'If you're trying to tell me you like me as a friend, but prefer Basch as a lover, then it's okay, you can marry him in the future. I'll be happy for you two.'

'No!' she yelled. 'You just didn't get it, did you? I told you I bear love feelings for both of you – which is strange, I agree –, but will not choose who I will marry. At least not now.'

I sighed and hugged her once more.

'Your whole personality is strange, Naria', I said, 'but I guess your charm makes up for it.'

She turned, smiled and closed her eyes. I did the same soon and my mind, carried by the light breeze, entered a state of purity and harmony, where only good thoughts existed. I began to imagine a world, ten years later, where Naria would marry my brother Basch, because that was surely what was going to happen. And then, with a little bit of mischief, I would pretend to be him, which was not difficult since we were real twins. Only our haircut differed: rather long for me, short for Basch. But that wasn't a problem, I'd have whatever haircut he'd have at that time. And wear similar clothes. And then… And then… I would ring at the door, by the end of the day, waiting for her to open it. And then she'd open it. And then I would hold her in my arms, exactly as what I was doing at this moment. But then, I'd have more rights. Rights Basch himself could have granted me, naughty as he was, as some sort of mission to make fun of us both. I could draw my face closer to hers, feel the delicate countryside scent on her neck, dive my look into hers, and…

What was I thinking about?

I raised my head and saw only darkness.

'It's already night time! Sorry, I have to go!'

I jumped under the roof, leaving her sleepy head fall like an egg. She eventually woke up.

'Oh? So soon? What were we talking about?'

'It… It does not matter. And if I ever said something strange this afternoon, well… forget it.'

'It's alright! My regards to your mom! Come back soon!'

'Aye.'

And I fled like a thief.

Months later, the same thoughts were still inside my head. Thoughts of happiness, mixed with some sort of pride and maybe jealousy at the same time. I was pleased with my life as it was; my job, my family, my friends, yet I knew that in every matter, every domain, someone would be in a way better than me, and thus happier than me. That person was often Basch but not always. I met several people at work and in different parts of Landis who had smarter ideas, clearer perspectives. I learnt from them; I helped them too, and credit was not always given to me. But I learnt to be stronger, even more patient, and took bad experiences as lessons for the future. I kept seeing Naria, of course. She seemed to love taking shelter in my arms, or Basch's, whenever she felt down, had a problem with the farm, or when Greta Pfirsich had bad poll results in the newpapers. Naturally, I would have preferred she stayed only in my arms, but if she was also happy with Basch, then so be it. These two would certainly end up married anyway, as in my dream. I thought my mother was aware of the situation, and was rather amused by it.

These last days, she appeared different than usual. She wasn't able to do all the housework so Basch and I had to take shifts to clean the house and do extra tasks at our farm. As for the cooking, we weren't exactly gifted so thankfully Naria was there, once a day, to help us cook delicious dishes. Basch often tried to redo them, but the result was not always convincing. He had also taken care of the sales at Waldgott after the harvest – for what result, I did not know, but at least he'd brought the money. My mother never told us exactly what she had. But from what we could see, she was quickly exhausted. She could not run anymore – maybe from breathing difficulties? – and her voice could barely stand up to a long speech. Whenever she caught a cold – and opportunities were not few with the hard winter we were living that year – it seemed that it took her more time to recover. Fever lasted longer, and at times the coughing just would not cease. I had been seriously worried many times, and had to bring the village's doctor in the middle of the night; but in the end the worst signs always disappeared.

One day, after ensuring Mom was well, I decided, as I never stopped to do, to pay the Drimers a visit. I greeted the parents and went to the first floor, to the room where I used to study with my friends.

'Hi!' Little Margit said, waving at me.

'Hello. Where's Cirla?'

'Above your head.'

I turned backwards and raised my look. He was indeed at the top of a long wooden ladder, busy looking for something on a high shelf.

'Noah!' he said. 'You arrived just in time. We received the result from two weeks ago!'

'What are you talking about?' I asked, sitting on a chair.

'Well, remember that paper you wrote about property laws?'

'Yes, I brought you this one last time I came here. Is there a problem? Is something wrong in it?'

'On the contrary… Lemme just find it over here…'

He moved papers around on the shelf, again and again, then Margit exclaimed:

'It's that one!'

'No, this is my final exam of last year', her brother responded.

'No Cirla, I'm sure of it! Look! I can even recognize the ink!'

He sighed, took the pile of papers and handed it to me.

'This is indeed what I wrote.'

'The professor said it was primo to-the-days!' Cirla insisted as he walked down the ladder.

'Professor?'

'Yes!' Margit explained. 'Cirla gave your paper to our professor in Archades, claiming it's his. Since he doesn't see us as often as the Archadian mates, he didn't recognize Cirla's handwriting and believed him. We asked him to send this one to us in Landis, and that's what he kindly did. There are only praising remarks! Look!'

