Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Her found her sitting on her bed, lost in thought. Evin remembered her state in the morning and decided to ask what that was about.

"Bella?" he asked, grabbing her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She eyed Evin's hand with a hint of suspicion, before looking at Evin's eyes. "Why did we come here again?"

Evin showed her the note and explained how he found it in his room the previous day.

"Thought I should warn Ssatsko, at least."

"You sure it's not some prank or anything?"

"Can't be. I think someone's trying to harass me."

"Decatur?"

"I don't know. Could be him, but… I don't know. It doesn't feel like him."

"Then, what are you going to do?" Bella asked, "It's not like you know who's the culprit."

"Yeah," Evin sighed. He searched for the right words, but he knew there wouldn't be any easy way to say this. "Ssatsko says he's going to the North with the rest of the family."

"…"

"I'm going with them. I can't just let them go with mages hunting them."

"You're going to leave? But the kingdom won't allow you to go, I think. You're one of the young mages who's learning portal magic, no?" Bella asked, her voice low.

"Yes, but I'm leaving anyway. Other than you I don't have much binding me here."

"You can't be serious," Bella's voice was getting madder. "Don't you have any shame? After all the kingdom's done for you? Do you think they spend thousands of gold on your core just so you can leave? I know you think me vain because I'm a noble, but at least I'm not so heartless to take from my country and not pay it back!"

"What do you want me to do then? Watch as my family gets attacked by mages every week? Or are they going to do this every day? And even if I want to do something about it, those assholes aren't even asking me for anything! If they asked for money or my powers, I'd have gladly given it to them! But no, they just want to see me and Lora suffer!"

"Just ask the kingdom to give your family escorts! Why do you have to go yourself?"

"I can't trust them! You remember the trial yesterday? There was a mage who could mask the remains of World energies from those devices the Inspectors carry around."

"What?"

"I know, a High-mage was working against me. I saw Lyudvik taunting me, showing me his wounded left palm while no one else was watching, grinning like some idiot too. Probably wanted me to attack him or some shit."

"You didn't see that, him… Endra did," Bella said coldly.

"Same difference! My point is that this whole thing's definitely more complicated than how it looks!"

"It could've been just baron Armbron asking for favors from a mage he knows. If Lyudvik's the culprit, then of course he's going to do everything in his powers to clear his name."

"But what's with the note I got?" Evin snapped. "This whole thing's a fucking conspiracy! Do you really think I can leave my family's safety to some random mages? And it's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll get them to their Tribe and come back. It'll only take a few weeks at most!"

"Do you even know what happens to mages who leave the country without permission? They get permanently blacklisted on the kingdom's records, meaning you'll lose your rights as the kingdom's citizen and get arrested on sight the moment you're discovered. It's not even weird for some mages to kill fugitives out of simple disgust."

"Fine, then I just need to get a goddamn permit!"

"And leave to another country where you might get converted? Of course the kingdom won't allow you your permit," Bella scoffed. "Listen, just get to Arcvallen, hire some random mercenaries. I'll give you the money for it. You can pay me back when you get rich, I don't care how long it takes. Just don't ruin your life like that, please."

Evin was almost convinced. But he still couldn't make himself trust mercenaries, who ultimately worked for the highest bidder. If these enemies of his could hire High-mages, then there was no reason they couldn't buy out a few mercs.

"At least let me try getting the permit first," Evin replied. "If I don't succeed, then it is what it is. I'll do it the way you suggest."

"Alright. Thank you."

Bella's expression softened greatly and she laid her head on Evin's chest.

"But it's not like I'll be staying with you even if I don't go, you know?" Evin said. "Decatur will still send me to war, and that's definitely going to take much longer than a quick trip to the North."

"Ah, actually…" Bella grimaced. "He can't send you to war."

"What do you mean?" It was Evin's first time hearing about this. But seeing Bella's face, he realized what was going on. "Did you do something?"

"Yes… You've been pulled out of the list of young mages who were going to be sent to the war Academy in the south. Decatur won't be able to do anything about that, even if he wanted to."

"How?"

"By sending another student in your place," Bella explained. "There are many desperate families in Greater Ankelite, who won't mind sending a son to war in exchange for some wealth. And the quota for the recruitment doesn't change, so you can stay assured you won't get drafted."

"How much money did you pay to do that?"

"Don't worry about it. The Borna family's rich, and my father knows I'll bring wealth to the family soon enough."

"No-no, I'll pay it back for you…" Evin began, but then he suddenly thought of something. "Does that mean Decatur's behind the attack? I've been dismissing him, since I thought he had no reason to do this because he could still send me to war… but since that didn't work, he decided to attack my family?"

"Maybe."

Evin felt rage bubbling up in his head, thinking of the blonde boy who just wouldn't stop trying to ruin his life. In the end, what did Evin even do to him?

'Nothing. I was just better than him and he couldn't accept that. And now what? He's trying to kill my family, so he can learn how to access that stupid World of Fire. Is that his fucking attempt at trying to become better than me?'

Evin could handle getting bullied, but he couldn't stand the idea of his mother going through the same, because of him.

"Bella, how do I kill Decatur?"

"No," she refused. "I told you it's just a maybe."

"Even if he's not behind this, he's going to do something to fuck me over anyway, so I'll kill him anyway," Evin said. "And even if I have the patience to deal with him, I won't allow him to hurt my family. And if he's behind this whole thing too? Enough is enough. Just tell me how I get to kill him."