Camila observed how this strange, young man continued to interact and overreact all around the mythical hounds.
But…
From the way his eyes flashed, how his lips showed first, distant hints of a smile when he started to pet them…
This anomaly-born young man acted around those mythical beasts like an older brother spoiling their younger siblings or…
The duchess’s eyes went wide when she connected the dots.
‘He’s looking at them like one would at a pet!’
An instant of internal gratification from figuring something out quickly faded from the girl’s brain when her teeth silently sank for another bite of the miraculous food baton.
A fresh wave of condensed sweetness exploded in her mouth.
Even the texture of the treat was addictingly pleasant.
Camila’s brain would go blank for a moment after every bite, and yet, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t resist nibbling down on the treat.
And so, she ate away when Leo scratched the ear of a pup, blissfully unaware it was a monster only ever recorded in legends.
She kept eating while ignoring the tense stares of her subordinates, for once focused on the baton in her hand rather than herself, trying not to lose her mind when Leo first appeared to somehow converse with the Edgehounds only to…
Only to move just a few steps away and grab onto a nearby bush.
With a single pull of an arm, a move that clearly required no strength whatsoever… he pulled the surface of the bush away?!
‘WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!’
With how freaky this sight was, it took Camila a few seconds and a total of three blinks of her eyes for the duchess to notice it was some sort of a net with props weaved into it. Yet, what was underneath this masking netting was even bigger.
A crate produced by a craftsman of clearly world renown.
A shape so perfect, it had to take weeks if not months just to get any tiny part of it right. As Leo casually opened it up, he revealed the insides to be filled with all sorts of sealed, smaller crates, each in a uniform shape that made it easy to fully stuff the main container.
The sight of the simplistic perfection was astounding on many levels, but also unnerving. Especially for the apostle of reason like Camila.
‘Still…’
Watching how this strange, young man brought over two boxes and sat down, happily tearing one of them open, Camila couldn’t help but pull her mouth away from the delicious treat.
‘He has no authority above him.’
Staring at the young man’s back as he happily opened up the first of the two boxes and revealed its insides to be filled to the brim with the same kind of food he just shared both with the mythical hounds and the duchess herself.
A moment later and without sparing a single word, he passed a pack the batons to the hounds before turning…
“Do you guys want meat, nuts, fruits, or chocolate?”
‘What the actual hell?!’
Steeling up her expression to put on a brave front even in the face of such ridiculousness, Camila decided to just start ignoring all the ridiculous Leo served her on a regular basis.
“Oh, the chocolate is the thing you are eating now?” the young man pointed out at the baton in the duchess’ hands.
Leo raised his eyes first to Zion, only to roll them and look over at Urk.
“You strike me like a nut guy,” Leo sighed at the lack of reaction, picking up the dark brown baton before lightly tossing it over to the man. He then looked back at Zion and put on a smart smirk.
Then, without a word, he pulled out the pink baton and tossed it over.
“And you?” he asked, turning over and staring right into Camila’s eyes.
With a shrug rising up her spine, Camila looked down at the baton in her hands before lowering her face even further down upon realizing just how much of the massive stick she snacked away without even realizing.
“I-I’m good.”
While thinking about the anomaly Camila already got over with, to speak with one…
She could see Leo as a normal, young man who just ended up in strange circumstances. And while he appeared to be worryingly well-prepared, the look of distress she saw in his eyes on three different occasions was real. The way he reacted around those mythical hounds…
Those were his genuine reactions. And that, beyond any reasonable doubt Camila could think of, proved he was just a normal guy.
But knowing that didn’t make the act of speaking with the taboo any easier.
Gritting her teeth, Camila took a shallow breath before forcing her chin up, pushing aside all the worries and societal restrictions she bore the weight of all her life.
“You have no authority above you.”
‘My desperate sincerity worked so far. So why should I stop now?’ Camila thought, biting down on her bottom lip strong enough for her teeth to pierce its delicate skin, letting out small drops of blood in the process. ‘Now that it’s up to me to decide, why should I spit at all the mercy and good will he showed us so far, when he was in charge?’
Camila took another breath, this time fully filling her lungs. And as she properly raised her eyes to face the young man, she spoke again.
“You have no authority above you.”
Camila ignored how this strange being managed to learn high Lana from hearing just a few words. She had no idea what was his goal or methods.
But the look of duress that she observed in Leo’s eyes on three separate occasions somehow etched itself into the duchess's memory.
With all of that going through her head, Camila failed to even notice how Leo reacted to her words. And as her vision cleared, he appeared to be mildly curious.
“Urk, Zion,” Camila introduced her men. “They are under my direct authority.”
Leo’s eyes froze still.
Although only a tiny bit, his face moved, indicating his growing interest and attention.
