Irene was planning on going to her barrack and sleeping for a while considering it was morning which ant it was her night. All efforts to fix the nocturnal schedule they had developed over the autumn had failed. She was simply going to live with it for a while and hope her duties didn’t fall by the wayside.
After spending all night in the library and nearly falling asleep a couple of tis, she was wiped out. The heavy glances everyone kept sending her while her father revealed the truth about his intentions also tired her to the bitter end.
Only when her boots echoed down the hallway did she realize the others were still following her.
She turned to her friends.
"I’m a bit tired..." she trailed off, hoping that there wouldn’t be much more to say than that.
"I am too," Felix responded. "After all, it’s quite the burden to be the first of us knighted."
He puffed out his chest which only received a glare from Irene and she began to walk again.
However, she was stopped quickly by Leif.
"Wait, Iro!" he called.
When she turned towards him again, he seed uncomfortable with what he wanted to say.
"Are you alright?" he asked. "Your father leaving the knighthood can’t be easy for you."
"What am I supposed to say?" she wondered, her voice a bit gloomy. "Neither my mother nor my father care what I have to say because I’m a child."
That was the biggest limitation she had faced since she had returned to her childhood self. Having what she felt was the mind of a twenty year old sowhere inside of her head, she realized that people took children’s words a lot less seriously than if she were to be older. At least later in life her words were considered a bit more.
"That doesn’t matter," Leif persisted. "What will you do now?"
Irene looked between Leif and Felix before casting her eyes elsewhere. She wanted to keep walking and perhaps get a al and then go to bed, but they were making her stop.
"Try to make up for what the knighthood lost when my father decided to quit," she admitted. "What more is there?"
Leif seed a bit relieved despite her sad tone.
"You don’t want to return ho for the winter?" Felix asked. "I imagine His Grace wouldn’t be opposed in light of everything."
Irene thought about how her mother hadn’t said more than a couple of sentences to her since her arrival. She couldn’t bla her because Irene was doing the very sa thing to her.
"I don’t want to return ho," she admitted. "I would rather continue practicing here through the winter. Now that the Commander has given his opinion to you becoming a knight, I’m going to have to work harder to show why I deserve it more than you do."
With her final comnt, she gave the other apprentices a smirk before she was able to bound down the stairs and seek out breakfast for her dinner.
Leif and Felix glanced at one another but if she wasn’t going to say more about it than that, they figured it wasn’t their job to pry. Everyone lived with unspoken truths. As long as they could use those thoughts or feelings to pilot their swords and beco better knights, that’s all that mattered.
She had requested soone wake her up from her slumber that day so she could start getting better adjusted to being awake during the day or winter was going to be even more miserable than the year before. One thing she had learned about herself was how much she relied on the sun to keep her energized. She felt like a dormant flower that was only allowed vibrance when the sun was finally out.
However, next spring would an that her father was officially no longer a knight. It would certainly be a season of growing—not only the flowers outside but herself.
Ever since she had been in the knighthood, she only ever thought about the next ti she would see her father. It was due ti to stand on her own feet.
As requested, the girl woke up to a knock on her door just after midday. Despite how tempting it was to roll over and ignore it, the knocking persisted and she wondered who was sent to wake her up.
The girl got up and went to her door. The mont there was a crack, it was pushed open aggressively and she was overwheld by a tight squeeze and the soft, clean sll of Agnes as she hugged the younger girl.
"I heard about your father," the young maid explained. "You can’t imagine how awful I feel for you." She then let go of Irene and closed the door. "There isn’t anyone else who knows your secret?"
"Nobody else," Irene responded. "But I’m alright, Agnes. It’s better to have fewer people around who know. When my father first woke up, he kept calling a girl. All I hope is that he didn’t do it in front of anyone who would pry into it."
"Then rely on more," the maid insisted. "If you ever feel the need to rely on soone, I hope that it’s ."
Irene had never had an older sister sort of figure in her life so, despite everything that had been happening the past couple of days, she managed a genuine smile.
"I will keep that in mind," Irene relented. "But don’t tell Felix. He will keep getting jealous."
"He has no idea," Agnes uttered with a faint blush on her cheeks. "Quite ridiculous."
Agnes stuck around as Irene washed her face and got ready to face the others and possibly her family since they would undoubtedly call her out for disappearing so suddenly after the eting. Her mother especially probably didn’t understand soone who was on a nocturnal schedule and trying to adjust back to normalcy.
Once the girl was ready and had a new tunic as well as pants over the undershorts she normally wore, they both went out the door, only to be t with Felix who waited with his arms crossed over his chest.
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