Chapter 52

William made it back to his dormitory with just enough time to clean up and change before meeting Claire. He pushed open the door to find Kai sitting at his desk as usual, but this time he was organizing what looked like combat equipment instead of reading.

"Going somewhere?" William asked while heading to his wardrobe.

"Library still," Kai said without looking up. "But there’s been some issues with essence beast sightings near the old archives building. The faculty suggested we bring weapons just in case."

William paused mid-step. "Essence beasts? On campus?"

"Apparently some low-level ones wandered too close from the forest. Nothing dangerous for students, but enough that they’re telling people to be cautious." Kai finally looked up. "Why do you ask? You look like you’re getting ready to go somewhere too."

"I’m meeting Claire," William said while pulling out clean clothes. "She asked if I was free this afternoon."

"Ah." Kai returned his attention to his equipment. "That explains the effort you’re putting into not long like you just spent three hours getting hit during training."

William didn’t dignify that with a rwhichichichichichichponse. He changed quickly, washed his face, and tried to make himself look somewhat presentable. It wasn’t a formal occasion, but showing up looking completely disheveled seemed rude.

"By the way," William said while checking his reflection, "Liam asked if we’re both free this weekend. He needs help with something but wouldn’t say what."

Kai’s hands stilled on the dagger he’d been securing to his belt. "Liam Hemsworth specifically asked for me by name?"

"He said to bring my roommate. I assume he meant you unless I’ve been sharing a room with someone else this whole time."

"Interesting." Kai went back to his preparations, but William noticed his movements had become more deliberate. "What did he say he needed help with?"

"He didn’t mention. He only said it was complicated and he would explain on Saturday morning at the main gate."

"And you agreed without knowing what you were getting into?"

"You’re one to talk about agreeing to things blindly," William pointed out. "You said yes to being my roommate without knowing anything about me."

"That was different. Housing assignments are mandatory." Kai stood and slung his bag over his shoulder. "But fine. I’ll come with you on Saturday. Might be interesting to see what the academy’s golden boy needs help with that he can’t handle alone."

He headed for the door, then paused. "Incase your not coming home later and might sleep over, no need to try and come back I’ll be here"

"This bastard"

The door closed before William could ask how Kai knew it was supposed to be a date rather than just hanging out. Sometimes his roommate was far too perceptive for someone who claimed to not pay attention to anything.

William finished getting ready and headed out to meet Claire at the agreed location, it was the fountain near the main courtyard. She was already there when he arrived, wearing a simple dress instead of her academy uniform. It was dark blue with subtle embroidery along the edges, nice without being overly formal.

"You’re early," William observed.

"So are you," Claire pointed out with a slight smile. The earlier embarrassment from breakfast seemed to have faded into nervous energy. "I wasn’t sure what we were doing, so I just... waited here."

"I didn’t really plan anything specific," William admitted. "I’ve never actually done this before."

Claire blinked. "Done what? Gone on a date?"

"Yeah, a proper one."

"Oh." She seemed surprised by that, then thoughtful. "Me neither, actually. My family never really encouraged... normal social activities like this."

That made sense given what William knew about Claire’s upbringing. Her family had raised her to manipulate and collect talented people, not to have genuine relationships or normal teenage experiences.

"So we’re both improvising," William said.

"Apparently." Claire looked around the courtyard, then back at him. "We could walk around campus? There’s that garden area behind the library that’s supposed to be nice."

"Sure."

They started walking together, falling into a comfortable pace. The afternoon sun was warm without being hot, and the campus was relatively quiet with most students either in classes or at training.

The garden behind the library was larger than William expected. It was carefully maintained with paths created between flower beds and small trees, with benches placed at regular intervals. A few other students were scattered around—some reading, others just enjoying the weather.

Claire and William found an empty bench near a section of roses and sat down. The silence between them wasn’t quite awkward but wasn’t entirely comfortable either.

"Can I ask you something?" Claire said after a moment.

"Sure."

"Why did you agree to the date?" She was looking at the roses rather than at him. "You could have just said no at breakfast. You’re not the type to agree to things just to be polite."

William considered how to answer that honestly. "I’ve been thinking about some things recently. Mostly about how I’ve been handling... situations. And I realized I might have been approaching everything wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I’ve been treating certain things like problems to avoid instead of just dealing with them directly." William wasn’t sure how much to explain without mentioning the curse, so he kept it vague. "And I thought maybe trying something different might help me figure out a better approach."

Claire turned to look at him, her dark eyes studying his expression. "So this is an experiment?"

"That sounds worse than I meant it," William said quickly. "I just meant—"

"It’s fine." Claire smiled, and it looked genuine. "Honestly, that’s more honest than whatever polite lie you could have told me. And I appreciate honesty."

