I groaned, watching the half-formed crystal in my palm flake and disintegrate as I released my focus. “Be right there.”
I pushed myself to my feet, still mourning the loss of the closest thing to a success I’d managed so far. I had a pretty good store of crystals I’d built inside quartz molds at this point, but the molds — while cheap — were almost as valuable as the crystals I was making.
Rather than selling the crystals directly, I’d been making simple practice items with the crystals, but none of them were Carnelian-level, and thus they weren’t likely to sell.
I opened the door, offering Patrick a wave. He must have seen the exhaustion on my face, because he frowned when he looked at me. “Everything okay?”
I nodded wearily. “Yeah. Just been stressed with one of my projects.”
“Making another mana necklace thing?”
I shook my head. “Trying to figure out how to make mana crystals without a mold.”
“What for?”
It hadn’t occurred to me that the answer might not be completely obvious. “So I can make us better magic stuff.”
“Oh! Yeah, that makes sense. Uh, here, your sister wanted me to give this to you.” He reached into a bag on his hip, pulling out a smaller pouch and offering it to me.
I accepted the bag, lifting it curiously and hearing the clink of metal. “Running Sera’s errands now?”
Patrick chuckled. “Uh, not exactly. Can I come in?”
“Yeah, of course.” I gestured to my room magnanimously. “My home is your home.”
Patrick chuckled weakly in reply, coming in and planting himself on my bed. “Uh, about that, actually. Sort of.”
I closed the door behind him, raising an eyebrow. “What, you looking to move in? I know having a room near Roland must be grating, but—”
“Not that. I mean, you’re not wrong,” he grinned, continuing, “but that’s not why I’m here. First, check out the goods in there.”
I opened the pouch, pouring it out. A few coins dropped into my hand.
Gold coins.
“What the—”
“Sera finally got paid for that whole stage thing she did. I guess they told her to set a big chunk aside for taxes, but she still got more money than I’ve ever seen out of it. That’s about half of it, I think. Sixty or so silver worth in gold coins. She wants you to make her something. Should be a note in there, too.”
Ah, her first hint of wealth and she’s already sending people to do her bidding. Oh, Sera. Mad from power at such a young age.
Or, maybe there was another explanation.
I felt like a bit of a jerk for not checking on her more frequently. “Is she feeling okay? That Survival Match took a lot out of her.”
Patrick glanced from side-to-side nervously. “Oh, yeah, she’s fine. Got a bit of a cough, but the Mender said she’s recovering. I volunteered to bring the coin coins for her because, uh, I wanted to ask you something. And to do something nice for her.”
I still wasn’t seeing where this was going. “Okay?”
“I could kind of use your advice. You aren’t, um, seeing Sera, are you?”
I blinked. Rapidly. “...no? I mean, I know it’s recent, but she’s supposed to be my family now, right?”
“Ah, um, that’s good. I mean, you two were always close when you were younger, and I thought maybe there was something, like, romantic...”
I waved a hand to cut him off. “It was never like that. At least, not for me. She was supposed to be trained to be one of my retainers. We were close friends. We still are. Kind of like my friendship with you, actually.”
I still wasn’t clear where this line of questioning was leading. Why would my feelings for Sera be relevant?
“Oh, great. That’s... well, you see, I’ve been thinking about asking Sera to the winter ball.”
Oh.
Oh!
I laughed, to which Patrick’s expression turned to utter horror.
“You... oh... I don’t have a chance, do I? Is it really that funny?” His cheeks flared crimson.
I waved both hands. “Oh, no! Sorry, Patrick. I was laughing at myself for completely missing what you were getting at until you hit me over the head with it. I never realized you had any interest in Sera!” I paused, scratching my chin.
I never really asked either of them about how they’d been getting along in the years I was away. Honestly, I didn’t really ask either of them about how they’ve been doing in general. I need to be better about that.
Either way, I can’t see how Sera would have a problem with Patrick just asking.
Having reached my conclusion, I continued, “You’re fine. I don’t see any problem with you asking her.”
Patrick turned his head to the side. “Yeah, except that I’m not good enough.”
Okay, definitely not seeing what’s going on here again.
I folded my arms. “How so? You’re athletic; you’re doing fine in class...”
He chuckled. “I’m a nobody, Corin. That might have been fine when we were kids. She was a retainer for a noble house, but that’s only one rung above a commoner. Not insurmountable. Now, she’s like you. A full-on noble.”
“You really think that still matters these days?”
He gave me a solemn nod. “Yeah. It really does. It’s great that you don’t care about that sort of thing. It’s something I like about you. Lots of people our age don’t care about it. But think about your dad, Corin. Would he approve of Sera Cadence going to the winter ball with the son of a carpenter?”
I frowned. “No, not really, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t approve of her going to a dance with anyone. My plan would be to not tell him.”
“Would that be Sera’s plan, though? She cares about face a little more than you do. She’s proud to finally be a noble. And it’s not just ‘a dance’. The winter ball is a big event. It’s not just for our school; it’s a city-wide event. All sorts of nobles are going to be there, and she’d probably want to be dancing with one of them.”
I hadn’t really considered that. Maybe the title meant more to her because she hadn’t been born with it?