[B2] Chapter 92 — A Fortuitous Exchange

Ria walked behind Administrator Rente’s household maid with Miela and Ranger following behind, her thoughts brooding around who the mystery lightning mage might be. For her to not be a Ravelle was a surprise.

With such a strong lightning mastery, Ria had expected the older girl to be well known… unless she was from one of those mysterious Hidden Houses that Zoe and Iori had mentioned. Administrator Rente not having any ideas who the girl was suggested which was more likely.

A Hidden House having such interest in her as to watch her when she went anywhere might be more worrisome than assassins. If the Hidden Houses were really under the control of the Inquisitors, that meant it was really the Inquisitors that were watching her—or the High Council.

When Ria noticed that Raselle was leading them toward a gazebo structure within the garden, she was glad to have been able to make use of a ‘lady’s room’ to freshen up. A well-lit raised seating would make any imperfections with her presentation all the more obvious.

Soap and water magic had been required to clean her slippers. Fortunately, water magic could also draw the moisture out and dry the fabric as well, and she had, Hemse be praised, avoided getting any blood on her dress.

Also fortunate was that the same water magic returned the luster and groomed appearance to Ranger’s dust-dulled gray fur. If Ranger’s grooming had been ruined, there might not have been a way to fix it in time for the debut. She doubted Tyrilenil would have time available to redo it, and thoughtlessly bringing danger to the elven spirit master and his shop wasn’t something she would do at this point even if the grooming hadn’t held.

Her own hair had come a little loose during the attack and subsequent escape, so Miela had tended to that as well.

The time taken to address her and Ranger’s presentations had the additional benefit of calming Ranger enough for her to remind him that the tea party would be a good opportunity to continue practicing the etiquette Lady Janacythe taught him. Most likely, they would hear or sense it if someone started attacking the estate’s abjurations. He didn’t need to be so worried.

Attending to her and Ranger’s presentation wasn’t the only thing she had gotten done. She had also contacted Jarrel to let him know what happened and, once she had convinced him she was safe, asked him to watch over Keira and the others at Vorshan Estate in case the attackers tried there next.

“Oh? You’ve decided to grace us with your presence after all, Ria of Shadewood?” Leriah sniffed as Ria stepped into view of the round table inside the gazebo where the trio of colorfully attired girls were enjoying a tiered setting of pastel confections and petite sandwiches. “I was beginning to think you weren’t coming. No doubt, the struggle with your reluctance was intense, I’m sure.”

The two girls with Leriah tittered behind their raised tea cups.

Ria mentally groaned. Of course, Leriah would be upset that she was late. She gave a proper bowed curtsy for meeting a peer of higher rank. “Greetings, Young Lady Leriah. There was a matter of some urgency that your father wanted to discuss with me at length and unavoidably delayed my arrival. Hopefully you can forgive him.”

Being able to pass the slight onto Administrator Rente was almost enough to bring a smirk to Ria’s face, even more so with the resulting frown that Leriah couldn’t hold back.

“An urgent matter?”

Ria waved it away as she resumed following the maid up the gazebo steps. “Hopefully, one soon to be of little importance.”

“Hmph. I won’t pry if you don’t want to say. That said, if we are to be associated together, it would be best for you to not continue getting yourself into situations requiring my father’s intervention.” The lightning girl let out a heavy sigh and motioned to the empty chair beside her. “At least you’re well-enough dressed for our occasion. Come, sit. Let us present our apologies and get to know each other better.”

The girl seated opposite Leriah turned and glanced over the shoulder of her dusky magenta dress to get a better look at Ria, eyes widening with recognition. “Young Lady Leriah, this is the girl who Young Lord Phaelys is rumored to be escorting this evening and who sent us invitations to City Administrator Asara’s event?”

Oh? So, that’s what was going on, Ria realized. These were Leriah’s friends that Administrator Rente wanted her to support socially.

“She is,” Leriah affirmed, looking quite the hostess in her elegant sundress and flower-heavy lady’s hat, both layered in pale greens to match the season.

“Isn’t she also the one from-” the girl in a vivid yellow dress, a shade not unlike Ria’s own dress, started to say with some excitement.

“Yes, but we’ll get to that later,” Leriah interjected, hushing the girl with a hand gesture as if tamping down a secret.

