I quietly watched Aylin and Fiviana put a puzzle together. Fiviana got up from her seat and told us she would use the bathroom. I stepped out as well and said that I would also go.
As Fiviana and I walked side by side, I kept glancing over at her.
Her family, were they really assassins? Fiviana seemed so innocent and fragile.
If she really intended to claim the bounty on my head by gaining my trust, then I must… well, I could not say for sure if that was her intention. She maybe had no connection to her family at all.
I took a step back and told Fiviana to continue without me.
I knocked on Devina's office, and the doors opened automatically. Devina was lying on her couch with papers covering her entire body. She brushed the pile of papers off her face and looked at me with exhausted eyes.
"What is it now?" she asked, closing her eyes.
"The Fivindus family. Could you tell me more about them?"
Devina groaned and turned her back toward me.
"Those people are not sane. All of them are just practitioners of savagery."
"Practitioners of savagery?"
"Yeah. Waving their tails and licking bones for the royal family."
"You surely know about Fiviana Fivindus? Does she have any connections to the family?"
"The one with the incurable disease? Well, if you are really that curious about their family, why not see it for yourself?"
"They keep mentioning something about a pact of confidentiality when talking about their clan," I said, annoyed.
"Right. Each of the major clans enforces a strict confidentiality policy to ensure their techniques are kept secret so other families cannot exploit them."
Devina sat up from the piles of paper and, with squinted eyes, asked me if I wanted to work for the Fivindus family for the one-year job practice.
"That's really possible? I never saw them at school events."
"Of course they wouldn't show up in public, you dimwit."
She paused before opening her eyes and offering me the deal again.
"So, do you want it or not?"
"But with the bounty on my head, I have read that the Fivindus report directly under the royal family. They might discover who I am."
"That's not an issue. I will forge a false identity for you and redo your appearance," Devina said confidently.
"Could Aylin also practice alongside me?"
Devina sighed even more heavily, telling me that I was asking her to do far too much outside her normal schedule. She lay back down on the couch and grumbled something.
"Fine. But leave me alone now. I need to catch up on some sleep," she said as she shooed me off, annoyed.
I headed back to the clubroom and saw Fiviana and Aylin peacefully writing Aeonic stories. I sat down on the sofa and scribbled a few words before my motivation drained completely, the pen falling out of my hand.
Time passed, and Fiviana left. Aylin approached me, showing me all the stories they had written today. I was not as responsive as usual, and Aylin immediately picked up on it.
She asked me if anything had happened because I had been quiet all day. I then told her what I had discovered about the Fivindus family.
Aylin recoiled in shock upon hearing that Fiviana's family had connections to the royal family.
"But… how? She is so nice…"
"That's what I don't know. I don't know if she is just pretending to be nice to get close to me and claim the bounty on my head."
Aylin went quiet and collapsed onto the sofa beside me.
"That's why I want to investigate for myself whether Fiviana is a good person or not. I want to work for the Fivindus family for my one year of practice work to uncover their secrets."
Aylin, who had stayed quiet the entire time, grabbed my hand as I declared my intention. She moved closer to me, her eyes glistening.
"Are you going to go completely alone?" she asked quietly. Her eyes danced, and her hands trembled as she moved even closer.
Her knee was between my legs, and her face was right in front of mine.
"I don't want to be alone here," she said solemnly.
"I wasn't intending to leave you alone. I already asked the Head Professor to let you come."
Aylin let go of my hand and smiled softly as the reassurance washed away her fear. She pulled herself back and relaxed before asking me a few questions about how the operation would go.
That night, Aylin and I were occupied discussing plans on how to gather as much information as possible from the Fivindus family.
Two days later, we were called to the Head Professor's office. In her hand were two identification cards. Both of our faces were on the cards, each bearing the Fivindus stamp of approval.
"It was honestly a hassle to get them to take two students. Usually they only accept one at a time due to safety reasons," Devina said with an expression of annoyance.
She handed us the cards and told us to wait outside the academy gates tomorrow. Someone would be there to escort us to the Fivindus estate.
Lying on my bed, my mind wandered and constantly overthought every scenario. How I would be turned in to the royal family once they discovered who I was. Or what kind of monstrous people would be in a family of assassins. I could only pray they were as gentle and kind as Fiviana.
Unable to rest properly, I decided to gaze at the moon. This was something Aylin and I used to do back when we still lived at the brotherhood. We would stare into the night sky, bathing in moonlight. Aylin once told me that being under the night sky was like breathing air for her. Without the moon's light, she did not feel alive. The moon was only half full tonight, but it was still beautiful.
Suddenly, I heard knocking at my door. I closed the window and walked over to see who was knocking so late. Aylin stood there barefoot in her pajamas. Her arms were held close to her body, and her eyes were averted.
She asked if she could come in because she could not fall asleep. I laughed a little, realizing it was not just me feeling the pressure and uncertainty.
"Hey! What are you laughing at?" she pointed at me before chasing me around the room.
People below us began banging on their ceiling as we ran around.
Eventually, we relaxed and stood together on the balcony under the stars. The city of Nautilus still shone brightly at night. The sound of incoming ships was constant, and the wind from the venues carried the scent of fish.
"Isn't the moon beautiful tonight?" Aylin asked.
"Every night I gaze at the moon, it continues to shine with brilliance, no matter how it looks."
Aylin's cheeks flushed, and she looked down at the ponds below.
"Aren't you nervous?" she asked, staring at the blue lilies in the water.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't. It has weighed on my mind for quite some time. Never knowing when someone might appear out of nowhere, drag me away, bring me to trial, and execute me."
"You know the Royal Academy would never allow a kidnapping on campus, right?"
"Maybe so. But deep down, I really want to trust Fiviana. I want to prove to myself that those thoughts were just my imagination."
Aylin placed her hands on the cold railing and stared out at the sea.
"I also wanted to prove that someone was good."
Her expression grew heavy, but realizing she was making the atmosphere awkward, she immediately began stretching and cracking her back like a cat.
"If you ever get scared, I'll be here to hold you," she joked, stretching her arms out toward me in a gesture for a hug.
I scoffed and smiled before booping her nose and walking back inside.
"Sure, but make sure those arms are always open for me."
I stepped into the room while Aylin remained on the balcony, stroking her pink hair as it swayed in the wind.
"I will. I promise."