To the Capitol

After Haalfrin had made up his mind about Freyya, a lot of his anxiety and depression seems to have gone away. He no longer spends every day feeling that whatever he happens to be doing that day is just pointless.

Still, he doesn't go traipsing off to the Threshold just yet; he already has a prior commitment here to teach Eli, so he'd mind as well see that through before he leaves.

And so, he meets Eli in the garden every day. Their lessons are fairly short – mostly Eli taking about half an hour to demonstrate the fruits of her practice, followed by Haalfrin personally instructing her for another half hour.

After that, Eli goes to her room to practice her magic on her own, while Haalfrin spends the rest of the morning training his body up again. He's tired of having limp, noodle-like arms. 'I used to be such a buff person… D#mn it! I want my muscles again!'

After he's done with his physical training, he spends another few hours either exploring the museum or perusing various libraries.

Once nighttime comes, he has a short dinner, then he goes down to his room. He spends the rest of the night delving into his Soul Realm and becoming more acquainted with his Names - especially his Syl Name.

Sometimes, when he's not going anywhere with that, he just practices his magic instead.

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Just like that, nothing really changes in Haalfrin's life for another 5 years. Life is the same as he's patiently waiting to leave.

However, 5 years later, Haalfrin is reading a book in the Duke's library when Eli comes crashing into the room. "Teacher!" Eli hisses while trying to remain respectably quiet in a library. "Teacher! Where are you!?"

Haalfrin pokes his head out from around a bookshelf. "What?"

"I got horrible news!"

"Yeah, I know!" Haalfrin hisses while putting his book back on the shelf. "I could feel how agitated you were long before you found me. I want to know what happened."

"No time to explain!" Eli says assertively as she grabs Haalfrin's wrist. "Just follow me."

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A few minutes later, Eli leads Haalfrin to the Duke's main office. Haalfrin has his Yiir Name, so it was much faster for him to carry the girl and use teleportation magic to go where she was pointing.

Once they get there, Eli opens the small, double doors and walks in.

There, sitting at the desk, is Duke Vanteri. Right now, the man has his chair turned around, and he's staring out the window with a cup of tea in his hands. His spirit is full of wistful, nostalgic feelings that Haalfrin and Eli both can tangibly feel with their Spirit Magic.

Strangely, even though the Duke just heard two people barge into his room, he seems remarkably calm.

"Father!" Eli cries out, "What happened to Palandri!? Why'd I hear that you just kicked him out of the family?!"

The Duke turns around in his chair and calmly puts his tea on his desk. "I'm sorry, dear," he smiles apologetically, "I was hoping you wouldn't find out so soon. It's really not the time for this."

The Duke then looks over at Haalfrin. "I see you brought your Teacher. Did you bring him along in case you needed to bully me into something?"

Eli goes a little red at this. From what she's gathered, Haalfrin is the only man in the world (besides the emperor) that her father is afraid of.

…It couldn't hurt to bring him along, right…?

"Ha…!" Haalfrin gives a light-hearted laugh. "Eli, girl. You're silly."

Frankly, Haalfrin is reminded of the times when Kamyen was around 10 years old.

Whenever Tanya tried making him do something unpleasant (like chopping the wood), he'd always hide behind Haalfrin and bring him along whenever he tried negotiating with his mother.

It's as if the little boy saw Haalfrin as "the cool parent". Plus, he saw Haalfrin as a powerful leg to stand behind…

Just the same way, Eli brought Haalfrin along to confront HER father – all while partially standing behind him.

"What's so funny, Sir Haalfrin?" the Duke asks. "Is Palandri being expelled from the family somehow amusing?"

"Nothing," Haalfrin waves his hand from side to side. "I was just thinking of something unrelated."

His mirthful smile fades, and he looks at the Vanteri Family head. "I am curious, though. What brought this on? When I saw you two together last time, you were both getting along rather well. Did he do something he wasn't supposed to do?"

Haalfrin then shrugs. "I'm not a member of the family, so feel free to not answer. It's not my place to pry."

"It's fine," Enrin Vanteri says. "It's just, I've been watching you three interact – Palandri, Eli, and you. I've just come to realize… well…" He looks down and sighs.

The Duke then turns to Eli. "My daughter… I know that you respect me too much to ever come out and say it… but I asked Haalfrin for a favor the other day. I knew you weren't going to like it, so I asked him not to tell you."

Eli then turns to her Teacher with worry in her eyes. Did her father ask him to do something bad?

To this, Haalfrin shrugs, "Your father asked me to use Spirit magic to tell him about yours and Palandri's relationship – your feelings for each other."

"What feelings?" Eli asks softly.

"Hmm…," Haalfrin hums. "Well, you and Palandri DO love each other. Palandri has a rebellious personality, so he doesn't mind fighting the duke over it. When you became a mage, he WAS the most vocal about the Duke NOT adopting you."

He continues, "However, you respect the Duke too much. You'd never try fighting him over this in a million years."

