We spent most of the ride to Dawnrose Hall in awkward silence. We took Annabelle’s carriage, since I doubted the guards at Dawnrose Hall would let mine through.
Annabelle and I sat across from each other, staring out the carriage window. Leroy and Avianna spent the entire trip glaring at each other. Well, at first Leroy glared at Lady Annabelle and Avianna glared at me. However, they both saw what the other was doing, they turned their attention to each other.
The bright and sunny weather outside worsened my already foul mood. It should have been raining and thundering, as the heavens let loose their fury. At the very least, it should have been cloudy.
It was a beautiful day outside, even though one of my disciples almost died. It felt surreal.
The rage inside me grew colder, and it felt like I would freeze from the inside out. Beneath it, however, I felt guilt. This should have never happened. I should have been there. If I had been, Lorelei wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
Even if she hadn’t been my disciple, I was still responsible for her safety. Her mother, Guildmaster Sinclair, entrusted her to me. I failed.
I thought Rosewood City was safe enough, so I let her and Corie wander off on their own. I was wrong, and now Lorelei paid the price.
I clenched my jaw so hard, it felt like my teeth would shatter.
“Hey,” Annabelle said, interrupting my thoughts. “It’s not your fault.”
I glanced at her, before looking back out the window.
“Are you some kind of mind reader, Lady Annabelle?” I asked.
“No, but I can see it written all over your face. You’re blaming yourself for what happened to Lorelei.”
Damn. I thought I had been keeping a good job of keeping my emotions under wraps, but I guessed I was wrong.
“I am responsible for Lorelei’s safety,” I said. “She got hurt because I wasn’t there to protect her. So yes, it is my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Annabelle insisted. “It’s Lord Bertrand’s. He’s the one who decided to take his anger at me out on an innocent bystander. If you’re going to blame someone, blame him.”
I let out a dark chuckle.
“Oh, I do,” I said. “Still, if I had been there, this wouldn’t have happened. I should have never left her side.”
If nothing else, I could have used Lightning Flash to pull Lorelei to safety.
“Lorelei is a grown woman,” Annabelle said, sounding irritated. “She doesn’t need a babysitter.”
“No, but I am her bodyguard. However, instead of doing my job, I let her wander around the city without me.”
Stunned silence followed my words.
“What?” Annabelle asked.
I let out a sigh.
“I joined the Adventurers Guild in Icefall City,” I explained. “Lorelei’s mother hired me to keep an eye on her during this trip to Rosewood City.”
“Oh. I thought…” Annabelle trailed off.
“You thought what?”
“Nevermind, don’t worry about it.”
I looked at her. For some reason, Annabelle’s face was red. I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant, but she spoke up before I could.
“Oh look,” she said. “We’re here.”
I looked out the window and saw that we had arrived at Dawnrose Hall. By that point, I lost my chance to question Annabelle and kept my peace.
Annabelle is right, Gabe, Aurora said. This isn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself for what happened.
‘I never gave you permission to call me Gabe,’ I said. ‘And Annabelle is wrong. This is my fault. If nothing else, it’s up to me to make things right.’
Aurora didn’t respond to that.
Annabelle’s carriage pulled up to the front entrance of Dawnrose Hall, and we all piled out. A House Rosewood servant hurried over to us the moment we appeared and rushed over to Annabelle.
“Lady Annabelle,” the servant said, looking nervous. The man licked his lips before continuing. “Lady Rosewood requests your presence in her office.”
The way the servant stressed the word “requests” implied that it was less of a request, and more of a demand.
“Oh good,” Annabelle said, giving the servant a sharp smile. “I was just on my way to see Lady Rosewood. Lead the way.”
The servant glanced at me.
“Don’t worry, he’s with me,” she said.
“But, Lady Annabelle-…”
“Lead the way,” Annabelle repeated in a firm tone. “We don’t want to keep Lady Rosewood waiting, do we?”
