The next morning came earlier than Leon liked.
Slade arrived just after sunrise with dark circles under his eyes and a worn-looking woman trailing behind him. She couldn't have been older than her mid-twenties. Her hands twisted the hem of her plain brown tunic, knuckles white against the coarse fabric.
"Leon," Slade greeted with a curt nod before placing a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder. "This is my sister, Mara."
Mara bowed her head slightly in greeting.
"Thank you for agreeing to help."
Leon waved the courtesy away and gestured toward the small table by the window. "Sit. Both of you. Let's start from the beginning."
Lyra busied herself pouring tea, though her eyes lingered on Mara with quiet empathy.
Once seated, Leon leaned back, folding his arms loosely as he studied Mara. "You're certain your husband wouldn't leave you out of his will?"
Mara's head shot up instantly, her voice firm despite the tremor beneath it. "Absolutely not. Daren loved the land. We worked it together. Every inch of it is as much mine as his. He… he knew how much it meant to me. He wouldn't abandon me. Not like this."
Leon tapped a knuckle thoughtfully against the table. "Then that means one of two things: either he did write that will under circumstances you didn't know about, or..someone forced his hand."
Slade stiffened, his jaw tightening. "I thought the same thing, but those bastards produced witnesses and a sealed signature! What court won't take their word for it?"
Leon smiled faintly.
"Courts don't take words. They take evidence."
Lyra set a steaming cup of tea in front of Mara and gave Leon a glance. "Stop circling the poor woman and just say what you're thinking."
Leon hummed softly and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Mara, is there anywhere your husband might have hidden something important? Somewhere personal. Somewhere only you would know to check?"
Mara hesitated, blinking rapidly. "Hidden something? Like what?"
"Another will," Leon said plainly. "If Daren knew his brothers were circling like vultures, he might've made precautions."
Mara stared at him, wide-eyed, as though the possibility had never occurred to her. Slade frowned, glancing between them, the faintest thread of hope creeping into his expression.
"Go home," Leon continued calmly. "Turn the place upside down if you have to. Anywhere Daren would've hidden something from everyone else. Do not leave it unchecked. If I'm wrong, we're no worse off than before. But if I'm right.."
"Then we'll have something to fight with," Slade finished, his voice low with dawning realization.
Leon nodded once. "Exactly."
Mara swallowed hard and pushed back from the table. "I'll look. Every drawer, every floorboard if I have to."
"Good," Leon said simply. "The sooner, the better."
Slade rose too, offering Leon a grateful nod before leading his sister out.
As the door clicked shut behind them, Lyra rounded on Leon instantly.
"Another gamble," she accused flatly. "You're betting everything on the off chance that man hid another will somewhere?"
Leon glanced up at her lazily, stretching his legs beneath the table. "I'm not betting. I'm following probabilities. Daren worked the land his whole life, with his wife. If he cared for her half as much as Mara claims, the odds are good he'd plan ahead."
Lyra threw up her hands. "Or he didn't, and you're just giving them false hope."
Leon smiled faintly, his gaze flicking to the sunlight streaming through the window. "Hope's cheap. Books, on the other hand.." He pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his satchel. "..books cost money."
Lyra watched him saunter away feeling like she couldn't understand him even more after that accident. Did life or death situations change people so massively?
Leon went to the only bookstore in the village. There wasn't much to look at. It was a cramped, two-story building wedged between a cobbler's shop and a herbalist. But its interior smelled of old parchment, polished wood, and ink.
Leon ran his fingers along the spines of leather-bound tomes as he wandered through narrow aisles, scanning gold-stamped titles until he found the section he wanted.
Foundations of Civil Law.
Applied Mana Jurisprudence.
Binding Contracts & Arcane Enforcement.
He picked them all, ignoring the way his purse physically seemed to groan at the weight. If he bought these, he would be running through all the coin he has from Slade's payment.
Behind the counter, the shopkeeper watched him like a hawk.
"You're looking at the expensive shelves, boy," the man drawled. "Magic-law crossovers aren't cheap. Most folks don't bother with 'em."
Leon dropped the stack of books on the counter, unbothered. "Most folks aren't me."
The man snorted but didn't argue, tallying the price. Leon handed over a sum that made even him wince. But knowledge, in this world, was worth its weight in gold. Especially knowledge of mana-bound contracts.
In this kingdom, legal documents sealed with mana signatures held absolute authority. If the will the in-laws produced was truly legitimate, the court would honor it without question. But if it was forged.. that was a completely different case.
If Daren's mana signature bore signs of coercion, Leon just needed the right precedents to rip the case apart.
Slade and Mara returned just before dusk, their expressions dazed, as if they were still processing what they'd discovered.
Mara clutched a small, weathered scrollcase to her chest as though it were the last anchor holding her together.
"You found something," Leon said calmly, though his eyes darted to the scrollcase immediately.
Mara nodded shakily. "We tore the whole house apart, just like you said. I thought we'd find nothing, but then I remembered the loose floorboard under Daren's workbench in the shed. He used to hide spare coin there."
She placed the scrollcase on the table with trembling fingers. Inside lay a second will.
This one left everything to Mara.
Lyra sucked in a sharp breath. "Gods so he did prepare for this."
Slade clenched his fists tightly at his sides, his voice rough. "I should've known he wouldn't abandon her."
Leon, however, didn't immediately celebrate. He picked up the will delicately, scanning the signature.
Mara looked up at him, hope and confusion warring in her gaze. "So this means we win, right?"
Leon shook his head. "Not quite."
Her face fell instantly.
"This," Leon continued, tapping the scrollcase gently, "proves Daren wanted you to have the land. But the fact that his brothers have a more recent will signed under legal bindings means the court will favor theirs. Unless we can prove why he signed it."
Mara's grip on the scrollcase tightened until her knuckles turned pale. "And if we lose?"
Leon met her gaze steadily.
"You won't."
By the time Slade and Mara left that night, hope burned in their eyes where despair had sat before.
Lyra lingered at the doorway long after they were gone, arms folded tightly as she stared at Leon.
"You know," she said softly, "you sound awfully sure of yourself for someone gambling against a forged will backed by witnesses."
Leon glanced up from the will, his lips curling faintly. "It's not gambling if you know the other player's bluffing."
Lyra sighed, rubbing her temple. He was even more difficult to deal with now that before.
"One of these days, your arrogance is going to get you killed."
Leon's smile deepened.
"Maybe," he murmured, "but not today."