As Ria took her seat with Raselle helping with the chair and one of the other servants filling her tea cup, Miela took up a position a distance behind her, Ranger doing the same, but posing with regal attentiveness.

“I’ll go first,” Rente’s daughter began, bowing her head deeply toward Ria and holding it low. “I apologize for participating in the cowardly attacks on you at school, that it escalated to my own use of dangerous magic, and for damaging your property. I acted rashly and regret not meeting with you privately to offer advice and seek mutual understanding and a more productive resolution to my grievances instead.”

The Ravelle girl then motioned with her hand as she raised her head and one of the servants came forward holding an enchantment-etched metal bow and a quiver of arrows. “Your bow was destroyed when the third-year’s spell was disrupted. This is a tournament bow, crafted by the mastercraftsmen at Batheli Workshop for durability and enchanted to be powered by the user—it is designed to have minimal impact on your enchanted gear allotment for competitions. Cousin Verdin tells me the explosive arrows are treated similarly if they are charged in the pre-match waiting area after the allotment measuring, but I’m not sure I trust his advice on that.”

Ria was surprised Leriah would choose a bow after what had happened but was optimistic about the gift. Enchanted archery was something she wanted to try and Bathelli Workshop was one Arthur said was known for quality arena gear and was where he’d purchased Ranger’s current collar.

“Thank you for your kind consideration, Young Lady Leriah. Miela, if you would?” Ria motioned for Miela to bring her the bow and ran her fingers along the metal, feeling out the materials and enchantment with her magic before storing the bow and quiver in her vault with an appreciative smile. The bow was a huge upgrade from her old one even if it was an open question whether she would be strong enough to draw it. “It’s a beautiful bow that will surely serve me well in my matches. I gratefully accept your thoughtful gift and sincere apology. Perhaps the young lady would be interested in practicing archery together some time?”

“That sounds enjoyable,” Leriah allowed and added with a wry expression, “We should probably avoid Shining Sun Hall for such practice in the future, though.”

Ria made her own wry expression at the light jab. “As you say, I don’t think they will be pleased to humor my presence again any time soon.”

“Unlikely indeed,” Leriah dryly agreed.

The other two girls at the table had slightly sour expressions at watching their friend apologize but pretended to be more interested in sampling the sandwiches.

This time Ria bowed her own head. “I apologize for not taking the time to acquaint myself with the social dynamics and expectations of the capital’s and the Grand Academy’s noble culture and have taken steps to remedy my deficiency. Due to my ignorance of the Grand Academy’s custom regarding prank tools for addressing grievances, I overreacted in defending myself and put Young Lady Leriah and others in danger.

“Miela, please present this token of my sincerity to Young Lady Leriah,” Ria prompted, passing the medallion focus tool to Keira’s maid, who followed the protocol and handed it to Leriah’s attending maid, the same one that brought out the bow and quiver.

“Mithril… and a lightning elemental’s heart?” Leriah’s eyes widened, and the Ravelle girl motioned for her maid to hand over the gift.

Ria took the opportunity to explain the gift with the brief words she and Miela had carefully prepared ahead of time, “In hopes that our forgiveness can be mutual, I provide the young lady with a lightning aspected focus tool previously owned by the late Lady Jirani Ravelle. It is an item that I suspected House Ravelle would appreciate returned to its rightful owners.”

Leriah looked up, stunned, and the finger she was stroking over the medallion’s gem-like surface froze mid-motion.

This was the critical moment. Ria held her breath, awaiting how her ‘gift’ would be received.

“Of course, those druid bastards would sell Aunt Jirani’s possessions to recoup her value,” Leriah muttered darkly after several moments then looked up at Ria with thoughtful and reevaluating eyes while resuming running a finger over the gem’s surface. “Acquiring this must not have been easy.”

Letting out the held breath, Ria nodded. “I was fortunate enough to have made the acquaintance of a merchant that deals in antiques and relics thanks to my Order mentor, Hulle Novidus.”

“Hulle Novidus, huh. Now there’s a name not often voiced in polite company… but that boy is certainly not one who views the Sorrels with kindness if the rumors are any indication,” Leriah mulled then nodded. “I accept your gift and your apology. Father will be pleased. The patriarch will likely reward him for seeing some part of this slight righted.” Leriah motioned her maid again and handed the focus tool back to the girl. “Take this to my father and apprise him how we’ve come by it.”