The servant nodded, before leading us inside Dawnrose Hall. As we headed towards Lady Rosewood’s office, the rage inside me grew colder and sharper, as if the blade of ice inside me was condensing.
A part of me noted that I could use this rage as inspiration for a divine ability. It would take time to develop it, and I wouldn’t be able to test it out until I could use divine abilities again, but I could start laying the groundwork.
When we arrived at Lady Rosewood’s office, the servant knocked on the door.
“Enter,” Lady Rosewood said in a sharp voice.
Without a word, the servant opened the door and let us in. I gestured for Leroy to remain outside, and Annabelle did the same for Avianna. The two bodyguards looked unhappy, but complied.
Lady Rosewood’s office differed from my father’s. It was open and airy, with cream colored walls and a large window that overlooked one of Dawnrose Hall’s many gardens. The furniture was all made from light hardwood. Brass magelamps hung from the walls at strategic locations.
Exquisite artwork decorated the office. It looked like Lady Rosewood favored landscape paintings, because there was at least one for each wall. They were all masterpieces. Looking at them, I almost felt like I was there in the locations they depicted. A statue of a phoenix carved from red agate sat atop a dainty looking desk.
Lady Rosewood sat behind the desk. Lord Bertrand knelt on the floor next to her with his head in her lap. I heard him sniffling.
Ugh. Of course. After what happened, the pink-haired fuck ran crying home to mommy. What a fucking child.
Lady Rosewood gave Annabelle a sharp look. When she saw me, the look grew sharper.
“I hope you have a good explanation for what happened today, Lady Annabelle,” she said. “And as for you, Lord Gabriel. I don’t know why you’re here, but I suggest you leave. This isn’t a good time right now.”
I gave her a polite smile in return.
“I disagree,” I said. “In fact, I think it’s a perfect time for me to be here. After all, I am involved with today’s events, albeit indirectly.”
Lady Rosewood’s expression grew unsightly.
“In that case, please stay. Perhaps you can explain what happened.”
“I already told you, Momma,” Lord Bertrand said, lifting his head to look at his mother. “I tried to make peace with Lady Annabelle today, but she yelled at me and said a lot of mean things. Despite my best efforts, she had one of her people attack me. I had no choice but to defend myself and run away. Once I was free, I came here to let you know what happened.”
What a load of bullshit. From the look on her face, I could tell that Lady Rosewood didn’t buy it either. However, there was no mistaking the tenderness in her eyes. She wouldn’t call him out on his bullshit.
Ah, so that’s how it was. Lady Rosewood knew her son was a lying sack of shit and a scumbag, but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything about it. He was her baby boy, after all.
Still, it was one thing to love your child. It was another to enable their shitty behavior.
“Funny,” Annabelle said, crossing her arms. “That’s not how I remember things. I was out having lunch with some new friends of mine, when Lord Bertrand here accosted me. He went on a rant about my behavior, and the way I dress. One of my new friends tried to play peacemaker, but then Lord Bertrand bumped into her and had his bodyguard stab the poor woman, claiming that she attacked him.” Her expression grew hard. “You’re lucky she had health potions on her, Lord Bertrand. If she had died, I would have killed you for that.”
“See? I told you!” Lord Bertrand said. “She’s nothing more than a crude brute. Look at the vulgar ways she dresses! And she even brought Lord Gabriel along to help her! They’re both out to bully me!”
Actual tears started to run down Lord Bertrand’s cheeks. Wow. His ability to cry on command impressed me, if nothing else. If his House ever went defunct, he could make a killing in theater. With his looks and acting ability, he’d become famous across the entire Solarian Empire, and maybe even beyond.
“Lady Annabelle, I’m disappointed,” Lady Rosewood said. “As a scion of House Thorne, I thought better of you. It seemed I was mistaken.”
What a load of bullshit.
Annabelle’s left eyes twitched, and she clenched her fists.
“What can you expect,” Lord Bertrand said, a nasty gleam in his eye. “She’s only adopted. She might have the Thorne name, but her blood is as common as mud.”
