Took me about a week to get this one finished. With school in the way right now and me replaying Spyro The Dragon, it was hard to finish this really. Well, enjoy. I recently caught a few mistakes in this during the recent upload.
Chapter 3 – Jakob's Past & Homework
Now that Corrin got to know a little bit about Ice Twins he decided to let them be for a while before speaking to either one of them again. After dinner he bid them a good night and returned to his room to resume his studies.
Leo was giving him hell with all the math and tactic assignments he gave two weeks ago. He knew that there was more to contribute in the army than just his sword skills. He wanted to lead people to victory without any casualties like a gifted tactician, but every time he tried he always kept missing details to take into consideration before making a move. He wasn't smart as him, but he wanted to at least try and see if he could solve nerve-wracking scenarios without the aid of his younger brother.
"Gods… I can see why this is so difficult. Leo must have spent hours upon hours reading every single book to get the knowledge he has today. I must admit this more troubling than my training with Gunter…"
With that he continued to work at it for about an hour. After he completed his problems he placed the papers next to his book for Leo to look at the next time he visited. Exhausted from his studies he yawned and prepared to go to sleep.
"Maybe I should go to bed now…" Just before he blew out the candle he heard a knock at his door. "Who could that be?" He approached the door and opened it to see Felicia standing with a cup of tea in her hand.
"Felicia? I thought you went to bed already. What brings you here?" He asked with a small grin.
"I kinda overheard you talking in your room, so I thought you could use some tea to help cheer you up. I think it's cold by now… Sorry I could bring it to you sooner…" She handed him the cup carefully as she didn't want to repeat what happen through her previous experiences of serving tea.
"Thank you. I appreciate the thought." Corrin sipped the liquid slowly and smacked his lips a few times to get the flavor down. "A little bitter but not bad. If you want I could show you a few ways on how I make tea." He set the cup on his desk.
"Of course milord! It would be helpful. It took me a couple of tries to get it right. Jakob kept monitoring me for every single attempt I made. He kept saying that he could have made it faster and done several other tasks when I finished making it. I was about to cry until I remembered what you told me. So I brought this in hopes that you might like it." Felicia said with a bubbly voice.
"I'll be sure to have a talk with him tomorrow. He sometimes acts brutally sarcastic toward others. He doesn't act that way around me though. I guess I was the only one who shown kindness to him since he first arrived here. He warms up to people very slowly so pay no heed to his harsh comments." Yeah. Jakob was a great butler that could move mountains for Corrin. His biggest flaw was his people skills. Making a nasty comment out of sarcasm and pity to insult others was a characteristic Jakob needed to get under control. Old habits never die unfortunately.
Felicia looked at him with curiosity in her eyes and wondered if the butler had a soft side to his current demeanor. "When did Jakob start becoming your retainer? I'm guessing a year or two perhaps?"
"About a year actually. Before that, I knew how horrible others had treated him, so I decided to speak with him so he could have a friend. He was reluctant at first given his situation. He thought I was a stuck up noble who wanted what he desired. I couldn't blame him. I would feel the mutual aspect of it as well. I would ask basic questions like how he was doing, if he was fine, and if he needed help with his chores."
Corrin then looked at the burning candle on his desk. "The only response I got from him was 'I'm fine milord', and he continued working for the rest of the day. I kept at this for six months until finally I reached a breakthrough."
"What was it?" Felicia asked with anticipation building up inside her.
"He finally allowed me to help him with one of his chores that had been tiring him throughout the entire day. As we worked he told me what the staff had been saying and treating him during his duties. He told me that I shouldn't worry about him, but as I said to you and Flora, I don't like it when one of my retainers are being given a hard time. Let alone a friend in need of help. I can't just sit and watch in silence when someone is in trouble big or small. I will aid anyone because that is the kind and caring person I am." Corrin finished with determination in his eyes and a warm glow in his heart.
"Aww! That's very sweet of you milord! You're like a guardian angel to everyone." Felicia commented with a caring hand upon Corrin's right shoulder.
Hearing that small compliment caused Corrin to blush slightly. He chuckled lightly and scratched the back of his head. "Well I wouldn't go far as to say I'm some sort of hero if that's what you're implying. It just feels right to help people in general. You would do the same right?"
