“I really know nothing more about the war.” I shut down the questioning gazes of the others. Was it really so difficult to understand that I couldn’t say anything more?
“Well, in that case, I guess it would be best to plan as if we would be involved in the war. I mean, I hope we are not, but I prefer to be prepared in case we are,” said Keith with a resigned voice.
“Really? Against some bloody Nowitz? Even if they are thousands, each of us could take on tens of them,” said Joshua with contempt. Is this typical male behavior? Pretending the war is something of no concern to not show weakness. I’m glad Will isn’t like that.
“Joshua, especially you should take this seriously. Your performance in the last few spars was subpar at best. And if the founders and the old families think that including those curses is necessary, it probably is. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nowitz have some kind of weapon that can’t be blocked so easily. Otherwise, Professor Lionheart and Professor Winter alone could wipe out a thousand of them every other day,” scolded Will, blushing Joshua. But damn, he was right. Maybe they really had some kind of secret weapon. How could I not think of that? I should really question Uncle Severin about it.
“Keith is right, guys, no matter what the real reason is, we should train like we will need to participate. So everyone should take the survival course. I guess it's not really about combat, but my grandpa told me multiple times about how he had to fight his way through the wild after half his squad was massacred in the last war. I think everyone should take the strategy course. It can’t hurt if every one of us understands how those Nowitz fight. Defense against mundane weapons should be mandatory as well. That leaves artificing, investigation and infiltration, magical beasts, and healing. While I think we should leave the artificing part to Nightquill’s nerds, it wouldn’t hurt to have one who knows how to fix the equipment. So one of us needs to sacrifice himself,” said Red and stared into the group. It is surprising and frightening how serious the goofball could be. Maybe I judged him too early. Were all of Will’s friends like that? Wait a moment, if Will took artificing, that meant…
“I can take artificing if necessary. I don’t really see myself in the other lessons. Well, maybe magical beasts, but I guess we all know that I’m the only one who has the required grades and patience for artificing,” said Will, making my nightmares come true. Will and Edward would see each other regularly. That is a disaster. But maybe, if Edward doesn’t find out about… No, he had seen me and Will yesterday, he already knows. How unlucky could I be?
“Good, good. Really good. The most difficult one is out of the way then. I think Keith should take healing,” continued Red, and everyone at the table except me nodded. Did I miss something, or why was Keith so unanimously selected as the healer? “And Josh should go to infiltration and investigation.”
“What? Why me? Why not you?” asked Josh in protest.
“Because if you put half the energy into the courses ‘investigation’ and ‘infiltration’ that you put into finding out a girl’s…” he stopped there and looked at me and Lorain. “Just know you are the best for the job.”
Lorain looked at me, shrugging her shoulders. She knew the boys longer than me, so maybe it was normal for her if they acted like that. And was it really such a great secret that Josh was a pervert? Well, maybe Red didn’t want to embarrass Josh more than necessary.
“And I will take the beast taming course,” finished Red. Well, with how he talked about taming a wyvern or finding a dragon egg, I already knew he was excited for the course. And who could blame him, when Kate was the teacher? But this still doesn’t resolve the problem of Will taking lessons from Edward. Do I really need to reveal my embarrassing past to him? It would be better than if he learned about it from Edward. But maybe I could make a deal with Edward to keep quiet about it. Yes, that would be preferable. Embarrassing myself in front of Edward would be far better than doing it in front of Will.
“Guys, do you really think you would be fighting as a team if war broke out? Does it even make sense to take the courses like that if you don’t know that?” asked Lorain.
“Well, even in the times of the Roman Empire, people from the same origin were put in the same squads, so it should be the same now, don’t you think?” answered Josh with a frown. Maybe he wasn’t too sure of it himself. Another thing to ask Uncle when I have time.
“Anyway, breakfast time is over, and I still need to do some homework for Professor Severin. Why can’t they spare us from potions when a war is this close,” lamented Josh. It seems like he is one of the uneducated idiots who don’t know about the true power of potions.
“You do that. I have an important talk with Charlotte, so see you later, guys,” said Lorain.