“I, Camila, I’m under…” the duchess hesitated for a second. “I’m under the indirect authority of the king.”
Raising her hands, she made a circle between her thumbs and pinkies before placing it atop her head, as if donning a crown.
“Direct, indirect?” Leo silently echoed Camila’s words.
‘How do I…’ Throwing her head to the sides, Camila quickly rushed up and grabbed Urk by his hand before bringing him closer.
“Direct,” she called the word she wanted to explain. Yet, rather than going through with whatever she wanted, Camila turned back to the young man before lowering her head and clasping her hands together. “Just a little. Sorry.”
Turning back before Leo could react, Camila looked over at Urk while raising her left hand to the level of her head before glancing over at Leo and pointing at it with her right hand.
*“Raise your left hand.”*
Modulating her voice not to include the urgency, Camila invoked her authority.
Following her words, both Urk and Leo raised their left hands, the latter while still holding a red baton.
With Camila’s eyes locked on the young man’s face, she could perfectly see his eyes twitching a little and his face growing colder…
But it reached nowhere near the level of emptiness she saw in his eyes before.
The call of the light authority was greatly limited both in its range, pressure, and staying power. And while a strong authority call could keep any of the three men on the scene near indefinitely, a weak call lasted only long enough to make them perform the ordered action.
By its very nature, the weak call more enticed the man rather than directly making the subject do their ruler’s bidding. But it was still all just the nature of the direct authority.
‘Now, for the hard part,’ Camila clutched her buttocks, reaching out and daringly grabbing the edge of Leo’s shirt before pulling him closer to Urk.
Both men, equally stupefied by the situation, silently followed Camila’s anxious control and stood up in a simple triangle.
“Indirect,” Camila swung her finger between herself and Urk, instantly putting a dissatisfied grimace on the veteran’s face.
The duchess then turned over and pointed her finger at Leo.
“Tell him to raise his hand, please.”
With his eyebrows moving far up on his forehead, Leo turned his eyes over to the grizzled man before squinting his eyes a bit.
“Raise your hand…?”
Ignoring how Leo’s voice didn’t sound convinced at all or how Urk didn’t bother to move either, Camila swallowed her fear and stepped right into Leo’s chest, raising her head while trying to make a tough, threatening face and raising her hand to swing her finger right before the young man’s face.
'And for now, help me, gods,' Camila thought, turning around and taking a step back, literally walking into the man's arms.
Stunned, Leo swung his arms out, as if to showcase how he was not at fault for whatever was happening now...
'Doesn't matter,' Camila gritted her teeth and reached out, grabbing Leo's arms before closely pointing them at Urk.
*"Raise your left hand."*
Once again, both Urk and Leo raised their lefts. And pressed against Leo’s chest, Camila could feel how his entire body tensed up in an instinctive attempt to resist the authority’s call.
Quite notably, while Leo raised his hand, his chest grew increasingly warm.
‘Or is it just me?’ Struggling to hold herself back from blushing, Camila quickly escaped from the man, putting herself back in the very same spot she was at just a moment ago.
“Indirect authority,” Camila, ignoring the blush already on her cheeks, pointed at Urk. She then gritted her teeth. “No *Authority*”.
Using the call alerted Leo, proving he was already learning how to recognize it. But as there was no designate, the call simply fizzled out into nothingness, bearing no effect of the reality at all.
Camila then pointed at Urk while looking directly at Leo’s face.
“No authority,” she said before moving her hand to the top of her chest, “indirect, fake, social authority. But…”
Gulping her saliva down, Camila swung her hand between herself and Urk again.
“Direct authority,” she announced before suddenly lowering her head… and slowly moving forth. Yet, before she could return to the spot within Leo’s arms that she occupied just before, the young man reached out for her shoulders and held her down.
“I think I get it,” Leo spoke in perfectly fluent high Lana, making Camila question the need for her attempts at using as simple of a language as she could think of. “If I have no authority above me, anyone with the power of authority can use it on me.”
Hearing the man’s words, Camila stumbled down so rapidly, that both Leo and Urk rushed to hold her up. Yet, given the benefit of already holding her shoulders, Leo obviously had an easier time supporting her in time.
“Yes…”
The waves of relief washed off Camila’s face.
‘It worked! He understood!’
This was the greatest proof of sincerity she could provide. Willingly teaching him about a weak point he clearly didn’t know about and couldn’t resist, even if it would ultimately come at the cost of the only defense she had against this strange, young man.
A moment later, Camila realized she was only standing thanks to Leo’s firm hold keeping her upright. She stumbled, rushing to get back up and stand on her own two feet, only to realize Leo…
Actually held her by her waist, keeping the duchess from moving even an inch away.
“And with that said, what are you trying to suggest?”
