It's been about a year since we moved into this house. I recently turned eight years old. Hanna and Alexander left for school and lived at the dorms, they only came back on break. Although Hanna came back more often than Alexander. Right now they've moved back home while on summer vacation awaiting the new school year to start.

This whole year I've been training on my speed along with the blade techniques that Thorin taught me. Leon also bought me a new sword since the one I had before was rusty, chipped, and slightly bent out of shape. I grew attached to it and was sad to have let go, it was my first sword. My new one was much bigger. Since I was not going to fight anytime soon, it was going to last me longer. Eventually, I would grow into it.

As I got up from bed, Mia rose from beside me as well.

"Morning." she said.

"Aren't you old enough to sleep by yourself now?" I asked.

"Nope." she said. "I'm gonna go get ready for breakfast now. Bye." she ran off to her room.

"She's really attached to you, don't you think?" the small wolf beside me stretched her paws forward after getting up.

"Maybe." I replied then took a long look at her. "Why do you only choose to talk in front of me?" I asked changing the conversation.

"I don't feel ready to talk to other people yet." she said. "You're the only one I feel comfortable around to talk to."

"You can talk to me anytime." I smiled awkwardly taken aback by her straightforwardness and patted her head. "I'll always be here for you."

After petting her for some time she said. "Let's go eat I'm hungry."

"Right."

After changing clothes, Flare followed behind me to the table. As always, I'm the last one to get there.

"Morning." I said sitting in my usual spot.

"Arata. Have you heard the news?" Theodore said.

"What news."

"The Royal Banquet is coming up." he said.

"What is that?"

"You've never heard of it?" he asked. "Well, it's a celebration that takes place in the Royal Palace about every seven to eight years, where nobles all over the kingdom gather to get acquainted and show off new heirs."

Oh yeah, Leon mentioned this to me before.

He said he jumped two high nobles at that same gathering.

"So what? Are we going too?" I asked.

"Of course we are." He said. "But first we need to prepare ourselves, grandfather hired a private tutor to teach us proper etiquette and mannerism along with dance lessons."

Dance?

I absolutely hate dancing.

Maybe because I never learned properly.

"Do we have to dance?" I asked.

"Well, if you get asked to by another person it's only polite to agree and in doing so you have to put up a good performance to not embarrass yourself as well as your house." He said. "Plus high nobles get asked to dance a lot by low nobles, so we basically have no choice."

"So when are we starting?" I asked.

"In the afternoon." he replied.

-----

The afternoon come around our tutor arrived. As we introduced ourselves she had us start immediately. We moved outside to the backyard where we paid close attention to her lessons, or at least I did.

Until. . .

"Okay kids, choose a partner to dance with." she said.

It was time for the dance lessons.

We all paired up. Alexander with Ada, Hanna with Nina, Theodore and I, and Mia got left out but she'll be taking turns with either Hanna or me.

'Man, I hate this' I thought as Theodore and I clung to each other. As I looked at Theodore he too looked uncomfortable. The dance wasn't anything complicated. It's a simple hand-to-hand slow dance. I guess this isn't that bad.

The next morning I woke up early for once. I saw that Leon was all dressed up. He said he was going to the Royal Castle to help with preparations for the banquet and asked if I wanted to come along. I nodded and quickly got dressed because the carriage was already waiting. I left Flare with Nina.

I looked out the window of the carriage staring at the city on our way to the castle. When the castle came into view I was left at a loss for words like many times after coming into this world. As we passed the main gate we stopped at a large garden. We then walked on a paved road decorated with flowers, trees, and bushes all around.

There were many guards and servants as we walked through the wide and elegantly decorated hallway. Then we stopped before a double door.

"We're about to meet the king of this kingdom." Leon said. "Just follow my lead."

We walked past the double doors into the throne room. It was more like a large hallway than a room. There were large windows in the walls and guards lined up beside a red carpet which we walked on. At the back center of the wall was a dais that supported the throne. And sitting on that throne was an old solemn looking man with fancy robes and a crown atop his head.

"Your Highness." Leon got down to one knee. I did the same. "I've come as requested to aid in the preparations for the Royal Banquet." Leon said then got up. I got up as well.

"Yes, I was informed of your arrival." he said then looked at me. "But not his." the aura he emitted carried so much authority.

"Forgive me, sir." Leon said placing a hand on my shoulder. "This is my son, Arata."

"Hm." his face seemed to relax when Leon mentioned I was his son.

"Y-Your Highness." I bowed in a panic.

