Chapter 3 Aurelie
Aurelie
Aurelie sat at the far end of the long mahogany dining table, her uncle’s expression difficult to read from here. If she was
being honest, Uncle Leo was always a bit inscrutable to Aurelie, who had never been very successful at masking her emotions.
She wore her heart on her sleeve, according to Kiara, a generous euphemism for saying that if Aurelie was displeased, you
knew it.
“How are your studies?” he asked, which was always the first thing he inquired about at dinner.
As always, she smiled and assured him they were going well.
“That’s not what I heard from Mr. Viridian,” Uncle Leo said, arching a dark brow.
Aurelie winced. Miles Viridian was a history student notable only for his height (“tall to the point of absurdity,” as she’d
once put it to Kiara) and the fact that he seemed to always be lingering in Aurelie’s favorite corner of the library. When
he’d asked about her upcoming exams, she may have mentioned that she was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but she certainly hadn’t
expected him to go running to her uncle as though it were breaking news.
“I’m sorry, Uncle. My studies are going well. I simply wanted to avoid a lengthy conversation with Miles.”
“Oh? And why is that?” Leo took a delicate bite of fish, chewing methodically.
He did everything in the same manner: neat, composed, calculated.
His black hair was always slicked back with pomade, his beard trimmed just so.
He was her mother’s younger brother, only in his mid-thirties, but he came across as older.
Where Uncle Leo was reserved and focused, Claudine had been as wild and untamed as her garden.
Even if Aurelie didn’t abhor a sycophant, Miles’s decision to pursue a degree in history, of all subjects, hinted at a dire
lack of imagination. Not that she could ever say as much to her uncle. “I had a lot of work to attend to before classes.”
Leo set his fork down and sighed. “I’ve told you a dozen times that you don’t need to continue with your menial labor. We
have Mr. Morel and his daughter for that sort of work.”
Aurelie bristled, both at the insinuation that such labor was beneath them, and also that two people alone could maintain
this entire institution. “They need my help, Uncle. Besides, I enjoy my work.” And she needed it. It gave her access to tools and parts of the university others didn’t enter, and it helped hone her mechanical skills.
“Yes, yes. Your tinkering, as you call it. But if it’s interfering with your studies . . .”
“It isn’t,” Aurelie assured him. “I have plenty of time for both. Besides, I like making my own money.”
At this, Uncle Leo crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Aurelie, you are my only living relative. The idea that
you would need money of your own is absurd.”
For the second time that night, Aurelie winced.
When would she learn to think before she spoke?
“My apologies, Uncle. I’m extremely grateful for your generosity.
I suppose it’s that my parents always instilled the value of independence in me.
And with them dying so young, I know full well that nothing in life can be taken for granted. ”
Uncle Leo softened, as Aurelie had known he would. The carriage accident that had resulted in their premature deaths was never
far from either of their minds. “Yes, well.” He gestured for the servant to clear their dishes. “Old habits can be difficult
to break. But Mr. Viridian comes from a good family, and I believe he likes you, Aurelie. He is exactly the kind of young
man I hope you’ll marry someday,” he continued. “After you complete your studies, of course.”
She forced a smile and thanked the servant as he cleared her plate, but inside, she felt a familiar twist of dread in her
stomach. Every time Uncle Leo mentioned marriage, it was a reminder that the carefree days of her youth were nearly behind
her. Leo clearly intended to pass her off to this imaginary husband as soon as she graduated, and no man in Wisteria would
tolerate a wife having a secret laboratory.
Her only hope was to find a teaching position at the university herself, where she could remain close to home and her uncle,
no husband required. It would be a disappointment to Leo on some level, she knew. He himself had never married, but he was
old-fashioned when it came to Aurelie. If he had any idea what she’d just created in her lab only an hour ago, he’d be apoplectic.
In her defense, it wasn’t as if she’d sought any of this out. Inventing had been the by-product of loneliness, of not knowing
her place in the world anymore. She’d asked Uncle Leo for a pet not long after arriving at Wisteria University, a request
it had taken no small amount of courage to make.
“A pet,” he’d repeated, voice grave, though there was a twinkle in his dark eyes.
“Yes, Uncle. Any pet will do.”
“Hmmm. Dogs aren’t ideal at a university,” he had mused. “All the barking.”
Aurelie nodded sagely. She’d expected as much. “A cat, perhaps?”
“Excellent for libraries, but I’m afraid some of the students might be allergic, and we can’t have that.”
“Oh.” She had prepared for this eventuality, as well. “A hairless cat, then.”
Uncle Leo had frowned, leaning closer to whisper, “They look a bit like demons, no?”
Later, Aurelie would not entirely disagree.
Her other proposals—lizard, snail, parrot sworn to a vow of silence—were summarily rejected, so Aurelie had taken matters
into her own hands.
A normal plant, she’d known from the start, wouldn’t do. Yes, they could grow, shed, and die. But they looked so . . . planty. Stealing a chunk of terracotta clay from Mr. Morel’s shop, Aurelie had fashioned a pot into the shape of what was supposed
to be a dog but came out rather more like a dragon.
Thanks to her parents, Aurelie’s knowledge of plants was vast. In one of her earliest memories, she had witnessed a pile of
radish seeds left out in the rain develop into a slimy mess that would sprout several days later. Mucilaginous was a disgusting and intriguing word, and she happily plastered soggy radish seeds to the sides of her pot, watering it until
the true magic began.
Did Aurelie understand the risk of inventing at age seven? She couldn’t quite recall. She did know she’d never seen a demon
before, and she would never have used the term invent regarding her pet-shaped planter, brilliantly named a Planter Pet. In truth, she hadn’t fully understood that she had created something entirely new until Mephisto appeared.