She looked back at the roses. "I spent years learning how to manipulate people and read what they wanted to hear. Everything was transactional. Everything had an angle. So when someone is just direct with me, it’s... refreshing."

"Your family really did a number on you," William observed.

"They did." Claire’s voice was quiet. "But I’m trying to be different from them. I’m trying to have actual relationships instead of just collecting people like assets. It’s harder than I thought it would be."

William understood that more than she probably realized. His entire situation with the curse was built around the same kind of problem—trying to figure out how to have genuine connections when there was always some underlying complication making everything more difficult than it should be.

They sat in silence for a while, watching other students pass by and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It was nice, William thought. Simple. The kind of normal afternoon that he hadn’t really experienced since transmigrating into this world.

"Can I ask you something now?" William said.

"Sure."

"When did you start... feeling this way? About me, I mean."

Claire’s face colored slightly but she didn’t look away this time. "It was during the expedition to the Vale. When I told you about my family and you didn’t judge me for it. You just listened and treated me like a person instead of a project or a problem."

She paused, then continued. "And then when I slept in your tent those two nights, you kept boundaries and made me feel safe instead of trying to take advantage. That’s when I realized you were different from anyone else I’d known."

William tha ought back to the Vale expedition. He’d been focused on managing the curse situation and avoiding complications. He hadn’t realized that his attempts to maintain appropriate boundaries had been interpreted as genuine respect.

"I’m not as good a person as you think I am," William said.

"I don’t think you’re a perfect person," Claire replied. "I think you’re someone who tries to do the right thing even when it’s complicated. That’s better than perfect."

Before William could respond to that, a commotion from the other side of the garden caught their attention. Raised voices and what sounded like someone yelling angrily.

William and Claire stood up and moved closer to see what was happening. A small crowd had gathered near the eastern garden entrance where two students were arguing—a third-year boy who looked furious, and a second-year girl who was backing away from him nervously.

"I said no," the girl was saying, her voice shaking. "I’m not interested. Please leave me alone."

"You’re making a mistake," the boy said, stepping closer to her despite her obvious discomfort. "Do you know who my family is? Do you know what kind of opportunities I could—"

"She said no," a new voice interrupted.

William looked over and saw Liam had appeared from somewhere, positioning himself between the aggressive student and the uncomfortable girl. His expression was calm but his stance made it clear he wasn’t asking politely.

"This doesn’t concern you, Hemsworth," the third-year said, his anger redirecting toward Liam. "Stay out of it."

"I’m making it my concern," Liam replied evenly. "She’s clearly not interested. You should leave."

The third-year looked like he wanted to argue, then seemed to remember exactly who he was talking to. Liam Hemsworth, top-ranked student, someone who could probably break him in half without much effort.

"Whatever," the boy muttered before stalking off, his face red with embarrassed anger.

The girl thanked Liam profusely before hurrying away in a different direction. The crowd dispersed quickly now that the entertainment was over, leaving just William, Claire, and Liam standing near the garden path.

Liam noticed them and walked over. "Sorry if I interrupted your afternoon."

"You didn’t," Claire said. "That guy was being an ass."

"Yeah." Liam looked tired suddenly, like this wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with something like this. "Some people don’t handle rejection well."

"Does that happen often?" William asked.

"More than it should." Liam shrugged. "Anyway, I should let you two get back to your... afternoon." He glanced between them with a knowing look that made Claire blush slightly.

"See you tomorrow at training," Liam said before heading off toward the main campus buildings.

William and Claire returned to their bench, but the peaceful atmosphere from before had been somewhat disrupted by the confrontation.

"We should probably head back anyway," Claire said, checking the time. "It’s getting close to dinner."

They walked back together, the conversation flowing more easily now than it had at the start. By the time they reached the point where their paths would diverge—Claire toward the Luminara dormitories and William toward Ascendant—the awkwardness from earlier had mostly faded.

"Thank you for this afternoon," Claire said. "Even if we didn’t really do anything exciting."

"I had a good time," William replied, and meant it.

Claire smiled, then seemed to gather her courage for something. She stepped closer and rose up on her toes, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before stepping back immediately.

"Good night, William," she said quickly, then turned and walked toward her dormitory before he could respond.

William stood there for a moment, one hand unconsciously touching the spot where she’d kissed his cheek, before heading back to his own room.

Kai was already back when William arrived, sitting at his desk with an actual book this time instead of equipment.

"Huh, you’re back I thought you’d surley sleep over?" Kai asked without looking up.

"Bastard"

"So, how did it go?"

"It was fine," William said while sitting on his bed. "Better than I expected, actually."

"Good. Try to keep it that way." Kai turned a page."Your life is pretty complicated as it is."

He lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

Kai was right. His life was already plenty complicated.

But somehow, he was starting to think maybe that wasn’t entirely a bad thing.

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