"These are the 1-A dorms." says the robed member of staff. The dorm buildings are big L-shaped buildings with rooms that go along the side. There should be about thirty rooms here, but there are only twenty-one students in 1-A. And I happen to be one of them.
All the students in 1-A are gathered in a group at the start of the hallway, however, with a considerable amount of space around me. It's incredibly frustrating to have them treat me like a rat in the streets. At least they're not bothering me anymore.
Still, I'd rather not go through all four years on my own though...
"I will now announce your room number, and you will go to your room accordingly."
Hopefully, I have a room closest to the entrance. A speedy escape might end up being necessary down the line. But that also means that all my classmates will pass my room, hm?
"Room A-1, Ritz Dravus"
Yes.
"Room A-2, Leyna Relqis"
Fuck, no!
I sneak a look at Leyna, and our eyes meet. I snap my head back forward and move to stand in front of my room as Leyna does the same. Leyna's magic is by far the scariest type. A proficient user in Mind Magic wins wars. Just ask Mr Liken himself. You never know the full extent of someone's mind magic until they painfully rip the soul out of your body for being too close. I try my best to avoid Leyna's burning gaze as the other names get announced.
“Room A-3, Albert Caster”
“Room A-4, Janna Kull”
"Room A-5, Iora Zaal"
...
"Room A-13, Yuri Hunt"
"Room A-14, Lish Ginec"
"Room A-15, Dier Grey"
...
"Room A-19, Leon Domer"
"Room A-20, Amelia Riker"
"Room A-21, Malik Yauler"
I can't help but notice the rooms are arranged in terms of magical strength. It would make sense since the Prince is at the end of the room and I'm...in the first room. But then again, Leyna is across from me, so maybe it's not that way. However, based on her fighting, it could be the case. Leyna didn't seem to use much magic at all in her fight.
"Dinner will be provided in the dining hall should any of you wish to eat. After that, you are free to do whatever you wish. Settle in; you're required to be awake tomorrow at sunrise and in class one hour later. That is all" the member of staff says before leaving the building.
I enter my room to escape the constant pressure from Leyna's mere presence. Behind each simple wooden door are a single bed, a desk, a closet and a bookshelf with a few books on the history of the school. The dorms aren't much but they're clean and provide more than enough space for a single person.
"Do you think we're free to decorate our rooms?"
"Well, the servant didn't say anything against it, and there isn't a rule against it either so..."
"Our rooms are so small though."
"Wait, don't any of you want to talk to the prince?"
"Why do you want to bother the prince?"
"He's our classmate now, you buffoon. We are not going to get a better opportunity."
"We want to come too."
"Alright, ladies... Let's go."
Not even 2 minutes in and they're already swarming the Prince.
I look behind me just in time to catch Leyna slamming her door closed. I contemplate trying to spark a conversation with her but I can already feel the headache coming up from the back of my head. I walk into my room and begin to unpack, stuffing my clothes in the provided wardrobe and taking out my stationery. It's getting quite late. Soon enough, I reach the crimson-stained book at the bottom of my bag.
For a moment, I just stared at it. I used to be so fascinated by the contents of the book as a child but now, I can only see how long they would put me in jail for possession of such heresy. If they only put me in jail.
I'll regret bringing this with me.
I toss the book underneath my bed and leave for dinner.
<...............>
I've never seen a dining hall so damn fancy before.
It's absurd to even think of this of a dining hall at a school. The room is completely spotless with the floor being a shiny and smooth material that doesn't feel hard on the feet. Tons of tables that can fit up to six people dot the dining hall Food is provided on buffet tables with delicacies I've never seen before. How do they manage to plate wild beasts to look delicious? I didn't even know Lykan were edible. I only see scenery like this during weddings.
It's too much. I grab some bread and some watery gravy before looking for a place to sit. I notice the other students eyeing me and tossing their legs up on empty seats so I decide to just sit on my own. They laugh in their own twisted ways, blind to the fact that I have a whole table to me now.
I look up and a group of White Wings enter the dining hall as well. I spot the slight bob of silver hair, but that's about all I can see. Other White Wings surround Emmi with the older male one following close behind her. He seems excited. He's too eager. I contemplate approaching the group but their wall of extroverts are impenetrable. I decide just to keep my head down and ignore her voice.
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However, the relative peacefulness of the dining hall gets instantly interrupted as the prince and his entourage burst through the door.
They're like ducks swarming around bread. The poor prince looks like he's suffocating. Suddenly, our eyes meet again. I give him a small smile as if to recognise the absurdity of his situation but he creases his eyebrows at me. He suddenly releases a burst of air which pushes the students around him away as he begins a stride towards me.
I shouldn't have taunted the price. Why am I like this? Why why why why!
I grip my utensils harder as the prince gets closer to prevent my hands from shaking any more than it already is. I'm still not entirely sure what kind of face I should show these people. I am especially not sure how long for 'friendly' persona will last. With the prince coming to my table however, it might be better to just smile. The prince takes a seat across from me as a smile of his own forms.
"Hello, Ritz. Do you mind if I sit here?"
Hm? Prince Malik? Sit? With me? Hm?
I look around me but the students started looking away. I turn back to face Prince Malik with my tongue stuck in my throat. What the hell is going on? I manage to force a small nod which the prince returns with a smile. He stands up and heads to the buffet table as the looks of disgust around me shift into glares. Is he doing this on purpose? Or what, did he need a break from the adoring fans? He comes back with a bowl of pudding and lies sideways on his chair to have his legs propped up on another.
"So, what are you doing here, sitting all alone?"
