“Are you alright?”

Astra offered the bespectacled man her hand. Looking up, the man flushed when he realized he had an audience, but still took it, allowing Astra to pull him to his feet.

“Aah, I guess you saw that?” smiling in an embarrassed manner, he adjusted his spectacles and reached down to dust off his robe and pick up the fallen tomes. “I apologize for the disturbance.”

Astra wordlessly took the books from his hands and pulled over the nearby ladder to ascend it, putting the books back herself. Her movements were practiced as she used the length of her arm to properly align the books with the edge of the shelf. The silver-haired man, a little dumbfounded, watched in silence until she came back down.

“That… I should be the one doing that,” he muttered, as if speaking to himself.

“It’s fine. I’ve worked as a librarian, myself.” Astra shook her head. She had a job at one of her univerity’s libraries, and had worked there for some time. After so many years, such habits had become second nature.

“Ah, I see.” The man belatedly offered Astra his hand for a handshake, which she gave. “Again, I apologize for that unseemly display, miss. I am Declan, the master of this fine establishment.”

Astra realized that this man was none other than the library master whom Aleron had called a ‘good man’, saying that he thought Astra would get along with him, and smiled with more warmth. “I’m Astraea. Are you hurt?”

“Ah, no…” Declan touched the spot on his head where the books had impacted, smiling ruefully. “It’s shameful for a librarian to admit this, but incidents like this happen often. I’m rather used to it by now.”

“I… see.” She didn’t think it was a good idea for a librarian to be used to such things, but kept her mouth shut. Spotting a small wagon full of more books behind him, which he must have been putting away, she added, “Would you like some help?”

“Oh, no! I couldn’t as a visitor to do that,” Declan hurried to say. “Were you looking for anything in particular, miss?”

Astra pursed her lips. She hadn’t come here with any particular goal, but… “Do you have any books on herbal medicine?”

Nodding, Declan led her down several aisles before pointing. “You’ll find what you’re looking for on this shelf and the next one,” he told her. “If you would like to borrow anything, you may take them, so long as you note down the date and the titles on the sheet by the door.”

Nodding, Astra bid the librarian farewell and wandered down the aisle alone. She was excited to see the sheer number of books this establishment held on the field of medicine, and soon had an armful of books to study.

Ever since coming to Onaria, Astra had taken interest in herbal remedies. As someone from Earth, it was extremely frustrating to see the rise of illnesses in this world that had neither technology nor medical advancements. People died from the tiniest of injuries or the mildest of colds just because the right treatment was not available. Astra was far from a doctor – she had a vague idea of which illnesses probably could have been treated in a modern hospital, but she lacked the know-how to do anything about it. As a result, she had been slowly researching field medicine and first aid, collecting a great encyclopedia of all the herbs and home remedies she could find.

Having exhausted the possibilities of one shelf, Astra rounded the corner and stopped. A familiar figure was crouched in the far corner, holding a book and surrounded by stacks of tomes like he’d been building a giant fort of novels. “Conrad, is that you?”

The young soldier flinched, knocking over a stack beside him, and curled up instinctively before he realized who was talking to him. “Miss Astraea…!” hurriedly, he tried to hide behind the book he was holding, but it was too late; Astra had seen his face, which was covered in bruises.

Immediately, her expression darkened. For Conrad, who was already on edge, the sudden change bordered on frightening, especially since he’d only known Astra to be gentle and polite. He had nowhere to flee as Astra strode directly towards him, dropping to her knees, and reached for him.

The young boy squeezed his eyes shut, his arms up to ward her off, and soon felt a gentle touch on his hair. A moment later, a voice, turned soft from concern, sounded in his ear.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Are you alright?”

Conrad opened his eyes to find Astra carefully pushing his arms down so she could study the injuries on his face. She was frowning so much it almost seemed as though she was the one who was injured, not him. His chest tightened with a feeling he couldn’t explain, whether it was relief or shame.

“M-Miss Astraea.”

“Shush. Let me look at you.” Cautiously, Astra examined his bruised cheek and eye, and the scrapes on his hands. “Your wrists are swelling, too,” she muttered, pushing his sleeve up to see better. Conrad stayed silent through all of it, though he didn’t relax even a little, his wide-eyed gaze locked onto her face.

