Silence.

A dumbfounded silence.

Everyone stared wide-eyed between Emilio and Hans. Hans’s behavior was a common sight but no one had ever seen Emilio go off like that, not even when they insulted him both behind his back and to his face. Despite the fact that he had only been here for a week, Emilio gave off the impression of a calm person with little ripples in his emotions. He did not seem like someone who could get angry. It was not true, of course. Emilio just had no interest in revealing his emotions to people he did not know.

But right now, he showed a completely different image of himself. He was panting softly, brows furrowed in an angry frown, as his eyes glared daggers at the boy in front of him. If looks could kill, Hans would have been ashes by now.

Hans himself had to take a moment to understand what just happened. Emilio always seemed like a soft and easy target, The reason why he had been left alone by the malicious students was definitely because of the protection of the Archmaster. They thought they could just deal with him when they all got out and became members of the Society. This time, it was because Hans was confident that just teasing and humiliating him a little with his bastard brother’s success would not garner any unwanted attention. Everyone knew about it and everyone was thinking what he was saying. If asked, he could have just said that he was letting the older brother know of the younger brother’s success.

But he had not expected that this soft as cotton boy himself would flip at him.

“Have you gone mad, Florian?” He growled as he tried to wipe his now wet shirt. “Has the lack of mana affected your brain? How dare you-”

“How dare you?!” Emilio interrupted him. “Who gave you the right to speak of my brother that way? Do not forget, he is the son of Baron Florian. We might not be as powerful as many others here, but that does not mean we will take an insult to our family!”

Was it an insult to the family? Bastards were the norm for noble families. Sone of them even brought in their bastards. But no one was worked up about who was calling them bastards. That was what they were, after all. But that hardly mattered to Emilio. Jeremiah was his little brother, his family, he would be damned if he let anyone insult him.

Hans scoffed. “What insult? What else do I call a bastard?” He leaned in, using his superior height to try and tower over Emilio. “And shouldn’t you worry about yourself? Your precious little brother is going to be the next Baron. He will be chosen over you, the legitimate eldest son.”

“I know.” Emilio had long come to terms with that fact, no matter how much it hurt to think how incompetent and useless he was. “My brother will be the next Baron. He will have Florian Barony and all its riches. He will be a Lord and Mage that everyone respects and reveres. He deserves all that and more.”

Hans stared at him for a long moment, before he threw his head back and laughed. He laughed for a good few moments before he looked at Emilio derisively. “Gods. I knew Laiks were defective, but I did delusions were included in those defects.”

Emilio clenched his teeth, feeling frustrated and angry as he was reminded of the fact that neither he nor Jeremiah would find it easy to have the respect of people in this rotten society. He took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking.

“My delusions are far more likely to become reality than yours, Young Master Klevin,” he said and stared into his eyes. “How long did it take you to float the orb?”

Hans’s face turned ugly. Long, Emilio deduced from that expression.

“You fucking-”

“Hans.” The voice that called the boy was calm and soft, yet full of authority.

Prince Louise.

They both turned to look at the boy standing a few feet away, looking at Han with raised eyebrows. The cold look in his eyes was enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

“You are causing a scene,” the Prince said. “Go clean up.”

It was said no one had the right to exert the authority they had outside the Academy inside it. In the Academy, everyone was equal, from peasants to princes. But it evidently was not the case. The hierarchy between the people here could not have been clearer if it was under a damn magnifying glass. And the Prince clearly sat at the top of said hierarchy. With those few words, he immediately diffused the situation and dismissed Hans. And from the way Hans dropped his shoulders and nodded before going out like a timid little rat, the nobles here did not have the guts to disobey the Prince, even though they had every right to.

The Prince then turned to him, a smile curling his lips and all the coldness in his eyes melted.

“I apologize on his behalf, Emilio.” He said. “I do hope you will not take it to heart. He can be a bit thoughtless in his words.”

Ah, defending his minion while trying to get in Emilio’s good books after being soundly kicked out of them previously.

Emilio sighed and shook his head. “You have nothing to apologise for, Your Highness. I do not mind people saying things about me. But I will not endure any insult against my brother or my family.” He raised his voice at the last sentence, making sure that his words were heard by everyone.

“How touching!” The boy smiled. “I never imagine you had such a good relationship with yout brother. Perhaps I should take lessons from you.”

Emilio smiled back blandly. “Perhaps.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Maybe if the Prince did take those lessons, the feud between the Princes would cease and the Crown Prince would leave him the hell alone.

He turned around to face Balsea, who had a look of amusement and pride on their face as they watched the spectacle. Emilio rolled his eyes. He had always held the fae back when he tried to stand up for him. He knew they would prefer for him to talk back. Emilio just did not want the hassle. He knew what he was and was not and had no need to convince others.