“Yes, my lady,” the maid affirmed with a serious and solemn expression and left.

A tension seemed to leave Leriah’s shoulders and face, and the girl gave Ria a tentative smile different from her earlier smirks and grins. “To have put so much effort into a gift, there’s no way you would do that just because Father pressured you to. Father was right that I had misjudged you.”

Relief also eased Ria’s own tension, but she shook her head and motioned denial with her hand. “No, I should have approached the young lady sooner or tried to follow up with Young Lord Verdin. When I lived in Shadewood, my best friend’s grandmother was an adventurer mage from the Order of the Silent Sky and may have been a Ravelle, so maybe it was fate that we should become friends?”

The girl in yellow shared a glance with the girl in magenta at the mention of Verdin’s name.

The gambit had Ria’s stomach twisting in knots again, but with the results from her gift, she felt more confident in reaching for a bigger success. This was the plan she had come up with to lessen Leriah’s guard, and it wasn’t a lie. If Ria had known more about the Houses and Orders, she might well have done so.

“Fate has a strange way going about its business then,” Leriah scoffed before adding with a sharp laugh, “Then again, maybe butting heads was the only way for me to have taken a foreign commoner seriously.”

Ria grimaced. With how things had gone, that probably wasn’t wrong.

“Leriah…” the girl in magenta chided.

“Alright, alright, Nescia, I get it. Formalities and obligations out of the way, let’s get this party started!” Leriah decided, suddenly throwing off the odd mood that had visibly settled upon her and instead giving Ria a challenging grin. “Regardless of what fate intended, Father has decided that you’re now part of our little group of approved playmates here, Ria. So, let me introduce my friends. Father wishes for us to assist them socially and academically when we can. Both have high expectations placed on them.”

Ria nodded her readiness and turned her attention to the two other girls who had been witnessing the exchange and would now be part of her new social circle and connections.

Leriah motioned to the girl in the magenta dress first. “This is Young Lady Nescia of House Demerti, my best friend since she and I were little. She is following in her father’s footsteps and will be a valuable asset to House Ravelle in the future.”

“Thank you, Leriah, for the kind words and expectations,” Nescia acknowledged before turning back to Ria with a pleasant smile. “I am glad to be able to converse and share refreshments with you, Ria. We actually share a class at the academy already.”

She did?

Ria blinked and tried to place the dark-haired girl. She wasn’t plain, or at least not in a bad way. Maybe Ranger would know? He did figure out who Priest Renner was after all.

The girl, Nescia, laughed. “I get that reaction at parties often. It’s fun to style my hair and wear fancy dresses on occasion, but for classes I usually just gather my hair over one shoulder and wear a simple Silent Sky robe.”

With the description and the girl’s smell, Ranger seemed to hit on something.

“Master Enchanter Temiere’s class, on the left, second seat from the front,” Ria stated, feeling some triumph at solving the mystery and received an approving nod from Nescia.

“Oh?” Leriah voiced and asked with interest, “You’re taking an enchanting class as a first-year, Ria?”

Ria nodded. “I’m a full member of the Enchanters Guild. My workshop specializes in making scrolls.”

“Ah, right. The smoking scrolls you used to escape from Elaine and the others. That did happen.” Leriah nodded. “That’s an Impressive accomplishment at our age.”

Next was the bright-eyed girl in the yellow dress, sitting primly with her hands folded on her lap as she gave her earnest attention, looking more that she was barely keeping herself from fidgeting than projecting any sense of intended elegance.

“This is Young Lady Elinore of House Varnhold,” Leriah began, gesturing the girl’s way. “She’ll be joining us at the academy next year-”

“You think too highly of me, Young Lady Leriah!” the girl objected. “I have yet to take the entry examination…”

Leriah rolled her eyes. “I’m sure you’ll do fine, Elly. Ria, you’re a scholarship student. Perhaps you could offer her some advice?”

Gah! How was she supposed to know what would help? She’d never met the girl before! Hells, Leriah hadn’t even finished the girl’s introduction!

