I was going to yield to his proposal, but first I had a mission to complete.
I made a sharp motion to brush his hand off my shoulder.
I turned toward Lianza. She had already passed the door and was walking to her usual seat, third row, by the window. I followed her. Three steps. I took her hand.
She stopped.
"What are you doing?"
I didn't answer. I lifted her hand. I turned it. And I kissed her knuckles. Slowly. With my lips pressed against her skin, which lay cold, long enough for the heat of my mouth to leave a mark she would feel later, in my absence.
The classroom fell dead silent.
[+5 Affection Points → Lianza D'Tariel. 💋]
[Mission completed. System Note: I don't have a joke for this one. It was cute. You disgust me. 🥹]
Lianza stayed still. Her fingers trembled between mine. Her eyes widened, sparking flashes of clarity that made the red of her eyes less dark. Then they narrowed.
"Dariel Elcronne," she whispered through gritted teeth. "We're in class."
"I know."
"People are watching. Everyone."
"I know that too."
"Including the prince."
"I hope so."
A murmur ran through the room. Someone let out a gasp. A countess covered her mouth with her fan. A viscount whispered something in another's ear, who nodded with bulging eyes.
Lianza let go of my hand. Her cheeks flushed. She pursed her lips and walked to the third row with short, quick steps.
I turned. Ardwyn had his eyes fixed on me from the doorway. His smile was still there. Unfazed. But I could notice how his golden Empero had grown dense around him.
"Romantic," he said.
"I am."
"I mean it's romantic that a guard kisses the hand of the princess he swore to protect in front of thirty nobles and a crown prince. Not counting the professor... Audacious."
"It is customary for the personal bodyguard of a member of the royal family to bid them farewell with a kiss on the hand," I half-lied, since it was something only done in ceremonies. "But thank you anyway, Your Highness."
"That was far from a compliment."
"I took it as one."
He pointed to the front row. The two empty seats next to Layda. I sat in the one on the left. Layda was to my right, with her books stacked and her braid falling over her shoulder.
Three rows back, Lianza took her seat by the window. Ardwyn crossed the aisle and sat next to her.
Lianza didn't look at him. Her eyes were fixed on me from the distance. Firm. With a message that needed no words.
I see you, Dariel Elcronne.
Professor Vauxol slammed his book shut; apparently, the affairs of youths couldn't matter less to him.
The sound of the book closing echoed in the room. It cut off the murmurs and any gossip provoked by my kiss on the hand of Princess D'Tariel.
"Right. Today we will work in pairs. Analysis of the War of the Three Seals."
The nobles looked at each other. Some already knew who they wanted to pair up with.
"The pairs will be assigned," Vauxol added, and half the room murmured again. "I have prepared the list considering the proximity of your houses and the complementarity of your knowledge."
He pulled a parchment from the drawer. He unrolled it. He started reading.
"Lady Morven with Lord Caspian. Sir Aldric with Lady Bethany..."
The names fell one after another. Monotonous and, to a certain point, predictable. Until:
"Princess Lianza D'Tariel with His Highness Prince Ardwyn of Jahke."
I turned. Lianza hadn't reacted. Her face remained motionless. But I could see a slight fluctuation in the thin layer of Empero that always covered her. Very subtle, but telling for an attentive eye like mine.
Ardwyn leaned toward her.
"What a fortunate coincidence."
Sure, a coincidence. It was obvious Ardwyn had spoken with Vauxol before class. I knew this because in The Throne of Ashes and Thorns, the prince manipulated the professor by telling him that 'House Elcronne is the closest to the commoners. It's natural that the bodyguard works with the scholarship student.'
Reasonable if you look at it from a certain twisted point of view. You could even call it logical. But to me, it was just poison disguised as common sense.
"Sir Dariel Elcronne with Miss Layda."
Layda turned her head toward me. Her brown eyes looked at me with that innocence I found hard to fully believe.
"Hi," she said in a low voice, almost a whisper.
"Hi."
"S-Sir Dariel, right?"
"Just Dariel."
"Just Dariel," she repeated to herself, blushing.
Vauxol kept reading. When he finished, the room reorganized. Sounds of chairs. Books falling. Murmurs. Layda pulled her desk closer to mine. Our elbows were almost touching.
Three rows back, Ardwyn pulled his chair closer to Lianza's. She didn't move. But her fingers closed around her quill. So hard her nails turned white.
"First question," Vauxol announced, writing on the blackboard. "During the War of the Three Seals, which seal broke the peace treaty between Houses Jahke, Analazze, and D'Tariel?"
I looked at the blackboard.
The War of the Three Seals. Chapter twelve of the history book. I had skipped it.
I had skipped it because it was the most boring chapter in the entire novel. Thirty pages of commercial treaties and genealogy. The only important thing was that House D'Tariel lost territory, and that after the treaty was signed, a war against the Analazze was created. The rest was filler.
Or so I thought, because it was indeed important.
Layda leaned toward me. Her breath brushed my ear.
"The Blood Seal," she whispered. "It was the third. House Jahke broke it after the D'Tariel denied them access to the northern crystal veins."
The perfect answer. Precise. Too precise for a commoner who had arrived at the academy a few hours ago.
Besides, wasn't Layda Alaranne's only contact with nobility supposed to be because her mother was a servant for the village Magistrate?
I turned toward her.
"Thank you," I said.
"You're welcome," she smiled.
I looked back. Lianza had her eyes fixed on her notebook. Ardwyn had leaned in toward her ear. His lips were moving. I couldn't hear what he was saying.
But I saw Ardwyn's hand disrespectfully rest on Lianza's forearm.
And I saw how her nails turned even whiter around her quill.