“Please let me go.” He tried to tug his wrists from her grasp, and she let him, only to duck her head under his arm and place it around her shoulders. “Miss Astraea?” he asked, subconsciously allowing her to help him stand, both of their books forgotten.

“Let’s get you to the infirmary,” she said firmly, beginning to walk as an unresisting Conrad moved his feet to follow. She remembered Aleron had pointed out the infirmary while he was showing her around – it was quite close to the training grounds. “Can you walk with support? Or should I carry you?”

“I, that is,” Conrad began, stuttering before he lowered his gaze to his feet so she couldn’t see his face. “I think I can walk…”

“Alright.” Without commenting further, Astra helped him into the hallway, making a mental note to return for her books later, and studiously ignored the looks they got from the servants and knights in the hallways as she guided a limping Conrad back towards the barracks.

As they turned into the wide courtyard, they ran into someone who was on their way out – Liam, whose eyes grew wide as he spotted them and Conrad’s sorry state.

“Conrad!” he exclaimed, immediately coming to take Conrad’s other arm and help Astra support him. “Did they get you again?”

Again?

Astra frowned, but held her tongue. There would be time for questions later. Getting Conrad treated was the most important thing right now. “We were on our way to the infirmary,” she explained when Conrad hung his head without saying anything.

“It’s this way,” Liam replied, tightening his grip on Conrad.

There was a man around her age in the infirmary when they arrived, sorting through a pile of glass bottles filled with various powders and dried herbs. When Liam greeted him, he looked up, and for a moment Astra was taken aback.

A pair of startlingly bright green eyes, like jewels, were looking at her from beneath bangs that were as dark as her own hair. Since coming to Onaria, this was the first time she had met someone with the same hair colour as her.

“Rain, sorry about this, but could you patch up Conrad?” Liam asked as he and Astra settled the still-silent boy onto one of the nearby cots before adding to Astra, “Rain’s our medic – though if you ask me, he’s wasted on something like the Castle Guard. He’s good enough to be the king’s personal healer, but he insists on sticking around with us.”

“That’s enough, Liam.” Rain spoke in a low tone as he picked up a roll of bandages and moved over to Conrad, giving Astra a slight nod. For some reason, he seemed to be staring at her., When Astra raised her brows at him, he did not look away or say anything.

His green eyes were burning fiercely – so much so that she thought he looked angry, and her brow furrowed in response to this unexpected attitude. As if in answer, his expression shifted to one of concern and guilt. He seemed to be acutely aware of the fact that he had made her uncomfortable.

“Rain?” Liam asked, and the medic snapped out of his staring contest with Astra, his eyes moving back to Conrad before the storm behind them settled down, suddenly all business.

The healer clicked his tongue as he sat down beside the injured cadet. “Shirt off,” he ordered, and the blonde obediently removed his top to reveal more bruises lining his ribs and stomach, prompting a sympathetic wince from Liam at the sight. “They really got you good this time.”

“If I may ask,” Astra cut in, evidently completely unfazed by the sight of a shirtless Conrad, who didn’t seem to care if she was present, “Who exactly are ‘they’?” Closing the infirmary door, she leaned against it. “Judging from your words, it doesn’t seem like this is the first time this has happened.”

The other two men exchanged glances, and when Conrad didn’t speak up, they decided it was alright to reveal the situation to the noirette. “It’s the Raven Knights,” Liam explained.

Astra’s brows, which were already raised, climbed even higher. “His highness’s personal guard?”

“You know about them, I see. Yes, them.” Liam pointed to the blonde cadet, who was watching as Rain wrapped a bandages around his arm. “They’re the ones responsible for making our adorable youngest like this.”

His tone was far too casual for Astra’s liking, given the circumstances, but she did her best to hide her ire and spoke calmly. “I guess it’s a regular thing. Is Aleron aware?”

It was a rhetorical question, because the Aleron she knew would never let something like this slide, especially if it was someone as young as Conrad who was suffering. But at her inquiry, Conrad, who had been utterly silent up until this point, jerked his head up.

“Please don’t tell the Captain, Miss Astraea!” he begged, even trying to get up in his awful state, making Rain snap at him to stay still.

