The cool night air of the Steele Estate did little to soothe the restless fire burning within Kenneth. The meeting with Alaric Steele had been… unsettling. Not the outright rejection he had anticipated, which would have been frustrating but predictable. No, Alaric had accepted Ondine's audacious proposal, but with conditions that felt like cleverly disguised chains.
'He wants to meet Lady Ondine himself? And demand Professor Valtor's personal allegiance?' Kenneth paced the confines of his luxurious guest chamber, the rich tapestries and ornate furniture doing nothing to calm his agitation. 'That arrogant bastard. He's trying to undermine me, to insert himself into my connections.'
He gritted his teeth. The memory of their spar months ago, the casual way Alaric had utterly dismantled him, still stung. And now, Alaric was a Grandmaster Mage, a rank Kenneth had only just reached himself, despite his own system's rapid boosts. The gap felt… wider.
