Work Text:
It was the end of the school day, another typical day at Thors Military Academy. After Machias bade them to stand and bow as per their usual routine, they were dismissed for the day. As Rean gathered his belongings, he started to mull over what he could do for today.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his friends, one by one, departing for their various club activities. Their activities kept them quite busy. Though… it’ll be his turn to be busy with activities soon. August’s free day was tomorrow, after all.
“Rean? Do you have a moment?”
Rean blinked before turning to face Jusis. To his surprise, it was both Jusis and Laura standing before him.
Rean couldn’t help but wonder why Laura wasn’t heading to Swimming Club—especially with the muggy heat plaguing Trista—or Jusis wasn’t hurrying to the Academy Field to go for a ride on his horse.
But Rean gave his friend a smile. “What’s up, Jusis? Is there something you need?”
“As a matter of fact… yes.” Jusis’s lips suddenly twitched into a rather amused smile. “Do you recall what you promised me last month?”
Rean’s brows scrunched together as he tried to recall what Jusis meant.
…Wait.
Rean’s eyes drifted over to Laura. Why was Laura here? She wasn’t particularly close to Jusis, after all.
“Is this… about the noble salon?” Rean asked carefully.
Last month, he managed to help Jusis weasel out of coming to the noble salon on the third floor of the Student Union Building, by claiming that he was previously committed to spending time with Rean. A few second-years were trying to pester Jusis into joining them, but Jusis seemed to rather admit that he was friends with Machias than do that.
Despite his reluctance, Rean did manage to wrangle a promise, however, that they would go to the salon together at some point.
Jusis cracked a wry smile, before giving a little nod. “That would be correct.”
“And you roped Laura into this as well?” Rean couldn’t help but sigh.
“I was being asked about it already,” Laura said with a gentle laugh. Then she folded her arms over her chest, before a smile played at her lips. “I’ll admit it’s not quite… what I’d do usually, but I’ve experienced many things that I would not normally partake in. What’s one more? And besides, I’ll be in the company of two good friends, so I consider that a plus.”
Rean sighed, shaking his head. “Okay, okay, you got me.”
He couldn’t help but shoot Jusis a look.
“I hope you’re happy,” he said dryly.
Jusis just smirked briefly. “Quite. Now come along, Rean.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Rean sighed.
Rean finished packing up his belongings, before leaving the classroom with his two friends.
“What do they even do in the salon?” Laura wondered aloud, only to quickly amend with, “Well, I mean when Thors is more… populated.”
Jusis just let out a derisive snort. “Similar to the balls nobles like to throw, just on a smaller scale, I presume. Offering us food that doesn’t even hope to satiate your hunger while we ‘intermingle’.”
The distaste in Jusis’s voice was surprising. Despite his… complicated birth, Jusis always took great pride in being nobility. He considered it his duty to uphold the true meaning of being a noble.
Though… that might explain why Jusis kept finding reasons to worm his way out of not attending.
Laura let out a small laugh. “Well… I’m afraid that Legram was a tad remote for us to receive many invitations of that sort. Though I will admit… it was never enjoyable for me when Father did accept such an invitation.”
Rean had to agree on that matter. And while Laura was feminine in her own way, he found it hard to picture Laura in a ballgown and allowing young nobles to take her out on the dance floor. Laura was more likely to challenge them to a duel than accept a dance offer.
Rean just rubbed the back of his neck. “Dad… never really got invitations,” he said quietly.
It was just a fact. But Rean knew deep down that it was because of him.
Like Legram, Ymir was a remote town. In fact, Ymir was more so like a village. Rean didn’t know how exactly Laura’s upbringing in Legram had been, but Rean’s parents lived simply. As a result, Ymir liked Baron and Lady Schwarzer, as they treated the people of Ymir like their equals.
Jusis shook his head. “Your family isn’t missing anything, I assure you. The company I was forced upon was often… boorish.”
“Like a certain son of Marquis Hyarms?” Laura asked, her lips quirking up in a smile.
Jusis cracked a smile. “Well… I wasn’t going to name names. That was all you, Laura.”
Laura just folded her arms over her chest before a frown formed on her face. “I was willing to give him a chance… until he spoke so condescendingly about women partaking in fights.”
Rean had to stifle a laugh at that. Fie and Alisa hadn’t been too impressed with Patrick’s posturing and him claiming that women were delicate flowers that needed to be protected either. It seemed that Laura was more affected by Patrick’s words than she had let on.
They had reached the Student Union Building by then and it was only a matter of minutes before they had reached the third floor.
Rean gave a tentative knock.
Jusis let out an exasperated sigh. “Rean… we’re not guests visiting someone else’s home.”
Rean couldn’t help but smile sheepishly. “Sorry, I guess it’s just a force of habit.”
But as they entered, Rean felt at unease. Like… he didn’t belong.
Even as the attendants greeted them warmly, before offering them drinks, Rean felt like he was… trespassing.
