“Your mission, should you choose to accept it,” Xeik stated as he slid a folder marked ‘classified’ to Lewis and Simone. They were in a rarely used office in Elysium, an office out of the way from normal traffic. It was one of those spaces where dark deals were made, where assassinations were planned, and where anything could happen.

This was serious.

“Your target is in that folder, as well as the details of the-”

“I don’t think you understand,” Lewis replied, an annoyed look on his face. “We don’t have a choice here. Angela is more or less forcing us to do this…”

“Well,” Xeik shot back with a dark look, “It’s not like we have any choice. We’re tried the peaceful approach, but-”

“How hypocritical of you,” Lewis said with a glare. “You act all high and mighty, but in the end you need us to do your dirty work.”

“I knew you’d feel this way,” the Divine Mender said with a sigh. “My hands are tied too. Sometimes we have to resort to these unsavory methods Angela needs it done, and-”

“Just out with it. Who am I killing?” Lewis opened the file.

“Wait, killing?” Xeik looked at his friend confused. “No, we need you to steal some books.”

Simone sat there with a dumbfounded look on her face, “Stealing? Isn’t that more your forte?”

“It is but he isn’t allowed to leave my side right now,” Ang had a disapproving look on her face as she slammed open the door. “I just got done with three more advisories for weddings. I have time to explain the job before the next six.”

“…It’s that time of the year…” Simone frowned. “So you are saddling us with your shitty jobs…”

“No,” Angela held up her hand, “You are actually taking the job Xeik wanted to do.” She came over and sat next to Xeik. “These rare books came up for auction.” She crossed her arms and gave Lewis a look, “I slipped the pamphlet into Simone’s books for her to find for the auction but SOMEONE burned the address so she couldn’t go. Now we have to go out of our way to get the books.”

Lewis sighed and put his hands up, “You don’t understand, she would have bought everything but the books.”

Simone crossed her arms, “Lewis, you burned my invitation to the auction?”

Lewis got a scared look on his face for a second, “In my defense, have you ever seen yourself at an auction?”

The wife looked very cross with her husband but Angela came in for his rescue, “Anyways, this job will require you to take on younger forms, new identities, and being stealthy. I don’t care if you cheat and use each other to get answers for tests. You’ll need great grades to get into the library holding these books.”

“Wait… Grades?” Simone moved to the edge of her seat. “Younger forms? Are we going undercover as school children?”

“Young adults. I don’t care if you two want to date but please don’t get caught sneaking into each other’s dorms.” Angela informed as she pulled out the paperwork and showed them.

“Xeik can explain your names and your noble titles. Your families are going to be fake but there are things you’ll have to follow. For example, in order to be seen as courting you’ll have to gift Simone a flower and she will have to give you one back. After that, you’ll be known as exclusive. If all things go well I think you can be done with this job in a few weeks”

“But our kids…”

“Will be taken care of while you’re gone. We waited for Teagan to start walking because Lewis would have thrown the biggest tantrum known to man if we had tried to do this earlier.” Angela sighed a bit and opened a trunk. “You each have seven uniforms. The skirts are a bit short… So please don’t ruin all of them.” She glared at Lewis. “You are only getting seven.”.

It was a rather simple job, and Lewis rolled his eyes. “Why can’t I just sneak in and-”

Simone leaned over and whispered into his ear a idea that made him pause and think for a moment.

“Me. In a schoolgirl outfit.”

Lewis thought for a moment. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t do it now, but the idea of wooing a young Simone in a school setting seemed almost like one of her fantasy novels. It was a stupid idea, but it seemed almost fun.

“Fine…”

—

“Oi, transfer boy, it’s time to wake up!” a voice called.

Lewis groaned, and rolled over. “Five more minutes…”

“Khyri, up and at ‘em!” Someone jumped on the bed, and launched Lewis to the ground.

“For fuck’s sake,” Lewis said, growling. “I said five more minutes.” He got up and walked into the shared dorm’s bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror.

Staring back was a tired looking teen, one with a bad boy streak but surprisingly good grades. Lewis Khri, the son of the nobleman Aerie Kyhri, a manufacturer of a unique brand of airship engines used for cargo transports. Their special brand of magic was incorporated to provide the best engines in on the continent.