“Come on, Balsea.”

With that, he ignored both the Prince and the crowd as he led the fae towards an empty table where they could sit and eat. He did not look back once, despite feeling the Prince’s eyes boring into his skull. He sat down with Balsea and ate, chattering idly about anything, He made sure to loudly mention all the accomplishments of Jeremiah, despite how young he was. If they were allowed to insult his brother, then he was allowed to rub how inferior they were compared to Jeremiah into their faces.

He was sure he did not make any friends in the process.

He did not care.

Jeremiah would one day surpass all of them. They would be stumbling over each other trying to win his favor. Emilio himself would have no need to interact with these people once Jeremiah came of age. He intended to spend the rest of his life as a merchant with a small business. His experience at the Barony would help him with that.

Once lunch was over, he made his way out to his next class, which was Alchemy.

That was another strange experience,

Clara once again sat next to him, even though there were other empty seats.

He found out that they had gotten the highest scores in the last class for their portion. He missed one Alchemy class after that due to his stay in the hospital so Clara paired with someone else. Apparently, that was “only above average, not good enough,” in Clara’s words.

Emilio resigned himself to having to tolerate her. The devil you knew was better than the devil you didn’t, after all.

They ended up working together far better than the last time. Clara actually listened to him and his instructions and allowed him to handle the ingredients. This time, they finished in time, and well ahead of most of the others. Once they submitted their potions, the Professor quizzed them for a bit on the process before sending them off for silent reading for the rest of the class.

As soon as the bell rang, Emilio stood and walked off, trying to shake off his discomfort.

“Emilio!” Clara called from behind.

Emilio turned around and tilted his head curiously. “What is it?”

“I … I just wanted to say…” She seemed to hesitate, which was something very much unlike Clara Preises.

Emilio was even more curious now. “Yes?”

She seemed to pause for a moment before readying herself. “I just wanted to say that the way you sparred Evan was very good. And wha you did today, standing up for your brother, is very admirable. I respect you for that.”

And with that, she brushed past him without giving him even a chance to answer, leaving a bewildered Emilio behind.

What was that? He had never seen Clara being that hesitant or flustered. And Clara respecting him was a foreign notion. Until now. Clara was not the sort of person to flaunt that she admired or respected someone… wait… was this her way of trying to apologize?

Now that he thought about it, even when they were children, Clara would only give him some gift or spend time doing what he wanted if she wanted to apologize for something.

Emilio could not help but chuckle. Old habits died hard, he supposed.

Dinner that night was far less eventful. Everyone gave him a wide berth. It suited him perfectly, as he ate in peace with Balsea.

He would have left in peace too, if not for the Prince.

“A word, Emilio?”

Gods, really? He had just been about to step out of the Hall. One more step.

He took a deep breath and turned around. “Your Highness.”

The Prince chuckled. “How many times do I tell you, call me by my name?”

An exasperated sigh left him as if he was dealing with a child. He wished Balsea had not gone ahead of him to collect his things from the Infirmary, despite his insistence that he could get it himself.

“Prince Louise.” He called dryly. “What do you want?”

“How rude!” The Prince smiled. “I was hoping you could accompany me to the Library. I could introduce you to all the preliminary study materials.”

Emilio frowned. “I thought the group would not convene tonight, since tomorrow is the weekend.”

Prince Louise shook his head. “Oh, they do not. I just thought I could help you started on the research materials since you are behind on them.”

Alone? With the Prince? In the huge library where one could easily get lost?

The very thought made him queasy.

He cleared his throat. “I apologize, Prince Louise. Healer Adron has recommended early rest today. Its alright. You don’t have to worry. The group can continue what its been doing. I will not drag you down.”

Prince Louise stepped closer. “Please, I insist. It will not take long. And it is important for you to understand the basic materials before you can join in on the group discussion.”

Emilio leaned away. “If so, you can just send the book list to me. I’ll study over the weekend.”

“But I’m sure,” the Prince leaned in closer, “That you will not be able to understand them, unless someone who has already studied them helps you.”

Damn, he hated this. He hated how close the Prince was. And he hated how he could not find an excuse to refuse him without offending him or the entire damn Aelorian High Society.

“I-”

“Mr. Florian!”

Prince Louise moved away and turned around, allowing Emilio to see who was approaching.

Professor Sullivan.

“Are you leaving for the dorms?” He asked. “Perfect. Let me escort you. I have something I need to talk to you about.”

Emilio looked between Professor Sullivan and Prince Louise, who now had a faintly sour look on his face. And Professor Sullivan was as unreadable as always. But one thing was for sure. He was giving Emilio an out.

And he gladly took it.

“Yes, Professor.”

The man nodded and walked forward, gently grasping his wrist and pulling him along.

“Come on."