Where is Raza?

While Raza was off on his mission, his friends, Drifa and Leora were still studying hard at the academy… well as hard as they could. Drifa was studying the political branch, so she had a lot of research projects. This limited the amount of free time that she had. 

Leora on the other hand, had a much more lenient schedule because she was studying the Adventurer branch. Most of her assignments were hands-on or she had to actually go and adventure. Both of these girls made friends in their classes, but they preferred to spend time with Raza. That was when he was actually on campus.

"I'm so boorred," Leora complained. "Isn't there anything to do?"

"Leora, why did you come to the library if you were so bored? This is a place where you literally have to be quiet," Drifa sighed.

"I figured it would be fun to see what you were up to, but you were just studying," Leora pouted.

Drifa looked up from her book and sighed. She shook her head, not in disgust, but in self-disappointment. She didn't know why she expected a semi-serious answer from Leora.

"This is the library. What did you think I would be doing?" Drifa asked.

"I dunno. Something fun, I guess," Leora shrugged.

Leora already moved on to her next attempt to cure her boredom. She pulled out a deck of cards and began to stack them on top of each other. The speed and the complexity with which she built the tower suggested that she had done this before. Drifa watched with some interest.

"Ah!" Leora remembered something. "Did you know Raza changed his locks!?" She leaned forward.

"No, I didn't. The better question is why do you know?" Drifa raised her eyebrow.

"Sometimes, I like to go into his room and do things like cook and clean. I consider it practice for when he proposes to me!" Leora was a bit too proud of that.

Drifa only stared at Leora in response. She was concerned about Leora's sanity, and if she should call the authorities on Leora. There was something about her statement that didn't sit well with Drifa.

"Please refrain from talking from the rest of the time we are here," Drifa sighed.

"What!? Why? I didn't even do anything wrong!" Leora tried to grab Drifa's hands in vain.

"SHHH!!" The Librarian glared at Leora.

Leora's voice went silent when she made eye contact with the librarian. She froze in place as if she didn't want to be spotted, and only began moving once the librarian looked away. She sighed.

"Drifa, please don't ignore me," She said in a much quieter voice.

Leora needed something to cure her boredom. She wasn't interested in growing close to her female classmates because they tended to gossip and complain about adventuring. A big reason was also that Leora thought she was better than them in every way. Unlike most girls in her class, Leora was athletically fit and even knew how to wield the sword. Her father taught her how to defend herself, but she quickly dove into training since she enjoyed it.

While the two friends were talking, a familiar figure was walking to the library. Women turned their heads, and men looked upon him with jealousy. The man opened the door and scanned the room for his targets. When he spotted them, he walked over to their table and greeted them with a smile.

"Greetings, ladies," Alphonse waved to Leora and Drifa.

They both stopped and stared at the prince. They both had mixed reactions.

Drifa looked at him from a new perspective. She was processing that the man before her was Raza's brother. She wasn't anyone to normally turn anyone down who was willingly talking to her, but she did not want to talk to Alphonse. He would become Raza's enemy in the near future, and it would look bad if Drifa became chummy with him.

Leora was not subtle about her feelings at all. Her face contorted from a bored expression to one of disgust. She hated Alphonse because he was the son of the King. In her mind, that basically made them the same person and Raza's enemies. She sighed.

"Oh… hey," Leora turned away, hoping he would leave.

"Hello, Alphonse. To what do we owe you the pleasure?" Drifa gave a soft smile.

Alphonse sat himself next to Leora. She scooted away from him, but he didn't seem to pay much attention. His smile was as bright as ever.

"Oh please, just call me Al!" He chuckled. "I was looking for Raza. It's one week until the festival, but I haven't seen him in a few days," Alphonse explained.

"That's because Raza tends to go off by himself. He isn't someone who would purposefully stay in a crowded area," Leora smugly said.

"That may be true, but he is often with you," Alphonse said. "Even if it's reluctantly, he spends a lot of his time with you two, and if he's not here, then that means he must be off campus, and please don't tell me he's doing schoolwork. We both know he doesn't attend class," Alphone's expression turned grim.

They were sitting in the corner of the library, and Alphonse's back was towards the entrance, so no one could see his face at that moment. No one except Leora and Drifa. A child shot down their backs as they witnessed Alphonse's true face.

"So I will only ask once, and please don't lie to me. Where. Is. Raza?" Alphonse said coldly.

The girls tried to swallow, but their mouths were already dried. They both looked at each other before turning back to Alphonse.

'Why does he know so much about Raza's routine? It's like he's stalking him,' Drifa thought to herself.

'This guy looked creepy as hell!! I can't tell him about Raza's missions and his goal to take over the throne. I know I can't lie, but I can't stay silent either!' Leora panicked.

The two girls stayed silent. With each passing second, Alphonse's pressure only became more and more unbearable. It was as if his presence was growing and was suffocating them!

"Raza went home," Drifa finally spoke up. "He tends to go home often since this school curriculum is easy for him, but it's rude to ask about someone's personal affair. Wasn't that something you should know, Al?" Drifa spoke boldly.

She told a lie that had truth infused in it. Drifa also shared just enough information to look like she was giving up information, but not too much or too little to make it suspicious. It was just the right amount of information. Alphonse's face slowly widened back to his usual smile.

"Is that so!? How interesting. Don't you guys get lonely when he's not here?" He tried to probe at them.

"Nope," Both Drifa and Leora said as they turned their heads.

They both knew that Alphonse was trying to get a reaction out of them. They didn't understand the full reason behind it, but they felt like something was off about the prince. It was like he was looking at prey, not his fellow student. His eyes were also threatening.

Alphonse sighed and stood up. He continued to smile, but it was far from warm.

"Well, if Raza is home, it can't be helped. I just hope that he makes it back in time for our rematch… After all, I hate waiting. If it can't have him, I'll just go for the second-best person," He said with cold, piercing eyes.

Leora and Drifa shivered as they witnessed this. Their eyes didn't leave Alphonse until he completely left the library. They both released a deep breath.

"I hope Raza will be able to come back soon," Leora looked worried.

"Yeah, me too," Drifa looked down at her book.

Neither of them wanted to imagine what would happen if Raza didn't make it back in time. They both prayed for his safe travels.

…

Achoo! Achoo!

"Oi, Kid, you better not be coming down with a cold," Lender sighed.

"I'm not sick. Something must have caused me to sneeze," Raza sighed.

"Perhaps someone is talking about you," Allura giggled.

Raza thought about it for a second. His mind wandered to Leora, but he didn't want to give Allura the satisfaction that she was right.

"I doubt it," He lied.

Allura only let out a sigh. She would have continued to tease if it wasn't for the unwelcomed guests in the carriage. Just like Lender predicted, teh Single Order sent reinforcements to attack Raza and his team. Instead of killing all of them, they captured the stronger one in the group. Raza and Lender broke all of their limbs before tying them up, and took the poison pills from thier mouths.

"Listen up! We are almost at our destination! Look alive, Kid," Lender sounded excited.

"I'm always alive," Raza sighed.

After a week of protecting Allura, Lender and Raza was finally able to deliver the cargo.