Astra looked at him in no little surprise before her eyes found Rain, who was concentrating on his work, and Liam, who nodded after seeing understanding dawn on her face.

“That’s right, little lady. Only Rain and I know, and that’s according to Conrad’s will.”

“But why?” Astra asked Conrad, who shook his head and grit his teeth. “No, don’t answer that. I think I know why.”

She remembered the conversation she’d had with Conrad when she first met him. He’d said that he admired Aleron, that he tried to emulate him, that Aleron was his hero. For a young kid like Conrad, it made sense that he wouldn’t want the object of his admirations to know about his greatest failing.

“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but this sort of behaviour doesn’t seem like something the Crown Prince would condone, either,” she ventured instead.

“You’re correct.” Rain’s voice was quiet. Now done bandaging Conrad’s wounds, he turned and began packing away his tools again. “His highness does not know of this, either.”

Probably because there was no way for the prince to know without Aleron eventually being told, too.

“Most of the Raven Knights are good sorts. There’s just one or two in particular whose personalities are complete garbage,” Liam complained. “If they were reported, they’d be dismissed from their positions, but…”

She understood. Heaving a sigh, Astra sat down on Conrad’s opposite side.

The cadet, now thoroughly wrapped in white bandages, flinched. His head was buried in his knees, and he couldn’t find the courage to look up.

He was ashamed of himself.

Ever since Conrad and his sister had been saved by Captain Aleron, the older man had embodied everything that Conrad aspired to be. He had lost his parents in that fire, and seeking strength had become the pillar he had used to help him move past his grief. Such pursuits were for himself, but also for the sake of his much-younger sister, whom he had left in the care of their grandmother while he headed off to seek strength.

As someone who had lost so much, the young boy’s one desire was to obtain the skill needed to protect the two members of his family he had left.

But he was still nowhere near what he wanted to be.

Instead, he struggled in training, and was even being picked on by older knights, without being able to defend himself. He couldn’t bear to return home in this state, didn’t have the face to stand before his sister and grandmother like this.

“I know I’m pathetic,” he mumbled into his knees. “But I want to handle this myself. I want to get stronger, even if that might be impossible for someone like me…”

Liam was his roommate, and Rain was responsible for attending to his wounds whenever he got beaten up, so Conrad had more or less come to terms with their knowing his pitiful situation.

However, Astraea had been different. He’d been so excited to see someone that the Captain acknowledged as a traveling companion, and she’d been kind enough to help him with his knifework, to boot. If the Captain was too high up to be approachable, Astraea’s arrival had represented a bridge, a midpoint that Conrad might realistically be able to reach someday.

But having that same ray of hope be the person who discovered his greatest weakness, and after only a day, Conrad wanted to die. He wanted to dig himself a hole and crawl inside, never to come back out.

To his increasing frustration, he was starting to cry, and gripped his sleeves tighter. “Even if I can never reach the Captain’s level, even if it’s complete foolishness to even try…!”

“Who says it’s foolishness?”

A brusque voice interrupted him.

“Why is it foolish?”

The words were said so matter-of-factly that it was almost upsetting, but somehow they managed to accurately pierce through Conrad’s tears and shame.

As if the speaker didn’t care about his reaction, that voice continued on. “Why is it foolish to have a goal? Why is it impossible for you to grow stronger? If anyone dares to insult your dreams, put a fist in their face for spouting nonsense.”

“A-Astra…”

The noirette conceded a bit when she heard Liam’s awkward voice. “Fine, maybe don’t resort to immediate violence,” she muttered, reaching for Conrad.

Astra hated bullying. Though it hadn’t been physical, she’d been picked on in her middle school years for being a foreigner, and the experience had never really left her. In addition, she was naturally an empathetic person, and seeing a child like Conrad beaten to this state, both physically and mentally, was making her blood boil. 

“What kind of heartless brutes would hit a child?” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. “Don’t they have anything better to do?”

The blonde had raised his head at some point during her tirade and was staring at her. His face was a mess, streaked with tears and snot, and Astra pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, wiping Conrad’s face for him with an odd sort of rough affection.

“My point is, you are perfectly capable of growing stronger,” she told him firmly once his face was clean. Perhaps due to surprise, Conrad had also stopped crying. “And if you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it to you.”