Death, Devotion, Dissonance

"I was sure I had avoided your Seyethe spell that scanned your surroundings," The woman continued.

Endra's brain, however, was working full-drive trying to understand why the woman suddenly revealed herself. Noticing the cup of coffee in her hand, he realized that she mistook him buying two cups as a subtle declaration of him knowing about her presence.

But at that point, Endra realized another thing. If he wanted to keep his abilities secret, he needed to act more surprised by her revealing herself.

'Shit, there's no way I can act shocked now.'

"Woah," Endra exclaimed. He immediately cringed, hearing his own fake act. He quickly gave up on his plan and looked at the woman.

Although the woman made herself visible, her features were still a mystery to Endra. She was wearing all black, and instead of her face, a blurry smidgeon constituted her expression. But even with that, Endra could tell she wasn't buying his act.

"Luck," he managed to reply.

"Don't bullshit me."

The woman's tone was neutral, but her implications were clear.

"I can't tell you," he finally said. "I'm bound by an oath."

He wasn't speaking a lie. Heralt did tell him there were consequences for revealing Soul Magic. Endra had promised him not to, so technically it counted as an oath. The woman was silent, but Endra could tell she wasn't amused. But this was better than saying he had an intuition or a gut feeling.

"Thanks for removing the other invisible guests for me," he continued. "But if I may ask, what do you want from me? If you just ask, maybe I'll be able to answer. Obviously, I'd keep some things a secret."

The woman thought for a bit. Endra sat silently, wondering if he should be worried. He knew she was only told to keep an eye out for him, and remove any other privy eyes if needed. She was also probably ordered to anything she could from him.

The best thing Endra could do was to give her whatever she wanted and let her be on her way. Since there was a way of communication, he wasn't going to waste it.

"Why did you leave your classmates and walked out into the open?"

It was a test question.

"I was trying to not let you know I was aware of you. Who in the right mind would wander alone if he knew a spy was on him? But when I bought two coffees, which I usually do, you must've misunderstood me."

The woman cocked her head and looked down on the coffee cup. She looked like she wanted to sigh, or curse, realizing the idiocy of the situation. She settled herself and asked another question.

"Where did you learn Imagination Casting?"

"I showed promise when I first tried it out. The Chairman of my Academy noticed that and started teaching me. Since he's a commoner himself who painstakingly learned Imagination Casting after he established himself as a mage, he sympathized with my situation."

Despite his worries about Kent, Endra could trust the man to support his lies. And the part about him teaching him wasn't exactly false either, it was just that the timing was a bit off.

"Is that all the information you're willing to share?" the woman asked.

Endra thought, wondering at the meaning behind her question. Was she just testing her? Or was she only asked to learn about his spellcasting prowess? Or was she just trying to confuse Endra?

His head turning hazy from all the overthinking, Endra spoke.

"I was lucky that my father was a blacksmith. He sometimes spoke about how dangerous it was to keep air locked in at high temperatures, which was prone to explode. Coincidentally, the first magic I cast was a fireball and then an explosion."

The woman sat silently for a bit, pondering.

Endra regretted saying so much. He should've simply said he was smarter and more curious than most and that would've been enough. But he did manage to hide his inner worries. Even if he was lying, he needed to be confident about it. But he didn't want to overdo it, so he too, sat silently with her.

"Follow me," she suddenly said and got up her from her seat. "I will bring you to my owner."

'Owner?' Endra wanted to ask more, but thought better of it and followed behind her, grabbing the cup of coffee she left on the table.

The woman led Endra to a not-so-well-maintained two-story house in the 1st grade area of the city. Endra quickly realized that there was another woman inside it, walking around a room in circles, her one hand holding something, most likely paper. Abruptly, the woman's head turned towards Endra's location, startling him.

'A subordinate of one of the Aspects?'

He pulled back his Soul Sense and prepared for the ensuing conversation.

As he entered the house, he saw a familiar face peering back at him. It was the Child of the Empress the whole city was prone to talk about. Eliseline glanced at his face, and spoke.

"I am Eliseline Leland. Adopted daughter of Alt Leland, the Duke of the East."

"Eviendra. Of Ankelite City."

"A most talented mage," Eliseline said, her eyes on the paper in front of her. "Peerless in his academy. A master of the spear and illusions, shadows and illuminations, the abrupt fire and the infinite sky'¦ the desperate melees and the unseen artillery."

Endra frowned, hearing the list of exaggerations. He was also confused as to why the Duke's daughter was speaking to him so fancily.

"A most humbling list of praises," he said, copying her grandiose speech for whatever reason.

"Sen, find someone normal to write these reports," Eliseline burned the paper with a wave of her hand. "Leave us be and maintain our privacy."

The woman beside Endra nodded and walked out of the room. Endra soon felt a membrane of magic covering the room they were in.

With their privacy secured, Eliseline spoke. "Where have you learned Soul magic?"

Endra paused for a bit before answering as neutrally as he could.

"I'm an agent of an Aspect."

"Hmm," Eliseline chuckled. "How intriguing. So? How does it go? Is it fun, catching otherworlders and turncoats on Alvox's soil?"

Endra wasn't sure why, but he did not expect the Child of the Empress to be this expressive. She looked like a doll from afar, and as far as he could tell, she acted like one as well. Why was she so giddy, talking to him? His suspicions high, his mind focused hard on the conversation.

"It's a rewarding duty."

"I'm sure it is."

"'¦"

"Say, are you in love with me?"

Endra cocked his head. "No?"

"No, you must be. Why else would you want to fight me specifically? Surely, you must've been trying to impress me with your shocking mastery of magic."

"I was just trying to taunt Tattoos back then," Endra replied.

"Tattoos? Dan Waismich?"

"Yeah."

"No, no, no. I'm sure I'm right. Why else would you stare so passionately at me after your victory? And it even looked like you were searching for me then as well."

Endra honestly had no idea why he did that. "With all the rumors surrounding your beauty, I was curious to see your face for myself."

"And then you fell in love."

Endra was getting tired of her insistent accusations.

"Eh," he replied, shrugging.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's an 'eh'."

"So, a 'Yeh'?"

"Eh."

And why was he getting caught up in this weird, random conversation?

"Can you tell me why you sent Sen to spy on me?" he finally asked.