RSTUM 114 (Patreon)

114: Teacher

A/n: Sorry, didn't notice that I haven't published 114 before 115.

Leon kept looking at Lance with a grin he could not stop showing as they left Boris and Katarina's workshop.

"What was that just now?" Leon asked.

"Don't…" Lance wanted to stop Leon from being an ass, but he was still recovering from his daze.

"Anyway, what's the urgent matter?" Leon asked as he took a look at what was happening in front of the shop.

It seemed that Lance didn't come alone but had three of his Knights escorting him. One of them received the puppy from Leon, and another brought a horse to him.

"We have a visitor that came to see you?" Lance said.

"Who is it?" Leon asked.

"A woman from the temple. She seems to be the one that was trying to cause a scene this morning." Lance replied.

"Hah!" Leon exhaled and patted Lance's back, "Women tend to do that. Don't think too much of it."

Lance had a tired smile on his face as he turned to Leon.

"Little brother, I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you." He said, "Your newfound talent will start to attract troublesome people your way."

"Last I heard, this Leon was as talented as a village bum and still attracted trouble." Leon replied.

Lance pursed his lips and thought about it before nodding in agreement.

"Let's depart then, shall we?"

The two brothers rode on their horses as the Knights put a hood on Leon's head in order to cover his identity as they were now accompanying him. With haste, they exited the district of the craftsmen and crossed the midtown area towards the east, where the palaces of the rich and powerful are located.

"You have been settling down well with mother, Leon." Lance said.

"I have." Leon said as he turned to Lance with narrowed eyes.

Lance was many things, but not one who would start such small talks.

"It seems that Mother has also done her best to keep the flies away." Lance added and looked Leon right in the eyes: "To be honest, I thought you would choose to leave once trouble arrived."

"To keep running, you mean?" Leon asked.

"Got to hand it to you, little brother. When you ran away from Karanberg, it felt like we were chasing our own shadows." Lance said, "At least I am happy you have such a skill."

"Why?"

"So you can survive anything, of course." Lance said as his tone shifted from seriousness to cynicism, "Be it our father, the elders, the second wife, her family, the temple, or the Crowns, I am sure you can manage surviving against them somehow."

"I am a killer and a thief. I survived worse." Leon stated.

"As long as you keep surviving, I am happy." Lance seemed like he was about to pat his brother, but he held back since Leon isn't one to bond with others too closely.

It wasn't hard to get close to Leon; Lance understood that now. Give him his space, extend good will to him, and let him come on his own.

So far, Lance has been the most emotional of the bunch. To him, Leon was much more than just a brother or part of the family.

Lance was the oldest; he was the one who was showered with the love of both his parents the most. In fact, he remembers the very old days when the Duke and Duchess were smiling at each other. There was hope in their relationship, despite what everyone else said.

Lance remembers more than most. He remembers the words of the Elders about his mother and how she jumped on the opportunity and married the Duke like it was nothing. How she attempted to make her own marriage a political gain for her best friend, the Princess of Amber, Eleanor, and solidify the three duchies together to legitimize her claim to the Throne.

And then Lara was born when Lance was 4. She was a girl that everyone else expected a lot from. Lance loved his family dearly and would always sneak into his sister's chambers to play and sleep beside her.

Then the storm hit. Lara was still young, but Lance saw it all. How the situation unfolded between his mother and father. How the loving parents would always start yelling and screaming at each other. It was not Leon's talent that destroyed what was between them; the ship had already sunk way before that.

The Duke had a second wife and abandoned his first wife. The reasons remain vague to this day, but it happened after the coronation of Crown Prince August to become King August III of Amber.

Annabelle wasn't innocent. She was the one who married Duke William Dark for the gains of her faction, and when it all went to the wind, she wasn't even able to stand the loss and took it bitterly.

Afterwards, the Duke had two children, Dean and Diane. Lance didn't really like them and did his best to reconcile with his mother and father. He begged them to see things through and almost succeeded in fighting for his parents. But then came the mystery.

