You Only Live Twice

XVIII

COMPLETE AND UTTER EXHAUSTION was all Olivia felt when she woke up this morning. A sense of deja vu invaded her mind, this was a reoccurring problem and she had an odd premonition that this wouldn't be the last. This was the complete opposite of what her mission was supposed to do. Regret was the word to describe this situation.

"Good morning, My Lady!" Estelle chirped as she threw the curtains open letting in the morning sunlight. Olivia rolled over and buried her face into her pillow she let out a long, throaty groan.
Estelle came into her room every morning without fail, waking her up with a chirpy voice and a good mood, she was always full of life and energetic and happy. It disgusted Olivia.

"Morning Estelle." Olivia's muffled voice greeted her.
Estelle walked over and pulled Olivia out of her pillow, forcing her to sit up. "Today's a busy day for you, Milady! Sir Koen will be by around nine o'clock today, for your lesson on the history and foundation of the empire, which will soon be followed by your lesson with Madam Laurier." Estelle continued to ramble on about Olivia's schedule as the girl flopped onto her back already feeling the all too familiar exhaustion and ache in her limbs start to occur.

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OLIVIA SIPPED ON HER CUP of tea, she sat at her desk in the library waiting for her mentor to arrive. Their makeshift classroom was situated in the far corner of the library by a large window for natural light, it consisted of only a chalkboard and traditional school desk large enough to seat two, bookcases surrounded them giving their space a circular shape.

Olivia set her cup of tea down when she heard the door open, assuming Koen had arrived she started to take her materials out of the desk only to stop halfway when she looked up to find Estelle. She wasn't all too surprised, Koen had set a reputation for himself for either being late or canceling and rescheduling the class altogether. It was rare he'd ever actually show up on time.
"Hello Estelle, has Sir Koen arrived yet?" Olivia asked.

Estelle stopped in front of Olivia, with her hands on her hips she stomped her foot and gave Olivia a scolding look. "Lady Olivia Auclair!" Estelle sternly said, Olivia was confused she didn't know what she'd done for Estelle to be upset with her. "Yes? Why are you upset Estelle?"

"You never told me you had a friend!" Estelle said. "..." Olivia was quiet for a moment, "What?" That's what she was mad about? Though Estelle was never one to stay mad for long and her stern exterior broke quickly into her usual shining smile, she brought one hand up to her cheek resting her elbow on her other arm, she had a helpless look on her face. "Ah, you're so young yet already keeping secrets from me." She shook her head back and forth.

Olivia, on the other hand, looked lost. "What are you talking about?" She couldn't help but ask.

"You're friend! The little boy with white hair, he's come to visit you, isn't that so sweet?" Estelle clasped her hands together and rested her cheek on them, she seemed to be beaming. Olivia didn't know her making a friend would be such a big deal. "Still! I'm a little hurt you never told me." Estelle pouted.

"I'm-I'm sorry? I guess it just never came up?" Olivia said hesitantly, she wasn't quite sure what she had to apologize for but she thought it'd be for the better. "Wait- You mean Amos is here?"

"Yes! I'll bring him up, I'm sure Sir Koen won't mind having him." Estelle said, excitement nearing bursting out of her pores. Before Olivia could protest—or say anything in general—Estelle rushed off, leaving Olivia even more confused and lost than ever. She wasn't sure how she should feel or react everything was moving too fast for her.

Why was Amos here, was Olivia's biggest question. He had never come to her house before or mentioned wanting to come over, so his showing up out of nowhere without any prior notice or invitation left Olivia a little stupefied.
Before Olivia could even gather her thoughts Estelle came back with the boy himself. Olivia watched with a look of genuine shock as the pink-haired maid led Amos toward her desk.

"Geez, don't look so happy to see me." Amos said though it was the same sarcastic tone of voice his face held a foreign innocent, childish look. He was—genuinely—smiling at her and Estelle seemed to be enjoying every second of their interaction.
Suddenly Estelle clapped her hands together snapping Olivia out of her stupor. "I'll go get you guys some snacks! Sir Koen did send a notice in advance that he'd be a little late today so you'll have some time to play! I'll bring some snacks." Estelle said before rushing out, not before forgetting to turn around and give them an encouraging smile, Amos waved to her as she exited.

"What are you doing here?" Olivia said wanting to get him out as soon as possible, she didn't want their relationship to get too close or personal past what was necessary.

"I came to talk about the kid from yesterday," Amos said. Estelle arrived once again with a cart full of sweet treats and tea not too long after, Amos smiled and thanked her, she bowed and exited the room.

"What about him? Was it so important you had to come to my house? How'd you even find out where I live." Olivia asked starting to get a little irritated.
"It wasn't that hard to find out," Amos said his voice muffled by all the food he was stuffing into his mouth. "You're a lady of a ducal house and one of the most powerful families, if you'd forgotten."

He waved his hand seemingly to get his point across to move along as his mouth was so stuffed bits of crust and chocolate started tumbling out, Olivia scooted away in disgust. "Anyways, what I came to talk about was how exactly you expect this 'plan' of yours to work." He made air quotations around the plan. "You can't go sneaking into the palace every day without making someone suspicious. Honestly, I don't know how you've done it so far with me."
Olivia couldn't deny that, "Probably my status." She said. Olivia herself didn't know how she'd been able to visit the palace so often either, sometimes she'd take the forest route to visit Amos, where she'd come through the side of the forest instead of the front, but that required a lot of sneaking—and walking—and excuses so she didn't prefer it.

"So I got to thinking—" "Aww were you worried about the prince? That's so thoughtful of you, I didn't know you were capable of sympathy." Amos kicked the front leg of Olivia's chair sending her and the chair backward onto the floor. "Maybe your family should sponsor him." Amos said.

"Sponsor?" Olivia stood up rubbing her back she grabbed the chair and fixed it back in place shooting a glare Amos' way. "Yeah. I've heard of some nobles who would sponsor promising commoners in hopes of gaining power and fame. You house the person you're sponsoring and from then on you are responsible for their education and wellbeing. Some houses raise knights though most send their person to Nightingale Academy."

That was the best option it'd make Olivia's life a whole lot easier if her target lived under the same roof as her. "But, Ezekiel is a prince, not a commoner, and I don't know how I would convince the duke let alone the emperor." Olivia held her chin in thought.
"Sponsorships aren't only for commoners, I've read about some cases of nobles sponsoring poorer or fallen nobles, though Prince Ezekiel isn't exactly either of those he isn't favored by the royal family and barely considered one. The emperor won't be hard to convince and the duke..." Amos trailed off trying to think of a solution. "You could say he'll bring strong political backing if he's successful. Being on a royal's good side is always a perk."
It could work. Olivia has the knowledge of the future and sponsoring Ezekiel would come in handy with future events.

"Alright, I'll talk with the duke about it after my classes."

——
Sorry this chapter was so bad, I was kind of just going with whatever came to me in the time and tried to pull it all together. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with this chapter but I felt like I needed to post something so I tried my best (;'༎ຶٹ༎ຶ')

The next chapter be better! (Hopefully)