Thankfully, after the Ministry, Maria had enough time to see the blacksmiths. While she was back a bit later than she said, it had given them more time to consider her offer, and in the end three blacksmiths, five journeymen and eight apprentices had elected to accept her offer, and they had brought word that the journeyman clockmaker who they'd asked for help from on the pistol's small geared parts was interested as well.

They set a date for when they would move to her lands so she could arrange to have wagons ready to move their tools, while one of the master smiths accompanied her back to the manner to see the manufactory and help her arrange what else needed to be made.

It was raining again when Maria and Master Perrin, the most junior of the three smiths, arrived to inspect the buildings, and the first thing that was noted was they needed to double check the roof for leaks. Thankfully, the forge that had been set up was deemed acceptable, if a bit large. The dormitory building was also deemed suitable, and if Master Perrin looked at the stone walls, which was a seamless box except for where the doors, windows and fireplace had been poked out, with curiosity, he said nothing about it.

Maria, for her part, considered the dormitory far enough away from the main house to keep her wards away from any unwanted attention.

...

Oh, that's what she was forgetting. There were no baths. Well, there was a shower and facilities built into the dorms, so it was more a case of there not being enough baths, but she supposed they'd need a bigger one. That would have to come next, even before the bath house for the manor.

Well, at least her town's economy was doing well, with all the new souls circulating around it. That was good, right?


Maria expected the brain-rotted academics to be good for nothing and was pleasantly surprised otherwise.

"Yes, she definitely needs soul," a very old researcher from the Soul Arts Research department said, rubbing his bald head. "I've lived through paledrake twice, and that's definitely the look of someone getting a lot of their soul ripped out. They'll be like that for years, unless you let them take in a whole bunch of souls at executions, and that's not a privilege that just gets handed out. I'm sorry, Lady Campbell, but unless your mother gets a lot of souls in her, she's going to be like that for years, possibly decades, while her soul slowly gets stronger on its own, and by then she might not remember how to think any more."

"Is there no other way?" Maria said.

"Hope the paledrake shows up again, bring your mother close to it, and kill it," Doctor Lapp said decisively. "More than enough souls to go around for everyone, although I warn you it's going to feel strange. It's an old, fiery soul, not like a proper Dark Soul you find nowadays."

"I… see," Maria said. "Thank you Doctor, it is well to be able to put a name to my mother's malady."

"Oh, well, if you want a name, then it's just a case of hollowing," the doctor said dismissively. "You should be glad it's not a classic, mythological case where she starts looking like beef jerky and can't die. That would have been a bitch to deal with."

Maria supposed it would have been.


Finally, Maria had to do what she'd been putting off.

"Lady Campbell?" Lord Claes said in surprise as she arrived one morning. In truth, she'd been expected, as she had sent a notification of her intended visit the day before, but he still sounded surprised anyway. Possibly because she had never really visited properly before, her visit to meet with the Duchess notwithstanding. "If you're looking for my sister, she's not here."

Maria blinked. "Why would I be looking for Lady Katarina?"

"Everyone who comes here usually is," Lord Claes said tiredly.

Maria considered that for a moment, then reached out to give him what she hoped was a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I hope it would have been obvious from our years in the academy, but I am not romantically, carnally or physically interested in Lady Katarina, Lord Claes."

"That's how it starts," he muttered darkly, but he gave her a tired, relieved smile in any case. "Ah, please excuse my manners, I'm not used to actually making people feel welcome here. Come in, come in. we can talk in the sitting room."

Soon, they were sitting opposite each other with a pot of tea and some snacks before them. Maria felt a vague thrill of satisfaction as she noted the tea wasn't as good as Rafael's brew and the snacks weren't as good as her baking. It was petty, but satisfying to know.

"So," Lord Claes said with brisk straightforwardness that reminded Maria of their days in the student council, "what's this about if not something Katarina related? Sorry, but I'm still a bit thrown off by the notion of someone visiting for non-Katarina reasons."

Maria realized that Lord Claes must be a very lonely person, socially speaking. All his closest peers were in competition for his sister's affections, and given how naturally affectionate and friendly Katarina was, she supposed that while it was disgusting, the notion of him being attracted to her as a woman was only reasonable given how everyone around him was doing it and all the young women he knew were not viable romantic options because of Katarina-lust on all sides. No wonder he was so damned boring.

"I must admit I am here for selfish reasons," Maria said, "though they involve not Lady Katarina, but yourself, Lord Claes."

"Considering it's unlikely you're going to try and get me to marry you to get at my title, that would literally be a first," Keith said. "What do you want from me?"

"I wish to ask you to use your magic on my behalf," Maria said.

Lord Claes looked mildly uncomfortable at that, but bid her to continue. So she explained her request.

"You have a lot of faith in my control," Lord Claes said.

"Should I not have?" Maria said. "Your performance at the academy showed you to have very fine control of your magic."

"There's a reason for that," Lord Claes said with dark undertones.

"I would suppose hard work, effort and study on your part, as is only responsible to do when you possess great magic that could bring harm to others with careless use," Maria said. "Unless you would care to be more specific?"

For some reason, Lord Claes scowled at her. "Are you mocking me, Lady Campbell?" he said.

"No. I'd be much more insulting and denigrating," Maria replied.

For a moment, Lord Claes stared at her… then seemed to deflate slightly, looking chagrinned. "Yes, I can see you being direct with insults," Lord Claes said. "I'm sorry, I thought… no, of course you wouldn't know. You see, when I was younger, I accidentally hurt Katarina when I first used magic in front of her. And it wasn't the first time I hurt someone with magic."

