The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)

LEO

I searched for an empty spot to sit for dinner in the dormitory’s dining hall. Today, for some reason, it wasn’t very busy. Possibly because I returned to the dormitory late after having that ’little chat’ with Isabelle earlier.

The most natural—and usual—place to sit would have been with Dimitri, Briant, Alexis, and Thomas. But I didn’t want to sit with Thomas. Not after what happened today.

Just at that moment, Isabelle arrived, greeting me silently and standing next to me as if we were going to have dinner together.

Then I saw Blanche, Liesel, and Fabian eating together elsewhere, the seats next to them also empty. I kind of wanted to sit with them, but Isabelle didn’t know them, so I wasn’t sure if it would be strange.

Mario then turned up, late as well, with his tray next to me. He was also late—where had he been?

But I couldn’t ask him that because if he asked me the same question, I couldn’t answer.

"Let’s go sit with Blanche," said Mario, suddenly.

I wanted to, but then my mind held me back—would it be okay with Isabelle if I went with Mario?

But Mario was my friend. And it’s not like I had a fight with him like I did with Thomas. But... I kept secrets from him. It all started with lying about the three boys with Dorian. And despite the super friendship pendants we got together—OUR little secret—I was starting to keep more and more secrets from him.

I felt really bad about it.

"Yeah, let’s go. Will you introduce me to them, Marius? I don’t know many seniors," Isabelle said in a bubbly voice.

"Sure, I’m sure they’d welcome you."

Now with Isabelle’s approval, we went over to the three art club members.

Luckily, we didn’t have to ask if it was okay for us to join them. Fabian spotted me first and waved me over. I looked at Mario, and he seemed to have noticed Fabian too. Without a word, we just walked over and took our seats.

"Great work today, Skylark," Fabian said cheerfully, but—

Did I just see Mario flinch a little from the corner of my eye?

"Our resident cheese boy has done well on his first day," Blanche said.

She had this low, husky voice that didn’t grate. Instead, it was somewhat charming and funny.

"Cheese boy?" Isabelle asked, finding the joke funny without knowing the full story.

"I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you. I’m Fabian—"

"Auvergine," Liesel and Blanche intervened together as Fabian was trying to present himself with his melodic voice.

"AUVERNNE," Fabian clarified.

"Oh, hi. My name is Isabelle Moreau," she said, sounding as friendly as ever.

"Don’t trust the eggplant. He talks charmingly, and the next thing you know, he’s asking you to model for his sculpture," Blanche intervened again, grinning.

Isabelle looked a little embarrassed.

I would be embarrassed too if I had to ’model’ for anyone.

Fabian protested that he had no such ulterior motives, everyone laughed—except Mario—and the conversation flowed naturally from then on.

But I couldn’t quite pay attention. All I noticed was that Mario was being quiet, sitting between Blanche and me. He was the one who said we should come over and sit together with them, but he hadn’t said a single thing since. He didn’t even introduce Isabelle himself.

The air between us felt hot and heavy. I wanted to lighten the mood a little—maybe a little joke would do... I sneakily moved my leg and stomped on his toes—not so hard that it hurt, just firmly enough to startle him. Mario, though, didn’t seem startled. Instead, he just turned to me, brought his head close to mine, and whispered,

"Is there anything you need?"

Now, that was embarrassing—totally not what I intended.

So I gave up, just shook my head, and sat quietly, focusing on the broccoli, which I had learned to appreciate recently.

Then my attention drifted back to the group’s conversation as I heard my name.

"How is Leo doing at the club?" Isabelle asked Liesel.

"He drew something quite funny today. A dream where he became a piece of cheese," Liesel said.

Isabelle let out a delayed laugh.

"I don’t have as nice dreams as Blanche...," I said.

"Do you... also paint your dreams?" Isabelle asked Blanche, somewhat cautiously.

"That’s her main thing. Blanche draws all sorts of weird stuff. But somehow they turn out alright. It’s a mystery to us all," Fabian said. Blanche simply smiled.

"You can drop by the art room sometime to check things out. Anyone and everyone interested in art is always welcome," Liesel said to Isabelle.

"Oh, I’d love to. I can’t draw to save my life, but I do like looking at good pictures," Isabelle said.

"What club are you in?" Fabian asked this time.

"I’ve joined the drama club," Isabelle answered.

"We will see you during the Autumn Festival performance, then!" Fabian said enthusiastically.

"It’s probably too early for me, but I would be happy to get a minor role or something."

"Would the art club also have an exhibition during the Autumn Festival?" Mario suddenly asked Blanche—the first time he had said anything during dinner.

"Probably not," Blanche said flatly.

"May I ask why?" Mario asked her again.

"Others are free to hold an exhibition. But I won’t be displaying my pictures," Blanche said again, her voice cold.

"But we don’t want to do it unless you want to do it with us, Blanche. We are all in it together," Liesel said.

"No exhibition it is, then." Blanche picked up her tray and said, "I will go back to the art room to finish my picture."

Before we could say goodbye properly, she was already heading to the tray return counter. Liesel and Fabian just shrugged and continued their chatter as if this happened all the time, while I noticed that Isabelle’s gaze was tracking Blanche.

Mario was doing the same.

I felt like there was something they were not telling me.

But I couldn’t complain.

There were things I wasn’t telling Mario either.

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