Chapter 38: A Chilling Report

Liara walks up the stone path from the old dormitories and enters the new one, where practically everyone at the academy lives. The dorm dining hall is serving dinner when she walks in, and the smell leads her to stand in line for food while a horn still sticks out of her pack.

“Liara! You’re back, is that a horn?” Princess Sylvie calls out to Liara before examining her and the bag across her back.

“Princess Sylvie, yes, I just got back from the hunting trip. We managed to take down a paddle horn!” Liara says excitedly, but the Princess's eyes are glued to the horn.

“Wow, really? The horns are expensive.. how’d you do it?” she asks.

“It was mostly Alfred. I didn’t even notice it through the thick trees. Alfred had me lie in wait while he scared the animal towards me, and it ran right up to me, so I was able to take it down with my sword,” Liara explains, “oh, and there’s something we should talk about Princess..” she adds quietly.

“Oh?" Princess Sylvie gives her a serious look, "Take your meal to my room, we can discuss there,” she says before walking away from Liara.

Liara claims her food and climbs the stairs to the second story, where the academy’s finest dorm is. She informs an attendant of her arrival and is led inside to a small dining room. Alfred’s dorm is large, but the Princess’s is lavish, with modern architecture and furnishings along with numerous servants.

Princess Sylvie enters the room and sits at the head of the table next to Liara before an attendant places a meal for her. The Princess asks the attendants to leave before looking to Liara-

“Liara, what did you want to talk about?” she asks.

“Right.. we actually ran into some Alarian knights that were scouting the area past the first mountain in the east…” Liara says solemnly.

“Wha- they were that close?” the Princess replies in shock and scoots her chair to the side for a better view of Liara, “Were you injured?”

“No, I would’ve been without Alfred though, the fight I put up was pathetic..” Liara answers quietly, while staring at her dish.

“I doubt that’s true, Liara,” Princess Sylvie says before placing her hand over one of Liara’s, “please tell me anything you can, I’ll explain it to Father.”

Liara recounts the fight with the Alarian knights to the Princess before gushing about Alfred saving her and the new side of him she was able to see.

“He wanted you to kill the knight who attacked you?” Princess Sylvie asks with a confused expression.

“Yes, I didn’t understand it at the time, but it was the right choice," Liara says with a conflicted expression, her eyes drilling a hole in her dish, "I would’ve been too terrified to go on if I were helpless, killing my attacker was strangely comforting.” 

“I see.. can you tell me a little more about how Alfred fought? I’m curious about what he’s like in that kind of situation,” the Princess asks.

“If I didn’t know him, I would’ve been too scared to sleep in the same tent with him after that.. he moved so fast I could barely see what was happening, then the knight who attacked me was beside me on the ground bleeding all over..” Liara explains.

“Too fast for you to follow..” Princess Sylvie mumbles.

“I didn’t see him attack the other two, the boot that was pinning my arm down just disappeared.. but I understand how he got so strong,” Liara says confidently.

“Oh? What did Alfred say about it?" The Princess asks, "He’s always been vague..” 

“It’s not what he said, it’s what hunting was like. We had a fight to the death before we even made it to the forest he wanted to hunt. The trek was brutal, and I could hardly breathe. Then the trek back with bags of paddle horn was even worse. If we did that every weekend since we were children, I bet we’d be inhuman too..” Liara explains with a sigh.

The Princess’s face tightens as she stares into the distance and thinks.

“Do you really think he’s inhuman?” Princess Sylvie asks in a serious tone.

“Aha, compared to u,s” Liara replies with a chuckle, “I don’t think he broke out into a sweat once during the whole trip. Meanwhile, I smelled so bad that Alfred made me a hot water bath in the mountains,” she adds.

“Making hot water is difficult, he made a bath worth?” the Princess asks as her eye twitches and she thinks.

Tch, I can’t make that much hot water..

“He did, it was enough water to fit a few people, but he said it was hard and didn’t make one for himself. And he ran away when I asked if he wanted to join me..” Liara says with a hand to her cheek.

“Wha- you would’ve taken a bath with him!?” Princess Sylvie yelps.

“I’d be dead or an Alarian slave without him; he’s earned a peek,” Liara replies in a teasing tone.

“Right.. I guess I understand your sentiment,” the Princess says, stumbling through the words.

“The trip gave me a lot of training ideas, but I’m rather tired. May I excuse myself and get some rest?” Liara asks politely.

“Yes, apologies for keeping you so long, you must be exhausted,” Princess Sylvie says, “thank you for explaining everything to me, I’ll inform Father about the Alarian knights.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Liara says before standing and giving a slight bow.

The Princess calls an attendant to lead Liara out before walking over to her window. She looks out over the academy and the eastern wall.

Alfred’s too fast to see in a real fight.. I’ve only seen one person move like that.

Liara says training in those mountains and forests explains his strength, but if that’s all it took, our knights would train everyone there.

And I was sure he was connected to my and Eric’s rescue. The old man came for us soon after Alfred would’ve received news about the kidnapping.

If I corner him.. no, he’s already uneasy around me. I need evidence, something that links him and the old man.

Sante needs strength before Alaria invades, if we can’t find it, I’ll belong to that Prince..