“A scholarship student?” Elinore, echoed with wide eyes, her gaze alternating between Ria and their suspiciously amused host.

“And not just a Newcomer Champion, but Crysellia’s youngest war hero, no less,” Leriah added, impiously.

Why was this lightning-for-brains girl further raising expectations?

Elinore’s eyes glimmered with idolizing anticipation. “Please give me your advice, Senior Ria.”

Mentally groaning, Ria placed a curled finger against her lips and, to buy time, hummed as if in deep contemplation… then realization hit. Considering who Leriah’s father was, there was likely little chance of Leriah’s friend not getting accepted. Which meant any general advice should be fine.

Leriah and Nescia took the opportunity to sip their tea, giving her time as Elinore waited eagerly. Using magesight, Ria studied the girl’s aura.

Earth, refined with a touch of fire and the glint of light. Malleable, resilient. A metal affinity!

How unexpected for House Ravelle to have a branch house with such an affinity! Had Leriah noticed their affinities were similar?

Nodding to herself, Ria knew exactly the advice to give. Hopefully, it wasn’t too late for the girl to put into practice.

Though Ria was nervous that she was taking too long, the three noble girls must’ve noticed Ria’s use of magesight, judging by their reactions. Leriah and Nescia had slight knowing smiles behind their tea cups, and Elinore was holding her breath.

As casually as she could manage, Ria took hold of the tea cup prepared for her by the servants and offered, “Even if it’s difficult and you are terrible at it, you should work hard improving your skill and attunement with aspects opposite your primary affinity. Air aspect in particular will become harder for you to improve as your innate magic grows in strength.”

A snort from Leriah greeted Ria’s careful effort. “Ha! Spoken like a true believer in the generalist ideals of the Sages of the Nine Circles.”

The surprisingly pleasant taste of the tea was all that kept Ria from cringing at having possibly blundered already, but the lightning girl didn’t seem displeased, rather she looked smug.

Nescia shook her head. “I still find it hard to believe that anyone would choose that Order by choice when there are so many other modern Orders with better resources and opportunities.”

“Now, now, Nescia,” Leriah chided and turned her attention to Elinore. “See, Elly. Even a Newcomer Champion thinks you should learn air magic!”

Elinore nodded with determination. “I will give it a try. Thank you for your advice, Ria. You seem so nice and composed and proper; it’s hard to believe you’re also the crazy-strong witch-girl from last week’s winning Newcomer team!”

“Uh, thanks?” Ria tried, taken aback by the girl’s passion.

“And your match with Young Lord Verdin’s team was just, wow! You took his team’s best shot and sent it back at them!” Elinore continued to enthuse, bouncing in her seat before she caught Nescia’s gaze and deflated a bit, offering the magenta-clad girl, “Um, it’s unfortunate, Young Lord Verdin’s loss.”

Nescia huffed and looked a bit defeated herself as she waved off the other girl’s consolation. “It’s no matter. I’ve resigned myself to it.”

Ria barely kept her eyebrows from raising at the exchange. Were Nescia and Verdin…?

“Speaking of the weekly Divinesday Newcomers Tournament, did any of you perchance see this morning’s events?” Leriah smoothly interjected, leaning forward with a mischievous crinkling of her eyes.

Heads shook in the negative around the table.

“Perfect!” The Ravelle girl grinned victoriously and produced a silver-etched cube that Ria was pretty sure was a holocube. “I thought we all might be too busy to go, so I paid an exorbitant sum to get an early-release holocube with today’s Newcomer matches!”

Nescia leaned forward with glittering eyes and an appreciative “Ooooh!”

“Leriah’s the best!” Elinore added, her silk-gloved hands making a polite pattering as the girl clapped with enthusiasm.

Ria had to hide her grin at Leriah’s friends’ intentionally excessive praise with another skillfully timed sip of tea. She couldn’t let her guard down just yet, but she was beginning to think these three noble girls might actually be more like normal friends than expected…

Their suddenly blushing host coughed into her hand. “Well then, I hear this week’s format was single-elimination individual matches. Ria, would you be fine watching with us?”

Ria nodded with a pleasant smile. Refusing would be beyond rude, and besides, she was curious about how Tensley reacted to her not showing up. “I’m sure it will be enjoyable. Two of my teammates competed in this morning’s tournament, and I have yet to hear how they did.”

