The rest of lunch flowed naturally and we enjoyed our meal, while continuing to catch up. Erina made sure to interact more with John, so she talked about her evolution with swordsmanship, about the novelties of high society and about her favourite songs, plays and books - omitting the risqué ones.

Once we finished lunch, John had told us that he was going to the train station, because a his friend was going to travel for work and he wanted to say goodbye to her with her brother. He asked if we wanted to go with him or go to the dorm. Both Erina and I chose to go with him to the train station.

Arriving at the station, John took us to the boarding point, where there were already people waiting for the train to arrive. With extreme ease, he found his friend and screamed as he waved:

“Noru!”

She looked at John and smiled, waving back and then gesturing for him to get closer. My brother walked to her with wide and quick steps, while I followed him right behind. Erina, however, did not like his enthusiasm to see her friend, but she also followed us.

John's friend was a tall woman with the athletic physique of an acrobat and was the same age as him. Her hair was black and had been cut at the height of her chin and her eyes were the colour of gold. She was wearing a white T-shirt whose first two buttons were unbuttoned, black pants and brown boots. Next to her was a man as tall as her, but a little older and a little more muscular. This man, unlike the woman, had silver hair, but his eyes were the same colour as hers. His clothes were more formal than the woman's. Those were Noru Reignia and her brother Hugo Reignia, better known as the Modern Imperial Dragon.

“What's up, John!”, Noru greeted, “I'm glad you came! I thought you would be too busy to come.”

“Not at all”, John replied, “I was just having lunch with my sister and Miss Erina.”

Noru looked further behind John and noticed me, forming a radiant smile on her face.

“Ah, Amaris. How long!”, Noru exclaimed, approaching me and pulling me for a hug, “Look how much you’ve grown! And look how more beautiful you’ve got too!”

“Thank you!”, I hugged her back, “And good to see you again! You are still wonderful as always!”

“Oh! That way you'll leave me bashful!”, Noru let me go and looked to the side, “Oh? Have we met before?”

Noru was addressing Erina who, no matter how much she had a refined posture, her forehead was furrowed and her smile was faked. Erina only knew Noru by name, so that was the first time the two met, but Erina never had a positive opinion about the woman. The reason was that, 5 years ago, when I told Erina that John seemed to be a protagonist of a mature book and she had declared that he would be a member of her harem, I ended up mentioning Noru to her and told her to give up John, because Noru seemed to be his future love interest. That's also something I regret saying.

However, it seems that Noru did not realize Erina's disguised hospitality, because she introduced herself to her with great cordiality:

“Ah, this is the first time we've met! My name is Noru! Amaris told me so much about you!”

Erina reciprocated with a formal reverence and responded with a somewhat quiet voice, but that spit poison on the unsuspecting:

“My name is Erina Banloros. Nice to meet you, Miss No-ru!”

Unfortunately, her poison didn't even hit a strand of Noru's hair.

“My, you don't have to be so formal with me! Any friend of Amaris is my friend too!” She exclaimed, taking Erina's hand and swinging her in a greeting. Erina made a face of ‘Argh, this woman!’', but Noru didn't even notice.

After letting go of Erina's hand, Noru looked at the silver-haired man, who had stood still without saying a word, and gestured for him to approach.

“Hey, brother! Come here, you must also introduce yourself!”

Noru's brother finally moved and walked to Erina and me. Then he made a brief bow and introduced himself.

“It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hugo Reignia.”

Upon hearing Hugo's surname, Erina's furrowed face was taken by one by surprise and, finally, by one of dazzlement. She must probably be thinking something like ‘I can’t believe it... Is this hunk the Modern Imperial Dragon?! I'm in the presence of the Modern Imperial Dragon!!!’

“However...”, Hugo continued, looking at me, “I think I'm already familiar with Amaris.

Erina turned her face towards me in a shrewd reflex, with a look of ‘Do you know this man?!!!’. The answer is yes, I know him, but we are not close. During the vacation of three years ago, John returned home to rest and, one day, Noru, accompanied by the recent graduate Hugo, came to see him, but they were only passing by, so the visit was brief. While Noru tried to talk to everyone, Hugo just introduced himself to me and my parents, had a little conversation alone with my brother and then left with his sister. A detail about his introduction that day was that, after introducing himself, he stared at me for a few seconds. He seemed to be analyzing me. I have no idea what went through his mind at that moment. I think I understood how John felt about Hugo in the first year of the Academy.

It's been a long time since I've had seen him and it was even more strange to hear his voice again.

“Yes, you are...”, I answered Hugo, not knowing what I really should say. He seems so distant, despite being right in front of me, that I have no idea how my brother managed to be his friend.

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“By the way, Miss Amaris,”, Hugo kept talking to me, “Has John already warned you about the conditions of your enrolment?”

“Yes, yes!”, I replied anxiously, nodding my head frantically. The serious and practically inexpressive way he looks at me while asking makes it look like I'm in an interrogation and that it's a matter of time before he catches me in the act.

“Right...”, he continued, “so you should be aware that, to avoid false accusations of nepotism, you and John should hide your kinship and pretend you don't know each other. You should address him as ‘Instructor John’ or ‘Instructor Phenis’, if you want to be more formal.”

I waved frantically once again, as I tried to resist the urge to run to my brother and hide behind him.

I could notice a slight wrinkle forming on his forehead. I was afraid. Would I have annoyed him in any way? If so, how?

However, what he did contradicted my expectations: he bowed in front of me, like a servant who made a mistake bows before his master, and said to me:

“My apologies for the inconvenience!”

That was a surprising scene, especially for me, who had an image of authority linked to it. Erina also shared the same image as me, since she had one hand covering her mouth.

