During the break, Mia dragged Dorian, separating him from Elric. What was she up to?
Elric, Dorian, and Mia had been friends since they were four. Mia was from the Duke family of Roswell, in charge of the Rosa Duchy, where they lived. Hence, she was the highest-ranking noble in the school.
Mia was still dragging Dorian. She was silent as she walked with haste around the school, and not even for one microsecond did she spare a glance at Dorian. She seemed to be looking for a secluded place, but everywhere she looked, there were one or two people, and anytime she saw that, you could always see her release frustration.
Dorian was confused as hell right now. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't ask any questions—more like he dared not to.
Mia finally settled for the front of the girls' restroom. And this frightened Dorian a lot. I mean, what did she want to do, and the bigger question, why here?
"Um... Mia," Dorian stuttered, "what are we doing here?"
"Um... I... oh... eh." Mia sounded just as confused as Dorian. "Take this!" she yelled, and it startled Dorian. She handed him a box of chocolates and a letter embroidered with a pink heart paper design. She still managed not to look at him throughout this.
"Oh, a box of chocolates, thanks. I'll go share it with Elric. You should come with, or is there anything else?"
Well, Dorian wasn't used to all this, plus he was naive and also still nine, so he didn't understand. That was why he was dense as a brick. Well, Mia wasn't having any of that naivety. She snatched the chocolate from his hand and yelled,
"Do you even know what this means?"
"Um... kinda. It's a snack made from a plant... I think the name was cocoa," Dorian said, looking confused.
"I gave you this because I like you, idiot!" she screamed, and this caused a lot of attention. Everyone started staring their way. At that instant, she wanted nothing but for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.
"Well, um, thanks. I like you too," Dorian shrugged with a weak, passive smile and pink cheeks, "a lot actually, like very much," Dorian said.
This made Mia completely red. How could he say something so lightly? Here she was trying to find the most secret place to confess, and he just blankly stated it, like it was nothing. But she wasn't picky; she would accept it nonetheless.
"You do?" she said, trying so hard to stop herself from spinning.
"Yes, I really do. I like you a lot, and Elric too, and Mom and also Tasha. You guys make me really happy. And I'm happy we are friends," Dorian said with a very big, bright smile. "I really love the time we spend together, and I want us to be friends forever."
Mia was seriously dumbfounded. How could someone so cute be so dumb? This made her furious, and she didn't try to hide her feelings in the slightest. Her veins were popping, her fists were clenched, and worst of all, her eyes were slowly dropping tears. She had a really strong urge to punch Dorian in the face.
"You know, sometimes, Dorian, you are a real pain in the ass," and then she ran off. "Don't you dare follow me, idiot."
Dorian stood still, shocked because that was not the reaction he expected. Did he do something wrong, or did Mia not want to be friends anymore? Was she tired of him, or had he done something stupid? Was it something he said? He knew he didn't deserve friends; I mean, who would like him for who he was? He was Dorian, a commoner, a filth. All these thoughts and emotions just came pouring out of nowhere; he was really perplexed. How would he get Mia back? Would everyone leave him like this too? Would Elric...
"Elric!" He shouted, forgetting the fact that he was around people.
"I should ask Elric. He'll know." Dorian ran to the training ground where he and Elric normally practiced. For him, Elric was as smart as they come; in just a matter of seconds, he had the solution to everything. "Yes, Elric. Elric could help."
Elric was jogging around the field; he did this anytime he was waiting for Dorian. He was about to finish his second lap when he saw Dorian running desperately like a dog running to its owner.
"What the... Dorian, is that you?" he stopped. "Why are you running?"
"[Pant, pant...] I think Mia doesn't like me anymore."
"Huh?" He was puzzled. Why wouldn't she? They were so close. "You must be over-exaggerating things. What happened?" He removed the bottle of water wrapped around his neck. "But first, take this. I think you need this more than I do."
"Thanks." He snatched the water out of his hands and poured everything into his mouth; some of the water missed his mouth and poured all over his body.
"Slow down, tiger," he joked. "If Mom sees you like that, you will be dinner."
"Now what happened?"
"She took me to the front of the girls' bathroom; she gave me a letter and a box of chocolates. I told her thank you... I swear I didn't do anything wrong. I told her I would go share it with you, that she should come with, then she asked me if I knew what it meant, that she liked me, and... and I like her too, very much, and I told her I want to be friends... but it's like she didn't like that. I don't want her to go. Please... I don't want her to leave me. What should I do?"
Elric was twitching, and it was not for the obvious reason that Dorian was ever so dense, but for another reason entirely. He saw the heart shape on the letter, and with what Dorian said, he understood everything. Mia liked Dorian; she like-liked Dorian. And Elric had had a crush on Mia for two years now. He was just too shy to confess. Elric was brave, very brave, but not in this category.
"Let me see the letter." His voice was unsettlingly low and deep.
"Here, open it."
"Hi Dorian,
I'm a little bit shy as I am writing this, but I will give it my best.
We have been very close friends for years now, and last year I kind of started getting more attracted to you. Your cheerful smile, your jokes, even the way you walk—I like it. I like you, and I don't want to be just friends, so please go out with me.
I hope you feel the same.
This is so embarrassing, but Hannah (her personal maid) said I should go for it."
Elric read the letter, and it very much confirmed his suspicion that it was a love letter, alright.
"Are you crying?" Dorian asked. He noticed the way Elric's eyes got a little redder and watery.
"NO!" he said in a high-pitched voice; the pitch could be compared to a chipmunk screeching in terror.
"You are the one that is crying, not me [sniff, sniff]," Elric squeaked.
"Why do you sound like that?" Dorian chuckled. Elric's voice seemed funnier than ever. "What are you hiding? You always talk like that when you are hiding something."