“Yay!” Elinore cheered. “Let’s watch it!”

“Wait, wait. I need to prepare!” Nescia objected with a laugh, hurriedly piling a selection of mini-sandwiches and confections on her small plate.

Leriah rolled her eyes at the pair’s antics as she filled the cube with her energy and placed it in an empty space at the center of the small table.

A translucent hologram of the Grand Arena appeared above the cube, and Ria found herself awed with the quality of the view and the impressions. Ria selected a sandwich to munch on as the sound from the event washed over them. Even the auras of the lined up contestants could be vaguely felt when she focused on them.

That last realization gave Ria a spike of worry. She had used her real domain during the prior week’s event. That meant holocubes like this existed of her fights as well, didn’t it?

She was wearing her amulet of faith during those fights, so maybe it was mostly fine? Maybe her divination blocking ring would also affect the recording? She could only hope.

The start of the first round of matches distracted her from further worrying.

Separated mini-arenas were set up within the Grand Arena’s larger space, and the early elimination matches were handled simultaneously until they got to the top 16. Watching was a bit dizzying at times, but the cube did a good job of zooming on the key moments in each of the matches of interest and stretching them out in slow motion.

Seeing the blows exaggerated like that was really exciting, and while the girls cheered and oohed for their favorites, Ria mostly winced in sympathy for the contestants taking the match-ending blows. She did get excited for Zena and Iselyn’s matches, and couldn’t help cheering during those, though.

Ria was surprised that hardly any of the early matches were as showy as her team matches had been, Zena’s match excepted, of course. Iselyn’s too, surprisingly, but she ended up facing Verdin in her first match. Poor guy couldn’t even buy luck if he wanted. More words of apologetic consolation were sent Nescia’s way, and Ria joined in this time.

The elves from last week’s finals were there as well, except for Ayliri sadly, and each skillfully dispatched their opponents. Tensley was there as promised and easily won his first match.

Ria hadn’t been back to visit Ayliri and hadn’t heard any new news on the girl’s recovery, but hoped the elf girl wouldn’t give up on magic.

The three noble girls were happy to gossip about the different contestants, and Ria learned a lot about her fellow arena competitors. Leriah was keenly interested in Ria’s teammates, so Ria freely shared what information she felt the others wouldn’t mind being shared.

Iselyn, Zena, Netaliri, and Tensley progressed to the semi-finals with Tensley and Iselyn both dispatching elven opponents—Iselyn, the water mage Yeliir, and Tensley, the shadow mage Halis—unfortunately in the semi-finals Iselyn fell to Tensley in a frustrating match. Ria found it annoying that the boy did indeed have cause to be boastful. He was quite strong for a first-year, able to make his smoke almost physically solid and could use it for both offense and defense, wearing down his opponents as he suffocated them. Malleron almost skewered the annoying boy early in the match, but Tensley managed to complete an impressive advanced spell that allowed him to turn into smoke and keep his distance while hiding inside his manifested element.

Ria couldn’t help thinking a technique to become one’s element seemed awfully risky. What if the mage ran out of energy or messed up? Would entire parts of one’s body be permanently gone? How does a person’s body even work in that state? Though clearly alteration magic rather than transmutation, it reminded Ria of the time Orlisi joked about Ria ascending as an elemental, and she wondered about the difference. She supposed, in theory, it wasn’t all that different from the Shadow Step spell that she wanted to learn for herself and Ranger.

Zena went all-out in her rematch against the elf plant-shaper for her semi-final match, pounding the elf boy’s golem with fiery explosions and spears of burning ash until his protective magic eventually gave out. Without Ayliri’s ranged support, Zena was just too quick for Netaliri to pin down. It was still an exciting fight.

The finals were more like Iselyn’s match, and Ria’s stomach sank and her teeth ground as she watched Zena’s embers prove ineffective against Tensley’s smoke. The wide-ranging battle was full of flashy exchanges but also mostly a stalemate with neither side able to land any conclusive blows. In the end, just as Iselyn had, Zena eventually succumbed to the lack of breathable air.