"Don't worry about it." he said. "You're free to roam around as you please." he paused. "You may leave, now. I'm sure you have a lot of work to attend to."

"Thank you, sir." Leon and I bowed one last time and made our way out of the room.

"That was very nerve-racking." I said taking a deep breath.

"Tell me about it, I can still remember the first time I stood in front of the king like that." He said. "Although back then he used to be more optimistic."

"Are you serious?" I said. "That old man looks like nothing in the world matters."

"Well, his son died recently." Leon said. "Maybe it affected him in a way."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"King Morgen's son was the previous king but unfortunately, he died of a mysterious illness about two years ago. Some say he was cursed others say he was assassinated or poisoned." Leon said. "Anyway after his death, his father took the throne again. Once the current prince becomes of age he'll inherit the throne so that King Morgen can retire."

"Who is the current prince?" I asked

"The king's grandson, Prince Hansel." Leon said. "He's still young and barely started going to school."

So he's in Hanna's grade?

"Well, I'm going to help with the organization and decoration of this generation's banquet." he said. "Are you coming?"

"No, I think I'll go have a look around the castle." I told him.

"I figured." he replied. "Just be careful and stay out of trouble this is the Royal Palace after all."

"Don't worry I'll behave." I said walking away.

I went back outside to walk around the garden. I followed a path that was lined up with arcs of flowers. At the end of it was a small open area along with a little girl sitting on a bench. The girl looked to be around my age and was using wind magic to make leaves float above her hand. As I looked at her face I noticed that she looked a bit sad. I assume she's a nobleman's daughter, Like myself.

As I watched her conjure up wind, I noticed that she was very compatible with wind magic, even more than me. If she was special born her special affinity would be wind. She might just be compatible enough to learn lightning magic since lightning is derived from wind. Her compatibility might overtake her lack of understanding.

"Hello." I said walking up to her.

"Huh!?" she got startled causing her to drop the leaves she had afloat. "H-Hi."

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." I said. "I noticed you were using wind magic just now. Do you like magic?"

"Yes, I practice it to keep myself occupied." she said trying to make the leaves float again but maybe because she was cautious around me she couldn't keep them stable

"Here, let me help." I said placing my hand below hers using my own wind magic to help balance the currents of the wind making the leaves flow steadily in one direction.

"You can also use wind?" she said a bit surprised.

"That's not all, you want to see something cooler?" I asked.

"Hm? Sure." she said in curiosity.

"Here it goes." I focused mana on my hand charging up my lightning until it manifested, crackling on the surface of my palm.

"Wow." her face lit up. "Are you special born?" she asked.

"No, I'm not." I said. "I learned it."

"Learned it?" she said confused.

"Yup. And you can too." I told her.

"Can I really?" she asked unconvinced.

"Do you want to?" I said with confidence pushing away her doubts.

"Y-Yeah." she replied a bit uncertain.

I'm not entirely sure she can but I'm only doing this because I'm curious to see if another person apart from me can learn magic this way.

"Now, you're going to have to pay really close attention." I said.

"Okay."

After I told her the basics. She tried to recreate a static shock with mana but after some time she was unsuccessful and asked me for help. So I decided to try a different method. I created a vertical stream of lightning with my hands and asked her to imbue some of her mana. When she did the lightning reacted to it and shot out in different directions. She then got a better feel for it and tried again.

After about two hours of trying, she slowly reached her finger up to my face and tapped me. Right when she did I felt it, a very faint tingle feeling but it was there. She had succeeded.

"I did it!" she said excitedly.

"You did!" I said sharing her excitement while grabbing both her hands and swinging them up and down.

"Arata!" in the distance I heard Leon calling for me.

"Oh, that's my father." I said looking in the direction the voice was coming from. "it's time for me to go." I looked back at the girl. "Just keep practicing by yourself."

"I will." she nodded.

"I never asked for your name." I noted.

"Hm?" she seemed to be thinking about something then she looked back up at me. "Call me Asia." she said. "And your name is, Arata?" she asked based on Leon's calls.

"Yup." I replied. "Bye, until next time."

"Goodbye." was the only thing she said before I left.

After my encounter with Asia, I meet up with Leon and we went back home. At home, in the afternoon, we continued our lessons with the tutor. Which was something I wasn't looking forward to. Later that night as both Mia and I were getting ready for bed, someone knocked on my door.

"Come in." I said.

The door opened revealing Nina at the door. "Hey, sorry to bother you at this hour."

"It's fine. Come in, what did you need?" I asked.

