Not long after the Snow Lions were dismissed by their Senior Instructor, Leon pushed open the doors of the Heaven’s Eye Tower. He had wasted no time making his way over, though this did mean that he’d had to cancel getting food with his friends. He’d been looking forward to hanging out for a while with his friends, but Xaphan’s potion took priority. Leon could sense the demon’s excitement growing during the journey to the Tower.
Despite losing out on trawling for some of the best food in the capital, Leon truly didn’t mind helping out Xaphan. Especially since it also meant he could spend more time with Elise, who he found himself liking more and more, though it would take quite a bit for him to admit it to anyone else.
He didn’t need to admit his excitement to Xaphan, though, as the demon could sense it just as easily as Leon could sense the demon’s anticipation. However, probably out of a stubbornly stoic and childish desire not to admit to each other how excited they both were, neither spoke very much after Leon received the priority message.
When Leon entered the lounge, he glanced around a bit, but he didn’t immediately see Elise. He wasn’t sure if he was grateful that he had a few more minutes to steady himself before seeing her, or if he was disappointed that he had to wait those few more minutes. Regardless, wait he had to do, and he soon found himself escorted to a seat in a nearby booth by one of the attendants, who then scurried away to bring him a drink he couldn’t help but order.
He sat there in the booth growing increasingly nervous with every passing second, trying not to constantly look around in anticipation. But, about ten minutes after the attendant brought his drink over, he heard a vaguely familiar voice call out over the general din of the fairly crowded lounge, “Lady Elise!”
His heart jumped up into his throat, and he found himself looking around almost in panic, hoping that he didn’t look stupid or embarrassing as he searched for the gorgeous fire-haired attendant that had been so helpful these past few months.
When he glanced in the direction that the voice had come from, though, he saw not the beautiful woman that had him in such a state of worry, but rather the tall, lithe figure of Tiberias, the leader of the Black Vipers, and the third-tier mage that had attacked the Snow Lions’ tower with the Deathbringers.
Leon didn’t like him too much, but that was almost entirely because of that assault. He hadn’t had much interaction with Tiberias otherwise, so he couldn’t really say what kind of a person he was. For all Leon knew, he was an upstanding sort of guy.
Tiberias had his hand raised in greeting, a smile on his face, and a handsome twinkle in his eyes. Leon followed his gaze and saw at the other end of the lounge Elise, dressed in fairly casual clothing compared to how she usually dressed, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, and only light makeup applied. But her expression seemed polite, but somewhat strained as she smiled back at Tiberias and returned his wave. Then, strangely enough, her eyes swiveled in Leon’s direction, and for just a moment, he thought they seemed a bit pleading.
Leon wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, but his heart was certainly beating quite a bit faster after making eye contact with her. It took him a moment to rise to his feet, and by then, Tiberias had already sauntered forward and started loudly complimenting Elise, drawing quite a few looks from some of the other guests within the tower with the unabashed volume with which he spoke.
“Oh! You are just the vision of beauty!” he said, the smile on his face growing with every word. “Truly, no other women can possibly compare to your ravishing looks! Please, my Lady, would you grace me with your presence while I partake of the fine pleasures that Heaven’s Eye affords?”
He spoke quickly, hardly letting Elise get a word in edgewise, and as he did, one of his hands was digging around in a small pouch at his hip secured onto his belt.
“I was actually dearly hoping I would run into you, fair lady,” he shamelessly continued as he pulled out a box small enough to fit in his palm. “I brought you a gift—please, nothing would make me happier than it you were to accept it from my humble hands!”
By this point, Leon had no trouble seeing the strain in Elise’s smile, and her eyes were repeatedly darting in his direction as if pleading for him to interrupt. Leon approached from behind, so he couldn’t immediately see what it was that was in the box, but as Tiberias opened it, he saw several people behind Elise who were watching the spectacle practically stare boggle-eyed at whatever was revealed.
“I know that your mother is richer than just about anyone else in the Kingdom, but I had to express my admiration for you in some way!” Tiberias almost shouted, and Leon felt his cheeks burn with second-hand embarrassment. “It’s a paltry thing compared to your beauty, but if you were to wear it, I would be the happiest man alive!”
