[Present time]
We attended the academy three to four times a week. And while we weren't doing so, Nikolas and I continued pretending as August and Erilyn. There were times when we got invited to parties and banquets by other households, and to preserve connections we were obligated to come. We'd kept at it for more than a week now, accomplishing our social duties while also going to school in an effort to stay in touch with the semblance of our normal lives as students.
As I couldn't participate in the academy training sessions along with my classmates, who'd gotten used to Niko and I's limited appearances, I had to stay behind with nothing to do except lounge in the library with Sara for our little "investigation" regarding the blood-wielders. During all this, Andrius had become my second shadow. The healer had made me go through exercises which involved summoning up tiny flickers of frame so I wouldn't strain myself.
