《god of wealth》 THE BEGINNING Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. THE DATE The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. JAY Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! RESULTS The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. HEALING If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. CONFESSION A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. BETRAYAL The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. DEATH Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. REINCARNATION The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. BACKGROUND This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. 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Report any appearances on Amazon. TRAINING 3 Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. TRAINING 4 could only find myself fighting against lots of people and I was even capable of overpowering them albeit I was having a tough time all on my own unlike when I was being assisted by others. Time fast forwards again and seems like something was running down my face giving me a tickling sensation. I raise my hands to touch what was on my face and when I was able to get a good look at it, it seems to be a gold liquid, it was also on a huge whole on my chest which I had no idea of when it appeared, ''How did such a huge hole get there without my noticing?'', I couldn''t help but wonder. Instead of blood, the golden liquid seems to be running through me and from the way everything seems to be, I have been fatally injured in this fight. The people all surrounding me whose faces were still blurry at this moment seems to be saying something inaudible and agreed with throwing their powers at me. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. TRAINING 5 This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. TRAINING 6 The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. TRAINING 7 This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. SKIP Stolen story; please report. DANGER 1 This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. DANGER 2 Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. DANGER 3 Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. DANGER 4 A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. 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FUTILE Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. RETURN Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. RAID fairly beautiful woman with a nice shape who was half naked, her hair scattered all over the place. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. MASSACRE This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. HOPE If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. JOURNEY Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. TRUTH Stolen story; please report. CEROS This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. FAVOR Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. FAMILY This novel is published on a different platform. 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CAPITAL FINALLY Volume 2 begins - The Capital The next morning before the first daylight broke through the sky, the carriages were set in motion. The remaining horses were tied to some carriages in order not to prevent them from getting loose and bandits getting to them. Although some have been destroyed by the dog beasts, some did remain, if counted they almost amounted to ten those dragging the carriages included. With a bit of rest, Lucas was back on his feet albeit with some pains but more hands were needed in driving the horses, thus he was made to handle one. Andrew was back in his position inside the carriage lying down. Although his injuries have been treated and his breathing is almost stable, he was still unconscious. Andrew was after all a young boy of fourteen years and his being able to scale through all that had happened and still stayed alive was something worth praising him for. Grown-up men would have long given up from such pains already, but he was still holding on to this unfair thing called life and doesn¡¯t seem to want to give it up anytime soon. The ride this time around was smooth and without much scruple, everyone was busy riding the horses without break such that none had time to even check the well-being of Andrew in the carriage. Since the horses in this world were able to last longer without rest, they ran through the route until when it was dark at which the outline of the capital was now in sight. Just from afar, the glory of the capital could be seen as just its gates alone seems intimidating to anybody who was seeing it for the first time. Even from afar, the ends of the walls couldn¡¯t be seen and this got Marian very surprised and in awe. It was only her who was this way though as Eve just acted normally while pride could be seen in the eyes of Olivia and the remaining surviving soldiers. This was the capital which they all had great pride in, where most of the big shots in the kingdom stays at and where talents are being groomed. ¡°Should we stay behind and rest this night then continue tomorrow?¡±, asks Lucas. Olivia seems to be pondering something after hearing the question being meted out to her but it doesn¡¯t take long for her replies to come forth, ¡°No waiting, forward on to the capital¡±. ¡°Ma¡¯am the gates have been closed already. Shouldn¡¯t we just wait till the next mor....¡±, says the other surviving soldier, but he was not able to complete his statement as he was rudely cut short by Olivia, ¡°Are you questioning the orders from your superior?¡±, she says while glaring at the man as if ready to pounce on him if he dares slight her orders any more than he has already done. Noticing the aura emanating from Olivia, the man keeps shut not daring to say any other word. Marian on the other hand says in a soft voice that she didn¡¯t expect Olivia to hear, ¡°Thank you¡±. She understood the reason that Olivia was running down towards the capital even at this time was due to Andrew who needs urgent treatment now. Delaying his treatment any further would put him in a more precarious situation. ¡°Am not doing it just for you alone. He also did me good by ensuring that not all of my troops were wiped out. If he didn¡¯t handle two of the beasts, then perhaps I won¡¯t have any troops to speak of right now¡±, replies Olivia admitting that Andrew was the reason for their quick march. On hearing such words, Marian was warm at heart, she felt like Andrew¡¯s hard work wasn¡¯t to waste at this moment and it was all worth it. They soon resumed their march towards the capital gates and in some minutes, the gate was before them. It was way huge than how Marian had hoped it to have been. It seems terrifying to say the least, it seems durable and was a strong defence, obviously made from the best metals available to the kingdom. Even the walls were tall and Marian couldn¡¯t estimate the height of it at all just by standing there, even a tiny ant(according to earth¡¯s standard) was far huger than her when compared to how she felt being in front of the walls. It was then that a shout came forth accompanied by lighting which cascades in their faces making them all visible, ¡°Who goes there? Who is so dumb to have forgotten the time the gate usually closes?¡±, the arrogance in the voice was fully visible. It seems like the speaker disdained the idea of even speaking to them but just had to speak to them. Only if he had taken a look at the faces of the newcomers before shouting that way but unfortunately he didn¡¯t and words spoken out can¡¯t just be taken back as they were heard quite loudly. ¡°The dumb one is general Olivia of the fifth corps who has performed various meritorious deeds for the kingdom and have been personally acknowledged by the king himself. Exalted sir, could you open the gates for this dumb one¡±, Olivia¡¯s voice sounds out at this moment in reply to the scorn-filled man, even Lucas¡¯ face was ugly from the words which the man has spouted off. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. It was also at this moment that the man who has previously barked out finally saw the appearance of Olivia and Lucas, even if he wasn¡¯t familiar with anyone, he was familiar with these two as they represented great honour to every military personnel and they were respected greatly by all in the kingdom, both in and out of the capital. His face becomes ugly as each word were spilt by Olivia, the words which he has been wanting to spout out in reply suddenly seem to have gotten hooked in his mouth, unable to release even a tiny bit of it all. After Olivia finishes her sentence, what went through his head was that, ¡®I am dead this time. Why did I just have to go spouting rubbish?¡¯. This wasn¡¯t the first time he was doing something like this but this was his unlucky day, he and other of the guards standing on duty usually said words like this to some people who didn¡¯t know what was good for them and wanted to get into the capital when the gate has been locked. If the time was measured by earth¡¯s time, it would be around 1am and the gates were usually shut close by 11pm to be opened again as early as 4am. So they usually found fun with saying such words towards new entries who came at that time, so it wasn¡¯t surprising, but for him to say such words towards a general, seems to show that he was courting death. He was currently fidgeting while another one noticed the commotion being caused before the gate, on seeing the general standing there waiting with a grim face, without any further questions, he orders for the gate to be opened. Slowly the gate was being drawn open it seems like a huge beast opening its mouth ready to consume anybody who dares to go into it. This feeling causes chills on the body of Marian who was mounting one carriage. She gulps hard before being able to proceed with her carriage, while the man who had initially spoken rudely to Olivia has already been sweating buckets all through the moment the gate was being raised until they started crossing it, afraid of what kind of punishment would be meted out to him. Olivia glares at him immediately as she saw him, ¡°Put him in solitary confinement for a week without food or water¡±, she orders without any remorse. But that order makes the man relieved as he knew that she could have killed him for insulting a general of the kingdom and no questions would be asked at all. That was the capital punishment for that, seeing Olivia giving him such a punishment made him relieved and he vowed to never run his mouth off anymore, be it in this life or the next to come. The troop pass through hurriedly without the usual check-ups after which the gates were immediately shut close, and no attention was being paid to them any longer. They rode their horses without stopping towards the middle of the capital which seemed like another long journey of an hour or thereabout. Although the gates were closed, that didn¡¯t mean that people weren¡¯t going through some businesses of some sort inside the capital, everywhere was bright and shiny with well-built buildings, although there seem to be some shady places, it was nonetheless a solid structure which was well organized and well kept. There were a lot of things which should have attracted their attention of Marian but since she was focused on getting Andrew treated, none of this stuff took her attention away. Since the capital was way more secure than the village, there was nothing like a curfew being imposed on its citizens and it was still bustling even at this time albeit on a minimal level. On almost reaching the middle of the capital, Olivia barks out orders, ¡°Lucas take the men to report what has happened at the headquarters while I would take him to the hospital for treatment¡±. Lucas with the surviving men acknowledges her order and without delay, takes a different direction while they kept on heading down. It didn¡¯t take long though for them to be in front of a huge structure. A beautiful three-story building structure which was painted in turquoise blue and white and had the name ¡°Medics¡± at its head. It seems well-lit even at this time of the day and it was very bustling. Giving Marian no time to even admire the building, Olivia steps down from her horse while directing someone to keep it at bay while Andrew was being carried out of the carriage. Their goods were well secure and anything like theft could never be found in this particular part of the capital since security was more strict. Andrew was brought into the building and a wide space could be seen where people could be seen documenting some stuff or even dozing off at some point. But the ones documenting something on seeing the general, immediately left what they were doing and starts attending to her. She wasn¡¯t new to this hospital as she has been here at some point and also come here to visit some friends of hers. It was the best hospital in the kingdom and expensive also, and this was where the nobles, aristocrats, ministers and very rich merchants usually visited. The fact that they were expensive didn¡¯t deprive them of giving the best care and treatment. Andrew was being put on a stretcher and carried to one of the best rooms, Olivia asks at this moment, ¡°Is she around?¡±. One of the female attendants aware of whom she was asking of says, ¡°She is currently in ma¡¯am¡±. Breathing in relief she says, ¡°Get her here now¡±. The female attendant having no other choice in this matter, excuses herself after which she runs towards another direction. It didn¡¯t take long for her to come back to the room which Andrew has been admitted into but a woman was beside her who seems like she had a bad day as her hair was all scattered about, her white coat was dropping off to one side with her eyeglass which seems to be double lensed. Her frontal assets were just moderate, and due to her coat, her rear assets couldn¡¯t be seen. Although she seems this way, she seems to look like a fairly pretty woman if dressed properly that men would turn behind just to have a second look. On entering, what first escaped her mouth was, ¡°Why did you call me big sis¡±, on seeing Andrew, she continues without any change in her tone, ¡°Is this your son that you have been hiding all these while? Seems handsome though. Perhaps this is the reason you didn¡¯t want to get married then¡±. The way she spoke about it all casually seems off the roof, but even though she had called Olivia her sister, there wasn¡¯t a bit of resemblance between the both of them. REPORTS Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. SIGNS Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. CONSCIOUS This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. MYSTERY OF THE SWORD Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. SUPREME WORLD BANK Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. VESTIGE OF LIFE wanting to be around him and keeping him company, just blossomed out of nowhere. