"You're not going to find anything useful in these books," Clover repeated flatly.
The wizard rose with a darkening expression, close to rupturing. Bird quickly came to his feet with a start. He embezzled himself between them sensing an imminent explosion on the part of the wizard.
"Master," he soothed, " The Demon Lord is here to help us, remember?"
"That remains to be seen," the wizard said in a low voice.
Clover smirked triumphantly, "I'm saying that these books are all from the Empire. We need something older. We have to go back to the source,"
"And where would that be?"
"Elven country. Anything we find in the Empire will be in its infancy compared to what they have there. Daelven objects for the most part are from a forgotten era - destroyed in war after war with the Empire until the borders were drawn up. The Empire took what scraps it could and stuffed them inside the mountain temples. Everything else is probably still on the other side of the border. It's been so long, the elves probably don't even know what that stuff is either, but their records go back further,"
"Let me get this straight. You expect me to let you off to the other side of the continent to retrieve these 'books'?" the wizard scoffed.
"I wouldn't dream of abandoning you now, Michael," Clover tilted their head back with a smile, "No, I have a friend in those parts. She's much handier when it comes to finding these little things and more discreet. She can find it and bring it back for us,"
"You? A friend?" the wizard sneered, "That I would have to see to believe,"
"Oh, don't be jealous," Clover slid a finger up the wizard's arm, "I have room for you too,"
The wizard immediately shirked it off. "Don't touch me," he glared.
Clover retracted the hand with a malevolent grin.
"Well? Will you let me solve all our problems for us?"
The wizard went quiet. Bird was still standing between them feeling more awkward than ever. His face told of his utter discomfort and he looked to Ace for some relief. However, during the whole conversation, Ace remained with his eyes firmly downcast on the book in front of him.
The truth was, he hated it. He hated to see Clover even joke around with the wizard. Of all people, why the wizard? Well, it didn't matter. It just made him sad. At last, the wizard answered.
"Fine. Send word to your 'friend' but I will read the letter before you send it so don't try anything. I will have to inform the Emperor,"
"If you must," Clover sighed.
After listening to the interaction, Ace was relieved when Bird approached him to take a break. He gladly consented while the wizard was too distracted to object. They walked out to the courtyard together, but neither one said a word.
Once they had sat under their usual lunch spot under one of the trees, Bird suddenly turned to Ace. His face was unusually red and seemed greatly agitated.
"Are you still angry at me?" he asked in a burst of nervous energy.
"No, I'm not," Ace answered flat out.
"I want to say I'm sorry again," Bird continued to fluster, " I wanted to be your friend but I screwed it up."
"You are my friend, Bird. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me about what you were researching when you knew it involved me. You could've just asked me. I would have told you about Clover,"
"I guess I was afraid to ask. If I knew the truth, I would have had to decide between you and this. It was easier to pretend not to know. I came to the Empire because I want to see the world, but the only thing I know is this tower. It's so lonely here. I did want to be a good friend, but honestly, I'm not sure I even know how. I don't have any other friends here,"
"What are you talking about, Bird? The other students like you. You have loads of friends here,"
"They're not my friends. The tower and palace are both the same, it's all about who you know. It's all so tiring. The other students only pretend to like me but I know it's really because they're just afraid of the wizard, or aiming for a position in court. No one really likes me," Bird smiled sadly as his eyes peered up at the tower in front of them.
The massive brick tower spiralled defiantly towards the heavens. The grey sky met its peak with open arms. No other students were out yet, but the building itself had its own dreary and ominous presence. It cast a long shadow over the length of the courtyard.
"I don't think that's true," Ace shook his head in disbelief, "People do like you. I like you. I'm sorry I didn't open up to you before, but I'm willing to put what happened in the past if you are?"
Finally, Bird's tense energy began to dissipate and he grinned from ear to ear.
"Okay! Okay! Let's do that," he nodded enthusiastically.
Ace laughed watching him. He had a smile that made others want to smile. Ace could hardly believe that anyone could hate him. It was impossible. Yet, It seemed that it wasn't just him who felt suffocated in the tower.
The break was spent in happy chatter as Bird regaled Ace of the events they had both been part of, but with Bird's own comical commentary. They would have happily continued on till they were called back, but an unexpected appearance brought their conversation to an abrupt stop.
Ace stared up with a blank expression at the figure in front of him. Sister Leila surveyed him with a cultivated smile.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you,"
"You are," Ace answered categorically.
"I should go," Bird added hastily.
Ace was about to argue but Bird was exceptionally quick on his feet when he wanted to be. He scurried towards the tower, only looking back with disappointment that his introduction had to be delayed.
Ace frowned. What did she want? He hadn't forgotten her role in Lord Clover's capture. He knew she was involved, but they hadn't talked since that day in the gardens. Since then, he had watched her interactions with the wizard and came to some conclusions on his own.
"I was waiting in the gardens for you. I've been expecting you to confront me for weeks. I had quite a speech prepared," Leila said taking a seat beside him
"Do the words 'i'm sorry' feature anywhere in this speech of yours," Ace didn't meet her eyes. She smiled but said nothing.
"I'm not sure why you're even here, Leila," Ace sighed, " You're not going to apologise, and even if you did, I wouldn't forgive you. So, why are we talking right now?"
"Don't be too hasty in your self-righteousness, Ace. You were the one keeping the worst secret of all. The mysterious love interest turned Demon Lord? I mean really? You brought it on yourself," Leila chuckled.
"And what about you?" Ace replied, " Princess turned nun? Does the order know about you and the Grand wizard? I take it your father never succeeded in breaking off that affair. Hasn't anything that came out of your mouth been true?"
Leila giggled, "Oh the love affair was true. Just not with the wizard - that's only a recent thing. And as for the sisters, they are much too strict for my taste anyway. Tell them. I've got what I wanted,"
"And what is that?"
"A place back at my brother's side,"
"You wanted to be a princess again that badly?"
"A princess?" Leila burst into another fit of giggles, "I could care less. You don't have any family. So what could you know about it? There is no one worthier of being Emperor than my brother. I failed him before, but not this time. I will be his right hand and the sun will continue to shine on the Empire as it always has. And you will either be with us or against us. We will rid ourselves of this demon scourge and I make no apology for it. That is what I came to tell you today because, believe it or not, I do like you, Ace. I would hate to see end up like all the other enemies of the Empire, ground to dust,"
"I can't tell if you're joking or not," Ace scoffed, " If the Empire Is really so great, how can someone like you sit at the right-hand side of the emperor?"
"You underestimate me, Ace. So many do and all live to regret it," Leila smiled.
"We'll see,"
"We shall," She rejoined with a smile, "After all, how long do you really think the Demon Lord is going to play house with the Grand Wizard? Demons will do what they always do. When that happens you'll be straight back on the chopping block. Maybe then my friendship will seem much more... appealing."