Blue sea beneath the North star (FE3H)

Chapter 4: The new professor

"Byleth?"

"Yep, that's the name."

Cassandra nods.

Lynden blinks, focusing her gaze back on the kid before her.

The new professor, Byleth, has been quite a topic to discuss these days in the Monastery. The hottest rumor of the students, Lynden hears, as she goes around in the place these days. The knight even heard that he saved the three royal children from bandits, and get a job here afterward as a, well, a professor.

She did see the man, once, near the Monastery gate, with cats. The knight saw him playing around with stray cats, those felines clung to him, meowing like kids wanting candies.

From afar, he looks rather...vacant? His face seems so still, almost as if a blank mask, emotionless.

Maybe he just had bad days, she thinks to herself, teaching teenagers is a rather challenging task, in Lynden's opinion. She can respect that.

That reminds her of something by the mention of the subject.

Guess who went to the marketplace yesterday, instead of going to their classes, and subsequently, skipped the entire day of school?

If not because Lynden was on a mission, she would already have had a talk with Cassandra yesterday. Edmon was the one who informed her about the kid, which, was when they were dining.

"You skipped classes yesterday?" Lynden asks, interrupting her sister's rant about something, which makes Cassandra's eyes widen.

Her shocked face tells it all. 'How could you know?', as Cassandra shifts on the chair uncomfortably, lips mumble something as she glances away.

The kid denies with a scowl on her face, leaning back, eyes staring at her sister, but her gaze wavering, "Who told you that, anyway?"

"Edmon did." Lynden retorts.

"Haha, oh..."

The kid mumbles something, frowning, then shakes her head.

"Well yes," She admits, but waving her hands, chuckling nervously, "That was one time! I only skipped just that one time."

"Cassandra, I..." Lynden starts, looking Cassandra dead in the eyes, "This...is the ninth time I see or hear about this. What do you mean by 'first time'?"

Cassandra stops, looking back at her. But to be honest, who does the counting here? And why is it Lynden? Regardless, Cassandra shakes her head, rubbing her hands anxiously together. The kid mumbles, defeated.

"Yeah sorry," She says, scratching her chin, "I won't do that again."

Lynden huffs, her calloused hand picking up a small piece of snack on the tray. Of course, she takes the kid's words with a grain of salt. Still, Cassandra is an intelligent kid, evidenced by her marks and great performances in magic. The knight can't be mad at the kid because of that, as a result.

"You study by yourself in the library?" Lynden asks, making the kid perks up to look at her. It's too soon to talk about this kind of topic in the morning, as Cassandra's disheartened mood rapidly changes into an upbeat smile. The student opens her mouth to speak in excitement.

"Well yeah!" The kid blinks, eyes sparkle as she exclaims, "Self-study is pretty sufficient for me," Cassandra gestures with her hands excitedly, "And not only that, I'm coming up with a small project."

Now Lynden is curious. The knight sits straighter, while her sister proudly smiles to herself.

"What is it?" She asks.