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. And so they struggled forth and back on their conversation and soon enough, they got to the hospital. ARE YOU A VIRGIN? This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. COME WITH ME This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. CULPRIT Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. THAT BRAT The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. GOING TO THE BANK This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. HE IS MY SON A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. SHAMELESS Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. MILITARY Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. EXAMINATION Stolen novel; please report. ALEX Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. CROWN PRINCE Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. SICKNESS In such a manner, two weeks went by and there was no coincidental meeting between Andrew and Alex. The days went by in a flash and it was finally the day when the result was to be posted and potential students should come to the school compound to check if they made it or not. Andrew feigns illness on this day, which seems to be a stark contrast to how he has been behaving in these past few days. This unexpected illness shocks Marian and she felt bad for Andrew. Almost everybody was convinced about the fact that he was ill except one person though. The person knocks on his room door and a weak voice sounds from inside, ¡°Come in¡±. The voice sounds like that coming from the mouth of one who was about to reach the end of his road in life. Anyone who heard such a voice would be hard-pressed to even want to disturb Andrew and instead would be filled with care and affection. The person who enters the room happens to be the old madam. On seeing her face, Andrew''s face turns into a frown for a split second which couldn¡¯t be noticed by people under the double increase realm. And he was sure that the old madam also didn¡¯t notice such a subtle change in his expression and it was with that premise that he continues looking pale even coughing dryly and forcefully as if his intestines would pour out of his mouth at any second. Marian looks at him and takes care of him perfectly, using a warm towel to massage his body. Even with such gentle massages, he seems to groan in pain. He seems to be in deep pain from this unknown sickness which has suddenly inflicted him and it doesn¡¯t seem like he would recover anytime soon. The old madam just walks step by step and sat on his bed while staring at him. Her eyes were the same way it was when she just came in. There was no sign of pity or even care, what lay in there seems to be only indifference and it did not allow any space for other kinds of emotions. Seeing the old madam sitting next to him doesn¡¯t shake his heart as he believes he was pulling this off perfectly without any loophole of any sort. The madam after staring at Andrew for a while just smiles all of a sudden and this time around, Andrew¡¯s heart skips a beat. His instinct which rarely functions proactively was telling him that he has been caught but he ignores such feelings and just acknowledges that the reason for such a feeling was due to the fact that he was not getting enough rest. ¡°Are you feeling pains all over?¡±, the old madam finally opens her mouth after a long while, of which he was still mulling over the fact if she already knew. ¡°Yes¡±, Andrew replies weakly but inwardly he was on total guard. ¡°You should be taking care of yourself at all times¡±, the old madam says with eyes filled with warmth. ¡®Seems like I am just worrying about nothing. My instincts do get things wrong once in a while then¡¯, Andrew says fully confident that his plans have worked out. The old madam took the towel from Marian who had wanted to prevent her from doing so, but she couldn¡¯t prevent her, after all, they were something like a guest in this place and she alone insisted to do it. Gently massaging the body of Andrew, the old madam was smiling before she asks, ¡°Today is the day your result is supposed to be posted right?¡±. She asks the question facing Andrew but Marian was the one who answers, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am¡±. Not willing to be left behind though, Andrew says in a dying tone, ¡°So it is today. With the way I am, I don¡¯t think I can make it down over there¡±. He even coughs dryly during intervals in order to make everything perfect. Marian tries to stop him from speaking but he continues. Marian was fully worried about the health of Andrew and didn¡¯t want anything bad to happen to him. She has even planned to stay with him all through today. He turns towards Marian before saying, ¡°You should go and check the results, I can manage myself. I am not so old that I can¡¯t take care of myself. There are maids around and Madam Dorothy could help me in any other way¡±. ¡°Yes, dear. You should get going already¡±, the old madam says fully supporting the words of Andrew. Marian wanted to give an excuse, but no matter what she thought of saying, she wasn¡¯t able to come up with any reasonable excuse that could get her to stay behind. She stands up as if her spirit has left her and slowly but surely starts walking towards the entrance of the door. As Marian was about to reach the door, the old madam suddenly says in an urgent tone as if having remembered something, ¡°Wait a minute¡±. Those words stop Marian in her tracks and she turns behind to stare at the old madam. She pauses as if thinking about something which seems incredulous to her before she continues, ¡°I don¡¯t know how someone who has started cultivating would be able to get sick though. Maybe I should take him to the hospital. He could be a special case which needs to be attended urgently. Just in case it¡¯s something that can spread. After all, we are just normal humans who haven¡¯t started cultivation at all. If there is something that can make him sick, perhaps that same thing can kill us in one breath¡±. ¡®Damn it. I didn¡¯t consider that fact. How can I forget such a simple fact? Since the time I started cultivating and broke through, it seems like being almost invulnerable to any sickness or disease¡¯, Andrew cries inwardly. If he wasn¡¯t watched at this moment, he would have been gritting his teeth. ¡®Damn it all. Am I going to be screwed? I should probably play along. There is no way to confirm that I am not ill after all¡¯, he thought. The old madam turns to Andrew before saying in a nice tone as if she was the mother of Andrew, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my dear. I would make sure you are nursed back to good health¡±. If Andrew could reply, he would probably say something along these lines, ¡®But I didn¡¯t ask for you to do all that, did I? Just let me be, I would be fine¡¯. But too bad he was feigning his illness and couldn¡¯t say those stuff. After saying those words, she sends for one of the maids. ¡°Tell the driver to get the carriage ready, we are going to the hospital¡±, she says but pauses once again as if remembering something, ¡°No, hold on. We need to get him isolated to prevent the spread of such an illness. Invite one of the doctors¡±, she continues. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.¡®What? Why are you inviting the doctor? Can¡¯t you just let me be for a day? I would be fine by tomorrow. I would keep up the play. There is no way they can find out about the fact that am faking it¡¯, Andrew screams inwardly but his facial expression didn¡¯t change one bit, now he was sure that the old madam has seen through his ruse but he still did not intend on giving up. The old madam sends everybody out of the room until it was just remaining her and Marian. They have been the people who have been in contact with Andrew after all. ¡°What could have gotten him sick then? Could it have been something he has been in contact with? But what could he have been in contact with mostly? Was it from this room? His clothes? What could have done it? Or could it have been something outside of the house?¡±, the old madam mumbles. Although her mumblings weren¡¯t loud, the other two people present in the room could hear what she was saying clearly. Marian¡¯s face was filled with worry and concern, and her hands'' rovers through the head of Andrew as if massaging his forehead in an attempt to make it relaxed. Andrew was her last family member and was not sure she could take it if anything was to happen to him, she would probably kill herself. She has deemed herself unlucky of being with anybody as her parents had died and left her at an early age, and Andrew was the one who took her in and has become a family to her. ¡®Damn old vixen, what are you playing at?¡¯ Andrew thought. The old madam''s mumblings didn¡¯t stop for a while, but after some sessions, her eyes shines brightly as if having discovered the cause of it all. ¡°We should get everything he uses burnt up. Although not sure, at least this could maybe help to prevent the spread of the illness if it''s as communicable as I fear for it to be¡±, she says. And immediately, she orders Marian to gather every belonging of Andrew so that they can be burnt up. Andrew was shocked at this conclusion of hers, he even unknowingly starts gritting his teeth. And as if hearing the sound of his teeth gnashing together old madam turns to him with a warm smile before asking, ¡°Are you cold, child?¡±. Andrew finally notices his actions, he just nods weakly to continue his act. He could bear losing some of his belongings after all. But one would ask if it was all worth it all for the sake of not wanting to check his results. They brought out his clothes and even changed his blankets, but he didn¡¯t seem to want to stop his actions. But the next sentence from the madam sends a jolt to his soul that gave him a sharp pain. Just a single sentence that went like this, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t forget about his wines¡±. She went further to say, ¡°Those are the stuff he has the most contacts with, bring them all out so that we can also lay waste to them. They could even act as the source of the fire¡±. Those words although not loud, resonated in Andrew¡¯s ears over and over again. It was at this point that he wasn¡¯t sure anymore if he could continue this act, after all, it was just a result. It all starts happening in slow motion, as Marian walks slowly towards the wine jars which he had kept. His heart was beating at a rapid rate and his heart was trembling as Marian took one step at a time towards his wine jars. He was trying to hold it all in but he just couldn¡¯t. If he looked at the old madam¡¯s face at this moment, he would have surely seen a victorious smile on her face while watching Marian walking towards the wine jar. It was as if she was saying, ¡°I don¡¯t care why you don¡¯t want to go check your results but you can¡¯t be acting to be ill in my house. I will break through your act once and for all¡±. Andrew was now sweating at this moment, it was at this moment that the old madam says, ¡°Child, it seems the sickness is getting worse. You are trembling hard as if convulsing. Hope the doctor comes quickly before something terrible happens¡±. Marian stops in her tracks and was about to run to the side of him, but the old madam orders her otherwise. Having no choice, she continues her actions, even though she didn¡¯t understand how the illness would have anything to have with the wine jars or why Andrew started trembling when she started approaching his wine jars. But she was getting the feeling of being used altogether, but couldn¡¯t quite stick her finger in it. Andrew finally couldn¡¯t take it any longer as he snorts inwardly, ¡®Damn old vixen. Guess I have to end my act then¡¯. ¡°Stop¡±, he shouts as Marian¡¯s hands touched his wine jar. She turns around to look at him in shock. Even the old madam was looking at him quizzically, but inwardly she was saying, ¡®Finally decided to end the act, huh¡¯. ¡°Seems like I am fine now¡±, he continues, ¡°No need to get rid of my stuff¡±. ¡°Huh, are you sure?¡±, the old madam says with a face that seems to say she doesn¡¯t believe what he was saying. ¡®Stop pretending old woman¡¯, Andrew says inwardly noticing the old madam¡¯s expression. ¡°Yes, I am sure. Seems like it was nothing too serious and I was just overreacting¡±, he replies. ¡°Ohh, is that so? Well then, you would surely understand your body better. Since that¡¯s the case, I am very happy for you. You should probably get prepared to go check your results then¡±, the old madam says with a blooming smile on her face. ¡°Let¡¯s leave him to get dressed then¡±, she continues while motioning for Marian to leave the room. While walking out of the room, the old madam says, ¡°I should probably have tried getting rid of the wine first. It would have been less time-wasting¡±. Although the words she utters weren¡¯t loud, they were heard by both Andrew and Marian. ¡°Oops, I shouldn¡¯t have said that out loud¡±, she acts like she did it all unknowingly and put on a face filled with sorry before going out. If from those words, Marian still didn¡¯t understand what was going on, then she didn¡¯t need to go to a school as she would just be wasting her time there. She smiles wryly on finally figuring everything out and storms out of the room cause of having been fooled by the person she trusts the most. Andrew just grits his without replying. ¡®I should probably apologize to her later on¡¯, he thought while watching Marian leave the room. ¡®Damn it, it¡¯s all that old woman¡¯s fault if not I could have pulled it all perfectly¡¯. SHOCKING RESULTS After they both left the room, Andrew sat on his bed wondering how unlucky he seems to be. Life hasn¡¯t been a teensy bit fair to him. But he quickly gets out of such a mood, takes his bath, gets dressed and ate till his fill. All through these times when he saw Marian, she seems to be avoiding him and didn¡¯t even seem to want to talk to him. He understood perfectly the reason behind such an attitude and knew that one way or the other, he would have to apologize. When they were about to go, Marian even wanted to board a different carriage from him. Such a lifestyle filled with wealth has started being used to her that she has started forgetting that this wasn¡¯t her home nor was any of the properties owned by her. Or maybe it was simply because Andrew had annoyed her. The old madam just stands at the entrance of the mansion while watching all of this unfold with a nice smile plastered on her face. Seeing what she was about to do, Andrew quickly hops on the carriage she was going to ride on. Marian frowns at the fact that Andrew was able to get on the same carriage with her but didn¡¯t say anything otherwise. She turns her face away from his direction while the carriage drives in the direction of their potential school. Andrew just smiles wryly while he immediately switches and sits close to her, offering some apologies. He calls her some sweet names and even bows his head in defeat. This went to show how much he values this girl beside him. At first, Marian didn¡¯t even allow his hands to her and ignores all his apologies, even snorting when she heard him telling her such sweet words. But little by little, she calms down and a smile couldn¡¯t help forming on her face which made her more beautiful. Using her smile as another way to get to her, in no time, he had got her to start laughing and even hug her. But although she seems to have forgiven him, that didn¡¯t stop her from eventually pouting and warning Andrew not to joke around like that again, which Andrew fully accepts without anything as a complaint. Seeing Andrew behaving this way, Marian couldn¡¯t continue being angry with him and the siblings were able to chatter as much as they want to. Marian being mature, avoids any topic that might lead to talks about the result or even the reason why he faked his illness, they just talked about other random and funny stuff. Andrew notices this action of her and just couldn¡¯t help being more fond of her. He pats her hair occasionally as she lies her head on his lap. They were the perfect example of a very romantic couple. No sooner than later, they arrived at the school. It wasn¡¯t that far from their new home after all and the journey was very short. On noticing they had gotten to the school, Andrew becomes kind of tensed and nervous. Marian notices this but that didn¡¯t stop her from grabbing onto his hands while they walk towards the direction where a lot of people were gathered. The results were posted inside the school, at the side of the building where they initially took the examination. People were in joy about being taken in, others were sad but decisive to try again the next year and the last set of people were in tears, after all this was the last time they could try. The place was crowded and most of the examinees have to force their way in, to get to the front while there were some who just choose to stay behind until the crowd dies down a bit. In order to avoid misplaced identity in the case of identical names, insignias were sketched to which the student initially agreed. But if there was only one of such names, it seems unfounded to add any insignia of any sort. Faces weren¡¯t sketched to avoid being identified by unknown people or those who have bad intentions. There were cases where people who failed to enter took it out on those who entered. They looked for a place to vent their anger, and although in most of such situations, the culprit was caught, it was better to prevent such scenarios. Andrew stops close by with Marian by his side. Eve has been waiting for them for a while. Immediately as she saw the duo, her face brightens up. She has been waiting for them for a while now and thought they wouldn¡¯t be coming at all. They walk up to meet her and talked about various stuff. Although she has been waiting for a while, she didn¡¯t even think about checking their results for them as she wanted them to be the first ones to know their results and if they wanted to, they could tell her about it, rather than it coming from her mouth. After talking for a while, the crowd started lessening and sooner than later, there were just a few people who were by the side of the results pasted. And it was at this time that the adopted prince came by, without any guard with him as usual. Maybe it was a coincidence or he got the message but it was at exactly the time when the crowd had thinned that he came by. Although he knew he would pass without any doubt, he just came by to check it out just for formality''s sake he could say. On seeing this boy, Andrew snorts this time around, but Alex doesn¡¯t deem it fit to even spare a glance at him. ¡°We should go and check ours now, we have been waiting for a while already¡±, Marian''s voice sounds out at this moment. ¡°Huh, yes we should go¡±, Andrew replies. He was shocked that Alex didn¡¯t spare him a glance this time around and just walked past as if he hadn¡¯t seen him. ¡®Maybe he has a poor memory or maybe memory issues and probably mistook me for someone else¡¯, that was how Andrew convinced himself in order to clear the awkwardness he was feeling. While walking towards the result, some words could be heard from the few people gathered around the result. It seems like they all passed and they have been bragging about their results for a while. But discussions enter into their ears that followed along this trail, ¡°Do you know who is at the top of the list?