"But of course, since then you have grown in experience, responsibility and control, I am sure," Maria said.

"Well, yes…" Lord Claes said.

"And now your magic will only hurt someone if you intentionally wish it to, as an extension of your will."

"…"

"Do you wish to hurt someone, Lord Claes?" Maria asked.

"Sometimes…" Lord Claes said wryly.

"But you do not. You have control over both your magic, and more importantly, yourself," Maria said. "How is my faith misplaced?"

"…what if I lose control?" Lord Claes said.

"At this point, to lose control would be a deliberate act of malice," Maria said. "Do you have that malice within you?"

"… you just want me to do this favor for you," Lord Claes said, sounding almost sulky.

"That is, admittedly, a consideration," Maria said honestly. "However, in my experiences with your sister, she has shown that friends are supposed to encourage one another. I find it mildly distressing you seem to be unused to being encouraged by somebody who is not your sister." For a moment, Maria leaned back. "Have I ever told you of the first time I used magic?"

"… I don't think it's ever come up, no," Lord Claes said.

"It was when I was but a young child," Maria said. "A playmate of mine, I forget their name, had hurt themselves. I was young an innocent. I wished for them to be well, and then became well. The next day, the Ministry office in town tested me and concluded I was in possession of the ability to perform Light Magic."

She reached for her tea and took a dramatic sip.

"Congratulations?" Lord Claes said, sounding wary.

"Over the next few years, my family was torn apart and our good name dragged through the swamp as my mother was accused by gossip of being unfaithful to my father, was father was judged as a cuckold, and I was considered a bastard, unwanted by my 'real' father, a social burden on my parents, and an outcast among my peers by some strange logic I cannot even verbalize," Maria said, not changing her tone.

"I… see," Lord Claes said.

"I was so twisted by the experience that the first time in years I received an honest compliment, I assumed the person in question was trying to seduce me into her harem," Maria said.

"That… explains so much about the first half of first year," Lord Claes said.

"I, of course, immediately renounced using my magic as it was the source of all my grief and hardship, and it has lain dormant within me ever since," Maria said.

"Dung pies," Lord Claes said. "You use it all the time!"

"Yes," Maria said. "Because while my magic was involved in my hardships, it was not the sole source of it. it was the situation. It was the reaction of other people. It was the circumstance. I could not control those things. But I could learn to control my magic. So I did."

"How do I know you will not lose control, Lord Claes?" Maria said. "Because you would rather die than let it happen again."

Maria took another drink purely for dramatic effect as she let her words sink in.

"Besides, you only use your magic when Lady Katarina is physically distant anyway, and she's not even here right now," Maria said. "So there's no risk to her. And that's most of what you care about, isn't it?"

Lord Claes frowned. "What?"

"Haven't you noticed? You only ever use magic when Lady Katarina isn't nearby."

Lord Claes blinked. Then understanding seemed to dawn over his face. "I… I do, don't I? How did I not…"

Maria shrugged. "I've known you all for two years. I consider myself an expert in Katarina Claes-centric modes of thinking."

"I'm not that bad!" Lord Claes said, and even by his expression he knew he was lying.

Maria picked up a snack and ate. It was still good, despite not being as good as hers. If this was the quality of the snacks in CLaes manor, no wonder Katarina liked her snacks so much. The bar hadn't been set that high.

"Fine, I'll do it," he said with a sigh. "But not tomorrow, I need to clear a day."

Maria nodded. "Acceptable. I will see you tomorrow, then."

Lord Claes frowned. "I told you, it can't be tomorrow."

"I know. Tomorrow's visit will be purely social. With your sister absent, you can't be getting too many visitors," Maria said.

"You realize what kind of rumors that will spawn, right?" Lord Claes said.

"I'll bring Miss Shelley so she can pick up some more clothes for herself," Maria said.

"You don't need to come along for that," Lord Claes said.

"The point of the exercise is to visit you," Maria said. "Friends should support their friends when they're lonely. It's what Lady Katarina would do."

"… how are we friends? You still call me 'Lord Claes'!"

"I'm a friend, not improper," Maria said. "I'll bring my sword. Without Lady Katarina around, you probably have no one to spar with."

"I… no, I don't," he said. Lord Claes, don't sound like you're giving up and going along with one of Katarina's hair-brained schemes. That's very hurtful!

"Excellent," Maria said. "Then afterwards, I can assist you when you no doubt tend to Katarina's garden in her absence."

"We have servants for that sort of thing," Lord Claes said lamely.

Maria gave him a withering look. As if he'd allow anyone else to tend to his sister's garden.

"… thanks, I could use the help," Lord Claes said.

Maria nodded. "I'll bring some snacks, and we can pretend Lady Katarina took the rest."

"… okay."

"Also, if it assuages you, I already have a fiancée, and so am not interested in your titles," Maria said.

Lord Claes blinked. "Wait, really? Since when?"

"A few days now," Maria said.

"Is it Rafael? It's Rafael, right? Please tell me it's Rafael," Lord Claes said, sounding strangely eager.

"Why the interest?" Maria said.

"We've been watching you since the student council, of course we'd be interested," Lord Claes said, sounding almost exactly like Sophia gushing over a romance novel. "Does Nicol already know?"

"I don't know, I assumed Rafael would tell him."

Lord Claes nodded. "Yes he should, that's the sort of thing he should hear from the source. But who else knows?"

"Well, Miss Shelley and Larna Smith might have suspicions, but no one else."

"So you told me first?" Lord Claes said.

Maria nodded.

"Huh… Maria, I think we're friends after all. When you finally announce it, can I be there to tell everyone I knew first?"

From that day forth, Maria had permission to call him 'Keith'.