Navia's Garden — Faculty Wing
The bed of flowers along the path were whites and pale purples, meticulous maintained by the gardeners even as the rest of the campus showed signs of neglect.
Someone was still taking care of this place.
At the end of the path stood a three-story building of old. Its dark oak doors were framed by carved stone pillars, towering and magnificent.
Eli stopped before the door and turned to Ravi.
"Thank you, Ravi. You've been a great help."
Ravi nodded slowly, her fingers worrying at each other.
"…It's nothing. But, um, should I… wait here?"
"If you don't mind. We shouldn't be long."
After a quick nod between them, Eli and Juli entered the building and were immediately greeted by a secretary at the entrance. He was a middle-aged man with spectacles and a permanent frown.
'Holy! He looks scary. Are they trying to scare away guests or something?'
The old secretary looked up from his wooden desk and immediately scrutinized them from head to toe.
"Do you have an appointment?" he said, his voice coarse.
'Wow. No hello or nothing?'
Still, Eli offered a polite smile.
"I don't. But I'm here on behalf of Lady Irene Lagranche. My name is Elise Moreau, her lady's maid."
He gestured at Julianna standing beside him.
"And this is Julianna Owens."
The secretary's frown deepened.
'Your chin is almost touching the floor, old man. Chill!'
He studied Eli and Julianna even more intensely before finally turning away.
"…Please wait here."
He disappeared up the stairs.
Julianna leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. She looked unbothered, but Eli caught the faint dulling of the spark in her eyes. Seeing the academies she had loved so dearly reduced to this state must have struck her harder than she let on.
"Hey," he said, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Yeah?"
"What's the Headmistress like?"
Of course, Eli already knew from the story. She was the one he wanted to meet and recruit the most. She was one of the people closest to Navia Lagranche, and she honored Navia's legacy more than anyone not named Irene.
'But that's gonna make things way harder to persuade her.'
Julianna shrugged.
"Well… let's say I got in trouble with her more than I should have, so I'm pretty biased."
She scratched her cheek.
"But I do know she cares about her students more than anything else."
'Yeah. That's the problem. I'll just have to figure it out somehow.'
Eli nodded.
"I see."
A few minutes later, the secretary returned. His frown had softened just slightly.
"The Headmistress will see you. Please follow me."
They climbed the stairs in silence and reached the hallway of the top floor. It was quiet, lined with portraits of First Arcanes and lit by tall windows that overlooked the campus grounds.
At the end of the carpeted path, a single door waited. A brass nameplate read:
Joanne Morgenstern
Headmistress
'Joanne Morgenstern, a pivotal character who helped rebuild the fallen House Lagranche in the far future.'
Joanne had been appointed Headmistress since the establishment of the Magic Academy. After House Lagranche was destroyed, the immediate aftermath of the academies was unclear as the main story didn't focus on it at all. All Eli knew was that both academies were shut down shortly after, and their students were scattered to the wind.
It wasn't until years later that Joanne appeared before Irene during her campaign against the Duchess and helped reclaim the House's former glory; the academies were rebuilt, and Joanne became Headmistress again.
Eli was trying to prevent all of these consequences and build a new future, and that included Joanne and the academies.
The secretary stopped before a heavy oak door and knocked twice.
A voice came from within:
"Come in."
The secretary opened the door as instructed.
Eli got a full glimpse of the office. It was cluttered in the way only a scholar could. Bookshelves lined three walls from floor to ceiling, overflowing with tomes, scrolls, and the like. He'd never seen papers stacked in towers so tall and so neat. In the corner, a chalkboard stood solemnly with its equations and diagrams Eli hoped not to touch ever.
At the far end, a wide desk sat just off the windowlight. Its polished surface, or the lack of it, caught the pale glow as it looked out over the garden below.
And just behind the desk sat a beautiful middle-aged woman. She had sharp, amber eyes framed by silver-streaked auburn hair pulled into a loose bun. Her robes were plain deep navy and embroidered in silver. She wore no jewelry except for a single brooch pinned to her collar.
She looked up from her work, studied Eli for a long moment, then shifted her gaze to Julianna behind him.
Her expression remained unchanged, but her eyes flickered.
"Julianna Owens. It's been a while."
Julianna grinned ear to ear.
"Ms. Joanne! You look exactly the same with those scary eyes!"
"I can say the same about your manners."
Joanne let out a quiet sigh before turning her attention to Eli.
"And you must be Elise Moreau."
Eli was stiff as a wooden plank.
"Yes, ma'am."
The reason? Joanne was a monster of a figure. Had he mentioned that she was a whopping Seven-Song Mage? The second best rank of the present day?
'Well, now you know.'
Her presence was like calm waters before a storm, but all you could see was the terrifying storm encroaching on you. He wanted to inform her of the attack as soon as possible because of this reason. But of course, Eli wasn't a prophet, so he couldn't say that outright.
Joanne leaned back in her chair.
"I haven't heard that name in some time. Lady Navia spoke of you often."
Her voice softened slightly.
"You have her stubbornness in your eyes. I recognized the moment you walked through that door."
'Am I that stubborn?'
Eli recalled the moment when he begged for Julianna not to step in even as his body was covered in bruises and cuts.
'Nahh.'
"Please. Sit down."
She gestured to two chairs across the desk, both buried under a hefty amount of books.
'Joanne really doesn't care what anyone thinks of her messiness, huh.'
Eli carefully moved the pile to the floor before sitting, while Julianna remained standing near the door, respectfully rejecting the seat. It seemed her knightly bearing remained unmistakable beneath all her jokes and laughter.
Joanne folded her hands on the desk.
"I imagine the Housekeeper of House Lagranche didn't come all the way to Florentine for pleasantries. So tell me, what does Lady Irene need?"