Ren had been gathering willpower for hours to deliver the gifts. Initially he had considered the cowardly option of simply sending them with a note, but he had realized in ti that this wouldn’t fulfill the real purpose. As Jessy had explained, it was about the personal gesture as much as the gift itself. An apology had to be face to face, or it wasn’t really an apology.
The problem was that when he finally worked up the courage to look for Luna and Liora, they weren’t in their room.
This forced him to do sothing he had hoped to avoid: wandering all over the school uncomfortably asking about their whereabouts. Each conversation was a small torture.
"Excuse , have you seen Luna or Liora?"
"Are you looking for them for any special matter? I can tell them if I see them," invariably asked whoever responded, with that smile that now seed more obvious than ever, suggesting that everyone had decided there were obvious romantic interests between him and the girls.
"Thanks, but I just need to talk directly to them," he would mutter, feeling his cheeks warming each ti.
The assumptions were everywhere, embedded in every knowing look and ’helpful’ suggestion. Fellow students would offer to deliver ssages with expressions that clearly indicated they believed they were facilitating so grand romantic gesture.
After an hour of fruitless searching, he finally received useful information: they were in the academy’s back gardens, apparently receiving a visit.
When he arrived at the indicated area, he imdiately understood why it had been so difficult to find them.
Selphira Ashenway was sitting elegantly on one of the garden benches, drinking tea as if her presence were the most natural thing in the world.
It seed the girls had been there since their cups were still on the table.
Under normal circumstances, Ren would have tried to avoid the perceptive elder. Selphira had an uncomfortable ability to read people, and had almost always been capable of seeing through any pretense he tried to maintain.
But since the crystallization incident, he had noticed changes in her. She stayed closer to Liora, visited more frequently, and generally seed a bit less intimidating in matters related to her granddaughter. Since Ren was technically part of "Liora’s affairs" normally, she had always treated him with a warmth he considered sowhat exaggerated for his taste.
He thought maybe that wouldn’t be bad now. So he approached...
But he was completely wrong this ti.
"Ren Patinder," Selphira’s voice cut through the air like a sharp blade the mont he got close enough to be noticed.
It wasn’t the warm tone he had expected.
’Curse my luck,’ he thought. ’Seems she already found out about sothing.’
Selphira rose from the bench with movents that were too fluid for soone her age, but which reminded him of her true nature as one of the most dangerous people in the kingdom.
She gestured with her hand and the two guards following her stayed to collect the table.
"Walk with ." It wasn’t a request.
Ren followed obediently. Selphira guided him toward a more private section of the garden, where they were out of reach of the curious.
"So," Selphira began, her voice maintaining that dangerous edge, "are you going to explain to why my granddaughter is clearly upset by sothing you did to her and won’t tell about it?"
Ren felt as if ice water had been poured over him. Of course she had found out. The girls probably hadn’t ntioned specific details, but Selphira had over four hundred years of experience reading people. She didn’t need details to know when soone had hurt her family.
"I..." he began, but Selphira’s gaze silenced him imdiately.
"I’ve watched them grow for years," the elder continued, her voice dropping to a tone that sohow managed to be more threatening than if she had been shouting. "I know every expression on their faces. I know when they’re sad, when they’re worried, and I definitely know when soone has hurt them."
Ren swallowed, suddenly feeling as if he were ten years younger and had been caught stealing candy.
"Luna was especially quiet," Selphira observed, taking a step closer. "Which is saying sothing, considering how reserved she normally is. And Liora... well, Liora was trying so desperately to act like everything was normal that it was obvious it wasn’t."
’Think fast,’ Ren ordered himself. ’Explain the situation before she decides you’re a bigger disappointnt.’
In a way, Ren appreciated the elder and didn’t want to look bad in her eyes.
"You’re right," he said finally, forcing himself to maintain eye contact despite every instinct telling him to hide. "I hurt them. Not physically, but thoughtlessly... emotionally."
Selphira raised an eyebrow, apparently surprised by his direct honesty.
"Continue."
"I was... not in a good place ntally. A lot of stress, many things changing, and although it hasn’t completely gone away... I was handling it very badly." Ren paused, searching for the right words. "They tried to talk to when I was acting like an idiot, and I... was cruel to them."
The admission felt like pulling thorns from a wound. Each word forced him to confront not just what he had done, but the person he had temporarily beco under pressure.
Selphira’s expression didn’t change, but Ren could see sothing shifting in her eyes.
"And what do you plan to do about it?"
Ren lifted the small bags he had been carrying, feeling ridiculously uncomfortable and inadequate.
"I’m looking for them to give them gifts and apologize. Properly. In person."
The change in Selphira was instantaneous and dramatic.
The powerful and slightly threatening elder disappeared completely, replaced by what appeared to be a genuinely pleased grandmother. Her expression softened, her posture relaxed, and she even smiled.
"Oh, my dear child!" she exclaid, her voice transforming completely. "Why didn’t you say that from the beginning?"
Ren blinked, completely bewildered by the transformation.
"I... didn’t have a chance?"
"How considerate! How thoughtful!" Selphira was practically radiating approval now. "May I see what you brought?"
Ren, still processing the emotional whiplash, cautiously opened the bags to show the accessories he had created.
For Luna he had made a delicate bracelet with navy blue skins and silver runes that would provide subtle protection against cold. For Liora he had created an elegant necklace with golden tones and runes that would slightly improve heat resistance.
The craftsmanship was ticulous despite his now reduced abilities. But with what he had learned till now, each rune had been individually calibrated for maximum efficiency within the limited space, and the aesthetic integration was seamless enough that they looked like purely decorative pieces rather than functional magical items.
"Exquisite work!" Selphira examined the gifts. "The runes are perfectly integrated with a technique I’ve never seen, the colors are appropriate for each girl... and they’re practically useful besides being beautiful!"
"Do you think they’ll like them?" Ren asked, feeling so relief yet also a persistent nervousness.
"Of course they will! But more important than the gifts themselves..." Selphira looked at him seriously for a mont, "is that you recognized your error and are making the effort to correct it. That speaks well of your character."
Ren felt unexpectedly moved by the approval.
"And tell , what is it that has you so stressed?"
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