Ronan closed the door behind him.

His ribs ached. His muscles throbbed. His left forearm still wrapped and stiff. The healer said the bone needed more time before he could safely stress it again, which meant Steel Bone Armament would have to wait.

Ronan lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He won.

The public part finished.

Brutas defeated. He’d be getting a new skill. And, he’d figure out who was trying to target him.

A good result.

The window opened.

A black cat slipped inside.

Ronan turned his head slightly. Watched Aura land on the floor with silent grace. She padded into the room like she owned it. Demonic energy rippled around her body, and she shifted back into her usual form.

Ronan raised an eyebrow.

"People are going to get suspicious if they keep seeing the exact same cat entering my room."

Aura shrugged.

"Then tell them I am your pet."

Ronan paused.

"You’re fine with being called a pet now?"

The sliver of warmth in Aura’s expression vanished.

Her eyes narrowed.

"Only if I am caught in cat form."

Ronan laughed.

Tsundere.

Aura glared harder, as if she knew he were thinking something insulting. She stepped closer, looked him over once, then ordered him to sit up properly.

Ronan pointed out that he already went to the healers.

Aura ignored him.

She forced him back onto the bed and started removing his shirt.

Ronan looked down at her hands, then back at her face.

"You’re being unusually assertive today. I won’t complain however."

Aura did not react.

Not even a blush.

The joke failed completely.

She pulled the shirt aside and began examining his injuries.

Checked the bruises across his ribs, the partially healed cuts, the places where healer’s mana closed the flesh but not the deeper damage.

Then she reached his left forearm.

Her expression darkened.

"This is broken."

"Fractured, technically. And yeah, it’ll take a little longer to heal"

Aura asked if he planned to use Steel Bone Armament today.

Ronan shook his head.

Rest today. No bone reinforcement. No fracture training. Only core purification.

Aura studied him suspiciously.

The contract did not react.

That seemed to satisfy her. She’d long since gotten used to the contract, and in situations like these, they helped her understand his motives more clearly.

"How is your core progress?"

"Not far."

The duel and Soul Path ritual took most of his focus before this. He always purified his core daily, but it was always slow.

Ronan Ashbourne’s body lacked talent.

The original may have been called prodigy once, but whatever potential existed back then was all mental. His core was usable, but not optimal. It was difficult to rid his core of impurities.

Which is why he had to force every advantage.

And the skill he’d be getting from the Pollundini family would only help with that.

Aura noticed his silence.

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing important," Ronan said.

He got under the covers and sat in a lotus position.

"If that’s all, you can leave now."

Aura did not leave however.

She walked to the mirror instead.

Pulling up a chair, Aura sat down. Somehow produced a brush from somewhere Ronan did not see.

She began brushing her hair in his room like this was the most natural thing in the world.

Ronan watched for a few seconds.

Repeated himself, slower.

"You must have not heard me. You can leave now."

Aura continued brushing.

"I heard you."

Ronan stared.

Aura did not turn around.

"I am choosing not to care."

"I can’t focus."

"Just focus then."

"I can’t with you in the room."

Aura paused mid-brush, and looked at him through the mirror.

"If that were true, the mana contract would have reacted. If I were disrupting your advancement."

Ronan said nothing.

Aura smiled haughtily.

"It did not. Therefore, my presence is not a problem."

Ronan narrowed his eyes.

Aura resumed brushing.

"If you dislike it, make me leave."

Her mana flared.

Only once.

The pressure filled the room for a heartbeat. Absolute and heavy, reminding Ronan very clearly that he could not physically remove her.

Then the pressure disappeared.

Aura continued brushing like nothing happened.

Ronan pinched the bridge of his nose.

Arguing would be more exhausting than ignoring her.

He closed his eyes.

—

Ronan woke before sunrise.

He sat up carefully, testing the movement. Everything hurt, but less than the day prior. The healers had done their job.

His door rattled.

"Open the door, Ronan. I brought food."

Ronan exhaled slowly. Aura.

Of course she did.

He moved to the door, unlocked it, and stepped aside.

Aura entered carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle, still in her usual form despite the early hour. She glanced at him, frowned at his injuries, then set the food down on his desk.

