For the entire morning, Xilutaiya and the other students listened as Scholar Haide explained the key points and precautions of the Bonfire and Dance ritual.
"You should have most of the relevant details memorized by now, but did any of you pay attention to the hummed ballad and the drumbeats from last night?"
"Well..."
Many in the crowd exchanged glances. A few noble students had dabbled in music, but not deeply; committing something to memory after hearing it only once was simply too difficult.
Sitting on a tree stump off to the side, Xilutaiya thought back carefully. She could recall part of the rhythm, but it remained vague. She had never studied music in her past life, and while she might have in this one, she possessed no memories of it, making it useless for the time being.
"Haha, you see? That is why mastering multiple arts is so important," Scholar Haide said, stroking his beard. "The scope of rituals and the skills involved are remarkably broad. Some rituals even require the presider to perform them through dance. The most famous among these is the Dance of the Crown, held by the elves during the Spring Dew Festival. It demands extraordinary skill from the dancers, but its effects are unmistakable: it causes flowers to burst into bloom and awakens the earth. It is one of the rare rituals capable of altering the environment.
"Very well, that concludes today's lecture. As for the hummed ballad and the drumbeats of the Bonfire and Dance, I will have you transcribe the sheet music later to commit it to memory. Still, the best way to pass down such traditions is to hear those elders hum it yourself. Only then can you truly grasp its peculiar rhythm, atmosphere, and emotion."
With class dismissed, the afternoon was meant for free time. Yet before the students could head out to enjoy themselves, a drizzle began to fall from the sky.
Beads of rain trickled down from the thatched eaves, moistening the earth, and the unpaved dirt roads of the village quickly turned into mud.
"We can't go outside anymore," Kemiya said, standing behind the front door and looking out at the dreary, gray world.
Inside the house, Xilutaiya sat by a window in the front hall, flipping through a book. Kailun sat beside the workbench, maintaining her portable tools and her longbow. On the other side of the room, Walaini stood with her arms crossed over her chest, gazing out at the curtain of rain in mild irritation. As for Iona, she had yet to emerge from her room.
All five girls were staying in this dwelling. On ordinary days, nobles and commoners rarely interacted, but today they had no choice but to remain under the same roof.
After leaning against the doorframe for a long time watching the rain, counting the falling droplets and the tiny trickles between the cracks in the threshold's stones, Kemiya finally grew bored and turned back inside.
She looked over the few people in the front hall, wandered around Kailun to ask about the purpose of various tools, moved over to Xilutaiya to sneak a peek at what book she was reading, and then returned to the bedroom to try taking another afternoon nap. Unfortunately, she tossed and turned without managing to fall asleep.
"I must have slept too well last night," she grumbled, returning to the front hall in defeat to complain to her companions.
To her complaints, Xilutaiya and Kailun merely smiled, amused rather than taking her seriously. Sure enough, after a short while, Kemiya began wandering the house again, looking everywhere in search of something interesting.
With a soft creak, another closed door in the hallway swung open.
Hearing the sound, the previously restless Walaini instantly brightened. Trotting over, she indeed saw Iona stepping out of the room.
The blonde young lady kept her short hair impeccably groomed, with a thin red ribbon tied neatly on one side that complemented the color of her eyes. She wore a uniform dress that looked entirely out of place beside those of the ordinary students, tailored in a capable yet luxurious style from exquisite fabric. A slender leather belt cinched her waist, and on her feet were cowhide boots suited for the outdoors.
Even though her circumstances were not what they once were, Iona still cared deeply about her personal appearance; she simply could no longer afford to wear a different luxurious outfit every single day as she had in the past.
Her crimson eyes briefly swept over the other occupants of the room. Looking out at the rain-soaked world, Iona walked over and sat at the table in the front hall.
Because the house was not particularly large, space in the front hall was limited. The only surfaces that could be called tables were the workbench against the wall and the wooden table beside the window, where Iona and Xilutaiya now sat on opposite sides.
"Lady Iona," Walaini said, hurrying after her with quick steps.
Seeing Iona take a seat, Walaini glanced at Xilutaiya sitting at the same table, a twinge of jealous displeasure flaring within her. Why should this girl get to sit beside Lady Iona?
Yet to drive her away right now would feel beneath her, making her appear unrefined and poorly bred, so she settled for glaring at the girl several times.
Xilutaiya, however, was engrossed in flipping through her book and did not notice the pointed looks directed her way.
Seeing that her hints went unheeded, Walaini paced back and forth in frustration, hesitating over whether to step up and tell Xilutaiya to leave.
"Just stand over there and stop pacing back and forth," Iona said, finally waving a dismissive hand in annoyance to bid Walaini be quiet.
Receiving the command, Walaini immediately leaned against the wall with puffed-up pride. Her fawning obedience left Kemiya baffled, struck by how foolish it seemed.
Does she have something wrong with her head? Kemiya wondered silently, though she dared not say it aloud.
The room fell quiet once more. Xilutaiya continued turning pages. Kemiya sat beside Kailun, alternately watching her apply oil to her tools and adjust their tension, and glancing at the others in the room. Walaini remained standing quietly against the wall, while Iona rested her head on her hand, staring pensively out at the rain beyond the window.
Time drifted by slowly. Aside from the occasional rustle of Xilutaiya turning a page, the only sound was the endless patter of raindrops outside.