¡±. ¡°Isn¡¯t it the prince? Is that supposed to be asked?¡±. ¡°Who else but the prince?¡±. ¡°I didn¡¯t bother to check since I am sure he would be the one¡±. ¡°You didn¡¯t check it. The prince stands at the second position. Just below the top person on the list¡±. Although they were meant to be discussions, the voices were loud and as such people heard them. Some people even went ahead to confirm this latest news. They have all been tensed before to know if they had indeed passed, but now that they know they have indeed passed, they were able to look at others'' results. Since Alex which was present there had the royal family insignia, it was easy to identify him and soon gasps should be heard. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Alex frowns on hearing such talks, he didn¡¯t think there was anyone who could take the top position from him and thought he would be the highest. He had failed just one question on purpose just not to seem too bright, who knew if that worked though? He didn¡¯t think that there would be anyone who would be able to best him in this exam since the examination was known to be very tough. He immediately flashes with speed to the board and saw his name was really in second place and the third place had an eighty percent score in exams to show how difficult it was and just eight hundred and fifty-seven people made it in out of the thousands of whom had initially registered for it. Thousands of people were cut out from the entry list after the intense screening. Even some who made it, after their backgrounds were thoroughly checked, were excluded. He checks the first person on the list and immediately his face turns super ugly, totally different from the initial easygoing and carefree temperament he has come here with. It seems like the person who took the first position in the results was someone he knew and had a death feud with. After staring at the results for a moment, he finally calms down and turns around to walk away toward the carriage. He had assumed his former carefreeness but if anyone had studied his eyes, they would notice a nefarious glint in them. Although subtle, Andrew still felt something but couldn¡¯t quite put his hands on it. Alex still didn¡¯t spare him a glance as he walked past him and headed out. Andrew still being unable to put his finger on what he felt immediately casts it out. If he could see who was first on that list, then perhaps he could find what relationship the two people shared. But he still didn¡¯t seem to go and check since he was sure that he would not make the list. But he was being dragged by Marian, and although he could free himself from her grasp, he just went along with the flow. And that was when new sets of voices entered his ear. ¡°Yeah, you are sure right. The prince is currently occupying the second position while someone named Andrew was in the first position¡±. Hearing such a thing, Andrew was shocked and thought maybe it was him but knocks it off as being impossible, after all, he had learnt that there was a different Andrew from him in the examination and was asked to provide an insignia which he could use to identify himself. Soon, he found himself in front of the board and together with Marian, they started searching for their names. Andrew being quicker was able to spot his name in the eight hundred and fiftieth spot with a fifty-one percent pass mark. He was shocked that he passed and almost danced for joy, but that was when Marian got to his name and said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like the insignia you used, Andy¡±. Shocked, he checks again and sees that it was the truth. He almost cried and at the same time, what they had said registered in his head once again about Andrew being at the top list and taking the first position. Although Andrew was a common name, it wasn¡¯t that common after all and only probably two out of thousands of people could be seen bearing it. Andrew although not believing that he could enter the top list, just glances at the number one spot on the result. And that was when his body went stiff, rigid beyond understanding. His name was plastered there and the insignia which he had used was attached to it. He couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing at this moment and didn¡¯t know whether to be happy or sad. But he screamed inwardly that this was impossible and it can¡¯t be, maybe there was someone who used an identical insignia to what he had used and hence scans through the list to perhaps find another name. Even though Marian was happy that she had found her name in the four hundred and sixty-fifth spot with a fifty-eight percent score didn¡¯t register in his head. He was frantically searching that maybe a mistake was made about the results. But after searching for a while, he couldn¡¯t find any other name. He even conceived the idea that the school mistook both of their identities and as such made such a mistake but he knew clearly that that was impossible based on their reputation which they had built over the years. The results should have been cross-checked a multiple number of times before being posted. It was at this time that Alex was about to cross the gate and he turns back to look at Andrew who was standing there like a pillar. His thoughts were unknown while staring at this boy who was the same age as he was. Although he was a bit younger than him. He had made background checks on Andrew after seeing him and knew about everything that he has done since coming to the kingdom. He even knew where he bought his wines from. Andrew as if noticing his gaze, turns back and their eyes meet. Alex¡¯s eyes seems peaceful like untroubled waters while Andrew¡¯s eyes were that which had no fear. After a period of staring, a savage smile forms on Alex¡¯s face and he was about to stop staring. But that was when a voice gets to his ear, ¡°What are you doing standing along the entrance for?¡±. Alex turns to meet the owner of the voice and it happens to be a young boy who has come forth to check his result. He was the son of one of the dukes and he was prideful but intelligent at the same time. But on seeing the person whom he has just spoken to, his body went stiff and he bent down low while pleading, ¡°Am sorry. Am sorry¡±. He didn¡¯t mind how he looked at this moment, he knew that in front of this boy, his plans were nothing but trash. Alex just smiles and doesn¡¯t reply to the boy but instead walks away. ¡®Was he acting that day and was intelligent? Seems to be a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing. Nevertheless, he is someone I can get rid of. I don¡¯t need any uncertainties in my great plan of things¡¯, Alex thought while walking towards his carriage. The man who had initially invigilated them during their exam was in a tall building while watching Andrew and Alex. ¡°Two bright students have entered our school. One who seems to have a hold on royal powers and someone who has no background. How would it end then?¡±, he says. While Andrew was still there not knowing how he had come to score a hundred percent on the exam. (Author¡¯s notes - I know there are a lot of questions about why there is no surname attached to their names. But it would all be explained later in the novel. I do hope you are able to stay by me till then and if I am lucky enough to see it through till the end) SHACKLE No matter how much he want to take into account the fact that there could be something like luck at play, it didn¡¯t work out anything. Marian notices the way Andrew was staring at the top of the list and glanced at it, seeing both his name and insignia. Without a doubt, this result belongs to Andrew who was standing by her side and no other person. The looks which she levels in his direction were nothing short of puzzlement. He had behaved formerly like someone who performed poorly in the examination, only for her to find out that he scored a hundred percent and became the highest in the exam. Such a result can¡¯t be explained unless one was totally intelligent. Andrew finally notices her gaze and it got him feeling awkward about everything. No matter what kind of explanation he looks to come up with at this moment, he was sure no one would believe him. The results were out for everyone to see after all and the school has been known for its prestige, so there could be absolutely nothing like bribery that would lead to falsification of results. ¡°Marian, I can explain¡±, Andrew says like a husband who was caught cheating by his wife. Marian doesn¡¯t reply to him, she takes it like Andrew was filled with lies and has lied to her the second time within a week. She felt hurt at this moment, hence she walks away towards their carriage. Eve tries to stop her in order to get to know what¡¯s wrong but she didn¡¯t even pay any bit of attention to her and continues her walk. On entering the carriage, the coachman drives away without waiting for Andrew. Andrew smiles wryly on seeing her leaving the compound, he was sure she had left already and doesn¡¯t take it to heart. After all, this situation was hard to explain, no matter the angle it was taken from. All he could do was scream inwardly that he has been framed and he didn¡¯t know who had done it. Eve draws nearer to Andrew before she asks, ¡°What happened between the both of you? Why did she have to hurry off in that manner?¡±. Andrew just points at the result in reply, precisely his name at the top of the list. On seeing this, Eve was shocked also, even if Andrew had passed, she had expected him to be the least people in the least, but he was the top examinee. She didn¡¯t know how she felt right now, she had tried three times before she could barely make the mark to enter this school but the duo made it in on their first try, Marian¡¯s position was higher than hers and Andrew was at the top. She felt happy and sad at the same. She also felt angry at Andrew having made that face in order to deceive them. Even when they had been talking, he still had that face of someone who wouldn¡¯t have made it. He was purposely acting in order to gain their sympathy and shock them also. It seemed childish to her and she gave him almost the same look that Marian gave him. Andrew smiles wryly and this time does not try to explain the situation and decides that he would let things be. He walks towards the entrance of the school and although Eve was a bit angry, she tags along. The boy who had initially spoken those words to Alex was the third on the list and he seemed shocked that he was not the second. The name Andrew wasn¡¯t all that familiar to him after all. But he doesn¡¯t dwell on it much and just leaves the place stealthily, without dragging any attention to himself. Andrew and Eve walk down the road, unfortunately, Eve¡¯s brother only possesses a single carriage and he was the one who dropped her off before going off for his business for the day. As such, they had to do a little exercise. The mood between them was a bit awkward at first until Andrew brought up a random topic in order to at least create a conversation. Although still feeling somehow, she indulges in the conversation and soon, they were able to find a carriage which they rented out for transportation. The little quiet time they had was magical to Eve, she asks about the result though and Andrew just says he didn¡¯t know what had happened and that he didn¡¯t write well in the exams. Surprisingly, after a bit more talk in that direction, Eve believes him. She no longer doubts him and just bases everything on luck. But Andrew understood perfectly that such luck doesn¡¯t exist, even if counting together all the luck he had missed out on in his previous life, he should have at least failed one or two. Eve first drops off at home and Andrew drops off later and got the rental fee paid. He takes a deep breath before entering the mansion, he heads directly to Marian¡¯s room. He had wanted to have a little bit of conversation with her but she didn¡¯t even allow him to say a word before she chased him out of the room. It wasn¡¯t fun being lied to twice a day, at least that¡¯s what she thought. Andrew doesn¡¯t push it much and went to his room. At dinner time, he thought he would see her but she had her food sent to her room. He sighs in defeat, never did he think that Marian would be this angry at him. He just intends to let things slide, at least if she got used to not talking to him, then he could leave without anything holding him back. He slept off with that mindset and a resplendent smile blossomed on his face as if he was having a perfect dream. The next day came forward and he was all smiles as he woke up, he stood at the window receiving the morning breeze with his hands raised in the air. He did not train as he usually did every morning, he just freshened up before a maid came to alert him that breakfast was ready. He went to the dining hall, he found Marian already seated. He drew his chair backwards, then sat and this time unlike before, he didn¡¯t even try communicating with Marian. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Marian has been prepared to brush him aside, but seeing that he didn¡¯t even bother to talk to her got her more furious. The old madam notices this but chooses not to intervene. When they were about to be through with the meal, the old madam¡¯s voice sounds out at this moment, ¡°Someone from your batch was found dead yesterday¡±. Apart from being shocked that the old madam broke the rule she placed down and was so adamant about enforcing, Andrew didn¡¯t feel anything else. ¡°Huh? Batch?¡±, it was Andrew who asks. ¡°Yes. One of the people who took the entrance exams with you. He happens to be in the third position and also the precious son of one of the dukes. No leads were found about who the killer could be, but the capital is in chaos due to the power of the duke. Although he cannot overstep his boundaries, he still has some great amount of influence¡±, she replies. ¡°Ohh, too bad for him then¡±, Andrew replies. He didn¡¯t care if everybody in the capital was to die at the next moment as long as no harm comes close to his family. He wasn¡¯t some self-righteous or hypocritical person, as long as a thing would get him to his goal, he won¡¯t think twice about doing it, so he won¡¯t go about judging others for their deeds. Marian expects this answer from Andrew and was actually of the same mindset as Andrew. Who knew if Andrew¡¯s thinking has started affecting her? After the meal, Andrew strolled around the compound, just relaxing, he didn¡¯t even check up on Marian all through. The day was supposed to pass through in that manner, and Andrew was feeling great, little by little, his responsibilities are being reduced. But after dinner, when he was in his room washing down the eaten meal with some wine while reminiscing about the times he spent on earth before coming here, he heard a knock on his door. ¡°Huh¡±, he didn¡¯t expect anybody to be knocking at the door at this moment. The knock sounds out again but this time around, a voice went along with it, ¡°Andy, I know you are inside¡±. Andrew smiles wryly at this moment, he immediately opens up the door for Marian to come in. His room was dark without any lights of any sort, but luckily for Marian, she carried a lantern along with her which brightens up the room. She just walks in, drops the lantern then turns to face Andrew. Andrew avoids her gaze while scratching his head, he didn¡¯t expect such a scenario to happen in the least. ¡°You are pushing me away right?