Sheila blinked once at Liam words, clearly unimpressed.

"…That is a terrible answer."

"Well it's also an honest one."

She held his gaze, waiting for more.

This time, he gave it.

"You are not going to know with certainty that every decision you make is the right one," Liam said. "Neither am I. That's not how any of this works."

His tone remained calm, but there was a greater firmness in it now.

"If you wait for certainty before acting, then you'll be too late when it matters."

Sheila listened in silence.

"And if you make a mistake," he continued, "then we deal with the mistake."

That last part made something in her face ease. Even if it was only slightly, it was enough, because there was a difference between you deal with it and we deal with it.

Sheila realized he had not shoved the weight entirely onto her after all. He was leaving the judgment to her, but not the consequences.

This realization made her expression changed into something quieter. Something less resistant and guarded.

"You really are terrible at making people feel reassured," she murmured.

Liam did not respond to that as he simply stared at her.

Sheila let out a long breath and ran one hand lightly along the edge of the desk, grounding herself in the motion.

"Alright," she said at last. "I think I understand enough now."

He looked at her and she held his gaze steadily this time.

"Not enough to say I agree with every part of how you think," she clarified. "But enough to understand why you aren't trying to control what I do."

She paused briefly.

"And enough to understand that if I'm in this at all, then I can't just be waiting around for orders from you."

"That's pretty much it."

That simple, yet certain answer, seemed to settle something in her.

She shifted in her chair and straightened slightly, the posture making her look more composed again, more like someone who had finally found her footing after standing in uncertainty for the past several minutes.

"Fine," she said. "Then we'll do it that way."

Liam remained silent for a beat.

Then:

"Alright."

Sheila narrowed her eyes at him immediately.

"That's all?"

"What else do you want me to say?"

"I don't know," she replied, leaning back with a faint look of disbelief. "Something slightly more meaningful considering we just spent all this time trying to make sense of your lack of a plan."

"I said alright."

"That is not meaningful."

"Well, I believe it is enough."

She stared at him for a moment longer before finally looking away with a breath that was almost a laugh.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised by that answer."

The room grew quieter after that.

The conversation had reached a place where both of them understood each other enough for the moment, even if not perfectly. There were still uncertainties between them, still risks, still far too many unknowns waiting outside the walls of the academy for either of them to pretend this was simple.

But the ground beneath the conversation felt firmer now.

They were no longer standing on abstraction alone.

After a while, Liam shifted slightly in his seat.

Sheila noticed it immediately.

"What?"

"I have one more request."

The words left Liam's mouth is a calm and simple way as usual. However, the moment they left his mouth, Sheila's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, a fresh thread of caution and curiosity mixing in her expression.

"…One more request?"

Liam looked at her more calmly than before.

"Yes."

Sheila studied him for a while, her gaze steady as she tried to piece together what Liam could possibly be asking of her this time. She had already agreed to help him once—something far from simple—and yet here he was again, bringing up something new without much preface.

There was no immediate suspicion in her expression, but there was caution. The kind that came from knowing Liam didn't ask for things lightly.

"Alright then," she said at last, leaning back slightly in her chair. "Go on. I'm listening."

"It's about the duties that come with being ranked one," Liam said in an even tone.

Sheila's eyes widened just slightly at that, the shift subtle but noticeable.

That wasn't what she had been expecting.

"…What do you mean?" she asked, her voice quieter now, more focused.

Liam met her gaze calmly.

"As someone who once held that position," he began, "you're aware of the responsibilities that come with it. Not just in name, but in practice."

Sheila didn't interrupt.

She simply watched him, waiting for him to continue, her expression settling into something more attentive.

"Well," Liam went on, "I think we both know I'm not suited for that kind of responsibility."

There was no hesitation in his voice. Just a raw, honest statement.

"I don't have what it takes to lead our peers," he added. "Let alone act as some kind of example for them."

He paused briefly, giving her just enough time to register what he was implying.

"And more importantly," he continued, "the disdain and hatred directed at me isn't something that's going to disappear just because I hold that title. They'll continue to feel the same way, regardless of my position."

Sheila's posture shifted slightly as she listened.

"If that doesn't change," Liam said, "then we already know what that leads to. Division. Disunity. A fractured second year."

His eyes remained steady on her.

"At that point, we wouldn't even function as a proper cohort. Our juniors might end up more unified than we are."

That made Sheila draw in a quiet breath, her fingers lightly pressing against the surface of her desk as she processed everything he had just said.

There was truth in it.

An uncomfortable truth.

"…Alright," she said after a moment, her tone measured. "If that's the case… what exactly are you suggesting we do to fix it? To actually function as one instead of… whatever that would become?"

Liam didn't hesitate this time.

"You already know what I'm suggesting, Sheila."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Do I?"

"If we want the second years to move forward as a unified group," Liam said calmly, "then they don't need someone like me attempting to lead them."

He paused briefly.

"They need someone who actually can."

There was a moment of stillness.

"That someone is you, Sheila."

A brief silence followed.

"…And I know you know that too," he added.

Sheila didn't respond right away.

Her gaze dropped to the desk in front of her, her expression unreadable for a few seconds as his words settled in.

When she finally looked back up at him, her eyes were clearer—more grounded.

"Honestly," she said, her tone calm but firm, "even if there's some truth in what you're saying… we both know you're not as unqualified as you're making yourself out to be, Liam."

Liam didn't react as he simply listened.

"Yes, a lot of our peers hate you," Sheila continued. "That's not something either of us can deny. But you can't sit here and tell me that makes you incapable of leading them. Because it doesn't."

She leaned forward slightly, her gaze steady.

"You have the ability to lead," she said. "Whether you like it or not."

She paused briefly.

"And trying to shift that responsibility onto me by bringing up what I did last year doesn't automatically make me the better option either."

She exhaled quietly, her expression tightening just a little.

"Leading a group once doesn't mean I can just do it again whenever it's convenient," she added. "That's not how that works."

Inside, Liam's thoughts shifted.

-…What kind of logic is that?'

He watched her in silence, his expression unchanged, though his mind was already dissecting her words.

'I thought she was about to give an actual reason to refuse… something concrete. Something that would justify her stepping away from this.

'Instead,This is what she has to offer?'

There was a brief pause in his thoughts.

'I almost thought she was about to challenge me properly.'

When she had started speaking, there had been a moment, a brief, but real moment, where Liam had prepared himself.

Prepared for resistance.

Prepared for an argument that would force him into something he had no interest in dealing with.

Leadership.

The very thing he was trying to avoid.

For a second, it had seemed like Sheila might actually push back in a way that made sense—something that would complicate things, something that would force him to reconsider how he approached this.

'…Had me thinking this might turn into a problem.'

And for the smallest moment;

'I even thought getting her and Percy to reconcile might end up working against me here.'

His thoughts settled.

'Had me worried for nothing.'

There was no frustration in him, just a quiet conclusion.

'Guess I'll just have to make it obvious.'

Liam's gaze remained on her, calm and steady, as the next words began to form in his mind.