Chapter 30: Matters of the Heart

  “Jude.”

  “What is it?”

  “You said before that you studied under your dad for some time.” Leonhart flashed her palm at Jude. “Five months, correct?”

  “What about it?”

  “How long does it take for a wound to close? For sorcerers, not normies.”

  Jude sighed audibly. “You’ve asked me the same question for the past few days,” she said. “It varies, and I don’t remember the average because I wasn’t paying attention.”

  Leonhart promptly puckered her lips into a pout. “But it isn’t seven weeks, am I right? That’s how long it has been since he got hospitalised,” she ventured, poking and prodding, trying to get something out of her.

  “Maybe I can help!” Kazuya dug through his bag and took out a book. “Dr. Lee recommended this to me when I told him I wanted to read more about this topic.”

  Leonhart’s eyes lit up, and she chucked the book into Gauss’s mouth. “Find the relevant information for me,” she ordered.

  “Wait, if your dog is this advanced,” Jude narrowed her eyes, “can’t you just ask it for information? It has all kinds of data stored in it, right?”

  “Well, you see,” Leonhart said as she tapped against the glass window pane of Ace’s ward. “Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that the nurses don’t allow us to go in to see him?”

  Kazuya nodded, but Jude shook her head. “Kazuya! You don’t have to always agree with what she says all the time!”

  “But I think it’s strange too,” Kazuya said meekly.

  “Fine!” Jude threw up her arms and turned towards the window. Her eyes flashed yellow as she enabled Trace. “See? I can tell that he’s inside!”

  While Jude’s attention was elsewhere, Leonhart tapped a button on her wristwatch. At once, Gauss’s ear swivelled, shooting toward Jude and fastening itself to her chest like a heart-rate monitor. “Elevated heart rate and increased perspiration.” Gauss’s eyes flared crimson, and its voice turned into a menacing growl. “Lie detected.”

  The awful throb of being left in the dark twisted Leonhart’s insides.

  Gauss’s confirmation that Jude was hiding something was the last nail in Felix’s coffin. Before Jude could stop her, Leonhart bolted away. “Where is Felix Lee?!” she asked Gauss.

  “He’s currently in his sleeping quarters. Dr. Farid Stino is also in the vicinity. Any course of action would–”

  “Gauss,” she said coldly. “Revert Doorknocker to Version 1.”

  “Doorknocker Version 1 could cause bodily harm-”

  “Gauss! I command you to halt all logical thought and speech!” Leonhart commanded. “This order will remain in effect until I lift it. Until then, you’ll listen to everything I say!”

  A light went out in Gauss’s eyes. All the cheerfulness had gone from its voice as it acknowledged its master’s new orders. “Affirmative.”

  ***

  “By the light of the silvery moon…”

  Felix stretched out on his bed and let out a contented sigh. He wiggled in his new king-sized bed, his latest investment after seeing how comfortable Dante was in his. Sliding a hand under his shirt, he felt the healed brands absentmindedly. The skin had fully healed, but it always felt as though someone was digging their finger into his chest to remind him of the oath he had sworn.

  As Felix was about to close his eyes, his phone started buzzing.

  He ignored it, but the second call came hot on the heels of the first. Grumbling, he rolled onto his side and answered the call.

  “What’s up, Jude?”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “SHE KNOWS!” Jude’s panicked shouts came over the line. “Leonhart found out about Ace!”

  Felix’s heart skipped a beat. Before he could react, his door shattered. Splinters sprayed across the room. Leonhart stood at the doorway with bulging eyes which were quickly darkening into a deeper, icier blue. Her mouth was twisted into a bare-toothed snarl.

  “Eulie–”

  Leonhart let out an ear-piercing scream and pounced on Felix, scoring a definitive punch on his nose. Stars dotted his vision as he scrambled onto his hands and knees. Leonhart elbowed the side of his head, sending a blast of Essence into it. Before he could prop himself up, she slammed him to the ground, yanked his hair back, fixed him with a sharp glare – then drove her forehead into his.

  “ENOUGH!” Felix threw Leonhart off him and pinned her down. He twisted her arm behind her, but Gauss leapt onto him. Its metallic claws ripped the skin on his back. Felix hissed, his grip on Leonhart loosening. Leonhart thrashed and slammed the heel of her boot into his crotch.

  A blinding pain shot up Felix’s spine, and a shriek bubbled up his throat. His world spun as the toe of Leonhart’s boot met his chin. She crashed on his stomach and started pummeling him until someone peeled her off him. Felix moaned and pressed between his legs, writhing in pain.

