Running into red

"Is your Ladyship perhaps the second rank noble, Lady Delton?" His seemingly lifeless eyes began to light up.

I nodded my head to him, I hate to admit it but I was feeling a little too intimidated by him to speak. I wasn't sure what put me so on edge but I was definitely tensing up.

"It is my honor to introduce you to the church of Magic, Lady Delton. Please forgive my abrupt approach." It was almost magical how his cold intimidating demeanor vanished and gave way to the warm and friendly face he was showing me now. Hell he was even blushing... his smile was so wide that his eyes narrowed into little crescents and cute dimples appeared on his cheeks.

"There's nothing to forgive..." I answered back awkwardly, not quite knowing how to handle this guy.

"I am St. Silas Claudian, the twelfth seat of the Church of magic, and the person who will be introducing you to the church today." He lent over and gave me a deep respectful bow, with what felt like deep sincerity.

"It's a pleasure to meet you St. Claudian." I looked up into his yellow eyes and really wondered about him.

"If your Ladyship would do me the honour of calling me Silas, I would be most grateful." His yellow eyes went all soft and mushy and I felt obligated to oblige him.

"Sure.... Silas." I chuckled awkwardly. "You can call me Riley if you want to..." I offered. However his eyes widened and he raised his hands shakily, astounded by my offer.

"I couldn't possibly refer to a Second Rank noble Lady by her first name..." I nodded remembering the way Agnes and Bard had been so shocked when I had asked them to call me by my first name.

With that, Auberon and Edna noticed that I was talking to a stranger and hastily made their way over to me, and with all of us assembled, Silas began to show me around the church.

He showed me the six great halls of the church where people came to pray for the six gods of magic: wind, water, earth, fire, lightning and dark. Each hall was decorated to represent the different magic of each god, each room also had a massive statue of the god carved into the wall.

I learned a lot about what the gods were supposed to look like, as well as a bit of the mythology surrounding them: The god of Dark magic was represented as an old man with a long beard, shrouded in a dark cloak with a hidden face. While the God of Fire was represented as a young handsome man with flames for hair, engulfed in a bright ball of fire. The god of water was an elfin-like water creature whose hair was sculpted to look like the beautiful man was swimming through water. The goddess of wind was depicted as a tall elegant looking woman whose long was longer than her body and flowed beautifully in the wind. The god of earth was depicted as a giant man with a thick bulging muscular form and a menacing glare as mounds of rock and soil were levitating around him. The god/goddess of lighting was depicted as a more androgynous figure, childlike actually, who was depicted raising two small hands into the air, summoning great boots of lighting down to Arteria.

While he showed me around, Silas told me so many wonderful stories and folktales about the gods and all the magical creatures of this world, that just made me want to go home and study up on everything.

For our final destination, Silas lead me up to the second floor of the Church where an office was located, the place where I could officially sign the registry and become part of the church.

Silas left me at a large wooden desk and went to the back wall where hundreds of paper scrolls were stacked neatly on top of each other. He pulled one of the scrolls out of the pile and then splayed it out across the desk and showed me where to sign my name. I carefully wrote out my full name and then handed the beautiful golden quill back to Silas. With that, my first trip to the Church of Magic was complete! I was actually pretty glad because the trip had been so much better than I had thought it would be. As we walked away from the grand church and back up the fancy streets, I felt pretty satisfied with my visit, I also reformed my opinion of Silas, despite having a frightening demeanor he was actually a pretty nice guy.

———————-

Silas's heart was beating like a drum in his chest. Never in his entire life had he been so close to someone as powerful as she was. The magical energy was literally flowing off of her in waves and delighting whoever was closest to her.

Silas was born with a gift that enabled him to see magical powers within a person, a specific type of skills within the Appraiser skill. As soon as he had seen her standing by the wall and following the magic within the wall with her dark brown eyes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had been told by his superiors that Lady Delton was a triple user, but from what he could see, she had all the types of magic rolling off of her. He had almost fainted with joy at the sight of her powers.

From that moment on, Lady Delton suddenly had a serious attractiveness about her. By Silas's eyes, she was probably the most powerful person in Gismead and thus his attraction toward her was cemented. In an instant he decided that Lady Riley was the love of his life and that he would follow her anywhere until the day they could be united in matrimony.