He then points at the Duke. "When I told the Duke this, he thought about it for a few months. I actually thought he'd forgotten about the issue, but I suppose he suddenly kicked Palandri out to allow the boy to legally pursue you."

"…Ah…," Eli says softly while looking at the ground. "So… Palandri was expelled… because of me?"

"…So that he could court you officially without being condemned in high society," the Duke finishes her thought.

"But what if I turn him down?" Eli asks firmly. "With his noble status on the line now, I feel like I HAVE to marry him now."

Frankly, Eli does love Palandri, but she doesn't like feeling as if she's obligated to do so. Realizing that Palandri will just be a commoner if he doesn't marry her certainly makes her uncomfortable.

"That's fine," the Duke says. "If you turn him down, I can just accept him back into the family. I just wanted this done because I didn't want a hint of you two talking to each other romantically until you weren't legally brother and sister anymore."

"Where IS Palandri, anyway?" Eli demands while tweaking some of the Duke's Spirit Threads.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, dear," Enrin Vanteri smiles, "I was already planning on telling you. I sent that brat off to Count Benchi's household. He's related to the Count as well on his mother's side, so they adopted him without issue.

In the Duke's mind, Palandri needs a noble title to marry Eli. If he's going to not be a Vanteri anymore, he needs to at least be adopted by another noble family.

Plus, the Benchi County is much less significant than the Vanteri Duchy, so when the Duke went to them and proposed this plan, they lept at the opportunity to have one of their sons marry a Vanteri lady – even if that son was recently a Vanteri himself.

"Well, Eli? You still need my help?" Haalfrin asks while giving her a side glance.

"…No… I'll go to my room and think about it."

"All right," Haalfrin says as he puts his hand on her shoulder. "I won't be testing you on your practice tomorrow. Get some rest and think things through."

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Palandri ends up spending about 3 years in Benchi County – going on missions for the Count and earning merits for his new family. It's important for his place there to be cemented and earned before he comes back to the Vanteri Duchy.

Then, once he's all settled there, he comes back and starts seeing Eli again. He's wearing different family colors now, but he's otherwise the same.

About another 3 years after Palandri came back to the Vanteri Family, Haalfrin finally receives news that their engagement has been set.

Eli, of course, makes sure to invite her Teacher along for the wedding. Sure, he's not a member of the family, but this wedding never would've happened if Haalfrin hadn't taught her Spirit Magic.

And so, Haalfrin goes to the wedding. The ceremony itself is certainly grand – with hundreds of guests showing up. You'd think that the Duchy wouldn't be able to afford this much, given how far they've fallen in the last century and a half.

However, no matter how grand Haalfrin thinks it is, the Duke keeps on insisting that "it could've been much grander."

'Rich people…'

Still, Haalfrin does notice that there are no guests from any of the other Ducal families; only lower-class families show up.

In a very real sense, this is a true indication of the Vanteri's level in society now, like it or not.

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The wedding itself is simultaneously a sweet and bitter day for Palandri and Eli. Sure, they're getting married, but they also know that Haalfrin was planning on leaving after the wedding.

The be more precise, Haalfrin had told them several months prior that he had nothing more to teach Eli. He only stuck around for this long so that he could attend the wedding.

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The day after the wedding, Haalfrin finds himself in the Duke's office, sitting on a chair across from the man himself.

"Duke…," Haalfrin nods, "I'd like to collect my payment now."

The Duke sits up in his chair and frowns. "We already talked about this before, Sir Haalfrin. I don't know if we can actually repay you this way..."

Haalfrin crosses his arms. "I don't care how you do it. Just get me an audience with the Emperor. At the very least, get me his signature with his permission to go to the Threshold. If he says no, at least get me a pass THROUGH the Threshold. I'm tired of lounging around in this world."

"I'd like to help, Sir Haalfrin. I really would," the Duke apologizes. "It's just, I don't know if we have the same weight to throw around at court anymore. The Emperor doesn't respond to our letters, and we haven't even been invited to the capitol in over 20 years. I can offer you anything but what you're asking for."

"Hmm…," Haalfrin hums. "If you can't help me out, then I COULD just barge my way through to the Threshold by force. I was trying to be nice and not ruffle any feathers for old times' sake, but sentiment can only hold me back so far."

The Duke looks down and coughs uncomfortably. "I…um… I'll look into it."

"I'm leaving tomorrow, Duke."

"All right!" the Duke leans back and admits defeat. "I'll send someone with you tomorrow. I can't promise any results, through."

Just as Haalfrin stands up, the Duke stands up as well. "Haalfrin?" the older man calls out. "Are you sure you don't want to stay behind? My Vanteri Family would treat you well."

Haalfrin pauses for a second then shakes his head. "No. I'm fine teaching a student for a couple of years, but I don't belong to any noble family…" '… I've already chosen a master,' Haalfrin finishes the thought mentally. "Good day."