Chapter 9.2

“How is your brother doing?” asked the young dean.

“I heard he is getting better,” Lia replied politely.

“It’s a shame to lose such a youth to Geore…”

The man shook his head as he stroked his short beard, and his eyes slowly drifted over to Canillian. She stepped back. She knew that gaze. Lia had felt such gazes when she passed the training fields at the back of the Marquis’s estate. They were the eyes of men who enjoyed the beauty of both sexes. The dean’s blazing eyes on her made her feel naked.

“Canillian. Things with too much beauty tend to break. Flowers are picked regardless of their gender,” said Eddie.

Lia felt uncomfortable. “I am sorry I don’t understand.”

“Don’t take my words too seriously,” said Eddie, “I want you to attend the academy. However, be careful. There are always those who do not like young, well-off boys like you.”

The young dean walked past Lia, not taking his eyes off her even for a moment until he had to turn and walk away.

Then, why did Claude…

The schoolmaster had told her that Claude wanted her to come and attend the academy with him. She had not met him since that snowy day four years ago. The schoolmasters might have set that up to convince her to attend the academy. She had wounded Claude and the Marchioness had slapped her across the cheek. Kieran had left for North on that day as well. Lia desperately wanted to see Kieran. She prayed for him every day. Would he have changed much? It had been a while since Lia circled Kieran’s outhouse. It reminded her of him. She was just thinking about him when Pepe rushed over to her, running.

“Young master! You’re going to the capital? You can’t go without me!” she said, hurriedly, “Who will take care of you?”

“Of course!” said Lia, “Father won’t let me go alone, anyway.”

Pepe brightened a little. Pepe loved dressing up Canillian Vale in outfits. She said she didn’t have a doll to play with in her childhood, so she was showering it all on Canillian. Pepe had joked that she would have liked to dress Canillian in a dress once, but Lia had never given her approval. But she was not a child anymore, and the Marchioness will not be able to force her any longer. After she went to the capital, she could live however she wanted. She wouldn’t need to pretend to be a boy.

She could see leaves rustle in the gentle breeze. The season when the world turned the color of her eyes was coming.

***

The wait for the Marchioness answer wasn’t very long. Her letter from the north had come a fortnight after the schoolmasters had left. She had approved that Canillian could indeed go to the capital for a year and informed them that Kieran’s health was improving.

The Marquis went to the capital right after receiving the letter. To prepare the accommodations, he said. While he had a place, it was too big and a little far from the academy. He bought houses near the academy. Lia would stay in one of them, the rest would be for the guards who would be stationed there. The Marquis also wanted to find Lia’s mother through Lia. The houses he bought for Lia and the guards could also allow him a secret place to meet Lia’s mother, if he found her, without the servants finding out. Besides, he couldn’t let an innocent girl like Lia to live in the capital without protection, hence, the guards.

“Mother really allowed me to go?” asked Lia. She was, of course, referring to Anastasia.

The Marquis nodded, smiling. “I will soon let you know about your living quarters,” he said, “First we need to visit the tailor.”

“Tailor?”

“The tailor who works in the palace makes the academy uniforms,” he explained, “Kieran’s was made by him, too.”

“That means we are going to the capital?” asked Lia, stunned.

The Marquis smiled as he looked at her. “Don’t worry, you won’t see the emperor,” he chuckled. “We’re just going to visit the tailor’s outhouse.”