Eli had to choose his words carefully here, down to each letter, especially when [Assimilation] was not present. He was someone who knew the future outcomes, a position heavy enough to make him stumble a thousand times over. Not only that, as he wore the skin of Elise and represented an established character, meticulousness was an extreme endeavor he had to undertake every time.
And so, Eli took a deep breath and transformed into as great an actor as [Assimilation] had shaped him to be.
"You're right," Eli said, his voice dropped an octave. "I'm here because the House needs your support."
Joanne raised an eyebrow, letting his words sink in under the weight of foxed books.
"The mighty House Lagranche needs support? For what, exactly?"
Eli paused, sensing something wrong in the back of his mind, but he pressed on anyway.
"Are you aware that Edmond Belcourt visited House Lagranche yesterday?"
Joanne's expression remained unchanged as her amber eyes pierced at Eli.
"I was not."
'As I've expected.'
The Duchess would have wanted the meeting to be kept under wraps. The less strings attached to the assassination plan, the better. As for the rest, she could just silence them with riches or graves.
'What a wicked woman! But… she's beautiful, though.'
Eli frantically shook this corrupted image of the Duchess out of his head, leaning forward just a bit to see Joanne better and let her radiance wash away these sinful thoughts.
"Lord Edmond came with a marriage proposal, with the blessing of Duchess Ambrosia. Of course, Lady Irene rejected on the spot."
Joanne gave a light nod.
"Naturally. What's your point?"
Eli swallowed. Her neutral expression made her thoughts unreadable to Eli, and as a negotiator, he was at an disadvantage here.
"The proposal itself isn't my concern. It's the presence of Edmond Belcourt in Sienne, one of the hidden strategists of the Duchess."
Joanne tilted her head slightly, narrowing her eyes.
"His presence here does spell trouble."
"Which is why I'm here, Headmistress," Eli said, his rosy eyes sharpened their thorns. "We have grounds to believe an attack on House Lagranche is imminent. I've been gathering intelligence on behalf of Lady Irene, and the signs are pointing in one direction."
Eli held both his gaze and his breath.
"I'm asking for any support you can spare. Artifacts, faculty willing to assist, anyone who could bolster the House's defenses. Preferably, however, I want to temporarily borrow your strength, Headmistress."
Joanne listened without interrupting, her expression still an enigma. Then, after a few seconds of silence, save for the rustling papers and drawn-out breaths, Joanne spoke:
"Miss Moreau. You are underestimating House Lagranche's military power. It has stood over two centuries. It has survived rebellions, diseases, famines, and three succession crises. Are you suggesting Commander Julius and his division won't be able to prevent one measly attack?"
'Dammit. Then tell me how the House fell in the Prologue!'
Eli couldn't voice his frustrations. Even though he already knew the outcome, Joanne's assessment of House Lagranche was on point, which only left him more confused. Still, he had to salvage the conversation before it went further south.
"I'm only requesting your assistance in preparation of the attack. We cannot underestimate the Duchess just because our House has been invincible."
Joanne slowly turned her heavy leather chair to the side, gesturing toward the window overlooking the garden.
"This academy, as you saw, is dying. Same goes for the Knight Academy. I've lost half my students in two years. My funding is a fraction of what it was under Lady Navia. Every month, another professor accepts a position elsewhere because I cannot guarantee their safety or their salary. For replacements, I'm forced to hire hire whoever is available at a price the academy can afford, and that means lesser-qualified instructors with backgrounds I cannot properly vet."
Her voice dropped, and for the first time, a hint of bitterness bled through.
"I have professors in my halls right now whose credentials I would've thrown in the fireplace three years ago. But I have no other choice. Well… I suppose it does not matter now that the students are leaving."
She turned back to face Eli.
"So you see, Miss Moreau, I have my own war to fight. Lady Navia built this place with her own hands. It is the single greatest thing she left behind, and right now, keeping it alive is my responsibility. I will not divert what little I have to a battle that House Lagranche should be more than capable of handling on its own."
Eli's fingers curled on his knees, his mind filled with overbearing thoughts.
