"Ugh," she flopped face-first into her pillow with a groan. "Mercie... I think I made a mistake," Annette whined.

Her friend looked up from her book from across the room and offered a gentle smile. "Nonsense. I believe your recent class selection made perfect sense given all the progress you made as a Warlock."

"Noooo," Annette pressed her face further into the pillow. Her cheeks were warm with an unwelcome mixture of embarrassment and frustration. Warm enough to maybe light the pillow on fire and then earn an excuse to wriggle her way out of tomorrow's mission—

"This...isn't about your recent class change, is it." Mercedes's tone was kind, but it was obviously a statement, not a question.

Annette rolled onto her back and stretched her arms in the air. She wiggled her fingers in the candlelight, casting blurry shadow puppets across the ceiling. "I was so excited when we reunited and were back together again with the professor," she sighed. "But I forgot just how grumpy Felix was."

"Hn," Mercedes tilted her head. "But the other day you were so pleased that he helped you finish your song."

"I-I was—!"

"Then…?"

"That's just it," she interlocked her fingers, creating a vague, wolf-like shadow, "He...he already forgot the ending."

"Oh dear," Mercedes didn't sound worried in the least.

"In fact, I should just call this whole thing off. I'll pair up with you again!"

"Oh dear," her friend repeated. Again, her tone showed no concern whatsoever. In fact, in the candlelight of her old dorm room, it almost appeared as though Mercedes was trying to suppress a smile. "I don't think the professor would be too pleased with you changing plans on such short notice."

"You're right…" Annette sighed. It wasn't often she approached Professor Byleth with personal requests, but yesterday she was fired up. The young woman recalled her professor's mild amusement-he seemed utterly unphased by her request and cut her speech short with a simple approval before flouncing off to tea time. A shame, especially after spending the morning rehearsing it in the mirror. In the moment, it sounded like an excellent idea, but there was a selfish undercurrent beneath her wish to serve as an adjutant.

There was something about Felix's company made it easier to come up with new song lyrics. Easier and fun, in a strange way. So if she worked with him as an adjutant, finding inspiration for her next song would be a piece of cake. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Maybe I just work better under pressure.

Annette couldn't get the sight of Felix's stare out of her head. And it wasn't just him staring in the library. Training drills, stable duty, and even during mealtime she sensed his eyes on her from across the room. Annette knew she had no logical reason to avoid the swordsman, but she was running out of alternate routes through Garreg Mach to prevent bumping into him. Because bumping into him meant more staring, and possibly more singing—and that meant… well, she wasn't sure what that meant, but the idea left her feeling flustered.

She waved her fingers as if pretending her shadow puppet was barking at an invisible threat. If avoiding him wasn't working, confronting him head-on seemed like the best solution. And what better way than to request working as his adjutant in their next mission?

"Ugh…" Annette rolled over on her side, abandoning her shadow puppet.

"Annie…?"

"I thought...he liked my songs," she murmured into the pillow. "I don't… I don't just sing for anyone, you know."

"Of course, I know that."

"I even had a dance—!"

"Oh. I didn't know that."

Annette groaned again. That wasn't a detail she planned on sharing with Mercedes, but it managed to slip out regardless. In the presence of her best friend, it was hard not to share. Her face prickled uncomfortably with embarrassment at the memory. Spinning and twirling about in the library with a feather duster… even if Felix forgot the lyrics to her song, there was no way he forgot seeing something that humiliating.

But the worst part was that in the moment, she loved the attention—his attention. Having a captive audience was a new and confusing sensation. How could she allow herself to get so carried away? If this was all it took to let her guard down, she was positively hopeless. Obviously it didn't mean as much to him though, if he couldn't even be bothered to remember the song days later.

"Well… I have an idea, if it helps?" Mercedes offered after a moment. "Since you won't be changing assignments for tomorrow, that is."

"What kind of idea?"

"Well," her friend folded her hands in her lap as if preparing to deliver a rehearsed speech. In fact, Annette almost wondered if this was premeditated, given the twinkle in Mercedes's eyes. "Why not make your next song about Felix?"

"W-w-what?!"

"Having a song dedicated to you is quite an honor," Mercedes continued sweetly, "and it would be impossible to forget a song about yourself, right?"

"I...I can't do that!"

"Whyever not?"

"He's… he's too difficult to write a song for!"

"Since when did that ever stop you before? If anyone can do it, I'm sure you can, Annie."

Her friend's encouragement was sincere. Maybe even a little too sincere. It didn't feel right to leave her hanging. "Oh Mercie...you know I can't say no to you," she sighed. "I suppose… if it's for you, I can write a song about him."

"For me?"

"Y-yes! For you."

"I see," Mercedes giggled. "Well then. I'm sure it will be excellent."