Julia’s POV

After yesterday's mess, I finally rid the village of the sandworms. Though, for some reason, I couldn’t find Serina at all. If I had to guess, she probably returned to the academy. The receptionist herself even asked where she was, worried she died or something along those lines.

Regardless, I was interested in the idea of joining Luke, the commoner’s party. Though, it seemed two other girls were already part of it.

“Whew,” I sighed looking at the running shower head.

There was a mountain of things to worry about, yet something so trivial had me worked up.

Ring! Ring!

From across the shower, the communication orb I carried around illuminated in short pulses. I wanted to leave it for later, but my father told me he would be calling at this time beforehand.

I ended my relaxing session early, drying myself and answering my father’s pestering.

“Hello? Is our precious daughter there?” A worried voice emerged.

“Yes, Dad,” I reluctantly answered, “What did you want to tell me?”

“How great, it’s nice to hear you are so healthy!” He was energetic to the point I questioned if he could tell I was annoyed, “Anyways, yes, I need you to come back to the duchy as soon as possible.”

“It’s barely been over a week and a half, what happened?” His words caught my attention. “Did something happen to ‘that?’”

“Haha… unfortunately it seems so,” Dad’s voice lost its optimism, “So, when do you think is the best possible time?”

“Most likely after the first set of tests, so maybe in a month? Or is that too long?”

Silence permeated for what felt like a minute.

“Your mother says it’s not extremely urgent, so no it should be fine. But, if possible please come sooner,” He pleaded.

“Ugh… fine, I’ll see if I can,” I put the orb down, ready to end the call. “I’ll call you when I find out.”

“Ah one last thing, is it possible if you could bring that boy you talked about? Luke was it?”

Smash!

The orb remained dead on the floor, not broken, but somewhat damaged.

‘What kind of question is that to ask your daughter? To bring over another- another…’ My face heated up, rousing more frustration within me.

“Stupid,” I muttered leaving the bathroom.

To calm myself down I picked up [Lumen Grace], unsheathing it. It’s immaculate gleam always soothed me down, as it reminded me of my late older sister…

It also served to further my resolve. I had to become stronger at all costs.

After polishing the shining blade, I recalled my original goal. “Now, where would Luke be?”

I began with dressing myself, then setting out for the Golden Nest building. I checked the time, and it was early morning, so it was reasonable that he wouldn’t be up yet. On the way there, I couldn’t see any other students affirming my assumption.

“Is that…?” I found myself momentarily speechless.

“If it isn’t Julia!” A boy with green eyes approached me, “What brings you here today, a spar maybe?”

“Err… no thanks, but is the commoner awake yet?” I swerved the topic immediately.

“Ah, Luke you mean,” He gazed off into the sky, “I’m pretty sure he’s already on his morning jog, he left before I woke up.”

I raised my eyebrow, “Is he always doing that?”

“He started that routine ever since Erin started training him, something about raising stamina and endurance,” Fen recalled.

“Right, thanks for telling me,” I bowed making sure I kept my manners.

Fen Castelle was the son of the Emperor’s right-hand man, Hubrick, the greatest duke in history. By this point, I’ve gotten used to talking to him, but sometimes such a fact prevents me from doing so at times.

“No problem! See you around!” He waved, then looked behind me. “Oh, if it isn’t the princess! And before you leave, make sure to tell Luke I said hello.”

I nodded, watching Fen walk behind me.

‘Wait, Princess?’

Finally, what he said was processed in my mind… Princess Luna Rend Alexander, the daughter of that doting emperor, was meeting with Fen.

I heard from Lyuga that tensions between the Empire and the Alexander Kingdom were high as of late, so maybe this was an attempt at cooling it. And, according to Rebecca, the prince seems to have had some issues with her.

I wanted to know more, but I found myself dropping it before I got myself caught in more trouble.

Hence, I found myself traversing academy grounds. Currently, in front of me was a closed-off wall, blocking an entrance. This was the shopping district, before the academy’s enrollment of freshman, an incident occurred which led the area to be almost demolished.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I heard it should be all tidied up by the end of next week though, so I was sure to make plans.

“Saddening isn’t it?” A girl asked her friend close by.

“Yeahhh… just one more week though right?”

“Haha, we’re going to have so much fun when it opens!”

The trio hyped themselves up, then looked at me.

“Heh, look at her,” She barely hid her whisper. “The demon child of the accursed family.”

“I’m surprised the emperor still lets them roam around freely.”

I clenched my fists, remembering the teachings of my older sister. I had to remain calm, especially in front of those who looked down on us. I ignored their remarks, leaving for another place where Luke might’ve passed by.

“Yeah, walk away demon girl,” They laughed from their ignorant positions.

“He- hey!”

I turned around, hearing a yelp from those bitches.

“Hahaha! As if you girls can talk, aren’t you from the Arveil family, the ones who dipped in rank after running away from the frontlines?” A familiar voice mocked them.

