Next day was early training. As Drak does not have to do fitness he does not attend, but is forced to be at least inside the school. For this Drak and his Maids did go into the Park inside the Schools fence to relax. Two hours later he would need to be back in Class, but for now he relaxed in a kind of picnic on the mowed fields. Resting his head on Alice’s lap, Raja peels a fruit the likes of an Apricot and cut it into mouth sized pieces. While feeding Drak she also gave her Maid Sisters pieces for them to eat.

Drak always made them eat with him when they were alone, as he does not like it having good things only for himself. He knew how sad it felt to always see others have nice things but only be able to watch.

The four had a hard time to make Drak stop helping with everything as he was their Master. While he cared for them, when they were unable to do anything themselves, they were grateful for the opportunity to pay him back everything he gave them.

“Intruder.”

As Raja told everyone in a quiet tone they got ready for everything but were still looking relaxed and did not do anything strange.

The ‘intruder’ was a Girl with two female guards. Unlike many other students, she had something that made her unique. She wore glasses, while normal people would at first wear glasses in their late stage of their life, if at all.

“Ah. Someone also here?”

Seeing the small picnic in the shadow of a Tree she was wondering about the people being there out loud. It is time for class and rarely would people wander the Park if classes were in Session.

“…”

Looking at the people she just could not look away. She had a strange face and even her Guards were puzzled by this.

“Miss?”

Snapping out of it the Girl looked at the Guard who spoke like she got spooked.

“I… I am sorry, let us walk further.”

Going further the Guards had a glint in their eyes looking at Drak and retinue. They were wary of that chubby Duke, they had never seen until now.

“...~”

“Definitely Magic Eyes. Who else needs glasses if their body had been formed by Magic.”

“Yes Master, I think so too. Did she see something?”

“Maybe, but it is hard to say. Those Eyes are hard to fathom. Raja’s Eye is also a miracle, so who knows what her eyes can do.”

In the distance some hidden people were monitoring Drak and heard their talk but the words they heard were completely different:

[So young and already has glasses? Maybe an Illness? She is cute though]

[Do you take a liking to women already, Master Drak?]

[I was just saying, she is rather cute. Maybe if I would look better, I would ask her out? No, I should not get my hopes up. I am young and maybe I find someone eventually]

-

Next day in the Mensa there were a few more pair of eyes on Drak and his Maids sitting together on the same table. Those eyes were observing him but were bad at hiding it.

“More people, Master.”

“Sure, should be someone interested in me. Maybe someone of the Girl?”

“She is a tool for a Count, Master.”

While eating she took out the booklet and came to a specific page.

“Marlene Dietric. Daughter of Baron Dietric and subordinate of Cound Richter. Second Year and while already sixteen came to the school after the Count used his Status to make the Family barely a Baron household.”

“Objective?”

“Her Magic Eyes. Not much is known right now, but her admittance was also made by Count Richter. She must be of use for something, but as there is no Rule to disclose the Effects of Devil… I mean Magic Eyes, except for ones with malicious effects, she can walk around without being directly monitored. Obviously she is ostracized as what she does is so blatant, everyone around her stopped pretending too.”

“Poor girl. I would be similar, if I were to be found out. Better be careful.”

“We are all in the same boat Master! What you did to us made us all targets, so cheer up and share that worry with us!”

“...~”

“Nothing to add. We will always by your side, Master.”

“Thank you… for everything you do.”

-

“Hello Drak, I came personally to take you shopping, I hope you don’t mind.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Morning at the first rest Day Eleonora came with a large retinue to go shopping. While troubled, he could not refuse, as he already had accepted the ‘date’. Now he was in such a bad situation, that he has problems to even think straight.

“Um. Hello Princess E-”

“Elly.”

“Ah… Hello Elly. I would have come to you in a few minutes, Why are you coming to me? Is that not against the status quo?”

“What are you talking about? As long as we are in School our Statuses are both Student, and nothing else.”

That blatant lie was ushered with a radiant smile on her face. While the smile would soothe nearly everyone who saw it, for Drak it looked like a devious trap, that could make his plans even more problematic.

The so called ‘equality’ was just a sham. Everyone knows that, as the common Students and Aristocrats were barred from each other. While the commoners were allowed into the Park they could not go through the Aristocratic part of the School and had to go wholly around the School from East Entrance to the western Entry into the Park. The walk would take extremely long and even if they would go per Carriage it would take hours. Aristocrats also kept mostly to their own Rank or try at most to butter up to a rank higher than their own.

“Ah, of course. We are both Students, yeah. Then I will enter my Carriage and follow…”

“What are you talking about? You can come with me in my Carriage. It is way roomier and has great stability.”

The white Carriage with gold and platinum embedded decorations were shining in magical power and radiated grace. The Carriage itself would be as expensive as the Mansion his siblings had, not even comparing his own Mansion.

“...sure. Seria, Alice, let us go. Celia and Raja, please go to the Servants carriage.”

Defeated and already exhausted Drak went to the mobile Castle of a Carriage and waited for Eleonora to enter. Looking away for gentlemanly demeanour while she entered, Eleonora gave an approving smile.

