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“Preposterous!”

Professor Kendrick Lavker’s voice echoed off the tall, pointed ceiling of the round tower meeting room.

For the privacy of the discussions that took place here, the room was covered in wards and had no view of the outside skies or sun. It had beautiful stained-glass windows, which offered a kaleidoscopic flare of color into the room, but the light was provided by carefully placed light stones rather than by any natural light.

He slapped one thin hand against the stone circular table hard enough to cause his tiny spectacles to slip halfway down the bridge of his large nose.

“How was this ever allowed to occur??” He glared around the table at his peers.

Headmaster Ertugrul Ostergaard and the same six professors who had presided over Luca Frey’s enrollment exam sat around the large stone circular table. The headmaster’s seat was distinguished only by a slightly more elaborate chair, with carvings along the back. Otherwise, it was no grander than the rest and sat at eye level with the others.

The elderly headmaster did not reply. His hands were folded atop the table, his expression about as readable as a blank sheet of paper. He didn’t need to speak up. Not yet. Just before Kendrick’s dramatic outburst, he had been the one to summarize the report that each of the professors in this group had a copy of.

Kendrick waved his right index finger through the air as if presenting evidence in a royal courtroom.

“This only further proves that my original recommendation was correct. Luca Frey should have been sent to Glimver Dungeon from the beginning.”

Professor Derek Wallner, the round, plump professor seated two chairs away, exhaled through his mouth and lifted one hand.

“Hold on there, Kendrick,” he said. “The incident occurred during the mandatory Elemental Training. If an elemental-control incident was going to occur anywhere, that is arguably the most appropriate place for it.”

“The most appropriate place?” Kendrick repeated, voice rising. “A student is currently hospitalized.”

“The student in question is currently under observation,” Derek corrected. “There is a significant difference.”

“In a mental ward!” Kendrick retorted.

Professor Hira Brennan leaned back in her chair, her long red hair spilling across both shoulders, her usual oversized pointed hat atop her head. She tapped the report before her with one long painted fingernail.

“According to Professor Norman’s written account, the duel did not originate from Luca Frey,” she said. “Aegus Matrinovo proposed the practical assessment himself.”

“And?” Kendrick snapped.

“And several witness statements suggest his request was not made from a purely academic and altruistic concern,” Hira replied smoothly.

“Legally speaking, Luca is not responsible,” Professor Sadie Maccaferri cut in.

Her voice was quiet, but it projected through the room just fine. She sat upright in her seat, with her sharply cut black bob framing a face marked by thin brows and the faint lines of early aging. A copy of Professor Norman’s report lay before her, already marked in blue and red ink.

Apart from the courses she taught, Sadie also served as the academy’s legal filter, ensuring Rosel Academy remained in compliance with crown law, academy statutes, and royal decrees of several nations.

She had been one of the professors during the exam evaluation who had sided with Kendrick in supporting tossing Luca Frey into Glimver Dungeon.

Thus, Kendrick’s gaze was particularly harsh on her now.

Sadie did not look up from the report she was marking, unfazed by his glare. “First, let us separate out what is required versus actual legal liability. House Matrinovo will receive our formal apology for the matter, and Aegus Matrinovo will receive all necessary resources for a full recovery. He is a student under our roof, and his current condition is certainly not an afterthought.”

Only then did she lift her eyes. Her gaze was sharp and unyielding.

“However,” Sadie continued, “concern does not require us to overdo it.”

Kendrick’s mouth tightened.

Sadie tapped the report with the back of her pen. “The duel took place in a class designed for newly contracted elemental users. The instructor knew—or should have known—that both participants possessed Grade A elementals registered as cerberus-born. He also knew that Luca Frey lacked the years of preparation most students of noble birth receive before entering into a contract. Those facts place a heightened duty of care on the presiding professor.”

“Aegus was still harmed,” Kendrick said.

“Yes,” Sadie replied. “And Aegus was not a guilt-free party. He proposed the practical duel. He argued for it persuasively. He selected Luca Frey as his opponent. As Hira has stated, witness statements indicate that his purpose was not merely educational.”

Hira made a small motion with her fingers, and several lines from the witness statements rose from the report in orange light over the table.

“‘He said Luca Frey was a fraud,’” Hira read aloud. “‘He stated he would prove the elemental was not cerberus-born by having Azar defeat it.’”

The glowing words hovered in the air for a moment before fading.

“A foolish provocation,” Hira commented, shaking her head.

Kendrick’s gaze snapped toward her. “So now we are blaming the victim, are we?”

“No,” Sadie replied before Hira could. “We are determining responsibility. Legally speaking, Luca Frey is not the responsible party.”