"Your father asked me to tell you that he was going to the Royal Palace again and that if you wanted to go, to meet him at the front door tomorrow morning."

"Got it, I'll do that." I replied.

Of course I want to go to the Royal Palace.

Who wouldn't?

"Oh? Is Mia sleeping with you today?" Nina noticed that Mia was laying down next to me.

"More like every day." at my reply Mia pouted. "But I don't mind it." I added quickly.

"Why?" Nina questioned.

"Sometimes it's nice to sleep the night with someone you enjoy spending time with." I said. "Don't you think?" she still looked unconvinced. "You should try it sometime."

"Alright, I'll try it then." she said then began to climb up atop my bed

"What are you doing?" I asked

"I'm trying what you said." she said laying down next to me. "Or do you not want me here?"

"I guess it's all right." I told her.

Well, this is awkward.

Mia usually falls asleep immediately.

But with Nina here, there's just going to be awkward silence.

I don't even know what to talk about with her.

"I heard from Theodore that you went to Canavar last year and that's how you got so strong." she started saying. "Although I still don't know what happened after you got lost. How did you get separated from your father? And did you have to survive all alone?"

"I fell off a cliff, that's how I got separated from the group." I said. "I lost consciousness shortly after so I don't really remember how I survived. I just know that I was found floating atop a log in the middle of a lake."

"Who found you?" she asked.

"A group of three centaurs." I paused. "I told Theodore the whole story. Did he not tell you?" I asked.

"No, he said the story sounded better coming from you." She said

"If you want to hear it, I'll tell you." I said. "Now, listen closely."

I then started to tell her the entire story but halfway through she was yawning and had trouble staying awake. By this time Mia was already asleep.

"Is my story that boring?" I joked as I turned to look at her face.

"N-No, it's just. . . I'm sleepy." she said covering her yawn with her hand.

"Go to sleep, then. I'll tell you the rest another time." I told her gently.

"Thank you." she said then looked straight at me. "You know, you're a really nice person." her lips curved up into a smile.

"Huh?" I said a bit surprised. "Where is that coming from." I turned away embarrassed.

"From me." she replied turning her body away from me. "I'm going to sleep now." she then pulled the covers up to cover her upper body. "Good night."

"Good night." Was the last thing I said as I drifted to sleep.

Nina's Perspective

I tried opening my eyes but I feel too lazy to do so. As I kept my eyes closed I felt strangely comfortable, as if I was attached to something warm and soft. Almost as if. . . I quickly opened my eyes as I realized I was in Arata's room clinging to him.

I felt my cheeks grow red as I looked up at him but he was still asleep. I guess he was right, it was fun to sleep over, and have a conversation before bed, but it's morning now, so I should get going.

As I moved away from him and was about to get up. Arata moved his body completely embracing me. I'm guessing he moved naturally because he seemed to still be asleep.

I got so nervous that I just stood still. I couldn't move. Or rather I didn't want to move. I knew I should've just pushed myself away and kept silent about this whole thing, but I couldn't, it just felt so nice to be held like this. It feels warm and comfortable. I then found myself pulling him closer to me, returning the embrace, I felt sleepy again And so I slowly closed my eyes.

Arata's Perspective

I happen to be in a serious dilemma at the moment. I woke up to Nina clinging to me, anytime I tried to shake her off she wouldn't move. She would hold on to me harder each time I tried. I could forcefully push her off but I'm afraid I'll hurt her in the process. Not to mention, this isn't a pleasant position to be in. If someone saw us like this they would get the wrong idea.

"You never hug me like that." I heard Mia's voice beside me say. As I turned to look at her I noticed her tousled hair along with a pout.

Dammit.

She saw.

"Good morning, Mia." I said nervously looking back and forth between Nina and her. "Listen, I-" before I could finish explaining myself the door swung open.

"Yo, Arata I'm leaving now, are you comin- Oh?" Leon said as he silently stared at the scene before him trying to understand what was happening.

Then another man that looks exactly like Leon walked in. The only difference between them was their hair color. "Hey Leon, have you seen Nina, she wasn't in her room- oh?" Creon, Nina's dad, said as he noticed what was happening.

Shit!

"It's not what it looks like!" I said frantically.

They both turned simultaneously and stared at each other for a second then back at me in complete silence. Both with questioning expressions on their face.

Then another, smaller figure happily marched into my room. "Morning brother- uh?" Hanna said before noticing what was happening.

'How many people are gonna keep barging in' I thought to myself as I focused my mana into gravity slamming the door shut with a wave of my hand.