Wait, what? Since when did I have an “important” talk with Lorain planned? Why didn’t I know about that?
“Okay, see you girls later then,” said Red and pulled Will with him.
“See you later, Charly,” said Will as he was dragged away by his friends. Did I miss something again or what was happening right now?
Lorain dragged me in the opposite direction of Will and just when I was wondering where she wanted to go, she turned around with a bright, expectant smile.
“So, how far did you go? Everyone knows that Will didn’t return last night. So tell me everything.” Oh, no. The gossip machine in Toadwitz is already working at 100% capacity it seems. But was it fine to tell Lorain about it? Wasn’t that something that should stay between Will and me? But other girls definitely talked about it.
“Come on, don’t tell me you didn’t do anything.” Okay, to hell with it. Lorain was a friend, right? And friends tell each other things like that.
“Well, I will tell you, but I really need a bath right now. You know, I didn’t get the chance to bathe last night.” It was funny to see her burning curiosity flare up even more. And I just realized I really wanted to talk with her about it. But I didn’t lie. I really needed a bath. And I knew that there wouldn’t be any gossip girls spying on us.
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The moment the door to the bath closed behind us, I couldn’t stop myself anymore, it practically burst out of me.
“Will is amazing, I mean he is so sweet and lovely, and he can be so cute as well, you know we talked about so many things and I really, really like him and he doesn’t care about my scar and he tasted like mint, and the clothes he wore, he looked so handsome and…”
“Girl, not everything at once. I know he is amazing, but please start at the beginning. You don’t make any sense right now.” Oops, maybe I was getting a little too excited.
“You are right. Well, so we had our second date. And he looked like a handsome but humble prince. I mean, he always does, but he had this elegant white shirt and it just fit him so perfectly. And well, after he picked me up, he brought me to his favorite place, which is the stupid arena for Uncle Gregor’s stupid fighting lessons, but anyway, we cuddled a bit, and we kissed a lot. You know, not the usual kissing but the kind where he uses his tongue and it was incredible. Well, I guess he used something for it, but he tasted like mint.”
“I heard the other girls talk about it. It’s the newest trend right now. But it’s expensive because the mint needs to be imported from Germania,” interrupted Lorain.
“Oh, okay, anyway, we talked a lot, and he can be so understanding. I mean, I have so many things I’m unsure about and he listens and cares, and I don’t really know how I deserve him.”
“Well, there is a reason why almost every girl in school tried to get him.”
“He is mine. Don’t even think about it.”
“I know, I know. He has no eyes for someone else, anyway. So, what did you do? Did you let him touch you? Did you do more than just kissing?” asked Lorain and came suspiciously close to me. But I didn’t care.
“Well, I would have let him, but he is… too well-behaved, I think.” Now that I think about it, he really was a bit shy in that regard, if we discount the time he was asleep.
“So you mean he could resist those two?” asked Lorain and poked me in my breasts.
“Hey, don’t touch me! Ahhh!” Before I could shove her away, the blond devil jumped at me and sank us both in the water.
“Great, now I need half an hour to take care of my hair.” Stupid Lorain. And what does she mean he could resist those two? It’s not like I flaunted them in his face or something. Well, not really. And he only resisted because he wanted to be a gentleman.
“Hehe, you need to relax a bit. So, he didn’t touch you? Not even once? Did you not try to tempt him?”
“Well, technically he did. You know, during the date, Kate came flying on her stygian hellfire dragon, which interrupted our date and when we went into the castle, I invited him to stay in my room.”
“So, he did sleep in your room? I knew it.”
“Yes, he did. And he only got a little touchy after he fell asleep, so I don’t know if that counts.”
“Are you sure he was asleep? Maybe he just pretended.”
Well, I hadn’t thought about that possibility, but it’s not like I would have stopped him if he was awake. And he also looked a bit ashamed when I told him about it.
“No, he was definitely asleep.”
“A shame, so nothing really happened?” What was that disappointment in her voice?