She was right. The professor, with a red ink, wrote at the top of the first page:

Made huge progress since the last session. Congratulations

And inside the essay, there were several comments like:

Very relevant

Well chosen words

Or:

Good research

'Well? Whaddaya say?' Cirla asked. 'The professor's pretty thick to have believed it was me!'

'And that's not all!' Margit added. 'There's also a letter!'

'A letter?'

'Yes', Cirla confirmed. 'But it ain't here. Our parents decided to keep it…'

'There were so proud of what was written there!' Margit exclaimed, visibly proud herself too.

'And what was written exactly?' I asked.

They exchanged an embarrassed look.

'The professor wants to meet the parents to talk about Cirla's future', Margit said. 'He seriously considers finding a position for him in the Empire. 'It will be very easy, considering your son's extraordinary and in demand abilities', he says!'

'But don't worry, I won't accept', her brother said. 'Not only because the work is not mine. I don't want to work with the Empire.'

'Neither do I', admitted Margit.

'It's been a while I've been considering being a lawyer', Cirla continued. 'Now with this new recognition the dream becomes closer and closer.'

'And I want to become a clerk in the Landisite juvenile court!' Margit proudly said again, jumping all around the room.

'I'm sure you will both attain your goals', I smiled.

'I'm not happy to be able to make it by such means', Cirla regretted. 'Maybe I don't deserve anything.'

'Don't say stupidities; you'd have made it anyway without me. And I'm glad I could help… in a way.'

'Ouch!' Margit bumped her head against a lower shelf. 'We're sorry. We should have asked your permission before showing your paper to the professor. But the temptation was too big! We really wanted to see his reaction, and we were not disappointed!'

'All this', Cirla concluded, 'is to tell you something. This guy in the Empire is not just any law teacher. He's actually the most respected and severe one in the Akademy, close to whom we call the Law God, Professor Vopiscus, the Akademy's Head. He shares many qualities with Vopiscus, including selectiveness. He doesn't just accept any work, especially if it's made by a stranger – you know how Archadians are. And yours… yours has amazed him. Can you believe that?'

'It's mean to the days!' his sister exclaimed.

'You can leave, Margit; this is a man to man discussion.'

As a reply, she stomped on his foot with her tongue out.

'Ouch!'

'Your turn!' she said with a vengeful tone. 'I, too, want to discuss about Noah's future.'

And both said, almost at the same time:

'Tell us, what do you want to become?'

I made a couple of paces backwards, not sure of what to reply.

'I… I don't know. I just do my day-to-day job and don't look forward to anything. Maybe an idea will come one day – certainly – but for now I don't promise myself to become anything particular.'

'How is your job going?' Margit asked, rolling her eyes.

'Fine, thanks.'

'How is Basch? We miss him!'

'He's alright, still busy hunting monsters. I'll try to bring him with me next time.'

Not at ease with questions, I tried to ask one myself:

'How about Doll? Any news?'

They look at each other in silence, their faces almost turned white. Then they burst out laughing.

'Have you forgotten her already?'

They finished laughing then Margit answered, wiping tears out of her eyes:

'Not at all. Why do you want him to forget her?'

'But… The incident the other day… The wound in the shoulder…'

'Bah, that's nothing', replied the long-haired boy. 'I recovered shortly after.'

'But… Weren't there more threats after this?'

'No.'

'So you stopped talking to her?'

'No.'

And the siblings laughed again. This time, I joined them.

'That is my brother', Margit said, pointing at him with one hand while playing with one of her cute brown curls with the other.

'I'll never stop talking to her; and even if she rejects me every time, I know that love always wins in the end. Even the Zodiac says we're flawlessly compatible! The threats of her family, of the whole Empire, I do not fear; for they are but particles of void into thin air. The truth is to be discovered to the eyes of all, very soon!', said the wannabe poet.

'He's crazy, isn't he?' his sister pursued.

I took a moment to examine him. He had changed again; behind his glasses I could see a definite and hopeful look – even if currently it was the lover's one. His face was at that moment the one of a handsome and lively young man. His dark hair was tied in a ponytail. He was even taller and still as elegant and well-mannered as in the Feast. And of course, he had the brains. That Archadian Doll had to be a complete fool not to fall in love with him at first sight.

'Uh… All I can say is: good luck. Well, I've gotta take a hike. Goodbye!'

I rushed towards home and thankfully saw Mom standing up, cooking the dinner and singing her favorite song. I randomly hugged her and took a law book to read for the evening. I thought about Basch; but then remembered I had left him in Waldgott, in a meeting with his clan. Meetings with Basch had to last long if we wanted him to understand everything.

But at least what I told my friends was true: he was alright. And I was not in conflict with him anymore. There's this messy setting with Naria, but the most important thing was that, unlike Cirla, the girl I loved knew my feelings and never rejected me. My mother, just like her, was my greatest support and her health appeared to not get worse anymore. I was so glad to have her. I was also glad to have my friends, and to live in such a cheerful village. I was a random worker at my job, but according to Cirla, I had a very promising future. I was curious of what life could bring to me after so many adventures.

Everything was under control by this end of year 686.