The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 29: Father and Falken

Chapter 29: Father and Falken

MARIUS

While everyone was still picking books to take back to the dormitory, with Briant in particular spending a long time deciding—although I told him he could take as many as he wanted—I thought I’d go greet Father.

"Please excuse me for a few minutes. I will go report to my father before we head back."

My short announcement was met with "Sure," with only Skylark having a confused look on his face and a little shrug from Dimitri.

I then left the reading room and walked down the hallway to Father’s study, where I’d assumed he would be, as he spent most of his evenings there. Once I arrived outside, I took in a deep breath and knocked four times on the door. A single knock, then two taps in succession, ending with a single knock.

"Come in."

I heard Father’s permission coming from inside.

I opened the door and immediately noticed that there was another man—the gentleman.

I bowed to greet him politely, which he returned in kind.

"Father, I came home for a visit."

"I can see as much," he said.

"I hope it did not disturb you that I brought some friends from the Academy."

"Albert already reported to me a few days ago that you would. I allowed it. It is not a problem."

"Thank you, Father."

Then I noticed that Father was holding a glass of whiskey, and so was the gentleman. The way they stood and shared drinks together, Father’s posture, his unstrained calmness, and their natural ease—it told me they had known each other for a long time.

"It is time I introduce you to this gentleman, Marius," Father said first.

"It would be an honor," I answered with a respectful nod.

"This is Matthias Falken, a colleague and a friend."

"Nice to meet you, Sir. I am Marius Valenkraft."

I bowed again, feeling that somehow that was more appropriate for the man who didn’t offer his hand first.

To my surprise, though, he came to me first, and then placed his palm on my shoulder.

"It is a pleasure for me, too, to finally be properly acquainted with you, young Valenkraft."

His words weighed heavier in my heart than his palm on my shoulder. I immediately felt it. This man had an absolute confidence built on unshakable authority, the self-assuredness that I strived for.

All of this wrapped in an impeccable suit and a naturally melodic voice.

"Matthias is an official at the Imperial Welfare."

This was not the name of a governmental body I had ever heard of.

"And you shall not speak of it to anyone," Father continued.

"Of course, Father."

"But there is a reason I wanted to introduce you to Matthias today."

"Yes, Father."

"I was informed that you have met Matthias at the Academy multiple times. And I trust you know what that means."

I thought about it.

And of course, now that I knew he was a government official—one that Father called a ’colleague’ and a ’friend’ at that—I realized how stupid I was not to have seen it earlier.

"There is no coincidence," I said, as I had been taught.

"Correct," Mr. Falken said.

"How may I be of use, then, Mr. Falken—and please accept my apology, as I do not know how to address you properly."

"Mr. Falken is perfect," the man said with a smile.

"Yes, Mr. Falken."

"Marius," then Father began to speak, "you shall keep an eye on your classmates, the ones you brought here in particular."

I didn’t quite understand what he meant.

"You shall report to Matthias directly about any unusual behavior from any of them, and that includes any behavior that is too ordinary."

Those words were cryptic, but I took it to mean that I should report on everything they did and said, at least when asked to.

"May I, Father—"

"No, Marius. You may not. This is an order, and you shall comply without question."

"Yes, Father."

"Dear Frederik," Mr. Falken said, and I was surprised that he called Father by his first name and without using his title, "aren’t you being a little too harsh on your son? It is his first visit back home since the Academy started. No words of encouragement?"

The gentleman—Mr. Falken, I must remember him as such from now on—said this while sipping on his drink and smiling with his eyes.

Father looked slightly irritated, then made a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle, and said to me,

"You did not disappoint me, Marius."

"Thank you, Father."

He praised me.

Father praised me.

I couldn’t remember when the last time was that he did, but he just did.

I felt an extreme pride in my heart, and wanted to say something more to Father, but knew better than that. I didn’t want to ruin Father’s extraordinarily good mood.

"You may return to your classmates now," Father said, so I took my leave. As I was closing the door behind me, I heard the clinking of glasses, which told me they had just toasted.

I did it.

Father was so happy that he toasted with his friend.

With light steps, feeling like my whole body had no weight, I returned to the reading room. But when I opened the door and saw them in a playful mood, exchanging banter, a question arose in my mind.

’What was I exactly supposed to report?’

I couldn’t understand what Mr. Falken or my Father might have wanted to know, but that was probably the point. It was not my place to make any decisions on what was important and what wasn’t. Such decisions were to be made by people more experienced and wiser than me: Father and Mr. Falken.

’Know your place, Marius,’ I told myself, reminding myself of the lessons that I had been taught growing up.

There were no coincidences.

At least not in what the overseers of the Empire did.

"Are you okay, Mario...?"

I felt a sudden pang in my heart, a very sharp pain that felt like my heart was literally being torn.

"I’m okay. Thank you."

I wished—

Some things were coincidences.