Both girls took an involuntary step back. “I-It was before the incident with Rainer! Several months ago, around when class first started! I mentioned nothing to them other than a talented sorcerer with the name Aldric! All they told me was that I would need to rely on my resources while at school, then dismissed me. I-I’m not sure they even looked into you at all!”

Okay... okay. So, it wasn’t as bad as he’d feared. More than likely, they had looked into her questions, just to be sure, but had found nothing worth noting. If they had, they would most likely be angling Lilianna to get in his good graces, maybe introduce him to her family.

Aldric briefly wondered if this was all a ploy by Lilianna and the Asimov family, but decided against it. He’d gone on long enough, being paranoid about everyone’s intentions. She was just a teenage girl. That, and the Asimov family didn’t really have any issues with him personally. More likely, they wanted to stick him in a room forever, where they wouldn’t be forced to share him.

Aldric had been quiet for too long. Both girls looked stricken, faces guilty and fearful. He let out an explosive breath, then gathered himself.

“I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. You’re not in trouble. You wouldn’t have known any better. Besides, I guess it’s a fair question, isn’t it?”

Aldric looked at both of them for a long moment. None of them said a word in the silence. Lilianna looked unsure, but hopeful. Nadrina was anxiously glancing between the both of them, clearly waiting to see how much he would tell them.

“Who I am is best left unsaid. To you, I should only be your graceless and brutish professor. The less said, the better. And before you argue,” he interrupted as they both opened their mouths to protest, “I’m not trying to be evasive or mysterious or any of that crap. It is genuinely dangerous for you to know, both for myself and for you two. What I did in the arena resulted from years of research from when I was much younger and dumber. Well, dumber than I am now, anyway. Many would want to know what I did and how, but you’ll remember it also hospitalized me and unleashed a dangerous amount of power. I’m pretty sure Drina has already figured out a good chunk of how I did it anyway, yes?”