When Riley left the Church Silas gushed like a young girl and his check blushed a bright red. His obsession had begun...

-Riley—

As we walked back to the carriage, my eyes lingered over the different shopfronts, that were filled with eye catching magical tools, rich fabrics and splendid jewelry.

I couldn't seem to tear my eyes aware from a particularly cozy looking shop, that oddly enough displayed gorgeous jewelry through its windows. Edna and Auberon noticed my lingering gaze and stopped walking.

"Perhaps Milady would like to take a look inside this shop..." Suggested Auberon with a charming gleeful smile.

"Umm..." I hesitated because I didn't want to end up wasting money on things. Even though I knew I would be able to afford it, it still felt strange to just be able to go into a shop and get whatever you wanted...

"Now That Milady is a Second Rank Noble, new jewelry is most appropriate." Edna stated matter-of-factly.

"Ok just a quick look then." I felt my cheeks blush, so I turned away from them and headed to the shops doors. Auberon caught up to me and opened the door for me.

Inside the shop was even more beautiful than the outside because every other inch of the cosy shop was decorated with stunning jewelry. Rows and rows of sparkling gemstones with gold and silver bands. My inner noble Lady was drooling at the sight of it all.

The shopkeeper was a sweet little old lady, whose hair was tied back in a neat bun and wore a plain black dress with a full skirt and long sleeves. She was kind enough to show me around the shop and show me what was fashionable and what type of jewelry was for what season. Apparently thick and bulky dark colored jewelry was meant for the Falling and Freezing seasons, while more light and air jewelry was worn during the Flowering season. So now was the perfect time for me to splurge on some chunky jewelry that I would probably never wear.

I ended up buying a whole case of twelve different chunky rings, each with its own color gemstones. I also bought a set of opal type earrings and necklaces as well as a pretty dainty tiara. By the end of it, I had spent just under a gold coin. I was beginning to realize that I had really weak self control.

After I finished my little spree, we got back into the carriage and rode home. During the ride, Lavinia suddenly popped into my head. The last time I had seen her was when she had passed out face forward on the floor of the Great Hall in the Royal palace, with her dress torn open and her noble but on full display. I have to admit that revenge was sweet, and that seeing her so disposed and defaced in front of so many people, felt really good, but soon afterwards I started to feel bad for her, even if I thought that she was a total witch, it couldn't be easy for someone who upheld appearance and status above all other qualities to be so defaced in front of some of the most important people in Gismead. Including Sinjin, the man she was so devoted to... I just hoped that the experience would change her for the better.

At thoughts of Lavinia, I suddenly remembered what Alice had told me about Lavinia's family business, that they were the best and only established healing company in the kingdom before I came along. I remembered Alice's words exactly,

'They run a deplorable business by healing their poorer patients and then demanding that they pay an impossible sum of money. Commoners usually have to sell their houses to pay off their debts and if they can't they wave to work off their debts by becoming farm workers and farming medicinal materials for them, without pay for years on end, until they have payed off their debt through hard labor. The farms are horrible, the workers are worked to the bone and many die there, they get very little food and since they don't get payed for their work they can't buy an amenities. The imbecile thought it was funny to boast about her families business to me. That day I told her what I thought about her family business and I completely cut ties with her, that's why she hates me.'

At the time I had promised to create potions that would completely run her family out of business so that they could not enslave people anymore. A resolution I planned to keep. Tomorrow I planned to work like a dog until I come up with potions that would be able to heal people from poisoning or diseases. I was determined.

I wondered if Lucian knew about Lavinia's family business, because I remember him mentioning that his father was once healed by a healing Mage but then had to leave Lucian and his mother to go and pay of his debts. Was it possible that Lucian's father could be one of the poor men working off his debts at the farm? Did Lucian know about this? Did he suspect it? Should I try and talk to him?

"Milady, we are home." Came Edna's calm voice, that brought me back from my thoughts. I smiled gratefully and got out of the carriage and made my way back inside the house. Just as I was about to open the door, it flung open by itself and a thunderous chant came from inside.

