[Discontinued*] The Darling Princess [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

🥀 Chapter 32

Lilia was the first to say anything to answer Y/N's question. "You look beautiful, Beastie."

Malleus nodded, getting to his feet and striding over to where Y/N was standing. He stopped in front of her and lifted his hand, picking up a stray piece of hair that had fallen out of place and tucking it behind her ear. His hand hesitated just under her ear for a moment before he slowly pulled it away, the tips of his fingers caressing the edge of her jaw. He smiled at her. "You do look beautiful, Y/N."

"Um... thanks." 

Y/N and Malleus headed back to the rest of the group and Y/N sat down in between Sebek and Silver, setting the box down underneath the table and pulling her pile of books and notebooks closer to her. Sebek, it seemed, had brought most of his study equipment with him, though the other three seemed much more interested in reading or studying practical magic rather than the multitude of poisons and medicines that the two first years were reviewing. 

"Okay..." Y/N muttered, holding up a picture of deep purple berries on a twig with small green leaves around it. She held it up for Sebek to see from where he was leaning against the back of the couch.

"Deadly Nightshade," he said without missing a beat. He had hardly even glanced up at the picture. 

"How about this one?" The next card held pictures of bright purple bell-shaped flowers, hanging amongst white flowers.

"Foxglove."

Y/N pouted and searched through her textbook for one that she hoped might stump Sebek. They had only been studying for ten minutes, and yet it seemed as though he already knew all of the poisonous plants in the book, from front cover to back. 

She sighed and held up the book to show a picture of a single white flower with a yellow centre. "I'm sure you know this one."

Sebek glanced up from the book containing medicines and nodded. "Jimsonweed."

"Okay, question." Y/N shut the book of poisons. "Why in the world would you ask me to study with you if you already knew all of this?!"

Sebek flushed a little and looked away from his fellow first year. He made eye contact with Silver, who was working on some magic with Lilia, pleading silently for the second year to help him make an excuse. Silver shook his head and turned away, leaving the jade-haired boy to flounder for a response.

"I-I don't know the medicines as well as I do the poisons," he said, still looking away from Y/N. His hand muffled a bit of his speech, but Y/N picked it up.

"Medicines?" 

Gently, she took the book from her study partner and stood up for a moment so that she could flop down better onto the faux-leather couch. She set one knee over the other and opened the book, flipping through the pages. 

"What's so tricky about them?" Though the words could have been taken as a joke or ridicule, Sebek noticed that there was no malice behind the words. It sounded as if Y/N was genuinely interested in what he found difficult about them.

Sebek flushed a little. "I'm not sure. I am just unable to remember them."

Y/N reached over and opened up the book on poisons again, holding it in one hand while she compared the pictures to the pictures in the book that was resting on her lap. She had noticed that there were a fair number of similarities between plants, and it was more about being able to tell the differences between the two plants.

"What if we just focus on the differences between the two plants for now," she said, holding up two nearly identical plants for Sebek to see. "You might be able to remember the medicinal plants better if you can compare them to a poisonous plant."