Finally, as he paused and waited for her response, she was able to say a few words. But she stared at Tiberias for a moment before saying, “What is going on with you today? You’re being so weird…”
“I apologize,” Tiberias responded, finally lowering the volume of his voice a bit. “I couldn’t be sure if my previous attempts to court you were working—all of my gifts were returned, and my letters received no responses, so I decided to get your attention in the only way that was left to me! Now, how about we head upstairs, or somewhere else more private, where we might be able to talk?”
Elise’s smile remained on her face, but she took a small step backward, away from Tiberias. At the same time, Leon finally came around from behind Tiberias and saw what was in the nobleman’s brandished box: a golden bracelet, intricately carved with various floral patterns, and set with half a dozen glittering emeralds, each one the size of a fingernail.
“By the Ancestors, those are some big rocks,” Leon loudly whispered as he stepped in close enough that it was clear he was joining them, not passing by.
For just a moment, Leon thought he felt a hint of killing intent flare through Tiberias’ aura, but it was gone in a heartbeat, and the nobleman just stared at him, still smiling.
“Leon Ursus,” he said. “So good to see you outside of the Knight Academy. But—and I don’t blame you for this at all, you are a barbarian, after all—Lady Elise and I were just having a private discu—”
“Leon!” Elise loudly said in greeting, ruthlessly cutting Tiberias off. “I’m glad you’re here! Does that mean you received our letter?”
“I did,” Leon said as he pulled the folded latter out of his pocket.
“Wonderful!” Elise stepped forward and took one of Leon’s arms, staring at him for a moment with a strained, almost pained look that pleaded with him to follow her lead. “Your buyer is waiting over in the Alchemist’s Forum. We can go there right away!”
Then, she turned to the silent and still smiling Tiberias, who was watching with a look of complete innocence on his face, though he still held out the box with the emerald bracelet for Elise to take, which she appeared to be ignoring.
“Tiberias, it was… good to see you again,” she said as professionally as she could, “but Leon and I have some business that we have to see to. But please, don’t refrain from making use of our services here on my account!”
With that, Elise began to pull Leon toward the door, not giving Tiberias another look. Leon, a little confused, but certain that there was more going on here than he was aware of, just went along with it. Tiberias was left standing there, in the middle of the lounge, the opened jewelry box still held out, his smile slowly fading.
The last that Leon saw of him, he was staring after them, his smile gone, his eyes fixed on Leon. Though his expression had merely fallen to something more neutral, Leon thought that with Tiberias’ severe looks, it seemed almost hateful.
Just before leaving, he heard a woman somewhere shout, “If you’re looking for someone to take that bracelet off you, I’d be happy to accept it!”
Her call was punctuated with a round of laughter from many who’d been watching the scene, though Tiberias didn’t acknowledge a one of them. And then Leon and Elise walked out of the door, and he saw no more.
Elise steered them away from the Tower quickly and didn’t say a word until after they’d put an entire block behind them. She then let out a deep sigh and said, “Thanks for that. Tiberias comes on strong even on the best of days.”
“Uuh, yeah, that was certainly a sight to see,” Leon muttered, still unsure of entirely what had happened. It almost didn’t seem real, as if Elise and Tiberias had just acted out a play in front of him. “I didn’t think someone would actually act like that in public.”
Elise sighed again. “He’s been sending me gifts and inviting me out for years, now. It was funny three years ago when he was only thirteen, but now, it’s getting… a little out of hand. I’ve tried to tell him that I’m not interested, but he’s refusing to take the hint.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to take it?” Leon responded. “Maybe he thinks that if he’s dogged enough in his pursuit that you’ll just let him catch you?”
“I’m not a hare,” she shot back, but a deep smile broke out across her face. “Anyway, would you mind if we took the long way to the Alchemist’s Forum? Tiberias kind of threw me off my game, and I think I could use some fresh air to clear my head.”
“If you insist,” Leon murmured in reply. Elise was still tightly gripping his arm, and he was in no hurry to shake her off.
“Thanks. I really should talk to my mother about him, his behavior is getting… honestly, in public…?”
“Your mother?” Leon asked.
“Hmm? Oh, my mother’s the Tower Lord here. And Ajax back in Teira is my uncle. Didn’t I mention that before?”
