Liiza was the daughter of the ambassador managing the relationship with the human species. She has always been vague about her father, and Khan didn't probe further due to the obvious internal problems in her family. Still, she clearly was a privileged figure in the Niqols' society.
Paul didn't tell Khan to consider her as a princess by chance. His statement had reasons that involved her social importance for both species. Liiza was an untouchable figure for the human species and a coveted political partner for the Niqols.
Khan didn't feel strange to learn that Liiza was part of one of the most famous academies on Nitis. Still, he remained speechless when she confirmed that her school had been the one accepting the humans. The couple would have to attend lessons in the same structure, even if they were different since she was already in the second year.
"[The Pure Trees] is exceptional," Liiza explained after the couple silently decided not to talk about the obvious issues connected to their situation. "Niqols usually start to learn about mana early, so the first year can't offer us much. However, those lessons might be pretty important for humans. They can even transform how you consider mana."
"I can't wait," Khan honestly announced before thinking about something. "They won't teach us Zalpa's methods, right?"
"The Niqols removed them from the mandatory courses many years ago," Liiza explained. "Even the optional courses only allow you to study those old ways. No one really teaches them anymore."
"Isn't that a waste?" Khan replied. "Aren't they a core part of your history?"
Khan didn't need to mention it, but Liiza knew that he was hinting at the fact that Zalpa had been right about the sunlight. She could sense the doubts in his voice, so she didn't hesitate to reassure him.
"Khan, the old ways were barbaric," Liiza explained. "We would use our blood to conduct mana and empower its effects. Most of our spells required a cost usually paid through flesh. We even used the animals as core materials for specific abilities."
Everything sounded as barbaric as Liiza described it in Khan's mind, but he didn't see the problem with that. That didn't seem strange after learning that the Kred had organized a rebellion to appease their planet's pain.
"The old ways were powerful but unstable," Liiza continued when she understood that Khan wasn't convinced. "Dealing with humans has taught us about the existence of stabler paths. They didn't even involve a significant loss in power since hard work and experience could make up for it."
"Our techniques aren't completely stable either," Khan revealed. "We still have cases of soldiers getting hurt by their own spells."
"That's just the result of a failed execution," Liiza complained before turning to face Khan without making him break his embrace. "You have seen [Zaza]. Why do you think her hair is red? The old methods have tainted her mana until it caused natural mutations. I'm not even sure of how she is suppressing them."
"She looked fine," Khan revealed a warm smile when Liiza's eyes pointed at his face.
"Really?" Liiza asked as her eyebrows arched. "Should I stop taking baths then?"
"That won't scare me away either," Khan laughed. "And I didn't mean it in that sense."
"I know how you meant it, stupid," Liiza sighed while making their foreheads touch. "[Zaza] said that you have to get stronger to discover more about your nightmares, so you want to go all reckless. I'm worried about how easily you accept pain."
"Everyone does that," Khan responded. "Spreading the mana inside our bodies hurts, but we all do that."
"Remember where you are," Liiza scolded while pulling back her head and showing her cold expression. "Stop pretending with me."
Khan's eyes widened. Liiza was only scolding him, but he could sense that his previous words had hurt her since he had tried to wear his usual mask with her.
"I'm sorry," Khan sighed as real regret appeared in his eyes. "Pretending is a habit by now, and I even have to do it all day."
"I know you didn't do it on purpose," Liiza stated while snuggling closer to Khan. "I don't even want you to fix that behavior since you need it. I just hate it when you use it with me."
Khan could only heave another sigh and caress Liiza's back to reassure her. Their time together was already at risk, and he didn't want the cold part of his life to affect his happy moments.
"I might be too used to pain," Khan timidly revealed.
"That's an understatement," Liiza snorted. "It honestly doesn't surprise me after what you went through. Still, I like how you do your best to get over your bad habits for me."
"I wanted to leave my post after Snow learnt about this place," Khan scoffed. "I think you should tell me what to expect in [The Pure Trees]. I'm getting better at feeling like a Niqols, but that's not always good in my position."
"About that," Liiza cleared her throat and diverted her gaze as her voice gained a playful tone. "Can we cuddle for a bit more first? You might not be in the perfect state for that afterward."
Khan frowned and pulled Liiza closed before questioning her. "How bad is it?"
"Well…," Liiza uttered, and Khan's expression froze when her explanation arrived.
.
.
.
'Of course her ex had to be in the academy!' Khan cursed as he lay on Snow while the creature flew across the sky to bring him back to the camp.
Khan had always known that he wasn't Liiza's first boyfriend. Her previous relationships had never been long, and she had never felt anything for her partners. The Niqols' lack of self-restraint had made her exchange kisses with a couple of attractive boys in her species, but she had always ended up breaking up with them quickly.
However, one of her exes had turned out to be a pretty important figure inside the Niqols' society. His name was Ilman, and he belonged to one of the largest tribes in charge of developing new techniques and methods involving mana.