¡±, Marian starts up the conversation. ¡°Huh?¡±, the light in Andrew¡¯s eyes dims. He didn¡¯t expect this question one bit and was caught off guard. ¡°I know you are so no need to act that way. I have thought hard about everything and your actions just depict that. Your two recent actions and even your not talking to me anymore after those events. It couldn¡¯t be clearer¡±, she continues. Andrew right now didn¡¯t know whether to cry or laugh. She was getting everything wrong, he didn¡¯t expect what he saw in the results table and the act of pretending to be sick was a way to not go and check his results to prevent being embarrassed. He didn¡¯t expect it all to lead in this direction, and although the results of everything and her reaction did motivate him to push her away, it wasn¡¯t his initial intention. He would never perform such a thing intentionally. ¡°I do understand why you would want to do that¡±, Marian says, then pauses as tears start falling out of her eyes, ¡°But please, don¡¯t try to push me away. I won¡¯t ever be able to take you leaving me¡±, she completes her statement. Seeing her tears causes Andrew¡¯s heart to ache, he moves unconsciously to hug her tightly. ¡°I am sorry¡±, he says. He didn¡¯t try to explain but instead apologizes. ¡°I am sorry for all the pains I have put you through in these past days. Hope you can forgive me?¡±, he says. These words made Marian cry harder while hitting Andrew on his chest. ¡°Why? Why would you try to push me away?¡±, she asks amidst her tears. Then she hugs Andrew harder and more tightly as if fearing that he could escape her embrace if it was too soft. ¡°Don¡¯t do that to me again¡±, she says after some moment in his embrace. He just smiles and says, ¡°I won¡¯t¡±. She hugs him closer once again, after which they released each other and then talked about random stuff. She slept once again in his room, Andrew just smiles while watching her sleep cutely. At this same moment in the capital, somebody could be seen at the school, his face not visible though, but his voice sounds out at this moment, ¡°That kid needs some shackle. And you seem to be the best bet¡±. There was a paper in his hands and the name on the paper happens to be Andrew and his score written on the paper was a meagre thirteen percent. Not even enough to make the cut-off mark. Who was so powerful enough that they would be able to change the results of the score? The next moment though, the person vanished without any trace. OPENING SPEECH Time fast forward with little to nothing serious happening until it was finally the day for the entrance ceremony for all new students. The school uniform for all new students has already been given out. It looks kind of like a formal attire though, a light blue long-sleeve shirt with a dark navy blue long-sleeved jacket and trousers for the boys. Then for the girls, it was a long-sleeved light blue shirt, then a sleeveless dark navy blue jacket and skirt. A bow tie was also given out together with the uniforms. Andrew was all dressed up with his hair perfectly tied up, he was nothing short of handsome at this moment. Even Marian was all dressed up looking smart and extremely pretty, if glasses had been added to her dressing, it would have been picture-perfect. They both entered the same carriage heading to the school, Andrew was supposed to give the opening speech today, so his clothes were well tidied and tucked in. In no time, they arrived at the school, unlike the day of the examination, Andrew came early and a confident smile was plastered on his face looking like nothing in this world could frighten him as he disembarked from the carriage. He walks hand in hand with Marian towards the hall preserved for the ceremony. On entering, some faces turned behind to look at him, since most people didn¡¯t know who he was, they just removed him from view, some girls looked quite infatuated with Andrew¡¯s appearance, he looked stunningly handsome, quite more than those sons of nobles. Some even thought that he was the son of some noble in the kingdom or at least a rich merchant and thought of getting close to him. But the sons and daughters of the dukes and other high-ranking nobles already made some inner investigation of whom took the lead position in the examination and although most were still not sure, some were fairly sure about who it was. There was someone who Andrew knew whose eyes were trained on him for a while among the crowd. It was the adopted son of the king, Alex. At some times, he gave off a friendly vibe and at others a fiendish vibe, depending on the way you look at him though. After looking at Andrew for a while, he sneers and stops paying attention to him. Andrew notices his stare but doesn¡¯t pay any heed to it. He just walks down and finds somewhere to sit. Their wait didn¡¯t last long though as soon the leading representatives enters the hall all at the same time. The clamour going on immediately ceased. There were just five representatives present at this moment. The four executives and one senior teacher. Three of the executives were men, with one being a woman who seems friendly and nice with an amiable smile as if welcoming to everyone. She seems to be about forty-something-odd years and a few strands of white hairs were present in her tied ponytail hair, she seems to be average in beauty. But any old student wouldn¡¯t take her as someone who was amiable as she also happens to hold on to one fairly crazy position in the school, which happens to be the head of the disciplinary department. From Andrew¡¯s observation, she seems to be in the double increase realm. Same with the other two old men, one of whom was in charge of anything related to teaching, he gave a scholarly vibe and the other of whom was in charge of research. They had teachers under them who also carried out their duties but on no condition does one trespass on the other¡¯s duties. The head of the school wasn¡¯t still present at this moment, probably this event wasn¡¯t too important for him to show up for or he was busy with something else. The executive who had initially invigilated Andrew during his exams was the one who opened the ceremony. He also happens to be the vice headmaster and usually took care of any issues that crop up in the school. He also administers all affairs. So technically he was in charge of the school. The head of the school was usually not around and very few students has seen him. Not even up to ten percent of the students if adding up both those who have graduated and who were present during his tenure of presiding over the school. Only the executives can meet him and that was during their sessional meetings which occur either at the end, beginning or in between each session. The head of the school is known to call for meetings at random in the school and the executives have already gotten used to it, so it was nothing new to them. It won¡¯t even be shocking if he summoned them in the middle of this ceremony. The executives were the people who the students could see and maybe interact with, probably. The executives and the senior teacher quickly said their piece in order to welcome the students and state the rules to them. It was sometimes boring and sometimes interesting, but none of the students dared to sleep. The rules include the fact that although they have gotten into the school, they could still be withdrawn if their results become lacklustre in the future, the school does not tolerate laziness, you could stay in the school or come from home, no disturbance was allowed, behaviours and actions found wanting would be punished severely and so on. They were currently eight hundred and fifty-six, and the killer of the duke¡¯s son hasn¡¯t still been found out to date. It seems like all evidence was being swept up underneath the grass. And the duke seems to start giving up on his search too since it was not bringing any results and although he didn¡¯t fear the king, he understood that he shouldn¡¯t overdo some things, or else there would be some severe repercussions which would take a long time to recover from as it would deal great damage to his foundation. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°Now, it¡¯s time for the first honour student to say one or two words to you all¡±, the senior lecturer says and he ushers Andrew up toward the pulpit. This was the moment that everybody in the auditorium knew the identity of Andrew as the person who took the top result in the entrance exams. All eyes were on him as he walks step by step to the stand, he seem full of confidence like he got that score based on his merit and there was nothing behind it at all. On getting to the pulpit, he flashes a smile at the audience, especially looking at Alex who frowns at him. He clears his throat before starting his speech. ¡°We all did our best to get into this prestigious school, shed sweats and stayed full nights just to read. Some struggled to get the funds just for the entrance exams and some didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t know about you all, but the fact that I came in first doesn¡¯t mean that I would take it easy on myself. There are still other parts of me that I am not still pleased with. I can still go at it harder and with more dedication. I am always going to come up with my best regardless of the situation. I am going to make sure that I am always remembered for a long time even after leaving this school. My name shall be the talk for future generations who plan to enter this school, I am giving it all not for myself alone but for those who believed in me. For my family and friends. And also for you all. If you have any problem with anything, you can come to me and if I also have, I would come to you and I do hope that you can put me through as I would do to you. We should all work hard to increase and maintain the prestige of our school, and we should not let this opportunity given by them go to waste at any point. Remove pride from each other¡¯s hearts and let us take care of each other¡±. His voice got louder during the middle part of his little speech, but it become lower towards the end. It seems like he was motivating them to go to war. After saying such a speech, the whole auditorium becomes quiet for a while then, as if it was planned, a resounding and thunderous standing ovation which lasted for a while came in. All the students were touched, or that was what was shown by their claps. Some did indeed have other motives or followed the crowd. Marian¡¯s eyes were all sparkly, she enjoyed every word spoken by this foster brother of hers. Andrew quietly comes down from the pulpit, amidst stares of everyone. He seems welcoming to everyone and wasn¡¯t all that proud although he came out with such a bright result. He knew the truth though, so he wasn¡¯t bothered about all the stares levelled at him. Even the teachers and executives were impressed by his little speech. Little do they know what kind of monster was allowed by accident into this school. That is a talk for the future though, the future shouldn¡¯t be rushed. The ceremony quickly ends and the students start dispersing bit by bit. Most of the students came around to greet Andrew, to which he gave out a warm feeling towards them. He replied to every greeting like he was one amiable person. Some even volunteered for reading groups to be formed, to which he gave some perfunctory replies without really accepting anyone of them. Marian was beside him all through the ordeal never leaving his side, some of the male students even tried making one or two hits on her but all of which was to no avail as she didn¡¯t even give a single face to any of them. Soon the tides of students lessen to a very nice sum, the session is going to kick off next week after all which was just in three days, hence all preparations were needed to be made, all payments also. It was at this moment though that Alex walks up to Andrew, seems like he has been waiting for Andrew to be through with his banters with the crowd before approaching him. On noticing him approaching, Andrew¡¯s eyes form slits before turning back to normal and his smile plastered on his face as if it was an old friend who was walking down towards him. Even Marian was shocked about the fact that the prince was walking down to them. Their status was vastly different, maybe he wanted to be friends with them she thought. Her thinking was still shallow after all, one day she might fully grow up though. ¡°You can continue with this useless facade for a while. But it won¡¯t last long I assure you¡±, Alex says immediately as he gets close to Andrew. After saying such words, he starts walking away, it was at that same moment that Andrew replies, ¡°Ohh, so the person in second place still has something to say. I thought I was the only one meant to be doing the advising and not the other way around. Guess being below others does affect someone¡¯s brain. What to say though? Since he didn¡¯t come to me for help, I guess I should just let him be. Asking someone above you for help isn¡¯t a bad thing after all, it serves to set you on the right track. Maybe he doesn¡¯t get that though¡±. Every word Andrew said, although might seem annoying, Alex walks away calmly without any change in his expression. It seems like those words didn¡¯t do anything to his confidence or he didn¡¯t hear any word said to him at all. ¡°She didn¡¯t come huh?¡±, he asks. To which Marian just giggles. She understood perfectly that he was talking about Eve. She thinks that Andrew has finally found love. But Eve has her preparation to do and was busy today. ¡°Let¡¯s go home then¡±, he says while moving out of the school, while Marian walks behind him. FIRST CLASS It was a cool chilly morning, the sun hasn¡¯t even fully risen. There was still some part covered with dew, hence visibility was low to some point. But in this particular area, silence seems to fill it up making it as still as a graveyard. A huge shadow could be seen on the ground and footsteps which were slow but steady, causing vibrations on the ground at every step could be heard. On getting to a point, a door is slid open and the view is changed to inside the open space which is huge and filled with chairs, seeming to be capable of accommodating a huge crowd, but it was devoid of any life-form at this moment, even down to the native insects of this world. It was at this point that a voice is heard, seeming to come from the shadow, ¡°Huh, seems like I came a bit early¡±. Today is the first day of school for Andrew and Marian, and they were both dressed up, Andrew is the reason that they were this late to school, he didn¡¯t seem as motivated as Marian was about coming to school and he had to be woken up countless times and finally with the old madam threatening about throwing away his wine did he get down from the bed. Seems like the entrance ceremony is the only time Andrew intends to be early to school as he yawns on getting down from the carriage and stretches hard, almost ripping his uniform. ¡°Hurry up, we are late¡±, Marian says on seeing Andrew just standing there and spacing out. ¡°Ohh, are we?¡±, Andrew asks while being dragged by Marian without any resistance. Marian just clicks her tongue in annoyance while contemplating if she should probably start planning to get to school on her own and when Andrew feels like, he could come on his own. But after a moment of thought, she discards such an idea. The reason she didn¡¯t go along with Andrew on the examination day was due to the fact that she thought he has gone on his own, and she felt somehow that day. But after finding out that he went to see Olivia off, her mind became settled. They raced through the building and soon they were in front of the classroom. But the teacher was already in class and they seem to be the last set of people who came to class. Marian was nervous about entering the class, Andrew just stares at her briefly before he slides open the door. The door being slid open caused all eyes to focus on the newcomers, but this didn¡¯t cause Andrew to fidget or feel nervous one single bit, but he instead walks into the classroom, while Marian was still outside, staring blankly at the courage Andrew had to do such a thing. But she still steps in and bows lowly in the direction of the teacher who was a middle-aged man, a bit robust but average in height. The man stares at Andrew with obvious anger, ¡°Stop there¡±, his voice resounds in the hall. But Andrew keeps walking by like he wasn¡¯t the one being talked to. ¡°I said stop there or are you deaf?