‘His upbringing is alright. If he would look better, he would be a great Noble. Too bad.’

-

“This… is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Just eat what you want and leave the rest.”

At the breakfast in the Merchant District of the School City Eleonora invited Drak to breakfast. The breakfast had everything and the Table was filled to the brim. Fresh Bread, Croissants, Jam, thin sliced Ham, Pancakes, Cakes, Fruit Juice, Tea, Sausages, Salad, Jelly sweet and savoury, Cheese, …

The large Table was set up in a decorative way as a great buffet, with enough placed for twenty people, but was just for the two of them.

While Drak knew about the decadence of some Nobles he never liked it. As he had gotten nearly nothing prior to his rebellion, was surviving only on scraps and therefore content with either warm bread and Soup or a nice breakfast with his maids, this kind of extravagance was never seen by him.

He was a bit flustered about the happening, but his maids were already setting his plate with things he always liked to eat. Fluffy bread draped with cheese and ham and as dessert pancakes with jam and fruits while for the drink a citrus Juice and tea for after the meal.

‘The maids are competent. Curious how they work so fluently even in this situation. This Alice is now having a different aura, I can not feel any danger from them. Is she aware?’

“Is the School for you enjoyable? I am sorry about the heckling you get for just being a bit different than others.”

“I am fine. The School is informative, while for the bullying it is minimal and I am already used to it. I hope Pri… Elly is enjoying her School life, too?”

“While it is nice it is also exhausting. You would not believe how many people just want to talk to me and remembering all of their Names is hard. I feel somehow like an Attraction in some Gallery.”

“While I can not feel with you on the former I can understand the latter. It is somewhat grating being watched at every move. We are young, should we not be more free in our own expression for a while to explore the World like we want?”

“Exactly! I have my whole life worked on etiquette, I want to be me for a small change, but that is a wish only the common folk and lower aristocracy can have. While I am a bit less able to set my own goals, did you have your goals for what you do, after the School?”

“I have some ideas, nothing concrete, as I am still only a child. I hope to find a fitting life for me afterwards to have a happy life.”

“Good, good!”

‘Nothing concrete means he is pliable for later settings. We just need to find his preferences and he should be content to stay until the Black Merchant discards him. Afterward we just need to think about keeping or removing him, but that is for later’

“...~”

While Eleonora is thinking about the future, no one noticed this time the slight movements of Alice’s mouth, as she trained with Drak on ventriloquism. Alice could have told him, she could hide her movements otherwise, but the private training was worth more to her than telling her Master about it.

-

“Lady Eleonora, welcome to our boutique. We are glad to have you as our guest. Do you need a new Dress, or are you looking for the newest designs that are trending this Season?”

With the Owner of the high end clothing Boutique at beck and call for Eleonora, he fawned over her in subtle ways while trying to evaluate her mood.

At the same time he was friendly but not overly friendly to Drak, as he was next to her, but ignored him otherwise, as his style was not only outdated, but had some signs of washed out colours.

“Thank you for your heartfelt greeting. I am here to see the newest trends out of the distant Kingdoms, while asking for a new School uniform for my Friend Drak Berklin.”

“That is no problem at all! If your friend could come to our Store for measurements and explain his preferred features, we can put him directly into the priority schedule.”

“...He is already here, right next to me.”

With a wave of her hand she presents Drak standing right there not even a full two meters away.

“Ah, Sir Drak. I am sorry about this, but I had not heard from your esteemed Dukedom before, so I could not connect the face. You must be new to our City, so I hope you forgive my accidental misunderstanding.”

With cold sweat on his brows he bows before Drak and tries to appease him. While it looked like so, he carefully glanced more than once to Eleonora to see her mood, so his apology might be more for her than for Drak.

“Do not worry, I am used to it. Not many have heard of my Name as my Siblings are more prominent in our Family.”

“Will you be able to help my friend in terms of a new Uniform? I have high hopes for this Establishment, that is why we came here first.”

‘While I really want to punish that guy for disrespect, Drak seems to not mind. Such a strange Person as not only became he not twisted but even more humble from all the bad things, that happened to him.’

“Of course it would be an easy task. We will let him see the fabric collections first to find the perfect colour and material for your esteemed friend.”

“I come with you, as I would also like to see them in hope of helping him choose.”

“Eh?”

Drak was dumbfounded. Was she not going to look at the new fashion collection? Why does she go with him all of a sudden? He thought he could get a breather, but she still wants to cling to his side.

‘Better be next to him. If anyone disrespects him I can help him, finding more ways to earn his appreciation. Afterwards I can have more relaxing time at the school not only focusing on him but experience my short piece of freedom I can have.’

“Why are you looking so surprised? Let’s go!”

Grabbing his hand she wanted to directly drag him to the back to see all the Fabrics and create some better relation with him. The shock from all around were visible, as a Princess of her Status just casually took the hand of a boy. While it was not directly against protocol, as they are right now both Students, it was extreme intimacy that most would wish for themselves.

Just like that, Eleonora made the one move, that would change her entire Life to something she never expected.