That sentence hit me in the heart. I had said something similar to Annabelle, back before I regained my memories. Not one of my proudest moments.
Okay, that was enough of that.
“Wow,” I said, clapping my hands together in mock applause. “Your performance is absolutely stunning, Lord Bertrand. Perhaps you have found your true calling as an actor.”
Lord Bertrand’s eyes bugged out at that, and Lady Rosewood’s expression grew darker.
“But enough of this farce,” I continued, my voice going cold. “Lord Bertrand Rosewood, I challenge you to a duel.”
A second of stunned silence followed my words. At least on the part of Lady Rosewood and Lord Bertrand. Annabelle, who had known what was coming, just snorted.
“On what grounds, Lord Gabriel?” Lady Rosewood asked, holding her son tighter.
“The woman your son’s bodyguard almost killed, on your son’s orders I might add, was one of my people,” I said. “Not Lady Annabelle’s. I demand satisfaction.”
Lord Bertrand’s eyes widened for a moment, before they narrowed. He started to sob.
“See? I knew it!” he wailed, burying his face into his mother’s lap. “They’re both working against me. They planned this out! Mother, do something!”
Lady Rosewood grimaced.
“There’s nothing your mother can do about this, Lord Bertrand,” I said. “Once the challenge is issued, you must answer. Either accept the duel, or admit fault and pay recompense.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Lord Bertrand paused at this, before looking up at his mother.
“Is it true?” he asked, his lip quivering.
Ancestors, I just wanted to smack the shit out of this whiny little bitch.
“I’m afraid it is, Bertie,” Lady Rosewood said, looking down at her son.
“Well, not quite,” I said. “You could refuse to accept the duel and also refuse to accept fault. In which case, I will take this to the Church of the Sun and ask for arbitration. If that happens, however, this matter will go public. Well, more public than it already is.” I nodded towards Annabelle. “Especially if I call Lady Annabelle here as a witness. That will catch the attention of the other Houses.”
“Yes,” Annabelle said on cue. “I may only be an adopted Thorne, but I am still a Thorne.”
“Indeed,” I said, flashing a smile at her. “Congratulations, Lord Bertrand. You earned the ire of the scion of a Great House, and the scion of one of the oldest Houses in the Empire. If this goes to arbitration, news of this incident, and the events leading up to it, will reach Sunheart. Everyone in the Empire will know just what kind of person you are.”
If that happened, House Rosewood would lose a lot of face. Lord Bertrand might escape the legal consequences of all this with a slap on the wrist, thanks to his mother’s influence, but his reputation would be ruined. If this went to arbitration, then everyone in the Empire would see him for the whiny prick that he was.
The consequences for House Rosewood as a whole would be even more dire. Like pedigree and lineage, reputation was paramount for the Houses. It affected everything from marriage offers to business deals to political alliances, which were all one and the same in many cases. A good reputation could open doors, while a bad one could close them shut forever.
That was one of the reasons why my actions earlier this year put my House in a bad situation. Our reputation was in the toilet, all because of my ego.
Now that I thought about it, Lord Bertrand’s situation wasn’t too different from my own. That was painful to contemplate. We even lost our shit over the same woman, though for different reasons.
And none of this took into account what House Thorne might do. They doted on Annabelle, if their actions were anything to go by. They had me kicked out of the Solarian Imperial Academy after my duel with Annabelle, and they would have done worse if I hadn’t fled to the Icefall Region.
As Annabelle and I spoke, Lady Rosewood’s expression grew darker and darker. Her little boy’s actions could cost her House dearly. That was one significant difference between me and Lord Bertrand. I owned up to my mistakes, and worked hard to rectify them.
“What do you want?” Lady Rosewood ground out. “What do I need to do in order to keep the both of you quiet about this?”
“Mother!,” Lord Bertrand said.
She ignored him.
“I just want an apology from Lord Bertrand,” Annabelle said with a shrug “As well as a promise from you to keep your son on a tighter leash during the rest of my stay here.”
