Soren had expected some form of relief from his conversation with Seline, hoping for the overwhelming pressure to subside. But despite no longer being burdened with duty, his shoulders never felt heavier.

  Despite his best efforts to push those thoughts aside, in the attempt to find some form of solace, he found himself lacking motivation to leave his room.

  He would have ended up starving himself if it weren’t for Amon leaving small trays of food outside his door. He even left notes taken during the classes Soren missed.

  ‘He’s too stubborn for his own good.’

  He wanted to feel annoyed by his persistence, the constant dismissal of his solitude… But he couldn’t. He was somewhat comforted by his presence, even after not speaking for several days, he still cared.

  Had he made that big of an impact on the young noble? No… Soren believed their friendship was one of necessity. They both were shunned by all those around them, the only chance of friendship they had was with each other.

  Just like clockwork, he heard a familiar rustling just outside his door, drawing him out of his thoughts. The sound of silverware rattling on a metal tray was followed by two soft knocks.

  “Hey… food looks good today. They gave us roasted chicken, it was hard to not eat yours on the way here.”

  A small almost forced chuckle came from behind the door, then a moment of silence. This had been how Amon’s one sided conversations usually went.

  Soren was never in the mood to reply, so he would just listen to his friend talk about the day's events. Though, each day the one sided chatting grew shorter and shorter. Even his voice sounded duller.

  “… I’m not exactly sure what you’re going through right now, but if you want to talk to someone I’m always… I’m always here if you need. It’s not like either of us have anyone else to talk with.”

  Amon stared at the door for a minute, contemplating barging in. But instead, a deep breath escaped his lungs. Then after setting the tray down in front of the door, he turned to leave.

  His departure was suddenly stopped when he heard the metal clicking of the door unlocking. Turning around, he saw the disheveled state Soren had been in.

  The two of them stared at each other for a moment, Soren’s eyes flickered between the tray of chicken and his friend. Pushing the door open fully, Soren spoke in a soft raspy voice.

  “Does now work?”

  Nodding slightly, Amon entered the dimly lit room.

  …

  The two of them sat across from each other, Soren resisting on the edge of his bed, Amon sat himself in the padded wooden chair in front of Soren’s desk. A tense, uncomfortable silence hung above them. Even though it was Soren who invited the timid noble in, Amon was the one to break the silence.

  “You look like shit.”

  The sudden insult threw Soren off, but instead of biting back, he laughed, a genuine laugh. Amon shared in this laughter, years of bitter resentment seemed to fade away for a moment.

  ‘Why is it that every time I'm around you, everything else just seems so small? Am I just that easily distracted? I don’t know what it is about you, but… Thank you.’

  Their laughter lasted several moments, slowly dying down as they settled into a far more comfortable silence. Finally, Soren spoke in a somber tone.

  “You asked me a while ago, why was I still hanging around you? I never gave you an answer back then… In truth, I honestly didn’t know. I came here for one reason, I wanted to be stronger. But somewhere along the way, I realized that would never happen.”

  Amon stared at Soren, his lilac eyes housed both concern and understanding. He didn’t say a word, anxiousness and anticipation kept him silent, patiently waiting for Soren to continue.

  “… But when I saw how they treated you, how you stuck by me, even while knowing about my past. I felt… less alone. Like I wasn't shackled by the mistakes of another man.”

  “It was nice… having someone around who understood. I had been so concerned with duty and what was necessary, that I convinced myself that I didn’t need anyone else.”

  Letting out a bitter scoff, Soren absentmindedly fidgeted with his ring.

  “… I’m a fool…”

  Before Soren could continue, Amon spoke softly, his nervousness replaced with a small smile.

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  “I don’t think you are a fool, now a quick tempered child, absolutely.”

  Furrowing his brows, Soren didn’t know whether to be offended or amused. Nevertheless, he kept quiet.

  “I never had any friends growing up, I was either belittled or ignored completely. Even my own brother showed me no compassion. No matter how hard I tried, they still wouldn’t look at me.”

  Amon began nervously scratching the back of his head, his eyes glued to the floor.

  “I trained everyday, improving my weaving and even my martial capabilities. But even if I became the greatest battle-master alive, they would still see me as a curse. So when you showed me even the smallest bit of compassion, I latched on.”

