The library was quiet. As always, the air smelled like old pages and dust. Sunlight slipped through high windows, drawing thin lines across the wooden table Ezra sat at.
Vera sat across from him. Her stare was sharp and direct.
"Be my fiancé," she said again.
Ezra stared back, annoyed and confused. He knew by now that she was the type who said whatever she wanted without shame.
"No," he replied and opened his second book.
"Wow. Straight answer." Her lips curved into a slow smile. "But that's the wrong one." She pointed at him like she was scolding a small child.
Ezra tried to ignore her by carrying the second book flipping through the pages to read, but his hand trembled with irritation.
Vera noticed. Her smile widened. She reached her hand forward, her fingers brushing the back of his hand, rubbing lightly as if testing how long he could endure it.
"You want to know why it's the wrong answer?" she asked, leaning closer.
He dragged his hand away and lifted his book to block her face from his view.
She puffed her cheeks at the rejection. Then another idea came to her.
She stretched her leg under the table and rubbed his shin slowly with her foot. Ezra's book began to vibrate again, but this time from anger.
"Vera." He dropped the book, voice low. "You know we're blood cousins, right?" He rested his jaw on his palm and glared.
"And?" she tilted her head, still rubbing his leg.
"And?" Ezra sighed. "Relationships between relatives are forbidden."
"Who said that?" she chuckled, leaning her cheek on her hand. "Never heard of it."
Ezra blinked. "Wait… what?"
He remembered from the knowledge of the modern rules from his past life in the old world. Cousins and siblings being together was taboo. Here…? Had the moral compass not been updated?
Wait, why do I feel like I'm mixing knowledge from my past life with my own knowledge. I only assumed the memories were from my past life because the person from my memories looks exactly like me…
"It is just something nobles do to keep their bloodline mixing with commoners," She explained. "They don't want outsiders awakening Cognis easily since it is hard to feel without internal or external contact with the energy."
Ezra lowered his hand slowly. "…That makes sense if I think about it."
"But the real reason," she added, voice lowering, "is that children of nobles who marry within, can give birth to babies with strong potential of reaching higher levels of Cognis faster since a good percentage of nobles already have a feel of Cognis from birth."
"So that's why Pamela's brother became your fiancé," Ezra muttered. He glanced down at the book again. "But sorry… I'm not interested in being anyone's lover. Also please stop rubbing my leg."
"Tsk." She clicked her tongue and leaned back, crossing her arms. "You're throwing away the biggest chance of your life."
"Sure." Ezra flipped a page with a flat expression.
Silence settled — the quiet kind that made turning pages sound loud.
Ezra thought about what she said. Being a ghost of his family made it hard for him to know much about the world and even if he had read some books back then it seemed he couldn't recollect anything. Realizing he needed more information… and she clearly had it. He peeked at her, thinking of how to persuade her.
Her eyes met him instantly. "What? You finally noticed how pretty I am?"
"No." He cleared his throat. "I want to ask you something. If you could help."
"About the Ashenlocke? Or why does this entire program exist?" She tapped a finger on the table.
"Yes, Lady Vera."
She glared. "So, you reject me… and expect me to answer for free?"
She hugged her arms dramatically. "This must be manipulation of the heart."
"That's not it," Ezra said fast. "If you tell me what I want to know, I'll do anything you want… except be your fiancé."
She stopped her movements. Her eyes narrowed.
"No fiancé?" she sighed. "You underestimate me too much. Do I look like someone who would force you like that?"
Ezra prayed he didn't just make things worse.
"So, ask," she said. She crossed her legs again. "After I answer, it's my turn to ask questions."
"That's it?" Ezra asked cautiously.
"That's it."
He nodded. "You, said nobles monopolize Alchemist awakenings through marriage… but that can't be the main method since you said Cognis needs to be felt internally or externally and from what I have read and none of these…" he pointed to a section about life-or-death experiences and overloading the brain with knowledge as the types of ways in awakening Cognis "… actually relate to that directly."
"This is why I'm interested in you," she said, pleased by his observation and deduction abilities. "These methods are for growing Cognis," she answered. "Not awakening it."
Ezra's eyes widened slightly.
"We awakened when we were babies," she continued. "Through baptism which is the external step to awakening Cognis. Alchemists gave us external exposure to Cognis making our little brains to adapt and start producing it slowly. That's why we are stronger, faster and smarter than civilians even before becoming true Alchemists."
"And the ceremony with the elixir," Ezra added, "is the internal exposure which makes us grasp full control of it."
"Exactly." She nodded once. "They hide the truth by giving a bit of it."
"So, they mislead lower nobles and commoners," Ezra said.
"That's right."
Ezra paused. "Then…next question: how many Duke-class nobles are there? I know Ashenlocke is one Duke family. But I can't find anything about the others."
"Why do you want to know about that?" Vera folded her arms, studying him.
"It might help me understand why this program exists in the first place."
She watched him for a long second before answering.
"Britannia has six Duke families. Our family rules Metallica — the land of metals. The biggest Dukedom in Britannia."
"I know our glory is in the past," Ezra said. "Since most books only talk about us from a thousand years ago."
"As the rulers of the Dukedom with eighty percent of metallic resources in Britannia and dealing with the Alchemy of Gun we had full control over the trading of Metals to other states, Dukedom and country we are friendly with but recently we had that privilege halved, each Dukes taking Ten percent from us" She scoffed.
Ezra frowned. "Why?"
"No improvement. Our gun art didn't evolve. The Servient Union, our kingdom's enemy, artillery passed us, but we who were ones. The producers of weapons can't make proper upgrades so basically, we have hit a wall. Some Count families produced better younger generations of Alchemists than us, even one Count family seems to be trying to overthrow us — with the help of another Duke's power."
Ezra stared at her. "I can't believe you'd tell me all of that."
She tilted her head. "Why not? Do you think I'd even talk to you if you weren't interested?" She smirked. "I thought I only liked pretty boys who needed my protection… Yet here we are."
Ezra coughed awkwardly.
"But how do you know all this?"
"I join political talks with the elders and uncles." She brushed invisible dust from her hair. "I'm a smart child, so they let me stay."
"But before the program, we mainline kids got a briefing."
"We?"
"Me, Felix, and one annoying girl."
"Priscilla?"
"Yeah. My little brother should've joined us, but he was busy complaining to father about something, while the other one isn't competent enough to sit with us"
Ezra leaned back slightly. "I didn't expect Felix to be that smart…"
He tapped his chin.
I think I'm starting to see the type of person he is… and why people follow him.