The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

MARIUS

"I have failed you, Sir. I shall accept any punishment you deem fit and will make sure I learn from it," I told Falken in a small office next to the Dean’s room that I was summoned to.

After Skylark was taken away by him, the weather cleared rather quickly. The entire landscape of the campsite changed, and Skylark’s turtle rock disappeared too. We did not have much time to stay around for further investigation. Although there was still one more night and a day to complete our survival mission, Instructor Knox turned up shortly afterward to announce that our mission had been a resounding success and we did not need to prove ourselves any further. I was anxious to find out what had happened to Skylark after Falken took him, although I knew he was in good hands.

But therein lay my failure.

I was tasked with protecting the boy, but Falken himself had to come and rescue him.

Because I was inadequate.

Falken looked at me across the desk, leaned back in his chair, drummed his fingers on the desk, then broke into a smile and said,

"You did not fail anyone, Marius."

"I... I don’t understand, Sir."

"You see—," Falken began as he stood up and walked around the desk to get close to me, "I was actually starting to get rather concerned about your group during your mission."

"I’m sorry to have caused you concern."

"Marius, Marius. You do not need to be so stiff about it. Not everything is about whose fault it was or wasn’t. We don’t operate based on thank-yous and sorries."

My mind was racing, trying to digest every word he said.

"We, the Imperial Welfare, are concerned about results. That’s what matters in the end, especially when it comes to the welfare of Imperial citizens, don’t you think?"

"Yes, Sir."

Then Falken walked past me and continued toward the far end of the room. I did not dare turn to follow him with my gaze.

"The truth is, Marius, the Academy deeply cares about its students. Of course, we expect everyone to rise to the challenge, but we also keep an... let’s say, eye on everyone. Roughly, at least. So we have some idea of where everyone is on the mountain."

"That makes sense, Sir."

"And your group—in a matter of hours after entering the mountain—simply disappeared."

"We were lost, Sir. I do apologize for the incompetence."

"I advise that you break free from the mindset that finds comfort in apologies," Falken said, his voice turning surprisingly cold in an instant.

"Look at me, Marius," he then ordered, his voice instantly switching back to a warm timbre.

I did as I was told.

"What I want to know is—did anything unusual happen during your time at the camp?"

"I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary, Sir, except that we somehow ended up returning to the same spot."

"That is a mystery, don’t you think?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And a mystery is a danger to be solved or avoided."

"Yes, Sir."

"Then tell me, why did you stay there?"

Falken looked at me with a smile that told me he was willing to accept any answer as long as it was an honest one.

"Our group found the place... comforting."

"You too, Marius?"

"No, Sir."

"But others did?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Who suggested it first?"

I swallowed. I tried to assess whether my answer was going to get anyone into trouble. But then again, Falken was a man highly regarded by Father. Father had decided that my path to upholding the Valenkraft name would be best guided by Falken. I had to trust the man Father trusted.

"It was Leo Skylark, Sir."

"And why did he want to stay there?"

He had his hands clasped behind his back, an open posture that invited answers. What I read was genuine curiosity. So although it sounded silly, I decided to give the silly answer.

"He liked the shape of the rock."

"The shape of the rock?" Falken raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Yes, Sir. There was this rock in the middle of the clearing... that he said resembled a sea turtle he had seen on the Southern Coast. With his mother and father."

Falken paused for a long time. His eyes fixed on a spot on the carpet that I couldn’t discern anything specific about. He remained silent for a full minute, then suddenly his eyes lit up, and he let out a short laugh.

"Ha! Splendid!"

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"Tell me more."

"Skylark was impressive in his knowledge of nature. He knew a lot about herbs, different kinds of trees, practical solutions for making shelters, and—"

"Let’s skip that. What happened the following morning?"

He waved his hand.

My heart started thumping. I thought about what happened that morning.

The sword training.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, Sir."

I felt ashamed of myself.

"When did the weather start to turn bad?"

"In the middle of... a group discussion about leaving the place, Sir."

"And let me make a guess—please correct me if I’m wrong: Skylark didn’t want to leave?"

"Yes," I averted my gaze from him. "Sir."

"Were you trying to force him to leave?"

"We tried to convince him, Sir."

"And he still didn’t want to."

"Yes, Sir."

"Yet you still tried to force him to leave."

"’Force’ is a bit strong an expression, Sir, if I may say so."

"Marius."

Falken then walked closer to me, step by step, each one deliberate. He stopped a pace in front of me, placed both hands on my shoulders, and said with a smile,

"You made the correct decision. What did we say earlier? A mystery is something to be solved or avoided. You were, I believe, trying your best to get the group—and Skylark—to safety, correct?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"And I assume, as a good leader and a comrade, you are deeply concerned about Skylark’s well-being now."

"It... it would appear so, Sir."

"Follow me. He is recovering well and should be in good spirits now."

With that, Falken led me out of his office, and as he did so, he seemed in good spirits, humming to himself and almost singing,

"A lot to do now. A lot to do."