After enduring Isabelle’s punishment — Gaius didn’t get why he was being the one punished, but raising that up now was simply asking for it — the boy rubbed his head and turned to Countess Reinford, who had been watching everything so far while eating her snacks.

“Hello, countess. It’s been what, three years?”

“Around there. Thank you for stepping out to save us at that time,” she replied. “The Western Holdings owes you the debt of a life.”

“What can I do with it?” Gaius asked.

“A single demand, and we’ll fulfil it,” Reinford replied. “Any demand at all. Even if you want me to accompany you for a night…”

Gaius shivered from the intensity of two gazes. The first one was from Isabelle, where a sudden smile devoid of any humour whatsoever had appeared on her face, and the second was from Reinford herself. The countess, after completing her sentence, was eyeing him from head to toe, like a shopper assessing the fruits he or she wanted to purchase.

None of them made him feel particularly safe.

“Uh. Thanks. I’ll, uh, think about it.” Gaius slid towards Isabelle slowly, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. “This is my first time being prepositioned like this, so I will need roughly a whole year to think about it, plus Isabelle’s consent.”

“Why would you need her consent? Unless…oh.” The countess shook her head and laughed. “Besides, I’m just kidding. We still reserve discretion on whether to fulfil your stated demand or not.”

Clearing his throat, Gaius forcibly changed the subject. “Anyway, what brings you here, Countess Reinford?”

The blue-haired noble nibbled on her biscuit for a moment. “I just found out that you had awakened from your coma. Really, aren’t we friends? You should have at least alerted me or something.”

Gaius levelled a gaze at her, and then finally realised what was wrong. The entourage that she used to have was no longer here, along with that bone-deep pride that used to be her core characteristic. “Sorry ‘bout that. Um, it might be a tad off for me to bring this up, but where is your entourage?”

“Entourage?”

“You know, the people who used to follow you around, roll out red carpets and whatnot? Back in our first year?” Gaius asked.

The countess flushed. “That was just a phase! A phase, got it? Idiot! Die!”

Kicking up a cloud of dust, Reinford ran away, leaving two siblings and their caretaker behind. The three of them stared at each other, and then broke down into laughter a moment later.

Wiping the tears off her eyes, Isabelle rolled around the ground. “I knew it! I knew it! Finally, someone understands how embarrassing it is to do stupid things like that! Taste my pain! Taste it all!”

Clearing his throat, Gaius looked at Isabelle. “Erm.”

Isabelle froze up and stared at Gaius.

Gaius tilted his head and reached out a hand. “I never really got around to asking about you when you were younger, but from the sounds of it…were you like her?”

With a speed that rivalled a Paragon, Isabelle stood up and grabbed Gaius’ cheeks.

“Ow! They’re going to deform! Stop stretching my cheeks!” Before the devilish hands of Isabelle, Gaius had no choice but to submit, and by the time she was done, he could swear that his cheeks had grown a size larger.

Rubbing them miserably, he sat down back onto the wooden bench. “I always found it odd that you had such a reaction towards Reinford and your sister. Sure, you probably had some disagreements with them, but it felt a tad extreme at times.”

“I grew out of it,” Isabelle replied. “Eventually. I thought I could forget about it, but when I saw Reinford and my sister…”

“Oof.” Gaius patted the wooden bench he was sitting on, and got the two of them to sit on it. Handing out the last two bottles of chocolate milk he had on hand, Gaius leaned back and looked up at the skies. “Did your sister grow out of it?”

“Oh yes,” Isabelle said, and Gaius winced at the tone of her voice. “She grew out of a palanquin. She’s now riding — and I kid you not — a real horse carriage. Everywhere. If she could bring it indoors, she would. I’m not going near her anymore; when I see her, I feel like digging a hole.”

“There, there.” Nakama reached out and hugged her arm.

“Hey, you’re sweaty too!”

The three of them laughed. Somehow, Gaius had a feeling that he’d gotten closer to Isabelle, just by that little exchange. It was the little things that mattered when it came to relationships, after all. Humming the tune that had gotten stuck in his head, the three of them watched as the sun continued to rise, only fleeing their spot when the clouds abruptly scattered.

“In the end, though, what got you out of that phase?” Gaius asked, as they walked out of the school gate. School had been long over…and Gaius wasn’t even attending classes to begin with. He’d gotten a waiver from the elderly principal, after explaining that he really needed to train up before the Great Divide fell.

Coupled with Kolya’s personal intervention, things had gone smoothly. The same privilege, however, didn’t apply to Nakama or Isabelle, who were still nowhere near qualified to fight at the frontlines. It felt good to watch them do homework while he didn’t need to do it, but the two of them didn’t need to know about that particular bit.

“You’re bringing that up now?” Isabelle asked. “Well…I guess I just grew out of it. That’s all. One fine day, I found the stares directed at me too embarrassing, and that was the end of it.”

“When was that?” Gaius asked.

“When I was around eleven, I think.”

You were riding palanquins and walking on red carpets at like what, eight? This goes beyond decadence, hah. Gaius reached out and patted Isabelle’s head.

“What’s with that look on your face?”

“Nothing, nothing. Nakama, want some ice-cream? I was thinking of getting a full tub for Xanadu…”

“Don’t change the subject!”