"Sure." Noel answered.
Marcus whispered from the bunk below. "How are you holding up?"
Noel didn’t answer imdiately. His eyes were still fixed on the ceiling, the faint outline of wooden beams barely visible in the moonlight.
"...Not gonna lie," he muttered. "It hit ."
"I see..." Marcus replied, voice quieter now. "So I’m not the only one. Though I imagine the others feel the sa. Still... if I’d noticed earlier, maybe I could’ve stepped in. Way before you got involved."
’You can’t bla yourself. I knew it was coming and still couldn’t stop it...’ Noel thought, fingers tightening slightly around the edge of the blanket.
"You shouldn’t bla yourself," he said instead. "It’s not sothing we could’ve uncovered that easily. If they were professionals, then it’s normal. We did enough. The Saint’s safe."
"Yeah... but that feeling doesn’t go away, y’know? That sense of not doing everything I could."
"Believe ," Noel murmured. "I know exactly what you an."
"You know," Noel said, turning slightly on the mattress, "that blue fire of yours is sothing special."
Marcus snorted softly. "Heh... you think so?"
’Looks like he awakened part of his power ahead of schedule too.’
Marcus continued, "I’ve been training with Clara back in Nivaria before coming here. And even at the academy, I kept working on it. Didn’t want to fall behind."
"Fall behind?" Noel asked, glancing down.
"Yeah. Watching you grow so fast made feel... smaller, I guess. So I made you my target. Soone to catch up to."
Noel smirked. "So I’m your rival now?"
"Now that you say it, yeah, it kind of sounds like that. You up for a bit of competition in the next exams?"
Noel chuckled. "Wouldn’t be fair. I’m garbage at theory."
"But you’re great at spellcasting."
"It’s not the sa," Noel shrugged. "Theory and practical magic don’t work the sa way. Hard to explain."
"I get it," Marcus nodded. "Anyway, nine days left before classes start. Second year already."
"Yeah. And being on the council ans we’ll have work piled up from day one. New first-years flooding in."
"Oh," Marcus added casually, "Charlotte’s coming back with us to the academy."
Noel blinked.
That wasn’t supposed to happen. In the original version of the story, she never left the Holy Capital. But the Noel of now didn’t care about the original plot anymore. His job wasn’t to follow a script—it was to survive. And if that ant surrounding himself with people he trusted, so be it.
"...Didn’t know that," he said calmly.
"She didn’t tell you?" Marcus asked. "I saw you two walking back from the cetery."
"No, not really. We didn’t talk much."
"Huh," Marcus said, glancing up at the underside of Noel’s bed. "Weird."
Noel stayed quiet, but the gears in his mind were already turning.
"Well," Noel said, stretching slightly. "Enough of that. How are things with Clara?"
Marcus froze for a second. "...They’re good."
Noel smirked in the dark. "That pause says otherwise."
Marcus groaned. "Alright, fine. The other day... we held hands."
"Oh?" Noel grinned. "Big progress in your slow-burn romance. Hey, at least it’s sothing. Good luck."
"Thanks," Marcus muttered, then added with a hint of curiosity, "What about you? How are things going with... your situation?"
Noel raised an eyebrow. "Why are you saying ’situation’ like that? And why it sounded plural?"
Marcus didn’t miss a beat. "I think it’s obvious there’s more than one. Not like it’s weird. Clara’s dad has four wives. Your dad has two."
"I wasn’t denying that," Noel replied. "But if you want an answer... I’m officially with Elyra."
Marcus let out a low whistle. "Wow. You move fast."
"Fast?" Noel repeated. "I’ve known her for almost a year. It wasn’t forced. It just happened naturally."
"Hm. Fair enough," Marcus said. "Alright then, what about Elena?"
"What do you want to know?" Noel asked, resting his arm behind his head.
Marcus didn’t hesitate. "She’s clearly important to you. She likes you too—anyone with eyes can see that."
Noel exhaled slowly. "I know. I’ve just been waiting for her to make the first move."
"Why not just take the step yourself?"
"I guess... I wanted her to go at its own pace."
Marcus stayed quiet for a mont, then asked, "Is there anyone else?"
Noel hesitated. "...Not sure."
"Oh, co on," Marcus said. "Don’t play dumb or I’ll na them myself."
"Go on, then."
"Charlotte and Selene?"
Noel shifted slightly. "Why do you think that?"
"With Charlotte, it’s obvious. You two act way too close for how little ti you’ve spent together. And Selene... I dunno. Just a feeling. You’re one of the only people she even interacts with in the academy. And she actually replies to you."
Noel didn’t respond.
Marcus smirked. "Anything you want to say?"
"...Nothing."
A sharp voice cut through the darkness.
"Can you two shut the hell up already?" Laziel growled from the top bunk across the room. "So of us aren’t blessed by the gods of romance and don’t need this shoved in our face at midnight."
Noel and Marcus froze for a second.
"...Even the damn gorilla below has a girlfriend," Laziel continued, clearly pointing at Garron. "And I’m still out here alone. Do you know how humiliating that is?"
There was a beat of silence—then both Noel and Marcus burst out laughing, trying and failing to muffle it with their pillows.
Laziel groaned and turned over, pulling his blanket over his head. "Assholes."
The room finally began to settle into silence.
Sort of.
"...Gorilla?" ca a deep, half-asleep voice from the lower bunk. "Did you just call a gorilla?"
Laziel didn’t reply. The lump under the blanket only curled up tighter.
"Yeah, thought so," Garron muttered, sitting up and scratching his ssy hair. "And yes, also I do have a girlfriend. Sophie. Got a problem with that?"
Noel rolled over on his mattress, still grinning. "You gonna talk about Sophie again?"
"Damn right I am." Garron grinned proudly. "She’s small, adorable, and could knock soone’s teeth out if she felt like it. The first ti she called an idiot, I knew she was the one."
Marcus chuckled. "A true love story."
"She makes bring her flowers every Sunday. . Flowers. Do you have any idea how ridiculous a guy like looks buying flowers?"
"Very," ca Laziel’s muffled voice from under the blanket.
"Shut up, you bitter single bastard." Garron flopped back onto his bed with a goofy smile. "I love her. A lot. And if you call a gorilla again, Laziel, I swear I’ll slap you with a rose."
Noel burst out laughing again. "Is that supposed to be a romantic threat?"
"It’s a threat wrapped in affection," Garron muttered. "Good night."
This ti, silence finally settled over the room.
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