Lance doesn't know how or why, but one night, it all fell apart, and the Duke abandoned them one more time. He cursed everyone, broke everything in his way, looked at Lance and Lara with absolute disdain, and stormed out of the Ducal Palace back to the Capital.

Nine months later, Leon was born.

Lance looked at the young man riding the horse beside him and remembered how small this bastard looked when he first carried him.

Hell, the Duchess wasn't alright when she gave birth to him and almost died. Leon remained a child without a name, as his mother had passed out and his father wouldn't even come, no matter how many messengers Lance and the Elders sent to him.

Finally, after one week of no response, the 8-year-old Lance walked to the High Council of the Dark Duchy, and with a firm voice, he announced the birth of a baby boy named Leon Dark.

He was the one who came up with that name; there were no names prepared for him since the whole duchy was in turmoil and the Duchess was sick most of the time.

Lance gave Leon his name; how can he not have nothing but love for the brother that was given to him in these dire times?

With Leon between his arms, the Duchess came back to health. She loved Leon like nothing before, and she became the happiest person ever. She never cried, never bothered with anything, and never cared about anyone so long as there was Leon between her arms.

Until Lance was 18 and Leon was 10, the situation did not improve once again, and it took them 8 years to bring Leon back.

Now that Leon is here, everything should be alright again.

Lance just believed.

"Your eyes will burn a hole in my skull." Leon said as he felt Lance's gaze not parting from him as they reached the gate.

"Anything that would dare to think of the idea of harming you must make a hole through me first, little brother." Lance replied.

"You and your corny lines." Leon couldn't help but ride the horse ahead into the Garden Palace just to get away from Lance's overflowing emotions.

Once Leon raced forward towards the main building in the palace, he ran into Lara and Galawin, who seemed to be having a heated conversation outside. Once Lara saw Leon, she glared at him and then walked away in the direction of Lance.

"I didn't do anything, right?" Leon asked Lara, but she ignored him, so he turned to Galawin and asked, "Right?"

"She's mad at me, not you." Galawin replied with a nonchalant expression.

"As long as it is none of my business." Leon shrugged his shoulders and headed inside the palace.

The first faces Leon met inside were those of head butler Lestrade and his personal attendant Maximilian.

"Young Master, please head to your room to dress up before meeting the guest." Lestrade spoke.

"Not gonna happen." Leon slid past the butlers, who chased him immediately.

"My Lord, it is vital that you keep appearances… and… wow!" Maximilian wanted to convince Leon, but as he was following him along with Lestrade, they saw Leon do something weird.

He would touch his clothes with a finger, and piece by piece, they would disappear from his body. Leon didn't get naked or anything, but as he got rid of his shirt, he replaced it with a formal shirt that he had, and as he got rid of his pants, he replaced them with formal trousers. The same went for his shoes as well. He then added the vest on top of his shirt and stood in front of a mirror in the hallway, fixing his hair with a brush.

"And the time record goes for Leon the Lightning Dark!" Leon said this and started to turn to Lestrade and Maximilian.

He was of course using the Storage spell, as he can take off clothes that he previously stored and equip them by taking them out of storage and fixing them to be directly equipped on him.

[A/n: There was a spell called "Equip" in season one but I merged it with "Storage".]

"Well… that's one way to do it." Maximilian said with a disheartened face.

"Your hair is not right." Meanwhile, Lestrade snatched the hairbrush from Leon before fixing his hair and his cravat.

Nothing could escape this man.

"I will show you in, young master." Maximilian then stepped ahead and opened the door to the guest hall, which was not too far from them.

Inside the guest hall, a minute before Leon arrived, Annabelle Dark sat in her wheelchair facing a woman Leon is familiar with.

"So you are the daughter of the High Minister of Internal Affairs of St. Lanus." Annabelle asked, but rather than a question, it was as if she was checking on Minerva's background.

"I am." Minerva replied with a slight smile that didn't portray much of what she was thinking.

"And you came all the way to Amber?"

"It is my ancestral home."

"I thought the members of the Temple belonged to the City State of St. Lanus once they signed a contract with the temple."

