The door closed behind Lumine and Paimon, leaving a silence in the room that felt heavier than the humidity outside. Ren stood near the table, the weight of his revelations still hanging in the air.
Lisa broke the silence with a soft, amused chuckle. She leaned back, crossing her legs, and fixed Ren with a playful, emerald gaze.
"You really are something, aren't you, cutie?" she purred. "Most people would spend a lifetime hoping to catch a glimpse of a god. You? You just casually drop into conversation that you had a private chat with the Dendro Archon. Like it was nothing more than meeting a neighbor for tea."
Ren's cheeks flushed a bright pink. He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly finding the floor fascinating. "I… well, it wasn't… I mean, she warned me about the danger. That seemed more important than the fact that she was an Archon."
"That's exactly my point," Lisa laughed, the sound warm and affectionate. "For anyone else, meeting a god is the headline. For you, it's a footnote. Meeting Archons has become a regular Tuesday for our little genius."
"It's not like that!" Ren protested weakly, his blush deepening. "It just… happens."
"Of course it does," Lisa teased. "Just like stumbling into Harbingers and inventing world-changing technology. It just happens."
She winked at him. "Go on, then. I saw you itching to use that sigil. Go make your mysterious calls."
Ren mumbled a hurried excuse and retreated to his room, his ears burning.
Once the door clicked shut, the playful atmosphere in the living room dissolved. Lisa turned to Ningguang, her expression sobering instantly. The relaxed scholar was gone, replaced by the sharp, formidable witch of the Purple Rose.
"So," Lisa said, her voice low. "What's the play, Tianquan? We're sitting in a city that just tried to eat our dreams."
Ningguang stared into her tea, her amber eyes cold and calculating. "Leaving is the logical choice. The risk to Ren is unacceptable. However…" She tapped a fingernail against the porcelain cup. "Azar is desperate. If we attempt to leave now, abruptly, it might force his hand. He might see it as a sign that we know too much. He could detain us under false pretenses, or worse."
She looked up, her gaze steady. "And Lumine is already in the thick of it. If we leave, we abandon her. And we lose any leverage we might have gained."
"Agreed," Lisa nodded. "We stay. But we play dumb."
"Precisely," Ningguang said. "We maintain the facade. We are here for trade, for patents, for tourism. We act as if the festival was simply… disappointing. We give Azar no reason to suspect we are aware of his grand experiment. Let him think his harvest was successful."
Lisa hummed thoughtfully. "Until we have proof. And a way to neutralize him. Azar is protected by the Akademiya's laws and the Matra. Touching him without absolute justification would be a diplomatic nightmare."
She glanced toward the door. "Speaking of Matra… I'm not leaving. Not now. Ren needs watching, and… well, I've grown rather fond of the little troublemaker. And there are others. Tighnari, Collei. And Cyno."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Cyno is the General Mahamatra. If the Sages are corrupting the Akademiya, if they are breaking their own laws… he needs to know. He is the judgment of this land. If Azar falls, it will be by Cyno's spear."
She stood up, smoothing her dress. "I'm going to have a little chat with my junior. See what he knows. You hold down the fort here?"
"Ren is safe with me," Ningguang promised.
Lisa left, a swirl of purple and purpose.
In the bedroom, Ren sat on the edge of the bed, the communication sigil fading in his hand.
"Understood," he whispered to the empty air. "Thank you, Master."
He tucked the sigil away as the door opened. Ningguang stood there, leaning against the frame, watching him with curious eyes.
"Calling home?" she asked.
"Just checking in," Ren said, his voice casual. "I had a… request to make."
"Oh?" Ningguang raised an eyebrow. "A request for the adepti? Or perhaps something more… explosive?"
"Just… preparation," Ren said, leaving the topic hanging with a mysterious shrug. He didn't want to worry her with the details of his backup plan. Not yet.
He hopped off the bed, eager to change the subject. "Are we staying in today? Or can we go out?"
"Lisa has gone to find Cyno," Ningguang said. "But I am here."
"Can we go to the House of Daena?" Ren asked, his eyes lighting up. "I didn't finish my book on ancient structural engineering. And Madam Faruzan said she wanted to show me a puzzle."
Ningguang smiled, walking over to ruffle his hair. "Of course. A day of reading sounds like a perfect way to ignore the madness of the world. Let's go."
They left the house, stepping back into the city of wisdom, two players in a game of gods and scholars, pretending they didn't know the board was rigged.