My pseudo-mom crying about it never let me forget. I nodded.
“After this school year, I’ll be shipped off to the battlefield with Milo.”
I knew about that too, but why bring along Milo? My brother must have read my confusion as he said, “That’s part of the contract when bringing along any personal attendants.”
What?
I searched my mind for any inclination that I was aware of this, but nothing came up. Alec watched me struggle for a few seconds before sighing.
“The academy is housing, feeding, and training extra people than the students themselves. Of course they’d capitalize on it.”
I shook my head. “But Mia? Robin? Reuben?”
Alec snickered, patting my head. “Your twins will be fine. They’re some of the strongest fighters I had ever seen. As for Mia, she won’t be in the actual battles. But she needs to be at the field too, if only to protect your sleeping quarters.
“I don’t know how you could’ve forgotten, but rest assuredtheyknew about it before signing any contract. It should’ve been delivered to the manor beforehand and sent back, too.”
They didn’t tell me.
That was the only explanation.
“Anyway,” he continued when I stayed quiet, “My point is I want Milo and I to have a good time for the last school year before I inevitably face actual combat. Milo even more so, since he’s a fighter, and they’re usually at the front lines …”
He trailed off with a contemplative look on his face, and immediately I felt sorry for him, for Milo, and for Mia.
I hated that stupid Demon Lord for bringing grief to our Kingdom.
“Bea.” Alec sat down next to me, cupping my jaw with his hands. “I don’t want you worrying about me. I want you to focus on schoolwork, be the best mage ever so you won’t be expendable, and maybe even get new friends and have as much fun as you can with them. Can you do that for me, baby sister?”
By logic and rationale, I was a complete stranger to this man. But even I could feel the sincerity in his words, of the boundless love and care he had for his sister. It touched a part of my heart, that I could only nod while trying to prevent my tears from spilling. He smiled at my reaction. I hated how that affected me, too.
The longer I stayedhere, the faster I would get used to all these people’s attention and affection. And I shouldn’t, because frankly, it wasn’t forme.
I didn’t deserve it.
Chapter Seven
The first thing I sought out the following day was the library.
Even though school would officially start in a few days, personal knights and bodyguards were already invited to participate in the morning sessions. While Robin and Reuben were off to their training, I encouraged Mia to explore the school to familiarize herself with the layout, or at least that was the reason I gave her. She agreed and went off on this mission.
I chose to go to the library to look for anything that might help me with my predicament. Taking advantage of the fact that not all students were here because school hadn’t started yet, it had given me a lot of space all to myself.
The librarian was missing when I went through the massive doors. And if those doors were massive, the library was easily a hundred times bigger. Of course, the library as its own building should have clued me in that it was going to be massive.
I had no idea where to start.
History of magic, maybe? A book about miracles? Something about unexplainable events happening throughout recorded history?
I ended up in the historical section of the library, and scanning through the titles, I still had no clear leads. Mybrainwas also unhelpful. I would’ve really appreciated the help!Ugh.
“I don’t know where to start,” I grumbled to myself, stopping at a book titled “A Study of the Everlasting War”, picking at the spine with my finger.
“What are you looking for?” A disembodied, quiet voice asked, surprising me into a shriek. I didn’t feel anyone else standing here! I glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice, but I couldn’t find anyone.
Was walking by myself already making me hear things? Did I already get so used to having companions whenever I was out?
“Studying for your classes already?” the voice continued, and I was a tiny bit grateful to know Iwasn’thearing things. When I looked around again, I finally found the man in one of the dark corners in between the shelves, holding up a book of his own, judging from his silhouette.