The room quieted.

“Professor Norman is,” Sadie said.

Kendrick stared at her.

“Norman was the presiding instructor,” Sadie explained. “He accepted the proposal, activated the containment cage, established the terms of the duel, and he promised intervention before irreparable harm occurred. But Norman failed to intervene in time.”

Professor Derek Wallner nodded slowly. “That is a difficult chain of responsibility to argue against.”

Professor Francis Atherton’s small eyes narrowed at this. He had been the third professor, alongside Kendrick and Sadie, to vote for Luca Frey’s imprisonment in Glimver Dungeon. The balding professor sat with his fingers interlaced atop his own copy of the report, his posture stiff and deeply unsettled.

“Returned or not,” Francis said, his voice hoarse, “the fact remains that Luca Frey’s elemental performed a contract-interference phenomenon never seen before. The potential harm is unimaginable. Unlike with his mana core, we do not possess wards sufficient to prevent a worst-case scenario from—”

A harsh, raspy cough tore through his throat.

Francis turned away from the table, covering his mouth with one hand as the fit overtook him. His shoulders shook, and for several uncomfortable seconds, the only sound in the meeting room was his strained breathing.

Kendrick seized the pause before the moment dissolved completely.

“Precisely, as Francis said,” he said. “Which is why Luca Frey must be contained now, before that worst-case scenario unfolds.”

Professor Megan Lagoski adjusted her gemstone-framed glasses. Her thick black curls were pulled up and back with a jade-green claw clip, though one strand had already slipped free and curled against her cheek.

“There was no ill will,” Megan said. “Professor Norman’s report states that Luca Frey repeatedly commanded his elemental to stop. The students corroborate that account. Several heard him explicitly deny permission.”

“And yet it did not stop,” Kendrick snapped. “That is the problem. By every established principle of elemental contracting, a contractee should be able to force an elemental into submission through the authority of their mana core. And with a core exceeding a thousand belden—”

“Which we have forcibly constrained through Black Mana Cuffs,” Hira cut in. She leaned back in her chair, a twisted smile growing along her red lips. “Unless you are suggesting it would be best to remove that restriction from Luca Frey?”

“No,” Kendrick replied curtly. “I am absolutely not suggesting that.”

Hira shrugged mockingly.

“However, the mere fact that you even proposed it,” Kendrick continued, “makes me wonder whether Luca Frey set about this entire incident for precisely that purpose. Create a crisis, demonstrate that the cuffs impair his control, and force our hand into approving their removal.”

Derek Wallner chuckled before he could stop himself.

Kendrick’s glare snapped toward him.

The plump professor raised both hands, though he made no effort to hide his smile. “Kendrick, you are as paranoid as you have ever been. Void attached itself to Luca before he enrolled here.”

“According to him,” Kendrick retorted.

“Yes,” Derek said. “According to him. But unless you believe he predicted the Black Mana Cuffs, Aegus Matrinovo’s contract, Gregory Norman’s poor judgment, and the exact sequence of events that led to this duel, I find it difficult to call this a planned maneuver.”

Derek continued speaking. “If he were clever enough to plan this far ahead, I suspect he would also be clever enough to avoid spending his first week at Rosel Academy dressed like a convict of Glimver Dungeon.”

Hira’s smile sharpened.

Megan covered her mouth, though whether to hide amusement or disapproval was unclear.

“Let us return to facts,” Sadie said, tapping her copy of the report. “We have two legal necessities. First, Professor Norman must be properly disciplined and made to accept responsibility for the failure of supervision.”

“Agreed,” Derek said.

“Second,” Sadie continued, “we must produce a concrete plan showing how Rosel Academy will prevent a similar event from occurring again. Without both measures, House Matrinovo may demand an inquiry. Even if their claim is weak, the academy will bleed time, money, and political goodwill proving it.”

Kendrick folded his arms across his chest. “House Matrinovo will attack us regardless. Their heir is in the mental ward!”

“And their heir’s elemental has been returned,” Sadie replied. “Azar remains intact. The contract remains intact. Aegus Matrinovo is expected to recover after treatment and rest. According to the doctor, a few sessions with a helpful ear may be all he requires.”

Francis rasped, “And Luca Frey receives no punishment whatsoever?”

“Additional restraint and instruction are not punishment,” Megan said, “but they may be appropriate, given the delicacy of the situation.”

Francis nodded, though his expression remained grim. “That shadow thing requires restraints of its own. If Black Mana Cuffs limit the student, then we need an equivalent measure for the elemental.”

“Do we possess such restraints?” Sadie asked.

Francis shook his head.

“Then proposing what we do not possess is not a plan,” she said.

