“Arnos” Emily said in a calm, low voice as she looked at Arnos.

Arnos stumbled over his words. “Y-Yes, princess. Do you need something from me?” he asked, he made sure to keep his tone polite.

“I just wanted to… ahem, say that I’m sorry for this morning. I overreacted—no, I think I was outright rude. I’m sorry for that.”

Arnos looked surprised at the sudden apology. She is sorry for the morning? Is she the same girl who said I’m an insect, that I should take care of dogs, and that I should drop out from Celera this morning? he thought to himself. Arnos glanced at Marcus. Just what kind of talk did you give her? he wondered silently.

“It’s fine, Princess Emily,” Arnos said.

Just don’t do it again—should I say that? No, it would be too familiar. Think Arnos, think, he muttered internally.

Noticing the awkwardness, Marcus jumped into the conversation.

“So, as I was saying, I’ll take the furthest room to the right,” Marcus said in a loud voice. “What about you, Emily?” he asked.

“Can’t you see I’m doing something right now?” Emily shot a pissed glance at Marcus. “Go sleep in whatever room you want if that’s what you want,” she said sternly, redirecting her attention to Arnos.

Marcus sighed. “I was just trying to help, huh, well Arnos and Emily you are on your own" he mumbled to himself as he walked into his room.

“Arnos, you can tell me if you’re still angry with me or anything. I’m just bad at dealing with people due to… some stuffs and i surely don't think just an apology is enough. Emily added in an apologetic tone.

Arnos looked at Emily. “I think it is. Like if you don’t say the stuff you did in the morning again, it would be fine with me. And I met a nice person because of all that, so it wasn’t all that bad,” Arnos said with a small smile.

“Understood,” Emily said with a small nod. She looked back at Arnos.

“By the way, who is this nice person? Is it that girl you were with when you were late in front of the whole school on the first day during the inauguration ceremony and the headmaster’s speech?” Emily asked quickly, with a slight sarcasm in her voice.

Arnos was slightly taken aback by the question.

“Yes, I think… Well, I didn’t mean to be late. I’ll try to be a responsible student of Celera next time,” Arnos said, his tone apologetic as he looked at the floor.

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Emily gave a small, quiet chuckle at Arnos’s response. That’s when she noticed something—Arnos’s wrists were rather thin, almost as if they were just bone and skin. Her curiosity was piqued.

Are all orphans like this, or does he have some medical condition? she wondered.

“Can I ask you something else, Arnos?” she asked.

“Yes, you can,” Arnos replied nonchalantly, looking at her.

“I noticed you’re rather thin and… hmm, you know…” Emily hesitated to complete her sentence.

“Short for my age?” Arnos said with a chuckle. “Well, let’s just say it’s due to a bit of malnutrition, or it could be my unknown heritage. But hey! I’m just a bit smaller in height. I’ll grow too, you know. I’m still in that stage of life,” Arnos added, his tone slightly defensive yet joking.

“I mean, we’re still young, so probably you will,” Emily said, turning towards the four rooms. “Which one do you want?” she asked Arnos.

“You can choose. I’ll take any of the other two.” Arnos replied nonchalantly.

“No, you can’t. Just choose.” Emily added in a pissed tone.

“Okay, ma’am. The one on the left, if I could.” Arnos added in a terrified tone.

“Fine by me,” Emily said as she walked towards the room to the right, closer to the hallway.

Arnos sighed. Well, the day ended on a good note, She's skill scary though I think, he thought to himself as he walked to his room.

Entering the room, Arnos was quite shocked by its size. The room was huge by his standards.

He looked around, noticing a wooden table with a well-cushioned chair placed in the corner diagonally opposite the door. A wooden cupboard stood opposite the door, and a large single bed with a white blanket was neatly arranged in the other corner.

Is this heaven? he thought to himself with a small smile as he jumped onto the bed, lying over the blanket.

Arnos turned to look at the ceiling, where a chandelier acted as the light source. Isn’t that too fancy? Aren’t those things costly? he wondered, though he admitted, They look nice.

The blanket was soft and smooth. Arnos raised it as he shifted to the left to pull it out from under him. He draped the blanket over himself, deciding to sleep. Wait a second—how do I turn these off? he thought, glaring at the light.

Arnos looked around and quickly noticed switches next to the door. Good thing it’s not done with light magic, or I wouldn’t know how to turn it off. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep, he thought as he closed his eyes.

----------------------------------------

“Ah, this room doesn’t look that good,” Emily spoke with slight disappointment as she entered her room. The room was identical to Arnos’s, with the same arrangement.

Emily moved towards her bed and plopped down on it.

The bed’s good, you’d have to be an idiot craftsman to mess a bed up, she thought to herself.

She looked around, taking in everything in the room—the switch, lights, curtains, window—until her attention fell on the cupboard. Emily walked towards the wooden cupboard and opened it. It was empty inside, with three minor compartments.

Would they allow me to get one more cupboard? I don’t think my stuff would fit in a single one, she thought to herself. I’ll ask Seras or Alisa about it. They might know, she decided.

With that, Emily turned off the lights before heading to the bed.

With a yawn, she stretched her hands and moved the blanket aside, sitting on the bed for a moment.

This dress will get spoiled if I sleep wearing it, she thought to herself.

I should’ve brought a spare, she mumbled, slightly irritated. With that, Emily lay down over the blanket, trying to sleep.