At least, that was the whole backstory that was given. Lewis splashed water on his face and groaned. The potion that Angela had made them take had altered their age, and as a teenager, Lewis had been the sleepiest of boys. He was lucky that he had the bad boy persona to fill, otherwise he might have had a real problem on hand.

“Not even a week here and you’re already thinking of skipping out on class? Ms. Aquila will be so disappointed…” Terra said with a sly grin. “She has the hots for your…I can see it in her eyes. The bad boy transfer student…gods, I wish she would look at me with those stern eyes…”

“You’re fucked in the head,” Lewis replied. “I’ll go to class…only because I heard there was a new girl starting today…” Of course, he already knew who it was….

Lewis and Terra left the dorms, and walked down the crowded pathways towards the main part of the campus.

This was the illustrious magic school for nobles, Angelus Academy, known for producing nobles who would take seats of power in society, whether it be in government or of a well known magic company. It was somewhere here that the target was.

Simone was entertained by her bad boy’s thoughts. She was wearing the school’s uniform and it looked cute on her small body. Her hair was worn just like how she did when she was younger. This time a golden ribbon was tied into it to match the school’s colors. “Attention everyone,” Professor Aquila tapped her podium with a ruler. “We have another transfer student today from Canelux. Her father is a duke in charge of merchants that trade between here and Adeluna.” The door opened and Simone walked in. She was the honorable of Duke Leon Rennovae.

She was elegant as she held her skirt and did a small curtsey. “My name is Simone Rennovae. Please take care of me and help me as I learn your cultural differences.” Her accent was pretty cute as well. She was able to easily slip back into it after all this time.

Her eyes didn’t waver on Lewis for long. It had only been a few days since they had been separated but it was long enough. Luckily there was a free desk by Lewis and she took her spot by him. She let her face flush at Lewis, “Can I share your books with you for now? I’m afraid the shipment didn’t arrive on time.”

Lewis’s roommate got huge eyes and kicked Lewis, “SAY YES.” The fool was whispering loudly. Every one of the boys were envious in the room.

Lewis rolled his eyes. Every boy in the class was swooning over Simone, and he was making a mental note of who to threaten later. That got an internal giggle from Simone.

“I guess,” Lewis said, pretending to be annoyed as he opened up his books for the very first time. He hadn’t bothered. Most of the curriculum was beyond his own experience, but Simone’s shared knowledge was more than enough to pass everything with ease. When she scooted over, he tried his hardest to keep his hands to himself and play the disinterested boy.

At least for now.

“Miss Mone, Miss Mone!” Terra said, sliding his desk to the other side of Simone’s. “I forgot my books today…you think we can all share?”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Lewis said with a death glare.

“Oh, I…I feel a little overwhelmed,” Simone said, fanning herself. “I think maybe it’s a bit too much-”

“OH I’m sorry,” Terra replied immediately. “I can just….oh hey, look, it seems like I did bring my books after all. Silly me…” He stuck out his tongue with a goofy expression. “Well, since Lewis seems so annoyed, you can share with me if you want.”

Simone looked overwhelmed a bit on the outside as the class watched to see who would win. “I’m sorry I just…” She was now speaking in her native tongue which was a sign of how nervous she was.

Lewis caught on easily enough as he responded to her, “It’s fine. If you are more comfortable you can talk like this.” The two spoke back and forth in native Adelunian.

Simone looked a bit more relieved as the others in class who could understand them looked impressed at Lewis. “Thank you…..?” She was switching back to Iria’s language as she inquired about his name.

“Lewis Khyrie,” he introduced himself easily enough. Terra backed off as soon as he realized he couldn’t speak with her if she got nervous.

“Good luck Lewis…” He patted Lewis on his back. “You won this round.”

They spent the better part of the class going over notes and Lewis pretending not to be interested in her. After class, Simone was bum rushed by about twenty different boys with roses of all colors. She had her arms full and she actually didn’t know how to handle being that popular. “…Thank you?” She tilted her head as the girls started to tell her about the tradition.

“Simone, you are so lucky! You can have your pick of any nobleman!” Her roommate Sophia was telling her about it. “When you decide all you have to do is give him a flower back! This year’s big catch is the other transfer student. Everyone is dying to know who he will give his first flower to.”

