•••

Caius ignored the looks he received from the First Years and some of the Healers when he walked out of the partition. There were very few things that could make him ashamed and being heard making out with a beautiful girl wasn't one of them.

He did raise a brow at the look Professor Raoul gave him though and when Raoul saw the raised brow, he chuckled and then asked in a teasing tone,

"Are you sure a minute was enough?"

Caius decided to ignore the teasing tone and responded to the question like it were asked with sincerity.

"No," he said with a smile, "Why? Wanna give me a couple more minutes. Half an hour would be sweet."

Raoul cleared his throat, already leading the way out of the Infirmary.

"Actually, we're in a bit of a hurry," he said.

"Shucks," Caius said sarcastically.

Raoul laughed.

As they walked, ignoring the comments and whispers about both Caius's infamous part in defeating the Demon and freeing them from the entrapment within the Lochxen Forest as well as what they just heard happen behind the curtains of the partition, Caius saw Doran and he waved in greeting. A greeting that Doran returned.

Outside the Infirmary, they were met with the chaos of the rest of the Academy. Many called Caius's name and a few even approached before stopping in place when they were met by the Aura exuding from Professor Raoul's form.

The Mage-Knight Professor kept the smile he had had on his face thus far and despite how inviting it was, that aura of his kept away any nuisance. Caius was grateful.

They walked the length of the corridor to somewhere Caius found familiar. It was where he had been dropped off by the Portal Gate Arlette opened for him in her home.

Professor Raoul waved his hand across the wall and a Portal Gate appeared.

"After you," he said.

Caius stepped into the Portal Gate. And on the other side, he was in a different corridor. He looked to the side immediately and he saw a window out of which he could see almost the entirety of Lochxen spread out before him. Considering the sheer size of Lochxen, the fact that he could see this much, and see it look so tiny, meant he was very high up.

And while Lochxen Academy—a collection of numerous buildings—was not without many tall structures, there was really only one building that was this tall. It was home to various precious Lochxen Archives as well as the office of the most important person in the Academy;

The Headmistress.

'Oh, right,' Caius thought, 'The inquiry.'

It had taken only a few seconds for him to come to this realization and by the time he was done, Professor Raoul had exited the Portal Gate behind him and it fizzled into nothing.

"Come on, Von Helsing," he said, "No time to waste."

And so they walked. Down the hall, to turn a corner where Professor Raoul opened a door and gestured that Caius should walk in. Caius did and he hadn't gotten a good enough look at where he was before he heard a familiar voice.

"Caius."

He looked toward the voice and there was Delia. Beside her, separated by some seating space, was Aurelius who was staring off into the distance. It was clear from his blue eyes that he wasn't looking at anything in particular. Just lost in thoughts.

The one who called Caius's name was Delia and there was a surge of excitement in her voice. The excitement was a little dull though when Caius looked at her beautiful face.

"Delia," he answered with a smile that wasn't at all dulled in its delight to see her.

Looking at that smile, Delia's lips twitched and she seemed so close to reciprocating. And then, with a great show of strong will, she turned her face away and kept her expression solemn.

"Wait here," Professor Raoul said to Caius and gestured at the set of seats Delia and Aurelius were sitting on.

"Yes, Professor."

"We'll call on you when she's ready," Raoul said.

The 'she' obviously referred to the one behind the grand doors across the waiting hall they were currently in.

"Can't wait," Caius said.

Raoul heard something in Caius's tone and interpreted it as nervousness which was why he offered a comforting smile that turned sad quickly.

"Relax. We'd all just like to know exactly what happened," he said,

"The whole of Lochxen is in turmoil. A lot is uncertain. But one thing isn't and that is that none of you is at fault for this. This is a failing of we, your Professors. It's our duty to keep you safe and we failed at that.

The fault is all on us. So please, alleviate some of our guilt by taking a breath."

Caius nodded.

"Yes, Professor."

Raoul smiled again and then walked away to knock once on the door before pulling it open and walking in. No single sound escaped from the room even when it opened but a wave of wind blew out. Carrying with it magical energy that wrapped around the trio and soothed a good bit of their worries and agitations.

Caius walked over to the seats and sat by Delia's side in one of the seats she had left between herself and Aurelius.

"I'm glad to see you're well," he told her gently.

There were no signs of injury on her. Clearly, just like him, she had spent a lot of the past few hours Healing.

"You don't look bad yourself," she said, still looking away. She seemed to have tried very hard not to let any concern or care seep into her tone. But it still did. Causing Caius to smile.

He went silent then.

Caius liked to think he knew Delia quite a bit now. He knew her personality in ways he just wouldn't have gotten to by reading about her in a novel. Partly because a lot had changed from her path in said novel.

In any case, it was clear to him that she was working through something. She had to be arriving at a resolution by now and he waited for it to be his time to pitch in.

It couldn't be long. Not when he was now here by her side.

And sure enough,

"Why didn't you tell me?" Delia asked with her eyes closed.

Caius let out a sigh but said nothing for the first two seconds, causing Delia to turn her head, her eyelids flying open so she could glare at him with her stormy grey eyes, in which he could have sworn he saw streaks of lightning.

Caius glanced at the door. He was willing to bet that whatever was keeping sounds inside that office was also keeping sounds out of it.

Still, one can't be too careful. So he dropped his voice very low. So low, Delia who was right by his side had to pay close attention to hear him. Aurelius, who was still staring off at nothing would have to keen his hearing to pick up on the conversation.

Though Caius didn't think it mattered if Aurelius heard. There was no way Aurelius hadn't seen what he was. And while there was a possibility that the blond-haired boy didn't quite understand what he had seen, Caius didn't really care either way at this point.

"Delia," Caius said slowly, "I'm sorry but it's not really something one brings up in random conversation.

I mean, how would I even broach the topic? Hey, I think you've got great Mage-Knight skills. By the way, I'm a creature of the night who thirsts for your blood. Would that have been welcome?"

"Yes!" Delia answered without hesitation.

"Come on," Caius said with a little laugh.

"Caius, I'm serious. You're trying to make it sound silly but that's exactly how you could have told me. I've been thinking about it over and over in my head," Delia said with wide eyes,

"You had many opportunities to tell me. And you never did. You shared other secrets with me. Secrets I have kept.

And not once did you think to tell me.

Did you think I wouldn't be able to handle it?"

"Could you?" Caius asked then and his eyes were solemn as he continued,

"I mean, are you handling it now?"

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