“Who do you think you are, you stupid who-…” Lord Bertrand started to say, but Lady Rosewood clamped his mouth shut.
“You will be quiet,” she hissed at him. “Unless you want to see our family destroyed because of your stupidity.”
Lord Bertrand’s eyes widened in shock. His mother had probably never spoken to him that way before. She must have hit her limit. Good. Maybe now she would keep a firmer hand on him.
“And you, Lord Gabriel?” Lady Rosewood asked.
“Oh, nothing much,” I said in a deceptively light voice. “Just enchanted gauntlets suitable for a wizard with Earth and Metal affinities, an enchanted bow suitable for a wizard with Air and Wood affinities, six mana cores from mid-ranked First Circle magic beasts, and about one thousand mana stones.” I paused. “As well as the teeth of an Irontooth Mole.”
Everyone in the office stared at me in shock. As well they should. This was blatant extortion. Even Annabelle seemed surprised by my audacity, though I saw laughter in her eyes.
“You go too far, Lord Gabriel!” Lady Rosewood thundered, standing up.
Lord Bertrand, who still had his head in her lap, was knocked away.
“The woman your son almost killed is very dear to me,” I said in a quiet voice filled with menace. “Her life means more to me than the entire worth of House Rosewood. However, it would be unreasonable of me to demand everything, so I’m only asking for a small fraction.”
That was a lie. It was true that I valued Lorelei a lot, but no amount of money in the world could compare to how much she meant to me. She was my disciple, my first disciple in this world. More importantly, she was my friend. I didn’t have many of those, making her even more precious to me.
That was why I demanded such an outrageous sum from House Rosewood. I didn’t want Lord Bertrand to admit fault and pay recompense, nor did I want this to go to arbitration. I wanted to make Lord Bertrand pay for what he did. I wanted to push him and House Rosewood into the duel.
“Your kept woman isn’t worth even a single mana stone, Lord Gabriel,” Lord Bertrand sneered as he stood up.
Lady Rosewood threw him a sharp look, before turning back to me.
“While I disagree with my son’s words,” she said. “He is right in that you’re asking for too much, Lord Gabriel. You know as well as I do that as the challenged, my son can appoint a champion in his stead. However, in the interest of maintaining good relations between our Houses, I am willing to compromise. Ask for something less.”
Translation: I don’t want to be responsible if you get hurt or die, since that will anger your House, but don’t push me.
“Why should I?” I asked with a smirk. “I’ll get what I want, even if this goes to a duel.”
“Arrogant wretch,” Lord Bertrand said. “You should listen to my mother. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”
I snorted at that.
“I don’t see how. You may be two threads above me, but that isn’t an insurmountable difference.”
“Ha! You think I would lower myself to fight you, Lord Gabriel? I’ll just appoint Xavier, my bodyguard, as my champion.”
This rule was added to prevent more powerful wizards from bullying weaker ones. Those challenged to a duel could appoint anyone as their champion, as long as the prospective champion was willing.
Cowards took advantage of this rule to avoid fighting in duels they wanted to avoid. They did this by threatening to appoint champions that the challenger had no chance of beating, just like what Lord Bertrand was trying here.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t going to work.
“Don’t be a fool, Lord Gabriel,” Lady Rosewood said. “Xavier is in the Second Circle. You can’t beat him.”
Annabelle put her hand on my shoulder and leaned forward to whisper in my ear.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “Just listen to her. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. And it’s much better than dying.”
I almost wanted to snort. Settle for less? I didn’t fucking think so. Someone was going to die for what happened to Lorelei, and it wasn’t going to be me.
“Xavier is the Metal wizard, right?” I asked for clarification. “The one who stabbed Lorelei?”
Annabelle hesitated before answering.
“Yes,” she said.
I looked at Lady Rosewood and Lord Bertrand.
“My demand remains the same,” I said. “Either pay up, or accept the duel.”
Lady Rosewood looked resigned at my words, while Lord Bertrand gave me a nasty grin.