“His name was Lewis?” She tilted her head towards Sophia.

“Yes! He’s so dreamy~” Sophia pretended to faint. “He is so hard to flirt with though. You are so lucky…”

“So all you’re saying is,” Lewis repeated, “That if I like a girl, I need to give her a flower?” That seemed easy enough to handle. He looked at the large group of boys surrounding her. As the teenager Lewis Khyrie, he merely rolled his eyes at it. Internally, as Lewis Terrowin, he was thinking of the easiest way to kill them all in a single-

“Lewiiiss, helllooo?” Terra said, tapping the other boy on the shoulder. “You zoned out. Are you doing okay?”

“Fine,” Lewis responded. He stood up and looked at Simone. “Guess I’ll need to find a time to do it…”

“Do what?” Terra asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’re gonna give her a flower, aren’t you?”

“Of course not. Why would I waste my effort on some stupid tradition,” Lewis scoffed. What the rest of the students didn’t know was, however, that there was a single purple lilac awaiting Simone on her pillow. The moment she would walk into the door, she would find it waiting.

Of course, to Simone Terrowin, she would know immediately who it was. But for Simone Rennovae? A mysterious sender…

Simone got a but overwhelmed but once they got to her dorm Sophia lost her shit. “SIMONE! Look at this lilac!” She did a dance. “Who is this mystery romance boy!?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea…”

“How do we find out? They will all tell you it was from them!” Sophia was now worried about her naive roommate.

She tilted her head at her roommate and smirked, “…I have an idea but this can’t leave the room…” She held up the ribbon, “We can’t let anyone know what color this was. Only the real boy will know.” It was azure blue, not just any shade of blue. “You know plant magic right Sophia?!” She got excited.

“YES! You want me to enchant it?”

“Yes, I want to send this boy a message,” Simone smiled and tilted her head. “That I choose him without knowing who he is.”

“That is so romantic!” Sophia helped her fashion a hairpin out of the lilac and she took the ribbon off.

The next day Simone came in and sat next to Lewis. Sophia watched Simone and got loud, “Simone that hairpin is so pretty!”

“Isn’t it?” She showed it off in her hair, “It got mysteriously delivered to me last night. I want to find the boy who gave it to me.” She blushed and smiled up. “I absolutely love lilacs.”

“IT WAS ME!” At least five boys yelled in her direction.

“It was?” She tilted her head. “What color ribbon did you put on it?”

They got white in the face and they began to call out many different colors, “It wasn’t any of those. But I appreciate your interest. But… I do hope that he comes forward… I really like him.” She pushed her notebook up and it had a lilac embroidered on it. “He paid attention to me.” The boys all looked at the notebook and were mentally kicking themselves.

The game they were playing was almost cruel. It wasn’t even that he had paid attention to her, it was that he knew everything about her. No one in the world would ever stand a chance of knowing her like he did. When she sat down, he looked over to her with a smirk She was laying out the bait.

Was it time to bite?

Lewis cleared his throat, glancing outside.

“De l’éternel azur la sereine ironie
Accable, belle indolemment comme les fleurs…”

The words flowed as the room fell silent, everyone stunned that the ‘bad boy’ had spoken such a fluent, beautiful sounding poem. To those who understood its meaning, the melancholy of despair and sin…. Painful, yet beautiful.

Terra was staring in shock at his roommate. “When the hell did you come up with that!?”

“A bit of light reading…”

Simone looked entranced by Lewis as he spoke, her cheeks lit up red and she let him finish it. She nodded along to each line and there was a soft smile on her face as he finished. “That was very beautifully done. Your Adelunian is so good…” She bit her lip before reaching into her bag. “… Monsieur Lewis,” She said it to get his attention before pulling out a well kept peony. It’s pink petals were pristine.

“HE WAS THE ONE!” Sophia got excited and jealous at the same time.

“Aye, it was azure blue,” she held the peony out and blushed. “Will you accept my offering?”

The class was stunned and Terra looked jealous and impressed. “When the hell did you send her flowers?” He needed to take notes on how Lewis enchanted Simone.

“You two are going to be the couple of the century,” one of the other girls said with excitement.

If they only knew…