I woke before dawn to find Damian already in my room, which should have been impossible given the privacy wards.
"You need better locks, Young Master," he said calmly, setting down a breakfast tray. "If I can pick them, so can assassins."
"Noted. Why are you here at...." I checked the clock. "....five in the morning?"
"Because you have a visitor at the gate. A very important visitor who arrived unannounced and is currently making the gate guards extremely nervous."
I sat up sharply. "Who?"
"Duke Victor Ravana. Your uncle."
My mind raced. Uncle Victor was supposed to be managing the duchy. His presence here, unannounced, the day before the Spring Festival...what did he want?
This was either very good or very bad.
"How long until he reaches my headquarters?"
"I told the guards to escort him to the guest waiting room. You have thirty minutes. Maybe forty if he stops to intimidate some professors along the way."
"Why would he intimidate professors?"
Damian's expression was perfectly neutral. "Because that's what Duke Victor does when he's concerned about family."
Great. Just what I needed. An overprotective uncle on the eve of my fake assassination.
"Fine. Tell him I'll meet him in the private meeting room. The warded one. And Damian?"
"Yes, Young Master?"
"This stays between us for now. No need to alarm the others."
"Of course." He paused at the door. "Though I should mention, he brought an armed escort. Twenty knights in full battle gear."
I closed my eyes. "He thinks I'm in danger."
"To be fair, you are in danger. You're planning to fake your death tomorrow."
"He doesn't know that."
"No, but he knows something. Duke Victor didn't get where he is by being oblivious. You think him and your family won't have some spies around? Infact, it would be strange if they don't. And since you start behaving..em, all reasonable, it only natural that they'll take an interest in you."
After Damian left, I dressed quickly in formal attire. If Uncle Victor was here in an official capacity, I needed to look the part.
As I adjusted my collar, the system chimed softly.
[ALERT: UNEXPECTED VARIABLE DETECTED]
[Duke Victor Ravana. Major political figure]
[RELATIONSHIP: Family (positive)]
[THREAT LEVEL: None to you, high to your enemies]
[OPPORTUNITY: Potential ally and resource]
[WARNING: He will ask difficult questions]
[RECOMMENDATION: Partial truth may be necessary]
Partial truth. I could work with that.
I just had to figure out how much to tell him without revealing I was a transmigrator with a system and foreknowledge of events.
Easy.
Maybe.
Duke Victor Ravana stood by the window of the meeting room, hands clasped behind his back, radiating the kind of authority that made kings nervous.
He was forty-two but looked younger, despite the silver threading through his black hair. The family resemblance was strong, same sharp features, same gray eyes, same presence that demanded attention.
The main difference was that where I was still growing into my authority, Uncle Victor wore his like a second skin.
"Nephew." He turned as I entered. His expression was carefully neutral, but I caught the flash of relief in his eyes. "You look well."
"You look concerned. Want to tell me why you're here with twenty knights?"
"So direct, I see that's a good thing, you are raised well." He gestured to the chairs. "Sit. We need to talk."
I activated the privacy wards as we sat. The air shimmered briefly, then settled, now, nothing said in this room would be heard outside it.
"I heard about your duel with Adrian Celestius," Victor began.
"Which one? We've had two now." I said, thinking back to brief encounter where he tried to take Lucille back then.
His eyebrow rose. "Two? The reports mentioned only the public match."
"The second was more of a sparring session." I leaned back. "I'm assuming that's not why you're here."
"No. Though I'm impressed you survived either encounter." He studied me intently. "You've changed, Hadeon. The reports I've been receiving... they don't match the nephew I knew."
Here it was. The question I'd been dreading and expecting in equal measure.
"People change," I said carefully.
"Not this much, and not this fast. Not without a catalys, no, you just don't go from an Idiot bastard to a scheming bastard even though you've been thought to be a scheming bastard." He leaned forward. "What happened to you?"
I held his gaze. Uncle Victor deserved honesty. Or at least, as much honesty as I could safely give. He was one of the family members that won't try to kill me at first sight for House politics.
"I woke up one day and realized I was being an idiot," I said slowly. "Wasting my potential and embarrassing the family. I was just making enemies instead of allies. So I decided to be better."
"Just like that? You simply decided?"
"Would you prefer I stayed a petty bully?"
"I'd prefer the truth."
We stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, I sighed.
"The truth is complicated. And some of it... I can't explain. Not yet. Maybe not ever." I met his eyes. "But I can tell you this, I'm still Hadeon Thornheart. Still your nephew. Still loyal to the family. I've just... grown up. Quickly."
And I'm the better Hadeon than the foolish host of before.
Victor was quiet, processing this. Then he sighed as well. "You're in danger."
It wasn't a question.
"When am I not?"
"Don't deflect. I have sources, very good sources. They tell me interesting things." He pulled a report from his coat. "Economic warfare with Adrian Celestius. Public confrontations. A growing faction of students and outcasts who answer to you. And most concerning.....rumors of assassination attempts."
I kept my expression neutral, even as my inside twitched. Just how deep are the spies in the academy? And all the nobility will have one as well! "Rumors are often exaggerated."
"Are they? What I'm not sure is if the assassination attempt is going to be for your head. Or you're going to someone's head."
Wait. What?
"That's not...." I stopped. Thought fast. "Your sources are confused. Nothing has happened yet."
The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I'd made a mistake.
Victor's eyes sharpened like knives. "Yet?"
Damn it.
"I mean....."
"You mean you know it's going to happen. At the Spring Festival." He stood, pacing to the window. "How do you know, Hadeon?"
I could lie. Should lie, probably.
But this was Uncle Victor. The man who'd raised me after my parents died. Who'd managed the duchy for years, waiting for me to come of age. Who'd traveled here with an armed escort because he thought I was in danger.
He deserved something real.
"I have... information," I said carefully. "About events that are supposed to happen. How I have it doesn't matter. What matters is that I know someone is going to try to kill me tomorrow."
"Then don't go to the festival."
"I have to. Because whoever's trying to kill me won't stop. Better to face it on my terms, where I'm prepared, than to be caught off guard later."
Victor turned back to me, and I saw something I'd never seen before in his eyes.
Fear.
Not for himself. For me.
"You're talking about bait," he said quietly. "Using yourself as bait."
"I'm talking about controlling the situation instead of letting it control me."
"That's not control, but stupid balant suicide."
"No." I stood, facing him. "Suicide would be ignoring the threat and hoping it goes away. But I've made preparation and planning. Making sure that when they come for me, I'm ready."
"And if you're wrong? If your preparations fail?"
"Then I'll improvise. But I won't run. I won't hide. And I won't let fear dictate my choices."
We stood there, uncle and nephew, two Ravanas refusing to back down. Finally, Victor's expression shifted. Pride mixed with exasperation.
"You really have grown up." He returned to his chair. "Your father would be proud, he'll be deeply concerned, but proud."
The mention of my father, the real Hadeon's father, sent an unexpected pang through my chest. Honestly, Hadeon had such family and he only decides to be a fool? If only I have this back home....
Damned author and controlling fate!
"I wish he was here," I said, and meant it. Even though these weren't technically my parents, the Ravanaa had died under suspicious circumstances. I still wish they were here to see a far better version of their son.
"As do I. Which brings me to why I'm really here." Victor's voice dropped. "There's something you need to know about our family. Something your father was investigating before he died."
My attention sharpened and I could feel my stomach falling. "What kind of something?"