TYND 54

TL: Motokare

After leaving the observatory, the group stopped by one of the street food stalls run by the students. Those who recognised them however, their eyes went as wide as saucers, and their mouths hanging open in shock. The group ordered everything on the menu even if the students looked ready to serve them everything even if they hadn’t. 

Zey got an apron from one of the students and handed it over to Theon, who then draped it over Rothy’s head. The boy instinctively ducked his head into the neck hole, the whole routine happened so smoothly that it was clearly a regular event. 

“Is there something for Chi-chi too?”

“Of course.”

“Chi-chi should’ve an apron too.”

Carefully, Rothy dressed the weasel with fumbling hands. The weasel’s tail thumped the table in apparent dissatisfaction, but it didn’t try to shake the apron off. Even as they ate, Theon kept an eye on Rothy. Recently, he’d been focused on getting him to eat more so he planned to remember which dishes Rothy reached for the most and let Ultje know. Sampling bits of everything, Theon picked out what he thought Rothy would like and placed them on Rothy’s plate. With his improved eating habits, Rothy dutifully tried whatever Theon gave him, taking small bites and chewing thoroughly. He also made it a point to let Chi-chi try anything he found tasty. The weasel accepted every bite with enthusiasm. 

At some point, melon was brought out as dessert. Since it was considered a rare fruit in the North, Theon cut it into small pieces to make it easier for Rothy to eat and savour. After one bite, Rothy’s face lit up like a flower blooming under the midnight sun. 

“It’s delicious…!”

“You like it? It’s called a melon.”

“It’s sweet and really delicious… Theon, you should hurry and eat some, I’ll give it to Chi-chi as well. Everyone, eat lots, yeah?”

Theon mentally added ‘melon’ to his list. Even though Rothy was enjoying the meal and his appetite had increased, his portions were still smaller than average.

“I’m full now. Sorry…”

“You don’t need to apologise for things like that.”

Screee~

The weasel crept closer and tapped Theon’s hand with its front paw.

“I think Chi-chi wants more.”

“……”

Theon passed the weasel another piece of melon. It swallowed it in one bite and immediately tapped his hand again. This went on until the whole melon was gone. At first the creature seemed to eat only meat, but now it’d happily devour anything. Perhaps because it was no ordinary weasel, it also had a not-so-ordinary appetite. Rothy looked around hesitantly before speaking,

“When I get my stipend, I’ll use all of it on Chi-chi’s food expenses…”

He was referring to the amount allocated to him as the archduke’s consort. Tenderly, Theon caressed Rothy’s pillowy-soft cheeks. 

“I eat more than your weasel. Won’t you cover my meals too?”

His playful tone made everyone else in the group do a double take. 

“I’ll pay for your food too, Theon.”

“Thank you. Looks like I’ll be eating well thanks to my spouse.”

Rothy beamed at what Theon just said and he smiled back in return while the rest of the group, well… they looked somewhat uncomfortable. They still weren’t used to it even though Theon had been behaving like this for a while now.

After the meal, they tried out various student-run festival activities like shooting games where you could win dolls, snail racing, blowing bubbles, caricatures, and more. By the time they’d passed a few of the popup stalls, Rothy was cradling three stuffed toys.  

Screee!

Chi-chi squirmed in protest at the shrinking space in Rothy’s arms, so Zey and Xeon each took a toy from him. When they entered an area selling cute handmade trinkets by the students, Theon immediately bought anything Rothy so much as glanced at, until even Chungnip had to help carrying the ever-growing pile of purchases. Rothy was happily browsing through the stalls when he suddenly stopped walking, his eyes fixed on a stall selling animal plushies. 

At first, Theon didn’t notice when he took Rothy’s hand and tried to head another way, while there was a small resistance, Rothy went along. But after a few steps, he heard a small whimper and looked down to see Rothy desperately trying to stop his pace, his eyes tightly scrunched. 

“Pfffft,” Chungnip clamped a hand over his mouth, finding Rothy too adorable. Theon felt the same way. 

“Rothy, what’s wrong?”

When Theon stopped, Rothy let out a shaky breath, his chest rising and falling. After taking a moment to collect himself, he said:

“Theon, wait here for a moment. I’ll go buy it myself. You can wait, right?”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’ll be right back. Alright?”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, everyone stays here. I’ll go alone.” 

“Why do you want to go alone?”

Theon looked at Rothy like he’d just received a declaration of war from him. Instead, Rothy flushed a pretty pink. 

“I want… to buy a doll for Theon too.”

“……”

“I received a lot of money… and I’ve learnt how to buy things. I just need to pick one, take it to the clerk, and give them money… I’ll be quick. Just wait here.”

