Crests, crests, crests. What made them so special? What made them so powerful that me being born with one meant prestige for my whole family? I never really bothered to ask these questions. My mother told me that a crest was proof of your bloodline. It was proof that you were worthy of being nobility. But what does that even mean?

I had grabbed every book in the library I could find about crests, but there was nothing in these library books that I already did not know. Most books preached of Saint Seiros, Ten Elites and Four Saints, and how crests gave powers to its owners. A crest could increase the power of your attacks or conserve uses of magic. But most crests could only be used in war. A crest won't activate to help a person to plow the land or milk a cow or build a house. Aside from healing, they were of no use to civilians. And even when healing, a crest won't cure an illness, only a flesh wound. Why was it that way?

And what was my crest exactly. After reading all these books, I knew one thing for certain. I could not have the Crest of Lamine. It could manifest while healing, but my crest manifested during battle. The sad thing was that my parents probably knew the truth about my crest. I always thought it was weird that I never got to learn healing magic directly. I only knew a little bit about it because I asked my offensive magic teacher to teach me. Why would my parents not hire a white magic teacher when my crest was supposed to amplify it? The answer was clear and painful. Because they knew that my real crest had nothing to do with healing and they did not want me to find out.

The more I thought about these things, the more confused I got. I just wanted to go back home to confront my parents, but I could not just abandon my studies without notice. It would take at least a week to get from Garreg Mach to my home.

"You sure seem to be deep in thought," I nearly screamed. Claude just suddenly popped up from behind my shoulder, eyeing at the books I was reading.

"Goddess! Claude! You can't just sneak up on people like that!"

"I did call your name before, but you didn't hear me. What are you up to with all these books on crests?" Claude asked. He was still smiling but his eyes were unusually serious. It felt like he was proding into my mind, trying to find out my every thought.

"Oh, this... I just got curious! I've never actually learned much about crests," I said with a fake smile and quickly closed the opened books. I certainly was not comfortable talking about my fake crest with anybody. It anybody from the Monastery knew, not only could I get into big trouble, but I could endanger my family as well.

"Seems a bit of an overkill for just some curiosity," he leaned in closer and looked deep into my eyes, searching for answers that even I did not have. I averted my gaze and got up from the chair. He was pushing this topic too much for my liking.

"I'm sorry, I have to go now! See you later!" I grabbed books, dropped them off in front of the librarian Tomas and left the library. It was a rude thing I did, but I felt too confused. My head was in a daze already from realizing that my parents had lied to me and Claude getting all up in my business was not helping. I just wanted some answers.

Seemed like the Harpstring Moon would be quite an ordeal for everyone. I knew that during our time in the academy, we would be sent on real missions and participate in real combat. But when professor Beleth announced that this month our mission was to eradicate some bandits in the Kingdom territory, my heart sank. It meant that I would actually have to battle… and kill somebody. This thought alone almost made me lose all of the determination I had coming to the Garreg Mach. I wasn't ready.

"I know that most of you have never killed before, so you better prepare yourself both physically and mentally," Beleth warned us. I avoided looking at the Professor. He had probably killed many, many people and this thought made my stomach churn.

I never expected that this topic would shake me up so much. In fact, I was so shaken that lesson had long since ended but I was still sitting in my seat, staring at the blackboard, my hands slightly shaking in my lap.

"Amber, are you alright? The lesson is over," I flinched a little bit when I felt the Professor put his hand on my shoulder. It was surprisingly gentle and warm. His expression also seemed softer, concerned almost.

"I-I'm fine. Just worried about our first real mission. The thought of killing somebody scares me," I admitted. I hated showing my weakness in front of other people, but Beleth's unusually gentle touch reassured me.

"It would be weird if it didn't," Beleth said and I noticed how the corners of his lips lowered. Did he remember a bad memory? "Killing somebody is never easy, be it the first time or the 101st time."

"So you don't find killing people easy?" A rude question on my part, but I was honestly surprised how this supposedly ruthless mercenary actually struggled with killing people. I've heard rumors that he and his sister were called the Ashen Demons. At first I thought the name fitted them like a glove, but now I started to think the nickname might be an exaggeration.

