"Your Highness, this is not the way to lunch…"

"Yeah, I know - I'm not going to lunch. I'm going to get me some magic crystals!"

"Your Highness, we can go after we eat."

"Yeah, but I'm not very hungry."

"But you should still eat, Your Highness. You haven't eaten since breakfast."

"We can eat after we get the crystals - it won't take that long, and-"

I'm interrupted by the sound of a growling stomach. I turn in surprise, as it definitely wasn't mine.

Dame Alex is blushing a little as she looks away, and I realize something.

I'm a pretty lean guy - I don't need much caloric intake.

Dame Alex is a veritable Amazonian goddess - she probably burns twice what I burn during a workout while sitting still!

"No, you're right - we need to eat."

I turn on my heel, and quickly make my way over to the cafeteria. She follows with a relieved sigh.

"Do you think we'll eat together for lunch, like we did this morning? Or will they separate us again, like they did last night?"

"I do not know, Your Highness."

I shrug as we continue on our way.

Just as we're about to enter the cafeteria, a familiar face stops us.

"Oh, hey - you're the upperclassmen from this morning!" His eyes flash orange, which is a bit disconcerting. "Uhh…how have you been?"

"Where the hell were you? You're the only one in your grade that isn't in there yet! I look like a fool!"

I cringe at that. "Oh…sorry. I got distracted."

"By what?"

"Do not question His Highness."

"Whoa, Dame Alex - cool your jets." I place a hand on her shoulder, and it feels like I'm putting my hand on a tree. "If you must know, I had to take an absolutely massive shit."

He blinks a few times. "O…oh. Okay." He clears his throat, before motioning for me to follow him. "Well, come on then." I follow him in silence for a bit before realizing something.

"Oh, hey - I never got your name."

"John!" Suddenly, another familiar face runs over - Patricia Norton!

"Did your underclassmen show up yet?"

"Yes - here he is, in all his glory."

She looks at me in surprise. "Oh - Your Highness! I didn't realize that my brother was your upperclassman!"

"Neither did I. How's your day been? Holding in there?"

"Wait." John, apparently John Norton, holds out his hand to stop us. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah - we met at the gates yesterday, and saw each other in Alchemy," I explain.

John's eyes suddenly flash a deep red.

Ah, shit. Silver tongue, don't fail me now!

Before I can say anything, John claps a firm hand on my shoulder.

"Well, sister - dinner's about to be served, so I think I'll just help His Highness find a seat."

"Okay! I'll see you later, John!" She curtsies to me. "Have a good night, Your Highness."

I maintain a calm composure. Better be respectful so I don't get a black eye. "You too, My Lady."

With that, the jovial young lady walks away, and sits down across from a young woman that is wearing a very similar outfit to John's. She must be her upperclassmen.

John turns to Alex. "Dame Alex, the knights are eating in the separate cafeteria for lunch today."

"Thank you, Master Norton. I entrust him to you."

With that, Dame Alex leaves for the knight's eating area, and John firmly directs me to a pair of vacant seats. I watch Dame Alex walk away with a sinking feeling. Of all the times to misread a situation…

I start talking the second we're seated.

"Before you say anything - I don't have any intentions of courting your sister, or anybody for that matter. I honestly and truly just want to focus on school."

John stares at me for a little while, before sighing. "I will admit that you seem genuine about your time here. I was told you attended all the lectures today?"

"Yep."

"Hmm." He looks me over for a long moment.

"Just…keep away from her."

"Okay, but…what if she and I become strictly friends?"

"Don't. It's that simple."

"Yeah, but I can't control that. If she wants to be friends with me, I'm not going to just ignore her."

"And why not?"

"Because that would be really shitty, dude. Can you imagine how insulting that would be? If I just ignored her when she tried to talk to me?"

"I don't want her associating with you."

"Then take that up with her, not me. How do you expect her to know what you want if you don't communicate with her?"

"I don't want her to know about the things men may want to do to her. I'd rather her not find out."

I'm about to protest, but then I remember what people tend to be in to.

"That makes sense. There are some sick fucks out there."

 I look over John for a moment, and a question comes to mind.

"But, John…have you talked with her about what she should expect from a healthy relationship? And what early warning signs there could be for her to avoid?"

