Chapter 6 - The First Evening
By the time Lyra returned to the dormitory tower, the sky outside had already begun turning gold beneath the fading evening light.
After discovering the room assignment earlier, she had immediately gone back to retrieve the luggage she had temporarily left in the room she stayed in yesterday. The process itself had been unnecessarily exhausting.
Mostly because the academy grounds were absurdly large.
And because Amy had somehow disappeared midway after claiming she was "going ahead to prepare mentally for dorm life."
Which apparently meant abandoning Lyra entirely.
The hallway outside the dorm remained quiet when she finally arrived carrying her luggage beside her.
For a moment, she simply stood there staring at the door before entering.
The room already felt different now.
Lived in.
Warm evening light filtered through the tall windows while distant student voices echoed faintly from outside the dormitory towers.
Meanwhile Amy had somehow completely settled in already.
She was laying comfortably across her bed after freshening up, her chestnut hair still slightly wet. A strange floral aroma lingered throughout the room, probably from whatever Amy used after bathing. She was reading a book that looked suspiciously similar to the academy regulations.
"You're finally back," Amy said without looking up. "I was starting to think the academy consumed you."
"The campus is unnecessarily large."
"That's true," Amy admitted seriously. "I got lost twice already."
"You came here before me."
"And yet I still got lost."
Lyra quietly placed her luggage beside the opposite bed.
Compared to Amy's side—which already looked naturally occupied—hers still felt untouched.
Organized.
Temporary.
Amy noticed immediately.
"You arrange your things like you're planning to leave tomorrow."
Lyra paused slightly.
"...Habit."
For some reason, Amy didn't joke afterward.
Instead, she quietly closed the booklet before sitting up.
"Well," she said eventually, forcing the lighter atmosphere back, "you should hurry and freshen up before dinner."
Lyra nodded once before grabbing clean clothes and walking toward the connected bathroom.
Warm water ran quietly afterward.
For the first time since arriving at the academy, the silence felt strangely peaceful.
But even then—
the surname remained stuck inside her thoughts.
Valen.
Familiar.
She had definitely heard it somewhere before.
Outside the bathroom, faint noises echoed from the room while Amy hummed something completely off-key to herself.
Lyra leaned her head back slightly beneath the falling water.
Valen.
Then suddenly—
the memory surfaced.
Snow-covered roads.
Relief caravans traveling toward northern settlements after monster attacks destroyed nearby villages.
Medical supplies.
Food distribution.
The Valen family.
Lyra's eyes widened slightly.
"...Oh."
A second later, the bathroom door opened abruptly.
Amy looked up in surprise.
And immediately froze.
Because Lyra had stormed out still slightly wet, wrapped only in a towel while staring at her unusually seriously.
"You're from the Valen family."
Amy blinked once.
"...That's your opening line?"
"You're from the Valen family," Lyra repeated.
Amy slowly sat upright on the bed.
"...Yes?"
"The merchant family involved in northern relief operations."
Recognition flashed across Amy's face immediately afterward.
"Oh."
For the first time since they met, she looked genuinely surprised.
"You know about that? No wait—" Amy looked genuinely baffled now. "You know the Valen family, but you didn't even know the Valehart family? How?"
She sounded personally offended by the discovery.
"Compared to the Valeharts, we're literally merchants."
"The Valens sent supplies to Eryndel during the northern attacks years ago," Lyra explained calmly.
Amy stayed quiet briefly before smiling slightly.
"My brother handled most of those operations personally," she admitted. "He hated sending people to dangerous places while staying safe himself."
Something about the way she spoke made the room quieter for a moment.
Like the sentence carried more weight than she intended.
Lyra noticed immediately.
"...Why are you speaking in past tense?"
Amy's expression softened slightly.
But only for a second.
"He died during an expedition two years ago."
The answer came calmly.
Too calmly.
Like the grief had already been folded away carefully over time.
For a brief moment, Lyra didn't know what to say.
Eventually Amy smiled lightly again.
"I think you and my brother would've become best friends for life," she added casually. "You both have the same exhausted expression people make after losing faith in humanity."
"That sounds unfortunate."
"It absolutely was."
The atmosphere lightened slightly afterward.
Then Amy suddenly narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"...Wait."
Lyra looked at her.
Amy slowly gestured toward her entire existence.
"You ran out of the bathroom wearing only a towel just to interrogate me about merchant history?"
Lyra blinked once.
Only now remembering her current state.
Amy stared at her silently for another second.
Then dramatically placed a hand over her chest.
"Wow."
Lyra already looked mildly regretful.
"You really hide everything under that hoodie."
"...What?"
"I'm serious." Amy looked far too entertained now. "You walk around looking like some assassin, meanwhile you actually look surprisingly—"
She paused deliberately.
"—pretty."
Lyra stared at her flatly.
"That sounded unnecessary."
"No, genuinely." Amy pointed shamelessly. "You have shoulders."
"...Everyone has shoulders."
"You know what I mean."
"I truly don't."
"And the whole mysterious hood thing completely distracted from the fact that you actually have a really nice figure."
Lyra looked one second away from walking back into the bathroom permanently.
"That sentence is making me uncomfortable."
Amy grinned proudly. "Good."
A pillow immediately hit her face.
Amy gasped dramatically while pulling the pillow away.
"You attacked me?"
"That was self-defense."
"I don't think so. That was an outright attempt at murder."
Amy immediately threw the pillow back.
Lyra caught it instinctively before staring at her.
Amy grinned.
"Coward."
Another pillow flew across the room instantly.
The peaceful atmosphere disappeared almost immediately afterward.
"You're unbelievably annoying."
"And yet," Amy laughed while throwing another pillow toward her, "you're still talking to me voluntarily."
Lyra blocked the attack with visible regret.
"This friendship feels mentally concerning."
Amy immediately pointed at her victoriously.
"So you admit we're friends."
"That was not the important part of the sentence."
Amy laughed again before trying to grab the second pillow directly from Lyra.
Unfortunately—
both of them immediately lost balance.
The mattress shifted violently beneath Amy as Lyra stumbled forward unexpectedly.
A loud thud echoed through the room.
Then silence.
Very unfortunate silence.
Lyra froze.
Because somehow—
she had fallen directly onto the bed with one hand trapped beside Amy's shoulder while the other pressed against the mattress near her waist.
Amy blinked up at her.
Lyra stared back blankly.
Then—
knock knock.
Both of them turned toward the dorm door instantly.
The door opened slightly before either could respond.
A girl standing outside peeked into the room casually.
"I heard something fall—"
She stopped speaking immediately.
Silence.
Her eyes slowly moved across the scene.
Lyra wearing only a towel.
Pillows scattered everywhere.
Amy laying beneath her.
And Lyra currently hovering dangerously close above her.
The girl blinked once.
"...Oh."
Lyra's soul nearly left her body.
"It's not what—"
Before she could finish—
Amy suddenly smiled sweetly toward the doorway.
"You know how roommates are."
Lyra slowly turned toward her with betrayal in her eyes.
The girl near the door immediately looked horrified.
"I-I should come back later."
"No wait—"
The door slammed shut instantly.
Silence filled the room again.
Amy lasted approximately three seconds before collapsing into uncontrollable laughter.
Meanwhile Lyra remained completely motionless.
"...I hate this academy already."
That only made Amy laugh harder.
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