Jean was confused for a second before her brain caught up with what her eyes were showing. The man before her was painfully average, so much so that he would have been impossible to spot in a crowd.
She, however, would never forget that face since she had helped build it. “Leonard?!” A strangled whisper came out, even as she struggled to process.
The man who had somehow infiltrated the Tower without tripping the extensive wards meant to keep outsiders away and slipped past her observant maid smiled in affirmation, “Indeed, though I’d appreciate it if you could keep quiet about that. Fighting my way out of here would result in a regrettable amount of deaths.”
Now sure of his identity, Jean launched herself at him, colliding with his powerful chest. She was immediately enveloped in his strong arms, a familiar embrace that brought a sense of comfort she had missed more than she realized.
“Idiot!” She hissed, though there was a watery quality to it, “It’s too dangerous for you to come here! The Court has been in a frenzy since news broke that you rebelled.”
Her first true friend chuckled, the sound like honey to her ears, “I’m surprised they let it be known, given the loss of face. But then again, they need to lay the groundwork to turn the people against me, so I should have expected it.”
Jean breathed in, wrinkling her nose when it was assaulted by a musty smell, and pushed away.
“Ah, I did my best not to be touched by the sewer waters, but some of the air passed through.” He said upon seeing her expression.
Shaking her head, Jean refocused, “That’s not important. We need to hide you before anyone realizes you shouldn’t be here! And Demetria! She will report this to the Archmage, it’s in her standing orders.”
Before she could work herself into a frenzy, Leonard gently grasped her hands, halting their frantic motion. “It’s fine; your maid has suddenly remembered she needed to check the state of your wardrobe and will be occupied with that vital task for a few hours before the compulsion fades away. And for someone realizing I don’t belong, I sincerely doubt that will be the case. People here put entirely too much trust in the wards, and they are stuck so far up their asses they’ll think me another commoner student before thinking I’m an outsider.”
There was some truth in his words. Jean didn’t like that he had laid a compulsion on Demetria, but the woman would have been forced to report anything to her owner, no matter how much she would have wished not to. This was an efficient solution.
Sighing, she allowed her shoulders to sag. “Alright, you are not in danger, but this classroom will be used soon enough, and people will think it’s weird if they see me talking to you.” She never stopped to talk to students unless they made an appointment. It was something she had been insistent upon. Outside the lessons, she wasn’t to be bothered. Starting to flaunt that rule now would only make people very curious.
Luckily, Leonard agreed without putting up a fuss, “Alright, then go back to your office, and I’ll join you there. It’s better if we walk separately. And I can slip through the wards, don’t worry about it.” He added preemptively.
With that, as quickly as he had appeared, he left, leaving Jean in stunned silence. It took her a few seconds to regain her composure, and she had to pinch her arm to make sure she wasn’t in some weird dream.
Peering out of the classroom, she saw that Demetria was indeed absent - something that never happened before - and since the coast was clear, she left, hurrying to take the elevator before someone saw her.
Not that I’m doing anything wrong. I’m just walking to my office. Where a dangerous fugitive is waiting for me. To discuss illicit things. Ok, maybe I’m doing something wrong.
Still, a part of her delighted in the naughtiness of it all. Jean ruthlessly squashed it. She wasn’t a pampered noble lady having a secret fling with a dashing knight. She had stared death in the maw dozens of times before turning ten.
By the time she reached her office, she had gotten herself under control. Out of an abundance of caution, she cast a quick [Clairomancy]. Her senses expanded drastically, though she kept them contained to the Tower. The feel of boots scraping on smooth stone, the taste of enchanted hardwood, the smell of a leftover sandwich, the sight of servants prepping the classrooms for the coming class.
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Coming back to herself, Jean dismissed her spell, satisfied that nothing would interrupt them.
She entered her office, unsurprised to find Leonard already there, reading one of her half-finished papers. He was still wearing his disguise, and though she was tempted to ask him to dismiss it, she refrained, knowing it was a stupid risk.
“I see that you’ve kept working on your Unifying Theory. You’ve come a long way from those first experiments.” He finally said once she had shut the door and raised the privacy wards. Here in the Tower, they were all centrally powered and only required a spark to start up. No one would bat an eye at their activation.
“You certainly gave me a lot to think about with your talk of infinitesimally small particles. I spent months working out a way to observe them, and from there, it was just a matter of putting everything together. I’m still working on refining the experiments to record how magic and matter interact at that level, but I’m making good time.” She replied, proud of herself. If there was one thing Jean didn’t mind discussing, it was her efforts to explore the depths of what was possible with magic. Better yet if she had an interlocutor who could follow what she was saying.
Leonard waved a hand airily, dismissing his contributions, “I only set you on the right path. You were already getting there with your observations about the permanence of certain spells coming from transmutation rather than transfiguration.”
