Mira Chelavye stared at Corvus Morgenstern expectantly as he wiped down a table. He turned away to avoid the intense gaze from her large black eyes, but somehow, he could feel her presence even on his back.
Mr. Stromberg came up to Corvus, his belly jiggling with his jolly gait. "That's enough for today. You can go. Don't keep your girl waiting." He gave Corvus a wink.
"Yes, boss," Corvus said with no enthusiasm. Why did Mr. Stromberg have to be thoughtful at all the wrong times? He rather wished his boss would have given him overtime so that he would have an excuse to stay and send Mira home. That gleam in her eye was dangerous. Furthermore, she was holding some paper in her hand. Whatever it was, he was certain it would spell the end of his free time for the weekend.
He went into the changing room and swapped his black and white bartender uniform for his usual white shirt, green vest, and grey pants.
As soon as he came out, Mira grabbed his hand and energetically led him out of the Cheer Haus, her light blue dress fluttering. The setting sun burned the sky with a waning orange glow, and the winding cobblestone road almost seemed golden. Corvus noticed that they weren't on the path to the library as usual.
Mira looked back at him, and she must've noticed the confusion on his face, for she explained, "We're going to my house today."
Corvus dragged his feet. It wasn't as though Mira's parents hated him despite his being an exiled noble who had the gall to stay with their only daughter, the heir to the Chelavye clan. It was the opposite in fact. He could always feel the pressure from their gaze. Mira was already eighteen, and he would be in a few months. Mr. and Mrs. Chelavye looked ready to pounce and hand him an invitation to join their clan on his eighteenth birthday, even though he and Mira hadn't said anything about a relationship, even to each other.
"Maybe you'll be more excited if you see this." She held out the flyer in front of him.
"The 1873 World's Fair next week in Vathel, Ilysveil?" Corvus read. "I remember you saying something about this."
"We should make something for our clan's exhibition!" Mira declared with excessive enthusiasm. And did she just say "our?"
Corvus put his hands on his hips. "This is a convention for nations of the world to present their technological advances. Nations. The three clans get to participate because they're the foremost drivers of magic science in Ilysveil. It's not a place for a weekend project from two teenagers."
"I think you should have a little more faith in yourself," Mira said softly. The ends of her long black hair swayed in the gentle breeze.
He honestly felt happy to hear that from her, but this wasn't a matter of faith. "Surely you have something more concrete to back this idea up?"
"I know just what we can do. A magic tech engine."
Corvus blinked. The gas lamps on the sides of the road flickered on, illuminating the rows of colorful red, green, and blue houses with warmth. "A what?"
"It'll be easier to show you what I mean in my workshop. Come on." Mira dashed ahead, her frilly light blue dress fluttering.
Corvus had no choice but to follow, panting. It was not going to be a relaxing weekend.
Past the gates and a large courtyard with a fountain, Corvus found himself in a surprisingly modest workshop to the side of Mira's mansion. Simple wooden walls surrounded the small space filled only with tables, books, tools, and diagrams. A red liquid was boiling inside a beaker sitting on a gas burner. Had Mira forgotten to turn that off before coming to get him? Hopefully that thing wasn't about to explode.
As if sensing his unease, Mira switched off the burner. "I forgot to turn that off, but don't worry. It's just water with an iron additive. I wanted to see how various additives to water might impact how quickly it boiled."
Corvus breathed out a sigh of relief. "And? What's this magic tech engine you were talking about?"
Mira spread out a large paper on the table between them. "Right now, it's just a diagram, but we can at least build a proof of concept demo before next week."
She had said it so simply as if she were talking about cleaning the house before guests came over. Despite her airheadedness, she was a genius through and through. He wanted to say it was ridiculous, no, impossible, and run, but he knew Mira would grab him by the sleeve and ask with her puppy dog eyes. If that happened, his dignity would crumble again. At the very least, he hoped her idea was something actually doable over the weekend.
Looking over the diagram, Corvus realized how much thought had gone into this. Calculations of energy inputs and outputs. Engine efficiency with different materials. The refinement level of the magic crystals. The configuration of the alchemic circle. Everything was laid out in precise detail.
A highly refined magic crystal ground into dust channeled through a rather simple alchemic circle with only one input leading to two outputs. Then a mechanical system would loop the energy back through the alchemic circle, and the heat as the other output would boil water, turning it into steam to drive a turbine that could directly be used for motion or converted to electricity via magnetism. If this worked, far from being a kids' project, this could revolutionize the use of magic.
He looked up at Mira and noticed behind her a waste bin full of large papers just like this one. It had been insensitive of him to dismiss her project as a rich lady's weekend whimsy. She had probably put many weeks into this project so that he wouldn't be burdened by this. She had left only the gear mechanisms, turbine, and electrical converter vague. In other words, the things only he could do. Corvus smiled at Mira. "I can't promise this'll be done in a weekend, but I'm willing to try."