The Niqols had changed their approach to mana after meeting the humans, so those subjects were relatively new. The tribes that could improve and innovate them had an immense value in the alien society in that specific historical period, and Ilman ended up belonging to one of them.
The Niqols had to make up for thousands of years of evolution through barbaric methods. The organizations that could develop new and valuable paths basically had the most important role in the entire alien society since they carried the hopes of a whole species. The future of the Niqols was in their hands.
The quickest way to develop new methods was to have direct access to human technology, and the ambassadors filled that role. It was clear that a union between tribes that dealt with those fields would bring immense benefits to both of them and the Niqols' species as a whole. Needless to say, Liiza and Ilman's tribes had attempted to do that.
According to Liiza, Ilman was pretty good-looking, and his character wasn't even bad. Many tribes had already tried to hook him up with their descendants since his looks, wealth, and political relevance were incredible. He was the closest a Niqols could be to perfection at his age.
Ilman and Liiza's tribes had agreed to arrange the relationship when they were still young, but Liiza's rebellious character had eventually made the agreement fail. The event was the main reason behind her current situation. The Niqols felt that she had betrayed her species by not making such suitable organizations fuse.
The angriest about the whole matter had been Yeza. She was an ambassador with a daughter who couldn't sacrifice herself for the greater good of her species.
Being with Ilman wasn't even a sacrifice. The boy actually liked Liiza, and he wasn't bad in any aspect. Even Liiza had admitted that she had refused him only to go against the obligations imposed by her mother.
Khan's issue was that Ilman also attended the second year in [The Pure Trees], and his feelings for Liiza had only increased after her refusal. The Niqols was still pursuing her, and Khan would have to watch those scenes in silence once he arrived in the academy.
'Dealing with a secret relationship without forsaking my training wasn't enough,' Khan cursed in his mind. 'Now I have to endure the handsome, rich, and important guy going after my girlfriend too. What did I ever do to you, world? Can you let me have one good thing?'
Khan didn't let his mental state affect his time with Liiza, but she had understood that it was better not to mention the topic with him at all. The main issue was that the couple couldn't find a proper solution. They could only endure and make sure that their problems didn't hurt the happiness that they managed to experience when they were together.
Khan's ability to hide his real emotions was so good that only George got the feeling that something was off with him. However, his hunches were too vague to lead to actual questions. Also, Khan often didn't sleep for entire days, so forcing him to go out during the remaining days inside the camp was hard.
Khan still had to go out with the eight recruits who had successfully tamed Aduns a few times. His moments with Liiza inevitably shrunk due to those events, and his sleeping schedule ended up suffering the most from his behavior.
Training, studying, going out with George and the others, and flying to Liiza filled Khan's schedule in ways that the training camp on Earth had never done. He couldn't even sleep on Snow at times since he needed those few hours to complete his daily training.
Luckily for him, George and the others lacked his resilience, so they didn't stay up late even when the Niqols smuggled other batches of the pink liquid in the camp. As for Liiza, she directly forced him to sleep whenever she saw that he was about to reach his limits.
The couple didn't talk about Ilman anymore after Liiza's explanation. Khan even forgot about him at times since the feelings shared by the two continued to intensify with each night spent together. Khan found it hard to worry about the ex-boyfriend when Liiza slept naked in arms.
Khan's fourth week on Nitis eventually went by, and the day that everyone was waiting for arrived. Captain Erbair made one of her rare appearances inside the camp to announce the names of the recruits who would go to [The Pure Trees].
The Captain's decision came from various factors. She had considered the recruits' battle prowess, their knowledge of the Niqols' customs and language, their achievements in the Global Army, and their character to come up with her list. Still, some inevitably remained disappointed.
[The Pure Trees] had only opened eight spots to the humans. Khan obviously occupied one of them, and George and Veronica ended up filling two more. Yet, Captain Erbair disregarded Natalie and Harris since their character didn't suit such a delicate mission. The girl was simply too cold, and the boy was way too attached to his human customs to be in an environment full of Niqols.
Gabriela, a girl from the third class, ended up filling the fourth spot, and Captain Erbair decided to assign the remaining four to recruits from the first and second classes. Her decision didn't want to aim to a precise and fair division of that task. She had only picked the best candidates since the mission came before the political repercussions that her decision could have.
Paul couldn't help but feel ecstatic to see that three members of his class had gained the chance to go to an alien academy. His value as a squad captain would inevitably increase after that achievement, but the seriousness of the situation didn't make him forget to make a list of what the trio didn't have to do once outside the camp.
Each squad captain did the same with the respective recruits. Khan spent the last night of his fourth week inside the camp since Paul would kill him if he dared to risk being late. Moreover, envoys leading a pack of Ugu had to approach the area to transport the group's clothes and weapons to the academy beforehand, and everyone had to help.
The departure happened early the next morning when an Aduns wearing fabric enhanced by the Niqols' azure symbols landed in front of the camp.