Half an hour later, perhaps tired of the unchanging gray veil of rain, Iona shifted her gaze toward the quiet girl opposite her.
Her name was Tiya, wasn't it? Iona tried to recall any information about her, but found very little. She rarely paid attention to her classmates to begin with, and this girl had always kept a low profile, almost like someone forgotten in a corner.
Her only deep impression was the first time she had seen Scholar Haide, when she noticed the bespectacled figure standing beside him.
At the time, she had assumed the girl was Scholar Haide's granddaughter or an official apprentice, only to discover later that she was merely an ordinary commoner student.
For a commoner, devoting oneself to academic study was no easy feat. Iona's gaze drifted back down to the book in Xilutaiya's hands.
The Mountain-Peak Country in Wind and Snow. Written as a travelogue, the book recorded the author's experiences traveling through the Winter Kingdom several hundred years ago. It was a frigid land to the north of the Raygas Principality, situated entirely atop mountain ranges where wind and snow never ceased and the population remained sparse. Yet such a country had stood for nearly a thousand years, and its national Winter Knight Order was famed across the continent, revered as a sacred destination in the hearts of many knights and warriors.
For a girl to read this sort of book was rare indeed. Although Iona held no interest in it, she was intimately familiar with the subject—mostly because her father had deeply loved the country described within, especially the legendary Winter Knight Order.
The Raygas Principality shared deep origins with the Winter Kingdom; its founding sovereign, Leijiade Buweili, had hailed from there, and Raygas's national Fir Knight Order carried many traces modeled after the Winter Knight Order.
Still, compared to the harsh geography of the Winter Kingdom, the Raygas Principality enjoyed far better conditions and an abundance of food.
As these thoughts drifted through her mind, Iona studied the reading girl. She wore spectacles and had delicate features. On closer inspection, her skin was quite fair—perhaps even paler than Iona's own.
It must be because of all the sparring and training under the sun lately, whereas this girl has spent all her time reading in corners, Iona told herself.
To think she was actually comparing herself to a country girl. The thought left Iona unsettled, much like the gloomy rain that refused to relent outside.
Taking a deep breath, Iona composed herself and prepared to return to the bedroom to be alone.
Yet before she left, looking at the bespectacled girl who had paid her no mind the entire time, lost completely in the world of the book, she could not hold back from speaking.
"Can you really understand that?" she asked. She knew well that because the book had been written several centuries ago, its phrasing and vocabulary differed considerably from contemporary writing.
"Huh? Are you asking me?" Xilutaiya looked up, then answered, "Yes, I can. It's mostly because I read The Rings of the Fir: Past of the Mountain Country a while ago. The two books were written around the same period, so I can draw connections between them to make sense of it."
Iona remained skeptical. When she was a child, her father had read both books to her, and even he had needed to consult historical references to explain certain terms.
"Then let me test you." Iona stood up, and Walaini perked up with excitement.
This was the dashing Lady Iona she admired.
"Where was the Winter Knight Order founded, and which class did they specialize in?"
"When the knight order was founded, the leader was an elderly pastor who lived year-round upon the snow-swept mountain peaks, skilled in the secret arts and abilities of the Sleeping Winter attribute," Xilutaiya answered steadily. "The founding took place inside his small chapel.
"The earliest cohort consisted of only five young men. None had yet stepped into the first-order, but the elderly pastor instructed them with immense patience, allowing all five to eventually attain the strength of third-order Sleeping Winter, specializing in the Frost Swordsman class.
"With those five knights as the core, the original knight order was established. They spread their convictions through the mountains, uniting the scattered settlements across the snowy peaks into a patrolling cavalry unit that protected local stability. The organization expanded gradually until the forty-seventh Grand Master, Peileien, used his formidable vision to integrate the territories protected by the knight order into a nation. Upon founding the country, he advanced to the class of Winter Crown Knight at sixth-order Sleeping Winter-Castle."
The founding of the Winter Kingdom bore many similarities to that of the Raygas Principality; or rather, Raygas had modeled its own pioneering and statehood after the history of the Winter Kingdom.
Xilutaiya's concise, well-ordered explanation left Iona momentarily speechless. It even felt as though the girl knew more about the history than she did. But how was that possible? Iona had grown up immersed in such knowledge; even if she had neglected her studies somewhat in favor of social gatherings later on, a country commoner should never have surpassed her.
Instead of demonstrating her superiority, she had been made to look less learned than a rural commoner. The feeling stirred an inexplicable agitation and dread from deep within her, making her pulse race.
She looked at the girl in silence, her fingers twitching slightly before dropping back to her side.
After several seconds, Iona finally managed, "You certainly read a lot."
No, she could not lose her temper here. She did not want to cause unnecessary trouble and ruin the impression she had built before Scholar Haide.
Turning away, Iona pulled her door shut behind her and retreated into her bedroom, not coming out again. Her abrupt departure took Walaini completely by surprise, and her resentment shifted squarely onto Xilutaiya.
Watching Iona storm back into her room, Xilutaiya rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was well aware of what had just transpired.
It seemed she had not been discreet enough, wounding the young lady's pride.
Yet pretending to be ignorant when she already knew the answer would have felt terribly artificial and grating. Gentle-natured though she was, she was not the type to twist her own character merely to flatter someone else.
She could only hope the young lady would not pay her too much attention from now on, or life ahead would bring far too many needless headaches.
Chapter 36