When he got in his room, William jumped into bed. He was very glad that Oliver seemed like he forgot everything. Happy and relieved, he decided to take a little nap while Oliver wrote his letter and took it to the post office, and then ask him if he wanted to go and have lunch. Lying in bed, he started to wonder about how the others from the S Class were, personality wise... he had met them before at some balls, but he wasn't very keen on balls, so, whenever he attended one, he would get into what he called 'his ball attitude', which meant he was very friendly and acted like a perfect noble, but his mind was completely elsewhere and he couldn't recall too much about them, apart from two of them who he knew pretty well. As he thought about his future classmates, school year and many other things, he dozed off.
Meanwhile, Oliver was already done with writing his letter and now he wanted to send it. He went out of the building and after he passed the entrance for the main boys' dorms, he ran into a group of other students. His first thought was that he could say 'hi' and talk with them for a while, but almost instantly he realized that was a bad idea. The group looked like it was composed of spoiled and irritating children of wealthy nobles. one of them, in particular, seemed to get all the attention. He was probably the leader and the one coming from the most prestigious family. Also, he was wearing his sword, probably to show off.
All students were allowed to have their swords with them on campus, but they were allowed to use them only in case they were attacked and, by no means, were they allowed to attack a fellow student. Most students didn't take a sword around because the whole campus was heavily guarded. It was no surprise as most of the students there came from extremely important families in the Kingdom of Sapphire. The Academy was, because of that, one of the safest places in the kingdom to be in. However, due to the pressure that was put on the school by some influential nobles, they allowed the students to carry around a sword.
Oliver decided to just keep going and mind his own business, but it looked like someone had other plans:
"Which household are you a servant of?!? Your clothes look absolutely worn out and I believe that you cannot find such bad clothes even at the cheapest stores in the capital! You are a shame to your master!" mocked the boy who was the center of attention, but Oliver ignored him. He knew that responding to such a person would only be a waste of his time. The mocker, on the other hand, was enraged by the fact that he was ignored.
"How dare you ignore me, peasant? Do you have any idea who I am?" he said as he raised his voice, but Oliver kept going while ignoring him.
"You insolent thing!!! I am Julian Herbert, son of Constantine Herbert, Marquess of Powis! You better turn around and beg for my forgiveness on your knees and maybe then I will think about letting this slide." the boy shouted with a smirk on his face. Oliver, however, had no interest in indulging in pointless arguments. It was true that his clothes couldn't compare to any of the ones these kids wore, but he was grateful that he had what to wear, he wasn't ashamed that he wasn't the offspring of some rich and noble family and he wasn't going to let himself be looked down on by anyone. As sister Mary always said, if someone doesn't see your value, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
He wanted to keep going, but he heard the sound of a sword being pulled out. He was about to react, but someone else intervened:
"I believe that way you plan on using that sword is not for defending yourself, so, unless you wish to be expelled, I suggest you put it back where it came from." said a boy that was coming their way.
"Who dar-... A-Alastair? I... I… This is a… misunderstanding… Of course, I wasn't going to do anything with the sword! I was just teaching this thing a lesson." said Julian, changing his tone and expression in a flash. He seemed to know the person that was coming in their direction, but it didn't look like they were close.
"I believe your eyesight is getting weak as a human being stands before you, not a 'thing'. You should go and get your eyes checked at the school doctor." said the boy Julian called Alastair.
"Excuse me? I have no problem with my eyes! I just-"
"Be on your way!" said with a firm tone Alastair.
Julian was not pleased with this outcome, but he left. Oliver, witnessing what just happened, realized that this Alastair was superior in rank to Julian, which could only mean that he was the son of a duke. Also, the girl standing next to him looked extremely similar to him, so she was probably his twin sister. Both of them had a really powerful and vibrant aura.
"Good day to you!" said Alastair towards Oliver. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Oh, hello! I-I mean 'good day to you, too'! I am fine. I was ignoring the person who was trying to talk to me, but thank you for brushing him off! That was very nice of you!" responded Oliver.
"I did what anyone should have done! I am Alastair and this is my twin sister." said the boy who just defended him.