"No. And I imagine you won't either. But you will have to learn how to live with it. Remember that we are not going to kill innocents. These people attack others, steal their possessions, destroy homes and families. If they live, others will suffer," the Professor said slowly, as if to help me accept the burden I'm about to carry on my shoulders.

"I understand, Professor. Thank you very much! When the time comes, I'll be ready!" I stood up from my seat and gave the Professor a smile. His expression remained the same as always, but I could feel that he was not uncaring to the topic. Slowly I was starting to see that this ruthless mercenary was much more compassionate and caring than I could have imagined.

For the next few days I spent the whole day either at lectures or sparring with someone on the training grounds. I took the Professor's words to heart and decided that I needed to do everything possible to increase the odds of successfully completing the mission. The stronger I became, the bigger the chance that I or one of my allies won't sustain an injury or worse. And I would rather kill a stranger than see my allies die or get injured. Also thinking about the upcoming mission helped me not to think about my crest.

Today I was sparring against Leonie from the Golden Deer House. One day we both ran into Jeralt and started asking him for training tips. We then discovered our mutual admiration for the Captain (that's how Leonie calls him) and became fast friends.

"Pay attention to your footwork. You can never win if you only use your upper body," Leonie said, hitting me with a training lance from different angles. I tried to parry her attacks but eventually she overwhelmed me and I found myself with my face in the dirt.

"Sorry, was I too rough? I always forget that you don't have much experience with lances yet," Leonie quickly ran up to me and helped me get up.

"It's alright. You don't need to hold back on my account. I want to catch up to both you and Jeralt, after all," I said with a smile and Leonie smiled back. We both talked for a bit about our techniques and how to improve them, and then agreed to spar together again tomorrow. Of course, first we would try to catch Captain Jeralt so he would help us. I'm sure that he was getting annoyed with us by now, but he never expressed it and was always ready to help. It only proved to me what great man he is.

As I was about to leave the training grounds, I ran into Claude. He waved his hand at me and gave me his signature smile.

"Hey, Amber! Training hard?"

"Hello, Claude. Yeah, I want to be ready for our first real mission," I explained and was ready to leave. After our little exchange in the library, I did not want to talk to Claude. I was afraid he would want to know more about my crest.

"Listen, Amber. I'm sorry about my behavior in the library. I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm just the kind of guy who gets really curious about secrets. Can I make it up to you with a cup of tea and some sweets?" Claude gave an apologetic smile. It made me feel a little better, but I was still cautious. But a cup of tea couldn't hurt, right?

"Alright. I'd love to have a cup of tea," I smiled at him.

"Excellent! Go wash up and I'll pick you up later, alright?"

"Yeah, I should be ready within an hour."

After approximately an hour, when I was done with my bath and had put one some clean clothes, I heard a knock on my door. My mood was much better than in the morning, and I even put on a nicer dress and styled my hair a little bit. Part of me was thinking it was probably too much, but the other part wanted to look nice. After all, I've been doing nothing but train since I got to Garreg Mach. I felt more like a soldier rather than a noble.

As I opened the door, Claude eyed me from head to toes and whistled.

"Hey! Wow, you actually dressed up for me. You look great!" Claude said and showed a charming smile. He was probably just being polite, but I couldn't help but blush a little anyway.

"A noble lady must always take care of her appearance."

"Of course! Well, shall we go then?"

"Yes."

I followed Claude and he led me to the garden where tea and sweets have already been prepared. He gestured towards one of the chairs and I sat down. The atmosphere was very pleasant and relaxing. There were flowers all around, birds chirping in the background, quiet murmur of other students enjoying their time in the garden.

"Thank you for this! I feel like I've been doing nothing but train lately," I said while Claude was pouring some tea for me.

"Yeah, I noticed. Seems like whenever I went to the training grounds, you were always there whether it was morning, day or evening," Claude's voice sounded a bit concerned and his eyebrows were furrowed. It felt quite nice to know that he cared for me, even if just a little bit.