¡±, the teacher roars in a loud voice. The man was actually in the speed realm and if such an aura was used on the normal students, perhaps they would have been shaken. But this was Andrew who has been through dozens of life or death situations, has been at death¡¯s door multiple times and has also fought against experts in the same realm as that of the vice principal. Such an aura used before such an expert was meaningless, but Andrew still decides to give him face and turns towards him. On noticing that he has gotten the attention of Andrew, the man felt good thinking that Andrew feared him, hence he has no choice but listen to him. But the indifference in Andrew¡¯s eyes, as he stared at him, made him angry, it even got to the point that he even felt like Andrew was like a predator looking at him as if he was some kind of prey, and he involuntarily took a step back. But it was a minute feeling after all, and the fact that he even took a step back due to just a stare from Andrew got him more annoyed. ¡°Why are you just coming to my class?¡±, he asks while taking steps towards Andrew. ¡®It couldn¡¯t have been him who caused me to move back. That¡¯s impossible, at least not from a kid of this age. It must have been an illusion¡¯, was what he told himself while walking towards Andrew. But there were just two people who reacted out of the whole class, one of whom was Alex who stared at Andrew with an interesting gleam in his eyes, ¡®He seems to be stronger than the teacher, but I wonder if he is as strong as I am. But all that doesn¡¯t matter, as I would crush you no matter what¡¯. The other one was a fat boy who sat on two seats all by himself, he just raised his fat head which he laid on the desk formerly and rested it back immediately while saying inwardly, ¡®That aura came out of nowhere just now. Is the teacher stronger than I think he is?¡¯. This was the same boy who came super early to school. He was the son of the minister of finance in the capital. He scored exactly fifty per cent on the exam, he was the last on the list. But no one in his family would think that he was not brilliant to score more than as he was always praised by his father and even though he had elder brothers, he is the young master of the family, the one to lead the next generation of the family. He is actually in the strength realm just like the teacher. Seems like they are other crouching tigers and hidden scorpions in this set of students and by some sort of coincidence, they all ended up in the same set. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.With his eyes dull as if not putting the teacher in his sight, Andrew asks, ¡°Why were you screaming?¡±. Noticing the tone in which he was being spoken to, the teacher says, ¡°Get out of my class this instant¡±. ¡°And why should I?¡±, asks Andrew. ¡°Because I said so¡±, the teacher says in anger, just a bit more and he would show this kid one or two. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s actually in the rules of the school. So I would politely decline¡±, Andrew replies. After which he didn¡¯t pay any more attention to the teacher and just walks towards his seat. Getting admitted into this school might make other people proud and not want to get on the bad side of any of the teachers, but that didn¡¯t ring true for Andrew. He has his reasons why he came to school. Apart from the fun which he had initially stated, he has broken through quite rapidly this period and needed time to solidify his foundation. Although that shouldn¡¯t waste much time, he felt like there was a voice in his head which was telling him to take it easy for a longer time and not hurry to break through for a while and after this period that he could be quick with his breakthrough and there would be no repercussions. His instincts have always been right and that voice has saved him quite a few times. So, since he decided to listen to this voice, he thought it would be cool to at least learn one or two from this kingdom. If he can¡¯t learn from the school though, he has no qualms with just playing around for a while. He has after all not even broken any rule and the teacher wasn¡¯t the one who helped him wrote his exams or even paid his tuition fees, so he didn¡¯t deem it fit to give him face. Although the man wanted to, he couldn¡¯t argue with the fact that coming late to class wasn¡¯t part of the rules laid behind but no student would want to do that since that would mean getting in the bad books of the teachers, as no teacher would like any student who comes late to their class. ¡°What¡¯s your name boy?¡±, the teacher finally asks with a devious grin on his face. ¡°It¡¯s Andrew. The top student¡±, he replies nonchalantly while heading down towards the last row of the class. The teacher was shocked at first when he heard the name and the fact that he was the top student. ¡®So you are arrogant due to coming out on top huh¡¯, he snorts inwardly. Then he went back to the podium with his recovered expression. He nods at Marian who hurriedly goes up to take her seat, it was not that he had not thought about taking it all on Marian since it looked like they both came in, but he gave up such an idea. She sat far away from Andrew, not because she was avoiding him but due to the fact that she would be distracted if she sat close to him. The students were mostly all shocked about the way Andrew responded to the teacher, with the exception of some selected few who paid little to no attention to all that just happened. The teacher soon resumed his lecture, he was responsible for etiquette classes, and he was just going through the basics of it all before Andrew stepped in. His classes ranged from anything that concerns proper eating habits to dancing to formal greetings and the rest. Which most of the students have already been trained in since they were little. So for most of them, this particular class was unneeded but it was a general class which could not be avoided. Andrew quickly got bored with the class and almost starts dozing off, the teacher has been paying attention to him and his expression got ugly on seeing that he was about to sleep in his class. ¡°Hey, top student¡±, the teacher called out. ¡°Huh¡±, Andrew stood up while staring at him. ¡°What was the last thing I said?¡±, the teacher asks. ¡°Ohh¡±, Andrew¡¯s eyes dim as if trying to remember what was being said. The teacher on noticing this was about to mock Andrew for his nonchalant attitude towards his teaching but he was stopped in his tracks as Andrew starts speaking, ¡°Was it something along the lines of during a formal gathering, it¡¯s compulsory to keep one hand free? And it is also good to stand up while greeting other people? Something like that right?¡±. The teacher was therefore unable to mouth out what he wanted to initially say. He had thought that the fact that Andrew was dozing off meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to remember what he had said but he seems to be wrong. It felt like he was forcefully swallowing his vomit and the mocking smile on Andrew¡¯s face made it all the worse. But he didn¡¯t have to hold it in for long as soon enough the bell rang for the end of his period and thus he quickly left the class without so much as a single word. The presence of Andrew in his class was crazily annoying to him. Everyone would think that Andrew is rude but since seeing this teacher, he hasn¡¯t been comfortable and he didn¡¯t want to act the part of a good student. He didn¡¯t come to this world and was given a second chance to bow his head lower than it was intended. So he didn¡¯t mind the fact that the teacher was offended by him. The next teacher that came in was about the subject of calligraphy. Unlike the previous class, Andrew didn¡¯t behave rudely to this new teacher and was actually attentive and shockingly, he seems to have some idea of this subject and to a notable point too. FOUND IN TEARS After the calligraphy class, it was finally time for a break. A kind of short siesta was induced in the school, which the students used to get familiar with the school environment, fellow students or even teachers. The class president was naturally Andrew and the assistant was given to Alex. They also had a girl helping them in their duties who happened to be a girl who came from an ordinary family and managed to make one of the highest cuts among the girls. She was the fourth on the list but since the third mysteriously died, she has moved up to the third position. Without much thinking, it¡¯s easy to guess who would get to do the work in the class, since one was someone who just came to school to dibble in the learning environment and the other was the adopted prince. The girl needs to be prepared for all the work that would get dumped on her as the other two wouldn¡¯t even bother about taking care of the class. During the siesta, unlike the other children, Andrew finally decides to act as a serious student by going to the library. During the short while he attempted reading, he noticed that although rare, he was among the two percent of people who were blessed with the renowned photographic memory according to Earth¡¯s standard. Now a lot of things made sense about why he wasn¡¯t able to forget stuff easily and he was also able to retain the memories for a very long time. He was pleased with such findings but reading still seemed boring to him. He was looking for the library not really to read but to understand the power structure in this world. After a little while of being courteous and flashing smiles at the older students, he was finally able to locate the library. But he was short on time as the thirty minutes siesta break which was allocated to the students was almost used up. But he doesn¡¯t give up hope since he had a lot of time as long as he doesn¡¯t die anytime soon. He returns to the class for their next class, which happens to be arts. During their first years, they had to partake in various classes in order to broaden their horizons and understand which kind of job is best suited for them based on their results, although some would still adamantly go for courses which don¡¯t align with themselves. Andrew pays rapt attention to other classes which was different from the way he behaved during the etiquette class, although some students could be seen sleeping out of boredom. Two breaks were allocated during a day¡¯s lesson. The second break, unlike the first, was a bit longer but Andrew was hungry as a lot of energy has to be placed into concentration. He and Marian went off to the cafeteria to get something to eat. The cafeteria was huge, just like the hall which they had used to write the entrance exam or maybe more than that. There was various canter to get a meal from, so the line was pretty much very short. After getting their meal and as usual, Andrew¡¯s tray was pretty filled up to the brim, Andrew was grumbling about how this place was a rip-off as he had just spent half a gold coin for both the meal of him and Marian. He even decided to start bringing meals from home to school, not minding if other students looked at him in an awkward way. It was at that moment that a voice sounds out from behind him, ¡°If you want I can bring meals for you¡±. Andrew was scared and almost jumped with the food in his hands. He didn¡¯t imagine that someone was listening to his murmurings and even replied to him. His heart almost came out of his mouth. Both he and Marian turn to meet the ever-familiar face, Eve who was blushing seriously after saying those words. ¡°You scared me there¡±, Andrew said. Eve just smiled, she has been looking for Andrew during the first break. She even asked for help of Marian to find him but to no avail, since he didn¡¯t tell her where he was heading to, but now that she has found him, she was smiling foolishly like a bride who was about to be wed to the love of her life. ¡°Come sit with us then¡±, Marian offers, for which Eve was grateful. Although it was noticeable, she didn¡¯t want it to seem like she was actively pursuing Andrew. Andrew doesn¡¯t object to her sitting beside him. They sat down and were eating and that was when some ground-shaking tremor disturbed their meal as it was proceeding in their direction. The whole cafeteria was quiet and just some murmurs could be heard as the sound continues echoing out. Marian and Eve have already seen the person walking towards them and a frown was seen on their faces. Only Andrew was still eating his meal with a casual expression on his face. When the person was just in front of their table, the sound of his earth-quaking footsteps recedes. ¡°I have been looking all over for you, and I never imagined to find you here¡±, those were the first words that came out of this fat young man¡¯s mouth. Looking up at him closely, every part of his body was covered with excess fat, there could be a huge debate about how he could function on top of a woman if he would crush her. But we are getting off track here, although he seems fat, it doesn¡¯t remove the fact that he looks a bit handsome. Perhaps there are dozens of women who would line up just to be with him based on his status and cuteness. He has short black hair, he seems not to be a fan of keeping his hair and his eyes although not visible because of the fats and the fact that he seems to be squinting them whether intentionally or not, they were black. He stood there while casting a huge shadow upon them and probably stopping ventilation. It was at this point that Andrew finally raises his head to look at the person in front of him. He stuffs a mouthful of food into his mouth while saying, ¡°To what do I owe the honour?¡±. Although he was talking with food in his mouth, none of the food seems to escape as they stayed well put and he continued grinding them before swallowing. He doesn¡¯t wait for his reply as he took a huge chunk of meat and starts greedily devouring it. ¡°Can we be friends?¡±, the fat young man replies while showing off his white and shiny set of teeth. On hearing such words, Andrew almost chokes on the meat he was eating. He immediately grabs the juice and gulps it down while beating his chest lightly. Immediately as he was able to swallow it down, he turns and looks at this fat boy in front of him. Saying he was fat was like demeaning his stature. He looks like a huge ball of meat. Even the girls were shocked at his words, they had thought he had come to make trouble for them but it was the direct opposite. This wasn¡¯t even a way to make friends, someone you just met for the first time. It seems absurd. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.¡°No no no no. Such a relationship seems too much for me to handle¡±, Andrew says immediately while his eyes rove through this huge embodiment. The oddball looked hurt by Andrew¡¯s reply and seems like he was about to cry. ¡°What about me don¡¯t you like? I can change it for you¡±, he says with a tearful look on his face. If he hadn¡¯t said that and behaved in such a manner then maybe Andrew could have thought about it for a little longer, but now Andrew felt like he was about to puke just from the way the guy behaved cordially with him. ¡°Please can you stop behaving in that manner, it irritates me¡±, Andrew says with an unsightly expression on his face. ¡°You are talking to me in this manner. It means you have finally accepted me. Bestie¡±, the fat meat runs and was about to hug Andrew. But Andrew was able to get out of harm¡¯s way quickly and avoid death by crush hugging. He quickly breathes in relief and never wishes to come face to face with such a death. He doesn¡¯t even bother about the words which go to show that the guy has just proclaimed him as his bestie. He just took it that this person in front of him was mentally deranged and didn¡¯t want anything to do with him at any cost. But seems like the fat chunk of meat does not intend to give up on hugging him and tries various times but Andrew was able to deal with every situation properly. Alex could be seen at a not-so-far distance while eating with an amused expression on his face as if he was watching clowns perform. After a little while of performance in which a huge audience has been gathered, Andrew asks while dodging a hug, ¡°Don¡¯t I get to know the name of the person that intends on making friends with me?