“I suppose I give those Legion beastmasters too little credit,” the Heaven’s Eye beastmaster muttered as he took his leave.  Anzu was perfectly healthy and growing quite well, the beastmaster assigned to him at the Bull’s Horns had clearly done her job well.  Still, there was always room for improvement, especially when the vast resources available to the family of a Heaven’s Eye Tower Lord were brought to bear.  To that end, Anzu had been given a new, higher-quality diet than he had at the Horns which the beastmaster intimated to Leon ought to help the griffin grow faster.

Leon had been a bit taken aback that Anzu’s growth could speed up as the griffin had been growing incredibly fast already, but he also couldn’t wait for the day when Anzu was strong enough to be a true war beast and not just a pet that follows Leon around picking off the weaker companions of whoever Leon might be fighting at the time.  Given the way Anzu fought during the operation to retake Ariminium’s guild district, Leon felt like he’d be a ferocious and unstoppable fighter once that day came—and it wouldn’t be long, given how large Anzu had already grown to be.

Leon and Elise saw the beastmaster out the door and Anzu affectionately rubbed himself against Leon like a cat after being held in the stable all day.  He was big enough that Leon had to fight to maintain his balance, but he was just happy that Anzu wasn’t staring daggers at Elise anymore.

Elise was happy about that, too, and she started running her fingers through Anzu’s shimmering white feathers.  The griffin barely seemed to mind, which was a marked improvement from the previous day.

Before any of them could do anything more, however, Alix came quickly walking through the doors of Elise’s wing of the estate.

“Hey there,” Elise said with a smile.

“Hey,” Alix responded with a smile of her own, but she was far too tired to say anything more.  She collapsed into the nearest armchair and groaned.

“Long day?” Leon asked.

“I have just waded through a mountain of paperwork!” Alix complained.  “But I got my own place!”

“You did?” Elise asked in surprise.  “So, you’re not going to stay here?  You can stay as long as you like…”

“No, though I appreciate the offer,” Alix replied.  “I just need my own place, you know?”

Elise sprouted a sad smile, but she said, “I understand.”

“All right, then.  I hope to start moving my stuff tomorrow if that’s convenient.”

“I’ll have my servants help, we can get this done quick and painless!” Elise declared.  She enjoyed having a friendly woman around to spend time with, but since Alix wanted her own place to live, Elise was going to help as much as she could.  “For now, though, why don’t we find something to do to relax?”

The other two agreed, and the three—plus Anzu—made their way to a sitting room and swapped stories of everything they had done since Leon and Alix had been there last.

---

Not long after night fell, everyone was ready for bed.  It had been a long day for all three, and rest was the only thing on their minds.

However, just as Leon and Elise crawled into bed and Anzu took his place on a brand new animal bed that Elise had whipped up just for him, a servant nervously knocked on Elise’s door.

“Uugh,” Elise muttered in irritation as Leon’s hands paused on their way up and down her body.  “What?!” she called out, doing her best not to shout in frustration.

“My Lady, I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but a messenger has arrived from the Royal Palace looking for Sir Leon,” the servant replied from the other side of the door, her voice quivering in anxiety.

“Fuckin’ hells,” Leon growled.  “I’m on my way,” he replied.

“If you take too long, I might just go to sleep,” Elise said as she watched Leon get out of bed and reach for the clothes that he and Elise had almost torn off him just a few minutes earlier.

“This won’t take long, I can promise you that,” Leon said.

Once dressed, Leon left Elise’s bedroom and the waiting servant escorted him to the palace’s atrium, where the messenger had been asked to wait.  Once he saw who the messenger was, though, Leon was momentarily shocked.

“Grim!” he called out once he regained his composure.

Sir Adalgrim, the man who had led the team that Leon had accompanied when they hunted down the vampire before the war broke out, was the messenger who had come calling.  He and Leon had also fought together during the operation to retake Ariminium’s guild district.