"I guess, I've been just letting off some steam. Anyway, thank you for the tea," I tried to steer the conversation away from the unpleasant topic that was constantly gnawing at the back of my mind. I quickly took a sip of the tea and was really surprised by its unusual flavour. "What is this tea? I've never tasted anything like this before."

"It's Almyran Pine Needles tea. My personal favorite. How do you like it?"

"I'm not sure. It's neither sweet, nor bitter. It's a bit sour and nutty?"

"Yeah, it needs some getting used to. But it reminds me of home, so I can't help but like it," Claude explains and his eyes seem to grow distant, as if visiting some far-away place.

"Home? Are you from Almyra? I had a feeling you weren't from Fodlan," I asked curiously. I did think that he did not look like he's from Fodlan, but he can't be the next Duke Riegan unless he has Fodlan blood running through his veins.

"Yeah, I'm half Almyran. In fact, I've lived in Almyra my whole life until last year when my grandfather discovered me as his legitimate heir," this story seemed very simplified and I bet there was a lot more to it, but I did not dare to ask. It would feel like I was sticking my nose where I was not supposed to.

"That's very interesting. I wish I could go see Almyra one day. I've heard that it is a very beautiful country that's very different from Fodlan."

"Really? Maybe one day, I'll get the chance to show you around," Claude smiled and his eyes seemed to light up. I've never actually seen him look so genuinely happy. It seemed like Claude was mostly smiling to be polite, but now it was different.

"That would be nice. I bet you would love to meet all your old friends from Almyra again!"

"Oh, I'm afraid that besides my parents, not many actually miss me back in Almyra," his tone sounded sad although the smile never left his face.

"Really? Why not? Didn't you have any friends back there?"

"No, not really. You see, I was the son of enemy's daughter, so everybody hated me for that. In a way I was actually happy to leave Almyra. I was hoping that here people would not see me as an outsider," at this point, the polite smile disappeared from his face. It must be a difficult topic for him, because I never imagined that Claude could be so sad. "Unfortunately, here things are no different. I was still hated and seen as an outsider."

"I'm sorry… If it's worth anything, I don't care that you're half-Almyran," I tried to cheer him and a small smile showed on Claude's face. And this smile, although small and barely noticeable, was genuine.

"Thanks, Amber! I really appreciate that. I kind of feel bad that I'm about to spoil the mood now."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure how to say this nicely without scaring you, so I'll just say it how it is. I know you don't have the Crest of Lamine," I nearly choked on tea. With these words my worst nightmare has been realized. I knew that during battle, Claude was probably preparing to shoot me with one of his dummy arrows when my Crest activated. I knew that he probably saw it. I just had hoped that he would just dismiss it or that he would simply lack knowledge on crests.

"What are you talking about, Claude? Of course, I have the Crest of Lamine. This crest has been in my family for generations," I tried to feign ignorance. Maybe he'll buy it.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" He didn't. Obviously. Now I felt resigned, scared and unsure of my future. If any noble from the Empire would find out, then not only would I be kicked out of the Officer's Academy, but my family would probably be stripped of whatever little power we had left.

"Please, don't look so sad and miserable! I don't intend to blackmail you or anything. I'm kind of hurt that you would think so lowly of me," Claude made a dramatically sad face.

"Then what do you intend to do with this information?"

"Well, honestly I just want to help you. I bet you want to find out what Crest you actually possess. That's why you were going through all those books in the library, right?" This guy was way too sharp. He seemed to notice everything around him and draw connections were others would have drawn a blank.

"I do want to find out, but how would I even begin to do that? I can't just walk up to professor Hanneman and ask if he could inspect my Crest! Besides, why would you want to help me?"

"I'm just curious, really. I want to know what kind of mysterious Crest you have. And…"

"And?"

"I honestly want to help this wonderful girl who never once judged me because of my heritage or title. Will you let me help you?" Claude outstretched his hand for a handshake. My mind was warning me to be careful, but before it could protest, I had already shaken his hand.