Sain Clare Academy (gxg, 18+)

Chapter Fifty

A/N: this book is going to be... so fun to edit ....

When I next awoke, the flowers by my bedside were again fresh, same as the next day, and the next; always blue. The few occasions I woke early, I could peek and see Felix squinting in focus as he arranged them carefully.

Once, I overheard a conversation in the hallway.

"Why not another color, duke?"

"It has to be blue."

"...Understood."

I'd needed to cover my face when the embarrassing flush entered my face.

I was well enough, but both the doctors and Grace had restricted my movement for more than 6 hours a day. With all of the bedrest I'd been having-- as well as book reading-- I had plenty of time to reflect.

Grace.

Whenever I turned just so in my bed I swore I could smell her lingering scent on my pillow, on my bedsheets. Before I could catch myself I'd be inhaling deeply, holding the cloth to my face like precious lifeblood that might disappear in an instant. It made my chest ache with the pain of longing and fill with happiness and a feeling I couldn't quite describe.

I'd never felt anything like the longing I felt for Grace.

When we were apart, I could trick myself into thinking I didn't need her; I'd bury myself in my duties, exhausting myself so I could sleep quickly and not think of what it might feel like to be in her arms when she was too busy to visit me for a night. After a couple of days alone, it almost felt normal, and I'd be able to think to myself yes, it's fine like this-- I can function alone, I don't need her.

And then Grace would come again, and my lungs would fill up with the air I didn't realize I'd been lacking. All I could do, hopelessly, is think how did I ever breathe without the presence of this person.

And then she was gone again, and the cycle would repeat. Saccharine sweet suicide.

She was busy, but then again, so was I. After asserting my place solidly as a High Mage, I'd been receiving the actual duties I'd needed to be doing-- there was enough corruption to clean out I wasn't sure if I'd be free from it in ten years' time. Still, it was necessary.

There were two factions that Grace needed to be concerned with: first, there were her supporters. Somehow, Belland only had one duchy, but there were a variety of other noble houses underneath her. Out of the hundreds of nobles in the country, only 5 houses were powerful enough to be concerned with. Two of them supported Grace, the Charles family and the Ringard family. The current prime minister, as well as Grace's close friend and predicted next prime minister Hamilton, came from the Charles household. They were an innovative family of wealth and pride. The Ringard family, the house Grace's friend and knight Amanda Ringard came from, consisted of much of the duchy's military power and did not hold much political power. Technically speaking, because of this lack of political power, the two houses against Grace's faction held slightly more power. The fifth house, a historically neutral party that supported none and held great loyalty toward the crown, was the house of Permisthea.

Under the current politics, Grace had the disadvantage in power compared to the faction against her-- the two houses that supported Annakin. Due to Grace's recent interest in weeding out corrupt nobles, their discontent had only been stirring more.

A house is always slightly unstable after a recent succession, a fact Grace was currently trying to hide and something her competitors were likely interested in exploiting. It made sense that Grace would be so frighteningly busy.