For the second time in the conversation, my mind stopped functioning.
"HUH? You're going to do what?"
"Give it to Kael."
"... Why?"
Professor Orin looked at me.
"That is not your concern. For now."
"For now?"
"Yes, for now."
I stared at him, then decided I did not currently have enough courage left to chase that particular nightmare of a statement.
"Right," I said slowly. "Of course. Why wouldn't we give an object that most noble Houses would commit treason for, to Kael? Top ten reasonable things done by members of Aetherion."
"It's more reasonable than most things done in this building."
"I highly doubt that."
"Oh, young Caelvarin, how surprised you would be if you were to hear some of the decisions made in this place."
Unfortunately, it was hard not to believe him.
Professor Orin folded his arms.
"Regardless, my decision is not the one you need to consider."
I looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you followed a professor into a faculty-only area because you believed he was targeting Kael, a commoner. You risked disciplinary action, humiliation, and apparently your dignity, given that disguise."
"It was a good disguise."
"It was terrible."
"That's subjective."
"It is objective."
Painful, but fair.
Professor Orin continued.
"So I will ask you directly, Taron Caelvarin. What are you going to do?"
I did not answer immediately, but he wouldn't let the silence settle.
"You are an heir of the Ten Great Houses. The relationships you make, whether friend or foe, will never be private, no matter how much you may wish them to be. If you stand beside a commoner who threatens noble expectations, people will notice. Some will laugh. Some may try to warn you of the consequences. Some will whisper that House Caelvarin's heir has become careless, sentimental, and immature."
His voice was calm, not in the mocking kind, and he wasn't lecturing me either. Which only made what he was saying feel that much worse, and honest.
"You may support him and risk tarnishing the reputation people expect you to protect. Or you could do what most heirs do. Smile in public, distance yourself, and allow the world to isolate someone they deemed inconvenient while pretending you had no part in the result."
He looked at me with devastating steadiness.
"That is the norm. It is comfortable. It is accepted. And it is what I resist every day."
The room felt quieter and calmer than before.
I thought of Kael sitting beside me in class, tired enough to look half-dead but still willing to challenge a professor. I thought of how he had looked when I called him my friend so casually, as if the word had surprised him more than Professor Anlor's questions. I thought of the way students stared at him like he was either a tool, a threat, or a mistake waiting to be corrected.
Kael acted like isolation didn't bother him.
Perhaps it didn't.
Perhaps he had just become good at surviving and masking it.
But that didn't make it right.
Although there was one thing that was bothering me about Professor Orin: why me? Why do I have to get involved specifically? So I decided to ask him.
"If you take such an issue with the way the noble and commoner dynamics are within the Academy, then why didn't you say something about it? You said it yourself; you were clearly strong enough to do so." I said.
Professor Orin looked at me briefly, as if he were contemplating how to phrase his answer.
"Haha, if I were twenty— no, ten years younger, I probably would, but I have gotten far too old to leave a permanent impact within the class society. However, you? An heir of the great House of Caelvarin? If you were to force and create change, pave the path for a new generation and their generations after, to respect all within the continent as equals, only to be separated by strength and not useless pride, such a noble heritage. Well, that would be enough for me."
"So, what you're saying is you want to use my name and my heritage to do all the hard work, while you sit back and watch?"
"I'm far too old to get involved now, young Caelvarin, but that doesn't mean I won't support you and those who are like you. My role at this stage in life is to guide and nurture the seeds that will bloom into the ones that will bring about change, a positive change, one for the better of our civilisation. Before it becomes too late to salvage."
For a moment, I didn't answer, nor look at Professor Orin. All I did was think.
I thought of Darius looking at Kael like he was trash.
I thought back to when Professor Anlor made that sickening smile as he tried to lure Kael into a political trap, despite Kael being only a first-year student.
Those students who were waiting for him to fail so they could blame him.
And suddenly, more than anything else, I felt disgusted.
It felt heavy.
It was disgust at the fact that this was normal. Disgust at the fact that I had grown up close enough to that normal to recognise it. Disgust at the fact that, until recently, I might have shrugged and called it "the usual antics".
I looked down at my hands.
Then back at Professor Orin.
"I'm not going to make some grand speech as you did," I said.
"Good. Most grand speeches are tedious."
Despite myself, I smiled faintly.
Then it faded.
"But I agree that Kael shouldn't be unfairly isolated like this. He's too gifted to be put down."
Professor Orin said nothing.
"He earned that chance with the Prestige Electives. He earned what happened today. Suppose people hate that, fine. Let them hate it." I exhaled slowly. "But I'm not going to stand around pretending I don't see what they're doing. Not anymore."
Professor Orin watched me.
"And what about House Caelvarin? Your father?"
The question was the one obstacle I wished would pass right over me.
Because it was heavy, real and carried significant weight.
I thought of my family name and the expectations that came with it, the inevitable whispers, the consequences, but then I thought about Kael asking me to lunch as if that small invitation had cost him something personally.
I smiled.
Not in the usual bright way I do to Kael or Ryn, and certainly not the playful way I do to the other heirs.
It was just wide enough to let Professor Orin know the decision I had made had landed with him.
"House Caelvarin will be able to survive me having lunch with a friend, and my father... is a road we'll address when we get there."
Professor Orin's gaze remained fixed on me for a moment longer.
Then, very slowly, he smiled.
"Interesting."
"I don't like the way that sounds. It's too ominous"
"It was meant to."
"Oh! Wonderful!"
He pushed himself away from the windowsill.
"You should eat, go to lunch, young Caelvarin."
I stood up from my seat.
"Professor?"
"Yes?"
"What if Professor Anlor comes after Kael again, but this time it's worse?"
Professor Orin's smile thinned; it became grimmer.
"Then you will have the opportunity to learn something useful."
"And what's that?"
"How people reveal themselves when they believe no one more important than them is watching."
I understood the warning he gave, or at least part of it.
I nodded, then turned toward the door. Before I had fully stepped out, I glanced back once.
Professor Orin still stood inside the room, framed by the warm leak of afternoon light pouring through the great arched window. It caught the edges of the chamber in gold, the crowded round table, the scattered books, the chalk-marked board, the polished floor, and left the rest of him in quieter shadow. Surrounded by all that warmth and lived-in grandeur, he somehow looked more dangerous, less like a teacher in his office, and more like a man standing calmly at the centre of something that had not been broken yet, but would soon.
I stepped into the corridor.
'Kael is probably already at the cafeteria by now.'
Maybe he was wondering where I was. Maybe not. Probably not. Either way, I had made my choice. And despite who I am, I wasn't going to make my choice known to the masses with a loud statement or a public event. I'm not even going to do a fancy declaration in front of the whole Academy. I am going to make sure everyone knows through my intent and show them the consequences of crossing the decision I had made.
That I chose Kael.