Chapter Text
In the Director’s Office
“ENGEL! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? THIS IS A SERIOUS VIOLATION OF THE RULES!”
Miss Grace’s voice contained a growl so terrifying that everyone around involuntarily felt their hearts freeze, as if afraid that even the sound of a heartbeat would anger the headmistress even more.
Despite the wild fury in her voice, she was still restraining herself and trying to behave properly. After all, her noble manners were immediately visible.
“Miss Bloomie, call an ambulance. Quickly! I don’t think Oliver will last long with such wounds. I’ll try to keep him alive until the ambulance arrives.
Miss Thavel, call Oliver’s guardians and inform them of the whole situation. I hope they arrive quickly enough.
Engel. To my office! Now! Or would you prefer to experience the same injuries in your human form?”
Greenish-black tentacles wrapped around Oliver’s half-dead body. They seemed to pass through his body without harming it, wrapping around his ribs, while two of them with a certain precision pressed on his diaphragm. This was visible because they glowed through his body.
Ten minutes later, Alice began coughing even harder. This time she was coughing up black sludge. Then, unnaturally even for devils or demons, she opened her mouth extremely wide, and something resembling a snake after shedding its skin emerged from it.
She asked Miss Grace a question in an incomprehensible language — complex and ancient, yet quite horrifying.
“Yes, yes, the contract is still in effect, but the extent of the injuries will have to be fully assessed by the doctors. Go to your room for now. I’ll tell you everything as soon as I have information.”
Not wanting to tempt fate, Engel immediately rushed to where he was sent. On the way to the office, a small fiery scarf shimmered around his neck and instantly turned into Komi.
“Be honest with me. Do you have chicken brains? Or at least ant neural nodes? What kind of fucking idiot do you have to be to not only provoke an entire goddamn tribe, but also manage to piss off a hellish fucking Marchioness? I knew you had some suicidal tendencies, but not to this extent!”
“Maybe if you had shown up earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten myself yet another problem? You could have explained what consequences my actions would bring! And where the hell have you been anyway!?”
“I thought that with the memories of all representatives of your kind, you wouldn’t be a fucking idiot! I didn’t think you would do something so reckless! I was busy devouring the spirits of the dead Garou that your family killed.”
“I still don’t have full access to the memories and experience. So I can’t possess them completely. My consciousness can’t handle it yet.”
“Thankfully, you at least had time to awaken Manido. So if the punishment is somehow connected to objects, we’ll get a bit of practice with it.”
Reaching the right door, Engel entered the room and caught his breath. His shortness of breath was stronger than usual, as if he had been carrying something very heavy while maintaining speed.
“You devoured quite a mass while eating the essence of the werewolves killed by my family. How many did you absorb? Eight hundred? Or nine hundred?”
“If I didn’t miscount, then approximately three thousand six hundred and two dozen. A small town, basically. Plenty of Gnosis.”
“God, he seemed like such a nice boy, and then he goes and does something like this? Maybe those spider spirits made him think of it? I’ll think about it later. First I need to come up with something coherent to tell Oliver’s parents.”
“Should we continue the lessons? Or dismiss everyone except the parents and participants of the conflict?” Miss Emily asked at a very appropriate moment.
“Continue the lessons as usual. Please ask Tamerlane and Alexandra to stay after classes in the evening. The conversation about Engel’s recent behavior will be extremely serious.”
The discussion about what punishment to give Engel was clearly going to drag on. For now, let him sit in her office until the start of this “meeting.”
“Something is still bothering you, isn’t it? I don’t think it’s anything unimportant. You’re not the type to waste time thinking about trivial things.”
“Yes, it is bothering me. After all, I made an agreement with his parents quite a long time ago.
And if he ultimately doesn’t recover, everything will go to hell. Oliver’s parents are far from the least influential people not only in the city, but in the country as well.
Both I and they have quite important plans for the future of our families.”
“Wait! So Alice and Oliver are in an arranged marriage? Well, they’re not married right now, but essentially their relationship is based on a contract between you and his parents?”
“If only it were that simple. Rather, we made a contract about their future marriage after noticing their attachment to each other.
Honestly, I met his parents by chance. At first I even thought they were not very wealthy people. But as it turned out, they are quite significant figures in the city. At least in business, although rarely mentioned.
So to speak, the gray cardinals of business.”
“Interesting. Who exactly are they?”
“You’ll find out soon enough, soon enough.”
The ambulance took Oliver’s body away. While there was time, Miss Grace finally entered her office.
Engel was sitting on one of the chairs. His gaze was empty, as if he was drifting somewhere else, leaving his body guarded only by a small fiery snake.
A long silence settled in the office. Both remained quiet. This silence was only occasionally broken by Miss Grace, who was either working or taking out something she needed.
The tension in the room kept growing. It grew quite slowly, to the point that it even caused some irritation.
Meanwhile, while they waited, a wave of worry spread through the school. After all, Engel had never acted this way before.
“Lana! Did you hear what Engel did!? You won’t believe your ears! Miss Grace even sent him to her office because of it!”
Bubble suddenly burst into the room, clearly excited and nervous. She considered it her duty to tell what had happened today.
“I haven’t been following the news much lately, so I don’t really know what’s going on in our school. But please, tell me anyway.”
“Engel beat up Oliver and Alice! Alice and Oliver were even coughing up blood! They were lying on the floor writhing from their injuries! You should have seen how angry Miss Grace was at Engel.”
“Wait, what did he do? I can’t believe he would do something like that! He’s not the type to get angry to that degree!”
“It’s all true! I saw with my own eyes how he beat them! And it didn’t even seem particularly difficult for him! He’s clearly become much stronger than before.”
“Something must have changed Engel so drastically? It’s clearly not a simple reason. I have a feeling that he didn’t just change in character.”
“And you’re right. Over these two weeks he changed not only in character, but also in appearance. He became able to change into several forms.
Even the form he came in today was different.
He was in human form. With red hair and pinkish-red skin. If it weren’t for Petunia, I would have genuinely believed it wasn’t Engel!”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have noticed myself if it weren’t for my sense of smell. Engel changed so much. Even his manner of walking, movements, and behavior changed drastically!”
Lizzy and Petunia suddenly joined the conversation. Their words, together with Bubble’s, made Lana think deeply.
“And yet… what changed him so much?”