Had he not tried his best? Had he fumbled the negotiation? Right now, the only images crowding his mind were the servants' corpses, the infernal flames consuming the house, and the final, haunting memory he would have left Irene with — all of it might become true because of this moment right here.
Eli wanted to scream that Joanne was wrong, that the House would fall, that he had seen it with his own eyes. But he couldn't say any of that.
Would Elise have done better than he had? What would she have said in this situation? He searched Elise's memories for an answer but came out empty-handed. He hadn't shared any history with these people, after all.
All he could do now was press on.
"Headmistress, please reconsider. Lady Irene's safety is—"
"Ms. Joanne."
All of the sudden, Julianna stepped forward and spoke, her usual grin nowhere to be found.
"I've served House Lagranche for four years. I know the ins-and-outs of our military capabilities, and I understand what you're trying to say."
Her gaze slid to Eli.
"Elise isn't here because we're scared. She's here because she's someone who prepares for the worst when it concerns the Young Miss."
Julianna looked Joanne dead in the eye.
"And you know the Marchioness would have wanted you to help."
The room suddenly went cold.
Joanne stared at Julianna for a long, terrible moment. Then she closed her eyes and let out a slow breath through her nose.
"Don't invoke Lady Navia's name to win an argument, Julianna. You're better than that."
Julianna held her ground but said nothing more. The silence settled over the three of them like tumbleweed rolling over the battlefield.
Joanne opened her eyes and looked at Eli again. The hardness in her expression had softened, replaced by exhaustion and resignation.
"My answer is the same, Elise. I'm sorry."
She reached for the cold cup of tea on her desk, looked at it, and set it back down without drinking.
"Besides, I won't be in Sienne much longer."
Eli blinked, his soul perked up.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm departing for the capital in two days to meet with the Ministry of Education. If I don't secure continued funding and accreditation for the academy, they will revoke our charter before the month is out."
"Two days..."
Those two insignificant words had suddenly submerged his mind into deep contemplation, the gears inside cranking hard enough to power the whole city.
"When I return, if you still wish to discuss this, assuming the attack hasn't happened, my door will be open. But for now, my priority must be—"
Eli had already stopped listening to Joanne.
'…Two days.'
The number pinned itself against Eli's chest. As he hammered it down, trying to grasp the threads of his memories, a lonesome face started to surface from the depths of water.
'Two days.'
Then, another face joined the first. And another. And then another.
Then he saw a reflection of a young professor bleeding alone in a burning corridor.
Another reflection of students fleeing through the underground tunnels.
Reflection of soldiers barricading the academy's ground.
And the final reflection of a House that once stood as tall as the royal family.
'The attack… the attack is in two days. But it won't be just the House...'
Eli clenched his fist until his knuckles turned bone-white.
'Fuck.'
Just then, that same old fuckery shade of blue appeared in front of Eli's eyes.
[The Prologue has been rewritten.]
[The threads of fate have aligned themselves.]
And with that… the first harbinger of doom came.
╭────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╮
[Prologue: Fall of Sienne]
House Lagranche, once a prosperous Great House of the Latia Kingdom, is soon to perish alongside Sienne's academies in a single, orchestrated night.
[Objective]: Prevent the destruction of House Lagranche and Sienne's academies.
[Reward]: ???
╰────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╯
Then the second.
╭────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╮
[Heroine Quest: Cyllene Rosenthal]
A young mage who swore to protect the children and to sing their sorrows, soon to stand alone against a fire to complete her elegy of dreams.
[Objective]: Ensure the survival of Cyllene Rosenthal.
[Reward]: The Heroine of Aegis, Cyllene Rosenthal.
╰────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╯
Then the last.
╭────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╮
[Heroine Quest: Ravi Eschanon]
An elementalist who never left her grandmother's shadow, soon to perish in flames she cannot outrun.
[Objective]: Ensure the survival of Ravi Eschanon.
[Reward]: The Heroine of Kind Spirits, Ravi Eschanon.
╰────-·ˋˏ-༻𖤓༺-ˎˊ·-────╯