NOVEL NEXT Ch 2.41: Nobility
The woman looked up, noticing she was being stared at, and then started beaming. “Carline!” She stood up and ran over, pulling Carline into a big hug as Elaina stared on. “Oh, and you’re Florence, right? Florence Stouth?” she said as she turned to Flora.
“Oh, uhm, yes…” Flora said, looking uncharacteristically stunned. “We’ve met once before—”
“At the junior fencing tournament!” Kohpicia said. “Carline introduced us, right?” There was a youthful glee in her voice and eyes both, one that Elaina had a hard time reconciling. She looked young too, the same age as Elaina almost, which didn’t seem right either. Wasn’t she supposed to be Prisma’s older sister?
“Yeah, she did,” Flora said, looking over to Elaina. Why is she looking to me?
“Oh!” Kohpicia said, looking at Elaina’s uniform and Tira standing next to her. “Are you their friends? I’m Koh, nice to meet you! Wait, maybe I shouldn’t introduce myself as Koh to you, actually.”
“I see you met the other academy traveler,” Abel said as he came from the back of the tavern. “There’s five seats at her table, so go ahead and join if you want.”
“No,” Carline said, still looking panicked. “We don’t want to be a bother, so—”
“Nonsense,” Koh said as she grabbed Carline’s arm and started walking back to her table. “It’s been years at this point, and I should go ahead and meet all the students I can!”
Carline didn’t reply, but did let herself get dragged along to the table, the rest of the group following shortly after. “I’m Tira Strask, by the way,” Tira said as she and Elaina sat down.
“Strask? Oh, like the capital’s guard captain!”
“Yeah, that’s my mom…” Tira said. Flora had sat down as well now, and she and Carline were both looking down at the table.
“I haven’t met her, but I know she has a good reputation,” Koh said, going back to her meal. She was so elegant as she ate, and Elaina couldn’t help but stare.
“And you?” Koh eventually added, and Elaina realized she was the one being talked to this time.
“Oh, sorry, uhm, I’m Elaina? And you’re Prisma’s sister, right?”
Koh’s eyes seemed to sparkle at the mention of the name. “You’re friends with Prisma?”
“Yes— well, acquaintances, I guess…” Elaina said.
“That’s wonderful! Hopefully we can get to know each other more. Oh, but Prisma doesn’t actually know I’m here. No one does, really, so don’t mention I am to anybody, alright?” Before anyone could answer, Abel came back out with four more plates of food and glasses of cider.
“It was a good thing I kept that room reserved,” Abel said. “She came in late, but she arrived nonetheless.”
“Yeah,” Koh said, taking a sip from her mug and then wiping her face with a handkerchief. “There was trouble on the road. Carline, did you know that platypuses are real?”
“Wait,” Tira said, slamming her hand on the table. “You ran into those things?”
“Just one,” Koh said as she returned to her meal. “Scared my carriage driver half to death, but I was able to take care of it.”
“Take care of it?” Elaina asked in disbelief. “A big one or a small one?”
“It was pretty big, I guess. Like fifteen, twenty feet tall? And yeah, I had to put it down, unfortunately…”
Elaina glanced between her friends. Tira seemed as astonished as Elaina herself, but Carline and Flora seemed no more surprised than they had since they’d seen Koh in the first place. What could her aspect be if she’s taking on one of those things alone?
“Koh…” Carline eventually asked, still not having touched her food. “What exactly are you doing here? Why would you be sleeping in an academy reserved room?”
Koh frowned, the glint in her eyes dying out. It was a look Elaina was more than familiar with, the same look Prisma had worn every time they’d spoken since the first day they met. “Has the news made its way to the school yet?”
Carline glanced at Elaina for a moment, then looked to Flora, as if wanting confirmation. Flora nodded. “A couple days ago, the day we left for this mission.”
“I see… Well, it was always going to happen one day, but when Miss Ranlit died, it just sort of made sense to move things up a little.” Koh turned to Elaina and Tira, a polite smile forming on her face, a shadow of the joy she was displaying earlier. “I guess you both had fencing class with her? She was a good friend of mine. Once she died in the atta— in the accident, Headmaster Stormshine reached out to me.
“So yeah, I’ll be your new fencing teacher!” Koh said, returning to her meal. “I can’t measure up to her teaching skills, but I’ll do my best.”
“Koh,” Carline said, her voice dropping low, “how are you even going to—”
“It’s Professor Fireguard now, if you please. And Headmaster Stormshine arranged everything for me to get into the school.”
“Excuse me for, well, prying,” Tira said as she chewed her food, “but aren’t you the Fireguard heir? I don’t really know how that works.”
It was a question Elaina had been wondering as well, but the silence from the three noble girls, including the pause in the movements of their forks, indicated that the answer was obvious to them.
“I was. My father decided— I decided it was best if I stepped away from court life and took up teaching… I’m better suited to this anyway.”
Carline looked up from her plate, pity in her eyes. “But, Koh—”
“It’s fine, Carline…” Koh said, though the wetness of her eyes betrayed her. “We all knew it was going to happen. I’ve made my peace with it, and I’m sure Waine has as well.”
Tira’s nostrils flared, and Elaina dropped her fork onto the table at hearing the name. “Waine?”
“Hmm?” Koh said, cocking her head. “Waine Ferris, he’s in your class too. He is, well, was my fiance.”
“Was?” Elaina asked. She tried to ignore the conclusion her mind was heading towards.
“Yes, was…” Koh said, tears starting to fall from her eyes. She reached for her handkerchief again, wiping her face as she continued. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be crying like this in front of my new students.”
“It’s fine,” Carline said, placing her hand on Koh’s arm before looking over to Elaina. “Listen, Elaina, I really need to talk to you.”
“No,” Elaina said, staring at her new professor. “Koh, what happens to Waine now?”
Koh took in a deep breath, composing herself and putting her handkerchief away. “It is official at this point, so I guess I can say it. Prisma’s the Fireguard hear now, and she’ll marry him, so that the agreement between our houses can still be fulfilled.”