Chapter 9: Preparation III - Secretary

The two of them walked out of the medical center into the empty campus. Now that even the knighting tournament was over, the Arvent Mech Institute was truly devoid of people as everyone had mostly packed up and gone home, either for good, or for the long break.

Fortunately, the institute allowed students to stay in their dorms for up to a month after the end of the semester before the new students moved in afterwards. While Annabelle didn’t intend to stay for the full month, she still wanted to have a place to stay after graduation while she found a new place to stay with Belevere in accordance with her plan.

Annabelle smiled wryly at the thought of her plan. She had really thought she could do it. Despite the difficulties that she knew she would encounter, she had been confident to the point of foolishness, as she now realized in hindsight, that she could win.

She had been so sure that she didn’t need a backup plan that she only had one, and it all hinged on her prospective status as a knight.

Now it all came crashing down.

She followed quietly after Belevere. They stepped onto one of the perpetually running magnetic trams that ran all over the city-sized campus and headed for the dorm they shared. She sat down next to Belevere in the empty tram car and sank into thought.

When Belevere pulled her in so that she leaned on Belevere’s shoulder, she snuggled closer. She still didn’t say anything, though.

Finally, Belevere spoke up, her voice full of worry. “Anne, what are you thinking about? Is it about your aptitude?” 

She trailed off, unsure what to say.

Annabelle laughed a little. “No. Surprisingly, I found that I’ve already accepted it. Why worry about something you can’t change?”

“Anne...you’ve given up?” Belevere turned a shocked look on her.

“No! Of course not.” Annabelle hurriedly corrected herself. “But it’s reality that my aptitude isn’t what it was. I’ll still work to raise it little by little, but...”

There was another worry she hadn’t taken into account. While becoming a knight had been her first priority, she had eventually planned on putting all of her effort into breaking through and advancing to become an expert pilot.

That was when her aptitude was still Grade A.

What about now? 

Even if she scoured the galactic net, she bet that she’d find no more than a couple of handful of cases where a Grade D pilot managed to advance. Most expert pilots that were formerly Grade D and E were those that painstakingly raised their aptitude to Grade C and higher over many years, and then advanced with one foot into the grave.

How can she ever compare to Belevere now? She had fallen even further behind, with little hope of ever catching up.

“But you’re not sure if you can, right? You can always rely on me. No matter what happens, I’ll always help you,” Belevere reassured her. 

“Thank you.”

While Annabelle wanted to believe her, reality was unpredictable.

Anyone could make promises. As far as Annabelle knew, her father had once promised her twisted mother the same thing when they were still together, but look where that got them? Although given her mother’s personality, she didn’t blame her missing father for leaving.

She couldn’t be sure that she wouldn’t one day turn as crazy as her mother and cause Belevere to leave her. She hoped she wouldn’t. Belevere deserved better.

“I was just thinking about my plans. It all hinged on my becoming a knight, you know?” she said. “I’m kind of at a loss at what to do now.”

Belevere nudged her, jostling her head that was leaning on Belevere’s shoulder.

“What was that for?” she complained.

“I know of your plans. Most of them don’t even require you to be the knight. Wouldn’t I work?”

Annabelle stared at her. She felt like a whole new horizon just opened up before her. “You’re right! I’m so stupid.” 

She covered her face in embarrassment. It’s true she had been so focused on her own problems that she hadn’t even considered Bel. Most of her plans included her anyway.

The reason she had to become a knight was many, but the first among them was so that her status would be technically equal to her mother, Knightsmaiden Vesmelda Florent. 

A fellow knight did not have any power over another legally or socially, and establishing that would have been a start in escaping from her mother’s thumb.

Annabelle was willing to do anything to accomplish that.

If she was feeling a little more daring, she could perhaps even oppose her mother directly by forming her own faction.

Many high-ranking knights had their own factions, working to expand their power and influence. It was like a much smaller version of the perpetual king game played by the dukes at the top.

Until now, she had been de facto under the Florent faction, as much as she hated it. It wouldn’t have been socially acceptable for her to join another. Doing so would have effectively neutered her prospects for the rest of her life.

However, if she had become a knight, she would be eligible to form her own faction. She’d be able to stand up for herself, if only a little.

Even if she hadn’t managed to become a knight with her own faction, some things still applied. For example, what if the faction she changed to was founded by a friend from a mech academy that she had spent years together with?

Blood runs thicker than water, but friendship runs thicker than both, especially when that friendship had been forged over almost a decade. 

It was then socially acceptable to leave her mother’s influence and join Belevere.

Like Belevere would have done for her, she will help Belevere build her faction into something amazing. Amazing enough that perhaps Belevere could one day usurp the Arvent family that ruled over Tamsel III. As an expert candidate, Belevere had the potential.

She had to stop herself from laughing giddily.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Annabelle, she scolded herself. The dream was way too big. To accomplish her new dream, she had to accomplish the near impossible: advance to expert pilot from the starting point of a lowly Grade D aptitude.

Yet, somehow she felt it wasn’t impossible. 

For some reason, she had an infinite well of confidence to draw upon and she couldn’t suppress the giddy giggle she failed to stop in the end.