"I'm...eating," I reply. I didn't intend to sound like I wasn't interested in talking but I used that shovel and my grave is oh so much deeper. He creases his eyebrows again before a smiling a dumb little smile like I told something funny. Then he laughs and sits back upright on his chair.
"That's nice. I thought you were plotting something," he jests as I laugh with him. My senses are all telling me that this is horrendously wrong. My common sense is shouting at me to find a way to leave this situation behind, but I can't. The fourth most powerful person in all of Raekoft is sitting right in front of me, happily eating a bowl of pudding as I painfully wait for his next move. I look around the hall to find that all eyes are on the prince and me now. Even Emmi seems to be watching with great interest. I need to make a move.
"Are you not going to eat anything else?" he asks.
"I don't even know what any of these things are, my prince," I reply with a laugh, rubbing the back of my head innocently. I figure lying to the prince would be a bad idea, so I play dumb. That's usually what they think of me anyway. The prince's well-known smile slowly forms on his face. His attitude and expressions are well documented across all of Raekoft. His cheerful smile, his heart-warming laugh and his carefree nature. Looking at him now, I'd rather not jump to conclusions. His smile is there; his laugh is there, his attitude is there, but it all seems...cloudy. If he is faking it, he's damn good at it. I can't tell for sure but, that same old feeling is creeping up on me.
"Well, there's no helping that, right? You should take it slow with all of it," he advises me. Does 'all of it' mean food, school or talking to him? I nod my head in agreement as the conversation falls into a relatively peaceful silence. The prince doesn't seem like he has anything else to say as he continues to dig into his pudding. The entourage that followed him had scattered into their relative groups, but their gaze hovers near and around the prince and me. I look down to realise that I barely touched my food. I don't feel like eating anymore. I take a few nibbles before resolving to leave.
"Going so soon?" the prince questions.
"I'm exhausted, my prince. I apologise but I'm heading in early." My uneasiness must have been plain on my face because the prince says nothing else and gives a simple nod as if to excuse me. I shouldn't be so bitter about it now, this is my best chance to leave. All eyes are on me as I walk away from a free session with the second prince of Raekoft. My eye's meet Leyna's on the way out. Why are they filled with so much pity?
I make my way out of the dining hall as three people make it painfully obvious they stood up to leave as well. I quicken my pace only to find the approaching footsteps accelerating with me. I can only imagine what is going on in their big dumb heads right now? Are they jealous? How ironic. I push past the other students through the long corridors that lead to the dorm buildings with the parasites following close behind. I enter the 1-A dorm building to find...nobody here. Shit.
I quickly turn around, but two hands reach up and circle my throat. Yuri stares at me with bloodlust in his eyes as he pins me against the door and raises me up. I grasp at his arms and try to pull them apart, but it's no use. He's holding me like a rag doll, cutting off my airflow.
"Who do you think you are, hm?" Yuri inquires with palpable malice in his voice.
"I am really not your concern," I say through ragged breaths.
"Really, Ritz? Who do you think you are coming here? You think you're so smart for raking in scraps of money just to enter this school. You think you're going to be so popular just because you're one of us?" Lish spits out as he approaches. I expect Leon to come crawling through the door behind him but instead, its Dier that strolls in like a thug who's all too confident for his environment.
"Squeeze him a bit tighter Yuri, maybe then he'll learn to respect us," Dier adds in, earning him a smirk from Yuri as he follows his advice. I feel his thumbs press hard against my windpipe. These people are supposed to be the upper echelons of society and here they are acting as whiny brats. Why is everyone here so irritating. What is wrong with these people? Why do they care about so little?
"I know his type. Sucking up to the prince in the hopes of getting some sort of advantage."
"Yeah, his kind really don't belong here."
I feel my nails digging into Yuri's arms. Black smoke is leaking from my arms as my rage builds up, but I don't care. I realise that my teeth are grinding against one another, but I don't care. I worked so hard to get here. I will not break now. Why are you people so ignorant?
Who do you people think you are.
"What the fuck do you think you know about me?"
I can feel the rage clouding my thoughts.
I let it.
I can't wait to beat the shit out of all of these cruel, pompous, arrogant little bitches.
Every last one of them.
Yuri opens his stupid mouth probably to say some more dumb shit before Leyna walks into the corridor. Dier smiles and reaches an arm around Leyna but she ducks underneath it and grips Yuri's shoulder. He screams out in pain before collapsing to the ground. I drop to the ground and try to recollect myself.
Deep breaths Ritz. Deep breaths.
Lish and Dier move in before Leyna flexes her fingers, getting another scream out of Yuri. Lish and Dier wisely back off. With an irritated look on his face, Lish opens his mouth but no words come out. His mouth is stuck open in a silent scream as his legs buckle underneath him. Leyna eyes Dier for a short moment before Dier turns tail and flees. Leyna extends a hand to me, and I grab it, letting her lift me up. I lean against the wall to try and catch my breath. I look out into the main corridor to see a crowd forming.
"You guys shouldn't be fighting here. You'll get us all in trouble." Leyna says before moving into her room, leaving me behind with my two attackers. I push open the door to my room and fall through, making sure to kick the door closed. I was so close to death on my first day here. I crawl over to my bed and pull the book out from underneath. Page 45, line 67.
God grants security to those who fight in order to halt or repel aggression. However, thou shall not use the magic granted to thee in selfish revenge least thy face God's justice during life and after death.
I really didn't feel so secure in that situation.
I toss the book back under the bed and rest against the bed itself. As I slowly drift to sleep, I can only feel fear for my future in this school. But, I know I can't quit. Not yet. Not until I send his message.