“Yo- you! And what are you?”

“A commoner, what does it matter? You all rank lower than me in this academy, so it’s not like you can do anything.”

“You vile insect!”

“Yuri, calm down! Look at his brooch, he’s part of the Golden Nest.”

“Hmph,” They trembled, “Yo- you, I’m not afraid of your position. It seems the academy has lowered its standards if a commoner has made it into the elite.”

“Yeah, yeah, say that when the prince is in front of you,” He shrugged.

“A- as if His Highness the Prince would take your side!” They remarked, barely held back by the other girls.

I pulled out the wooden sword that I kept around for training, “You want to bet?”

“Hiik!” The girl by the name of Yuri finally backed off. “C- consider yourselves lucky.”

The girls backed off, clearly annoyed, but the boy continued to mock them. “Keep walking, tell me I’m right.”

“You!” Before she could start clawing away at him, the others pulled her back.

Seeing them off, he approached me. “You alright?”

His average looks, dim brown hair, and status as a commoner… somehow today, it was…

Especially cool.

“Ye- yeah, of course, I would be!” I stuttered, barely keeping my composure. “And where were you, I’ve been searching for the past hour!”

“And you succeeded, here I am,” He smiled in the face of my complaints. “I also had something I wanted to talk about with you.”

“Indeed! I also need you to explain your recent ventures to me!” I spouted words in the heat that wouldn’t leave my face.

“If you want me to, I will,” His smile quickly left his face, “But first, I need to get this out of the way.”

Luke’s expression turned serious, unlike anything I’d seen from him before.

“W-what is it?” I asked, gulping down a sense of fear due to the unknown.

“Julia, I’m kind of aware of the way you’re seeing me,” He calmly told me.

The heat that was rushing through my face halted, like a griffon slamming into a castle wall.

“E- excuse me?” I stammered. “Wh- what could you ever mean!”

“I know that you use that noble facade, but I need the real you right now,” Luke’s eyes displayed sincerity, but something damp like guilt as well.

“I- I…”

“Julia, it might be almost arrogant of me to say this, but it’s clear to yourself that you’re running away from it.”

His words echoed, throughout my mind. ‘Running away.’ My mind screamed as images of the past ran throughout my brain.

“No! No! No!” I repeated that one word.

Luke’s face crumpled, but I couldn’t escape the horrors of my memories. I was panicking, and I could tell from my subconscious that he was too.

“You- you’re like everyone else!” Accusations I had no control of were spoken from my mouth. “You’ll disappear, scared of me!”

“...”

“Answer me!” I slammed my hands onto his chest.

Tears streamed down my face, as I repeated that action.

“I won’t abandon you,” His voice carried a unique warmth. “And you’re misunderstanding me completely here.”

“Huh?” I looked up at him, with my eyes red. “But-”

Before I could speak, he tapped my shoulder. “I need you to calm down, alright?”

I felt my back being pat, and the intensity of my mind began to cool. The voices of the damned and traitors were drowned out by the sound of his breath.

“You back?” He had a somewhat bewildered smile.

“I- I’m sorry,” I whispered, escaping his pats.

“That’s my fault, I must’ve triggered some kind of trauma, sorry,” Luke apologised without any qualms.

I wiped my tears and remained quiet until I could return to normal. “Wh- what were you trying to say earlier?”

Luke raised both of his hands in front of me, “Let me not sugarcoat it this time. You like me, right?”

My mind froze, for a completely different reason this time.

“I- I- I- what?!” My mess of a face managed to worsen.

He shrugged, “The way you act, it gives off all the signals.”

My brain urged me to retort, but images of his face spread throughout my mind in retaliation. My heart beat quicker, helping me realise the truth of such emotions.

“Ye- yeah, so what if I do?” I snarkily replied with a crimson colour emanating from my cheeks.

“The thing is, I’m under an obligation that requires my full attention, which lasts until graduation,” He bowed. “Sorry for the emotional disarray I’ve caused you.”

I thought back to all the times he made me flustered when he first talked to me, and how he was the reason I could make new friends. If he were to leave me… I couldn’t imagine it.

Instead, as long as we were together, that’s what mattered.

“Hmph!” I snorted, “A noble as great as myself needing an apology? How incredulous, you should be thanking me for fancying your being.”

He rubbed his head, looking at me with estranged eyes.

“Do you not get it, commoner? Whether or not I like you, is none of your business, keep on doing as you have been,” I spoke with a haughty tone to get the message across.

“Haha, sure,” He finally let out a smile, “Thank you.”

“Now, will you indulge me with your stories or not?” I ordered him.

It didn’t matter to me, as long as we could be together side by side. This noble-like tongue, was the first time I used it to receive someone’s favour, rather than push them away.

“Alright!” He let out a wide smirk, “First, with two other seniors and Lisana –”