"Help me out here she won't let go." I said trying to pull her off but in return, she pulled me closer embracing me harder.

"AAHH!" I yelped in embarrassment, my face was completely red by now. And no one seemed to move both Leon and Creon looked like they were holding in their laughter.

"Hey Nina, what are you doing?" Hanna said as she was the only one to try and do something. she got on my bed and tried to forcefully move her aside. "Get off of him." She shook Nina then lightly smacked her trying her best to wake her up.

Nina moved around until she was right on top of me. She sat up slowly while rubbing her eyes, gradually opening them, then placing both her hands down on my chest as she looked down at me.

She looked around confused at all the people in the room then back down at me. She seemed to realize the situation immediately as her face turned completely red.

"AAHH!" she yelled in embarrassment bringing her arm up and slapping me hard across the face. She then quickly got up and ran away.

"What's her problem." Hanna said as she looked at her running away.

I slowly got up from bed completely embarrassed, with my hand, I rubbed the place where Nina slapped me.

"And you!" Hanna turned to me angrily.

"Huh?" I got startled. "Me?"

"What was she doing here in your room? Huh?" she asked accusingly while getting closer to me. "And what were you doing holding her like that?" she got even closer

"Huh? I- I-." I couldn't respond and hid my face as she raised her hand.

"Pervert. Pervert. Pervert." she smacked me with every word. "I can't believe you're a pervert." she said with one final smack.

Mia that was next to us began giggling.

"You're here too?" Hanna said just noticing her then turned back to me with an angry face again. "Even in front of Mia, you're such a pervert." she grabbed Mia and took her away. "come on, let's go." she said leaving my room.

"Bye, brother." Mia said with one final look back.

As I got off my bed I noticed that Leon was about to speak and judging by his expression he was going to poke fun at me. Before he did I spoke up.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said not even looking at him as I got undressed to change into my normal clothes. "Let's just go."

"Alright." Leon said both he and Creon holding in their laughter.

"Well, see ya, good luck with the lady." Creon mocked walking out of my room.

That's his daughter he's talking about.

"You ready?" Leon said as I got finished changing.

I nodded. "Let's go."

As we passed the main gate of the Royal Palace, I broke away from Leon and walked around the garden by myself. After looking at the beautiful flowers that made up this garden I found myself in the outer wall that surrounded this castle. I traced my hand along the hard stone and noticed that there was something off. Some kind of force or resistance.

"Arata!" I heard a child-like voice call out to me from a distance. When I turned my head to look I noticed Asia making her way to me. "You're here! I came looking for you as soon as I found out." she said standing in front of me out of breath.

"Hey, I feel like there's something up with this wall?" I said ignoring her excitement while looking along where the entire wall surrounded the castle.

"Huh?" Asia said in confusion. "How so?"

"How do we get up there?" I asked her pointing at a small watchtower that was on top of the wall.

"Hm?" she paused and looked at me. "We have to go back to the main gate and climb a set of stairs that are inside the wall then make our way there when we're on top." she said. "But the guards are not going to let us pass through. They are very strict about it."

"Then let's just go up through here." I said extending my hand for her to take it.

"You haven't told me what you're trying to do." she said taking my hand.

"You'll see." I said as I looked around to see if anyone was in the area and then used gravity to make us both float up on top of the wall.

"What!? H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Asia said in surprise at my sudden actions.

"Just relax, we're almost there." I said while maneuvering us upward until we were standing on the wall.

"Wow! It looks so pretty from up here." Asia said looking over the edge of the wall down at the big city.

"Come on, let's go before someone sees us." I said walking toward the watchtower.

"Right. This is fun, it's like we're on a secret mission." Asia whispered excitedly while following close behind me.

As we passed the door inside the watchtower there were a set of stairs spiraling down inside the wall. So this confirmed that the walls were hollow. We walked down the stairs and since the walls were Belle thick the space inside was very cramped. But wide enough for people to pass through here.

"This is kind of scary." said Asia her frightened voice resounding throughout the confined space as she inched closer to me.

Something in the distance made a loud thud. Then a voice resounded through the dark walkway that was the narrow space inside the wall. "Ah shit!" the voice said which terrified Asia even more.

"HAH!" she yelped quietly while clinging to me. "I-I don't think we should be here." she said in a shaky tone while grabbing onto my hand.

"We'll leave but first there's something I want to see." I said walking further down the stairs.

"Hm? Okay." she hesitantly followed.

