“So, how was yesterday?” Esmeralda faced her youngest son, bright green eyes practically sparkling with excitement. While she normally doesn't join Creston Salvador for meals, it seemed her curiosity couldn't keep her away.

Zeke put down his utensils, expression remaining still even though his eyes had slightly widened in surprise. “It went well, I bought my lady some dresses for the upcoming ball.”

“Ah, those clothes,” Esmeralda nodded in recognition, “Did you use all of the money I gave you?”

Zeke didn't respond immediately, startled by the sudden inquiry about his use of the many gems she gave him, “...There's still some left over.” He spoke slowly.

“Oh, that's not good,” contrary to what he expected, Esmeralda's brows knitted into a frown as she shook her head, “Dear, you should've used every single coin I gave you,” she turned to Circe, “Is he keeping the money for himself? Surely he isn't trying to buy more alcohol, right?”

“Mother–”

“Of course not, mother,” Circe spoke up before Zeke could say another word. A smile spread across her face as she glanced to her side, noticing Zeke's horrified expression. “I didn't need so much clothing anyway, so I had us go out and eat something delicious instead.”

“Yeah, I bought her food and desserts,” Zeke explained the moment Circe's words ended. His rushed tones gave away the fright. “I already told you I quit all that nonsense–”

Esmeralda's sudden laughter cut off Zeke, she wiped a stray tear from her eye before she spoke, “I'm only teasing you, Silas. I know you've changed for the better,” her expression softened, “It sounded like you two had fun, though. That's good, you should go out while you still can since the academy is almost done with reconstruction now.”

Zeke and Circe faced each other. While they didn't say anything, their confusion was clear. “Academy?”

“Right,” Creston announced his presence, so far having stayed silent while eating his breakfast, “I heard news that it will open its door once more after the royal banquet. You two should get your clothes fitted just in case.”

“Yes, father.” Zeke responded on auto-pilot, careful not to let a hint of surprise show on his face.

The revelation of an academy remained hanging in the air as they finished the remainder of their meal.

As the uncomfortable silence started to crawl on their skin, Zeke and Circe got up from their seats at the same time, though before they could excuse themselves, Creston raised his head. “Silas, have you seen your brother lately?”

It took him a moment to respond, “I believe he might be meeting someone.”

Creston frowned, “Someone?”

“A potential future marchioness, perhaps,” Zeke knew roughly that Creston had been trying but failing to find a partner for his eldest son; the heir to the march. Zeke's words sparked a clear interest in the marquess as he continued. “She is Lady Penelope Beaufort, my brother came to confide in me about her a few days ago.”

“Oh, Lady Penelope?” Esmeralda's expression brightened in an instant, “She is a rather lovely lady, I believe Lysander made a good choice.”

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“Hmm,” Creston's eyes downcasted, deep in thought, “If he truly loves her, then there is nothing I can do to stop him, even if he wants to marry a woman of a lower status.”

“What other lady would Lysander even fancy?” Esmeralda turned to Creston, her expression now returned to neutral. “You've tried pairing him up with a lot of women yet he rejects them all.”

Creston frowned, “But one of them even had feelings for Lysander, I truly believed that she was the one.”

“Because she loved him, or because she was from a ducal house?” Esmeralda shook her head, “You know Lysander is not the type to care for power. Even if you're only trying to find him a good partner out of needless worries, he wouldn't accept it.”

The marquess’ lips parted only to close a moment after, whatever he planned on saying, he’d changed his mind. “...None of it matters now, either way. Since he'd found someone he fancies.”

Esmeralda turned towards Zeke and Circe, “I'm sorry children, we've kept you here for long enough. Go have fun for today.”

Zeke nodded as he bowed, “Well then, have a good rest of your day, mother, father.”

They finally left the dining room, and instantly both of them let out their tired sighs. Circe leaned one shoulder against the wall, speaking in a low tone. “That was a lot of information to take in…”

“Yeah,” Zeke massaged the bridge of his nose, “First of all, there's this…academy.”

“I know we're in uncharted territory, but this is not what I was expecting,” Circe pushed herself off the wall and started walking, “Academy…Shit, I still have to go to school?”

“We should find some information on it,” Zeke replied as he followed her, his eyes darted around briefly to confirm no one had heard Lady Ruelle say ‘shit’. “If a big academy was under reconstruction, maybe there's something written in newspapers.”

“Or we have items from when we did go to school,” Circe added, “I can go look through the library…if they even keep old newspapers in this day and age. You should go on a treasure hunt.”

“I'm fine with that.” They came to a stop in front of the library.

Circe pushed the door open, turning around, “Let's meet here as usual when we're done.” She said to him before entering the room.

Now alone, Zeke turned and made his way down the hallway, “I didn't really pay much attention to Silas’ room. It seemed rather normal for…a troublemaker child.”

Walking past some servants, he noticed their curious glances casted his way. “Understandable, I guess,” Zeke tried his best to keep a straight face, ignoring the weight of their stares pressing against his back, “A demon child they knew so well changed overnight, it's obvious they're noticing that it's odd.”

Nothing notable distinguished Silas Salvador’s bedroom from the rest of the many doors lining the chamber. Though as if moving from muscle memory, Zeke managed to find the right entrance everytime.

While curtains still masked the large windows, the late morning light was enough to illuminate the once dark room. The normalcy of the furnishing had shocked Zeke when he saw it for the first time; he expected something less tidy and clean from the notorious mad dog.

“Can't judge a book by its cover, I guess, though maybe the world's just filling in for the parts we players didn't get to see.”

Two nightstands occupied the space next to the king-sized bed. Footstools at the end of it served as both chairs and tables for whenever he needed to rest his clothes while he undressed. A large wardrobe stood on the far end of the room, and next to it was a small powdered table with a face mirror in front of it.

Looking around, Zeke could see a large circular carpet in the middle of the room, its design oddly mesmerizing to watch, and he had zoned out multiple times simply tracing the lines in his mind instead of sleeping. In front of the curtained windows, a set of tables and chairs made for a nice place to sit while bathing in nature's shine.

Zeke recalled seeing a blazer with some sort of crest embroidered into it, so he checked the wardrobe first. Since it had a unique deep marine color, Zeke found it in just around a minute of fumbling around the many other clothes hanging inside.

The blazer had a simple design; navy blue with golden rims around the edges and the top of the breast pocket. Looking closer, the golden buttons had a silhouette of a wyvern etched into them. Even the pins on the cuffs had it too.

“Must be the academy crest,” he tilted his head as he turned the clothe over, seeing a much bigger shield-shaped insignia on the blazer's left arm with the same wyvern drawn within in the same gilded threads; it had its wings spread wide while facing forward as its tail curled around a round object.

The letters below it curved with the shield's parameter, written in something other than the language spoken natively in the Oriens Empire, though Zeke barely made out the letters as a mix between recognizable alphabets and seemingly random shapes.

“A…Aith…Aither?” Zeke's frowns arched lower with each attempt at pronouncing the word. “I know it's Greek, but I can't remember how to read this.”

“It's Aither…something, I don't know. The second half's probably ‘Academy’ though,” He gave up and put the blazer back into the closet. “I'll go look for something else.”

Zeke moved on to check the nightstands’ drawers, but as he knelt to the floor, his eyes traced towards the slightly elevated bed. “...” Edging back a bit, he lowered his head and peered into the darkness, expecting to see the otherside.

But instead, something stood into his field of vision.