"What do you mean, you're assigning me an adjutant!? Is this some kind of joke?"

Dust slowly danced in the mid-morning sunlight streaming through the windows of Garreg Mach Monastery's grand hall. The professor looked up from his book. His expression was cool and unaffected, and Felix hated it.

"Don't give me the silent treatment. If this has to do with my performance during training last week, I think I've more than made up for it with my recent victories in our last battle."

Irritation bubbled up inside. Professor Byleth was always full of surprises, but Felix preferred when those surprises involved impressive footwork and clashing steel, not… unwelcome reassignments.

"I told you I work best alone," he continued as the professor maintained his silence. "I don't see how this is going to help. If anyone needs an adjutant, it should be Sylvain to keep him in line, not me. "

"A little bit of teamwork never hurt," Byleth finally spoke. Felix sensed there was more to that statement than the Professor was letting on judging by the glimmer in his piercing teal eyes.

"Tch. Your concern is misplaced. I can easily hold my own."

"You're right. I'm not worried about you holding your own. I want you to harmonize better with the others."

Harmonize? Had someone made a complaint? How pathetic. Felix started running through a list of possible guilty parties in his mind.

"Anyways," Byleth closed his book and offered a nod as he began to walk away, "it's time for tea. Make sure you're prepared for tomorrow's campaign. We're going up against some tough monsters."

"Whatever," Felix grunted in response and waved a dismissive hand as the professor sauntered away, his ridiculous sleeves flapping behind him. "My adjutant can sit back and watch. It'll be faster that way."

"Sit back and watch?! I have just as much a right to participate as you!"

Wait. That's...

The voice calling out in protest was familiar. Bright and melodic, even if it carried a note of irritation. An unwelcome sensation twisted in his chest at the sound. Annette rounded the corner, the fire in her eyes burning almost as brightly as her orange hair as she clenched her fists. "Sorry I'm so difficult to work with, Felix!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't give me that! I'm the one who asked the professor if we could work together, but if the idea of pairing with me is that unappealing-"

"I didn't say that," he answered a little too quickly and struggled to make eye contact. Ever since their last encounter in the library, Felix found himself wandering after his training drills seeking out her next song. It wasn't on purpose, and that made it even more bewildering.

Despite Annette's resounding cheer that seemed to echo wherever she went, whenever he wanted to find her, she was nowhere to be found. In fact, the entire thing was starting to frustrate him. Everyone else seemed to accidentally earn an audience to her singing with no effort, why did he have to work so hard to track her down?

And even worse, why, when she finally was standing in front of him, did he manage to make an ass of himself again?

"Well…well, I'm going to be your adjutant, whether you like it or not! Besides," she laced her fingers behind her back and rolled forward on her feet with a mischievous smile, "the professor said you need to learn to harmonize better with others."

Harmonize. That same word again. Suddenly something in his mind clicked.

"Are you going to sing?"

"W-what?!" she flailed, her face almost as red as her hair. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I thought my question was pretty straightforward," Felix responded. Suddenly the idea of having an adjutant wasn't so disagreeable after all.

"I...I can't just sing in the middle of battle! It might give our position away! Or worse!"

"Oh."

Well, that makes sense. Unfortunately.

She set her mouth in a taut frown, but her eyes were shining. Felix found himself wondering if she was scheming a way to somehow sing mid-battle. "I suppose...I mean, once we win-because we will win, of course-iI could come up with something."

The idea was promising. But after spending a week hoping to hear the continuation of the library song, Felix couldn't help but feel a little impatient. Waiting until the end of tomorrow's battle suddenly felt too far away. "I...suppose."

"Ah," she idly twisted a loose strand of hair between her fingers. "This is silly. We should be preparing for tomorrow!"

"Right," Felix answered after a moment's pause. "I hope this battle gives you plenty of inspiration then."

"I'm positive it will!" Annette's hands were clenched into little fists again, but this time her face glowed with excitement. "That's exactly why I asked the professor to be your adjutant!"

She asked…? That's right. She did mention that earlier.

His ears felt hot. He wasn't sure why. "What are you talking about?"

"You helped me finish my library song, after all! So...if we work together, I'm sure my next one will be even better!"

"It's finished?"

"Yes! Don't you remember?"

Felix struggled to recall the ending, but if what Sylvain said was true, the last thing he wanted to do was hear the song again and promptly clear it from his memory. Wasn't there supposed to be a sequel? The melody from 'Crumbs and Yums' kept interrupting whenever he tried to recall the library song. His mind drifted to her accompanying dance instead. There was a cute little twirl somewhere in there, wasn't there? Maybe she'd dance too if he asked nicely. Actually, that was starting to sound like a decent idea-

"You really don't remember?! Augh," she huffed and clenched her fists again. "F-forget it then! Let's just hope you're paying closer attention in battle!"

And...she's mad at me. Again.

But before he could offer an apology, she was already running off down the halls, her hair catching the sunlight like a bright ball of fire. The same suffocating sensation from earlier was back, pressing down on his chest and sending his stomach into a flurry of somersaults. Sylvain's advice from last week tugged at the back of his memory. If the only cure for a persistent earworm was hearing the same song again in full…

He had no interest in ridding himself of the melody repeating in his mind. Meaning Sylvain was a rotten liar, and there was magic at play after all, of course. Because what else could it be?