Chapter 170: Sting of Jealousy

Lorien:

"I have already started preparing for the next phase," I told her, folding my hands together on the desk. "We are setting up several investigation groups, but none of them will know the complete picture. They’ll operate separately and report directly to me or Hazel so that information doesn’t spread to unnecessary people."

Elara listened quietly, and I continued before she could interrupt. "We are going to investigate every person currently residing within Moonveil Academy. Not just their magical abilities, but their backgrounds. Their families, connections, friendships, social circles, financial dealings, recent movements, people they have met, places they have visited, and anything else that could establish a connection to you or a reason they might want to harm you. We are not going to assume the person responsible is someone who already has a known grudge against you. They may have a connection to someone else, or they may be acting on another person’s orders."

I leaned back slightly.

"We’ll also review academy records from before your arrival. Anyone who suddenly changed their behavior after you came here will be examined. Anyone who gained access to restricted areas, modified wards, obtained unusual magical materials, or had unexplained absences around the time of previous incidents will be investigated."

Hazel nodded beside me. "We’ll also cross-reference movements rather than investigating everyone separately. If someone appears innocent on their own but repeatedly happens to be near locations connected to the incidents, we’ll notice the pattern."

I added that the investigation would include the human realm as well, because the missing truck driver and the thugs from previous incident couldn’t simply disappear without leaving some trail somewhere. We would track the vehicle’s ownership, its previous routes, its maintenance history, financial transactions, communication records, and anyone connected to the driver. We would also examine who could have arranged for a truck to be in that exact location without attracting attention.

"And this time," I said, my voice hardening, "nothing will be assumed to be insignificant. Every anomaly gets recorded. Every unexplained movement gets checked. We have already looked into potions that could cut one’s connection with magic, and are looking into who purchased such things."

Elara remained silent, absorbing everything. I could see the thoughts moving behind her silver eyes, but she didn’t object. That alone eased some of the pressure sitting inside my chest. Still, there was one more matter I needed to address. "There’s also something else."

Her attention returned to me.

"The accident happened partly because of a security failure. Hazel was away because she had been called for Warrior training, and the rest of us made the mistake of believing nothing would happen during a simple driving lesson. We should never have allowed your protection to depend on assumptions." I paused, forcing myself to say what needed to be said. "That will not happen again. From now on, you will have a permanent secondary protection arrangement with you whenever you leave the academy or enter a situation where your safety could reasonably be compromised."

Elara’s expression immediately suggested she was preparing to argue, so I raised a hand.

"You will have the option of dismissing your secondary protection during genuinely private matters. I’m not trying to put a warrior over your shoulder every second of the day. But you will make that decision intelligently. If there is a credible threat, you don’t dismiss them simply because you find their presence inconvenient."

To my relief, she didn’t fight me on it. Instead, she nodded slowly. "Fine."

That single word loosened something inside me that I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I continued, "And your dorm." Her mouth tightened slightly. "You are going to replace the locking spell today. Properly this time." I couldn’t resist the faintest hint of exasperation. "Every exterior door, Elara. And if anything unusual happens again - even something you think is completely insignificant - you tell me. You don’t dismiss it."

Her eyebrows lifted. "Anything?"

"Anything and everything." I pointed toward her tablet. "If another pillow disappears, if something is moved, if you notice a window open when you know you closed it, if a familiar object suddenly smells different, if someone appears to know something they shouldn’t know - tell me." I hesitated before admitting, "I still don’t like the missing pillow."

Elara gave me a slightly incredulous look. "Lorien, it was a pillow."

"And it might have been nothing," I said. "Or it might have been someone entering your dorm and taking something for a reason we haven’t discovered yet."

The thought unsettled me far more than I wanted to admit. Someone could have been inside her room while she slept. Someone could have been studying her habits, testing the weakness in her wards, or simply checking how easily they could enter. The fact that she had dismissed the missing pillow incident because it seemed ridiculous now felt like another failure.

Elara didn’t argue with any of my arrangements, and for perhaps five seconds, I actually felt relieved. Then she turned her full attention toward Magnus.

"Is Magnus part of the Moon Warriors?" she asked, looking directly at me.

The change in Magnus was almost comical. The man who had spent most of the meeting sitting in the corner with the relaxed, almost bored posture of someone who had absolutely no interest in the proceedings suddenly straightened in his chair. His expression became alert, his shoulders squared, and his eyes fixed on Elara as though he had just realized the Princess had turned an investigative lens directly onto him.

"No," I answered. "Magnus isn’t a Moon Warrior." I glanced briefly toward him before continuing. "He’s not affiliated with any organization or Regent either. He’s always worked independently. He takes whatever assignments interest him, provided the terms suit him. He’s handled escort work, investigations, security contracts, recovery missions, and occasionally things I don’t even bother asking about." Magnus gave me a faintly offended look at that, but I ignored it. "He only came to Moonveil because of Hazel."

Elara nodded thoughtfully, her eyes remaining on Magnus for another moment before she finally asked him directly, "Then why didn’t you join the Moon Warriors? Or work for one of the Regents? With your skills, you could probably make a very good reputation for yourself. And quite a lot of money."

Magnus blinked. "Have you been looking into me?"

Much to everyone’s surprise, Elara nodded. She tapped her finger against the tablet lying in front of her and said, almost casually, "I’m looking through the file I received on you."

Magnus’s eyebrows rose.

Elara’s lips curved faintly as she added, "And I’m more than impressed." She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly with genuine interest. "I’m intrigued too."

I couldn’t explain why the sight of another man suddenly becoming the center of her attention bothered me. Because there was nothing romantic in the way she was looking at Magnus. Not even remotely. And yet, despite knowing that, I couldn’t stop the faint sting of jealousy from settling somewhere beneath my ribs.

At the same time, I couldn’t deny the other feeling growing alongside it.

Curiosity.

Because judging from the way Elara was studying Magnus, she clearly had a reason for asking all these questions.

And I wanted to know exactly what it was.