The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 10: The Lion

Chapter 10: The Lion

LEO

Where... am I?

I woke up looking at an unfamiliar ceiling above me, feeling a little disoriented after a vivid dream I had just had.

I was riding on the back of a magnificent lion. I was holding onto its mane as it powered through a lush grassy field under a clear blue sky. It was a place I’d never been before, but the cool wind brushing against my face was very nice and the lion was so fast, faster than any donkey I’d ever ridden (because I had never ridden anything other than a donkey before in my life, except Indi, the big dog we had when I was a child, which I got scolded for.)

Then the lion brought me to a cave. It was dark inside, but with the big, strong lion as my friend, I wasn’t scared. But once it let me off its back inside the cave, it turned and began to walk away. I didn’t want it to leave, but somehow I couldn’t speak. It stopped by the exit of the cave, turned once, and looked at me with sad eyes. Then it turned away again, and walked out.

And now I was lying on a very comfortable bed in this strange room I’d never been in before.

"You are awake."

"Yeek!"

I yelped as I heard an unfamiliar voice speak. I turned to look, and it was a lady who had her head covered in some sort of scarf, and she was wearing a mask covering half of her face too, so I could only see her deep, dark eyes.

Without saying anything further, she turned and left the room, leaving me alone again.

I tried to remember how I got here, because, for sure, I wasn’t brought here by a lion and this was no cave.

Then the lady came back into the room with three other men. One of them was wearing a white robe and glasses with very thick lenses, another one was a very well-dressed man with perfectly combed hair, and the one who was standing just behind him was—

"Oh, Mister!"

I was happy to see the gentleman’s face again. It was the traveler I met last year—the one who said he’d put in a good word for me at the Academy.

"Good to see you again, young man," the traveler said, stepping forward.

I immediately felt more comfortable after seeing a familiar face, although the well-dressed gentleman was looking at me a bit too intensely, albeit with a smile.

Then I remembered I should thank the traveler.

"Mister, thank you so much for all this. I never thought I could ever—"

"I trust you have not told anyone about the letter, as was requested?"

"No, mister! Er... I only showed it to Mom and Dad because... you know, they wouldn’t let me just up and leave home with no explanation!"

"That is perfectly understandable, young man. But I am asking—have you told anyone at the Academy about your enrollment?"

"No, mister!"

"Very good. Well done. I knew you could keep a promise."

"Thank you!"

Then there was a short, slightly tense pause, which made me a little nervous, then the gentleman stepped forward and asked me,

"Could you tell us what happened earlier in the class? During your magic aptitude test."

It was only then that I started to piece together what happened, and I finally remembered I had fainted in the classroom.

"Geez, what happened to me?!"

"Leo, please tell us first what you did at the test," the traveler said in a calm and friendly voice, but the gentleman’s eyes were staring at me a little too much for comfort. I felt like he was suspicious of me for some reason, although I hadn’t done anything suspicious.

"I... er... I’m sorry. Did I do anything wrong...? I’m really sorry I caused trouble."

The traveler placed his hand on my shoulder and spoke reassuringly,

"You did nothing wrong, young man. We are just interested in your test result."

"I... I see..."

I then saw that the man with glasses had a black leather-bound notebook in his one hand and a pen in the other, as if he was going to write something. I was a little too out of it earlier, but looking at him again, I got an inkling.

"Mister—are you a doctor?"

The man with glasses then looked at the gentleman, who gave him a nod, and only then a smile appeared on his face.

"Yes, I am a doctor at the Royal Knights Academy. You can call me Dr. Branson."

"Oh, Dr. Brandon. Am I okay?"

"You are perfectly fine. I can assure you that. But just for the record, and to make sure that you are in good health, could you tell us what you did at the test?"

"Really? I’m okay then, right?"

The three men did not answer.

"Well... I don’t know what to tell you, to be honest... I just put my hands on the rod like everyone else... and... the rocks just started to glow."

"Did YOU make them glow?" the gentleman asked.

"No, Mister. I did nothing. I just placed my hands on the rod as I was told."

"Did you feel any heat on the rod?" the doctor asked this time.

"No, Doctor."

"The rod didn’t get hot or cold?"

"No."

"What exactly did you feel before you... fainted?"

"Erm... it was... I don’t know. I just felt my knees go weak and... everything kind of turned black."

The gentleman, who had been listening attentively while the doctor asked all the questions and wrote notes, asked,

"Did you have a dream?"

I was just about to tell them the whole dream because it was quite a special one, I thought, but then suddenly, I remembered the sad eyes of the lion. Somehow, those eyes seemed as if they were telling me not to say anything about it.

"Yes, Mister. I saw Indi."

"Indi?"

"That was my dog when I was a child. He was huge and erm... very furry. His fur used to get everywhere, like on my pillow, in my shoes, on my plate, and then—"

The traveler looked at the doctor, the doctor shrugged, and the gentleman nodded.

"That will be it for now, then, Leo. Please rest for another hour before you return to class."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Then they left the room.

I felt bad about lying to them for no reason, but... I felt like that’s what the lion would have wanted.