“Leon!” Grim replied with a happy smile and an outstretched hand.

Leon grasped it and each gave the other a firm handshake.

“You are a real bitch to find, you know that?” Grim said with a chuckle when their handshake ended.

“Not by design,” Leon said.  “Prince Trajan knew where I was, and as far I’m concerned, that was enough.”

“Well, we had to go so far as to ask His Highness where you were staying, since it wasn’t in our records,” Grim stated.  “This was after a rather thorough search, mind you.”

“And what is it that is so important that you would search so thoroughly for me?” Leon asked.

“We got word that you’re being summoned to the Royal Court in two days time,” Grim explained.

“Is it for Lapis?” Leon asked with a grimace of displeasure.  He had already been informed by a Royal Guard that this might happen when the man happened to notice him speaking with the giant.

“It is,” Grim confirmed.  “It shouldn’t be long, they simply want Lapis’ affirmation that the southern giants aren’t going to launch any more raids on the realm, and then probably invite him to join all the rest of the politicians kissing ass or whatever it is they get up to.”

“Oh joy…” Leon muttered.  “When do I have to show up?”

“All I know is two days from today.  Beyond that, you should be informed in a more official manner tomorrow.  I’ll make sure they know where you’re staying so that we don’t have to mount another search operation like we did today.”

“Why did you get called, anyway?” Leon asked curiously.  Fifth-tier knights were generally seen as too highly ranked to be used as mere messengers, so Leon was a little confused why Grim had been called in.

“After the messengers working at the Royal Palace couldn’t find you, I ended up being called in to do the job they failed at.  Dame Minerva handled the request when it came in and figured that since we worked together before then I should be able to find you.”

“I see…” Leon said.  “We didn’t work together for very long, so it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but I suppose you did find me in the end.”

“After requesting some assistance from Prince Trajan,” Grim reminded.

“Right.  I’m sure that went great, I doubt His Highness was pleased to be disturbed over something so trivial.”

“He… wasn’t…” Grim said with an exaggerated wince.

“My condolences,” Leon sarcastically replied.  “Anyway, if that’s all…”

“Of course, it was good to see you again, Leon,” Grim said.  He then leaned in, gave Leon a quick wink, and continued, “And by the way, I’ve heard some things in the Royal Palace… There are a lot of nobles who have started to pay attention to you after you and Elise so publicly declared your relationship.  Apparently, only Dame Minerva and Prince Trajan are talked about more…  As a personal note, though, I say congratulations and good luck, she seems like she’d be hard to handle.”

“Thanks, and I do my best,” Leon said with a thin smile.  He wasn’t too thrilled with the way Grim referred to Elise, but he also didn’t think the older knight meant anything malicious with the statement, so he didn’t say anything about it.

Grim, with his official business complete, turned around to leave, while Leon and some of Emilie’s servants escorted him to the door.  However, just before leaving, he suddenly turned to Leon and whispered, “I almost forgot, but I think Prince Trajan is looking into finding something for you to do.  Not sure what that might be, as he only muttered something to that effect as I was leaving, but I would expect something coming down the road that ought to keep you away from the Royal Palace for a while.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Leon said gratefully.

And with that, Grim was off into the night with all the enthusiasm of a man who was going home for the day after finishing all of his work.

Leon sighed as the door closed and he started making his way back to Elise’s wing of the estate.

‘I’m going to kill whoever interrupts me again…’ he bitterly thought, though he had no intention of actually following through on it.  However, if he did, he was certain that Elise would be right there with him, given the hungry way she stared at him when he finally returned to her bedroom.  And, fortunately for them, Anzu had already fallen asleep.

