Hohenfels

Arne repressed the urge to frown for the hundredth time today.

Recently, he found himself hurrying from crisis to crisis. Be it fictitious engagements, silkling soirées, or Friedrich being Friedrich, it was the exact opposite of what he wanted from his stay at the academy.

“Say, what can I do to make them leave me alone?” he sighed dejectedly.

Katharina’s expression morphed from a performative pout to incomprehension. “What do you mean?”

“Matthias caused the first duel, Maximilian caused the second one. Leonhardt obviously didn’t want to be there, and neither did I,” he said tiredly. “You know the Westerners much better than I do. How do I get them to just… stop this?”

“You could ask them nicely,” she replied, her voice and aura dripping with sarcasm until a flash of panic and contrition took over. “I apolo–”

He held up his hand. “It’s fine. Be candid.”

“...You won’t be able to do anything about it as long as you remain in their general vicinity. They will keep testing and using you.”

Arne sighed again. “I figured.”