The class once again broke into an incomprehensible chatter, but Adrian could not hear any of it. The words still echoing in his head. Corinna. That was Aria’s family. Her noble house.
No, he corrected himself. It’s Melas’s noble house.
Xander’s Academy was already situated close to the outskirts of Xanderia. Defenor’s Forest was even further out from the Capital city of the Holy Xan Empire, 20 miles west of the Academy’s main campus.
Adrian sat, alongside the rest of his class, inside a bus, heading to said forest for their field trip. The boy had seen the vehicle a handful of times since he left Villamcreek— mostly in Xanderia— however he had never been on one prior to this day.
He had rode on horseback, taken a train through the Rem Republic, and even boarded a flying ship to come to Soli! This experience was nothing special to him. And it certainly was not giving him motion sickness.
At least, that was what he told himself as he clutched his stomach while groaning in his seat.
"You ok?" Alice asked with a worried look on her face.
"I’m fine," he said. "Just… not used to— ugh." The bus hit a bump on the road, and the boy nearly doubled over in agony. Alice placed a hand on his back, gently patting him.
"We’re almost there," she said reassuringly. "Just handle it a little longer."
Adrian was not sure if he could survive for ‘a little longer’. He felt like he was probably going to puke if they did not stop at that moment. The boy was just about to get up to ask if they could stop, when he saw Onia staring at him.
The noble girl was quite clearly taking amusement in his suffering. She had not bothered him since their duel, but that did not stop her from laughing at him behind his back. And Adrian could definitely hear her obnoxious snickering from where he was.
The boy lowered himself back to his seat, and straightened. I’m fine, he tried telling himself. You were on a flying ship, Adrian. This is nothing compared to that. He conveniently omitted the fact that he was given multiple nausea potions to help him get through the flight, and he still was air sick for most of those four weeks.
"Why am I the only one here getting sick?" Adrian muttered under his breath. He was complaining to himself, and did not expect an answer. However, Alice heard him and quickly responded.
"Well, I think it might be because we’re used to it," she said. "I’ve taken carriages for travel ever since I was young, and even been on my father’s car a few times. This is not too different, I think. That’s why most of us are fine."
Most was, of course, an under exaggeration. Other than the Half Elf boy in their class who seemed mildly uncomfortable, everyone else was completely unaffected. In fact, they were so unbothered by being on a bus, many of them were still crowding around the Holy Knight, Nero.
Ever since the man came to the class, all the way until now, he had been barraged with nonstop questions and adulation by pretty much everyone there. Adrian could tell Alice too wanted to approach him, but she was far too intimidated by all the other noble children crowding around him.
"Why don’t you just talk to him?" Adrian asked, to both change the subject and distract himself from his motion sickness.
"What?" Alice looked aghast. "I can’t! Our stations are too far apart. I’m just a measly commoner."
"He doesn’t know that."
"I…" the girl trailed off. Adrian stared her, cocking a brow. She shook her head. "But the others will stop me from speaking with him. They’ll tell him that I’m not a noble— I’m fine, Adrian. I am content with just sitting and watching from afar."
Adrian frowned. That sounded exactly like him in the past. Back when he wouldn’t dare to even speak with Melas because of what his parents said about her mom. And he hated himself for it— because of that, he only ever got to know Melas for a few months before her mom was killed and she disappeared.
"You should at least try," Adrian said, looking up to the ceiling. "If he’s really a good person, then he’ll still speak with you even if the others try and stop you."
"But—"
The boy turned to face Alice and met her gaze. "And if he doesn’t, then I guess he wasn’t someone worth talking to in the first place."
She paused, and Adrian tried to smile. It was not a dashing smile, but a forced smile since he still very much felt like throwing up.
"Who isn’t worth talking to in the first place?"
Adrian spun around, blinking.
"Lord Corinna!" Alice gasped. "We were just talking about... I mean we weren’t talking about…"
The black haired man gave a charming smile— the one Adrian failed at doing. "There’s no need to be so formal," he chuckled. "Please, I’m here as a representative of the Holy Knights, not as a member of my house."
"Of course, Sir! I’m sorry for that, Sir!" Alice worked her tongue so fast Adrian could barely even understand her.
Nero just nodded. "May I sit with you?"
Adrian hesitated. "I don’t know if there’s enough space—" he started, and was promptly shut up by Alice.
The girl clamped a hand over his mouth, speaking over him. "Yes! It would be our pleasure!"
She dragged Adrian to the side, forcing him to scoot over and give the man a place to sit. It was not exactly cramped even with the three of them. Adrian thought the seats were designed to fit three grown adults in each half row, yet he tried to use the lack of space as an excuse. And that was