Once we made it all the way down I noticed that the paved floor had several cracks. As I looked closer at the carved floor I noticed that they were sigils. I used fire magic to make some light and see the engravings better. The sigils that were carved through the floor ran like a walkway all around the wall.

"Those are sigils?" Asia asked also intrigued. "I didn't even know they were here."

Is this what was causing the force I felt earlier?

"This way!" a voice yelled.

Huh?

"Two culprits!" another one said. "One is a fire mage!" the voice sounded closer.

'Dammit.' I thought. 'Are these sigils some kind of alarm system?'

"Arata! W-What do we do!?" Asia asked in complete terror.

"Quick get on my back!" I told her. She did as I said and got on. When she did I began running away from the spiraling stairs. I could feel her body trembling I'm fear on my back. "Don't worry. I brought us down here so I'm getting us out." I said gently trying to calm her down. "Now hang on tight I'm going to go faster."

"O-Okay." as she said that I could feel her arms wrapping tightly around my neck.

I focused on circulating my mana back and forth for a second. Circulating mana like this works as a sort of warm-up for internal mana control. I then focused mana on my palm activating distortion to throw off the sigils which were warning the guards of our presence. Which raised another question, how are the sigils functional without a mana source?

Throwing off the sigils isn't that good of a strategy because they can still track us through the sigils that aren't working but it's still worth trying. Our only chance of escape is if I outrun them. After I finished my mana circulation, I kicked off the ground at full speed. I heard Asia yelp in surprise behind me then felt as she held on to me even tighter.

It didn't take long to find another flight of stairs. Once I did I jumped through the empty space of the spiral without having to climb up each step. As I passed each floor I noticed that they were all empty I didn't sense the presence of anyone nearby. When I reached the top I was able to confirm that they weren't following us. Maybe distortion had worked. I didn't have time to think about it, I just ran outside.

"Prepare yourself!" I said to Asia before I jumped off the wall and back down inside the confinement that was the castle. I used gravity to slow down our landing. Once on the ground, I took off running again, away from the wall. I finally stopped once we were in the garden, at the same place we were in the day before.

"That was close." I said relieved while putting Asia down on the ground. "Don't you think?" as I looked at her I saw that she was still trembling with her head down. 'Maybe that was too much for her.' I thought.

"T-That." she finally spoke. "T-That. . ." she repeated. "T-That. . . Was awesome." she said putting her head up with a big smile on her face. "It felt like such a thrill to be rebellious like that." she looked at me, her eyes full of excitement.

'Phew. I thought I had scared her for life but she seems just fine.'

"We should do that again sometime." She said.

"No! No, we shouldn't!" I told her. "Who knows what would've happened to us if we'd been caught."

"Oh, come on we would've been just fine." she said confidently puffing her chest out.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Eh?" she stiffened. "Well you know, we're kids of high-standing families, there really isn't any punishment they could give us." she said in a panic.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said deep in thought. 'What family is she from?' I thought. As I was about to ask, she spoke again.

"Anyway, you were so fast back there." she noted. "Have you already learned internal mana control?" she asked looking up at me as I was a head taller than her.

"Yes, I don't slack off on my training." I then looked at her and asked. "How have you been progressing on your training with lightning?"

"I've been wanting to show you!" she regained her excitement. "I've been working really hard."

"Let's see it then."

she brought her hand up and lightly touched my shoulder. When she did a strong electrical shock permeated throughout my shoulder. Yesterday when she did it I was barely able to feel it and now this? She really did work hard.

"How did I do?" she asked curiously with wide eyes waiting for my response.

"You did great." I said massaging my shoulder. "Way more than I expected out of you." I praised her which made her even happier. "It's time for the next step."

"Haha! Come on! Show me! Show me!" she shook my body forcefully. "I want to learn!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Once I told her that she took a step back and waited patiently for me to speak. "Now, Listen closely."

After I told her the next step she quickly got to work. Putting both the tips of her fingers together. After a few minutes of practice, she finally made a small tendril of lightning run through both of her fingertips. Although very faint.

"Haha! I did it! I did it!" she said jumping up and down, then stopped as she noticed my impression. "Are you not happy?" she asked with a downcast expression.

"Of course I'm happy." I told her. 'I'm just surprised she did it in a short amount of time.' I thought. "You did great." I padded her head.

"W-Whats the next step?" she asked turning red.

"Well, that's about it." I said. "You just need to practice it more to be able to call it out."

"T-That's it!?" she said shocked. "So that means we can't train together anymore?" her face fell.

