Once Akça stepped out, Kaahn took a deep breath and changed his clothes. Handily fixing his hair in the mirror, he reflected on the five years he had spent at the academy. Living as an ordinary student with his identity hidden, he had formed a wonderful friendship with Reid and Lina. But the time for playing around was over; as dark clouds gathered over the kingdom, the moment to make real moves was fast approaching.
When he made his way down to the academy's stone courtyard, Reid Vance was as restless as ever, looking around eagerly. Lina Alistair, meanwhile, was leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed, watching them.
"Look who finally decided to show up, Mr. Slacker!" Reid shouted, tossing his red hair back. "Even the horses are more eager to hit the road than you!"
Kaahn smirked and threw an arm over Reid's shoulder. "Come on, Reid, don't make it so obvious that you're going to cry after I leave. I know goodbyes are tough, but stay strong."
"Cry?! Yeah right! I'm raising a glass tonight by myself just to celebrate getting rid of you!" Reid shot back with a laugh.
At that moment, Lina stepped away from the pillar and walked toward them with slow, measured strides. Those famous, piercing blue eyes of hers scrutinized Kaahn with their usual intense focus. While everyone at the academy called her the "Songbird," she secretly loathed the nickname and strongly preferred just being called "Lina." However, the cunning and ambitious aspiring aristocrat put up with the name for now, determined not to break the calm mask she wore for the outside world.
"So, you're really leaving, huh?" Lina said, softening the sharp, calculating edge of her voice into a warm, friendly tone. "Muruıre Academy is going to be incredibly dull without you. It's hard to find people around here who... think differently, like you do."
Kaahn kept his composure perfectly against Lina's assessing gaze. He knew exactly how brilliant she was, but shrugged his shoulders, slipping back into his well-practiced persona of a lazy student.
"Think differently? Oh, please, Lina. If you mean finding creative ways to nap in the library, then you're absolutely right. But don't worry, now that the academy's boring theoretical classes are over, this place is finally going to liven up. And hey, who knows? Maybe our paths will cross again somewhere down the road, and you can lecture me all over again."
Lina smiled faintly at Kaahn's casual attempt to deflect and hide his true self. While she couldn't entirely see the brilliance hidden beneath his sluggish demeanor, she was certain there was more to him than met the eye. "Who knows... Perhaps much sooner than you think."
Reid stepped in, breaking the heavy atmosphere between them. "Oh come on, you two are dragging this out way too much! Just hug it out so we can finish this, the coachman looks like he's about to eat us alive!"
The three friends shared one last, tight embrace. As Kaahn walked toward the carriage, he turned back and waved: "Take care, you lunatics! If you ever find yourselves in our neck of the woods, stop by—I'll treat you to a valley-style Iskender kebab!"
Once Kaahn got into the carriage and shut the door, he found Akça already settled into the passenger seat, a knowing grin on her face. "That was quite the farewell, Your Highness. Especially that 'lazy student' act you pulled with Lina; it was flawless as always."
Kaahn leaned back exhaustedly and closed his eyes. "It's best not to draw any unwanted attention around that girl, Akça. Anyway, I don't want to think about that right now. We have a long journey ahead, and we still have to stop by Sihera. I'm going to get some sleep; wake me up when we reach the border."