With that, he scurried off towards the stall. Theon didn’t follow. Well, it was more like he couldn’t, not after that cute little plea. However, he did heightened his aura to its maximum to ensure Rothy was safe. The aura knights around him found it uncomfortable, but he didn’t care. 

“He’s really adorable,” Theon muttered to himself. 

“Yes, he really is.”

“How nice for you, Your Grace. I wish someone would buy me a doll too.”

While Theon waited, basking in his subordinates’ envy, Rothy hurriedly picked a plushie. Until recently, he hadn’t even known what money was. It was only through the education he received as the archduke’s consort that he’d learnt about currency and commerce for the first time. When he heard about the academy festival, he’d purposely received part of his stipend in gold coins, filling the purse Theon had bought him to the brim. After carefully observing how people shopped today, Rothy felt confident he could do it himself. He picked out ten plushies, each no bigger than his palm, placed them in a basket, and paid for it as he’d seen others do. 

One of the students who was manning the stall picked up a plushie nearby and placed it in the basket. 

“Your Grace, this is on the house. It’s a weasel plushie that looks exactly like your weasel.”

Scree!

Chi-chi immediately twitched its nose with interest.

“Thank you.”

“Will you be able to carry all of them?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Take care.”

Rothy bowed as he’d been taught and left the stall with eleven plushies floating in the air. 

“Theon!”

Pleased with his first successful purchase, Rothy was in high spirits and ran towards Theon. He almost tripped, but Theon, anticipating it, was already moving to catch him. 

“Rothy, you fall often, so never run. Use flight magic instead.”

“Yeah! Here, this one’s for you, Theon!”

The plushie Rothy gave to Theon was a wolf with dark blue fur. 

“Thank you.”

Theon accepted the gift like it was something precious. Next, Rothy handed an eagle to Chungnip, a black bear to Zey, and a white bear to Xeon. Even after that, he still had plenty left and he excitedly explained that he’d gift them to Aeruhen, Ultje, and the others at the estate. 

“I’m giving Aeruhen the baby wolf and the penguin to Ultje.”

“That suits them perfectly. Our archduchess is really thoughtful towards everyone. But didn’t you spend too much?”

“It’s fine, I’ve got a lot. At this rate, my money’s piling up faster than I can spend it… It mightn’t even fit in my purse. My purse’s only this big, but I’ve too much money. It’d be terrible if my purse tore.”

“You should put your money in the bank.”

“But if it’s in the bank, I can’t see it, then it wouldn’t feel like its my money…” 

“Well, I suppose that makes sense…”

Listening to Rothy, Theon decided he’d give half the stipend to him in cash going forward. And he’d buy him a bigger purse, something lightweight, so he could carry it around easily. At the same time, while the group was enjoying the festival—

“Hey! Look over there. It’s them!”

“They came to our stall earlier, His Grace even blew bubbles himself.”

“You should’ve told me right away. I would’ve rushed over immediately! I’m buying that bubble machine!”

“They took that already, you idiot.”

Hot glances poured towards them from every direction. Students, professors, and ordinary visitors alike froze mid-action to stare at their group, some not even trying to hide their interest as they openly followed the party through the academy. Their eyes held a mixture of awe, curiosity and envy—understandable reactions to witnessing such legendary figures together: Xeon Hart, the first female Knight-Captain of the Black Lion Knights; Zeynith Orudios, valedictorian of the academy; Theon Detre Falsen, an Aura Master; and Rothy Sear Falsen, the youngest archmage in the history of Araxys. Four individuals whose names had spread not just throughout the North and the Zibiah Empire, but across the entire continent, now gathered in one place. For students in their mid-to-late teens, an age of boundless curiosity, no more enticing topic of conversation could exist.

“What a minute. Why’s it only the four of you? What about me?”

“That’s why you should’ve naturalised sooner.”

Zey draped her arm around a disappointed Chungnip, who then crumpled underneath Zey’s thick forearm. Theon’s group understood the students’ unbridled curiosity, so they allowed them to whisper freely among themselves. They also didn’t stop the students who followed behind them either, trailing along like little ducklings. 

However……

“Fuck, he’s so fucking handsome. How can someone look like that? It’s insane.”

“Look at those arms. I want to touch them once.”

“Think he’d sign my face if I asked?”

“Hey, the old farts told us not to speak to them. Unless you want to die running laps in the sparring hold later, keep your mouth shut.”

They were trying to whisper, but everything was audible, and perhaps because they were teenagers, the way they spoke was quite crude. Theon glanced at Rothy, but the boy remained bright-eyed as he took in the festival, completely absorbed. If he’d been on the battlefield, he would’ve heard worse. But with that pale, innocent face, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he suddenly turned to him and ask, “What does ‘fuck’ mean?”