"You're Jin Raith, right?"
I looked up.
Emma was watching me now, her blue eyes careful and uncertain.
"Yeah," I said.
"I'm Emma Vale." She paused, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of her page. "Thank you for helping me the other day."
I blinked, tilting my head slightly. "What help?"
Her cheeks flushed faintly, and she looked down at her book, fingers still worrying at the paper's edge.
"In the garden. The other day. You... you helped me with the mana efficiency equation."
Oh. Right. That.
I waved my hand dismissively. "It's nothing."
"It's not nothing," she said quietly, still not quite meeting my eyes. "I'd been stuck on that problem for hours. Days, actually. And you just... figured it out in seconds."
"You would've gotten it eventually."
"Maybe." She finally looked up, her expression sincere despite the nervousness in her posture. "But you didn't have to help. Especially since... well. You're a noble. And I'm..."
She trailed off, but the meaning was clear.