She probably wanted to say ‘Amaris! You made this man bow in your presence!‘ Seeing a man of so much power bowing made me bashful, as if I had received someone else's treasure. All I wanted at that moment was for him to stop bowing.

“I-it's okay, it's okay! Straight up, please!”

Apparently, Noru was able to understand what I was feeling, because the moment Hugo straightened his posture, she put her arm around his neck, in a way that resembled an arm wrench.

“Geez, brother! You're scaring the girl! Look, even her friend is scared! You know you don’t have to be so formal, right?”, she scolded him, who even opened his mouth to try to justify herself, but before he could speak, his sister interrupted him, “Oh, it doesn't matter! That's just the way you are, isn't it?”, and she finally let go of her brother, patting him on the back, “Boy, will this train arrive soon? I'm very anxious!”

With the mention of the train, I realized something: I didn't know where Noru was going. When John brought us to the station, he only mentioned that he would say goodbye to her and nothing else. Unfortunately I couldn't deduce based on her clothes and the bags she took, so the best thing to do was to ask.

“Noru, where are you going?”

“Well, I'm going to where I can do what I know best, of course!”, she replied, with her chin raised and a victorious smile, “Thanks to my incredible dance skills and my efforts, I managed to join a great theatre troupe. Now, I have to go to them. They want to refine me, so I don't have time to waste.”

“The theatre.. How interesting...”, Erina nodded in agreement, with her forefinger and thumb of one hand on her chin. She displayed a satisfied but discreet smile on her face. That was the face of someone secretly happy to know that they will have no "obstacles" in their way.

I, however, couldn't be happier for her. There were not many times that I had the opportunity to interact with Noru, but even with the short time, it was evident that she loved to dance. John has already described her dance in a letter to me once and he described it in the same way that a bewitched fan would describe.

“That's amazing, Noru!”, I clapped my hands, showing my support, “Good luck! Leave them jaw-dropped!”

I can't explain what happened next.

In one moment, Noru was right in front of me, in the next, her arms were wrapped in my body, immobilizing me against her torso. And all this happened before I could blink! If John was fast, Noru was even faster!

“Awn, thank you! You’re such a cutie!”, As much as Noru was holding me with the strength of a predator, her voice was loving and sincere, “If I had a little brother, I would certainly give him to you as a husband!”

“And that's why mom and dad had no more children after you...”, Hugo commented in a mocking way and John covered his mouth to disguise the laugh. It was the first time on that day that he didn't speak formally.

With his brother's comment, Noru let me go and gasped, offended, while taking her hand to the centre of her chest.

“What an audacity! For your information, I have a great eye for couples!”

“Says the lady who is already a woman and doesn't even have a fiancé!”, John replied, which, to my surprise, made Hugo laugh. Erina and I looked with awe at that young man that little by little was showing his face in a moment of comfort.

Noru, in turn, would not let either John or her brother have the last word. With her chest stuffed, she declared:

“My heart is already completely filled by demonology and dance! There's no room for anyone else, it's a shame, but I don't need it and don't even want to look for a groom!”

Hugo, entertained by Noru's defensive statement, laughed softly and went to his sister, putting his hand on her shoulder:

“Of course, sister. Whatever you want.”

The mood quickly became lighter. Now, Noru, John and Hugo were exchanging farewell words. As much as Hugo had this air of power and authority, when he was with his sister and John, he was among his fellow men and, because of that, his countenance seemed softer. It was at that moment that it became clear to me that the three of them were friends.

Even Erina joined the farewell and went to Noru to wish her good luck. And of course Erina only did it because she was happy that she didn't have to ‘worry about her’, but Noru didn't realize - or she didn't even care - and thanked her, squeezing her cheeks and calling her cute.

Soon, the train arrived and stopped at the station, opening its doors and allowing passengers to disembark. The time to leave had come, so Noru went and hugged Hugo and John at the same time.

“Take care, both of you!”

After hugging them, she came to me and Erina and repeated the same action.

“Good luck at the Academy!”

Having said goodbye to everyone, Noru took her bags and went to the train car and boarded, sitting in a seat near the window. When the train started to walk, Noru opened the window and put her head, part of her torso and an arm out and waved to us. In response, we waved back, non-stop, until the distance made her unable to see us.

Seeing her leave, I began to remember the first time I saw her: her hair was long, at the height of her waist; her straight posture, with her arms in front; her eyes, golden and quiet, analyzing the scenario in front of her. The impression I had of her was different. It looked like I had been transported to the illustration of a book. She seemed so sublime, so important that when she went and talked to me for the first time, I felt shy. I swear I felt a detaining aura in her that day. An aura similar to John's. If he reminded me of a protagonist, she reminded me of the main girl in the story, the romantic interest of the protagonist. The I of the past declared in her thought with confidence ‘This will be my future sister-in-law!’

But, seeing her now, I realized that I was wrong in my initial perception. She wasn't the quiet and mysterious girl I had imagined. She was energetic and expressive. Maybe she was only quieter at first because she was unaccustomed to the environment. In addition, she and John did not become a couple, in fact, looking at they now, they work better as friends.

... A girl with an elegant appearance, but with a personality that is the opposite of what is expected... In this regard, I think Noru and Erina are very similar. Whoever looks at Erina sees a rich young woman of sublime elegance, not an impulsive, spending and horny girl! As much as Erina saw Noru as a rival in love - although the latter shows no attraction to John - she needs to admit that both are more similar than she thinks. The difference is that when I met Erina, she didn't look like a lady who came out of a fantasy book. She was wearing a training suit and was dirty with sweat, dirt and animal blood. She looked more like a crazy child!

Anyway, the expressive and energetic Noru - who previously seemed to be enigmatic and mysterious - had left. It's a shame, because I'd like to spend more time with her.