"Being with the temple doesn't change one's skin color or their blood, Your Grace."

"And you said you were here to end Leon's baptism ceremony?"

"Yes. While it caused a bit of an uproar, you rushed from the temple at speed, and we didn't get to complete a lot of things. I've taken special permission from the High Minister to continue the ceremony here."

"I thought the Temple didn't give special treatments."

"Well, we are in a special case. Young Lord Leon appears to be a special child of light."

"I prefer he remains a child of mine; thank you very much."

"As I said, being with the temple doesn't change one's skin color or their blood."

"You understand that there is a lot of mistrust between the Temple and most of the Royal Houses of Amber?"

"Then I hope for the sake of Young Lord Leon that such mistrust doesn't get in the way of his future."

Annabelle doesn't trust the temple, but she could figure out what kind of character Minerva is. A person with a lawful moral attitude and a high sense of duty. She seemed to be investigating Leon's ability to use the Shadow Element way before his arrival and was someone from a very esteemed background in the Temple.

If Annabelle played her cards right, she could make use of Minerva and turn her into a pawn. Still, she had to find her goals first and figure out how to influence her.

At that moment, a young butler opened the door to the guest hall and announced Leon's arrival. He walked in with steady steps and piercing eyes before turning them soft as he came towards Annabelle.

"I am sorry I went out on my own." Leon said.

"I wouldn't want to keep you between four walls for more than you wish to, but please be careful." Annabelle said as she and Leon held each other's arms as a sign of closeness.

Leon sat down right beside Annabelle, just as Minerva was about to stand up and greet him.

"Please." Leon gestured for Minerva to sit, and she paused before realizing that Leon was giving himself an air of importance with that little maneuver.

She smiled, sat back, and rested her back well as she fixed her eyes on Leon.

"Light's Blessings, Young Lord"

"And to you too, Sister of Light."

"As you know, the ceremonies weren't completed as you rushed out of the temple after that stunt you pulled." Minerva said with a comfortable smile.

"Stunt?" Leon raised a brow and didn't comment any further.

That is to say, you have created quite a stir, my Lord. It is a miracle the rumors about you haven't spread that much yet." She said.

"Only thanks to the two of you." Leon looked at both Minerva and Annabelle, "I can't imagine the hush money that was spent to keep things under wraps this fast."

"It is only for your safety, Leon." Annabelle spoke, realizing that Leon was aware of what they did behind the scenes.

"I understand. The deal with the Elders is that we pacify things until the internal investigation is over." Leon said, "I think that "Stunt" I pulled at the temple might have caused problems."

"I wouldn't call them problems." Minerva spoke, "As your body reacted to the Light, you displayed a level of purity that is impossible to see if you were not a Golden Saint."

"Don't know what that means." Leon said.

"The Golden Saints are the ruling body of the Temple and have reign over both mundane and spiritual affairs, whereas the Supreme Anchorite only deals with spiritual affairs." Annabelle explained it to him.

"Whoops!" Leon widened his eyes and turned to Minerva, but the two women could tell that he was not even half serious.

"All in all, your affinity to the Light puts you as a Saint Candidate. A very honorable title given to the young talents that have the strongest affinities with the Light. The Temple sponsors those Saint Candidates and gives them assignments for their prowess to grow and one day become vital members of the temple." Minerva explained further.

"I can't say I am that religious, though." Leon said without caring for the fact that he was facing a Minister.

"That is a problem indeed, young Lord. I would love to help you with that, but this will be added to the list of problems we are facing." Minerva said, "The most important problem right now is your strong affinity to the Shadows. Since you used both the Holy Arts and the Dark Arts instinctively, I can only say you are a unique case. After all, there is no precedent we know of for a Saint Candidate possessing both Light and Shadow."

"Hmmm…" Leon thought for a second: "Well, good for me, I guess. I am not planning to be a Saint Candidate or whatever since I don't even understand the basics of the Light Dogma, let alone be such a follower."

"You were never educated about the Light?"

