“We’ve come too late!” Elise said.

Hain came to a standstill in the doorway and shot his eyes open.

But not because of the large number of pupils that filled what looked like a huge dining hall, and definitely not because of the white walls that lit up everything as if they were outside under the sun.

The pupils were as quiet as mice. Was this even possible?

He stepped closer to the girl, in utter awe at the sight of the calming silence and sun-like brightness all around them.

Elise smiled, leaned in and whispered as if she could read his mind.

“This is the dining hall. We eat three meals a day here.”

The dining hall teemed with rectangular tables that stretched from one end to the other in three rows.

Everyone was already seated, and only a handful of seats remained empty at the table closest to the entrance.

Hain scratched his neck and glanced at Elise out of the corner of his eye as soon as he noticed that the apprentices were looking at them.

But he wasn’t the one they looked at. They all followed the girl with their bored eyes. They didn’t look because she was pretty, though. There was something else that set her apart from the others – something he was about to find out.

Elise pointed at the front row where both the headmaster and Ms Yones sat among other adults, chatting amongst themselves.

There, he thought, she wanted them to sit there? Was this what she meant by her being ‘a special friend’? A teacher’s pet or maybe—Hain snapped back to reality as the girl addressed him.

“We’re not sitting there, dummy! But don’t you see the resemblance?”

“The resemblance?”

“Hmm!”

His eyes drifted to the headmaster. Were those two related, after all? Although that made sense, he couldn’t understand why this was some kind of perk. It wasn’t like they were allowed to sit with the grown-ups and eat their fill, were they?

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“I get what you’re trying to say, but how does that make you special?”

The girl’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Elise took the lead through the dining hall and lumbered to the nearest table with the empty seats.

Hain followed suit and settled right next to her. She became hushed and averted her eyes. He was about to ask what went through her mind when the gnomes’ sudden entrance broke the silence.

A bunch of gnomes with their tiny hands full of mouthwatering dishes wobbled in.

They looked like tiny humans, Hain thought. Even the tables were taller than them, so they had to walk in pairs and jump on one another's back to serve the dishes.

The juicy meat made his stomach rumble and his mouth salivate as the fat dripped on the empty plates. How long had he gone without food?

To his dismay, however, the gnomes passed by their table and served the front row first. Elise smirked as they locked eyes. Now he understood why the others were in such a rush to get to the dining hall!

There was no way there would be any food left by the time the gnomes served their table, not to mention their seats at the corner.

When the gnomes finally served their row, they started at the other end of the rectangular table, which spanned fifty seats from where they sat.

Only a drop of sweet and sour cherry sauce and some potatoes were left.

Two gnomes, one with a red hat and one with a green hat squeezed in between them and served them one half potato each.

Hain folded his hands on his lap and stood as politely as he could when he noticed that one of the gnomes was the one he saw mopping the floor.

The same gnome served Elise all the sauce and left nothing for him. Did the gnome do this on purpose?

Wrinkling his nose, he glanced over at Elise’s plate, which looked much more appetising. There was no way he could feel full just by eating that small piece of potato.

Elise, on the other hand, dug her teeth into her meal, which dripped with sauce, like it was the most delicious thing. She even smacked her lips and made noises, which made him hungrier than he already was.

Still, Hain did not give his plate a second look – not until Elise whispered with her mouth full of potato.

“Dig in before Rooney eats your share, fool!”

She pulled the plate closer to him and nodded her head towards the table across them.

The fat pupil who trampled on everyone earlier like it was no big deal stole meat and potatoes from the others as if he was collecting taxes, yet no one uttered a single word or told him off.

“Rooney is Ms Yones’s only son. He’s been taking classes for over ten years.”

Hain shot open his eyes in surprise. Son? But why did Ms Yones want everyone to call her miss, then? Moreover, ten years? What was he? Stupid or something?

Before he could react, Elise picked up a bit of potato with her fork and stuffed it into his mouth.

She let out a hearty chuckle and wiped his mouth as he almost choked on the potato. He wasn’t over the shock yet.

“Why am I the only one who finds that sentence wrong? Ten years! Isn’t he supposed to graduate by now?”

“You’re not,” she said, adding. “We just ignore him. You will too soon enough.”