  “So, I get it… Not wanting to be alone.”

  A smile creeped onto Soren’s face. The weight that had kept him pinned to his bed seemed to dissipate slightly, as if simply admitting what he had long known was enough. Maybe it was… Maybe all he needed was to say it out loud. Not just admit it to himself, but to share it with another.

  There was still so much that weighed heavy on his heart, but perhaps with time he would share more with the cursed boy. Though the secrets he had would ruin everything if they were discovered, but for some reason, he felt as though he could trust Amon.

  “So… I guess I should be glad my only friend can’t cast sequences, I’d hate for our friendship to be tainted by rivalry.”

  Soren said as he stood, a bit of humor in his voice. Amon looked up at him as he did, then stood up as well.

  “Please… If I could cast spells, there wouldn’t even be a competition. Even cursed, I’m still miles ahead of you.”

  Once more, the two shared a much needed laugh.

  After a moment, Soren looked over to the tray of food resting on his desk.

  “Thanks again… for not letting me starve.”

  Amon nodded slightly.

  “It didn’t feel right eating all that delicious food by myself.”

  Chuckling, Soren rubbed the back of his head.

  “I’ll be sure to show up to class tomorrow. Though, I’m not excited to see how much work I’ve missed.”

  Amon stared at him for a minute, then let out a small laugh.

  “By the Gods you really haven’t left your room!”

  Soren stared at him for a moment, then tilting his head slightly he asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  Amon nearly fell over from laughter, straightening up, he composed himself.

  “Classes have ended for the week, we have tomorrow and Sunday off.”

  Soren felt slightly embarrassed, had he really stayed cooped up that long? Though, when you lay around wallowing in your own sadness, you lose track of time. Letting out a deep sigh, he tried his best to steer the conversation away from the topic.

  “Right… I guess I lost track of time. Then I’ll see you again on Monday.”

  Falling back into his usual shyness, Amon asked sheepishly, his eyes searching around the room, avoiding Soren's gaze as best as he could.

  “Well… I overheard from some other students, we’re allowed to head into the city on our off days. There’s a lot to do out there, I’m not too keen on going by myself. What do you say?”

  The idea did sound pleasant, not only would he get to sample all kinds of food, but it would also help distract him. Soren found no reason to refuse, the idea was actually very enticing.

  “Sure!”

  Soren said eagerly.

  Nearly grinning ear to ear, Amon began to head to the door.

  “Great! But before we do…”

  Soren tilted his head slightly.

  “What?”

  Inching closer and closer to the door, Amon spoke softly.

  “You may want to take a bath. I wanted to say something earlier, but we got caught up in everything.”

  Looking around his room, then down at himself, Soren felt a deep sense of embarrassment.

  “Is it really that bad?”

  Amon nodded profusely, now halfway out of the door.

  “Extremely.”

  The two of them shared one more small bout of laughter before the timid noble boy departed. Left alone once more, Soren decided to take his friend’s suggestion to heart. The rest of his day was spent cleaning up the mess left from his days of isolation.

  The process took several hours, but the result was well worth it. Even though it was small, he felt a sense of accomplishment from such a simple task.

  ‘Maybe things won’t be so bad…’

  Whatever task he could find to distract himself from Seline and Killian, he threw himself into. After a much needed shower, Soren spent the rest of his day reviewing the notes Amon so kindly left him.

  The material only got more complex the more he read. He had removed one burden off of his shoulders, but he still had a lot ahead of him.

  ‘Actually… Why am I still studying all this?’

  He no longer needed to improve his weaving, the only real reason he had was now gone. Soren did have a deep appreciation for the art, but his talents lied more with runic science than sequence casting.

  ‘Maybe I can still apply to the engineering classes… Though, that would mean distancing myself from Amon.”

  The idea of being a scholar was more than enticing, but now that he had such a long time to live, why hurry to struggle. If he was to live for them, then he should do what he wants right?

  Who wants to do things the hard way? Certainly not him. Becoming a runic engineer and taking over Callagen’s shop was definitely his ticket to an easy life. But even though it was hard… He still had fun. Sure he got frustrated, but the sense of achievement he felt when he figured it out was unbeatable.

  Now was not the time to think about it, he had plenty of it to waste. For now, he would sleep as long as his body would let him.