---

Leon scowled at himself in the mirror.  He was wearing a dark charcoal colored suit with bright silver accents, a white sash around his waist as a somewhat archaic way to denote his knighthood, and shiny black leather shoes.  A light feather pattern had been woven into the darker parts of the suit, but it was faint enough that it was incredibly easy to overlook unless examined up close.  The suit itself was largely made of silkgrass, while the white button-up shirt beneath was ‘regular’ silk, though it was still of the highest quality and woven with the same barely-perceptible feather pattern.  The buttons on the perfectly tailored suit were made of pure silver and were lightly engraved with images of birds of prey in flight.

All in all, it was a magnificent—and magnificently expensive—ensemble, but it was the only set of clothes he had that were suitable for his upcoming appearance in the Royal court.  And he hated every stitch.  It took almost fifteen minutes to get dressed, which in Leon’s opinion, was about fourteen too many, and the entire thing he found exceptionally garish.  And yet, he didn’t complain out loud once when he tried it on.

Elise was there with him and frowned when she saw his scowl.  The suit he now wore was one that she had insisted on buying him the last time he was in the capital, and she was ecstatic that he was now going to wear it, but she still wasn’t too thrilled with his lack of enthusiasm.

“You look great,” she softly said as she gave him a thorough appraisal.  “Maybe it needs to be let out a bit more in the shoulders, they look a bit too tight…”

“Mmm,” Leon mumbled.  He couldn’t bring himself to say exactly how much he disliked dressing up like this, though he didn’t think he needed to, it was clear enough by his expression alone.  He took a deep breath and forced his face back into its usual stoic appearance, if only so that Elise would stop frowning.

Once she was done giving Leon a look-over, Elise handed him his old coat made of snow lion fur, one of the few pieces of clothing he still owned from when he lived in the Northern Vales that he didn’t lose during Hakon Fire-Beard’s raid.  A mortal might have found the entire ensemble to be stifling in the warm Central Territories, but as a fifth-tier mage, Leon was hardly bothered by the heat and could wear whatever fashion he so desired—or whatever fashion his circumstances required.

“Wow… you clean up very nicely,” Elise said with an almost feverish tone when Leon donned the coat and his get-up was complete.

Leon sighed and said, “If you like it, then I have to admit that there’s some value to all this.  That being said, it really isn’t my style…”

“Because it isn’t plain black or grey?” she asked with a knowing smile.

“I can’t help it if I prefer simpler designs!” he retorted with a raised eyebrow and mock-offended tone.

Elise wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, “Thanks for putting it on.  You do look good in it, so don’t think too poorly of it.  Besides, you’re kind of under-dressed compared to many of the noble courtiers who’ll be there during Lapis’ audience.”

Leon sighed, steeling himself for what was coming.  He took Elise’s words to heart, but that by no means meant that he was looking forward to these proceedings.

“Will you be there?” Leon asked.

“No, Heaven’s Eye representatives don’t participate much in politics, and so we don’t go to the Royal Palace that often.  Why?  Do you want me to be there?” Elise asked with a teasing smile.

Leon chuckled and said, “I think I’d rather keep my embarrassment as far away from you as possible.  Let me make a fool of myself where people I care about can’t see me.”

Leon stared at himself in the mirror one last time.  It was now time to head for the Royal Palace, but not for Lapis’ audience—that was still a day away.  Rather, he had some things to go over with Trajan beforehand, like etiquette and the schedule.  Plus, the Prince wanted to look over Leon’s outfit, to ensure that he was presentable.  If Trajan hadn’t made this demand of him, Leon wouldn’t be dressing up like this at all.

[Don’t look so glum, boy, you look super cute, like a little harmless bunny that somehow learned to walk on two legs,] Xaphan said from within his soul realm.

[Oh, don’t you even start with me, demon,] Leon growled as he started making his way to the Palace, all the while trying to ignore Xaphan’s stifled giggling.  [Don’t you have better things to do, like healing yourself?]

[Better things than watching you do something that you utterly abhor?  Hardly,] Xaphan replied with a tone that made Leon think his demonic face was twisted in a smug grin.

Once again, Leon sighed, knowing that it was going to be a long couple of days.

—-

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