldn't have to ask herself despite her great curiosity.

Lady Elara nodded slightly and said, "Since you want to share, go ahead. I'll give you my assessment if your situation falls within my expertise."

Eyolian kept silent while listening to Noah's story. At the moment he woke up this evening, he found two silent knights just watching him. His attempts to question them about his situation got nowhere, they just confined him in the room and he was forced to wait. Then came the person Noah called Donfer, who said he was there to ask him only simple questions about his condition. The questions were not that simple, but Noah answered honestly. Again, he was forced to wait a few more hours for Donfer Bornar's return. The latter came back with a message from the Mages Guild from the capital. The message was addressed to Noah and no one else could open it. The message contained a preliminary assessment of his condition and also further instructions for the coming days. Noah's condition was described as a late awakening without further explanation. He would also be forced to stay within the castle walls, accompanied by two knights until a specialist arrived to assess his condition accurately. They emphasized that a specialist's intervention was necessary in his case, which could develop into something more serious.

At some point in the middle of Noah's intriguing story, Elowen came with a bag of food she carried with both hands. The little girl had enough self-awareness not to interrupt. She just handed the food to Noah quietly and sat next to him, listening attentively.

When Noah finished his story, he turned his focus to the girl beside him and patted her head. But he didn't show any interest in the food, as he did toward Lady Elara, who seemed deep in thought.

After a few moments of silence, the woman raised her head and met Noah's ice-blue eyes with her volcanic red ones and asked curiously, "How old are you?"

Noah took a second for the strange question and then answered, wondering, "I'm 19, is that important?"

Lady Elara didn't answer his question and inquired again, "How long have you been 19?"

Noah continued to answer honestly. "Less than three months from today."

Lady Elara nodded her head and gave her final assessment. "If the healer's evaluation from this morning is correct about your awakening happening three months ago, and it's just some kind of poison that caused your condition. You'll be just fine."

Noah was silent for a while in thought. Eyolian did the same, but for different reasons. - If Noah successfully connects the dots, she'd be in deep trouble, especially since she planned to exploit him before.

Unfortunately for Eyolian, that was indeed the case. Noah asked the important question. "I don't know why you asked about my age, but I have a feeling it's important. Why is that?"

Lady Elara didn't seem keen on hiding anything, and answered honestly. "The likelihood of someone awakening between the ages of nineteen to twenty-one is almost non-existent. If you didn't awaken before nineteen, you never will."

Noah looked disturbed by the new revelation. Most likely, his knowledge about the awakening process came from Empire books, which always mentioned that anyone under the age of 22 had the same chances of awakening.

Noah laughed lightly and looked at Eyolian with a knowing smile—what Eyolian feared had happened. She had planned to keep this knowledge to herself and exploit Noah as the sole beneficiary, but she didn't anticipate this turn of events.

Noah's smile widened as he asked, "Did you know this, Eyo?"

Eyo!—Eyolian kept her expression unchanged, but from the corner of her eye, she noticed Lady Elara's interest in Noah's friendly manner of address. She didn't understand Noah's logic in the situation, but she played along and told the truth. "Yes, I did know."

Noah said nothing and refocused on Lady Elara beside him. "Aren't you worried about the knights inside your castle?" he asked unhesitatingly.

The conversation between Noah and Lady Elara continued, with Lady Elara appearing impressed by Noah's candor. Eyolian herself found the dynamic between them strange—maybe that's why Elowen liked both of them? But none of this held Eyolian's attention. She was lost in her own thoughts—how she would deal with Noah, whom she had tried to deceive and extract as much knowledge from while pretending to be innocent?

She regretted underestimating his intelligence and treating him like anyone else with just extra knowledge—this part of her hadn't changed.

Eyolian had always looked down on others, deeming them inferior to herself, even if they were not. She knew it was wrong and wouldn't benefit her in the long run, but she couldn't help herself. Now she was facing the consequences of her mental weakness.

She looked again at the trio on the bench. Once again, that feeling of alienation and distance flooded her thoughts. In a way, it was true. Lady Elara, for example, had never liked Eyolian as a person, even though the woman had never allowed her feelings to influence her behavior. But Eyolian was not blind; she was grateful to the woman for her fairness and lack of prejudice, but throughout the years, she never felt different.

Now seeing her admire Noah, whom she had just met, Eyolian felt jealous. It wasn't that Eyolian wanted the attention. She just hated being disliked without a clear reason. It reminded her of her painful childhood.

Eyolian looked at Noah, who somehow had Lady Elara talking about her family's past, whom she had lost in the last great war. Her thoughts on how to deal with him now didn't lead to anything. So she settled on finding out his opinion first to decide the rest.