"My Grandfather"
Aurora said nothing. She simply watched him.
"He was a wandering mage," Lor said.
"Before he settled. Spent years moving through different regions — helping people, learning things that weren't in any academy curriculum. He discovered the Guiding Light himself. Developed it. Passed it to me secretly before he died." He paused. "It's not in any records because he never registered it. He didn't trust anyone expect me with it."
Aurora looked at him for a long, quiet moment.
The smile did not change.
Then she straightened from the table. The movement was smooth. The corset held her upper body in a clean, upright line. Her breasts shifted slightly under the black fabric as she stood.
"Your grandfather," she said, her voice still pleasant and still warm, "was a drunkard. He sold the family land to pay for his debts and died in a ditch outside the town." She took a step toward him. The heel of her boot clicked once on the stone.
"I have his full record."
