Chapter 585: Chapter 585 – Taming the Fourth Year: Sharing Pain
Liora pushed open the door and entered Larissa’s quarters, followed by Luna and the others.
The room was enormous, decorated with embroidered tapestries and furniture made from slightly gleaming exotic woods that corresponded to a noble of her rank. But there was something in the atmosphere that felt heavy, charged with a sadness that no expensive decoration could disguise.
Larissa was seated at an ornate desk near the window, bent over mathematics exercises and political theory that clearly weren’t helping her distract herself as her tutor had hoped. The papers were scattered carelessly, ink blots marking where her attention had wandered, equations half-finished and abandoned.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, and when she heard the door open, she hurried to dry her eyes with the sleeve of her dress, trying to compose a more appropriate expression.
It had been some time since the girls had all seen each other together. The last times they had visited Larissa were during school vacations, since she no longer attended the normal academy like the others, having changed to this private education in the castle with Victor’s permission.
That separation had created a small distance between them, an invisible gap that hadn’t existed when they saw each other constantly. The bonds of daily friendship had been replaced by the more formal rhythms of scheduled visits and carefully planned conversations.
“Larissa!” Liora exclaimed, approaching with the social energy that characterized her. For her, visits to the castle during her first ten years of life with Selphira as tutor had been abundant, so she felt comfortable in the place. The months of separation always vanished as if they hadn’t passed, and she immediately felt casual and comfortable.
Larissa tried vainly to hide her emotional state. Her eyes were red and swollen, with dark circles that spoke of sleepless nights. No matter how much she tried to smile convincingly, it was obvious she had been crying recently.
“Girls… I wasn’t expecting you,” she murmured, trying to reorganize the papers in front of her to appear ‘busy with important tasks’ instead of simply trying not to fall apart.
At that moment, María emerged from a corner of the enormous room, where she had apparently been organizing some things in a tall wardrobe. Her eyes lit up upon seeing the visitors, bringing genuine warmth to the heavy atmosphere.
“Girls!” she greeted with honest joy, addressing especially Mayo and Matilda. “What a pleasant surprise to see you here so soon!”
As coworkers in service, María got along very well with the other maids of the “princesses from important families” and had developed particular camaraderie with them. She missed them considerably, having had to leave the academy and follow Larissa into the more isolated world of castle service.
But falling back into awareness of Larissa’s present situation, she approached with an expression of joy that quickly changed to one of maternal concern.
“Larissa is a bit indisposed today,” María explained with diplomatic tact, subtly gesturing toward her mistress’s abandoned exercises. “We had no knowledge that you would be visiting. Can you give her a moment to prepare herself?”
Mayo, never one to avoid direct truth even in delicate situations, scoffed gently but not cruelly.
“María, read the room. It’s obvious we’re here unexpectedly because we need something urgent, not because we have free time for social visits.”
She gestured toward their slightly disheveled clothing and the tense expressions of all the girls.
“If this were a normal visit, we would have even sent a letter in advance.”
Larissa, still partially covering her face with her hands, looked up with some curiosity but mixed with caution.
“What kind of help do you need?” she asked, her voice betraying both that small interest and an instinctive fear of involving herself in outside matters that would generate more emotional complications.
Liora began explaining the situation, but did so in a partial and indirect way, trying to be diplomatic about the complicated political crisis the Starweavers faced. She spoke vaguely about family problems, documents that might be needed to protect legitimate interests, situations requiring certain creative flexibility in normal bureaucratic procedures.
“It’s complicated to explain all the details,” Liora murmured, gesturing nervously. “But basically we need access to official documentation that allows us to access rewards and power for completing tasks that normally wouldn’t be available to people our age…”
After hearing the vague explanations, Larissa sighed deeply, her expression becoming more distant and formal.
“Arturo is extremely busy with the current defense crisis,” she responded, her tone adopting the protective formality she had learned to use when she didn’t want to deal with complicated situations. “He’s not going to tolerate any type of bureaucratic games right now, especially not with the castle completely upside down because of the situation that seems to be outside.”
She paused, looking toward the window where they could hear people moving with urgency.
“I think it would be much better if you forget all this, hide for a while until things calm down, and then return discretely to the academy before the authorities realize you escaped.”
Her voice softened slightly, showing the genuine affection she felt for her friends despite her reluctance to get involved.
“But I sincerely appreciate that you came to see me. You managed to distract me for a while and that means more than you can imagine.”
Liora didn’t completely understand Larissa’s defensive reaction or the reasons behind her resistance to helping with something that normally would have seemed like an interesting and fun challenge to her.
But she didn’t get upset… nor did she give up completely. She approached with intention to offer comfort and put an understanding hand on her shoulder.
“Larissa, I don’t think you completely understand the gravity of what’s happening. Luna’s political situation is genuinely serious and desperate, and we thought maybe you would understand… and since you have access to resources that…”
She began speaking more rapidly, trying to explain in greater detail the crisis the Starweavers faced and the political maneuvers of Luna’s uncles.
But before she could continue, Luna gave her a soft but firm hit on the head and gently moved her aside with determined movements.
Without saying a single word of explanation, Luna approached Larissa directly and enveloped her in a strong and sincere embrace.
Larissa remained completely motionless for a moment, genuinely confused by the sudden demonstration of physical affection. The action took her by complete surprise, since Luna normally wasn’t so direct with emotional demonstrations.
But after a few seconds of shock and the warm sensation of a loving embrace, something inside her broke like a dam that had been containing too much pressure for too long. She began crying openly, without trying to hide or control it.
Mayo whispered discretely to the four guards who had remained respectfully near the entrance, observing the scene with expressions of concern.
“It’s really strange to see Luna demonstrate more emotional intelligence and be more emotionally ‘daring’ than Liora.”
She paused, observing how Luna held Larissa’s back and head in her hug while she cried.
“But I suppose it must be because they’re both suffering quite a bit right now. Maybe shared pain creates understanding that words can’t achieve…”
Umi nodded discretely, having closely observed the dramatic change in Luna’s personality since she had made the desperate decision to escape from the academy and physically confront her own guards.
The old guards that trained her were right… growth came through crisis rather than comfort.
Like it ? Give it a power stone！
┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻ – It’s free and you help me a lot
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
Thank you so much for reading!
(∿°○°)∿ ︵ ︵ ︵ ︵ ︵ ǝʌol