At the cafeteria of the Lily building, Yoshua raised an eyebrow at the amount of food Noah put on his tray, but ultimately said nothing.

Today the students could choose between mutton drizzled with yoghurt sauce or spiced sausage. There were grape leaves stuffed with rice on the side and honeyed fruits for dessert. If none of those were to the student’s liking, there were several different types of sandwiches and a salad bar available for their perusing.

Noah chose to have spiced sausage. The chef put a runny egg on top and gave him fresh bread. He also grabbed a couple of the rice wrapped in grape leaves and a fruit bowl, since the demon had been eyeing them when he passed by and whining for him to give it a try.

A young man waved them over and pointed at the two empty seats across from him. Their upperclassman Simeon greeted them with a bright and cheerful smile. His eyes flickered in surprise at the amount of food on Noah’s tray.

“Woah, Noah! You must be really hungry today. You usually don’t eat this much for lunch.”

Noah smiled. “Hm, you can say that.”

“Seems like you’re eating for two,” a quiet voice murmured across their seats.

If Noah was eating something, he definitely would have spat out the food or choked on it. Instead he froze and slowly turned towards a pale young lady with black hair and brown eyes. She smiled at him mischievously from her seat next to Simeon, who was a stark contrast to her with his bright red hair, green eyes and tanned skin.

“I didn’t know you were expecting,” the demon teased.

“Hush!”

“Of course not, Alivia. You know that’s not possible,” Noah said.

“What’s impossible with magic around?” she replied with a non-chalant wave of her hand.

“It’s not that it’s impossible,” Yoshua said. “Rather, it’s illegal. Body modification spells are banned after all.”

“Oh, she knows that pretty well,” Simeon said. “Otherwise she’d have made herself taller by now.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know, I’m average height! You guys are just freakishly tall.”

Simeon and Alivia were one of the few people Noah could call his friends. They were a duo that never failed to amuse Noah the moment he joined the dance club and met them. Alivia’s been a Blossom student for over a year already despite being younger than Noah. She took Proelia classes with Simeon.

The red head on the other hand, was older than all of them and was going to graduate this year. Noah will definitely miss him and his carefree manner.

Noah giggled quietly at their banter and ate slowly. The sausage was juicy and a little spicy, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

“Anyway, Noah didn’t deny that he might be pregnant.”

“Why is this conversation circling back to me?” Noah said after swallowing his food. “And I did deny it. Again, it’s not possible.”

Alivia shrugged. “I need to distract them from talking about me, and again; magic.”

“So I’m your sacrificial lamb,” Noah noted drily.

“Always,” she said cheerfully.

“If Noah is pregnant, that means he and the princess finally did it, right? So did the princess, you know…” Simeon wiggled his eyebrows playfully and stole a piece of fruit from his bowl.

“Please refrain from speaking so crassly about my fiancée,” Noah said in a deadpan.

“Of course, sorry, sorry! But man, if it’s not the princess, who else could impregnate you? Can’t be that it’s Yoshua, right?”

Yoshua coughed when his name got dragged into the conversation.

Alivia grinned as she reached out to ruffle his hair. “This guy here? No way could he top someone as frigid as Noah!”

Noah sighed tiredly as he rolled his eyes. Why was he friends with these people again?

He kept quiet and just nodded along as the two teased him by dropping several lists of names on who could be the father to his hypothetical child. “What if it’s Romas from the Medela class? I heard he’s quite the playboy.”

“Huh?” Alivia narrowed her eyes. “But doesn’t he have a thing with Juli?”

“Juli from our class? Captain Eloi’s second in command?” Simeon asked.

“Yeah, that Juli!”

“Hm, I don’t know about that, but I heard they made out at the pub at some point,” Simeon said.

“What?! Details! I need details!”

According to Simeon, he went out for drinks after a grueling afternoon full of sword drills with Juli, Eloi and some other Proelia students at the pub in Eridani. There was a brawl at some point and one of the Medela students passing by helped with the healing. That student happened to be Romas who was running an errand for his class.

One thing led to another and before they knew it, Juli was making out with Romas.

Noah idly wonders what their families would think if they found out their sons had such an interaction with each other. Their families were known for their long rivalry in the winery industry and would definitely be upset at this. Was this actually information his mother would find useful? It seems like drivel to him.

“Oh Noah, I almost forgot, but congratulations on getting a spirit guide! You can finally suffer with us!” Simeon said. “Which class are you joining? Medela, Proelia or Astrum? Please tell me it’s Proelia, I need more friends there instead of just this little one here.”

“Oi,” Alivia said while roughly bumping her legs with his. She stood up with her tray of food and the rest followed suit. Lunch break was over and the quartet put their food away towards a rack filled with used trays and dirty dishes. “You just want an easier punching bag. It’s not my fault you suck at handling a sword. But yes, Noah you’ll join us, right?”

“After hearing that? Of course,” Noah said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“That doesn’t sound very convincing,” Simeon said.

“He’s part of the Astrum class,” Yoshua said.

“Aw man, that sucks,” Alivia replied as she put her tray away. “Well, say goodbye to a normal sleep schedule then. Good luck, Noah!”

They split up for the afternoon lessons. Alivia and Simeon went towards the classrooms on the second floor since they finished their morning drills and now had to attend Enchantment and Alchemy classes. Noah and Yoshua on the other hand, headed to one of the towers of the building.

After walking up several flights of stairs, Noah found himself in front of a colorful hallway with an imposing double door on each side. One was for the advanced Blossom students, and the other was for the beginners. Noah waved Yoshua goodbye as he entered the beginners class and took a seat near the blackboard filled with messy cursive writing Noah squinted at to read.

The windows in the room were covered with dark blue curtains trimmed with golden tassels that barely let the light in.

The roof showcased the night sky. Stars twinkled as a large full moon shone down on them. It was the only light in the room. Students slowly trickled in and whispered conversations followed along. There was something in the dark classroom that made them lower their voices. A magical trait only the night could bring.

A man in his late thirties sat behind the teacher's desk. He smiled at every student who entered and welcomed them to his class.

Noah was very familiar with this man, since he also worked as the head librarian of the school.

Akhtar Davani was a tan man with dark hair and dark eyes. Some students who had a crush on him waxed poetries about the stars shining in them, while those who disliked him because they were kicked out of the library, said he’s as ugly as a squid.

He was originally only a librarian. But because the professor of the Astrum class was getting old and needed an heir–and the previous beginner’s class professor quit to become a stay at home mother to her two children–the school had no choice but to hire him to fill in the position temporarily while they searched for a replacement.

That was a couple of years ago and the school still hadn’t found a substitute as knowledgeable as him.

“Congratulations on contracting a guide!” Professor Davani said. “And welcome to Astrum class. I will be teaching you about the basics on how to read heaven and earth.”

Books appeared in front of the students and Noah lazily flipped through it while listening to the professor's introductory lecture.