¡±. The fatty stops on hearing those words, then he smiles sheepishly before answering, ¡°Seems like I forgot that little detail¡±. He straightens out his clothes which the tailor must have made a lot of adjustments on and worked seriously hard on before continuing, ¡°The name is Sebastian¡±. Andrew notices a huge change between this new personage of Sebastian and that of which he had formerly. It seems like a completely different person and he would have perhaps thought it was his twin if he hadn¡¯t seen it all happen by himself. This was a true shrewd player in the game of life. He was exactly like one of those who played outside the rules of the game. Andrew was even put on edge by this change but he was able to recover very quickly unlike the girls and the surrounding people who were also seeing this for the first time. ¡°It¡¯s nice knowing you, Sebastian. I think you already know my name then¡±, Andrew says while shaking hands with him. ¡°The pleasure is all mine¡±, Sebastian replies. Although Andrew was impressed by his change, he still made a mental note to always avoid this boy. Sebastian left them to their meal, which they ate quickly and returned to class. The crowd which was watching the spectacle quickly dispersed. After their other classes for the day, Andrew together with Marian waited for Eve to be through and they went home together. Unlike before, they took their time and trekked home. Admiring the whole scenario as they walked home and talking about various stuff. It was almost evening before Andrew got home, Marian went to freshen up while Andrew just went towards the old madam¡¯s room to apologize for being late. But on getting towards the room, there were faint sobs which were heard a bit distance away from the room and they came from the room which he hadn¡¯t usually found anybody in. This shocked Andrew and he almost returned to his room after all, it wasn¡¯t right according to his moral code of conduct to poke his nose into other people¡¯s issues. But he remembers he has promised to take care of her for Olivia. ¡®I should probably try to stop promising I guess. It could lead to my ruin one day¡¯, he says inwardly while forcing himself into the room. On getting to the room, he just pried through an opening and happened to see the old madam there. ¡®As I thought¡¯, he thought. She was just kneeling on the ground while her hands were caressing the stuff which was on the ground. There were clothes, toys and other sorts which were laid out. They seem well taken care of and as such looked almost new but time has taken its toll on them a bit. ¡®Hmm, who owns those stuff? Was there a boy in this house before now?¡¯, he asks himself. This was due to the fact that the clothes were the ones worn only by boys, except if the person was a tomboy though. He tries to look closer and on staring close, he happens to see the picture of the person hung on the wall. The person seems kind of familiar to him but he still couldn¡¯t quite put a finger on it. He decides to take a closer look and on getting close to the picture, he finally remembers. This person couldn¡¯t be any more recognizable. But he happened to have made a sound on trying to get a closer look and the madam notices him and was startled and quickly cleans her tears. (Author¡¯s note - Hello, it¡¯s me once again. When I was still in high school, I would always dream of having the almighty photographic memory since I was too lazy to study. But I guess I was not among the lucky lot to have gotten it. And fat people are usually introduced in most of the novels I have read and I find it nice to some point hence I just had to input it here. I would have to tailor the rest of the story with this new addition though. More work for me to do. And I would always like to assure you that if this sub-arc follows the kind of line I have in mind for it, which none of the sub-arcs ever has though. It won¡¯t take more than twenty chapters, so please be patient with me, but don¡¯t put your hope on that though cause I know how to end this sub-arc but I don¡¯t know what will transpire in between. Even writing the story is like an adventure to me. Inspirations just keep popping out of nowhere. Sorry for this long note. That¡¯s all, bye for now) A NEW DAWN The old madam was staring at him but he wasn¡¯t paying any attention to her but to the picture which was hung in the room. This young man couldn¡¯t be more familiar to him. He was the first person he met on coming to this world, although dead and also the first person from whom he got money, although corpses couldn¡¯t drag wealth with the living. This was the same young master whom he had found dead in the forest. The reason why the first owner of his body has been killed is due to collateral damage. He didn¡¯t expect to see his picture in the house of the old madam, he wasn¡¯t that close to the family, after all, to know them as he hasn¡¯t met with Olivia or Sophia during the period of which he was at the capital before being driven away. The way the old madam was crying in this room, seems like he was very close to her. Perhaps, he was even her son but there was no way for him to know though. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±, the old madam shouted at Andrew. This broke Andrew away from his thoughts. This was the first time he has seen the old madam this angry at anything. She has always seemed easygoing after all and although she seem upset at times, it was always in a playful way and hence she could be easily pacified. He turns to stare at her and said while nervously scratching his head, ¡°I heard some crying sounds and came to check if everything is alright¡±. The madam immediately notices that she had lost her cool and immediately regained her noble composure and stands up while saying, ¡°Everything is fine. You can now leave¡±. Andrew was about to leave but on second thought, decides to ask what¡¯s bothering him, ¡°Who is he to you?¡±. ¡°Huh?¡±, the old madam doesn¡¯t quite get the question Andrew just asked. And she doesn¡¯t want the fact that she had been in this room and even went as far as breaking down in tears to be known to either Olivia or Sophia. ¡°He must be close to you. But I seem to have seen someone that looks just like him and hence curious about what kind of relationship you might have shared with him. But it seems like I am bothering you. Sorry about that¡±, he says while this time around he turns and is about to walk out of the room. On hearing those words which Andrew has just spoken out, the old madam shivers and as if grasping unto a slim thread runs to stop Andrew while asking, ¡°Where did you see him? Do you have any idea of where he is now? When did you see him?¡±. Andrew was being shaken furiously by the anxious woman, like an innocent boy about to be forcefully violated by an older woman. ¡°Can you please stop shaking me in that manner?¡±, Andrew finally speaks. Although he could forcefully stand his ground, he doesn¡¯t want the old madam to be hurt in any way, hence he just allowed her and tries to get her to stop with words. And it seems she finally realizes her act as she once again regains her composure, although not as quickly as before and there were even signs in her eyes showing that she wouldn¡¯t mind using any means to get the information she needs from him. This reaction of the old madam causes Andrew to shiver and he quickly says, ¡°I met that boy up to four years ago. So such a huge time has passed already huh? Well, I met him in a forest close to the village where I stayed in. He has just been killed, together with a few strong men. Maybe the person I saw in the painting was him or not¡±. Although she had expected such a turn of events since she hasn¡¯t heard even a word from him for a long time, the old madam breaks down. The hope that she would one day see him has always kept her happy. She believed that the person Andrew was talking about was exactly the boy in the painting since that was also the period that she lost contact with and hasn¡¯t met with him. She cries while trembling like someone who was convulsing. Andrew just stares at her not knowing what to do, but he closes the door behind him to prevent anyone else from coming in and meeting her in such a state. After a long while of tears and snorts, she was finally able to recover herself while Andrew stood close by as if he was a bodyguard. Guess due to the fact that he had trained, he doesn¡¯t feel any pains or cramps from standing in one position for a long while. There was another break but this time around, silence ensued in the room such that a pin drop could be perhaps heard. This lasted until finally, the old madam broke the silence by saying, ¡°He was my son. A brilliant boy, just like his father and the whole family had great expectations for him. His talent was even greater than that of his elder sister and he was very knowledgeable and skilled in military affairs¡±. She pauses after saying those words as if waiting for Andrew to say something but he keeps quiet while fully listening to what she has to say to him. As if finally noticing that Andrew does not intend on commenting, she continues her story, ¡°After his father died, he brought joy and hope to the house. Although he was a bit troublesome, he was a shining star who was illuminating the house. But his father made a lot of enemies both in the capital and outside. Against nobles and dukes alike. His father was unreserved about what he does. If he doesn¡¯t like something, then that is it. He doesn¡¯t pretend to want something when he doesn¡¯t. Maybe that¡¯s what made me fall in love with him at first¡±, she pauses once again as if to grasp her breath. ¡°My son was in the military school, his second year to be precise, just a little more than a year and he would graduate to be assigned an important role. He just took a little break from school to go visit his sister on the war front. I warned him against going a countless number of times. I warned him severely about going out of the kingdom¡±, she starts crying at this point once again which doesn¡¯t take a long while unlike before. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.After she calmed down from her tears, she continues her story, ¡°He just had to ignore my words and sneak out of the house. He was just as stubborn as his father I guess. He went along with the best guards though. But I guess it wasn¡¯t enough in the end as he was still killed. I always had hope that he was holed up somewhere and would be back eventually. But seems like I was placing my hopes on nothing but pipe dreams. He has already been dead for so long¡±, at this point, she starts laughing and crying as if she was a lunatic. This time though, Andrew comes close to her and hugs her while saying, ¡°Perhaps he wasn¡¯t the one I saw and was just a look-alike¡±. As if by coincidence though, the hug which Andrew gave to her was exactly the manner in which her son had hugged her and the memories just flashed through her head. She smiles while a streak of tears ran down her eye. ¡®Son seems like you did remember your mother and came to meet with her one last time¡¯, she thought inwardly while staring upwards as if she could see the spirit of her son waving goodbye at her. But sorry ma¡¯am, this isn¡¯t one of those stories. ¡°I know you are trying to comfort me, but it¡¯s alright. I just lost my cool for a while, I expected such a thing already but it just still hurts hearing it, that¡¯s all¡±, she finally replies after being in Andrew¡¯s hug for a while. Although she had wanted to hug Andrew back so badly, she used all her willpower to fight back against it and finally softly pulls herself from his hug. ¡°At least now you know why Olivia has always been so condensing towards all your attitude and even brought you forward to stay with us. She seems to take you as her little brother, and you also do behave just like he did¡±, she says once again with a smile on her face. ¡°You should probably go freshen up. It¡¯s late already, your sister must be looking all over for you¡±, she says once again. ¡°Yeah¡±, Andrew finally remembers that he has a sister around and finally walks towards the door. About opening it, the old madam asks, ¡°Do you have any idea of whom might have killed him?¡±. Andrew¡¯s eyes dim on being asked such a question, those were the exact people who had killed him before he reincarnated. But he finally remembers that he was no longer the same guy of that year, and thus replies, ¡°They were just two of them and all wore grey hoods. They didn¡¯t bother to cover their face like they weren¡¯t afraid of the repercussions, so I can....¡±. It was at this time that he notices that blood has drained from the face of the old madam like she was experiencing a nightmare while standing there. She realizes that Andrew was still with her and thus changed back to her previous expression and said, ¡°Thanks for the information. But I would advise that you shouldn¡¯t ever mention anything about them to anyone¡±. Andrew grabs the gist of the whole matter and nods his head. He understood that the people who were involved in the assassination were those who were even more powerful than her family even with the impulsive character of Olivia in the mix. Only one family came to his mind though but he still couldn¡¯t fathom how they could perform such an act. But an answer quickly comes to his head as he approaches his room. Meanwhile, back in the room, the old madam had an ugly expression on her face. It seems that she might cry the next moment or maybe laugh. Her expression was confusion, ¡°You saw this coming didn¡¯t you, Dylan? And that¡¯s what you have always warned me about¡±. After a while, she shakes her head and leaves the room. Their dinner was quickly taken and actually, the old madam now seems pretty closer to Andrew. Formerly, she seems like a nice host who was taking care of her visitors. But presently, she seems like a mother taking care of her child. The warmth in her eyes while looking at Andrew was all too obvious to a fault. Even Marian notices this and wonders what could have happened between them that she didn¡¯t know of. She guessed it to have happened while Andrew went to look for her though, and she made a mental note to ask Andrew about it after they were through. Around this same period, in a place not too far from the school. The etiquette teacher could be found writing something down on a piece of paper. When the writings on the paper are zoomed in, some words could now be seen. It was all made of codes which couldn¡¯t be interpreted at all. Seems like it was a way to send messages to someone and since it was made of codes, it was something that he didn¡¯t want anybody to know about. After being through with the letter, he takes a messenger bird from its cage and fixes the letter properly so that it doesn¡¯t fall off from it. He walks towards an alleyway and finally sets the bird free. After sending the bird free, he quickly runs away from that place to avoid being tracked. After putting some distance away, he breaths in relief while saying, ¡°I can¡¯t wait for the new dawn to be set on this kingdom, but I do understand that it would take a long time for it all to be prepared and for now I need to do things on a low key¡±. All of a sudden though, the face of Andrew flashes through his head, ¡°Just wait for me kid. I would make sure you are dead before the time approaches¡±, he says with a vicious expression on his face. HISTORY (Author¡¯s note - This is a huge milestone for me. It has been a long journey from chapter one to one hundred and I am going to specially congratulate myself for all the hard work. Just joking, God be doing the most. I know that this completes ten chapters of the school arc. But as I said before, am not sure I can complete it by the twentieth chapter. So please keep staying with me) The next day, Andrew doesn¡¯t change one bit and still oversleeps. An unfinished wine jar could be seen close to his bed. But this time around, the old madam enters his room without knocking and wakes him up. Andrew wakes up while grumbling. His waking up by this time doesn¡¯t mean he doesn¡¯t wake up early, he sleeps later than usual and performs every kind of exercise he knows before going to bed. His body needs to be in the top shapes after all. He quickly goes off to freshen up, eat a nice meal and sets off. Maybe