Jean circled the desk and snatched the paper from his hands, checking to ensure it hadn’t wrinkled. Once satisfied, she sat down in her chair.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/GtBMrh47/persimmon0-albino-teenage-girl-short-hair-archmage-wearing-expe-d0e92f85-ebe5-4349-9f53-2f3ab15a3c6b.png]
“Have you shared it with anyone else yet?” He asked curiously, taking his own seat on the opposite side.
“I have talked about the underlying principles with the Archmage, and he seemed interested enough when I explained there could be great strides in casting efficiency, but I’ll need to have the practical side worked out before I can publish it. At least I was able to secure some funding.” Jean wouldn’t say she was satisfied with how much interest she had gathered, but she hadn’t expected anything else. The Archmage was very busy, and he could spare little time to research while serving as Advisor to the king on magical matters and having to preside over the Tower.
“He’s like that, huh?” Leonard asked, and while she pursed her lips, she couldn’t reject his words. Wilbert Helmut was the Archmage of Order, a title he had gained through personal talent and, arguably more importantly, political support. He was always very aware of how he looked and how his actions would impact his image. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but Jean was a magical researcher at heart, and some part of her couldn’t help but disparage that behavior slightly.
“Speaking of politics-” She said, putting the paper away, “I know you couldn’t have rebelled without a reason, and you certainly don’t seem insane to me. Absurd rumors have swirled around the noble circles lately, but I’ve not paid them heed. Could you explain what really happened?”
Jean leaned forward, propped by her elbows, and peered at Leonard. She had barely been able to stop herself from snapping angrily back at the first scion that told her the Hero had debased himself and killed his fiancee, but she was still curious as to what had been the real cause behind the “rebellion”.
Leonard sighed, and she knew him well enough to spy a flash of deep, terrible sadness before he hid it away. “Someone in the Capital tampered with my mail. They managed to slip Void’s Dew into the tea I regularly get from here, and it killed Belinda before I could save her.” He eventually said, sounding like the words pained him physically to say.
Jean breathed in deeply. Despite being a member of the Heroic Party, she hadn’t gotten to know the ranger much, but she still respected her and knew how much Leonard cared for her. To see her die because of the very poison he had been summoned to fight… “It must have been someone in the Royal Court. No one else would have access to such a restricted substance. We barely have a few drops for study purposes, and even then, we have the Whiteguard observing every step.” She murmured.
Suddenly, everything made sense. She knew just how much Leonard disliked the current system of power, how the aristocracy would lord their wealth over the masses, and how slaves would toil their lives away. It had been the subject of much discussion among party members during the long nights spent on the campaign. “It was the last drop, wasn’t it? You couldn’t bear it anymore.”
The Hero of the Light was, for all his strength, a deeply compassionate man. More than anyone Jean had ever met. This country, this world had a way of burning away that kind of innocence with prejudice. She had seen people starve to death because they shared the last of their bread, and villains get away scot-free thanks to their strength or backing. It was just how things were.
Leonard had never truly accepted that. He had agreed to the necessity of fighting the Void first, as it was much more urgent, but he had always talked about how, while his world was not perfect, it was a much more equal place.
“Right on the money,” He confirmed with a half smile. “Make no mistake, I will get my revenge for Belinda’s death. But if that was all I wanted, I could stroll into the Royal Palace within a few minutes and turn it into a smoking crater. That would take care of it. But I want more. I want to free the slaves. I want to protect people from something like that happening again. And for that, I need a much bigger operation. I need a revolution.”
There was a fire in his eyes that the glamour he wore did nothing to stem. It had been so long since she had seen him so determined that Jean was struck speechless. Leonard genuinely believed that he could do it. That he could upend millennia of cruelty and practice just because he thought it was the right thing to do.
“That… If you can achieve that, it’d be amazing. But the sheer amount of death needed…” Jean was no idealistic child. She knew what a revolution meant. Innocents would die just as much, if not more, as the guilty. Chaos would follow. Leonard’s sheer power would help, but it couldn’t change the nature of a revolution.
“Some things are worth it. Even if it will take a long time. Even if many will die. Freedom for future generations is worth it. And we both know the nobles will never allow change to come about naturally.” He replied, and Jean had nothing to say to that. Things could be different in a world where power was more evenly spread. But here, the accumulation of secrets and magical knowledge meant the nobility was too dug in.
“Why are you here?” Jean finally asked, the words coming out without her say so. “Why not Bernard or William? They certainly would be better than me in a war.”
Leonard smiled. “They are both too entrenched in the current system. And we both know you are much more capable than what you allow people to believe. I’ve seen you sling fourth tier spells around like they were cantrips. And I know your heart. You’ll do the right thing.” With that, he stood up, not allowing her to reject his words. “I hope you’ll join me, Jean. I’d love to fight alongside you for a better future.”
By the time she had calmed her heart rate enough to hear anything over its pounding, Leonard was long gone. And Jean knew, despite herself, that she would leave too.