9th Decimatio 1329, Noon
A week has passed since Eleonora's admission to the academy. By now, she has gotten used to her life there, with Angela at her side nearly all the time.
The two walked together through the halls, heading to the cafeteria for lunch. There, students could use the allowance tracked on their IDs to buy their meals.
After waiting in line for a short while, they both received their trays and turned to search for an empty table.
"Elen, are you really... sure about this?" asked Angela, looking dubiously at Eleonora's lunch.
"What do you mean? It's a perfectly fine meal" answered Eleonora.
"I don't know about perfectly—no, I don't think it's in any way fine, actually."
"What are you two talking about?" said Howard, suddenly jumping into their conversation just as he had on the day of the exams. "If you are looking for a table, why don't you join me? I always have a table left open for me."
"Can we really?" asked Angela, obviously excited.
"And why are you offering this, young duke?" asked Eleonora coldly, emphasizing his title.
Howard looked at Eleonora with a smile.
"Careful, aren't you? But you should know when to be careful, and when not to be so openly guarded. After all, I could get whatever I want out of you two without any effort, and I don't need to put up with your careful attitude either" said Howard. His expression slowly turned cold as he glared at Eleonora.
Howard and Eleonora glared at one another for a few seconds. Angela was lost for words, not understanding what to do, when Howard's expression suddenly shifted back to a mischievous smile.
"What the hell? Do you not have a speck of fear in you to glare like that at a young duke?" Howard started laughing. "Either way, I have no reason to be nice to you even if I wanted something from you. It's not like I can ask much of you for a table at lunch, so how about we go?"
Eleonora looked at Angela, who was quite worried about their exchange of glares, before sighing and agreeing.
The three took a seat at an empty table in the middle of the cafeteria. As usual, Eleonora avoided sitting directly next to Angela, as she bothered her too much if she did. Upon taking his seat, Howard finally noticed Eleonora's lunch.
"Eleonora, are you going to eat... that?" asked Howard, pointing at her platter.
"Yeah. It's a perfectly fine me—"
"No, no. No matter how you look at this, it isn't fine. Why are you having this much beets with nothing else along with it?!"
"It gives me the energy I need, and it's easy to eat. What else do I need to worry about when it comes to food?"
"Your body can't be fine with this" said Howard, barely holding himself back from laughing.
"Well, it is. All I need is protein for my blood to function properly and it takes care of the rest of my body. It's easy to eat; this is basically the perfect meal."
"What perfect meal?! Does it even taste good?" asked Angela.
"What does taste have to do with anything?"
"Do you really only eat what your body needs?"
"Of course, what else would I eat?"
As the two squabbled, Howard finally broke out laughing at their exchange.
"What?" asked the two in unison.
"No, I'm sorry. It's just that you two seem much closer than back when I saw you on the first day" answered Howard.
"Well, what can I do when we were matched at the same dorm room and I had to match my timetable with hers?" said Eleonora.
"Hey! I thought I apologized and you were fine with becoming friends. To begin with, I'm doing you a favor by matching my timetable with you. Imagine how lonely you would be without me" said Angela.
"Yeah, and I wouldn't need to rearrange my timetable a third time because you can't wake up on your own if I leave early for a swordsmanship lecture."
"Hey, it's not my fault you stay up too late and I can't sleep!"
"Liar. I can hear your snoring the second you lie in bed."
"No, you are the liar! I don't snore."
"You do."
"I DON'T!"
"Fine, she actually doesn't" said Eleonora as Angela glared at her
"You know, she will kill you in your sleep one day if you keep this up" said Howard and continued. "Still, Eleonora, eating only what you need is a bit sad. Isn't there anything you like eating?"
"Beets."
"Then how about a drink?" asked Howard.
"Beet juice."
"Because—"
"It's good for my blood."
Angela face palmed as she then asked.
"Is there at least any kind of drink you like?"
"What are you talking about? I just said beet juice" said Eleonora, looking at Angela as if she had asked a weird question.
"NO! I don't mean a drink that is good for your blood, I mean something you simply like for the taste."
"What taste? Angela, do you seriously think anyone eats or drinks anything for the taste?!" said Eleonora, smiling mockingly.
Angela made a disgusted face while Howard barely held back his laughter.
