Reigniting the Dragon's Flame(Love)

"And then we collapsed without strength. And we lay there for two days!" Raven did not lower his tone.

"After which they filed complaints," Aldric summed up, smiling contentedly.

It's not for nothing that they say he has a nasty character—look how he enjoys the suffering of his subordinates.

"A kickback," I spread my hands. "You have to pay for such a strong blessing. But you did everything for ten days in advance, and not only for yourself, but for others as well. And you only had to lie around for two. It's profitable."

"That's wonderful, Raven!" Aldric clapped his hands. "Subordinates who work hard are the joy of the boss. A great reason to give Ms. Lysandra another bonus!"

The third one during my stay in Thornvale. Previously, no one had valued my blessings so highly; on the contrary, everyone intended to impose fines.

"And what should I answer to the complaints?" Raven asked, offended.

"Convey my gratitude for your diligent work in the glorious name of our region. And if there are any questions, let them ask me personally," answered Aldric.

Yeah, I mean, do whatever you want. Raven pursed his lips, bowed, and ran out the door, throwing me a look full of indignation. What does this have to do with me?

"And aren't you ashamed to offend your loyal subordinates like that?" I asked.

"Aren't you ashamed to treat my loyal subordinates like this?" Aldric mimicked me. "I see, Lysandra, you've really gotten the hang of it."

As soon as we were alone, Aldric immediately switched to the informal "you." It wasn't that I allowed it, but some people openly disdained formalities and didn't see the point in adhering to etiquette.

"Not yet, of course," I answered, slightly disingenuously. "I need more time."

"And I think you need more work. So that you don't waste your wonderful talent on such undoubtedly wonderful, but still rather unreasonable blessings," Aldric replied.

Bastard.

"What are you offering me?"

"I suggest you do what you were sent here for. More precisely, why you, Lysandra, persuaded me to choose you from the crowd of light ones who wanted to be attached to my lands. You wanted to avoid working for that baron, right? How fortunate it all was for you."

What hypocrisy to speak as if I was the only one who benefited. It was a deal, a win-win! And there were no crowds of healers eager to work with Aldric. There was no one at all, except me. The others were not limited to the very bad option of the baron and the not-so-good one of the dark immortal with a dubious reputation.

"I repair the light sources as needed," I answered, sitting down opposite Aldric.

Aldric then unceremoniously reminded me that while I was in his office, I was not a lady he would be courting, but an ordinary assistant. And he preferred that his assistants, at a minimum, figured out how to perform the simplest actions without unnecessary instructions from him.

"Are you here solely to fix them and fill them with light magic?" Aldric raised an eyebrow. "Or do you need to be reminded of the general meeting and what we discussed afterwards?"

Yes, you could say that all my misadventures began with a general meeting. The royal family, representatives of the nobility, the Hall of Menders, several factions of warriors and magic warriors, the Shadowspire Wing, the Lumora Wing, the Verdant Wing… the rest of the organizations are not worth listing—they had virtually no influence. Everyone gathered together to discuss the problem of the fading light sources.

Light sources of magic are usually some artifacts, inside which light magic was locked. It worked like a permanent blessing, protecting from minor misfortunes: so that you don't stumble again, don't get sick over trifles, and don't suffer from bad luck. Moreover, this magic had a positive effect on everyone: on ordinary people, on magical warriors, and on dark mages. No conflict with any of the natural types of magic.

For some reason, light magic began to leave these springs, flowing out like water from a leaky bucket. Naturally, because of this, people began to be haunted by a series of minor failures. But this was not the problem, but the outbreaks of disease. No blessing—hello, all sorts of diseases. It cannot be said that this was a complete disaster: local healers and mages coped. However, the general trend of sources fading was alarming.

The reasons were still being sorted out, but a temporary solution to the problem was needed. And it was simple: any healer with light magic could fill the source with his power so that it would work again. Me included, even though I could hardly be called a full-fledged healer.

So, healers and other mages with non-combat light power were sent to all corners of the world so that we could monitor the light sources and not let them fade away, while everyone else was looking for the cause of the anomaly.

It so happened that I was present at this gathering of extremely high-ranking people, especially as a witness—right in front of me one of these sources "went out," because of which I was called to the meeting. While I was there, I accidentally saw the lists of distribution of available healers and learned that the baron wanted me for his lands as a "recharge" for the sources (this is according to the official version). But I did not want the baron at all—I remembered his slippery glance from the last mission. And, taking into account the rumors, I had a rough idea of why this baron needed me there.

As someone who doesn't tend to go with the flow, I decided to take action. I spoke to my immediate supervisor, a top-ranking physician, and received a less than pleasant response:

"Don't you want to go to Baron Drenvar? Who are you to choose? This baron is our important patron; he donated so much money to the Hall of Menders that we will send him a dozen doctors if he asks."

"I can't choose who to go to, Master Cedric, but you know that I can choose how to behave. And neither you nor the baron will like it," I said casually. "And to other doctors, as I heard, you offered two options, not one."

That was enough. My character, which was not at all suitable for a light mage of the non-combat direction, was legendary in the Hall of Menders.

"Okay. I'll give you a choice."

"Just let it be a person who is interested in me as a doctor, and not as a woman," I said firmly.

"No problem. This man will definitely not be interested in you. However, if you don't like the choice and decide to go to the lands of Baron Drenvar, then none of your… blessings with antics should happen. Understood?"

"Okay," I nodded.