he forgot to or something else, but he didn¡¯t carry along the food he had thought of carrying. During their breakfast though, the old madam tells them that Sophia would soon be returning home for her breaks. Although the hospital was not that far away from their home, she was forbidden from leaving its perimeters during her work days due to the fact that emergencies can come in at any moment and before she was called back could take a lot of time and perhaps the person could be dead. Her work period happens to be every three months with a break of just barely a month. But that was more than enough for her though, as she had signed for it. Andrew has just communicated a little bit with this Sophia and to him, she seems so self-righteous that it was annoying. He takes it like she hasn¡¯t been out in the world, hence her limited view of everything. They both get to school early this time around and to his shock, Andrew saw Eve standing nervously at the school entrance like she was waiting for her prince charming to come by. Her face lights up which increases her beauty the moment she saw Andrew. She runs forward and drops a well-wrapped package in his hands. If looked carefully, some bandages could be seen wrapped around her hands. Seems like she went through a lot to prepare this for Andrew. Andrew notices this and Marian has formerly hinted at the fact that she doesn¡¯t know how to cook. He was touched by this act, after all, he had thought that she was joking about bringing meals for him, he says with a touching smile, ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do this¡±. ¡°I already made a promise to you, and I have to fulfil it¡±, she says, and a cool wind just had to blow past at this point which raises her hair a bit and she uses her fingers to try calming them down. It just feels like it was the both of them in this environment as time seems to be at a standstill. But in the background, students were still walking into the school and Marian was sulking. She wasn¡¯t comfortable with what was going on over here, hence she ruins the mood by saying, ¡°We are getting late for class, Andy¡±. This destroys the perfectly romantic dating space on which both of them have encamped themselves. Andrew coughs dryly while saying, ¡°Thanks. I would make sure to treasure it¡±. ¡°Mmhmmh¡±, sounded forth as Eve''s reply. On getting to class, a voice grips Andrew with so much fear that he had to forcefully hold himself from running out of the class, ¡°Bestie¡±, the voice came forth. Who could it be apart from his new acquaintance. Marian extracts herself from him as if she hasn¡¯t met him before and heads off to a seat. Andrew quickly calms down and ignores his call while walking towards a location way farther from where he was. No matter how the fat meatball called out to him, he doesn¡¯t pay any heed to him and acts deaf. Some of his classmates already knew what has happened, Alex was presently in the class spacing off as if he was thinking about something and nothing in this world could ever stop his thoughts. But it was at this particular time that someone came to disrupt his thought. It was Andrew who came to his side as he says, ¡°Excuse me, I want to take the seat over there¡±. The fact that someone would dare to disrupt his thoughts was annoying to him at first and the fact that it was Andrew got him angrier. Everybody usually gave him space as he was known to be evil and without a heart. But not Andrew as he climbs over the desk and was about to take the seat, but Alex prevents him from going across the table and hence he only had one of his feet on the table. All the students paid attention to what was going on between them as they never would have thought that anyone would go against Alex in this school as everyone was avoiding him. But it was at this moment that the teacher came in and saw Andrew on top of the desk. ¡°You over there. Horse-playing isn¡¯t allowed in this school. Leave my class this minute¡±, the female teacher says. She has worts over her face and seems to be the perfect definition of ugly and extremely old too as she had white hairs all over her head. Just seeing herself made Andrew erase any and every thought of resistance as he quietly went outside to wait while staring at Alex with a face full of anger. Alex in return just smiles at him. But it was at this moment that the teacher¡¯s voice sounds out once again, ¡°You too. I don¡¯t care if you are royalty or not. But you have to behave properly in this school. Leave my class at this moment¡±. Alex was shocked that he was called along with Andrew out of the class, but he still stood up to leave the class. The class was for poetry and Alex just walks out of the surroundings, heading to where Andrew had no idea. Andrew just squats down beside the class for a while and after a while of waiting, remembers that the class would take until break before ending. Andrew does not intend to wait that long and hence walks off. Strolling around with his hands in his pocket, he saw Alex laying beside a tree while staring upward as if something was bothering him. Seeing him in such a way, Andrew has a wicked smile on and starts tiptoeing towards where he was with little to no sound. But unfortunately for me, before he got close, Alex¡¯s voice sounds out, ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±. Although he had expected such a reaction, Andrew was still downtrodden. But he didn¡¯t answer the question and just walks off, heading towards the library. Since he doesn¡¯t have anything better to do, at least he could learn a thing or two from the library. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.The classes which Andrew had to attend had to range from poetry to art to military to medics and the rest. The first-year students were made to have a general idea of all that they were meant to know about each critical part of life. They would be divided into their specialities from their second years. It was a full year before that time and hence the huge class was needed. Andrew gets to the library and although the librarian was shocked that a student in his first year came at this moment, it wasn¡¯t anything out of the ordinary over the years he has been a librarian but one at just the second day of resumption was rare. Andrew doesn¡¯t pay any heed to the librarian and after having his identity card cross-checked, he quickly went to the area meant for history. The first book he picked was about the kingdom he was currently in. It took a fairly long while before he was able to go through the book and from what he learnt from the book, he has gained a bit more understanding about this kingdom. Although there would always be some lies in history, the truths were still more. This kingdom happens to be a good nine hundred and eighty-seven years old. There have been generations after generations of kings and the one present happens to be the nineteenth-generation king. The kingdom started from a village in one of the kingdoms and the young and only son of the chief warrior at that time was the first king and founder of the kingdom. His father was sent on a suicide mission by the greedy village chief who after getting his father killed, stole his wife. He ran away from the village as per the advice of his mother and also with her help. He escaped successfully with great grievances in his heart. Years later, he came stronger and with allies and successfully killed the village chief together with his generation. The people were tired of the tyranny of the village chief, but the young man didn¡¯t want to stay in that place, he aspired greatly, and the villagers hence followed him as he left. He settled at the place that was now the capital of the kingdom, but at that time, the surrounding areas were filled with savage tribes and some cannibals. Since he has followers, he had no choice but to start expanding in order to fulfil their living conditions and had to create a route to get food successfully. Bit by bit he started expanding the small camp he has but wasn¡¯t ruthless as he took in the warriors from the defeated tribes. Although there was some kind of disagreement during the conquest due to the different tribal warriors he took in, he always partook in wars in order to delay it all. When he thought he has expanded to a large extent, he did something crazy. He sent all of the various tribal warriors to their death. He did the same thing which the village chief has done to his father but this time around due to different reasons as he knew that leaving them any longer while he was taking care of his newly expanded territory would prove dangerous. He used them against the alliance formed by the remaining savage tribes. It weakened them greatly and since they didn¡¯t accept any outside help from the other kingdoms, it created a short break for each party. The young man who was now riddled with various scars from his conquests took this time to properly manage all his territories and groom his army with all the loot accumulated from their wars. This deadlock lasted for more than five years and the alliance broke up once again thinking that the young man didn¡¯t plan to expand his kingdom any more. But that was exactly the time he resumed his conquest with his personal troops and aides whom he could trust and has full power over. In a swift move, not lasting more than a year, he took the remaining areas belonging to the broken alliance of the savages. In this time of just establishing his kingdom, he registered under one of the empires to produce some kind of protection against other kingdoms. It was helpful a bit though as it did produce some kind of deterrent force against greedy eyes. Luck was on his side as he built such a kingdom solely on his own without the help of other kingdoms and the fact that other kingdoms didn¡¯t participate to prevent them from growing to that stage. There were twelve main warriors whom the young man trusted and who had been with him during the conquests. Although one or two of them died, he didn¡¯t let their deaths go in vain as he gave their descendants great powers and authority and their future descendants became known as the dukes. So they weren¡¯t positions given at will to them but they were given out of respect for their great exploits and friendship, and the fact that they were still holding their powers goes to show that such admiration towards their ancestor''s work still exists to date. Maybe that was what they prided on and made them feel superior to other nobles and with almost equal standing as that of the king himself. PERFECT KISS The reason for there being up to the nineteenth generation king was because some died earlier on due to illness or some other circumstances. But the throne hasn¡¯t changed bloodlines to date. The former king before this present one was his elder brother, and due to one reason or the other, he had to give up the throne. Nobody knows if he was dead or not, but every record about him has been erased from the books as it was always updated at every interval. Nothing could be said about if he had children or not. But it could be thought that the elder brother was dead. After all, there were cases of the brother killing his brother for the throne. So it could be right to think this way. They all had to bear the hereditary name of Charles, so the present king was named Charles the Nineteenth. But all those stuff didn¡¯t affect Andrew one bit, what was bothering him was how Alex was able to convince the king to eradicate a whole duke lineage. How was he able to do that? And which evidence did he bring up that made the other dukes not blow the matter out of proportion and cause inner unrest? There wasn¡¯t even much scruple about the eradication of the whole lineage. No matter what they had done, at least one or two of the dukes should have spoken up and the kingdom should be divided now. Now he understood that the fear people had for him was not unfounded a single bit. If possible, he would advise them to be more wary of him. The thought of what plans that boy could be planning against him made him nervous but he smiled depreciatingly at himself. ¡®Power destroys every plan and makes them useless¡¯, he roared at himself inwardly. Although being able to eradicate a whole household of dukes was impressive, Andrew quickly gets over it. He would be so powerful that he would be able to squash every plan Alex made against him. After being through with that book, he realizes that it should be time for a break. He has taken so long in the book that he has already forgotten the passage of time. Students were starting to file into the library in mass. Although there were some previously, it was getting crowded at this point, and he had a nice meal waiting for him to eat. Standing up, he walks towards the shelf to keep the book and on keeping it, a fairly pretty and seemingly fragile hand comes from nowhere and touches the same book he has just kept. Since he hasn¡¯t yet removed his hands, their hands made contact. ¡°I have been searching around for this¡±, a feminine voice comes forth. Andrew turns behind and his nose caresses that of the speaker and their lips had minimal contact. They both felt a jolt in their body as they made this contact, both for different reasons. It has been a long while since Andrew has kissed someone, and the girl didn¡¯t expect their lips to touch. They stare into each other¡¯s eyes at this moment, the girl¡¯s eyes were sparkling and mesmerizing. It seems like someone could perhaps fall into a trance just by staring at it. Her lashes were fairly long but perfect for her face. The moment Andrew saw this, he quickly parted the girl¡¯s lips and gave her a deep and wet kiss. The girl tried to stop the kiss at first but soon gave up the struggle. Seems like Andrew was lucky as nobody seems to see them in this position. After a while of kissing her, Andrew parted lips from her and a strand of saliva could be seen connecting their lips. After the disconnection, the girl quickly became angry, pushed Andrew backward and screamed, ¡°How dare you?¡±. This got everybody in the lower part of the library to stare in their direction, and even some at the upper parts bent down to check what the commotion was about. It was at this moment that Andrew got a perfect view of the girl he just kissed. She seems extremely pretty, even Eve cannot hold a candle to her beauty. She was the true definition of beauty. Scanning through her body, Andrew notices that although she wasn¡¯t buxom, she seems perfect with just the little stuff she carried. She has slender legs and her skin seems nice, Andrew had to resist the urge to hold her closer to himself. The girl became much angrier seeing the way Andrew was going through her body. Even her getting angry doesn¡¯t decrease her beauty but instead adds to it. ¡°Do you know who I am?¡±, the girl¡¯s voice which seems like the songs of birds sounded out. Andrew recovers from his infatuation with this girl, he stares at her for a moment longer and walks away without a care in the world. No matter how much the girl shouted for him to come back or wait, he just walks away. If he had waited a bit more, he could have heard some conversations made between the students or if he had at least stared at any of the students, he would have noticed the shocked expression on all of their faces. The girl whom he has just kissed happens to be the princess and beloved daughter of the king. Offending her was just like offending the king himself as he has always catered and pampered her. They all wondered how this boy was crazy enough to offend the princess and which guts he had grown to be able to perform such a feat. Those who knew him, as they were some first years vowed not to get close to him to avoid getting themselves killed. It was obvious that Andrew had a death wish, but none of them knew that Andrew was oblivious to the identity of the girl and just did what he felt like doing. He won¡¯t probably regret the fact that he could be killed due to that reason, but being killed for a kiss would be too much don¡¯t you think? If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Andrew who was being spoken of was on his way back to class. On getting to where he had left the food which was prepared for him, he quickly opens it all and what was presented before him was a meal that seem okay. There was beef, rice, something which seems to look like bread but was fried, and sauce. Andrew was shocked that Eve has gotten to learn how to cook to this extent, but he didn¡¯t for once think it was because of him. He quickly picks up the spoon and digs into the rice. On putting it into his mouth and his tongue feeling it, he receives a jolt as if he has gone back to earth. ¡®It tastes just like....