The bell signaled the second half of the school day. Upon Kayn's return to class, the Earl's son was sitting in his seat with his mouth shut and his head down. The anger radiating from him made those around him tense.
Next to him was his sister, who watched with worry as he walked past her. She glanced over at Alfred, who was physically shaking with embarrassment and anger.
Kayn once again ruffled her hair and gave her a reassuring smile as he took his seat at the front of the class.
The class dragged on with Kayn checking on Kisara every now and then to see if she seemed any more cheerful. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to change so quickly. She was still working hard and not talking to many people.
*'I bet she will struggle to fit in now. Now that everyone is already in friend groups, it will be hard for her to join in. I'll have to do something. It was my fault she was in that situation.'*
He leaned back on his chair, balancing on two legs and staring up at the ceiling.
*'Just how can I get others to talk to her without making it seem like I'm forcing it? That will only make her feel worse.'*
For the final lesson of the day, Mrs. Eldridge had prepared a group lesson. Each group must consist of three people, and they would work together using the previous week's lessons to forage in the forest for herbs.
As groups formed among the children, Kayn screwed up a paper ball and hit the red-haired girl on the back of the head as she started to move toward her friends. She turned to receive a terrifying glare from Kayn as he mouthed silently, "Read the paper," to her across the class.
She opened it to see he had written, "Hey redhead, you and that other girl are going to form a group with my sister. Do it and I'll owe you one. Don't worry about Alfred, I've taken care of him." At the bottom of the page, another side note said, "Tell my sister about this, and I will make your life miserable."
During this time, Kisara had left her desk and headed toward Kayn.
"Guess we are partnering up since you've got no friends," she said with a sigh.
"Yeah, no thanks. I've got plenty of friends. Perks of being the class clown. Looks like you'll have to find someone else."
She became filled with anxiety as she realized that she would have to ask the teacher to find her a partner. She couldn't bear that embarrassment. Luckily, before it came to that, the redhead tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hi, I know I've sat next to you for a while now, but we haven't talked much. We should partner up and be friends. My name's Eleonora." She reached out to link arms with Kisara.
"Yeah, sure, I'm Kisara. Sorry for not talking; I just get engrossed in my work." Both girls knew why she wasn't really talking but ignored it to drop the awkward subject.
"I'm Isabel." The working-class girl linked her other arm as they both led Kisara away.
As the girls walked away, the redhead looked over her shoulder, giving a wink toward Kayn.
*'Well, that takes care of that. What a coincidence we would have a group activity so soon.'*
"Kayn, you're with me so I can keep an eye on you!" Mrs. Eldridge's voice rang through the class.
"I don't think your husband will appreciate us going on a date, Mrs. Eldridge. Maybe it's best I partner up with others," replied Kayn with a grin on his face.
"Oh no, don't think you're getting away from me that easily. You know it was a good idea. I think I'll have to hold your hand the entire day out. Wouldn't want your parents being worried now."
The light laughter of the class bounced back and forth between who they supported.
"Ah, whatever, you can have this one, you old bag of bones. I surrender."
*'You win this one, you old bag of bones. You're lucky I'm in a good mood.'*
Throughout the foraging lesson, Kisara's new group of friends seemed to be getting along well, chatting away among themselves. It all went as planned, and Kayn had achieved his goal, even if he was completely embarrassed being forced to hold the teacher's hand as they walked through the village.
After school was over, Kayn made the commute home alone. His sister decided to walk home with her new friends.
As he arrived home and entered the house, Erza was sitting on a chair next to the fireplace, knitting a thick woolen scarf and coaching Ranni on how to do the same. This winter had been especially cold and hard for the villagers. Many were cold and hungry, and Earl Greyard refused to spare any of his luxuries to help those he governed.
"Well, how did your first day back go? You didn't cause any problems, did you?" Erza asked with a sigh in her voice, almost as if she was expecting a certain answer.
"All went well. You can even ask the old hag if you don't believe me."
"I wish you would stop calling her that. Mrs. Eldridge used to teach me and your father back in the day. She is a good woman. Also, where is your sister?"
Kayn kicked his soaked leather shoes off and tucked himself in comfortably near the fire. His stomach was rumbling from not having time to eat during the lunch break, and his exhaustion was visible.
"She's with some friends from school. She left me starving and all alone in the freezing cold of winter. I could have died and she didn't even care!" Sarcasm oozed out of every word, making Ranni chuckle and his mother sigh.
"It's nice she is making friends, but did she tell you where she was going exactly?"
"No idea. I'm sure wherever they are and whoever she is with will get sick of her and send her home soon enough."
"She is going to get an earful when she gets home. If she is going to be out somewhere, she should let someone know. What if something was to happen? How would any of us know?"
"I think you should take away her dinner, and then since we have too much, I'll have to eat her portion. It would be a shame to throw away good food."
Erza sighed in dismissal and carried on with her lesson. Kayn retired to his room to rest after a long, stressful, and thankless day of conflict and relationship building.
Later that night, Kisara returned from her outing with the other girls. She was chewed out by Erza but was still given her dinner, to the dismay of Kayn. The night continued as usual, and the family retired to their rooms one by one, including the twins.
They were both tucked away in their beds, Kisara reading her book with a candle lit on the bed stand, and Kayn trying to sleep but being kept up by the annoying flickering light. Kisara put the book on the nightstand that sat in the gap between their beds and rolled over to face her brother.
"I didn't want to ask in front of others at school, but what actually happened with Alfred? You didn't make it worse, did you?"
"Well, you saw Alfred. He was fine, a little angry maybe, but he won't be causing any more problems. My communication skills have improved significantly. I've made him stop. You've got nothing to worry about."
"I am worried. I've been worried all day. Tell me what you did. I don't want this to become a big deal. You heard Mom and Dad. They don't need the Earl making it harder for them. It's not fair."
"Well, if you must know, after lightly beating up his friends, we had a little heart to heart and agreed to not mess with each other again."
*'A half-truth is all you need to know. Sorry, sister, but if I get kicked out of school again or our mother finds out I angered the son of the Earl again, I'm pretty sure she will feed me to the wolves.'*
"Promise me you haven't made anything worse."
"I promise. Now let me go to sleep. I'm exhausted."
"Okay. Thanks for helping me. It's been a really shit month."
"Yeah, well, next time a guy tries to bully you, kick him as hard as you can in the balls, and he will soon regret it."
Kisara's body relaxed as she put out the candle flame to settle down to sleep. A weight was lifted off her shoulders, and now that it was over, she could go back to her old self.
Kayn, on the other hand, was still feeling guilty about her suffering for his mistake. From here on out, he'll try his best to be less of a nuisance. At least until he leaves the house and becomes responsible for himself.