Leo looked around the pond for available resources and found nothing but lily pads, confused fish, and an increasingly desperate assassin who was trying to use a decorative fountain as a climbing aid.
Princess Seraphina, apparently deciding that waiting for the guards was taking too long, picked up a fallen tree branch and waded into the pond with the kind of determined expression that suggested she was prepared to handle the situation herself.
"Your Highness," Leo said, trying to maintain some semblance of proper protocol while wrestling with a would-be murderer in three feet of pond water, "you really shouldn't "
"Shouldn't what?" Princess Seraphina asked, using the tree branch to prod the assassin away from the fountain with the efficiency of someone who had clearly received combat training. "Defend myself? Assist a fellow academy student who just saved my life? I think I'm perfectly capable of deciding what I should and shouldn't do."
Leo stared at her, water dripping from his hair and pond weeds clinging to his clothes. In his original story, Princess Seraphina had been written as strong and capable, but seeing her in action was a completely different experience. She moved with confidence and precision, and there was a steel in her blue eyes that suggested she was not someone to be underestimated.
"You're right," he said, feeling slightly awed by his own fictional creation. "I just... I'm not used to princesses who wade into ponds to fight assassins."
"Then you haven't been meeting the right princesses," she said with a smile that was equal parts charming and dangerous.
The guards arrived just as the assassin made one final, desperate attempt to escape by diving underwater and swimming toward the far edge of the pond.
Unfortunately for him, the pond was not designed for underwater navigation, and he surfaced moments later, sputtering and gasping, directly in front of Captain Miranda Steele, who had apparently been among the first responders.
"Well," Captain Steele said dryly, looking down at the soaked and defeated assassin, "this is certainly not how I expected to spend my afternoon."
The aftermath of the assassination attempt was a blur of official questioning, witness statements, and the kind of bureaucratic procedures that Leo had always glossed over in his writing but which turned out to be significantly more tedious in real life.
The assassin was taken into custody, the gardens were secured, and Princess Seraphina was escorted back to the palace by a contingent of guards who looked like they were personally offended that someone had attempted to murder royalty on their watch.
But before she left, Princess Seraphina sought out Leo, who was sitting on a garden bench trying to wring pond water out of his robes while Sir Reginald provided a detailed critique of his combat performance.
"Mr. Vance," she said, approaching with the kind of graceful walk that made it seem like she was floating rather than walking. "I wanted to thank you for your quick thinking. If you hadn't created that distraction, I might not have noticed the danger until it was too late."
Leo looked up at her, taking in the sight of a princess who had just helped capture an assassin and somehow managed to look perfectly composed despite having waded through a pond in a silk dress. "I just threw some rocks at some fish," he said weakly. "Anyone could have done that."
"But you did it at exactly the right moment," Princess Seraphina pointed out. "And then you tackled an armed assassin to protect me, even though you had no obligation to put yourself in danger."
"I had a moral obligation," Leo said, which was true even if his motivations were more complicated than she realized. "You can't just let people get stabbed when you have the ability to prevent it."
Princess Seraphina studied him with the kind of intense attention that made Leo feel like he was being evaluated for something important. "You're not what I expected from the famous bucket-thrower," she said finally.
"I'm really not famous," Leo protested. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right cleaning supplies. It was an accident."
"Twice now," Princess Seraphina observed. "You've been in the right place at the right time to help people. That's either remarkable luck or something more interesting."
Leo felt his familiar sense of dread returning. "Definitely luck," he said quickly. "Extremely lucky. Suspiciously lucky. The kind of luck that's probably going to run out very soon."
Princess Seraphina smiled, and Leo got the uncomfortable feeling that she found his protests more charming than convincing. "Well, Mr. Vance, I hope your luck continues. Something tells me that the academy is going to be a more interesting place with you around."
After she left, Leo slumped back on the bench and stared at the pond where he had just tackled his second magical threat in as many days.
"Well," said Sir Reginald, who had climbed onto the bench beside him and was attempting to dry his tiny armor with a leaf, "that was adequately heroic for someone who claims to have no interest in heroism."
"I saved her life," Leo said, the reality of what had just happened beginning to sink in. "I actually saved Princess Seraphina's life."
"Indeed... you did," Sir Reginald agreed. "And now she's interested in you, which means you've officially attracted the attention of royalty. This is either a great honor or a terrible complication, depending on your perspective."
Leo looked around the gardens, where maintenance staff were already working to repair the damage caused by the assassination attempt and the subsequent pond-based combat. Everything was returning to normal, but he knew that nothing would ever be quite the same.
---
[Achievement Unlocked: Royal Life Saver]
• Description: You've saved a princess from assassination. This is the kind of thing that gets you noticed by important people.
• Reward: Increased reputation with the royal family and a significant boost to your heroic credentials.
• Side Effect: You are now officially on the radar of people who matter, which is the opposite of what you wanted.
---
[Romance Flag Detected]
• Warning: A potential romantic subplot has been activated. Prepare for complications.
---
Leo stared at the notifications, then at the pond where he had just wrestled with an assassin, then at the path where Princess Seraphina had walked away with a smile that suggested she found him much more interesting than he wanted to be.
"I think," he said to Sir Reginald, "my plan to avoid the main plot is officially dead."
"Quite thoroughly dead," Sir Reginald agreed. "But look on the bright side you're becoming quite good at this heroism business, whether you want to or not."
Leo groaned. "That's not a bright side. That's the opposite of a bright side. That's a dark side. A very dark, very complicated side that's going to make my life infinitely more difficult."
"Perhaps," Sir Reginald suggested, "you should consider embracing the complications. They seem to suit you."
Leo looked at his tiny companion, then at the academy around him, then at his own reflection in the pond water. He was soaked, exhausted, and had just become involved in exactly the kind of dramatic plot development that he had been trying to avoid.
He was also, he had to admit, feeling oddly satisfied with the day's work.
"Maybe," he said quietly, "complications aren't the worst thing in the world."
"Now you're learning," Sir Reginald said approvingly. "Though I do hope your next heroic adventure involves less pond water. My armor is not designed for aquatic combat."