She leaned closer into Belevere. 

“The next time my mother calls me, I’m going to tell her to leave me alone from now on,” she said. “I’ll be relying on your help.”

She fidgeted, shivering. “I hope I can do it when the time comes...”

Belevere scoffed. “I’d have called her myself to tell her to keep away even if you didn’t.”

“Thank you...”

The tram slowed smoothly to a stop in front of the station closest to the dorm. Annabelle wanted to stay like she was for a bit longer now that a huge worry was off her chest, but if she did, they would miss their stop. She reluctantly lifted her head from Belevere’s shoulder and stood up. 

There was a bit more activity near the dorms than the rest of the campus. A lot of people still living here took advantage of the still-cool morning air to take a walk, and some of them quickly spotted her and Belevere.

Before, they would have greeted her first, but now they had eyes only for Belevere. She preferred it this way, but it still felt a little strange to be neglected like this.

“Good morning, Belevere!” a boy called. His friend elbowed him and he quickly corrected himself sheepishly. “...I mean, Lady Odis.”

The call alerted everyone else in earshot and all of a sudden Annabelle found herself next to the center of attention. Beside her, Belevere laughed nervously. “Haha... I’m still not used to this. How do you deal with it?” she whispered.

Annabelle shrugged. “I never had this much attention, you know? Sure, being top ten out of several thousand is impressive, but how many get knighted each year? Not many, right?”

“Yeah, but how do you deal with it?” Belevere pressed as some of the people started walking over—a group of three that looked like they wanted something. 

She walked faster and Annabelle had to half-jog to keep up. It was an annoying pace to maintain, so Annabelle grabbed her hand and forced her to slow down before she continued.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw someone cover her mouth in shock, probably because of her “misconduct” toward a noble. Annabelle had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Just because Bel is a noble doesn’t mean our relationship suddenly changed.

On the other hand, many nobles did act aloof. Considering how nowadays nobility were almost like celebrities with actual power, perhaps they did it to keep the so-called fans and worshippers off their back?

At least, new nobility did. Old powers like her mother exuded an aura of untouchability in public that warned people off.

“Anyways, if they say hi to you, just smile and answer back. Or don’t. Whatever you do, don’t stop. Once you stop, it’s over and you’ll be there forever if you don’t want to seem rude,” she said.

“I don’t mind seeming rude,” Belevere admitted. “I just want to get back soon.”

Hearing Belevere’s thoughts gave her an idea. Rather than having Belevere being rude to everyone, Annabelle could instead take the role of gatekeeper and drive off the annoyances if Belevere ever became overwhelmed.

Now that Belevere was someone noteworthy, not everyone was worth her time. Though she might hire a secretary in the future, Annabelle was willing to take that position for now. She blushed a bit as her mind momentarily wandered.

A secretary and her boss... she tried to imagine Belevere in a suit, and it wasn’t really hard.

The trio were almost upon them and Annabelle shook herself out of her reverie. She pulled Belevere’s sleeve and leaned up to whisper in her friend’s ear. “Let me take care of it.”

“Wha? Okay.”

Having obtained Belevere’s permission, Annabelle stepped forward, right into the way of the people coming from the front. 

No matter how badly she flopped in the tournament, her previous reputation still warranted recognition and the students recognized her without any problems. Her presence made them hesitate. Even idiots should realize what her position relative to Belevere’s meant.

Not that it stopped them, as finally the leader continued advancing, stopped just in front of Annabelle. He towered over her, even taller than Belevere, so she had to look up to see his face.

Of course it’s him. Taeru Rahal. Rank 23.

She knew him well. Even if she didn’t want to, they still saw each other on a daily basis after all.

The boy, though she should call him a man now that they’ve all graduated, had been a part of Alecto’s camp for as far as she could remember. He had always thought that Alecto would be the one to win the knighting tournament.

He chose wrong.

Taeru was also fiercely proud, believing himself superior to everyone lower ranked than he was, which of course included Belevere once upon a time.

Seeing his complicated expression as he faced the two of them brought a strange pleasure to Annabelle.

“Hello, Taeru. I’m down here. How can I help you?” she asked.

Taeru hesitated once more, looking over her head at Belevere behind her. A bit miffed at being ignored, Annabelle jabbed a finger to his chest and pushed, forcing him back a proper distance. “Stay right there. I said, I’m down here. How can I help you?”

The man licked his lips nervously. 

“I’m here to talk about potentially serving under Lady Odis,” Taeru said. “Can I speak with her?”

Annabelle considered his words. They were nothing she didn’t expect.

The truth was, there wasn’t anything wrong with accepting Taeru into their camp. The knights that graduated from AMI usually ended up recruiting most of their foremost faction members from their graduating class. 

Wrongs, as long as it wasn’t too severe, could be set aside in favor of a properly distanced business relationship.

In the first place, Taeru’s only real fault was his pride and arrogance, which in the end was a lot less damning than a flaw like being overly ambitious. Properly cultivated, he could make a good subordinate.

Finally, she nodded. “You can contact me later,” she said.

Taeru looked over her again. Belevere must have agreed, because the man finally nodded back to her and backed off with his two lackeys.