Camila observed how this strange, young man continued to interact and overreact all around the mythical hounds.
But…
From the way his eyes flashed, how his lips showed first, distant hints of a smile when he started to pet them…
This anomaly-born young man acted around those mythical beasts like an older brother spoiling their younger siblings or…
The duchess’s eyes went wide when she connected the dots.
‘He’s looking at them like one would at a pet!’
An instant of internal gratification from figuring something out quickly faded from the girl’s brain when her teeth silently sank for another bite of the miraculous food baton.
A fresh wave of condensed sweetness exploded in her mouth.
Even the texture of the treat was addictingly pleasant.
Camila’s brain would go blank for a moment after every bite, and yet, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t resist nibbling down on the treat.
And so, she ate away when Leo scratched the ear of a pup, blissfully unaware it was a monster only ever recorded in legends.
She kept eating while ignoring the tense stares of her subordinates, for once focused on the baton in her hand rather than herself, trying not to lose her mind when Leo first appeared to somehow converse with the Edgehounds only to…
Only to move just a few steps away and grab onto a nearby bush.
With a single pull of an arm, a move that clearly required no strength whatsoever… he pulled the surface of the bush away?!
‘WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!’
With how freaky this sight was, it took Camila a few seconds and a total of three blinks of her eyes for the duchess to notice it was some sort of a net with props weaved into it. Yet, what was underneath this masking netting was even bigger.
A crate produced by a craftsman of clearly world renown.
A shape so perfect, it had to take weeks if not months just to get any tiny part of it right. As Leo casually opened it up, he revealed the insides to be filled with all sorts of sealed, smaller crates, each in a uniform shape that made it easy to fully stuff the main container.
The sight of the simplistic perfection was astounding on many levels, but also unnerving. Especially for the apostle of reason like Camila.
‘Still…’
Watching how this strange, young man brought over two boxes and sat down, happily tearing one of them open, Camila couldn’t help but pull her mouth away from the delicious treat.
‘He has no authority above him.’
Staring at the young man’s back as he happily opened up the first of the two boxes and revealed its insides to be filled to the brim with the same kind of food he just shared both with the mythical hounds and the duchess herself.
A moment later and without sparing a single word, he passed a pack the batons to the hounds before turning…
“Do you guys want meat, nuts, fruits, or chocolate?”
‘What the actual hell?!’
Steeling up her expression to put on a brave front even in the face of such ridiculousness, Camila decided to just start ignoring all the ridiculous Leo served her on a regular basis.
“Oh, the chocolate is the thing you are eating now?” the young man pointed out at the baton in the duchess’ hands.
Leo raised his eyes first to Zion, only to roll them and look over at Urk.
“You strike me like a nut guy,” Leo sighed at the lack of reaction, picking up the dark brown baton before lightly tossing it over to the man. He then looked back at Zion and put on a smart smirk.
Then, without a word, he pulled out the pink baton and tossed it over.
“And you?” he asked, turning over and staring right into Camila’s eyes.
With a shrug rising up her spine, Camila looked down at the baton in her hands before lowering her face even further down upon realizing just how much of the massive stick she snacked away without even realizing.
“I-I’m good.”
While thinking about the anomaly Camila already got over with, to speak with one…
She could see Leo as a normal, young man who just ended up in strange circumstances. And while he appeared to be worryingly well-prepared, the look of distress she saw in his eyes on three different occasions was real. The way he reacted around those mythical hounds…
Those were his genuine reactions. And that, beyond any reasonable doubt Camila could think of, proved he was just a normal guy.
But knowing that didn’t make the act of speaking with the taboo any easier.
Gritting her teeth, Camila took a shallow breath before forcing her chin up, pushing aside all the worries and societal restrictions she bore the weight of all her life.
“You have no authority above you.”
‘My desperate sincerity worked so far. So why should I stop now?’ Camila thought, biting down on her bottom lip strong enough for her teeth to pierce its delicate skin, letting out small drops of blood in the process. ‘Now that it’s up to me to decide, why should I spit at all the mercy and good will he showed us so far, when he was in charge?’
Camila took another breath, this time fully filling her lungs. And as she properly raised her eyes to face the young man, she spoke again.
“You have no authority above you.”
Camila ignored how this strange being managed to learn high Lana from hearing just a few words. She had no idea what was his goal or methods.
But the look of duress that she observed in Leo’s eyes on three separate occasions somehow etched itself into the duchess's memory.
With all of that going through her head, Camila failed to even notice how Leo reacted to her words. And as her vision cleared, he appeared to be mildly curious.
“Urk, Zion,” Camila introduced her men. “They are under my direct authority.”
Leo’s eyes froze still.
Although only a tiny bit, his face moved, indicating his growing interest and attention.