As the three were finishing their lunch, Angela sprang up, grabbed Eleonora's arm, and dragged her to the hot drinks section of the cafeteria.
"You probably won't like anything too bitter so..." said Angela as she turned to the man behind the counter. "Please get her a cup of tea."
"Hey! Why would I drink something that harms my blood?"
"How much sugar should I add?" asked the man.
Angela glared at Eleonora, not giving her a chance to refuse.
"None. I'm not good with sugar" answered Eleonora.
After a short while, the cup of tea was served. Eleonora picked it up.
"Just so you know, I won't like it and I won't be paying for it," said Eleonora. She took a sip, her face twisting in disgust. "Ew! Why would anyone drink this?!"
Seeing the reaction, Angela took the tea out of her hands and added half a pack of sugar to it before handing it back.
"I said I'm not good with sug—fine, fine. What is one more sip? But just know, this will just be worse."
Eleonora took a sip from the cup, ready to be disgusted, only for her eyes to widen. She continued drinking until she finished the entire cup. Just as she took the cup from her mouth, she noticed Angela smirking at her.
"I will... admit, this is... good."
"Well, then this is one favor off my back."
"Hey, but I didn't ask for—alright, fair play."
Angela continued acting smug throughout the day. Howard accompanied them to their next magic lecture, as he happened to have the same class, but they were stopped by a senior student.
"Hey, hand over your ID" said the girl to Eleonora.
"Here you go" said Eleonora, handing over her ID. She noticed the badge of the Disciplinary Committee on the girl's uniform.
"Doesn't seem you have any approved exceptions to your uniform other than the pants for being a swordsmanship student. Now, can I ask you why your shirt isn't properly buttoned and why you aren't wearing the tie?"
Eleonora was now cornered with the exact question Angela had been warning her about for a week, but she had yet to find a proper excuse.
"It's... not clean, and I didn't have a spare."
"You receive two ties. If you sent both of them for cleaning at the same time, it's still your fault. And even then, a tie isn't a piece of cloth that interacts directly with the body, so there shouldn't be any problem with borrowing one for a day."
"I—"
"Don't bother. I know you haven't worn it the entire week. Tie aside, your shirt's buttons are perfectly fine to button up. Do you also have a lie to cover that? Ah, please excuse me, young duke. This will be taking a while, so I advise you to leave her with me. The same goes to you."
"Excuse me, but all of us, her included, have a lecture right now," interrupted Howard. "I know she is breaking rules, but since you are already keeping track of her, why don't you let this one go and give her a chance for tomorrow?"
"Hey, I can't—" Eleonora tried to speak, but was stopped by Howard.
"Fine. I will let it go... today. Eleonora, isn't it? I will be checking on you tomorrow. You better be wearing your uniform properly then."
As the senior left, the three continued their way to the lecture.
"Do you have a reason why you won't wear a tie?" asked Howard.
Eleonora stayed silent. Angela answered in her stead.
"She says she doesn't like how it looks."
"Hahaha! I really thought you were the type to stick to rules, but to think you won't wear it for such a reason."
Eleonora seemed bothered by the topic and ignored them no matter how much they spoke about it, so they dropped it as they arrived for the lecture.
When the lecture concluded, Howard was done with his day. He excused himself and left as the two girls made their way to their next class.
"Elen, are you okay? You seem bothered since the meeting with that disciplinary committee senior."
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just thinking of a way out."
"Is there really no way you can just wear it? I know you might hate it for whatever reason, but honestly, I don't think it looks that bad that you would get yourself into seven years of clashes with the disciplinary committee for it."
"That's why I'm trying to think of a permanent solution."
"Sigh. If you are that insistent, then good luck. Tell me if you need my help with anything."
As the two were about to arrive at the lecture hall, the door opened as the previous class finished. As a few students walked out, a black-haired student rushed out of the hall and was about to crash into Angela. Eleonora grabbed her by the waist, pulled her out of the way, and glared at him as he went by.
"What is his problem? Do you think he is okay?" asked Angela.
"Worry about yourself first. You wouldn't be nice enough to worry about his circumstances if he had crashed into you," said Eleonora.
"You think so? Haha, I don't know. I can't help but think he looked distressed."
Eleonora looked back at him as he disappeared into the distance, while Angela stood up straight and went in to attend their lecture.