It was a terrible result! Not only had Tensley blocked Zena’s hard-fought chance for a solo title, but Ria was certain the boy would be insufferable going forward. Plans would have to be made for countermeasures before their next tournament.

“Well, that was disappointing at the end there,” Leriah huffed, and her friends also seemed displeased at the result, if their sour expressions were any judge. “Shame about your teammates, Ria. That Exter boy is certainly strong, but…”

The scene skipped ahead to the victory speeches and zoomed in on Tensley being interviewed.

“It is the duty of nobility to defend the common people from dangers and as such we must train to become capable. As a son from a minor noble family, I am thankful to House Novidus for providing me with the opportunity and support to better serve the people of Crysellia.”

“What about those who say apprentices with rarer affinities get easier access to resources and special treatment at the academies?” the interviewer pressed.

“I can’t speak for other Orders, but the Silver Shield is dedicated to the equitable governing, prosperity, and protection of our citizens—mage, merchant, artisan, and laborer alike—and when speaking of our Grand Games team, Champion Presius is always pushing us to work harder, to tirelessly exceed our limits. There are no lazy or complacent Silver Lions.”

“What a cartload of bullshit!” Ria irately blurted out at the smug face of the farcically pure-hearted and righteous Tensley in the hologram, only to gasp and cover her mouth when she remembered her whereabouts and company.

The resulting stunned silence and shocked expressions lingered among the three noble girls until the awkward moment was broken by a sigh from Miela. A chuckle leaked out from Leriah, soon followed by peals of unrestrained laughter.

“Ria… for someone from… the overbearing and elitist Novidus faction… you aren’t half bad,” Leriah wheezed out, dabbing at the corners of her eyes.

Nescia and Elinore exchanged confused looks, and Ria couldn’t help blushing to her ears.

“Say, want to see something fun that my House is working on?” their chestnut-haired host suggested with a proud grin once she recovered, placing and activating a different holocube, the tournament one returning to wherever the Ravelle girl had taken it out from.

This time the image above the table showed a scene unlike any Ria had seen before. Large golems and workers on floating platforms were assembling the skeleton of what seemed to be an enormous boat. The scene changed after a while to give a closer view of construction at different stages.

“Naturally, House Emberflow has been getting a lot of attention with their advanced golems—and even our House makes use of them as you can see—but what does it matter how big and strong your golem is if it can’t get to the action in time? This is a recording from Grandpa Atremis and Uncle Riodan’s worksite where they design and build the new airships we’ve been seeing in the sky over the city!” Leriah proudly explained and Elinore clapped and cheered.

Nescia had a proud look of her own and a bit of a smirk as she watched Ria’s reaction.

Leriah grinned at Ria and theatrically moved her hands about as she continued, “Sure, each of the heads of the Greater Houses have flying transports for emergencies, but these new designs are able to rapidly and efficiently transport people and trade goods between our cities. They’re already revolutionizing trade and will give Crysellia a significant advantage in military deployment capabilities. Impressive, right?”

Ria could only nod and gape. Forming connections with Leriah and her dad was turning out to be even more fortuitous than she could have hoped. She had seen a few of the ships in the sky, traveling to and from a large tower but had no idea that Leriah’s family was involved in their construction.

Control of an airship would go a long way toward making her revenge a reality even if she couldn’t convince the High Council to invade directly. She would have to work hard to make her friendship with Leriah a real one and not just a matter of convenience.

The talk about airships allowed Ria to ask some questions about the gryphon knights as well, and found out that they mainly guard and operate from the towers of the old Vesali castle, getting sent out to deal with magic beast threats and dangerous magic use—when a quick response is needed. Inquisitors usually handled the clean-up and investigations for dangerous mages.

It turned out that the father whose footsteps Nescia was following in was one of the lead airship engineers, working together with Leriah’s uncle. Nescia’s dream was to create airships that could safely travel to other continents and back.

The reveal of Nescia’s dream led to light-hearted talk of each of their dreams for the future. Elinore didn’t have a set dream yet, but the tournaments, Grand Games, and heroes were her passion. Leriah just wanted to help her House and family.

Ria’s ‘dream’ wasn’t something she could really talk about without ruining the mood and revealing things better kept hidden for now, so she accepted the earned embarrassment and said that she wanted to be a powerful archmage like Luventi, a proclamation met by hand-hidden sniggers and warm-eyed expressions from Nescia and Elinore and outright laughter from Leriah to the extent that it made Ria a little huffy.