“I, Camila, I’m under…” the duchess hesitated for a second. “I’m under the indirect authority of the king.”
Raising her hands, she made a circle between her thumbs and pinkies before placing it atop her head, as if donning a crown.
“Direct, indirect?” Leo silently echoed Camila’s words.
‘How do I…’ Throwing her head to the sides, Camila quickly rushed up and grabbed Urk by his hand before bringing him closer.
“Direct,” she called the word she wanted to explain. Yet, rather than going through with whatever she wanted, Camila turned back to the young man before lowering her head and clasping her hands together. “Just a little. Sorry.”
Turning back before Leo could react, Camila looked over at Urk while raising her left hand to the level of her head before glancing over at Leo and pointing at it with her right hand.
*“Raise your left hand.”*
Modulating her voice not to include the urgency, Camila invoked her authority.
Following her words, both Urk and Leo raised their left hands, the latter while still holding a red baton.
With Camila’s eyes locked on the young man’s face, she could perfectly see his eyes twitching a little and his face growing colder…
But it reached nowhere near the level of emptiness she saw in his eyes before.
The call of the light authority was greatly limited both in its range, pressure, and staying power. And while a strong authority call could keep any of the three men on the scene near indefinitely, a weak call lasted only long enough to make them perform the ordered action.
By its very nature, the weak call more enticed the man rather than directly making the subject do their ruler’s bidding. But it was still all just the nature of the direct authority.
‘Now, for the hard part,’ Camila clutched her buttocks, reaching out and daringly grabbing the edge of Leo’s shirt before pulling him closer to Urk.
Both men, equally stupefied by the situation, silently followed Camila’s anxious control and stood up in a simple triangle.
“Indirect,” Camila swung her finger between herself and Urk, instantly putting a dissatisfied grimace on the veteran’s face.
The duchess then turned over and pointed her finger at Leo.
“Tell him to raise his hand, please.”
With his eyebrows moving far up on his forehead, Leo turned his eyes over to the grizzled man before squinting his eyes a bit.
“Raise your hand…?”
Ignoring how Leo’s voice didn’t sound convinced at all or how Urk didn’t bother to move either, Camila swallowed her fear and stepped right into Leo’s chest, raising her head while trying to make a tough, threatening face and raising her hand to swing her finger right before the young man’s face.
'And for now, help me, gods,' Camila thought, turning around and taking a step back, literally walking into the man's arms.
Stunned, Leo swung his arms out, as if to showcase how he was not at fault for whatever was happening now...
'Doesn't matter,' Camila gritted her teeth and reached out, grabbing Leo's arms before closely pointing them at Urk.
*"Raise your left hand."*
Once again, both Urk and Leo raised their lefts. And pressed against Leo’s chest, Camila could feel how his entire body tensed up in an instinctive attempt to resist the authority’s call.
Quite notably, while Leo raised his hand, his chest grew increasingly warm.
‘Or is it just me?’ Struggling to hold herself back from blushing, Camila quickly escaped from the man, putting herself back in the very same spot she was at just a moment ago.
“Indirect authority,” Camila, ignoring the blush already on her cheeks, pointed at Urk. She then gritted her teeth. “No *Authority*”.
Using the call alerted Leo, proving he was already learning how to recognize it. But as there was no designate, the call simply fizzled out into nothingness, bearing no effect of the reality at all.
Camila then pointed at Urk while looking directly at Leo’s face.
“No authority,” she said before moving her hand to the top of her chest, “indirect, fake, social authority. But…”
Gulping her saliva down, Camila swung her hand between herself and Urk again.
“Direct authority,” she announced before suddenly lowering her head… and slowly moving forth. Yet, before she could return to the spot within Leo’s arms that she occupied just before, the young man reached out for her shoulders and held her down.
“I think I get it,” Leo spoke in perfectly fluent high Lana, making Camila question the need for her attempts at using as simple of a language as she could think of. “If I have no authority above me, anyone with the power of authority can use it on me.”
Hearing the man’s words, Camila stumbled down so rapidly, that both Leo and Urk rushed to hold her up. Yet, given the benefit of already holding her shoulders, Leo obviously had an easier time supporting her in time.
“Yes…”
The waves of relief washed off Camila’s face.
‘It worked! He understood!’
This was the greatest proof of sincerity she could provide. Willingly teaching him about a weak point he clearly didn’t know about and couldn’t resist, even if it would ultimately come at the cost of the only defense she had against this strange, young man.
A moment later, Camila realized she was only standing thanks to Leo’s firm hold keeping her upright. She stumbled, rushing to get back up and stand on her own two feet, only to realize Leo…
Actually held her by her waist, keeping the duchess from moving even an inch away.
“And with that said, what are you trying to suggest?”
