The marble hall echoed with the sound of heavy boots movilessly.

  The air, thick with tension, grew heavier with each passing sed.

  In the ter of the grand hall, under an enormous crystal delier that seemed to mock those present with its opulent light, Duke Drakenfell paced bad forth, throwing furious gres at the soldiers who had failed to carry out his order.

  “How is it possible that you haven’t brought me the damn bastard who hit my son?!” roared the duke, his voice reverberating off the walls adorned with tapestries of a battles.

  His face, reddened with fury, looked ready to explode as he fixed his eyes on the captain of his guard, who stood firm but visibly nervous.

  “My lord…” the captain began, his voice trembling as he searched for the right words to calm the storm brewing in front of him. “The servants at the mansion told us that… to take Non Rook… we would need royal authorization. We couldn’t proceed without it.”

  The duke stopped abruptly, spinning on his heels.

  His gaze was a mix of disbelief and rage.

  “Royal authorization?” he repeated, his tone dripping with disdain. “This is my territory! I am the authority here! I don’t need any royal permission to arrest a wretched bastard who dared to hurt my son!”

  One of the soldiers, uo bear the sileepped forward and, with a tense voice, dared to speak.

  “My lord… the man who hit your son is Non Rook.”

  The name seemed to mean nothing to the duke.

  With a quick flick of his hand, he dismissed the information as irrelevant.

  “I don’t give a damn who this Non Rook is!” he bellowed, each word cutting through the air like a sharp bde. “What I want is for that bastard to be here, in this very hall, as quickly as possible. I won’t tolerate him getting away after humiliating my family.”

  The captain of the guard, more nervous than before, decided to intervene before the situatioed further.

  “My lord, I uand yer, but if we arrest him without authorization, we could face serious problems with the royal family. Non Rook… has es. The risk of ag without the proper permission could bring us more trouble than we already have.”

  The duke ched his teeth, his rage barely tained by the thin yer of self-trol he had left.

  He balled his fists and looked at his men with a mix of disgust and frustration.

  He khat, no matter how powerful his family was in his owory, directly fronting the royal family was not a smart option.

  At least, not yet.

  Finally, after a long and tense silehe duke nodded brusquely, though his eyes still burned with the promise of revenge.

  “Fine,” he said, his tone ced with disdain. “If we hat damned authorization, then go get it. Take a carriage and go to the capital right now. Get whatever is necessary, but I want that permission in my hands as soon as possible.”

  The soldiers quickly nodded, bowing respectfully, relieved that the duke hadn’t pletely lost trol.

  “And listen to me carefully,” the duke added, with an icy ess that pierced the room. “If you don’t get that authorization, you fet about returning here. I’ll make sure to hire more petent personnel, people who know how to carry out a simple order.”

  “Uood, my lord,” they responded in unison, bowing once more before turning and quickly leaving the hall.

  The sound of the doors closing echoed through the hall, leaving the duke aloill seething with fury.

  With a low growl, he walked over to a nearby table and grabbed a gss of wine, drinking it in one gulp as if the alcohol could quench the fire burning inside him.

  “Non Rook…” he muttered, his eyes narrowing and his jaw ched. “I will make you pay for what you did. No one, absolutely no one, crosses a Drakenfell as away with it.”

  ◇◆◇

  Non was walking with Emily along the cobblestoreets leading to the church.

  As they approached, something was different this time.

  There were more people gathered outside, and though most were trying not to draw attention, Non could feel several eyes on him.

  He could hear murmurs around him, and though no one dared to speak to him directly, his name floated in the air among whispers.

  Out of the er of his eye, he noticed a young woman who seemed about to approach him, but before she could, a hand pulled her back.

  The gesture was subtle, but the warning was clear.

  “Don’t bother him…” someone whispered.

  Non frowned but said nothing.

  Emily, for her part, also noticed the ge imosphere.

  The people watg them now were not ordinary oners; they were young nobles, many of whom wore robes indig their e to magic.

  Their eyes shoh curiosity and respect, though none approached.

  Emily shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling that something strange was happening.

  Just as they were about to ehe church, the healer came out to greet them with a warm smile.

  “I’m so gd to see you again, Non,” she said with the same kindness as before. “And I see you’ve brought pany again.”

  “It’s good to be back,” Non replied with a slight nod. “I have a special request to make.”

  The healer raised an eyebrow, intrigued, but her smile didn’t waver.

  “Of course. I’d be happy to hear it, but I think it would be better to talk in a more private pce. Please, follow me.”

  Guiding them to a more secluded part of the church, they entered a rer than the one from their previous visit.

  This time, Emily noticed a guard statio the door, something that hadn’t been there before.

  The healer turo them, her smile as serene as ever.

  “We’ve increased security si time. There will be no surprises today,” she said fidently.

  Ohey were settled, the healer addressed Non directly.

  “So, what do you need?”

  Non looked at her seriously before speaking.

  “I would like you to check Emily. I want to know if she has a magic core.”

  The healer didn’t hesitate to respond.

  “That’s not a problem,” she said with a reassuring smile. She turo Emily, asking for permission before approag. “May I?”

  Emily nodded nervously, and the healer gently pced her hands on Emily’s chest, closing her eyes as she focused her magic.

  After a few moments of silehe healer spoke, with a slight expression of surprise.

  “She doesn’t have a magic core yet. But…” she added with a more ptive tone, “her heart is . She has the ideal ditions to form one iure.”

  Non raised an eyebrow, surprised, as he clearly remembered how Emily had used magic the day before, but decided not to say anything for the moment.

  It was better to iigate further before drawing clusions.

  ‘More books like that one from the library should give me some answers,’ he thought, though the librarian’s absence frustrated him a bit.

  He knew he would have to wait a few more days before he could tinue his research.

  The healer, meanwhile, watched him with i.

  “And who is this young dy, Non?” she asked casually. “This is the sed time I’ve seen her with you.”

  Non took a moment to respond as he began to remove the upper part of his clothing, something that made Emily blush instantly.

  “She’s my panion,” Non replied without further details, allowing the healer to begiing him.

  The healer, with skilled hands and a calm demeanor, began examining the cracks and small wounds that still remained.

  Emily watched in sileill surprised by the closeness between them.

  “You’ve improved a lot si time, Non. But don’t let yuard down,” she warned as her hands applied healing magic to the weakest points of his body.

  Non ughed, though it was clear he was gritting his teeth to ehe pain of the treatment.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t…” Non responded, despite the doubts he had about that…