I'd Give Up The World For You

Juliet spent most of her time focusing on her lesson plans before the new term started but since she practically lived in the library she saw Ira around quite a bit. There was no real rhyme or reason to the things he read. She saw him taking books from a variety of different sections ordered by subject. 

At one point she was so tired of second-guessing whether or not he had some sort of contact with Daisy she almost asked him point blank despite knowing it was a bad idea. Thankfully, she managed to stop herself in time. 

He seemed like his usual self from the beginning of Down in Flames most of the time but every couple of weeks he would get a letter from someone he cared about because it would completely change his apathetic aura. She tried peeking at the sender once but didn't manage to succeed. 

The good news was that Ira hadn't seemed to notice she was spying on him. The bad news was that she was no closer to accomplishing her goal. 

One day the week before the term started Ira was sitting in the library with a tall stack of books around him that he occasionally took out to crosscheck facts with when someone approached and handed him a letter. "There you are. I knew I'd find you here when you weren't in Professor Rothman's lab. Who's this from, anyway? It's your second letter from her this month."

A tiny, fond smile appeared on Ira's face. "My mother."

Juliet nearly had a heart attack. His mother?! His mother was dead! Both of his parents had died when he was seven years old!

"Ah, I see. Must be nice to hear from her then," the boy delivering the letter guessed. 

"It is. Thank you for delivering it."

"No problem. See you around, Ira! Don't study too hard."

"As if that's even possible," Ira muttered under his breath as the other boy left and tore open the letter eagerly. He scanned it before setting it down with another small smile and an indulgent shake of his head. 

Juliet was incredibly confused. Had his mother been transmigrated into by someone while on the brink of death the same way Daisy had been into Veronica May? Or was he referring to Daisy as his mother? 

Veronica's body wasn't too much older than Ira. Definitely less than ten years. So why would he consider her his mother?

It was definitely a strange coincidence. It had to be. 

=== 

Ira loved receiving letters from Miss Veronica. It almost felt like she was there with him because of the way she wrote. 

Since going back to the capital she had changed jobs and Mr. Leo got a promotion around the same time. It was amazing to him that he had gotten another one considering he hadn't actually been a lieutenant colonel all that long. She had married someone truly outstanding. 

She was working in the royal gardens now instead of the flower shop she had been before. She mentioned missing her coworkers but that she still saw Miette occasionally because she was friends with Tom, the head gardener at the castle. 

The work was slightly different but still involved flowers so she didn't seem too bothered by the switch. Ira knew that she loved flowers more than anything else in the world. 

He was worried about her condition since everything he ever heard said that pregnant women were supposed to take it easy. Taking it easy had never been Miss Veronica's style. She was the type to pour all of herself into any given activity. 

Her husband would prevent her from doing anything truly harmful, wouldn't he? She had said he would be excited about the baby and had mentioned on multiple occasions that he was the overprotective type. 

Ira had to believe she would be okay. She had people looking out for her where she was. 

Honestly, he was more concerned about following the last instructions she had given him before she left. She told him to make friends this year. He hadn't been able to do that his whole first year at the academy and he doubted it would change now. 

Though to be fair, he hadn't really been trying. He hadn't been interested so why bother doing something so difficult?

When he was traveling around with his parents there had never been much (if any) opportunity to make friends. There hadn't been a point either since he knew he would leave them soon, never to see them again. 

At Miss Veronica's farm he had her so there was no need for anyone else. He hadn't been trying to get close to anyone, expecting to be kicked out again sooner or later, but she wormed her way into his heart. That was simply the kind of person she was. 

Once Ira arrived at the academy he was far more interested in his studies than he was other people. He still got letters from her so what did anyone else matter? 

But she so rarely asked things of him. He didn't want to let her down. 

If nothing else, he had to try. The real question was who he could potentially try to make friends with. Most of the people here were not the sort of people he would have anything to talk about with aside from assignments. 

That was how the Krinzels and the twins had been back on the farm. He only talked to them about the work when absolutely necessary. He preferred to stick by Miss Veronica since he was more comfortable with her. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option here. 

She was off living her life and didn't want him to be lonely while she was away. There couldn't be any other reason she asked him to make friends. 

Ira had spent his summer primarily in the library when he wasn't working with Professor Rothman. The only other students here were doing internships as well and there weren't many of them. They all tended to keep to themselves as well since their friends had gone home. 

There wasn't a point bothering with any of them since they were all older. He would never see them since they would all have different classes. He was going to have to wait until the second-year students came trickling back. 

So he kept to his schedule of hanging out in the library reading whatever caught his fancy. No one else was in there this time of year except one woman who seemed to be around Miss Veronica's age. She feverishly burned through a variety of epic novels and seemed to be writing something about them. 

She had to be a member of the staff. There weren't any students as old as her here. 

Ira didn't pay much attention to her but he did notice on the first day of term that she was the new literature teacher. That explained a lot.

He had never seen the point of literature. Books were meant to be informative! But he had to take the class because it was part of the basic curriculum required of everyone at the academy. They wanted their students to be well-rounded or some other nonsense. 

Literature wouldn't help him as a doctor so he wasn't interested in it. He far preferred his classes that focused on chemistry, biology, and herbalism. Next year he would be able to add anatomy to his class list and he was rather looking forward to it since he would need a vast knowledge of the human body to treat patients. 

Ira forced himself to focus throughout literature class. He had his Study of Herbs class after lunch so that gave him the motivation to pay attention for now. 

His schedule consisted of Literature and Study of Herbs on Mondays, Mathematics and Chemistry on Tuesdays, History and Biology on Wednesdays, and his special Magical Theory class and Fundamentals of Self-Defense on Thursdays. Fridays were left open for self-study for younger students but beginning in third year they could add more specialized subjects on that day. 

There was a free period meant for doing homework between the first class of the day and lunch but it seemed that most of the students he knew didn't take advantage of it, preferring to goof off with their friends. He truly didn't see the appeal. 

Personally, Ira preferred spending that time in the library. Sometimes he shook things up by talking to his favorite professors if they weren't in the middle of teaching or going to the school's gardens or greenhouses. 

Students were allowed to volunteer there since the teachers couldn't possibly maintain them on their own. Doing that helped him feel closer to Miss Veronica since he was able to utilize what she had taught him. She had an extensive knowledge of all things related to plants. 

His Study of Herbs professor had been surprised last year when he had known so much from the start.. He had to explain that he had grown up on a farm and had learned from the best.