“I didn’t say that. I mean, we didn’t do it, but that’s mainly because he wanted to be nice. I mean, I didn’t really want it, but at that moment, well, anyway, I think he still was satisfied in the end. Hehe.”
Oops, I think I broke Lorain. Why is she grinning like a pervert? Is she having weird thoughts about my boyfriend? Girl, you better not.
“So how big is he?” Is that your first question after having indecent thoughts about my boyfriend? You think I will answer you now?
“I won’t tell you.” Despite her behavior, I really don’t think that it should be something to share with others.
“Okay, just stay stop.” Said Lorain and put her hands together, and slowly seperated them further and further.
“I said, say stop,” repeated Lorain.
“I said, no.”
“Please, there are so many bets going on about it. And the person who gives the information always gets a share,” insisted Lorain.
“Still not going to say it. And I get the feeling that the girls in this castle are more depraved than the boys. Seriously, what is wrong with you guys?”
“Well, I guess gossip is one of the major entertainments in the castle. Do you want to know who has the biggest?” said Lorain like a devil trying to entice me.
“No.” I mean, I was a bit curious, but I had a hunch that this information came at a cost. And what if it was someone I knew? I would forever see them with different eyes.
“Prudish.” Better than being like those gossip girls, I guess.
“So, when is the third date?” That was a good question. Does a meeting with my mother and brother count? Or with his brother?
“I don’t really know. There is so much going on right now. I mean, my family wants to get to know him, his brother wants to get to know me, and with the new courses, we will be quite busy. What courses are you going to take? You didn’t say anything this morning.”
“Boring. But well, I guess it means it will be more or less officially between you guys then. It will definitely keep the hyenas away from Will. No one wants to get on the bad side of the founders for something like that. And I think I will try myself at healing. I mean, if I’m good at it, it will definitely help me. Do you know how many children die young? Being a good healer would definitely be a huge plus for any potential marriage partner. The other courses, on the other hand, are not really useful for me. I mean, as girls, we won’t really be expected to fight unless we really want to, so those things are not really useful for me. Investigation might be interesting, even if it's just to learn how to get better at navigating the political drama between families. Magical beasts is an absolute no-go. I mean, no sane family would want to take care of the additional costs of keeping a magical beast if it’s not necessary, so I guess only the heirs of a family will really take this course with the intention to tame something.”
Wow, this was quite a different view on it than I had. But in a way, it made sense. Lorain had different problems than me. But what she said about children dying young worried me a bit. Maybe I should really take that course. I mean, my case is special anyway, so I can’t even hope that a random healer would be able to take care of my children or me, so it might even be necessary for me to take the course.
“I guess we have healing together then. I just hope Professor Castle won’t throw me out. You know, with my inability to use magic, I’m not so sure he is willing to invest the effort to teach me.”
“Haha, as if a professor at Toadwitz would dare to throw you out. I bet even that handsome Professor Riddle would rethink his requirements if you wanted to take his lessons.”
Well, I suddenly felt ostracized and sad. Would the new professors really make exceptions for me? Would they treat me differently because of Mother? If I really insisted on it, they probably would. Even Edward, who was a stickler for rules, would bend if I asked Aunt Seraphina. Probably just a request from my mother would be enough. Did I even deserve to be in their lessons if that was the only reason I was allowed to attend them?
“Hey, why do you look so downcast? It was just a joke.”
“Yeah, sorry. I… I don’t really like the thought of it. Anyway, you are always talking about chances with your marriage, do you have someone in mind? And no, Will isn’t an option.” Now it was her turn to look a bit blushed and embarrassed.
“Well, if we are talking about realistic chances, I think that Keith is quite a nice guy. I mean, his family isn’t the wealthiest or most influential, but he is a good person. Always nice and caring even if he is sometimes a bit clumsy. He also isn’t known for chasing after girls randomly. And while he isn’t the most handsome and some say he is a bit boring; I think I could be happy with him.”
“That doesn’t really sound convincing. Is he really the one you want?” I asked, but she just nodded. Well, it wasn’t really the most enthusiastic nod I had seen, but I guess it was all I was getting.