"Good day to you! I am Alanis." said the girl standing next to Alastair.
"I am Oliver. Nice to meet both of you!" said Oliver.
"May I ask, however, what happened? Why did Julian react in such a way?" inquired Alastair.
"I believe he got mad because I didn't react when he mocked the way I am dressed. By the way he was speaking, he might have thought that I am someone's servant." replied Oliver.
"It doesn't matter if someone's a servant or the king himself, people should treat others with respect!" exclaimed Alanis.
"I totally agree!" said Oliver. "I didn't believe there were other nobles who thought like this! I'm really glad we met!" he continued, thinking that William might have reacted the same as the twins.
"Indeed! It is a pleasant encounter!" said Alastair.
"We were on our way to the cafeteria. Would you like to come with us?" asked Alanis.
"That would be great! Would you mind, though, if I went and sent this letter first? The postal office is right here." said Oliver pointing to the building that was next to them.
"Of course! Go ahead! We will wait for you here." said Alanis.
"Wait! One more thing… Would it be ok with you if my friend came with us as well?" asked Oliver.
The twins looked at each other and shrugged: "We don't mind, but, where is he?"
"He is at the dorms." responded Oliver.
"I see… Well, we are not in a hurry, so after you send the letter, we can go after him and then head for the cafeteria." said Alastair.
"Ok. Thank you! I'll be back quick!" said Oliver as he ran into the postal office.
While Alanis and Alastair were waiting for Oliver, they had a moment of silence and then they simultaneously said: "Did you th-… Yeah… me too..."
"When I saw him being aggressed by Julian and saw the way he was dressed I thought that he was indeed someone's servant. And by the looks of his clothes, I thought that he served under a poor noble…" said Alastair.
"I thought the same thing. But he said that he thinks that Julian might have reacted that way thinking that he might be someone's servant, so that must mean that he's not… He also said he didn't believe there were other nobles that viewed respect as being universal, so that must mean that he in a noble too, right?" said Alanis.
"Those were my thoughts exactly! I'm quite curious about him." Said Alastair.
"I know. That's why I invited him to eat with us. I knew you'd be interested to hear his story and how he got into the Academy." responded Alanis.
"I see you know me quite well. Well, I knew you would invite him if I didn't, so I gave you the honor." said Alastair with a smug expression.
"I know… It's hard being a twin… there's no way to surprise or be surprised by the other…" said Alanis.
"Indeed…" confirmed Alastair. "Here he comes!" he said.
"Thank you for waiting for me! Let's go after my friend and then go for lunch! The food here is AMAZING!" excitedly said Oliver.
"If you say so…" the twins responded. They were a bit confused. The food was good, but they wouldn't call it amazing. Anyway…
They reached the main entrance, but Oliver didn't stop.
"Oliver, I think you missed the entrance. This is the entrance to the boys' dorms." said Alanis.
"Well, you see… he's not here. He's in the other part of the dorm." said Oliver, trying to avoid saying that William is in the S Class.
"You mean he is in the S Class?" asked Alastair a bit shocked.
"Yes…" he answered.
The twins didn't say anything afterwards. Oliver seemed very mysterious to them and they were intrigued by the fact that he knew someone from that class. Everyone in that class was a big shot. They did remember seeing a name unknown to them on the list, but they didn't care too much about it, so they didn't memorize it. Now they were wondering if that was the person Oliver knew. They could only wait and see.
"Wait a second here. I'll go and get him." said Oliver when they reached the entrance.
"Ok." They responded.
While they waited, Oliver went and got William. He was sleeping, so Oliver thought about letting him sleep, but when he wanted to go out of the apartment, William said he had woke up. Oliver told William that he met two nice students and that they invited him to have lunch together and that William was welcomed too. He accepted the invitation and decided to go and meet these new friends Oliver made. He hadn't changed before going to sleep and he didn't sweat either, so he was ready to go. He just washed his face and left with Oliver.
"I believe they have similar principles to you. I think you will get along with them." said Oliver.
"If you say so…" responded William.
When they got outside Oliver wanted to introduce them, but he was interrupted:
"William!?" the twins exclaimed.
"Alanis and Alastair!?" exclaimed William in return.