Everyone around us was still unsure of what just happened.
They held back their gasps, so had their hands gripping their wooden swords tightly. Both of us stood there, hearts pounding loudly.
Father had his iron grip on Raymond’s arm, tightening with each silent second. His eyes were locked on to Raymond’s, who was acting like he was as unsure as the rest of us. Though I knew better. His eyes were still filled with that sa rage.
Father twisted his hand, and I could hear a small crack on Raymond’s arm.
“A-Aagh!!!” Raymond scread as his fingers spasd open. The knife he had intended to plunge into clattered to the ground.
The clattering sound of the knife hitting the mat seed to snap everyone back to reality as they finally realized the situation. One by one, the students took a step forward to get a better look, and they didn’t mind comnting.
“Raymond, have you lost your mind?”
“Did you really try to…”
Father remained completely silent throughout the whole chatter. But then he pushed Raymond to his knees with only his arm. Raymond scread in pain as I heard another crack; this ti, it wasn’t just from Feyt’s ears. The room fell into silence once more.
“I asked you a question, Raymond,” Father said with no emotion in his voice. Whatever warmth he was showing this morning was nowhere to be seen or heard, replaced by the cold authority of a duke.
Raymond didn’t answer, or was it because he couldn’t?
“Don’t make this hard on yourself. Answer .”
Still, Raymond didn’t respond. He breathed heavily under Father’s tight grip, his eyes focused on the floor and nothing else. Was he trying to co up with an excuse? Or had he realized there was no escaping?
Whatever it was, he seed adamant about not answering.
Father held him in that uncomfortable position for a while before finally raising his voice. “Guards!”
Not monts later, two of Father’s knights rushed in, kicking the door open with hands on their sword hilts. They stopped by the doorway, eyes blinking as they tried to process why Father had one of his students pressed down.
A surprising guest was standing right behind those two knights. Leila. She was supposed to be attending to the laundry today. Why was she here? She arrived as if she was the wind. She stood there, her brows furrowed slightly.
Her eyes made contact with mine, as if asking if I was alright through her gaze alone. I gave her a small, subtle nod, just in case she really was trying to do that. A flicker of relief passed over her face before she straightened her posture once more.
Father lifted Raymond by the sa arm he was holding like he was nothing but baggage. Despite being a noble himself, Father didn’t bother treating Raymond with any respect, not as a fellow aristocrat, a student, nor as a human.
Like he was filth, Father shoved Raymond to the guards, who caught him easily while they were still seemingly trying to piece together what was going on.
“Take him to the holding cell,” Father ordered.
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The knights didn’t hesitate to comply. “Yes, My Lord!”
The knights left the room as quickly as they had arrived, bringing Raymond along with them. Leila took a graceful step back to let the knights through. Their footsteps echoed down the halls and soon faded away.
The room was in silence once more. Father turned to . He knelt down and placed a hand on my shoulders, his eyes returned to the warmth I was used to.
“Carine, are you alright?” he said, his voice full of worry, with not a single speck of that coldness. “Leila! Arrange an escort to the clinic.”
“Of course,” Leila said from the hallway. She gave both and Father a bow before walking away with urgent steps.
Father’s grip was gentle but firm, like he was making sure I was there. It was then I realized just how still I had been. Like a statue who just gained consciousness.
I shook my head gently, trying to regain so composure. “I’m alright, Father.” But still, I could feel a small part of trembling.
Sure, I wasn’t all that threatened. I could dodge the knife since I spotted it early, and I could disarm him easily if he got close enough with all the techniques I’d been practicing.
But still… it was an attempt on my life. To say I felt no fear would have been a lie.
Father nodded. “We should have you checked just in case.” He stood and turned to the others. “Class is postponed until further notice.”
The students didn’t comnt. They understood this was a serious matter and nodded respectfully before making their way out of the training hall. However, I found my feet—Feyt’s—to be bound to the floor.
Considering it was who was attacked, I guess the shock was kind of shared.
Father noticed when he turned around. “Feyt?” He had his eyes on for so ti before finally speaking up, “Do you want to co with us to the clinic?”
“N-No, that’s… alright,” I answered.
Father took a step forward, approaching . Then, a heavy hand landed on my shoulder. An unfamiliar yet familiar feeling. It was a comforting gesture often reserved for Carine.
“You did well, Feyt. There’s no need to worry.”
I blinked, confused about what he was talking about. I didn’t do anything, really. I literally just stood there.
“You were ready to throw yourself in his path.” His voice was calm, matter-of-fact, as if he was sure of it.
anwhile, I was even more confused. Since when did I try to do that? Sure, if I had known I would be attacked beforehand, I could’ve planned for it. But I wasn’t that in-sync with myselves yet to do it in such a short period.
Father gave my shoulder another light pat. “I didn’t see it… But I felt your flinch.”
Felt my flinch?
Although it was a weird way to put things… I realized pretty quickly that he was probably talking about his Talent, [Spatial Awareness]. When I saw Raymond pull out a knife, being surprised was an expected behavior. I guessed that was when both of my bodies kind of flinched.
I also realized then that it was probably that Talent that caused him to suspect Raymond. Although my eyes couldn’t see past the copious amount of cloth, the mont Raymond passed Father by, he sensed sothing was off.
Father continued, “You were ready to put yourself in danger for Carine’s sake; I always believed that. Had I not stepped in myself, you would’ve tried to stop him all by yourself, weren’t you?”
I opened my mouth, but no words ca. What could I say? I felt like this misunderstanding was a little bit too deep for to fix.
He let out a quiet breath, his smile widening slightly. He gave my shoulder a faint squeeze before he released .
“It’s the thought that counts, as I believe the saying goes. Not to say you did badly, however. Knowing that you would treat Carine’s life as precious as your own assures .”
My eye twitched.
For the love of God… This again?!
I didn’t even do anything this ti! I just stood there! The worst part was that I couldn’t even figure out how to argue against it without making it sound even worse.
Father, of course, took my silence as confirmation. With nothing more to add, he turned on his heel and strode off, bringing along —Carine—by his side.
Left behind at the quiet training hall, and walking along the empty hall with Father, it gave so ti to think.
Raymond… Why did he attack ?
I was an to him and embarrassed him in front of everyone. That should be the obvious answer. But I never saw him as the type of kid to seek short-terd revenge like this. He had conviction in his eyes, no matter how much anger there was behind them.
But today, that conviction… I felt none of them. Instead, all I felt beside his rage was sothing akin to blankness. As if… he wasn’t thinking straight. But whatever it was… I could only be relieved that I was ultimately safe.
But a part of still believes that this was far from it.
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