“I’m tired…”

I dropped the sword I’ve been swinging for who knows how many times now. I’m tired and lazy.

“Why am I doing this?” I asked myself. “Why am I working so hard? No matter what I do, you won’t recognize my efforts anyway.” I laughed at myself. I laughed because I’ve been deceiving myself.

I want to make them happy. I want them to smile at me as they did to brother. I want them to feel proud of me. I want to feel loved and be recognized.

I thought that if I worked hard enough and if I pressured myself enough, my mother will recognize me. I believed sheer effort can make anything possible. I’ve been deceived.

I’m just a backup, I’m just a pawn. To make my family’s bloodline proud. To hell with that! That day, I dropped my sword as well as my last hope.

I abandoned my responsibility. It was suffocating. I stopped making my parents proud. I stopped forcing myself to be like my brother. It doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t care anymore. Either way, it’s not like they will notice. It’s not like they care about me.

***

“Master…” I feel tired.

“Master… Please wake up.” I heard a familiar voice. It was gentle and warm.

I opened my eyes and saw my personal maid, Bel. “Master, lunch is about to end and classes are going to start soon.”

I’m tired and too lazy to go to class. The wind and temperature in the school rooftop are perfect for an afternoon nap. Unfortunately, I can’t stay and enjoy an afternoon nap. If I skip school, my brother will nag me endlessly and force upon me morals about being upright and all. Weighing the consequences, it’s better to just sleep on my desk at class.

“Hmm.”I rubbed my eyes to wear the drowsiness upon me.

“Master here’s coffee to wake you up.” Bel handed me a cup of coffee.

Bel’s movements are graceful and swift. You won’t notice that she is the same age as me. Her movements are honed to a professional level that even the older maids at our household weren’t even worthy of comparison.

“Thank you.” I accepted the cup of coffee. The temperature is right and there are no signs of the coffee being bitter.

Bel had already mastered the art of making coffee. No other coffee can potentially satisfy my sensitive tongue.

“Your coffee tastes as  good as ever.” I lightly complemented her as an exchange for waking me up and making me coffee. It’s slightly regrettable that she cannot serve full time at school.

I ordered her not to let anyone know that she is one of our family maids and only serve me secretly. Otherwise, act like a normal high school girl. If other people found out that we are in a Master-Servant relationship, things may get complicated.

Even with the unreasonable request, she carried out her orders perfectly. In class, anybody won’t notice that we are related to each other. I ordered her to do that because my family is unique and doing things that way will make more troubles.

“Go to class first, I will follow up later. Make sure no one will notice.” I sent her to the classroom ahead of time.

“Understood.” She bowed and left.

“Now then.” I stand up and did some light stretching.

I was about to go down from the rooftop as well but I noticed someone. She’s standing on the rooftop of the adjacent building of the one I’m currently standing on. She was wearing a different uniform from ours clearly stating that she isn’t from this school.

Maybe because she noticed my gaze, she, in turn, looked back at me. I saw two fierce looking eyes glaring at me like some kind of wild animal.

I thought poking my nose in unnecessary things will bring great troubles. I’m too lazy to deal with that, so I averted my gaze and headed downstairs.

I walked towards my class before the bell rings. I sat on my usual spot and immediately tried to sleep in. Maybe it’s because of the coffee, I’m feeling warmer than usual and the desk is hard and very uncomfortable to sleep on. I slightly shifted my head to see what’s going on the classroom.

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I saw Bel having conversations with her girlfriends. They are talking about fashion and other things girls like to talk about. Bel blended in naturally and her aura of professionalism cannot be seen. She looks like a normal high school girl, good job Bel!

In the back, there are some boys playing multiplayer PsX games on their phone. They seem to be having a good time. There is also a group of popular students having a conversation on the front of the room. I couldn’t care less about what they are talking about.

The teacher came in and the class immediately came in order.

“Class, there is a transfer student coming to our class. Come here and introduce yourself.” A girl with black hair came in. The class immediately became noisy.

“Oh, she looks like a foreigner!”

“She’s so beautiful!”

“Is she a noble? Her aura is different among us common folks!”

Different reactions came from different people, but everyone is staring at her with awe. Like she is some goddess or something. The way she carries herself, the air around her, and that imposing aura she gives off, everything about her is perfect.

“My name is Lean. I moved here because of my grandmother’s work. It’s a pleasure working with you from now on.” She introduced herself with grace and poise.

She’s the same girl I saw at the rooftop. I wonder if she remembers me. No, she definitely remembered me to the point of glaring at me. I just hoped that she didn’t see me and Bel together before that. As long as she didn’t see that scene and exposing my little secret with Bel, I couldn’t care less about her.

“Then you can have the empty seat at the back, the one beside Kane.” The teacher instructed and the boys gave off some side comments.

“Kane’s so lucky!”

“Damn, if I’m her seatmate, I’ll be the happiest man in the world!”

“As if she will talk to lowlifes such as you!”

There are some that sneered and glared at me but I ignored them. Bel also gave me a short worried glance. She seemed to notice something as well.

Lean passed by my side and sat at the desk beside me. I glanced at her and noticed that she is glaring at me once again. Did I make her angry or anything?

On a side note, that glare of hers, now that I saw it this close, I’m finally sure. She is one of us. Eyes of a natural born hunter, both prideful and fierce.

I wonder if she is glaring at me because she noticed? That shouldn’t be possible as I concealed my aura for unforeseeable events such as this. Then why is she glaring at me? Probably because her keen senses are sharp. Or maybe it’s a gut feeling? Our kind always has a strong gut sense. She probably noticed but isn’t too sure about it.

I secretly strengthen my aura concealing technique to make sure she doesn’t notice.

***

Afternoon classes ended quick. I tried to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible to avoid unnecessary conversation with her. Unfortunately for me, things don’t work that way. I wonder if there is some kind of fate between us. I certainly hope that is not the case.

Lean is standing in front of me, preventing me from leaving. I stared at her, waiting for what she has to say. She glares back at me. I really wonder if she has a bone to pick at me.

“Come with me, I need to talk to you about something.” One word appears in my mind, ‘trouble’. I feel like associating myself with her would bring troublesome things. My brain worked at high speed. What can I do to escape in this situation?

“I can’t because I’m busy.” I need to cut any potential ties that may cause troublesome things in the future. Let’s go with a flat out rejection. I thought that is the best course of action given her attitude. With that, I quickly left her and head straight out.

“Wait.” She stopped me from exiting the classroom.

‘Damn, this girl is persistent.’ I thought.

I turned around and faced her. I’m getting annoyed by this girl already. What does she want? This is turning out to be a scene as more and more students are looking at our way.

“Hey, look at that, Kane and the transfer student is arguing!”

“What are they talking about?”

“That gloomy guy? I adore him for being able to speak at Lean in such manner!”

I quickly got irritated by their actions. One of the things I hate the most is unwanted attention. Those guys love to gossip and I’m sure that sometime later, a rumor will spread and create more trouble for both me and her.

Lean seems to notice it as well and glares at the students looking at us. They immediately averted their eyes, they don’t want to anger a character like her alright.

While she isn’t looking, I turned around once more and left. I don’t want anything to do with her anymore. Every second I spent with her, more and more trouble keep piling up with one another.

I quickly made my exit and started to walk towards home. While walking, I felt a chill on the back of my spine.

“Haaaah…” I sighed and turned around.

There I saw her secretly hiding behind a lamp post. She’s following me.

I scratch the back of my neck and annoying said.

“If you want anything, make it quick! This is getting more and more annoying.” I shouted.

She stepped out and glares at me. Sigh, let’s just get this thing over with.