  “LET ME GO!” Leonhart gnashed her teeth and squirmed in Jude’s and Kazuya’s restraint. They snatched her by the shoulders and arms, firmly pinning her down on the bed. Felix sat up, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Gauss charging up for its next attack.

  He dove for it and wrenched its head up before it sent a volley of rubber bullets at the trio. “Leonhart!” he called out. “STOP BEFORE YOU HURT ANYONE ELSE!”

  Gauss whirred in his arms, and its head drooped. “Fuck…” Felix groaned.

  “Felix!” Dr. Farid was in his room, having heard the commotion. “What’s going on?”

  Felix held up his hand. He picked himself up and stood over everyone. “You liar!” Leonhart screeched. “Gauss, show him!”

  Gauss's eyes flickered as it projected images onto the wall. Felix’s eyes widened in horror. “You think I’m stupid? You think I wouldn’t notice a change in your schedule and the new guy in the Sanctum?” Leonhart spat bitterly. “When I sent a mayfly tracker after the blondie, guess who I saw?”

  A blurry picture of Ace was projected onto the wall. “You know what?” Leonhart sneered, wrenching her wrist out of Kazuya’s grip. “How about I find him myself right now?”

  She pressed a button on her wristwatch with her teeth, and the light returned to Gauss’s eyes. “Find Ace!” she commanded.

  Before Felix could catch it, Gauss jetted out of the room. Blood rushed from his head as he marched towards Leonhart. “Hand me your watch.”

  “NO!”

  The next word ripped through his throat. “LEONHART!”

  Leonhart froze. Her eyes started to brim with tears. Her upper lip quivered as the tears flowed. Felix smacked his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He softened his tone and reached out for her.

  “No,” Leonhart said softly as she shrank away from him.

  “I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I-”

  “I hate you.”

  Felix gasped at the venom in Leonhart’s voice and withdrew his hand. “What right did you have t-to not tell me?!” Leonhart raised an accusatory finger at Jude. “How come she knows? How come?! If your distant cousin knew, then why didn’t you tell me?!”

  She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “Who am I to you? Have you ever… You know what? You’ve never spared a thought for me,” she half-shouted, half-sobbed. “Promised me that you’d bring me out to the carnival for my birthday, but you then said that you were too busy…”

  “I–”

  “Ace… Ace was my first friend! Y-You didn’t tell me that he was okay? I visited him every day, and if I hadn’t seen you with some newcomer, I would have been standing outside a ward with a damn dummy in it,” she hissed. “You were so afraid that I’d ruin whatever you planned, is that it?”

  “I promise-”

  She hurled a mucus-streaked pillow at him. Felix made no effort to catch it as it bounced off his chest. “PROMISE! PROMISE! PROMISE! You promised my parents that you’d take care of me! But guess what? You brought women in to screw around after taking me in. I had to sleep next to the fucking aquarium!” she screamed hoarsely. “THE FUCKING AQUARIUM!”

  Red climbed over her eyes, which shone with nothing but contempt. “I spent almost one month gathering evidence, and you still had the balls to lie to me,” she hissed.

  “Leonhart…” Jude placed a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off roughly.

  “Fucking liars! That’s what you people are.” Leonhart stomped her foot and stormed out of the room. Kazuya followed her quietly. Felix could feel the sharp glare of disappointment from those dull grey eyes.

  Felix turned to Dr. Farid, who had nothing but disapproval written all over his face. “See me in my office later. Both of you,” he said flatly.

  As Dr. Farid was about to leave the room, Lady Meng poked her head in. “Father-daughter dispute?” she asked jokingly with a small smirk on her face.

  “Mo Wang.” Dr. Farid cleared his throat and brought Lady Meng’s attention to the room.

  Lady Meng’s smile quickly faded as Felix met her eyes. Blood was still trickling down his chin “Sorry, sir,” she bowed her head and apologised to Dr. Farid. “I’ll go talk to Leonhart and Kazuya now.”

  Felix buried his face in his hands and used his flames to heal his wounds. “I can’t believe you wanted to destroy Gauss,” Jude said stiffly after a long, awkward silence.

  “Not now, Jude. Not now.”

  “It was hard keeping it a secret from her. Especially something that involved the Elders. It’s all out now… What a relief.”

  Felix said nothing. There was no denying that in his pursuit of an optimal solution, he had forgotten to include their hearts in the equation.