Leon blanched slightly. Her mother was the Tower Lord, then that meant that she was essentially in charge of all Heaven’s Eye operations within the entire Kingdom. And that made her one of the single most powerful people on the entire plane, let alone the Bull Kingdom, with enormous financial resources at her disposal. Elise wasn’t nobility, but in the face of that kind of power, she might as well be.
“Good to know…” he whispered, momentarily contemplating the merits of continuing to associate with Elise, given his need to remain relatively beneath notice until he was stronger, but when he glanced at her, he found her grinning back at him, her emerald eyes glittering as she watched him react to this information, and all desire to put more distance between them vanished from his mind.
He liked Elise, and he didn’t want to start shunning her just for who her mother was.
“So… anyway…” Leon babbled, hoping to change the subject, “how far away is this forum?”
“About an hour’s walk,” she said. “Come on, let’s go this way. There’s a beautiful park that I love walking through on the way…”
---
The Alchemist Forum was a paradise for all alchemists within the Bull Kingdom, whether they were mere apprentices or venerable masters. There were dozens of buildings surrounding the forum, awash with color from bright tile murals and exceptionally detailed paintings depicting plants and flowers of all kinds. The forum itself had over two hundred smaller stalls filled with gorgeous flowers and other luminous and regal alchemy ingredients. All the rarest and most expensive products were kept indoors where they could be easily protected, but there were enough exotic materials around that the density of magic in the air around the forum was considerably higher than in other areas of the city.
It was a very important place to the Bull Kingdom and was afforded all the security such a place deserved: dozens of guards posted around the clock at key points in the forum and dozens more constantly patrolling around the shops and stalls. Most of them had little to actually do, though, as their presence was so great that street crime in the area was nearly nonexistent. The primary job of the guards was actually to remove any loitering mages who were hoping to use the atmosphere to train, rather than to do business.
Despite its name, there were far more than alchemists browsing the various wares in the vast jungle-like marketplace. Alchemists were certainly in the majority, but there were also enchanters looking for interesting or unconventional materials to mulch into paper or ink, and servants of nobility looking for flowers to fill out a garden or courtyard. There were even a number of merchants looking for new products, trying to buy the seeds of whatever caught their eye.
An hour and half after leaving the Heaven’s Eye Tower, Elise and Leon were on their final approach to the forum. Elise no longer held his arm, but the two still walked much closer together than Leon would’ve been comfortable with were Elise anyone else. They’d found plenty to talk about on the way, from the city attractions they passed, to the beauty of the park they cut through, but Leon initially worried that he wouldn’t have much to say. Fortunately, Elise was kind of fascinated with the culture of the Northern Vales, seeing it as rather exotic, and when Leon mentioned a few things off-hand, began to bombard him with questions about his former home, wondering if the real place lined up at all with the barbaric hellscape that was depicted in Bull Kingdom culture.
“So there’s none at all?” Elise asked, the disappointment in her voice impossible to miss.
“Well, human sacrifice isn’t common, but it’s still around in some places. I grew up in the east, and Torfinn Ice-Eyes all but put a stop to the practice a few years ago. Which, as I said, doesn’t mean it’s gone completely. I’ve personally seen some of the Valeman priests put a couple murderers to death in the name of the Mountain Father.”
“You said that it’s only recently dying out in the east, but what about the west?” she enthusiastically asked.
“I can’t say anything for sure about the western vales, but I have heard a few stories. Most of them aren’t particularly pleasant…” Leon trailed off, hesitating to repeat what he had heard, but Elise wasn’t dissuaded.
“Surely you don’t think I can’t handle a few horror stories?” she asked with an impish and expectant grin.
“… I’m sure you can…” Leon muttered, a faint smile appearing on his own face. “There have been some recent changes in the north. A man named Hakon Fire-Beard has united most of the western vales, and his methods of ruling are… extreme—assuming that what refugees that flee his territories say can be taken at face value and haven’t been overly exaggerated.
“They say Hakon Fire-Beard is extremely fond of burning people alive, and that he’s put entire villages to the torch to appease the Mountain Father. He’s also allegedly had captured warriors of rival tribes crucified for a whole day, then burned as a sacrifice to the Sky Mother.”
