The Princess of Light and The Knight of Shadow

Year 1: Seventh Month, Part 1

"Careful, careful."

With a sigh, Estella turned to glare at her squire. "I'm no longer an invalid, Nox. I can walk." To prove her point, she walked away from him for several paces, her boots clicking on the polished floor.

"With a cane," he commented flatly, pointing at the black and gold walking cane Estella held in her left hand.

She grunted, returning to his side before he could go to hers. "With a cane, yes. But I can still walk, can't I? Unlike some idiot squire who broke his legs last month."

Nox released a sigh of his own, his smile pained yet also amused. "You're not going to let me hear the end of it, aren't you?"

"No."

Three weeks. It's been almost three weeks since the Intra-School Competition. Three weeks since Nox broke his legs in an attempt to win his final match in the semi-finals, only to fail at the last second. Three weeks since they had placed the silver trophy together on a stand in their shared dorm.

Estella couldn't forget the match quite yet, how her heart almost burst when she heard the faint crack on the stage, followed by a rush of healers and the referee. Nox had been lucky—he only needed two weeks to heal before he could walk again.

She scolded him daily after that, even as she finally took her first steps since the end of their expedition.

"Reminiscing again?" he teased.

Estella rolled her eyes. "Yes. Reminiscing about your stupidity."

He chuckled, a pleasant sound that often sent shivers down Estella's spine recently. She wished she could hear him chuckle often. "Well, I did promise I won't cause you any more trouble, right?"

"You better."

He chuckled again, then said, "How's your legs?"

Looking down at her feet, Estella lifted one foot then the other. "Good, I suppose. I can feel everything just fine. Though there are times when I can't feel my thighs."

"Your thighs?"

"Yes, my thighs."

He blinked, glanced at her thighs hidden by her blue skirt, then at her smirk. "Not this again," he grumbled.

"Not what again?" she asked in a playful tone, trying her best not to burst out laughing.

"You always tease me," he said dryly.

"I thought you've grown used to it," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "You know how like I like teasing you."

"And yet when I do the same to you, you act all pouty and scowling." He made a face, and Estella didn't know whether to laugh or smack him at the sheer absurdity of his expression. She was certain that she never made that expression before.

"That's not how I look like!" she said, mortified, and lightly stabbed him in the foot with her cane.

He hopped back quickly, chuckling again. "See? You don't like it when I tease you back."

"That's because it's not funny," she said as she started in the direction of the East Wing. It was almost time for their next class.

"But you're smiling."

Indeed, she was. Estella never hid it from him, even as they strode together along the corridor. "Fine. It's funny. But that's why I'm teasing you."

"Because you want me to smile often?"

They stopped by the central garden, relatively empty save for a couple of students rising from where they rested to hurry to their next classes. Fall had arrived early, and the leaves were losing their vibrant greens, the reds and golds becoming prominent.