“Imprisonment is a plan,” Kendrick replied.

“No,” Sadie said, her voice cold. “It is a liability disguised as one. And not up for any further discussion. The crown does not reward panic from institutions entrusted with valuable talent.”

At that, Hira’s eyes gleamed.

Kendrick noticed.

“Hira,” he said, turning on her, “I expected more outrage from you today. You had an arrangement with Aegus Matrinovo, did you not? And now the boy is unavailable.”

Hira’s smile did not fade.

“I am quite disappointed,” she said, though her voice revealed no trace of it. “Aegus Matrinovo’s cerberus-born elemental would have been useful on the southern front. Unfortunately, his contractee is not in a state to deploy.”

Derek’s brows rose. “You were planning to take a student to the front?”

“The southern front does not improve because we preserve promising students behind academy walls until graduation,” Hira replied.

Francis looked appalled. “They are still teenagers.”

“Yes,” Hira said coldly. “And when the kingdom begins losing ground, teenagers with power become assets, whether we find the wording tasteful or not. Moreover, I had an understanding with House Matrinovo.”

Kendrick’s gaze sharpened. “And now that Aegus cannot go, you want Luca? Is that it?”

“I merely want responsibility allocated properly and effectively,” Hira corrected.

“How noble,” Francis muttered.

“Practical.” Hira laced her fingers together atop the table, her long nails tapping against one another. “Aegus obtained the Cerberus from Glimver Dungeon through an arrangement. I helped secure that opportunity with the understanding that, once contracted, he and his elemental would assist on the southern front under supervision. As Kendrick stated, now he cannot fulfill that obligation.”

Megan’s expression cooled. “And you believe Luca should replace him?”

“I believe the incident gives us a corrective plan,” Hira said. “Luca’s elemental overpowered Aegus’s. If our concern is that Void requires training under harsher, more controlled circumstances, then the battlefield provides exactly that.”

“The battlefield is no place for a student,” Megan retorted.

“The battlefield is where Luca Frey was already heading this weekend,” Hira replied lightly. “Augustus Vointdel submitted the request yesterday. It was approved.”

Megan adjusted her gemstone-framed glasses. “Augustus did?”

“Yes. Behind the active lines,” Sadie said, aware of the agreement. “Interrogation support.”

“Precisely,” Hira said. “The precedent was established. He is already going. I am merely suggesting that, given this incident, behind-the-lines observation is insufficient. If Luca and Void require immediate practical supervision, let it occur under battlefield-grade containment, among healers trained to handle catastrophic injuries. It would be an improvement to a classroom of pampered nobles and heirs.”

Derek rubbed his chin. “Structured exposure could serve as a corrective measure.”

Megan shot him a look.

“I said structured,” Derek added. “This will not be abandonment. He is a talent that must be nurtured, afterall.”

Francis tightened his fingers over his report. “And if the elemental loses control?”

“Then it loses control somewhere designed for violence,” Kendrick said. Even he had been swayed by this proposition.

The room went still.

Sadie looked at Kendrick for a long moment. “That is not how I will phrase it in any formal recommendation.”

“Phrase it however you like,” Kendrick said. “You want a defensible prevention plan. I want him away from this academy. Hira wants a weapon. Derek wants to preserve talent. Megan wants the boy trained rather than imprisoned. Francis wants safeguards that we do not currently possess. This proposal gives everyone something.”

No one contradicted him. It was evident to all where the tide was going.

Headmaster Ostergaard, silent through most of the discussion, finally moved. He sat back and announced his final decision.

“Luca Frey will not be sent to Glimver Dungeon,” he said. “Professor Norman will be suspended from practical instruction pending formal review. Rosel Academy will cover Aegus Matrinovo’s treatment and issue formal correspondence to House Matrinovo acknowledging our supervisory failure and Azar’s return.”

Sadie nodded once, already writing up the summary of their meeting and the decision that would be passed down.

“As for prevention,” the headmaster continued, “Luca Frey will proceed to the southern front under amended assignment parameters.”

Hira’s smile widened.

“He will remain under the authority of Augustus Vointdel,” the headmaster continued, “But Professor Brennan may coordinate with military command for controlled battlefield exposure and supervised combat. Controlled exposure only.”

Megan’s lips pressed together, but she did not object.

Sadie wrote another line on her document. “Legally defensible. Enhanced supervision, specialized training, removal of risk from the general student population, and formal corrective action against the instructor.”

She passed the document around the table for all to sign off. The last was Headmaster Ostergaard, who picked up his pen and signed the amended recommendation.

Black ink spread across the page, sealing the decision with the authority of Rosel Academy.

Luca Frey would go to war. To the front lines.

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