"I lost my memories, but I picked up a thing or two those past few months." Leon said and continued, "Of course religion wasn't my first, second, or third priority."

"I can't say I blame you. But…" Minerva tried to say something but she decided to keep it professional, "My purpose of this visit is to let you finish the last part of your baptism. According to traditions, you are to receive a middle name."

"Oh! Fancy." Leon said with a pleased smile, "Do I get to pick it or do you choose it for me?"

"Usually the temple chooses for commoners if they were to wish for one. As for the Nobles, they get to choose their middle names, and the Temple simply approves of it. You can call it a courtesy." Minerva said.

"I call it power moves." Leon said before turning to Annabelle, "What do you think?"

"I had thought of a middle name for you a long time ago, but it didn't get to be yours after what had happened." She said with a bit of a nostalgic look in her eyes, "You can choose whatever name you like, son?"

"Hmmm… I have no name in mind. Vadim would have come up with one on the fly, but... not me." Leon kept scratching his chin.

"Why don't you go with Ricardo?" Minerva asked with an obvious grin.

Ricardo was the name Leon passed by as a Pilgrim the first time he ran into Minerva at the Pilgrims' Caravan.

"Come on, Ministress. That's a low blow." Leon shook his head.

Leon thought for a while. He excluded his past life's name, Shady, since he is not a fan of holding onto things from the past. He also excluded any name that may relate to the Medjay, but he looked at the ring on his finger and smiled.

"Horus?" He mumbled.

"Horace?" Minerva asked.

He chuckled and shook his head, not taking it seriously.

"It is a very traditional name in St. Lanus, right?" Annabelle asked, but it seemed she didn't like the name quite that much.

"Leon Horace Dark?" Minerva tried to use the name in a single sentence, but it didn't seem to fit.

"Let me write it for you." Leon said as he asked for the ledger Minerva was carrying.

She handed it to him, and he wrote it "Horus" rather than "Horace". Even though the words of the Amberish Language weren't in Latin, the difference was still clear.

"Horus? Peculiar name!" Minerva said as she shrugged a little.

Doesn't it ring any bells for you?" Leon asked while watching every reaction she might make.

"No." She answered casually.

Annabelle didn't interfere, but she understood that Leon was trying to figure something out, and indeed he was.

"So this is everything?" Leon asked.

"The baptism name is just one thing." Minerva asked, "We still want to know why you haven't been registered before, especially as a wielder of both Light and Shadow?"

"I am a late bloomer." Leon replied.

"At the age of 18?" She asked.

"We are still conducting an internal investigation. If the temple would show enough patience until the family is done with it, we will be grateful." Annabelle spoke.

Minerva turned to her and started writing in her ledger.

"I will hold the temple back for as long as possible." Minerva said, "There is a lot of interest in the situation of young Lord Leon. The High Minister himself appointed me to make a thorough understanding before reporting back to the temple."

"We are thankful for your efforts." Annabelle replied.

"This is all for now." Minerva said and stood up, "Your Grace, Young Lord; we will meet on a later date then. If you excuse me."

As she walked away and the butler opened the door for her, Leon called up.

"Ministress."

Minerva turned to Leon and saw him standing up.

"I am interested in learning more about the faith of Light from… the clergy of Light." He said.

Minerva smiled and turned to face him.

"What are you saying, young Lord?" Minerva asked, "You wish to join the temple?"

"No, not at all." He waved his hand with an awkward smile and said, "I simply wish for guidance. Who do you suggest I talk to?"

The question was unusual, but to Minerva, this was actually more into her specialty.

"I am the Minister of Education in the Regional Temple. I can nominate a house tutor if you are okay with it." She said.

"I am joining the Silver Peaks Academy, so how can this be arranged?" Leon asked.

"You are joining?" Minerva was a bit taken aback, but she then smiled and said, "I guess no more arrangements need to be made then."

"Huh?" Leon frowned.

Minerva smiled and looked down before looking back at Leon.

"I will be the Professor of Theology for this year at the Academy." Minerva's smile turned into a grin, "From now on, you can call me Teacher."