It happened the same way it always did: a shimmer, the smell of brimstone, and suddenly, a something had appeared out of nothing. The tiny creature had stood blinking at her, seeming as confused and startled as she was, and
then it scurried toward her, preparing to take a chunk out of her pinkie finger.
Without thinking, Aurelie had said “No!” in her firmest voice and bopped the demon on the nose. Just then, a cockroach scuttled
past, and Mephisto wasted no time in switching its attention to another source of calories. It gobbled the cockroach down
with surprising alacrity, crawled into Aurelie’s lap, and produced a miniscule seedling dropping a few minutes later. Aurelie
had collected an entire jar of them, not knowing what plant they might produce and more than a little afraid to find out.
When Kiara walked in and discovered Aurelie playing with her new “pet,” she’d made her first—and only—friend. She’d never
felt a need to make others. Not when Kiara was kind, funny, generous, and willing to keep all of Aurelie’s secrets without
ever asking anything in return.
But even once Aurelie had companionship, it had been too late for her when it came to inventing. She knew the thrill by then,
the consuming euphoria of everything falling into place to create something new. She couldn’t have stopped herself from loving
it if she’d tried. And she had tried.
After dinner, Aurelie and Uncle Leo retired to the parlor, where they sat in what she supposed was meant to be companionable silence.
Aurelie would have far preferred to be in her laboratory, where her sketchbook waited for her to draw the demon she’d conjured with the Helping Hand.
Aurelie kept meticulous notes on all her demons, despite the risk of discovery.
One day, a thousand years from now, someone might want a taxonomy of demons, and who else would provide it but her?
Not to mention her slug elixir was likely evaporating at this very moment. The thought of it made her stomach sour with anxiety.
What was the point in doing anything if it wasn’t moving toward some better end? Stagnation, Aurelie thought with a sigh,
was the most wasteful state of all.
“Aurelie.”
She glanced up from the book she had half-heartedly picked up to find her uncle studying her. “Yes?”
“I received some very distressing news today regarding an old friend of mine. I’ll be leaving in two days.”
Aurelie sat up straighter, now fully alert. “Leaving?”
“I know it must seem very sudden, but he’s ill and has asked for me, and I can’t refuse his request. I don’t know how long
I’ll be gone, but factoring in travel time, I anticipate it will be at least several weeks.”
Aurelie wasn’t sure what to say. In her eleven years with Uncle Leo, he’d never left her. “Who will be dean in your stead?”
she asked, because at eighteen, she couldn’t very well say Who will keep me out of trouble?
“Professor Booth, most likely. She has always filled in for me quite capably when I’ve been ill. I’m certain she’s up to the
task.”
Aurelie nodded. “I see.” She liked Professor Booth. She taught literature, which meant Aurelie had little reason to interact with her, but they had known each other since Aurelie first arrived in Wisteria, and Professor Booth had always been kind to her.
The corners of Uncle Leo’s eyes wrinkled when he smiled. “Are you worried about me?”
Aurelie huffed an embarrassed laugh. “Not worried, per se. I suppose I’ve taken your presence for granted. I like knowing
you’re nearby.”
His smile widened. “I must admit, I’m relieved to hear you say that. You’ve been distant lately. I know that you’re getting
older and need your independence. But I miss tucking little Aurelie in at night.”
She flushed at the memory. When she’d first come to the university, she’d cried every night for months. Afraid of the dark,
afraid of forgetting her parents, afraid of everything. Before her parents died, Aurelie hadn’t even known she had an uncle.
Her mother had mentioned a brother in passing once or twice, but not in a way that suggested he was a part of her life. So
in addition to the devastating news that her parents were dead, Aurelie had been stunned to discover she would be living with
a man she’d never met.
But Uncle Leo had been unwavering in his patience. He read to her every night, fairy tales that were hundreds of years old,
that hinted at a world different from the one she knew. It saddened her to think that by the time her great-grandchildren
read the books of her youth, nothing would have changed. Was a fairy tale even a fairy tale if it didn’t reveal the mysteries
of some bygone era, if it didn’t give society a glimpse into its own past?
“But fear not,” Uncle Leo continued. “Mr. Viridian has valiantly offered to look in on you occasionally.”
Aurelie’s eyes shot up to his. “What?”
He held her gaze for a moment. “He’s doing me a favor, Aurelie. You will be polite to him.”
She looked away before he could see her emotions flaring.
“He’ll also be escorting you to dinner next Saturday with my friends, the Applebaums. They have several children around your
age I’d like you to socialize with. Their daughter, Lavender, will no doubt be a positive influence.”
Aurelie bristled again, knowing full well what he wasn’t saying, and about whom. “I’m hardly a child, and I’m around my peers every day.”
“The other students—”
“I was referring to Kiara.”
Her uncle cleared his throat. “Yes, well. It’s important you socialize with people outside the university grounds. You can’t stay here forever, you know.”
Aurelie didn’t see why not, but for once, she managed to bite her tongue.
Leo sighed and rose, kissing the top of her head as though she were still seven years old. “I won’t always be around, Aurelie.
It will do my heart good to know that you have other people in your life to rely on when I’m gone.”
The words he wouldn’t say hung in the air between them: that no matter how intelligent, hard-working, or responsible Aurelie
was, he didn’t believe she could make it on her own. If only he could see what she was truly capable of, if only the world could, he wouldn’t try to shoehorn her into a role she’d never wanted for herself.
Somehow, she would find a way to prove Uncle Leo wrong. If she played her cards right, she’d never have to hear the name Miles Viridian again.