Her eyes twinkled. "Thank you!"
He ended up spending the whole weekend at Mira's house. Aside from eating and sleeping in a guest room, Corvus didn't leave the workshop. At first, he had intended to go home every night, but Mr. Chelavye strongly insisted that he stay over. And with Mira expectantly watching him, Corvus couldn't refuse. Though Mira likely hadn't asked him to stay over with calculated purpose, she managed to get a few extra hours of work out of him as a result of his staying over.
On Sunday night, finished with the machine, Corvus slumped over the table. "Ugh. I never want to work again."
Mira chuckled. "That's an exaggeration."
How was she still so energetic? "This should be enough as a proof of concept, right? You can take it from here."
"What are you talking about?" She tilted her head. "You're coming with me. Here's your exhibitor pass." Mira handed him a stamped slip of paper with his name on it.
In retrospect, he should have seen that coming. "How did you even get this? There's less than a week left till the Fair."
She proudly puffed out her chest. "Don't underestimate the influence of the Chelavye clan!"
Corvus averted his eyes, embarrassed that his gaze had focused where it shouldn't have. "Do I really have to go?" He knew the answer, but at this point, it was routine to ask in vain.
"I didn't make this myself. It was possible because you were here. I'll let you borrow a nice suit, so you don't have to feel out of place."
Her father had much broader shoulders than Corvus, and she didn't have any brothers. She must have prepared a suit just for him. Mira really wanted him to be there. "As long as you're willing to do most of the talking."
"That I will. I invited Alex and Sherry as regular attendees, so we can have them replace us for breaks."
Corvus's face froze. He could already imagine Alex's reaction. Ho-ho-ho. Corvus in a fancy suit together with Lady Chelavye in a beautiful dress. Whatever could this mean? At least Sherry would be there to deflate Alex's ego. "I'll come check up on the engine the day before. For now, I'm going home and getting some sleep."
Mira saw him to the gate. "Bye. Thank you so much for helping me, Corvus." She waved to him, and he left her mansion for his apartment as the twilight sun's last embers fizzled out.
The following Thursday, Corvus arrived at the gate of Mira's mansion, accompanied by Alex and Sherry. Mira came rushing over and opened the gate.
"Sorry, I'm late. We had a few guests over, and they wanted to look at our project too."
"We must've just missed them," Alex said. "Knowing your family, they must be very important."
Mira waved dismissively. "That's an exaggeration. They were just representatives of minor nations."
Everyone but Mira stood with their mouth agape. Important had a different meaning to someone as important as Mira.
She led them to the garage and showed Alex and Sherry the engine she and Corvus had worked on. It was a bulky, boxy metal contraption with visible gears in between parts, and a tiny propeller attached to the turbine jutting out.
"This looks amazing, but I don't know what it is," Sherry said as she examined the engine.
"I'll show you." Mira poured in some ground up magic crystals into a transparent cylinder on top and pulled a lever. The powder sifted down into the engine, and soon after, steam billowed out of the exhaust pipe on the other side, and the propeller spun.
"It's like one of those steam engines the mechanist clan uses in buses," Sherry said.
"Similar in concept, but those use a combustion reaction system which is only twenty percent efficient. Ours is just a prototype, but it's fifty percent efficient, and the magic powder is a lot more compact than oil. Theoretically, ours can be eighty percent efficient." Mira gestured wildly as she explained. She was a perfect fit as an exhibitor.
Alex scratched his head. "Sometimes it feels amazing I'm living in the same universe as you two. This is beyond crazy. You're going to make the news."
"While I agree Mira came up with something unbelievable, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Corvus said. "The World's Fair is mostly going to be filled with dignitaries and proud heads of national research institutes. The former wouldn't appreciate this, and the latter wouldn't want to make a big deal out of a teenager's project due to their pride, even if they privately acknowledge it."
"Ever the pessimist." Alex shook his head.
Corvus countered, "It's optimism in this case. I'd rather not have the attention. This engine will prove itself with results in time. There's no need to make a big fuss immediately."
"So, is there anything we can help you with?" Sherry asked.
"Ah, yes. It just needs a few tweaks to be ready for the demo. Can you two be our assistants for a bit?" Mira asked.
Alex and Sherry agreed, and they spent the afternoon on finishing touches and tightening the bolts.
At the end of the day, after finishing the engine, Mira said, "Let's all meet up in front of the exhibition hall tomorrow at eight."
"Sounds good to me," Alex said.
"No problems here," Sherry said.
"Okay," Corvus said.
They waved to each other at the gate and parted. As Corvus walked back to his apartment, he hummed to himself but stopped. That was uncharacteristic of him. Maybe this was the first time he had been looking forward to tomorrow in a long time.