He recalled Alisa telling him about how her family had risen to wealth, so that commoners often felt that they were beneath her, while nobles looked down upon her… so she rather felt out of place. Rean really understood the feeling.
He knew that his family wouldn’t trade him for the world. His parents and Elise were his family in all ways that mattered… But he couldn’t help but feel a distance he couldn’t breach due to his commoner blood. He had brought them all kinds of trouble…
“Rean? Are you all right?” Laura’s concerned voice snapped Rean back to reality.
Rean tried to force a smile as he sank down to sit on a cushioned seat.
“It’s nothing, Laura. I’m just… tired.”
Laura just raised an eyebrow, but Jusis beat her to the punch.
“Rean, I think we all know that was a terrible lie,” he said bluntly.
Rean winced. He wasn’t that bad of a liar, right?
But then Jusis’s expression softened, before his lips curved into a smile. “You’ve helped us all. It’s not a bad thing for you to be on the receiving end for once.”
Rean blinked. He didn’t help his friends that much. Often times, he just lent a listening ear. Like with Alisa in Nord. And hearing out Machias about his beloved cousin who had gotten entangled in a horrible mess with her nobleman fiancé, and as a result… lost her life.
He did have to mediate with Jusis and Machias and then with Laura and Fie, but both of them had worked out their issues eventually.
“Well… it’s just—I was thinking that maybe I don’t really belong… here.” Rean waved a hand, gesturing to the entire room.
“Why not?” Laura questioned with a raised brow. “You are the son of a baron, and if you so desire, you would eventually inherit the Ymir barony from your father.”
He remembered Elise’s angry words, the underlying message echoing Laura’s words.
It sounded so simple when she put it like that.
Rean sighed. “I… never told you two or anyone else for that matter, but… There was some doubt shadowing my adoption. My dad literally found me out in the woods, abandoned in the snow. I was five at the time, but I have no clear memories of anything before that. Literally my first memory was Dad picking me up, holding me close to his chest as he carried me to Ymir.”
It was Jusis’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “What kind of doubt would there be?”
“People questioned—why would a baron just adopt a child he found in the woods? No… there had to be more to the story.”
Rean looked nervously to Jusis, but his blond friend impatiently gestured for him to continue.
“…Like if I was his bastard son.”
“Is that why you intended to leave your family after graduating from Thors?” Laura asked.
Rean just winced.
Oh. Right. His friends had eavesdropped on the argument he had with Elise before Elise ran away from him, in tears.
“So that’s the whole story,” Jusis said quietly.
Rean could only nod.
“I told Machias on our first day, that I don’t have a drop of noble blood in me. And I can’t help but think of how much trouble I’ve brought onto my family. Can I really call myself a noble?”
Jusis just sighed, shaking his head. “Once again, Rean… you’re being too hard on yourself.”
Laura nodded as well. “I have to agree as well. Do you not recall what Machias told us, Rean? He said that getting to know the two of us—and I imagine Jusis—has shown him the definition of what it truly means to be a noble.”
Jusis let out a derisive snort, before making an impressive eye-roll. “Regnitz, thankful towards me? Doubtful.”
“That’s not the point I’m making, Jusis,” Laura chided lightly, before turning to Rean. “But Rean, while I’ve never met your mother and father, I can imagine that their raising of you is why you’re such a kindhearted person. You’re kind and thoughtful, and would give the shirt off your back to help someone who needs it. That is the meaning of being a noble.”
Jusis nodded. “Laura is correct. And Rean… blood doesn’t mean everything. My father has certainly… done some unsavory things in order to get his way and he hasn’t… always treated me all too well.”
His expression grew pained as he mentioned his father.
“Oh, Jusis…” Laura murmured, her voice growing soft with sympathy.
But Jusis simply kept his head high.
“But I refuse to follow his example. I will forge my own path, with Class VII by my side.”
Rean looked down at his lap. They had laid out their opinions, like it was so simple.
“So no more of this nonsense of you not being a ‘real’ noble,” Jusis said, after letting out a light cough. “You certainly shame certain people who attend this school.”
Rean just smiled. “Heh… thanks, you two. I didn’t mean to mope about it.”
Laura flashed him a smile in return. “Any time, Rean. You would bend over backwards to help us, so it’s only fair that we make you realize the truth.”
Rean just rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s nothing really…”
Jusis and Laura stared at him in exasperation, so Rean let out a nervous laugh before quickly changing the subject.
“Though, if you want—maybe we can bring everyone to Ymir sometime. Maybe during the spring, before our second year at Thors begins,” Rean suggested.
Jusis snorted. “But knowing our wonderful instructor, I wouldn’t be shocked if she planned Ymir as one of our destinations for a field study.”
Laura let out a light chuckle, her golden eyes dancing in amusement. “It’s true that we’ve gotten to visit the hometowns of several of our classmates.”
“Maybe Legram is next, then,” Rean joked lightly.
Jusis’s expression then became serious.
