Hohenfels

The library was quiet, with both young nobles desperately trying to compose themselves. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity, neither of them particularly willing to speak.

The sun was setting outside, and the many-colored light falling in through the window grew dimmer and dimmer.

Katharina considered her options. While very far from optimal, the situation was still salvageable. She was mortified to have been seen in such a state, but the prince– no, Arnold was sure to feel the same way, which guaranteed his silence about the incident at the very least.

She glanced at his bloodied hand and noted that the deep cut had already turned into a strip of fresh, whitish skin. A rather impressive display of regenerative abilities, proof that he must have undergone extensive, and probably grueling, training.

He noticed her gaze, his eyes flickering over to hers for a brief second with an expression steeped in discomfort. ‘I was wrong,’ she thought. ‘He truly is an amateur.’

There was no way he could have trained his magic, his body, and his conversational skills to such a high level. He was simply too young for such a feat, especially considering that he was very likely proficient with his saber and several other weapons on top.

Many Eastern aristocrats were still using the longsword in combat, so Katharina assumed Arnold would know his way around it. Most young noblemen were at least minimally competent with a smallsword, and she did not doubt that he was among them. Even she had gotten a few lessons and could probably hold her own in a duel, not that she cared to find out.

That gave her a very conservative estimate of at least three weapons the prince could handle. Combined with all else she had observed, training would take up such a huge amount of time that Arnold would have to be a prodigy among prodigies to match her on the social battlefield as well.

So, why? Why did she always end up on the back foot?

His eyes snapped back to her, as if he had noticed her growing irritation. ‘I need to be more careful with my expressions,’ she chided herself. ‘Wait. What if–’

Katharina did her very best not to let her sudden panic show on her face as she performed the most subtle aura sweep she could manage. Thankfully, she found no sign of any probing and thus allowed herself to relax again. She resolved to be more vigilant anyway, despite the extreme unlikeliness of someone overcoming her obfuscation and then fooling her passive senses. ‘He did notice my probing attempt, so it is not impossible.’

“While I appreciate the attention, your gaze is rather distracting, Mylady,” Arnold said with an annoyingly sly grin.

It took her a supreme effort of will to avoid grimacing in frustration.

“I apologize, Your Highness. My thoughts must have drifted off,” she retorted, taking some satisfaction in his obvious irritation at hearing the title. Then, she realized what she had done.

To her utter perplexity, he sighed instead of rebuking her.

“Don’t be so wary. I won’t get upset from a few sardonic words,” he said despondently. “I’ve had to deal with my sister’s poisonous tongue for my entire life.”

It took her a few heartbeats to collect her thoughts and find the right words.

“Still, I apologize. It was not appropri–”

“I don’t care,” he interrupted. “It was even less appropriate to ask you to drop the honorifics, and yet, I did.”

He was doing it again. It was as if he was reading her mind, and it was irritating to no end. Again, she had not noticed any probing. So, how? It had happened in the classroom as well, which ruled out obscure heathen rituals he could have set up beforehand.

“I suppose so, Your High– Arnold,” she misspoke on purpose to emphasize her acceptance of his request.

He shot her a tired, but genuine smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it, Katharina.”

It felt strange to hear her name spoken so casually by someone from outside her family. It reminded her of her childhood, when the servants’ kids were still too young to care about status.

She did not dislike it.

After a few long moments of silence, Arnold took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter.

“What is your opinion of Prince Ludwig?”

The question caught her completely off-guard, which was undoubtedly his intention. It took her a few heartbeats to collect her thoughts.

“That is quite the loaded question given the events of this evening. May I trouble you to go into more detail?” she asked, hoping to buy a few more moments to think.

Arnold shifted around uncomfortably. “I could not help but notice that he… ahem. He does not seem to hold you in particularly high regard. If it is not too much to ask…”

She had expected that topic to come up and had thought herself prepared, but even so, she found herself unable to suppress an intense bout of panic and embarrassment. She could feel the blood rushing into her cheeks and ears, which only increased her distress further. ‘Composure is strength.’

