Substitute Teacher

…

Mattheus had been excited and a bit relieved they finally had a lead for the secret society his predecessor was part of. Sure, he was also wary, considering the likelihood it might have been the secret society that did the hit on the Original back at Glashaw Woods, but there would potentially be answers now. It was the not knowing that was half driving him to anxiety.

Brunilda was less so.

The twenty-year-old understood even if he didn't exactly agree with her. His friend was looking at it from a security point of view. She was less concerned with the mystery rather than the potential threat level of this secretive group.

In the end, there was a compromise. Brunilda would stalk Baron Baldroy Harloch while Mattheus maintained an alibi by following his typical schedule.

It had been a few days though and the cat had run into an unexpected roadblock. She conceded reluctantly and it was now Mattheus's turn to be more proactive in prying at the secrets the other man possessed.

But, before the young baron could do that, he had to first check in with the Duchess.

After giving the usual polite greetings in the standard expected etiquette to royalty, Mattheus rubbed his hands eagerly.

"Alright, Lady Sophily. How about we get started right away?" he asked.

The only other people with the pair were Brunilda and her personal maid, which he figured he could trust if the Duchess let the woman stay.

Sophily Morgaine smiled, though there was an edge of nerves to the expression. "I must admit to being a bit nervous."

Mattheus gave her a bemused smile. "What for, Your Grace? I am simply filling in as your tutor while my brother is forced to be away for a few days. I suppose a 'substitute teacher,' as one may call it?"

"Well… it's because Lord Crown has made similar records in academia as Earl Crown at a similar age!" The Duchess was subtly flustered. Her hands seemed to not know what to do with themselves before she clasped them together.

The woman truly was a fan of the occult, wasn't she?

And Ophelia Marcel wasn't wrong about her friend's obsession, even if Mattheus doubted the Duchess would look at him as more than a promising youth—maybe a little brother of some sort.

Hell, he couldn't think of Sophily Morgaine in any sense more than familial, thanks to Brunilda.

He slid a hand down his tie, making sure it stayed smooth and flat. "Hm. I am not sure I can still claim such accolades presently. In actuality, I will apologize ahead of time that I cannot show you any practical demonstration and only speak in the theoretical today."

"Oh. No, just the theoretical is a lot. It is what I have the most difficulty with."

Edgar mentioned as much. That the Duchess had no trouble grasping the energies but understanding and connecting the correlations of what she read to the actual practical aspect seemed to be a struggle.

Normally, that wouldn't matter much as putting it into practical use was usually much more difficult and what all the book-learning was for.

Unfortunately, the Morgaine line produced progeny that naturally generated mystical energy in the purple spectrum. In other words, they were born Steam Occultists and Alchemists.

Steam was a hybrid. With the Aquae(Water) and Ignis(Fire) elements meeting and combining, Steam was produced.

It was also the founding magic that launched the industrial revolution of New Albion. That the royal family could use such magic inspired a Crown ancestor, which line was predominantly of the Ignis element, to think of steam in unconventional ways. The Marcel family predominantly were of the Aquae element, so were similar in thought process.

Consequently, the locomotive and aeronautics were created.

"I have reviewed the lesson plans Edgar has been following and have decided to take this opportunity to have you ask me any questions on topics or areas where you are having difficulty and do not understand," Mattheus informed the woman with a gentle smile.

While he was not the best teacher, he knew useful techniques from another world and was ready to rephrase concepts in a way for Sophily to hopefully understand more easily.

While Edgar was not bad at occultism, or else this arrangement would never have been undertaken, Mattheus had to admit his older brother was more of a muscles-for-brains rather than an academic. It was refreshing for someone to be so straightforward but not exactly great when a need to rephrase a single concept a dozen different ways were required.

(In a way, it was rather admirable Edgar got so far in university before he gave up academia to take the Knight-Captain position for the Royal Order of the Silver Raven. It meant the viscount had essentially learned all the concepts in the original, very dry and rote texts verbatim.)

Mattheus did end up needing to reword concepts and theorems for the Duchess, having ended up drawing and sometimes using a chess set for the woman to fully incorporate the theoretical with the practical. Once he found her to be a visual learner, it was easy.