"...what? What does that even mean?"

I shake my head in disappointment. So it would seem that sex ed isn’t a thing in this world, huh? Hell, even beyond sex ed - it would seem that even discussions regarding non-sexual relationships are avoided!

Maybe I could talk to the headmaster about trying to make a sex ed course? Quite frankly, it's sad that it has to be a thing for people that have already passed through puberty. The fact that nobody has bothered to even consider teaching them this stuff is disturbing.

Either way, I'm getting a bit frustrated with all of this. I’m not going to get anything more out of talking to John, so I may as well wrap this up.

"Look, I'll try my hardest to keep my distance from her, but I'm not going to be rude or hurtful. Okay?"

He grumbles a bit. "Fine. I suppose that will do for now."

Luckily, it's at that moment that lunch is served, allowing me to avoid an awkward silence.

And once again, it's a whirlwind of food, all being served immaculately.

A beautifully glistening bowl of pasta with sausage and broccoli is placed down in front of me. My mouth immediately begins to water.

Hmmm…I wonder if the knights are served dinner half as good as this?

Oh, that reminds me! I get John’s attention before he begins to eat, so I can ask a question that's been bothering me.

"Hey - this is the second time I've seen you without a knight. What gives?"

He looks at me strangely before answering. "I have no need for a knight. I am perfectly capable of defending myself."

"Oh, really? What d'you use? Magic?"

"No - I am a master of the blade. I've achieved a level that very few have.."

"Hot damn - you must've worked your ass off for that." After putting a generous helping of cheese on my pasta, I start to shovel it into my mouth. Damn, that's some good fuckin pasta…

"Yes - I did. I trained without end for days at a time."

"Damn son. Can't imagine working that hard."

"No…I bet you can't."

I chuckle a little, and proceed to tuck into my food.

We spend the rest of the lunch in an uneasy silence. It isn’t until we’re almost finished that the silence is broken.

"Greetings, students!"

Headmaster Samuel’s booming voice brings about near immediate silence in the mess hall.

"I trust that your first day has been enjoyable, and that your upperclassmen have been helpful and amicable."

I cast a glance at John. Amicable? Not a shot. Helpful? Still on the fence about that one.

"Starting tomorrow, you may schedule a meeting with the instructor for the track you would like to enroll in. If you have not yet decided upon a track, your upperclassmen will be glad to help you."

He goes on for a few more minutes about school values and whatnot. I tune him out, and instead pull out my blue notebook, and get cracking.

Already, I can tell that this is going to be quite the undertaking, but I can also see a handful of shortcuts I can take compared to if this were being done with modern technology. At the same time, there are some limitations - I'm not sure how many inputs each crystal can handle, or what the thermal density of these crystals would be…

Hmm…Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I should really get my hands on some crystals and do some proof of concept stuff before I start trying to build something this complex…

"What in the world are you doing?"

I look up with a start. John is staring at me with an inquisitive gaze.

"Oh - I'm trying to figure something out for M.E."

"M.E.?"

"Magical Engineering. I figure it's easier to shorten it than to keep saying it over and over again."

"Ah. But…what are you trying to figure out?"

"Ahem!"

I look up at the headmaster with a start. He's looking directly at me.

"As I was saying…avoid entering the forest at all costs. Dangerous beasts live within - Spriggans and Shadow Wolves are just the least of them."

I can't help but snicker a little. John cocks an eyebrow at me, but doesn't say anything as the headmaster continues. I barely listen, but I do catch one thing of note.

"You may establish any number of clubs, so long as you have approval from an Instructor, and a sufficient number of interested students.”

Clubs, huh? That could be interesting.

"Now, if you would, please return to your dorms. It has grown quite late, and you have more lectures scheduled for tomorrow - one for Magic, and one each for your additional courses - namely, math, language, physical education, history, and etiquette. Please note that while attendance is optional for these additional courses, tests are mandatory."

I roll my eyes. Great, gotta deal with humanities, again…

But hey, at least I get to meet up with Dame Alex and go get some crystals!

"Okay - I'mma head out."

John nods dismissively, and I stand and start to make my way to the knight's cafeteria. As I am, I happen to walk past Nicholas. I try to say something, but he seems to be hyper-fixated something, and doesn’t even notice me.