“I accept,” he said, looking smug. “And I appoint Xavier as my champion.”
Annabelle’s grip on my shoulder tightened.
“Are you crazy?” she said, not even bothering to whisper. “You’re at the first thread of the First Circle. You can’t win. Are you suicidal or something?”
“It’ll be fine,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. “Trust me.”
Annabelle looked anything but reassured. In fact, she looked at me as if I had gone insane.
“Very well,” Lady Rosewood said. “Since you insist on this foolishness, I won’t try and dissuade you.” She sat down behind her desk. “Let us discuss terms.”
----------------------------------------
Later on that evening, I was back at the House of Healing in Rosewood City’s Church of the Sun. It had taken hours to negotiate the terms of the duel with Lady Rosewood and Lord Bertrand. I managed to leave Dawnrose Hall not too long ago.
I ended up having to hire a carriage to bring me back to Church of the Sun, since I couldn’t use the House Thorne one. Annabelle had been upset with how things turned out. She stormed off in the middle of the negotiations, and I haven’t seen her since.
I sat next to Lorelei’s bed, holding her hand. Corie had been here earlier, but I sent her back to the hotel when I returned from Dawnrose Hall. She had been at Lorelei’s side ever since the incident, and I wanted her to get some rest. She resisted the idea, but I told her that she would need to keep up her strength if she wanted to watch the duel the next day.
Corie was conflicted at this, but in the end, she decided to heed my words. However, since she didn’t want to leave Lorelei alone, even within the House of Healing, she only left after I promised to look after Lorelei. That wasn’t a problem for me.
I made Leroy escort her back, since I didn’t want anything to happen to her as well. He resisted this idea, but I told him that any potential threats to my life would have to get past several priests and priestesses of the Church of the Sun, most of whom wielded Holy magic. In the end, he did as I asked, though he was clearly unhappy about it.
That left me alone with Lorelei, or at least as alone as we could get in a semi-public space. After scrounging around for a chair, I planted myself next to Lorelei’s bed and kept an eye on her.
About two hours after I began my vigil, Lorelei started to stir. Relief flooded me when I saw this. While I knew that she was going to be all right, it eased the worry in my heart when I saw her start to wake up.
After several moments, Lorelei’s eyes fluttered open.
“Maste-…” she started to say in a raspy voice, but stopped.
I gave her hand a squeeze.
“Let me get you some water,” I said. “You must be thirsty.”
Lorelei nodded.
I stood up to find a cup for Lorelei. It wasn’t that difficult. The Church of the Sun had a little kitchen area so they could provide meals for the patients staying in the House of Healing. I grabbed a clay cup, filled it with water using Water Spray, and brought it back to Lorelei.
She was sitting up when I returned, so I just handed her the cup and made sure she took small sips. After she drained the entire cup, I refilled it with Water Spray. She drained that one as well, before she was satisfied.
“Thank you, Master Gabriel,” she said in a quiet voice, sounding much better than before.
I nodded.
We weren’t the only ones in the House of Healing. In addition to the patients, there were a few others keeping their loved ones company.
Still, as long as we kept our voices low, we could have some semblance of a private conversation.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her.
“Tired,” Lorelei said, giving me a wan smile. “And dried out, if that makes any sense.”
“It does,” I said. “Healing by Holy magic takes a lot out of you.”
Lorelei nodded, before taking a look around.
“We’re in the Church of the Sun’s House of Healing?” she asked. “It looks bigger than the one back home.”
Oh right, her father was a priest of the Church of the Sun. She had more experience with places like this than me.
“Yes,” I said. “Corie and Lady Annabelle brought you here after you were stabbed.”
I gave Lorelei a brief summary of what happened after Lord Bertrand’s bodyguard stabbed her, including the details of the duel.
“I see,” she said, looking at the cup in her hands. “I just wanted to calm things down. I didn’t expect that to happen.”
