Worthy is he who walks in the name of the Lord. There is no action without meaning, no hardship without an intended outcome. Fateful meetings, revelations, and encounters outside of one's own control were a common factor in the Lord's guidance.
Therefore, being lost had nothing to do with Noah.
At least, that was how Noah reassured himself while wandering through a barracks that should have no right to be this big. Raelyn trailed behind him, staying silent in embarrassment.
He'd tried to backtrack numerous times now, but he just couldn't seem to find his way back. The barrack hallways and rooms may as well have been duplicating themselves.
Noah was sure that from the outside, the building was square, but it felt like he'd been walking in circles or continued to miss the exit to actually get out.
The window was starting to look more and more appealing to Noah, but in his poor financial state, he could not risk incurring debt from damages. Moreover, he couldn't bring himself to be so barbaric to reason that he couldn't find his way out of a building and had to break out of a window.
Raelyn was also watching him.
"It should be this way," Noah muttered, but paused when Raelyn raised a hand and tugged on his sleeve.
"We went that way," Realyn said, pursing her lips. "Maybe in that room?"
Raelyn pointed her finger in the specified direction, and Noah obliged. Moving towards the door, he opened it, and once again, it was another empty dormitory room.
"...I thought as much." Noah hung his head.
Raelyn blushed, growing flustered by failure after failure. "It's not like this. When you first enter the barracks, you enter a room that leads into the hall!" She pouted.
"When was that?" Noah wet his lips.
"Two years ago," Raelyn answered, covering her face while glazing away from Noah's judging eyes.
Depression had caused Raelyn to hole up in the same dorm room for the entire time. If not for her name as a Kelart and former reputation, the maids and butlers attached to her may not have even cared for her enough to regularly feed and clothe her.
Noah sighed. There was no use getting hung up over he couldn't fix.
"Let's try that way," he suggested.
"We went that way," Raelyn immediately replied, already opening her mouth to suggest-
"Close that mouth. It's just another empty room." Noah said and moved on while Raelyn glared, her blanket dragging behind her.
They stayed this way for another ten minutes before Raelyn decided to break the silence with another matter she was curious about. Back when Noah had first caught her following him, she'd seen him use one of the practice swords without any discomfort or awkwardness. The motion of his swordsmanship itself didn't bely that of a beginner and instead carried an air of sophistication beyond that of a trainee.
"Are you a Knight in training?" Raelyn asked.
Briefly, Noah faltered, but he snorted at the next second.
"No," he answered. "I'm just a beggar."
"Healer?" Raelyn blinked, confused as her perception of Noah was contradicted by Noah himself. "Beggars aren't healers."
"But beggars are people too. Who says we can judge their worth without truly seeing them?"
"Gemstone," Raelyn concluded, nodding to herself. Far from clueless, she too was raised and educated as a noble lady of the Kelart family. She may seem slow, but her mind was fast. "Beggar not. Healer, respected. I won't be tricked."
Raelyn craned her chin up, proud at her deductions, and Noah didn't have the heart to argue with her.
Fate and chance were surely playing tricks on Noah.
Seated with her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around her thighs, and a dark cloud over her head was Annette.
She was on the other side of the hall Noah and Raelyn just walked into while trying to navigate out of the barracks, and had clearly been there for a while. Her eyes were puffy, and no attendants were with her as if she'd ran here to be alone.
In the silence, Noah and Raelyn's arrival was all too glaring.
Annette noticed them instantly, her gaze craning up to make sure it wasn't Henri or one of her mother's attendants, but finding only Noah and Raelyn instead.
"Ah," Noah gasped softly.
If this was really a fated meeting, and that the meaning of getting lost was all for this…then Noah wanted to peace out. The desperation in Annette's expression was weakening his resolve.
Was there any chance they could pretend he wasn't here?
Absolutely not.
Annette stared fixedly at Raelyn. There was no way Annette wouldn't know the rumors surrounding the young Kelart, and that was why she pursed her lips.
"You healed her arms," Annette said, staring at Raelyn while wiping her eyes and standing on her feet.
Annette approached, and Raelyn hid behind Noah.
Noah had clearly cured a case thought impossible with his unique Gemstone power, and that meant Annette could really hang onto this fledgling hope. It created a precedent. However, her mother mercilessly crushed those hopes before Annette could even explain to her.
"...you healed her arms," Annette repeated, this time weaker as Raelyn clued in on Annette's focus and hid her arms inside her oversized blanket.
"Yeah, I guess," Noah scratched at the back of his head, feeling self-conscious. "I couldn't just leave her like that."
"Then what about my father?" Annette accused, emotions running high despite the neutrality of her expression. It actually made it scarier. "Why can you leave him alone?"
"I told you it's not that I'm unwilling to try, but there are circumstances." Noah could see an argument brewing just like Raelyn, but neither expected Annette's actions.
"Please." Annette begged him, bowing her head and biting down hard on her lips. She grabbed Noah's hand and clasped both palms over top. "Please," she repeated.
She was just short of groveling, and Noah had no doubts that she would if that was what it took. The problem was, she was Everbright. If any of the staff or family saw this, Noah would be in hot water, making Noah's heart bleed both from unease and empathy.
"I can't just-"
Annette bent her knees-
'No. No, don't do that!'
The hairs on the back of Noah's neck rose as he quickly grabbed Annette by the shoulders and stopped her.
"If you help my father, he's not the type to forget a favour." Annette stared blankly at Noah. "If mother won't agree, then he will, so please just try."
The suggestion itself wasn't bad, but it was like taking a gamble on the integrity of a man Noah had only ever seen at a distance.
Noah opened then closed his mouth, conscious of the way Raelyn was looking between him and Annette.
Raelyn was a witness, and children had no filters.
Ugh.
"J-Just stand up, alright?" Noah grouched out, forcing Annette's back straight. "We've got company," he whispered into her ear.
Annette perked up.
A person was running over to them from the entrance of the barracks Noah and Raelyn had somehow missed countless times. Noah and Raelyn shared an embarrassed look, but dropped the matter now that the issue was solved.
The person running towards them was none other than Mary.
Sweat was matting her brows, and there was an urgency in her features that didn't seem to bode well with Annette.
"Annette, there you are." Mary panted for breath, stopping once to glance at Noah and Raelyn before focusing on her lady. "There's a summons to the audience hall."
Annette squirmed, recalling the words her mother had said about meeting with a representative from the coalition of local nobles vying over Amaranth.
Meanwhile, Noah shrugged, thinking the matter had nothing to do with him, but he forgot a certain concept in his time spent in the slums.
All nobles were born opportunists.
"Wait."
Annette just thought of something, stopping Noah in his tracks as she strong-armed him next to her. "He's coming with us."
Mary's face twitched.
"No." Noah did one better and refused.
Annette smiled.
"An etiquette tutor for Leah."
…fuuuuuuuu!
She somehow dangled the bait Noah wanted most.