¡¯, Andrew thought, but doesn¡¯t complete the words in his head. He quickly swallows it and a tear drop fell from his mouth. It was at this exact time that his self-proclaimed bestie came back into the class. On seeing Andrew, he quickly runs up to him. He sees the food laid before Andrew and before Andrew could even react, he quickly picked one of the beef up and put it in his mouth. But his face quickly turns ugly as he spits it out. ¡°Salty and spicy. Who prepared this?¡±, Sebastian screams while trying to get every particle of it out of his mouth. If he could, perhaps he would have vomited but that doesn¡¯t seem possible at this moment for him. Andrew frowns at the actions of Sebastian and bit by bit his face started growing ugly. ¡°Why did you put your hands in my food?¡±, he asks with a frown obvious on his face. Sebastian quickly notices the angry tone in his voice and replies with a pitiful expression, ¡°Sorry bestie. Don¡¯t be angry at me. Let this slide please¡±. Seeing him react this way, Andrew had no other choice than to let it slide. He quickly continues with the food. The reason why he cried at first was that this was exactly the way his first food tasted like when he was on earth. But he honed his skills over time and got to be better. He acknowledges the effort which was put by Eve into preparing this food, and the food got reduced at a drastic rate. Sebastian who was at the side watching him eating couldn¡¯t help wondering how he was able to eat such a meal. But Andrew just finishes the meal as if nobody was watching him. He even went as far as to lick the plate dry. This stuns most of the students present in the class as they all looked at him with awkward expressions. It was like they were looking at a savage who hasn¡¯t had a meal in a very long time. After being through, Andrew quickly burps loudly. There was no display of etiquette in his eating style like all the teachings of his first class were for play. At this exact moment though, the princess has already left the library and was sitting on a bench just beside some trees which acted as a shade from the sun. She didn¡¯t feel like going through the books again. She couldn¡¯t focus on anything at all and what was going through her mind at this time was, ¡®That brat kissed me. He stole my first kiss. How could he have done that¡¯. Although she thought that way, her fingers were on her lips as if reminiscing about her what occurred a short while ago. She seems to have enjoyed the kiss. She was both happy and mad at the same time. The reason she felt such a mixed reaction was because the boy didn¡¯t stay behind but instead walked away as if she didn¡¯t matter one bit and as if kissing her was a normal thing. It was at this time that Alex walks in, ¡°My dear sister, you sent for me¡±, he said on getting to where she was. The princess was older than him by just a year, and they were a bit close, unlike her brother. ¡°What happened?¡±, Alex asks once again as he notices her mood. ¡°It¡¯s some country bumpkin who had the guts to kiss me¡±, she replies. Seems like she shared everything with Alex. ¡°Huh, who would dare to do that? Which year is he in?¡±, Alex asks as his tone starts getting ugly. ¡°Um, he seems to be in his first years¡±, she replies. Alex¡¯s face gets ugly immediately as Andrew¡¯s face appears in his head. He didn¡¯t understand how it was possible that Andrew was the first person he thought of when she said it was from the first years. He settles his mind before he asks, ¡°Can you identify him if you see him?¡±. ¡°Of course¡±, she says, ¡°I could never forget that face of his¡±. ¡°Then at the start of the second break, just come to my class then. I want to see who would have the guts to perform such an act¡±, Alex says with his face getting scarier. ¡°That¡¯s why I love you. You take care of me just like father¡±, she says while jumping into his arms. ¡°Of course, I would always take care of you. That¡¯s the reason I am your brother¡±, he says while patting her hair. After a little time of being in an embrace, Alex separates while bidding goodbye to her. It was almost time for the first break to be over after all and he wasn¡¯t able to attend the first class. He wanted to be present in the next class as long as it was within his power. JUST ON THE SECOND DAY? PART 1 Alex gets to class and sees Andrew sitting right on the chair on which he was sitting before they were both driven out of the class. ¡®Are you set on being enemies with me?¡¯, Alex thought inwardly. But without a change in his mood, he tried to look for another seat, and that was when Andrew called out to him, ¡°Hey, Your Highness. You can come sit down beside me. I have a huge heart to accommodate people unlike some certain people¡±. Apart from the other words that Andrew spoke, there was very obvious sarcasm in the way he called out his greetings like he didn¡¯t put Alex in his eyes. The other students, mostly those of the nobles and dukes wondered how Andrew was able to have such guts to be able to speak to Alex in such a way. They thought of him as wasted and some who were in the library said inwardly that Andrew must have a death wish as he was intent on having issues with everyone from the royal family. Alex totally ignores him, though, but after a while of searching around for where to sit, he is unable to find any available place. He was directly holding back his urge to drive someone away from their seat, but he understood perfectly that using one¡¯s position in this school was one of the violations of its rules, which could lead to immediate expulsion. Having no other choice, he walks towards the only available seat, which is close to Andrew. Andrew has a victorious smirk on his face as he says while patting Alex on his shoulders, ¡°My good friend, so you finally listened to me. Don¡¯t worry, I am totally aware of the fact that you love being at the edge, so I would move inside¡±. Alex''s face almost turns sour at the actions of Andrew, but he holds on against it, and no sooner, their next teacher comes in, and their learning gets underway. Soon, the time for their second break was approaching. A new teacher was in the class who was teaching them about beasts. Just a basic explanation about them, though. Andrew has a little understanding of the animals in this world, and he thought of going to the library this time around to learn more about it. He would hold off on the history of this world for now and would continue down on it later on. The period was finally over, and the teacher wrapped up and walked outside. But on opening the door, there was someone who was outside the door, which almost scared the teacher. ¡°Huh, Audrey. What are you doing here?¡±. Andrew hears the name, and a spark goes off in his head, and his heart starts beating fast as if he is about to meet his greatest enemy in this world. He could never forget the name of that girl, the girl who broke his heart after trusting her fully. ''Was she also reincarnated?¡¯, that was the first thought that got into his head. ¡®That¡¯s impossible, right? I thought she got wedded to Jay and should be living the life of her dreams. Nothing bad is supposed to happen to her after that. Or maybe karma finally came to my rescue? Serves her right though. I hope she died a miserable death. Yes, it should be nothing short of being absolutely painful¡¯, Andrew thought with a happy smile on his face. ''If it¡¯s really you, I swear to make you pay for all that you did to me¡¯, he vowed. ¡°I came to see my brother¡±, a beautiful voice sounds from behind the door. ¡°Ohh, okay then¡±, the teacher said while walking off without paying any more attention to her. The voice seemed familiar to Andrew, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger quite well on whom it belonged to. If it was someone he had known for long, there was no way he could have forgotten the person. ¡®Or maybe I am overthinking things because I am about to see her? It could very much be so¡¯, he said inwardly. A beautiful leg steps into the class, and Andrew gulps down, anticipating the appearance of Audrey in this life. Soon, the full appearance of the girl was before everyone. The whole class was totally silent when everybody saw the appearance of this girl. ¡®How can someone be this beautiful?¡¯ that was what was in most of the guys¡¯ minds. Even most girls tried comparing themselves to this girl in front of them and they were dismayed at the results. This was the definition of absolute beauty, and no one present in this class could compare. Although most of the descendants of the nobles and dukes have seen her, they were still stunned by her beauty. Everybody was feeling crazy about her except just two people though, Alex and Andrew. Alex''s reason was because he was her brother and had no such fetish feelings towards her. In the case of Andrew, it was due to the fact that this girl was the same girl that he had seen in the library and had kissed. ¡®How could they both bear the same name? Is it just coincidence or is someone playing tricks on me?¡¯, Andrew screams inwardly. This was a huge blow to him; he had grown to hate the name Audrey. And this girl just had to be as beautiful or even more than she was. Alex just smiled while seeing her and beckoned unto her before turning towards the whole class and saying in a loud voice such that it was audible to everyone in the class, ¡°Sorry to disturb you all, but I would like for you all to cooperate with me while my sister searches for someone. It won¡¯t take much time, so please, you all should stay in the class, and I will be in your debt¡±.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After saying that, he turned towards his sister, who was coming up, and said, ¡°Please, the moment you find him, you should point him out¡±. She just nods and gets close to her brother, but she all of a sudden becomes silent while staring at the boy who sat down directly close to Alex. Although he had waited for a while, Audrey hadn¡¯t said anything, so he was worried that maybe she was afraid of the person although that didn¡¯t seem plausible, it was the only possible explanation he could come up with after seeing her silent, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be afraid, sister. Just point him out and all would be settled¡±. But she was still silent, which made him frown and look directly at her. He was about to say something, but he noticed her trembling while staring in a particular direction. He all of a sudden had an awkward feeling about who she was staring at and deeply hoped that it wasn¡¯t who he thought he was, as her stare gave away the culprit of the action she had told him about. Andrew was at the corner shocked at the revelation about who she was and what he had gotten himself into. ¡®Never could I have imagined that she was the princess. Should I run away now that I have the chance? What about Marian? What would happen to her? This is why I didn¡¯t want to get myself associated with anyone from the beginning. Now I don¡¯t even have an option of running away¡¯, he clicks his tongue in annoyance. ¡°Is he the one?¡±, Alex asks while pointing at Andrew with an ugly face. ¡°Yes, he is¡±, this time around, Audrey finally speaks. Alex turns around and grabs Andrew by his collar while saying in a loud voice, ¡°How dare you?¡±. ¡°How dare me what?¡±, Andrew replies, not feeling nervous one bit. ¡°How dare you perform such an act? And at that with my sister?¡±, Alex asks while getting more angry as each second goes by. By this time, all the students had reacted to the commotion and understood that something was wrong somewhere. Nobody present would have the guts to go against the royal family openly as even a wounded tiger could still strike a vicious blow, but it seems like Andrew not only had the guts to do that but could also have issues with two people who came directly from that lineage. Everybody now understood for a fact that there was something wrong with this perfect-score student. Even Marian at the side didn¡¯t expect all this and was wondering what Andrew must have done to antagonize the princess. ¡°Did you have any proof about me being the one to have performed any act? And what act are you talking about?¡±, Andrew replies coolly as if the issue on ground wasn¡¯t anything serious but just a little conversation that could be continued another day. ¡°So you are trying to say that my sister is a liar?¡±, Alex asks. He was just holding off on the impulse to hit Andrew in the face right now. ¡°I didn¡¯t say so. But she could have as well got the wrong guy. Since you believe every word she says, she might just come by tomorrow and say that I kissed her, and you might believe¡±, Andrew says while staring at Audrey towards the end of the sentence. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one that kissed me?¡±, Audrey jumps into the matter at hand. ¡°You see what am talking about. She could as well accuse me of kissing her and now she has done it¡±, Andrew says once again but in derision of her words. ¡°But it¡¯s the tru....¡±, Audrey wasn¡¯t able to finish her words before Alex covered her mouth. He had been trying not to make the issue on ground known. But she just had to be led on by Andrew; he understood for a fact that it was Andrew¡¯s doing, as a victorious smile could be seen on his face. Everybody in the class was flabbergasted by this revelation. They all knew for a fact that Audrey wouldn¡¯t lie about such a serious matter and accuse the wrong person, as she didn¡¯t have the need to. There was great anger in the eyes of most of the guys in the class as they stared at Andrew. If perhaps looks could kill, Andrew would have been dead countless times. Sebastian, at this time, was looking at Andrew with an interesting smile on his face. No one knew what he was thinking at that moment. But if his siblings or father were present, they would give him space and wouldn¡¯t disturb him, as this was a time in which he was planning something absolutely beyond the thinking of ordinary men. Marian was truly shocked by what was going on and the intensity of the matter, ¡®Andy what have you gotten yourself into? If you had wanted to kiss someone, Eve is there or perhaps even m...¡¯, she soon stopped in her thoughts and wondered what was going on in that head of hers that would make her think that way about someone she considers as a family. ¡®But why do you have to get yourself involved in the royal family? This is the end of the line I guess. But I won¡¯t let anything bad happen to you brother. I would share every single circumstance with you¡¯, her thoughts continued while a defeated smile was plastered on her face. Audrey finally notices that she has been led on by Andrew, and starts getting angry. Formerly, she had just been embarrassed by all that had happened, and that was the reason for her trembling. But now, Andrew has made her really angry. She never thought she would be this angry towards anybody and at that in a public environment, but guess she was wrong. Even Alex by the side was trembling pretty hard while he asked, ¡°So you are trying to deny the fact that you did it?¡±. He understood perfectly that the cat was out of the bag and there was nothing that he could do at this point to turn back time in order to stop such a scenario from repeating itself. Andrew just stares at the two siblings for a while, like he was observing something. A bright light flashes past his eyes before he says as if he has been defeated, ¡°I didn¡¯t deny kissing her or having anything to do with her. I just said that maybe she could have the wrong person. I was the one who kissed her and I have no scruples with admitting that fact. Her lips were just too tempting to let go and I performed the act. It is not against the school rules to kiss someone I feel like kissing, is it? Or is it against the laws of the kingdom? I don¡¯t seem to have heard something like that. So there you have it¡±. Andrew pauses for a moment before continuing while moving towards Alex and patting his shoulder, ¡°So stop dropping to conclusions, my friend. I won¡¯t ever deny my actions. I am a real man who has something undernea....¡±. But this time around, Andrew wasn¡¯t able to complete his statement before a punch landed squarely on his face that pushes him backward and causing blood to spurt.