"No, I don't," he reached an even higher pitch.
"Now you just sound like a whistle. Tell me, is it about the letter?"
Elric figured out that Dorian was getting worried, so he had to dismiss it and get it back together.
"[Sigh...] I'm fine. I was just kidding to make you get your mind off it, and it looked like it worked. Mia doesn't hate you; it is very much quite the opposite, so don't worry too much, okay? I'll explain everything tonight, so don't worry. I'm going to use the bathroom. Carry on. I think I might skip the rest of the break; my stomach is killing me. See ya."
When school was over, it was usually the butler's job to pick up the children, all of them moving in carriages with their family's crest boldly embedded on them. The case was different for Dorian and Elric, whose mother, the Lady of the Vaelthrone House, came to pick them up, and they would walk all the way home—around 40 minutes.
They didn't have a coachman, and even if they did, Deren could use him to put them in harm's way, and worst of all, it was not last like to ride a carriage, so was walking, but walking was the better option. She had tried her best to reduce the amount of shame she and her family would receive, because Deren was already pouring enough.
It was quite tiring for Viera and Dorian because they weren't martial artists like Elric, who was already an 11th-tier Swordmaster—quite a feat for his age. A one-out-of-ten genius, you would say. Viera was a mage, an 8th-tier Wind Mage, while Dorian hadn't awakened.
"[Pant, pant...] Wait up, wait," Dorian said, panting. He was sweating so profusely that you would think his body produced the daily supply of water for the empire.
"You seem oddly tired today," Viera asked with a slight bit of concern.
"I don't... [pant]... I don't know. Must have been the training... [pant] argh, feels like I might meet the Seven Gods today."
"Language!" Viera snapped.
"Sorry [pant]... I was... I was just... jok... joking," Dorian said, staggering to the left and right; his movements were somewhere in between normal and a drunkard's.
Elric chuckled a bit. He found it amusing; it was not his fault only he was the martial artist.
"What are you laughing at? Not all of us have the endurance of a boar, you know. You seem to be enjoying this. It's just exercise for you, but just you wait. I am not giving up... ONWARD!" he shouted. Dorian pushed himself forward, which was hilarious to both Elric and Viera. Both of them laughed, Viera's laugh a little quieter than Elric's, but she was glad. At the beginning of the walk, both were silent, which was very unusual for the boys, but now they were laughing. Viera cherished their friendship—no, their brotherhood—more than anything gold could buy.
"You boys should preserve your strength; we are decorating for Tasha's birthday," she chuckled. "And Dorian, we have a surprise for you. You too, Elric."
"Argh, that was exhausting. Can I carry Tasha now?" Elric asked. He was tired after about two straight hours of decoration. It was for Tasha's birthday, yet it was too extravagant. Deren gave Viera enough money for a mini royal banquet. It seemed Deren wanted the party to be grand, and after seeing this, someone could question his intentions.
Viera was not in control of the Vaelthrone purse; Deren had found a way to get control over everything through his previous schemes of takeover, and when the time for dispute settlement came, he would get as much money, properties, and ownership as possible in the name of compensation. He slowly took possession of all Vaelthrone properties, leaving Viera with just the estate and the caretaker. Even the income from the county's iron mine went directly to Deren's pocket. She worked as Mia's private tutor to make ends meet. That was how Dorian, Elric, and Mia became close.
"Come now, Elric, time for your present," she smiled.
"What about mine?" Dorian ran with excitement. "Do I get one, Lady Viera?"
Dorian always referred to her as Lady Viera, and she hated it. She wanted Dorian to call her Mom so badly because she saw and loved Dorian like her own, as if he were hers, but she couldn't force it. She wanted him to say it without being told. She wanted him to feel it, to love her as a mother. She wanted that when he was in need or want, when he wanted to eat or sleep or play or call her for any reason or no reason at all, he would say "Mother" or "Mom." But telling him felt like she was forcefully trying to replace his mother, and she didn't want that.
"No, Dorian, this is for Elric." She brought out a box and opened it. A plain red scarf made from wool was lying in the box. It looked like time had worn it out.
"This was the scarf I made for your father when we were still courting. I remember it like yesterday. I was a commoner, so I didn't know how to do all these nobles' unnecessary things, as I called them back then."
"So I took lessons and worked really hard, and finally, made a scarf for him, but it was not good enough. So I made another one, and it still wasn't good enough. So I made and made and made, but none was perfect. I stayed in my room knitting for days; my family was worried, but that didn't matter." She paused as she stood, her eyes slowly becoming teary. "Derick came, and my parents told him what was happening, and they were worried."
"I was in the room stinking. I can still remember. I hardly bathed during that period. Despite all that, he still came. He came to the disgusting commoner, held my hand, and looked straight into my eyes, and I would never forget what he said." She couldn't hold the tears anymore.
"He said: 'Don't you ever do this again, you hear me? Look at your eyes; you haven't been sleeping. Your back; you haven't been moving around. You just stayed cramped here doing what? Making a scarf for me? No, making the perfect one. I don't care about the scarf. I don't care about how well it has been woven, the texture, the design. Don't you get it? The gift is not special because of the gift, but the person who gives it. For me, anything you make is a masterpiece, anything you touch is gold, any place you are is heaven. So don't kill yourself trying to make a scarf for me; just give me anything and I would wear it with pride, to the garden, the estate, the King's Court, heck, even the toilet. I hope you get it, that I love you for who you are, not what you give me.' He went and picked one from the bottom of the trash can. 'I'll take this one because the worst thing you ever make has more value than the best thing anyone makes. You are my life, my queen, my treasure, and I love you.'"