Leo was surprised to see Laura. He was almost completely certain that he has seen her before, but he could not remember where or when. She seemed like she was someone important.
Leo decided to take note of her and to watch her every action. Only then could he determine why she seemed so familiar.
He stared at Laura for a while more, and then finally spoke to the nervous students.
"Who is this?" He asked. He decided to be harsh this time since they came back far too early.
Beatrice and Ace were both shivering in fear, so Lyra has to be the one speaking. Really, Beatrice and Ace were scared of everything!
Lyra said, "this is Laura. We found her injured in the forest, so we rushed back to get her to safety."
Leo sighed. Then he leaned back on his chair like he usually did and loosened his tie. "So it seems. Now, Beatrice and Ace, did you collect the herb I asked you for?"
Beatrice quickly pulled it out of her pockets and handed it to Leo, all while her hands were shaking.
"Well, at least you completed your assignment. Now you two should go back to your rooms and rest. Lyra and Laura, stay here. I have something to talk to you about."
Beatrice and Ace left the room quickly, as if they could not handle the pressure of being in there anymore.
"Why are your students like this?" Lyra asked after they left. "You hate when people run away from everything."
Leo sighed. "I think those two are hopeless at this point. They had the potential, but..."
"They don't want to use it?" Lyra asked, trying to finish what Leo was saying.
Leo nodded.
Laura looked back and forth between Lyra and Leo, and then turned to face Len who was silently sitting on a chair behind them.
"Don't mind me." Len said, and then he turned away to ignore her.
"What did you need me here for?" Laura asked. She was bothered by the fact that no one said anything to her.
"I need to register you as a student. You will be staying here for some time, right?"
Laura nodded. Leo made sense in what he was saying.
Then Leo turned to Lyra. "Lyra, being Laura to the room next to yours. That will be her room from now on. Laura, here's the key." He half out the key for her, and Laura took it and stared at it for a moment.
"Don't lose it. You'll need it to get into your room." Leo said patiently. "Lyra, after you bring her over there, come back here. I need to talk to you about something."
Lyra smiled. "Okay."
Len, Who was in the back, saw a glimpse of Lyra's smile and was mesmerized by it. "No." He thought urgently, as he shoved the idea down, "I absolutely must not fall for her. How could I dare find her attractive? She is not Selena. I am loyal to Selena, and to Selena alone."
But even though he told himself these things, he still could not help but think of her smile, and her voice, and the way she excitedly talked to him. He could not help but think of all the happy actions of hers. They all... reminded him of Selena.
Was he really falling in love with Lyra instead of Selena, or was Lyra merely her replacement?
Either way, Len could not accept it. He would not accept it.
Lyra and Laura left the room, and now Leo and Len were the only ones still in the office.
"Len." Leo began and interrupted Len's thoughts of Lyra.
Len merely looked up without saying anything.
"How is your recovery going?" Leo asked seriously.
Len frowned and shook his head. "It's going nowhere. There aren't any leads on what the problem could be, and none of my magic is returning."
Leo frowned as well.
"It's odd..." Leo said, looking away from Len this time. "It's odd that you still don't age even when you cannot use magic. It was magic that stopped us from aging..."
Len stared at Leo without saying anything. He was prompting Leo to continue. Leo normally would not bring up this topic unless he thought of something, and that something would usually be big.
And Len was right. Leo did have more to say. "Recently I've been thinking... that the two might be unrelated. Maybe magic and eternal youth are two entirely separate things..."
"What led you to that idea?" Len asked. It sounded pretty unusual to hear such a theory from Leo. Something must have made him think of that.
"I've been beginning to think that life and death are not what they seem to be. That eternal youth is a part of death itself. Although it may sound a bit strange... I've been thinking... maybe the difference between aging and agelessness is that agelessness is always bordering death, while aging is farther from it."