I returned to the dorm.
Shadowboon was already inside when I arrived, sitting on his bed with his jacket off and sleeves rolled, looking more relaxed than I was.
"Judging by that look," I said, "your talk went well."
I dropped my bag by my trunk and sat on the edge of my bed.
"Define well," he said.
Leaning back, I fell on my bed. "They picked clubs. Reasonable ones. That part was easy." I hesitated, then added, "The rest wasn't."
Shadowboon's gaze sharpened just a fraction. "What did they do?"
I looked at him. "They convinced Maybelle to sign as their guardian. And then they got the entire village of Endil to pay their tuition. Every fee."
"That doesn't sound good."
"They didn't steal it," I said quickly, rubbing my face. "No coercion. No threats. The village insisted. Apparently everyone chipped in."
"That's… kind of admirable."
"Not at all. I feel like I'm carrying a giant debt I never agreed to."
Shadowboon nodded once, thoughtfully. "Alright. Then it's my turn."
I looked over at him.
"My girls didn't involve a village," he said. "They falsified documents, smuggled themselves into the academy registry, and fabricated a complete backstory. They never completed any exams or anything. I don't think they're prepared for any of the academic stuff."
"They got the money from Gullyman," he continued. "Knowing how close they are to me, he couldn't say no. As for a guardian, they appointed Rennac."
"…Rennac?" I repeated. "Who's that?"
"Just some low-level thug I hired years back, but she works closely with Emilia."
I frowned. "Why Rennac?"
Shadowboon shrugged. "I guess because she's easy to control. Non-confrontational. A bit of a wimp, frankly. She'll sign what's put in front of her and won't ask questions she doesn't want the answers to."
"That's awful," I said.
"Practical, if I had to play devil's advocate," he said. "I was hoping that Emilia would be their guardian. She's smart, funny, and responsible, but I guess she's far too strong-willed. They would have dug until she hit bedrock."
"So," I said, "your girls commit high-level bureaucratic fraud in the name of freedom, and mine mobilize an entire rural economy out of loyalty."
Shadowboon smiled faintly. "Different philosophies. That's what we taught them. Mine value freedom - from expectations. From any roles assigned, even from the gods. All of that crap. If they had to break and lie to get something they wanted, they would."
I looked at him sidelong. "We're in trouble, aren't we?"
"Yep." Then Edward tilted his head slightly. "So. Clubs."
I glanced over. "You want the list?"
"I'm curious. Mine chose simple things. Theater, Ajasch, and Art."
I ticked them off on my fingers. "Catherine's in the Physical Cultivation Club. Juliet picked archery. Elizabeth took music."
"Music?" he repeated, eyebrows lifting.
He leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
Then, softly, almost without thinking, he started to hum.
Not loudly, and not performatively.
Just the melody, for himself.
That unmistakable rise and fall. The song that belonged to another world entirely and was one of my favorites. It was one of his favorites too, then.
Shadowboon didn't look at me. He just kept humming, with a smile on his face.
And then I sang some of the lyrics in English, not in the language of Asolar.
I thought I would have to sing in the music club anyway, so there was no embarrassment.
"It's a god-awful small affair. To the girl with the mousy hair."
I'd hum the tune sometimes, and so must he, because we still remembered it clearly.
"I miss the music from our world," he said, and then we went to sleep.
The next morning came, and I did the routine I'd have to do for the next five years.
I washed, dressed, and left the room.
I'd be the first to leave, and Shadowboon would follow later.
It was just another way to build more of a differentiation between him and me.
I was also usually one of the first to sit in class.
I had a quill and parchment ready to note things down.
Over the past few years, paper had been becoming ever more common, thanks to Shadowboon's efforts.
I guess we really were making a difference in this world.
And slowly, Class 1-A filled.
Then the girls came into class. I had no problem with them being friends with each other. They didn't need to pretend. I didn't check, but if they could fake records and such, I believed they lived in a dorm together.
They took their seats beside me. No crowding me, and no tugging on my sleeve.
After a while, almost when class was going to start, Io took her seat on my right.
She didn't say anything.
She just… stared.
Not rudely. Not openly. Just a steady, unwavering focus, like she was trying to figure something out.
I did not acknowledge it.
I fixed my eyes forward, adjusted my quill, and did nothing else. I heard her grumble.
The bell rang.
Class began.
And quickly, I got bored, which I thought was unexpected.
It wasn't that the teacher was dull - they were thorough, articulate, and clearly passionate - but because I already knew everything they were saying.
In the hours that came, I thought I knew most. Math, history, and literature.
With my previous education in my world and my rush to figure out this one, I had learned and read most of what this class was teaching.
I waited for it to become difficult or unfamiliar.
It didn't.
I scratched my chin. I guess I had an advantage. And if I did, so must have Shadowboon.
Were we going to be top students? I didn't want to pretend to be mediocre.
When we were doing arithmetic, and the teacher was looking around for someone to solve a particularly hard question, I raised my hand and went to the chalkboard and wrote the answer and the way to solve it in smooth, fast strokes.
"That… is right. Good job, Caleb," I was told.
Lessons blurred together, each one reinforcing the same realization: I was years ahead of this curriculum. Not to toot my own horn, but I'd say decades, in some areas.
Geography followed. Then civics. Then rhetoric.
Different teacher. Different subjects. Same deal.
Io's gaze never wavered. Once, I looked at her and snapped a bit.
"What are you looking at?" I said, harsher than I meant to.
Then she looked away, and her cheeks flushed red a bit.
By the last bell, my patience was frayed in a way that had nothing to do with difficulty.
As chairs scraped and students stood, I remained seated for half a second longer than necessary, letting the room thin out.
The girls waited. But they tried not to make it too obvious. They talked to each other, like a normal friend group.
Io lingered too, standing at my right. Her stare was pressing against my skin.
I gathered my things and stood.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
I went out of class and whispered to the girls in a casual way, "Not today."
Io matched my pace as I left the classroom.
I did not look at her, but then I exhaled and turned to her.
"Io, I was wondering," I said, keeping my voice light and casual, "if you wanted to spend some time together? Nothing formal. Just… explore the campus a bit."
"You're asking me?"
I smiled. "Yes. You."
There it was - a hesitation. The instinctive suspicion.
"Why?" she asked carefully.
I considered lying. It would've been easier. Instead, I shrugged.
"No reason. Don't you want to? I could ask someone else."
She stared at me for a long second.
Then she looked away, toward where students passed in clusters, laughing, whispering, and orbiting each other naturally.
"I'd like that," she said.
I nodded. "Great. Lead the way."
As we moved down the steps and into the open air of the academy grounds, it struck me - suddenly and uncomfortably - that this was what it must feel like from the other side.
If I were a teenage boy in school and a girl was asking me to spend time together, I would feel… funny, I'd say. I'm not sure what to call the feeling. It should be a good kind of nervous.
But then I thought again - if I were a teenage boy, I know, sitting in class, and spent the entire time looking at a girl, there must be something wrong, or it in itself was wrong.
I hoped she wasn't thinking too much of this.
Usually she initiated stuff like this.
But if that made things a little awkward, then maybe that was alright.
We were two students, after class, just hanging out.
And we knew each other. We were childhood friends, after all.
To be honest, even though she was kind of a difficult person to be around sometimes, forgetting for the moment that she was the princess, I didn't mind spending time with Io.