A new year at Nine Petal Academy means a new crop of students, including a boy who can't control his magic, a thief, an angel, and even a suit of armor? Adela, Lei, and their friends are tasked with welcoming the new class of first years and helping...
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"Lidia, you didn't have to come with me," I muttered as we arrived at the boys' dorm.
She turned to look at me and smiled. "But I'm used to us eating together."
My face flushed. No, she was just saying that to be nice or because she saw me as a brother. Only an idiot would read more into it.
Lidia's fingers coiled the doorknob and pushed it open. She gave me a toothy grin. "Let's go and eat."
"Alright." I stared at the ghost-quiet hall. Almost felt tempted to light the way with my flames. Probably would've if I were alone.
She ran over to the glass panels on the left wall. Her eyes had a look to them that reminded me of my childish twin sister. "Oh is that the pool?"
I turned to look at the swimming pool. The room was dimly lit now as there was no natural sunlight pouring down the glass panels dotting various corners of the ceiling. The only reason we could see it and the hallway itself was because of the jade light pouring down from Anola.
"Yeah. Want to go eat by it?"
She nodded.
I smiled. She really was eager to use it, huh?
The girls in this school were all pretty good-looking. But Lidia had her own unique beauty which made her stand out from them even further.
My face flushed. Why was I thinking about this stuff? It wasn't like anything could happen between us anyway since we were raised as siblings in the orphanage. And besides, she probably would've preferred someone like Aurelius or Carter. Someone with muscles, not some lanky kid. My body looked like it belonged to a twelve-year-old boy.
We entered the pool. Lidia's hand rummaged around and found the switch, turning on the lights. I winced as soon as they came on. They were blinding, or at least they were after having been in the dark since we left the girls' dorm. We sat side by each near one end of the pool and ate our food while watching the stars twinkle above us through the glass. Thankfully, Elliot had listened when I told him not to add veggies to mine. As the loser of the food contest, he had to cook for all of us. Not that he seemed to mind, apart from having lost the cookoff itself.
"The stars sure are nice today, huh?" Lidia asked.
I smiled. They sure were. Even though I could see more than I could in Sera's capital, I could tell that they were the same constellations.
***
[Days ago]
"Noe!" Scarlet cried, hugging our little brother.
"Let, you're embarrassing him," I said, giving her a deadpan look.
"I don't care," Scarlet said, snuggling our little brother.
Dai and Fai just stared at us and smiled. Did they want to leave and were they being courteous, or were they really enjoying the scene?