"You look terrible."

"Good morning to you too, Princess."

Aura ignored the name, though her tail would have flicked if she had been in cat form.

She unwrapped the bundle. Bread, cheese, dried meat, and something that smelled faintly sweet.

Ronan watched her arrange the food with more care than necessary.

"You didn’t have to do this."

"I know."

"Then why–"

"Because I wanted to."

Ronan paused. Her affection had risen again. Slowly. Steadily. He checked the system out of habit. Trust still lagged behind, but loyalty had improved noticeably.

She was changing.

Ronan sat down, accepted a piece of bread, and ate in silence. Aura joined him without asking, taking her own share while watching the window. Dawn broke across the Academy grounds, pale light spilling through the glass.

"The duel," Aura said eventually. "You enjoyed it."

Not a question.

Ronan swallowed his food, considered lying, then decided against it.

"Yes."

Aura’s expression remained neutral, but something flickered in her eyes. Not disapproval. Curiosity, maybe. Or recognition.

"Why?"

Ronan thought about it. Really thought.

"Who knows."

Aura didn’t even seem surprised by the response, and she continued eating, as if she expected it.

"The Pollundini summons arrived this morning," Aura said, breaking the silence. "I saw the messenger arrive right behind me."

Ronan nodded. He expected that.

"And?"

"Ashbourne too. He probably left it at your door."

Ronan stopped mid-bite.

Two summons.

Pollundini made sense. The duel had ended, Brutas lost publicly, and House Pollundini now owed Ronan a skill or technique of equivalent value. They would want to negotiate, delay, reinterpret terms, or minimize the loss.

Expected.

The Ashbourne summons was different.

Ronan set the bread down slowly.

"When?"

"The messenger said both families expect responses by tomorrow."

Ronan leaned back.

Pollundini wanted to settle terms.

Vulcan wanted answers.

And somewhere behind all of this, Ravencrest had likely ordered Brutas to challenge him in the first place/

Three families.

Three different problems.

Ronan glanced at Aura, who was watching him with that same unreadable expression.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"That this week is going to be annoying."

Aura’s lips twitched. It almost looked like she was smiling at his supposed misery.

"You could just ignore them."

"No, I can’t."

"Why not?"

"You know why I can’t. It’s not like you haven’t experienced something similar in your time."

"You speak as if I am ancient."

Ronan met her eyes.

"Because ignoring them means giving up leverage I earned through the duel. Pollundini owes me. And I can’t ignore Vulcan’s summon either. After all, I intend on becoming the head of the family."

That was news to Aura.

"You do? That... isn’t like you?"

"I wasn’t aware you knew me so well."

"And what do you want from them?"

Ronan considered the question carefully.

"Everything I can get," Ronan said simply.

Aura studied him for a long moment, then nodded, not questioning the greedy nature of his answer.

"Then you’ll need to recover first."

Ronan glanced at his wrapped forearm, his bruised ribs, the faint ache still running through his bones.

She was right.

He stood slowly, moved to the window, and looked out over the Academy grounds. Students were beginning to wake. The first class would start in two hours.

Behind him, Aura remained seated.

"Ronan."

He turned.

Her expression had shifted. Serious now. Guarded.

"The demon leech. Have you felt anything... strange?"

Ronan’s thoughts sharpened instantly.

"Define strange."

"Hunger. Urges. Anything that doesn’t feel like you."

"No," he said honestly. "Not yet."

Aura relaxed slightly, though her wariness didn’t fully disappear.

"Good. Keep it that way."

She stood, moved toward the door, then paused with her hand on the frame.

Ronan thought of Vulcan’s crushing pressure, the way the second heart had shielded him, the look in his father’s eyes when he realized Ronan wasn’t breaking.

"I know."

Aura nodded once, then left without another word.

The door clicked shut.

Two letters fluttered when she opened the door, falling to the ground.

Ronan stood alone in the quiet room, staring at the two letters sitting on the floor. He picked them up and examined the two of them, reading the names.

Pollundini. Ashbourne

He picked them up, turned them over in his hands, and exhaled slowly.

Then he smiled.

This was going to be a long week.

But he had a feeling it would be very interesting.