I shrug, before happily continuing on my way. I make a mental note to ask Alex about what she said about his father as soon as we're outside.

I pause as I grow close to the knight's cafeteria. There's a bit of a traffic jam, as a bunch of students are meeting up with their knights all at once.

Eventually, I'm able to get into the room, and meet up with Alex.

"Your Highness."

Now that I'm not having a panic attack, I'm able to take in my surroundings. The only thing I really care about, however, is that Dame Alex is rising from a seat well removed from the other knights.

"Heya - let's go."

She nods, and we make our way out of the mess hall, battling with the crowd on the way. I make sure to stay near her, so that she doesn't end up holding my hand.

Once we're out, I take a deep breath of the cool evening air. I wave for Dame Alex to follow me as I make my way down the stairs.

"Well, come on - I want to get my hands on some crystals. You said we could go after we ate!”

“Very well, Your Highness.”

We make our way through the campus, and thankfully, there’s no crowd around us this time. Everyone seems to be heading either to the dorms, or to the small commercial area on the West side of campus - nobody is heading towards the Eastern labs and lecture halls.

Even though we’re outside, we basically have complete privacy. So, I take the time to ask her about what she said about Nicholas’ father.

"His father was about to be conferred a title for his work on light crystals. Unfortunately, he passed before the title could be bestowed, and since his wife had already passed, a title could not be conferred upon Nicholas. No house was willing to take him in at the time, as they were still recovering financially from the war with the Northern Demonic Tribes."

"Oh, shit…" I shake my head. "Do you know how his dad died?"

"I heard there was an accident in the lab he was working in. Something about a magical weapon mishap? I'm not sure. Some believe it was swept under the rug."

"Hmm. That makes sense. I'd imagine the royal family wouldn't want to admit responsibility."

When she doesn't respond, I figure I've hit my mark.

Rather than walking in silence, I change the subject.

"So, I couldn't help but notice that you were sitting alone. What's up with that?"

She adopts a strange expression. "Your Highness…I am the first female knight. And the only female knight. My presence makes them all uncomfortable."

"That's not your problem. They need to get used to it - you're here for good."

She hesitates for a moment. "Your Highness…that is not something I have control over. While none of them may openly challenge me, as I am known to be a royal knight, very few of them acknowledge me."

I shake my head in frustration. "Assholes. Don't they realize how hard you've worked?"

"Some of them insinuate that I am in my position due to favoritism from the Queen, and that I have not worked anywhere near as hard as them to get where I am today."

I click my tongue. "You should just challenge them to a duel, and then beat them half to death. You won the tournament, right? I've got no doubt you can beat a few asshole knights…"

She takes a deep breath. "Your Highness…the world views you bring with you from New York are very welcome. But I'm afraid that they don't all apply. You may view men and women as equal, but that is not a commonly held belief here."

"You have no idea what it's like for women where I come from. In some ways, women's rights are actually further along here than they are back there. There are some places in the world where a woman faces death for attending school. And even in my own country, there are places where women are consistently put down and trodden upon. There's been some progress, both here, and there…but not nearly enough."

"I…I may be overstepping my boundaries, but…if you care so much…you are in a position of power. Why don't you do something about it?"

I'm silent for a few seconds as I consider what I've learned about myself over the past few days.

"You know…normally, I wouldn't have the confidence to speak up about this kind of stuff. But now? Maybe it's something I got from Eric, but…I really want to. And I think I know how to start."

"How is that, Your Highness?"

"I can start in the Academy, with a club. The first thing I can do is teach people about their own bodies."

"You mean anatomy?"

"Kind of, yeah." I decide to leave out what parts of the body I would focus on.

"Hmm. Well, whatever approach you decide to take, I will stand by you."

"Thank you. That means a lot." I feel a surge of emotions when I look at her, and I just can't help it! I rush forward and wrap her in a hug.

"Your Highness! We are in public…"

"Thank you. Seriously." I pull away, and give her a truly genuine smile. "You're the absolute best friend I could have possibly asked for."

“I…I am honored you think so.”

I’m not really sure what to say to that, so I turn with a shrug and continue on my way to the labs. “Now then - shall we?”