Felicia pondered the question slightly in her head for a few moments until she came up with answer. "I would milord. Whether it's you, my sister, my tribe, or anyone in the fortress. But most of all you. I promised myself I wanted to be a good maid and serve you to the fullest extent I can. I know I'm a klutz at heart and I mess up everything when it comes to doing chores, but trust me when I say this: I'll never give up as long as you have faith in me Corrin."
"You have my word. Thank you Felicia for your honesty." He smiled at her, and she at him.
"By the way, what were you doing earlier that made you talk to yourself?" Felicia asked as she looked around the room with an unsure look.
"Oh its just some assignments my younger brother Leo gave me a while ago on his last visit. I've been at it ever since I finished dinner. To be honest I just wanted to rip the papers in half out of frustration, but I knew I'd be letting him down if I ever did that. I was the one that asked him to help me go through my studies to begin with."
"Oh. I understand the feeling milord. Ever since we were four, our father would home teach us about various subjects like history, math, and reading. It was just the basic things though. Nothing to where our heads would hurt."
Corrin smiled and closed his eyes as he laid back on the bed exhaling a long breath he'd been holding in. "Well if you were learning with me on Leo's teaching criteria then there's a good chance you would walk out on him. He's very thorough on everything, especially in math and science. I have to make sure and analyze each problem carefully, or else I'd miss something and he'd lecture me about it why it's wrong."
Before she could speak up Corrin continued his rambling. "I love my younger brother and I know he means well on my education, but sometimes I think he takes it too far. I'm just trying to learn the basics, and I'm stuck here trying to understand advanced math and tactics."
"How hard is it?"
That question drove Corrin off the bed, grabbed the papers he worked on, and handed them to her. "Tell me you haven't worked on something like that. Please tell me."
As she read the papers Felicia couldn't make heads or tails of what they were asking for the person to solve. She didn't understand the formulas Corrin used to get the answer. Who made this…this… monstrosity!? She knew basic math and the concepts behind it, but this was something they would offer at high level education teaching in Nohr. Not that she'd ever been to one before.
"I don't get it." She answered with a look of confusion.
"Yeah, I don't get either no matter how many times I reread the question and concepts to solve it." Oh no. The headache was coming back. Surely this meant that his fear and frustration of working on these problems were going to haunt him in his sleep. Noticing that the young prince was clutching his head with a distraught look on his face she decided to assist in the best way she could offer.
"Want me to throw these in the fire?"
"…"
"…"
"Go ahead and burn it." Felicia crumpled up the papers and threw them in the furnace across Corrin's room. As she released the ball, small little ice particles formed around it. When it landed inside the furnace the fire was extinguished by the ice ball.
"Wow... nice shot."
"Didn't expect that did ya?"
"Ha-ha. No not really, thank you for bringing me the tea, and for talking with me about Jakob. I'd ask you to stay longer, but I think you should rest up for tomorrow. I need the sleep as well you know."
She bowed her head slowly and raised it smiling. "Yes milord. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."
"Sweet dreams Felicia..."
As the maid walked out, Corrin closed the door behind her and smiled. He then walked over to his bed, blew out the candle, and laid down on smooth covers of his bed.
She's too sweet on me... Did she really mean it when she said she would follow me to everywhere I'd go, even in dire times? I don't want her to sacrifice her own life over mine. She, as well as her sister, have the right to live as well as any free person regardless of their status. I won't take their service to me for granted. Better yet, I won't treat them as servants, but as friends...
Yes... as friends...
Within those final moments, Corrin's eyelids fell as he snored peacefully with a smile on his face.
Well that wraps up the third chapter of this story. I think it came out all right. I don't think I'll upload anything for a while since I have a lot of assignments and two projects to work on by the end of November.
If you liked this chapter: Great! Glad that you did.
If not: Well I guess I have to keep at it then. Sorry...
This marks the end of the first day inside the story so I'll have to come up with something new to write. I don't know what though...
Well thank you for reading this, and I'll see you all in the next chapter.
-MattTheCat aka KingCoupon