Arnold immediately picked up on her discomfort. “I apologize, I didn't mean to cause–”

“I can’t believe you would put a lady on the spot like that,” she complained with false indignation, scrambling to rebuild her crumbling mask.

He had the decency to look chagrined. “I wholeheartedly apologize for my rude inquiry.”

His verbal retreat only served to irritate her. It felt wrong to accept it, like admitting defeat. Defeat against him, and defeat against herself.

Also, she could gain something from this as well, if she approached it correctly.

“I’m all right,” she lied. She could see in his eyes that he did not fully buy it. “I’ll tell you the story, if you answer a question of mine afterwards.”

“...Sure.”

Even though he slightly narrowed his eyes in badly hidden suspicion, Katharina was pleased. She would not be able to ask for too much, but it was a great opportunity nonetheless.

“Thank you,” she continued. ”I was once engaged to Prince August von Sonnenstein, Prince Ludwig’s younger brother. The engagement was voided after I caused an unfortunate incident and embarrassed Prince Ludwig. As you saw earlier, he has not forgiven me, and is unlikely to ever do so.”

Arnold did not vocalize the question written in his face, but a part of her wanted to answer it regardless. Besides, he would find out anyway – and it was much better if he heard the story from her instead of someone else.

“It was… a violation of decorum.” To her great embarrassment, she struggled to find the right words to continue. For once, she was grateful for his eerie perception when he noticed her plight and offered comments for her mind to cling onto and organize itself.

“That must have been a pretty bad violation to warrant such a reaction.”

“In the moment, it seemed harmless enough. I simply wanted to contribute additional insights, so…”

“Additional insights?”

“The conversation had veered into a topic I am well-educated in, and I could not help but… provide contradicting information.”

“House Sonnenstein broke off an engagement just because you contradicted that narcissist?” His eyebrows rose in disbelief and indignation. It was surprisingly endearing.

“Well… There is a little more to it than that,” she admitted, her blush returning. “It happened to be in public.”

“Still, that is no–”

“During his name day banquet.”

“...”

“In front of almost two hundred guests,” she laughed mirthlessly.

“Oh.” Arnold’s expression had gradually morphed into a pained grimace of empathy.

“Well put,” she sighed, silently cursing her traitorous tear ducts. “It took my mother countless favors, promises, and bargains to save me from that mess.”

She realized that she was making a mistake again. She really shouldn’t talk about this. Mother would crucify her if she ever found out. But somehow, she found herself unable to stop. ‘I’ll make the best of it, then. Men are weak against crying women.’

“Christ, that sounds horrible,” he groaned, genuine compassion in his voice. Katharina barely managed to hide her face in her palms before the tears truly started flowing.

“It was,” she half-laughed, half-sobbed. “You wouldn’t believe the tirades I had to endure!”

“You’d be surprised. I’ve heard my fair share of complaints. ‘Think of our House!’ ‘It is your duty!’ ‘Just get out of your chambers and talk to people!’“

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that last one,” Katharina giggled. “The others sound familiar, though. Just add another large serving of blame and disappointment, and then you get the picture.”

“The old classic,” Arnold snorted, only to abruptly change the topic. “I take it you’re not particularly… involved with House Sonnenstein anymore, then?”

And there it was. A merciless strike, exploiting her mental state. She knew that her tears had an effect on him, but it was much less pronounced than she had hoped. ‘He may be an amateur, but I can’t let my guard down.’

“You could say that.” Katharina used her sleeves to carefully dry her tears, all of her handkerchiefs being soaked with blood. “However, House Silberthal at large is their long-standing ally, which puts me in a rather difficult position, as you may imagine.”

“Are you aiming to get back into Sonnenstein’s good graces?” he asked in a severe tone, forgoing all subtlety and leaving her with a difficult question to answer.

“I was, until today,” she sighed. It was not even a lie – Prince Ludwig publicly mocking her was not something she could come back from any time soon, if ever. Groveling before him now would only make her look pathetic and damage House Silberthal’s reputation even further.

“In that case, would you be open to… tentative cooperation?”