“Hmm… So there’s no cannibalism? No flaying of enemies and wearing of their skin for clothing?”
“No. Or at least, not that I’m aware of.”
“Oh…”
Leon chuckled, then said, “You sound almost disappointed.”
“I am! You’re basically telling me that those mystical and unnatural rites that everyone in the Bull Kingdom knows about aren’t true! Or at least, aren’t nearly as common as people around here claim…”
“So sorry to let you down,” Leon said with a sarcastic grin. “The people in the Vales value peace and stability as much as the people in the south. They’re just not quite so organized, which leads to more conflict.”
“Well, are there at least demon-worshippers? Tribes of werewolves that interbreed with actual wolves? Ancient vampires that live in caves high up in the mountains and feed on any unfortunate soul that strays too close?”
“I… Where do you even hear these things?”
“So they’re not true?”
“The first two, definitely not. The last one, most likely not, but the Frozen Mountains are quite large, so who knows?”
[There were demons in those mountains, though. Or at least, one demon…] murmured Xaphan.
[But you weren’t being worshipped, were you?] Leon shot back.
[No, though I should have been. It isn’t every day a Lord of Flame shows himself…]
The demon didn’t continue, so Leon turned his attention back to Elise. She was cutely pouting because Leon had ruthlessly shot down her preconceptions, but her face brightened up considerably when she felt the distinctive change in the air as they got close to the Alchemist Forum.
They both couldn’t help but pause for a moment as they entered the forum, both taking a deep breath in wonder and delight, as the bright and vibrant colors, heavenly scent of the flowers, and high density of magic in the air created a near-overwhelming feast for the senses.
The two wanted to stand right where they had stopped and savor the atmosphere, but the throngs of people coming and going from the gigantic market weren’t going to stop on their account, so Elise and Leon pressed onward. For ten minutes, they did nothing except wander the outer stalls of the forum, where the wares were little more than decorative. Elise even spotted a number of one of her favorite flowers, a lotus-like plant that gently glowed red in the mornings, purple during the day, and blue in the evenings. She made a big enough show of smiling and staring at them that even the socially inept Leon could tell that she wanted one, so he dug out a few silvers and bought one for her.
In response, Elise threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug, sending his heartrate skyrocketing. Once Leon managed to extricate himself from Elise’s arms, the stall keeper handed him one of the flowers with a wink and a nod and even knocked a couple silvers off the price—only taking a single token silver coin from Leon.
At first, Leon was only going to give the flower to Elise, but she smiled and leaned towards him while giggling and tilting her head. Leon was utterly baffled as to what she was doing, but fortunately for him, Xaphan was watching in fascination and came to his rescue.
[She wants you to put the flower in her hair, dummy.]
Leon didn’t respond to the demon, but his face immediately went red and his hands started shaking. He managed to gently thread the vivid purple flower behind one of her ears despite his nervousness, though.
“So, how do I look?” she asked, giving Leon a sly look.
Leon was about to respond, but when he made eye contact with her, his words caught in his throat. He had to take a deep breath to steady his heart before he could finally say, “You… you look stunning.”
She smiled and happily took his arm.
After several more minutes of rather mindless browsing, Elise led Leon into one of the biggest buildings around the forum. Its walls were opulently decorated with lavish paintings of forests and mountains, and the entrance hall had no roof both to allow sunlight to reach the indoor gardens and to give them a greater feeling of openness.
As soon as they walked in through the door, Elise was recognized by the Heaven’s Eye representative she’d sent over several hours beforehand. As he walked over, Elise released Leon’s arm and took up a significantly more authoritative attitude.
“Lady Elise! Everything’s ready and waiting for you,” the representative said, skipping the pleasantries and getting right down to business.
“Good. Lead the way,” responded Elise, barely glancing at him.
“Yes, my Lady.” The man started walking further into the building, giving Elise and Leon a considerable amount of space to follow.
“This should be quick,” Elise started explaining to Leon, “we’ve already hammered out most of the details and negotiated a fair price. All that’s needed now is for you to finalize the deal and take your Kagu flower.”
Leon nodded in acknowledgment.