He clarified everything she was confused about before starting the next item on the lesson plans while they were having elevenses, making a note to tell his father's assistant that Sophily Morgaine was a visual learner (while Edgar seemed to be predominantly a kinesthetic-audio type).

…

As soon as Mattheus said his farewells to the Duchess, Brunilda broke the patient silence she had been under to let the man teach the member of the royal family.

"Can you make a copy of those lessons for me?"

Mattheus glanced at the cat inquiringly as he walked out of the room. Why would she want the lesson plans that his father and Hugo Wenht essentially drafted for Sophily Morgaine?

"That assistant issue of yours. I have a candidate."

Ah. That made sense. And if whoever that was could actually make use of the accelerated lesson plans without help, that would be qualification enough to be his assistant.

As soon as they were free from the potential eavesdropping of servants or guards, Mattheus spoke up.

"Sure, I'll write up a copy later. Now, where is he?"

Brunilda reluctantly told him the whereabouts of Baldroy Harloch and he set off, smoothly taking a right as he made his way toward the hidden traitor to the country.

Sure, it was playing with fire to have contact with the other baron when Harloch might know the Original had also been a member but what else could they do?

Something was preventing Brunilda from following Harloch into his residence in the capital. It was nothing she could visually confirm but her senses and instincts only heightened as a cat. If her gut said no, there was a very good reason for it to do so.

They figured it was magic of some type. Yet it remained unproven since Mattheus couldn't exactly go and check it out without being suspicious. As the residence was in a very lower-middle-class neighborhood, it was not somewhere Mattheus Crown would be found near. There would be no excuse he could use if spotted.

Not doing anything was dumb, even Brunilda agreed. What they did know about this society that had the mark of an Egg of Columbus puzzle on a round pin was not much. But what they did know the society was guilty of was very alarming.

Leaving Harloch alone was equivalent to leaving a viper in the grass of one's backyard. The chance of stepping on the viper and getting bitten was always there. It venturing into the home was also a potential danger.

No, Baldroy Harloch could not be ignored now that they became aware he was connected to a group which milked the Original for information that caused an entire village to be wiped out and a nation's hero to almost be killed very publicly in a royal ball.

Mattheus slowed down his pace when Brunilda warned him how close the other baron was. If he timed this correctly…

"Lord Crown?"

Mattheus turned before smiling in greeting. "Lord Harloch! Good day. The last we saw each other was at the masquerade, wasn't it?"

"Ah, yes, it was. I just came back from lunch with a friend. I didn't expect to run into you at the palace today, Lord Crown."

"Please, feel free to call me by name. We are equals and there are too many Crowns around considering my brother and father." He stopped for half a beat, speaking again before Harloch could reply. "As for why I'm at the palace today, I just had morning tea with Her Grace and decided to talk a walk after."

Usually not the type to name drop, Mattheus purposely brought up the Duchess and saw Harloch's eyes glitter in sudden interest before it crinkled into a smile. The treasury officer seemed to take the bait, though Mattheus pretty much expected Baldroy Harloch to do so.

After all, Harloch was just the type to see it as an opportunity.

"You seem to get along with the Duchess, Lord Mattheus."

"It is thanks to Her Grace that I can now freely heal others." He blinked in realization and reluctantly said, "Ah… Am I keeping you from getting back to your office, Lord Harloch? Maybe I should—"

"I must insist you call me Baldroy in return, Lord Mattheus. As for work. Hm. If you are taking a walk, how about walking with me? We can catch up while walking to my department. It's been a while, hasn't it? The last few times we met were not exactly conducive to more than short exchanges."

"This is true," Mattheus simply agreed before gesturing for the other baron to start on his way back to work again. "How have you been? I didn't know you had a connection with Countess Marcel until that day. Does that mean more work for you or are there others that have taken up her duties now that she is only doing the absolute minimum because of her health?"

"It is a bit of both. Are you familiar with Anne Farfelou?"

Mattheus couldn't help but have his lips shift into a straight line. "Yes, unfortunately."

Harloch gave a bark of laughter. "I see you've had the displeasure of meeting that harpy. But, yes, she is one of the ones personally sponsored by the Lady and has taken over a lot of the business side." There was a pause before the man redirected the questions to Mattheus. "How about you? It sounds like the Crowns have stepped into Duchess Sophily's camp."