"We can still train together if you want." I proposed. "Lightning magic is very fast and difficult to get used to, so I could help you out." I told her, but she stayed quiet. When she didn't respond I added. "That is if you want to."

"Yes! I want to!" she said quickly and then started shifting awkwardly as if she wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"W-Well. . . It's just that. . ." she said turning red. "I-I've been m-meaning to ask you. . ." she stuttered. "If w-we could become f-friends?" she asked awkwardly as her face was bright red.

Hm?

Does she have a hard time making friends?

Well her family has a high standing, maybe that's why.

Actually, ever since we moved to the Arumani mansion I haven't made any friends either, apart from my family.

Maybe she has it rougher than I do.

"Yes, I'd like to be your friend." I told her with a smile. "I enjoyed spending time teaching you."

After a moment of silence, her face got even brighter. "I had fun spending time with you too." she said quickly. Then there was an awkward moment of silence. "Anyway." she turned away. "How did you get so strong?" she asked changing the conversation.

I don't think she's seen me at my full power but she probably got to that conclusion based on my speed earlier.

"My father took me to Canavar where I fought monsters and refined my abilities." I told her.

"Wow!" her eyes were sparkling. "You went to Canavar! The land full of monsters!" she said excitedly. "You have to tell me all about it!"

"Alright." I said in resignation.

We spend the remainder of our time talking about my adventures in Canavar. I didn't tell her anything serious. In fact, I just told her funny stories that happened. She found it all interesting as she was happily listening to me as I spoke. Until I heard Leon's voice calling for me.

"Oh? I have to go now." I said in the middle of the story.

Her face fell but she smiled. "will you be coming here tomorrow?" she asked

"Yes." I replied. "My father said that he was going to come here every day to help with preparations until the Royal Banquet began."

"I'll see you tomorrow then." she said relieved at the news of me coming here every day. "I'll be here waiting for you."

"Don't worry I won't keep you waiting long." I told her to which she smiled in return. "See you later." I said then walked away as I took one final look back I saw her happily waving me off.

I met up with Leon at the front gate and we took off. Before leaving I heard some guards warn Leon of an intruder. Leon didn't pay it much attention because he thought the royal guards were more than strong enough to handle an intruder and we just kept going on our way.

Back at the house. Our tutor had gotten here a little earlier than usual, either that or Leon and I stayed too long at the Royal Palace. But I had missed most of the lessons and they were already outside practicing the dance. The pairs were Hanna with Mia, Theodore with Nina, and Alexander with Ada. I apologized to our tutor for my tardiness but she waved it off and asked me to just practice the dance for today.

"Arata! You're finally here!" Theodore said relieved as I approached while Nina looked away from me. "Take my place, I need to take a break." he said already breaking away from Nina.

"Sure, that's fine." I said taking his place. "Hey." I greeted Nina as I stood in front of her.

"H-Hey." she replied turning her face away from me then she awkwardly held my hand and put the other around my waist. As I did the same thing she turned red. "Listen. . . " she spoke. "About this morning. . . I'm sorry that I slapped you."

"It's alright. . . It's not your fault." I said locking eyes with her and showing the most gentle smile I could muster while squeezing her hand lightly against mine.

For a second, she just stared at me turning even redder. Her distraction caused her to miss a step making her stumble. In desperation, I quickly yanked her hand which I was holding onto, causing her to be pulled close to me. She yelped as our bodies collided.

"Are you okay?!" I asked in worry as I put my arm around her so that she wouldn't stumble backward.

"I-. . ." She slowly looked up, our faces a little too close for comfort. "AH!" she yelped pushing me away. "I-I'm sorry!" she said before running away.

"Lady Nina!" our tutor called. "We still have yet to finish today's lesson. Where are you going?"

'So she's still embarrassed about what happened yesterday, huh?' I thought

"What was that?" Theodore asked watching the whole show as he sat down to rest.

"It seems like Nina isn't feeling well." I told him. I then went down on one knee and raised my hand to him. "So will you do the honors of dancing with me?" I joked.

He rolled his eyes but took my hand. I ended up continuing the dance lessons with Theodore. It wasn't awkward this time since we had practiced together the day before.

The following day Flare wanted to come with me to the Royal Palace so I brought her along. Leon as usual went off by himself as soon as we passed the front gate of the castle. As I broke away from him I found Asia close by waiting for me. As she happily welcomed me she noticed Flare following behind me and completely fell in love. As we trained our magic together and I told her stories, Asia would continuously pet Flare, carry her, and hug her.