“…I wonder what we will witness, during our next field study,” he muttered.
“Coming here has certainly opened my eyes,” Laura mused. “As I mentioned, Father wanted me to attend St. Astraia’s in Heimdallr, but I’m very grateful that I pushed to attend Thors. Our field studies have shown me how… different the other parts of Erebonia operate.”
She then closed her eyes before pressing a hand against her chest.
“Maybe it’s because Legram can be almost… isolated from the rest of the empire, but it always came naturally to treat commoners as equals. We’re both living in the same town, after all. It makes sense that we should work together.”
Rean blinked. Huh… maybe his and Laura’s upbringings weren’t so different, even if Laura was the only blood child of Viscount Arseid and Rean was adopted.
“In fact, my mother was a commoner,” Laura suddenly added.
That… came as a shock.
Laura never mentioned her mother. Rean guessed that Laura’s mother had died when she was very young, young enough for Laura to not remember her at all.
“I… never expected that,” Rean admitted.
Laura simply shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t remember much of Mother. She died when I was a child. She was the daughter of two servants that my grandparents had in their employ and my parents grew up together. From what Father tells me, they were quite pleased when he told them that he wished to marry Mother.”
Then she heaved out a sigh, wrapping an arm around herself.
“…If only more nobles had been like them,” she added softly, her expression growing troubled.
Rean frowned. He could hazard a guess just who Laura was thinking about.
“It would be ideal, if more of Erebonia adopted this philosophy,” Jusis admitted, before clearing his throat. “Er, I mean—concerning nobles and commoners working together. It seems beneficial.”
Rean just chuckled.
“Like you and Machias, right?” he couldn’t help but tease.
Jusis rolled his eyes in response. “I still do not understand where you got such an absurd idea, Rean.”
Laura laughed. “Oh, Jusis, I still do not understand why you wish to keep denying it.”
“Because it’s lies,” Jusis stubbornly maintained. “Of course I’ll deny it.”
Rean just shook his head. Maybe one day, Jusis and Machias would admit that they had become friends, albeit friends who constantly bickered. But today was obviously not that day.
“If you say so, Jusis,” Laura sighed, but not before exchanging a knowing look with Rean.
Jusis shot them a flat-eyed stare. “Don’t think I didn’t see that.”
Rean just coughed, before hastily changing the subject once more.
“Though… I do see your point, Jusis. In so many parts of Erebonia, there’s a clear divide between nobles and commoners.”
Laura suddenly let out a thoughtful hum before she rubbed her chin. “Do you think… we’ll reach a point where Erebonia will abolish the nobility system all together, like Liberl once did?”
Oh that was right… He had completely forgotten that Liberl once had a nobility system in the past. But still…
Rean shook his head.
“I don’t think so, personally. The system doesn’t need to be thrown out completely. I do understand why the Reformist Faction came to be, but… I believe that the nobles overall has forgotten their purpose.”
“…I can concur with that,” Jusis said quietly, before he smiled sadly.
“But that is why Prince Olivert created Class VII, no?” Laura asked, before closing her eyes for a moment. “He wanted us to forge a different path, so Erebonia wouldn’t be ripped apart by the two warring factions. It’s up to us… to show just how nobles should act.”
Jusis stared at Laura for a moment.
“I’m with you, Laura,” Rean spoke up, before clenching his hand into a fist.
“I do agree with the sentiment. However…” Jusis suddenly smirked. “Are you taking oratory classes from Rean?”
Rean gaped at him.
“Excuse me?!” he exclaimed.
Laura just pressed a hand to her mouth.
“Hmm… now that I think about it, it is… very Rean.”
Rean just grumbled out, “I always speak from the heart, you know…”
Jusis snorted, folding his arms over his chest. “You have a corny heart, then.”
Laura laughed lightly, before joking, “Didn’t you already know that, Jusis?”
“Maybe I just won’t try to be encouraging anymore…” Rean grumbled under his breath.
Laura and Jusis exchanged a look, amusement crossing their faces.
“He’ll last three days,” Laura predicted.
Jusis let out a snort. “Three days, you say? How generous of you, Laura. I say one day, if not less.”
“Hey!” Rean protested.
“Now, Rean, you know better than that to have such an outburst…” Laura mock-scolded, as her eyes twinkled with mirth.
“Yes, that’s more Regnitz or Alisa’s speed,” Jusis agreed, before waving over a servant to bring them some tea.
“This was… nice, though,” Laura said. “I wouldn’t be opposed if you two would like to come here again. Even with… the salon being more populated.”
A realization suddenly struck Rean, and he turned to Jusis.
“Wait, Jusis… is that why you were so insistent on going today?” he asked.
Jusis was silent for a moment. Then a smirk spread across his face.
“You just extracted a promise from me that I would go to the noble’s salon. You never said it had to be populated while doing so.”
Rean just stared.
“…That’s rather devious of you, Jusis.”
Jusis simply folded his arms over his chest.
“You’re just figuring that out now?”