"SURPRISED!!!!!!!!" Chanted a room full of people.

I got such a shock that I stumbled back a bit and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Alice was standing right in the doorway with a lavish bouquet of white and black flowers, and behind her stood all of my friends: Lucian, Dimitri, Rosalie, Cornelius, Arcadia and Edgar. I could also recognize Lord Sinjin and Lord Alucard standing a bit further back in the entrance hall. Lord Gawain and Lord Braxton Smithson were in the middle of the crowd. The dashing Romulus twins were also among the crowd. Edgar's magical tutor, Lord Elian was beside Edgar. There were so many faces that I didn't recognize though, even though they were waving at me smiling.

"Congratulations on becoming a second rank noble!" Alice cheered as she pulled me in for a big hug and handed over the stunning bouquet.

"I threw you a 'Surprised' party! Remember the ones you told me about!" She gushed happily. I laughed at her explanation.

"It's not surprised part, it's surprise party!" I laughed heartily. Gosh I loved Alice to pieces!

"What?!! No! I definitely remember you told me about a 'surprised' party!" She giggled, "did I really get it wrong?" She pouted.

"No, this is perfect..." I sighed, suddenly feeling a bit emotional. "Thank you Alice." I pouted as I closed in for another hug.

As soon as I was finished hugging Alice, my other friends began to swarm me, and all gave me hugs and praise. Which I ate up happily.

"Oh! I can hardly believe it... Out little Riley has already become a Second Rank Noble..." Lady Marcellus was dabbing her damp eyes with an embroidered silk cloth as she approached me. "We are so proud of you my dear." She smiled brightly with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, you've truly done well for yourself!" Came the cheery voice of Lord Marcellus who followed behind his wife. "To be promoted to a second rank noble in less than a season is truly exceptional!" He praised.

I nodded and bowed courteously.

"Thank you both so much. If you hadn't taken me in when I was new to Gismead, I wouldn't have been able to do anything." It was true, if Lord Marcellus hadn't let me join the Mage society and take part in the Mage tournament, I don't where I would be now.

"If we hadn't taken you in, we would have deprived Gismead of one of its finest gems." Gushed Lady Marcellus, which made me blush.

"By the way Riley, the Mage society would be most honored if you could teach some classes on Magic at the Society..." Hinted Lord Umfrey.

"Woah really!" I blurted out since it was really a huge honor to be asked to teach at the society. Whenever I walked past the board that displayed the names of the lecturers, the lecturers had numerous academic titles before their names, whereas the only academic title I had would be for winning the Mage competition.

"Of course!" Boomed Lord Umfrey, "The healing potion you created is enough to label you one of the leading mages of this era. In fact I'm sure the scribes are already scribbling your name down as one of the major magical advancers in Girannonian history!"

It was kind of strange to think of myself as going down in the history books... but I guess I was pretty awesome.

"So then, will you do it?" Urges Lord Umfrey.

"Yes, thank you for the opportunity, I would love to." I smiled brightly.

"Ah good choice! I'll send you the details in a letter." With that Lord Umfrey and Lady Eleanora wandered off into the crowd in my entrance hall.

"To think that my sister was capable of making friends with academics..." frowned Cornelius as he looked off into the distance as if the thought really troubled him.

"Shut up Cornelius!" Snapped Alice, as she slapped his arm harshly.

Cornelius pouted as he cradled his supposedly injured arm.

"You're no Lady..." he hissed jokingly at Alice. Alice gave his a cold stare which made him shrink back and disperse into the crowd. I could only laugh at their antics.

"Come Riley, I have lots of people I want you to meet." She giggled as she grasped my hand and marched forward. As we made our way through the chatting crowd the people would bow to me and say thing like: 'Congratulations' 'Greetings Lady Delton'

It felt good to be congratulated and all, but I was a bit weary of my home being filled with complete strangers.

"Here's the man I want to introduce you to..."

When I looked up at the stranger the wind was almost completely knocked out of me as I saw a pair of blood red eyes staring down at me, even worse, I saw a spark of recognition in his eyes as he looked down at me. Did he actually recognize me from behind the pub last night...?