Chapter 119: Troubled Love
They'd been back at Hollingburton a few days now, the school's ranking tournament in full swing, when Evan found visitors waiting at his quarters — Leonardo and Tina, up from Watersdale. He wasn't sure what attitude to take with them. On one hand, seeing Leonardo genuinely pleased him — a necromancer devoted to saving lives, the man behind the blood transfusion technique Evan had helped bring into the world, now named jointly after the two of them: the Evan-Leonardo Transfusion Method.
Tina was another matter entirely. He'd never expected her to fall for him. His face carried the look of a man in his forties, even if he'd shed a few years off that appearance recently — by any measure, he counted as an uncle to her, at best. More to the point, he was a lich. Whatever physical drives a lich might once have had were gone entirely, and though some liches pursued grotesque methods to work around that, the thought had never once crossed Evan's mind. He'd revealed his true nature to her specifically hoping she'd think better of pursuing this. Instead, here she was.
When they arrived, Evan had been in the middle of a conversation with Xiaoshuang, who'd clearly put on some weight, round and plump these days. She'd just finished listening to his speculation about the nature of elements. "That's interesting," she said. "You're saying those element gods never really existed at all? That they're just something people imagined?"
Something sparked in Evan. "That's actually a fresh way to put it. The element gods started as something people imagined — they're fantasy-born creatures."
"But fantasy-born creatures really do exist!" Xiaoshuang said, not seeing the contradiction.
The words hit Evan like a peal of thunder. If something was called fantasy-born, and yet it existed regardless — what did that say about existence itself, philosophically speaking? For the first time, Evan felt he'd brushed against something at the very core of this world. Xiaoshuang hadn't grasped the weight of what she'd said, and no one else had ever thought this deeply about it either. Evan, carrying the baggage of his old life, had wrestled with the same question himself — and now her offhand remark had cracked it open.
"Fantasy-born creatures can't exist on their own," Evan said, excitement building. "They exist within human imagination — but the stronger a person's mental power, the more concrete they become, until they even believe in their own existence. That's it. That's why Jessica can summon those creatures of hers, ones that defy every ordinary rule, as if there's a whole separate category of battle-species out there. They're fantasy-born. They only surface when people need them to. They have no true existence in the world at all. Which means defeating one only requires believing in yourself completely, ignoring them entirely — and they can't touch you."
"I don't really follow all that, but it sounds like it makes sense," Xiaoshuang said, blinking her large eyes. "You'll need proof if you're going to tell anyone, though."
"Right — I need to find Jessica, have her help me run an experiment. I'll prove this," Evan said, already heading for the door, energized.
A knock came at the door just then. Evan found it strange, and opened it to find Leonardo and Tina standing there, with Ortlando leading the way. Evan hadn't expected Ortlando to be the one bringing them, and froze for a moment at the sight.
"Good day. What, not welcome?" Ortlando said.
"Good day — of course you're welcome. Just caught off guard. Mr. Leonardo, Miss Tina, you've come as well — please, come in. Coffee, or wine?" Evan said, ushering everyone inside.
"Evan, I really can't say what my Tina sees in a lich," Leonardo said. "She was dead set on coming to see you, and I gave up arguing. Coffee for me — I don't drink much. Coffee for Tina too."
"Please, sit. One moment — Xiaoshuang, pour the coffee," Evan called out. Leonardo blinked in confusion, then caught sight of the fairy. She flew over in front of them, gave her wand a flick, and the tea set in the cabinet lifted into the air of its own accord, settling onto the table before each guest. Somewhere along the way, Xiaoshuang had picked up a wand — slender as a pencil. The fairy had learned quite a bit of magic lately, though none of it combat-oriented, just small conveniences for everyday life.
Leonardo's mind clearly couldn't keep up, staring dumbly at the fairy, while Tina's jaw dropped as well, gazing at the palm-sized girl with two wings on her back. "This... this is Xiaoshuang? The legendary fairy?" she said, hesitant.
Xiaoshuang gave her wand another flourish, murmuring an incantation. The coffee lifted into the air, hot water pouring itself from the kettle, splitting into several streams that poured neatly into each cup.
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"Big sister, what's your name? You smell really nice — not like that lich, who's got this stink about him. This old man's got a bad smell too, must be a necromancer," Xiaoshuang chattered on.
"How is this possible? Professor Wang, you're a lich, and you've taken in a fairy as a pet? Wait, no — you must have borrowed her from someone else," Leonardo said, half convinced he was dreaming.
"Old man, don't talk trash about my master," Xiaoshuang said, displeased.
"Xiaoshuang, mind your manners. This is Master Leonardo — a well-respected nobleman, Viscount Leonardo," Evan scolded.