Once they left the entrance hall and started walking through the more private areas of the building that were reserved for transactions far too large or important to be handled by the public employees, it became clear just how rich the owner of the place was. The walls were just as richly decorated as they were outside, but the roof here was made of actual living tree branches, kept alive and permanently green through the use of complex nature magic—a blend of earth, light, and water enchantments that greatly aided plant growth while providing a host of other benefits.
Leon and Elise were shown into the largest meeting room in the building where three people were already waiting. The oldest of these three, a man who appeared middle-aged, immediately stood up to greet Elise. He noticed the flower in her hair and the fact that she had brought a man with her after informing him that she would bring the client to pick it up from his place. But as soon as he smiled knowingly and made a comment about it, Elise’s face became stern and stoic. With a few barbed words that implied she had been insulted, she made the panicking merchant lower his price by ten percent.
Leon barely registered any of that. As soon as he walked in the door, his eyes were drawn to the beautiful volcanic flower on the central meeting table, and the small glassy orb filled with pulsing red light right next to it. The orb didn’t exude much magic power, but the flower radiated fire magic, raising the temperature of the room so much that the other two people waiting in the room—not even being first-tier mages and thus having little defense against such magical auras—were quite obviously uncomfortable, nearly sweating through their clothes.
Leon drew closer to the table to get a better look at the flower and the orb; he could feel Xaphan’s rising excitement so clearly that it compelled him to make a quick inspection. The flower was barely larger than his palm, with hundreds of long, needle-thin red-orange petals radiating out from the central bulb, a shining golden sphere, while the orb was like a solidified chunk of fire magic—being the core of some kind of magical beast, that was essentially what it was. But Xaphan’s attention was almost entirely focused upon the flower rather than the orb.
[Yes, yes, ever-everything looks fine…] muttered Xaphan, desperately trying to keep his crackling voice calm. The Kagu flower was by far the most important part of the potion he needed. The other two ingredients could be a great many things, though he had specifically asked Leon to find the two he had believed to be the easiest to acquire.
“Is… is there any problem?” the merchant timidly asked. He still hurt from Elise gouging out a huge chunk of the money he had expected to make, so he wanted to make sure that Leon hadn’t seen anything that would drive the price down further.
“They’re both fine,” whispered Leon, not taking his eyes off the two ingredients now before him.
The merchant breathed a sigh of relief, and what followed was several minutes of paperwork between his assistants and the Heaven’s Eye representative to organize the money transfer. Leon didn’t even need to pull out his card, Elise had taken care of that part when he’d placed the order.
Fifteen minutes after they had walked into the store, Elise and Leon walked back out with Leon carrying a big wooden box under his arm. The box would keep the Kagu flower’s aura sealed within, to prevent it from bothering anyone around him. It had only been unsealed in the meeting room to facilitate his inspection.
The orb turned out to be the core of some kind of fifth-tier salamander, but Leon hadn’t paid too much attention to it when other than to make certain it was what Xaphan needed. The core could be replaced relatively easily, but the flower was a different story.
“So…” Elise hesitantly began, her severe facade fading away now that their primary business was finished, “do you have any other plans for the day?”
Leon guessed that she was subtly suggesting that she would like to spend more time with him, which excited him to no end, but he could feel Xaphan’s impatience almost literally hammering on his soul realm. “I… I’m sorry, I’ve got to go, these ingredients need some preparation before they’re ready and it’s not something that should be put off… I can at least walk you back to the Heaven’s Eye Tower, though. I wouldn’t want to abandon you before knowing that Tiberias has gotten lost.”
Elise gave him a dazzling smile and said, “I’d like that.”
They walked through the streets in silence, simply enjoying each other’s company. They didn’t talk much on the way, only lightly chatting until they reached the Tower, when they spoke their goodbyes. Just as Leon was about to turn around and head back to the Knight Academy, Elise hurried forward and swiftly kissed him on the cheek.
She laughed quietly, then said, “We’re working on getting that fourth-tier feather for you. In the meantime, don’t be a stranger.”
She happily walked back to the tower doors and, with one last wave to Leon, she went back inside.
After another moment, Leon finally managed to respond. That kiss had made him freeze up, but he gently touched his cheek when he regained control of himself. He looked at the Tower one more time, then made his way back to the Academy with the biggest smile on his face.
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