Mary set her fork down and looked at him with wide eyes. "Wait. You want to become friends with me?"
"Yeah," Noah said simply. "I do."
She stared at him for a moment as if waiting for a punchline that wasn't coming.
"But... why?" Her voice dropped slightly. "I mean, you're from a noble family. You're..." She glanced at him briefly, then looked away.
"You're obviously very good looking. And you already seem to get along well with Lyria and Damien and the others. So why would you want to be friends with someone like me?" She folded her hands in her lap. "I'm just... ordinary. A commoner. Not even talented the way Arisha is."
Noah went quiet for a moment. He hadn't expected that.
*Was she always this conscious of where she stood?*
He looked at her properly. She wasn't putting on false modesty. She genuinely meant every word of it. That was what caught him off guard.
He leaned forward slightly and gave her the warmest smile he could manage.