"Fine, fine. Honored Viscount Leonardo, is the coffee good? Want some more?" Xiaoshuang said, all surface courtesy, though it somehow still carried an edge of defiance.
"Ha! Junior, you're not going to win this one. No idea where you found this little thing, Professor Wang. I know why you've come — for Evan's marriage prospects. But he's already made himself clear, and so have I: he's a lich, and he has no wish to waste Miss Tina's life on him. And yet here you are anyway. Might as well settle it face to face," Ortlando said. It turned out he and Leonardo were old schoolmates — not entirely surprising, given Hollingburton's reputation.
"Someone actually likes you? A lich?" Xiaoshuang said, eyes sparkling with mischief, clearly turning over some devious thought.
Evan gave a rueful smile. Love was something he couldn't quite make sense of — not that anyone truly could. He cleared his throat. "Tina, you're still young. You don't understand the difference between fondness and love yet. I've already turned into a lich. I have no right to speak of love anymore. You're different — Saint Katherine's true disciple, with a bright future ahead of you. If you tie yourself to me, you'll ruin your whole life."
Tina flushed, but lifted her chin. "If it weren't for you, I'd already have become someone's plaything by now. You took me out of that village and let me live like an actual person for the first time. I fell in love with you from that moment on. I never dared say anything, because of the gap between us. Whether you're a lich or not, I don't need to ask. I only know you're good. That's enough for me."
Evan opened his mouth, ready to talk her out of it, when Leonardo cut in. "Save your breath, Evan. I've already tried. This girl can't be talked down."
"Honored Viscount Leonardo," Evan said, "surely you understand what being a lich actually means. Tina not knowing is one thing, forgivable enough. But you know full well how ugly the word is — barely counts as a person anymore, by most reckonings. I take it you never mentioned that part to her."
Evan's use of the formal title carried its own weight — a sign of his displeasure. He and Leonardo were close enough that such courtesies had long since fallen away between them.
"I know exactly what it costs. I only need to be by your side, and that's enough for me. You saved me from noblemen's hands. You saved me from the Creationist Church's holy virgins. When I received Headmaster Ortlando's letter, I hesitated too, for a while. But I made up my mind in the end, and it isn't something that can be undone now," Tina said, unyielding.
Hearing her mention having once been designated one of the Church's holy virgins, Ortlando's face registered clear surprise. He raised his head, studying Tina more carefully, and a slow smile spread across his face.
Evan didn't notice it. Seeing her resolve unshaken, he tried once more, gently. "I'm over forty years old. You're only fifteen. I could be your father — your grandfather, even."
"Age isn't the problem," Tina said, without a moment's hesitation.
Xiaoshuang cut in then. "Lich, I had no idea you were such a catch. Though, Sister Tina, there's something strange about this one. Let me tell you a secret — he's not like an ordinary lich at all. He's actually been touched by a—"
"Xiaoshuang, you can go outside now," Evan said, cutting off her chatter with visible displeasure. Xiaoshuang gave a huff, spread her wings, and flew out of the room.
The others had been listening closely, only to have Evan cut her off before she could finish. With Evan refusing to let her continue, the question sat there unanswered in everyone's mind. Ortlando glanced at Evan, clearly keeping his own thoughts to himself — this lich, it seemed, had no shortage of secrets.
"Here's what I propose," Ortlando said, a smile playing at his lips. "Whatever's between Professor Wang and Tina isn't something that's going to sort itself out today. We're outsiders here — let's leave it to the two of them, but with one arrangement. See what you think." Evan felt, somehow, like he was walking into a trap.
"Out with it, then. What exactly are you suggesting?" Leonardo asked.
"Tina's still young, and Professor Wang is a lich. Let a few years pass. If, after that time, Miss Tina still loves him, then let the two of them do as they wish," Ortlando said.
Leonardo's eyes lit up. "That'll do. Tina, what do you think?"
Tina understood well enough what they were really proposing — letting time wear the feeling down. She was already happier than she'd ever been. Leonardo had never treated her the way most people would, and had never once brought up Evan's nature to anyone else. She was grateful for that. Hearing the proposal now, she gave a small smile of acceptance. Evan frowned to himself, but didn't object either.
That night, they all stayed at Evan's quarters — quarters that amounted to a small villa, in truth. Tina and Xiaoshuang, it turned out, got along famously, murmuring together late into the night, while Leonardo pulled Evan aside to talk necromancy. He had new ideas to share, and found himself drawn instead to the alchemy lab in Evan's rooms, where a microscope sat — one Evan had painstakingly crafted himself. Looking through its lens, an entirely new world opened up before Leonardo's eyes.