“No one did,” I said. “What Lord Bertrand did was beyond the pale. If he wasn’t Lady Rosewood’s son, I would’ve killed him already. As it is, I’ll have to settle for killing his bodyguard, the one who stabbed you.”
Lorelei gave me a brief smile at this.
“Thank you, Master Gabriel,” she said. “I appreciate it.”
The two of us sat there in silence for several long moments.
“I’m sorry, Lorelei,” I said, breaking the silence. “This is my fault. If I had been there, none of this would have happened. Protecting you is my responsibility, and I failed you. I thought we would be safe here, in Rosewood City. I was wrong, and for that I am sorry.”
Lorelei didn’t respond right away.
“Can I have some more water, please?” she asked, holding out the cup.
I filled the cup with Water Spray again. However, instead of drinking the water, Lorelei tossed it in my face. I stared at her in shock, water dripping down my face.
“That was for saying something stupid,” she said. “What happened to me wasn’t your fault. It was Lord Bertrand’s. Don’t blame yourself for other people’s actions. Not only is it idiotic, it’s arrogant.”
I stared at her for a bit.
“But if I had been there-…” I started to say, but Lorelei cut me off.
“Maybe things would have happened differently,” she said. “Or maybe nothing would have changed. You could fill the world with ‘Maybes’, but it won’t change a thing. What happened already happened. You can’t change that.”
Well, with enough power, it was possible to change the past. However, messing with time like that was dangerous. Only the most powerful of beings dared to try.
“My mother asked you to guard me,” Lorelei continued. “But she didn’t ask you to babysit me. I’m a grown woman, I can look after myself.” She shrugged. “I just happened to meet someone stronger than me. Yeah, it sucks, but I survived. That’s what matters the most. It means I can get stronger in the future, so something like this doesn’t happen again.”
I stared at Lorelei, before chuckling.
“I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to hear those words coming from you.” I shook my head, and used magic to dry myself off. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
Lorelei cheeks pinked.
“I can’t take all the credit,” she admitted. “While I was unconscious, I talked with my lady. She was the one who told me to tell you to stop being an idiot.” Lorelei touched her chest. “Almost dying was scary, but Lady Terra was there for me. That’s why I can be as calm about it as I am.”
It must be nice to have a literal goddess in your corner like that.
“You’re right,” I said. “You do need to get stronger. You and Corie both. While I wanted to wait until we returned to Sturm Hill Hall to have you start cultivating, the sooner you begin the better. Entering the Energy Condensation stage will boost your power.”
Lorelei tilted her head.
“I thought you wanted to keep things secret from outsiders,” she said. “We still have to travel back to Icefall City as part of the caravan. Won’t the others notice if we start cultivating?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “With the formation flags I carved, I can make sure no one notices what you and Corie get up to.”
The only reason why I managed to keep my cultivation hidden was because of the Hidden Lamp Seal, and even then I had to be sneaky about it. Lorelei and Corie didn’t have that option. Still, unless they formed their dantians while we were still on the road, it should be fine.
Lorelei yawned, interrupting my thoughts. I smiled at that.
“Get some rest,” I said. “You’re still recovering from a near fatal injury.”
She nodded.
“I will,” she said. “I want to be there when you kill Lord Bertrand’s bodyguard.”
A part of me wanted to argue against that, but in the end I didn’t. She deserved to see justice done. If nothing else, it would let her see for herself that the man who almost killed her wasn’t a threat anymore.
“You should go back and rest as well,” Lorelei said. “I don’t want you to die because you stayed up all night.”
“No,” I said.
“But-…”
“I’m staying right here. There are plenty of spare beds. Even if there weren’t, I can sleep on the floor. I’ll make do. Regardless, I’m not leaving your side tonight.”
Lorelei looked like she wanted to argue some more, but didn’t. Instead she nodded, before laying back down.
“Goodnight, Master Gabriel,” she said.
“Goodnight, my disciple.”
After she fell asleep again, I watched her for a few more hours, before I gathered up a pillow and a blanket, and fell asleep on the floor next to her.