Chapter 136: This Will Be The Perfect Second Date

Aina

Aina sat near the back of the herbalism glasshouse, resting her chin in her hand as she watched Faye, the club president, pace back and forth in front of the long wooden worktables.

Faye cleared her throat, holding up a small, dark seed between her thumb and forefinger for the whole room to see. "Herbalism is not just about shoving leaves into a pot and hoping for magic," Faye said, her voice firm and practiced. "Every plant carries a specific cycle. Take the silver-leaf fern, for example. If you plant this in shallow dirt without treating the soil with moon-water first, it will rot before the roots even break. It takes four solid weeks of dark cultivation just to get the first sprout out of the ground."

Faye set the seed down on a brass tray and pointed to the small pots laid out in front of each student. "Today, we are planting fire-root. It grows slowly, taking nearly two months of consistent heat before it yields anything usable for healing salves. If you burn the soil, it dies. If you drown it, it dies. You must learn patience. You cannot rush what nature takes its time to build."

Aina looked down at the pile of dark, rich soil in her pot, picking up a small iron trowel. Patience, she thought, poking a hole into the dirt. If only my life allowed for any of that.

She was supposed to be focusing on the fire-root, but her mind kept drifting. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Vance’s stupid, smug face from yesterday’s dinner.

Suddenly, she felt a quick, heavy vibration against her thigh.

Aina flinched, glancing up quickly to make sure Faye was still facing a plant. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, and kept it hidden low beneath the wooden edge of the table.

It was a text from Delilah.

Delilah:

Why is Vance asking me a bunch of questions about you?

Aina froze, her heart doing a sharp drop into her stomach. No, she thought, her fingers tightening around the glass screen. Don’t tell me. Don’t tell me that Vance is actually going around asking people for information about me!

Before she could even type a reply, another message popped up from Delilah~

Delilah:

He literally just asked me what your favorite color is.

Aina quickly typed back, her thumb flying across the keyboard while her eyes darted back and forth toward Faye.

Aina:

What else did he ask you?! Tell me fast!

Delilah’s reply came back almost instantly:

Delilah:

Everything! Your favorite colors, what you like to eat, what animals you like, what you do in your free time.

Aina stared at the screen, her jaw tight. Unbelievable, she thought, her chest rising and falling in annoyed breaths. Delilah doesn’t even know any of those real things about me anyway. Nobody at this school knows the real me.

She let out a small, silent huff, shoving her phone back into her pocket. The effort he’s putting in is pathetic. Does he really think asking around is going to change anything? It’s all completely futile. Okay, it’s not that pathetic, it’s sort of cu–

"Travis!" Faye’s sharp voice barked from the front of the room.

Aina snapped her head up, her spine going straight. "Yes, Faye!"

"Are you planting that seed today, or are you waiting for the winter frost?" Faye asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Planting it right now," Aina mumbled, quickly dropping the fire-root seed into the dirt and burying it before Faye could scold her further.

Vance

Meanwhile, out near the stone archways of the main courtyard, Vance stood leaning against a pillar, scribble-writing frantically in a small leather notebook.

Chloe stood in front of him, holding a stack of books against her chest as she looked at him like he was entirely out of his mind.

"So... you said that she likes food?" Vance asked, looking up from his paper with a pen pressed to his lip.

Chloe blinked. "Yes. Travis likes food. But... why do you keep referring to him as she? Pretty sure he’s a he."

Vance flinched, his eyes darting to the side. My bad, he cursed internally, rubbing his neck nervously. He cleared his throat. "Right. He. My bad."

He quickly wrote down in his notebook: Travis likes food a lot.

"What else does he like to do?" Vance pressed, leaning in closer. "Think, Chloe. Anything helps."

"Well..." Chloe tapped her chin, remembering. "Molly mentioned before that he wasn’t adventurous at all. He doesn’t like heights, he doesn’t like dangerous things. He likes peace more than anything because... well, because his wolf is so weak. He doesn’t like putting himself in life-threatening situations."

Vance’s pen flew across the paper. No life-threatening situations. Got it.

"Chloe! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!"

Beatrice came trotting over, her dark hair bouncing over her shoulders as she stopped beside them. Chloe turned to her. "Well, I’ve been right here." Beatrice glanced between Chloe and Vance, her eyes lighting up with gossip. "Oh, what are you guys talking about?"

"What Travis likes to do," Chloe answered plainly.

"Oh!" Beatrice threw her hands up, nodding eagerly. "He likes shopping! He’s always looking at fabric or talking about clothes!"

Vance’s eyes lit up. "Oh! Thank you for that. Shopping. Got it." He scribbled it down quickly before looking back up at both of them. "Is that all?" Beatrice shrugged. "Yeah, that’s pretty much all I can think of."

"Me too," Chloe agreed.

Vance tapped his pen against the paper, his brow furrowing. "Do you guys know where I can find the rogue girl? Ally?" Chloe pointed down the stone path toward the training grounds. "Yeah, you can usually find her near the Colosseum on the back fields."

"Thank you!" Vance shouted over his shoulder, already taking off into a full sprint before they could even ask why.

He knew Ally was close to Travis, they were practically inseparable. If anyone knew the real details, it had to be her. Vance sprinted down the grassy hill toward the outer edge of the Colosseum. Sure enough, he spotted Ally sitting alone on a stone ledge, kicking small rocks into the dirt with her leather boots.

"Oh! Ally!" Vance called out, slowing his pace as he reached her. Ally whipped her head around, her eyes wide as she scrambled back. "Oh! What do you want?! I just barely escaped Sophia!"

Vance paused, blinking. "You escaped my cousin?"

"Sophia is your cousin?!" Ally asked, her jaw dropping in horror. "Yeah," Vance grunted, rolling his eyes. "That girl is completely crazy. You should avoid her at all costs."

"I try!" Ally shot back, crossing her arms defensively. "What do you want, Prince Vance?" Vance took a breath, holding up his notebook. "What do you know about Travis?"

Ally raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious. "What do you mean?"

"What do you know about him?" Vance urged, stepping closer. "What is he like? What are the things he actually likes to do?"

Ally shifted uncomfortably, a slight tremor in her voice as she looked at the powerful prince standing over her. "Well... he likes food and restaurants a lot. And... he likes fashion a lot. He has a sweet tooth, a really, really big sweet tooth. And... though he’ll never admit it out loud to anyone... he likes gossip."

She paused, stopping mid-sentence as she stared at Vance. "Wait... why am I sharing all of this with you?" Vance snapped his notebook shut with a loud CLAP, a bright, victorious grin breaking across his face.

"No reason! Bye!" Vance yelled, turning on his heel and sprinting away before she could demand answers. Ally stood there, blinking in utter confusion as the prince vanished around the stone wall.

Vance ran all the way to the side courtyard, sliding to a stop against a tree as he flipped through the scribbled pages of his notebook.

Food. Peace. Shopping. Sweet tooth. Gossip.

He looked up at the sky, his heart beating fast with pure excitement. "I got it," Vance whispered to himself, a radiant smile spreading across his face. "This is going to be the absolute perfect second date."