Leriah’s father showed up around the time they were winding down the tea party so they could start getting ready for the evening’s big event, and Ria was surprised to see Jarrel beside him.

“My daughter, I hate to cut your fun short, but Swordmaster Jarrel is here to see Ria back to the Vorshan Estate,” Administrator Rente addressed them from just outside the gazebo and turned toward Ria. “Ria, I’ve prepared you an escort which will stay with you until you arrive at the Lord Jevaran’s estate. We’ll make further arrangements for after the event later.”

“Father, is that really necessary?” Leriah interjected with a touch of protectiveness in her voice. “Is Ria being punished?”

Maybe surprised at his daughter’s tone and misunderstanding, Administrator Rente gave Ria an appraising look before turning his attention back to his daughter. “A large-scale attempt was made on young Ria’s life earlier today, an attack involving multiple powerful mages.”

“What?! No one told me!” Leriah shot Ria a consternated look. “Why would anyone go to that much effort to see Ria dead? She’s not even a noble yet. Just because of her talent?”

Ria paused her descent from the gazebo, and took in the conflicted gazes of Leriah and the two other girls. With how well the tea party had gone, Ria was glad she didn’t tell Leriah about the attack, but her new friends were clearly upset that Ria had kept the attack from them.

Silence had settled over the gazebo, and Ria knew she couldn’t leave the situation like this. These three would be at the event later, so there was no reason why she couldn’t reveal a bit of the reason now.

“I’ve been too reckless with my secrets of late is my guess,” Ria answered her new friends with a self-deprecating smile and made a show of removing her amulet of faith while wrapping herself in the regal shadow-aura, timing it as best she could to seem as if removing the amulet had removed the suppression of her aura.

The disbelieving eyes from Leriah and the others almost brought a further twisted smile to Ria’s lips. She could almost see the wheels turning in Leriah and her friend’s heads as they began to get a terrifying inkling of what they had just been volunteered for by Leriah’s father.

“Thank you for inviting me. I had fun and would like to do this again when time permits us. I’ll be counting on you tonight and in the future, Young Lady Leriah, Young Lady Nescia, and Young Lady Elinore,” Ria reminded, catching each girl’s eyes before continuing down the steps to where Jarrel was waiting. Ranger joined her and strode regally at her side. She could hear the swish of Miela’s skirts following at a fixed distance behind but did not look back to confirm it.

Administrator Rente had much better composure than the girls, but Ria was fairly certain that he was just as shocked. The servants were all looking a bit stiff, with carefully bowed heads as she walked past and motioned for Jarrel to walk with her. She nodded to the administrator. “Thank you for your hospitality and seeing to my safety, Administrator Rente. I’ll take my leave. We’ll see each other later this evening.”

The administrator returned her nod and stood straight. “Leriah and I are looking forward to celebrating your successful debut. Horanci will see you to your carriage.”

“I’m glad to see you safe,” Jarrel greeted as he fell into step beside her, nodding thanks to Administrator Rente. “To think you’ve already awakened to this extent…”

Ria’s eyes narrowed, but she set aside Jarrel’s apparent knowledge of her bloodline. Those were things they would have to talk about after the debut. For now, there were more pressing concerns. “What about Keira and her family?”

“With the scale of the attack earlier, security around the city is on high alert. Lady Asara has already dispatched Sir Mage Korzen with a unit of knights to guard the Vorshan Estate, and Keira’s parents aren’t weak, as you well know. My presence there wouldn’t make much difference. They’ll be fine.”

“This way, my lady,” the estate’s butler offered as her procession drew near and led the way out of the garden to the carriage roundabout.

“Other than your one slip, your performance today was praiseworth, Ria. Lord Vorshan will be pleased with your progress,” Miela told her quietly, once they were in the carriage Jarrel had brought.

“Ah, thanks, Miela. And thanks for protecting me.”

“You have my thanks as well, Miela,” Jarrel added.

Miela received the acknowledgement with a nod. A look Ria didn’t quite understand also passed between her adoptive guardian and Keria’s maid. Another question for later.