Asher sat alone in a corner of the cafeteria whilst eating the lunch given to him by the kitchen staff. Zara and Archer had left early to the servant quarters since they were called over for a meeting and have yet to come back. However, Pithos stayed by his side as usual. Other students sat in tables surrounding Asher while stealing glances towards him. No one sat with him nor wanted to speak to him; they just gossiped around him as if he weren't there.
"Has he lost favor from his family?"
"That's impossible. Everyone knows how Lady Nikola heavily dotes on Lord Asher."
"Then maybe she finally came to her senses. Why would anyone love such a weak person?"
The noble children snickered while stealing glances towards the unsuspecting Asher who kept eating peacefully eating his food as his right leg bounced up and down to relieve stress. Pithos, on the other hand, possessed heightened hearing, so he had heard everything the noble children were saying towards Asher. Growling lightly he began to paw at Asher's thigh. Taking the hint, Asher gazed upwards and stared at the other students. They all flinched lightly when meeting his gaze or snickered before turning to look away.
Asher smiled towards Pithos before grabbing his paw. He massaged the fluffy pads and said: "Don't worry about them. I'd rather be alone than have them try to get closer only because of my parents' influence."
As soon as Asher finished eating, he picked up his plate and walked towards the trash bin to throw away the leftovers. Normally, this job would be for the students' servant to do, but since Zara hasn't come back then he might as well do it himself. However, he received a few cruel remarks that made him frown and pause for a bit.
"He's so far gone that not even his maid will come to help him."
"If I were his maid I would've retired long ago. Like, why would I serve such a weak and ambition-less person?"
"Hah! His maid is an absolute beauty. I'd totally bring her to work for me if you get what I mean."
Another boy chuckled. The whole conversation was plainly disgusting and anger-inducing. Whatever they said about him could easily be brushed off since he was already used to the ridicule, but the way they talked about Zara was unacceptable. Asher turned and walked towards where the small group was sitting and stood before them. Most of these kids weren't from families with high standings; probably a baron's or a viscount's children. They were also a couple of years older than him, probably the same age as Kio.
"Is there anything you need?"
The brown-haired boy probably thought that he was on a higher ground than Asher because if two reasons: him being older than Asher and the carriage that Asher had ridden to school. Even his carriage was of higher quality than Asher's! The group of boys snickered as Asher stood there completely still with a blank stare.
Everyone's attention was on them, particularly more on Asher. He had always ridden a fancy and expensive carriage to school and was like a ghost; never speaking to anyone nor caring about anyone. Asher was behaving differently than usual today.
Asher lowered his gaze to his plate. There were a few bones and sauce because of the meat he had eaten previously. There was also some unfinished salad and mashed potatoes. Asher smiled and lifted his gaze and stared at the older brown-haired boy who had said he would take Zara with him. Asher's soft and pale hand caressed the top of the boy's head while saying: "There, there."
Sploosh!
Asher was holding the plate that contained his leftovers against the boy's face. He rubbed it around in circles, spreading the mashed potatoes and meat sauce all across his face. Another boy, who Asher assumed were the brown-haired boy's friend, yelled out while slamming his hands against the table: "H-hey! What are you doing?!"
The young boy said nothing and removed the plate from the other boy's face. His face had been completely covered by his leftovers. The bones were sticking to his face as he began to pale ever so slightly. The other boy, who had been quiet until now, tugged on the other's sleeve.
"Hey, let's go."
"Fuck no!" The boy who had his face covered by Asher's leftovers yelled out while standing up. "I'll fucking beat you up!"
"Oh? A baron's child will beat me, a general's child?"
Asher's navy-blue eyes grew colder. The boy shivered and took a step back without realizing it. He lowered his gaze and bowed while shaking. How could he not realize this before? That boy-- that little demon resembled his older brother way too much! His cold eyes and emotionless voice; why didn't he put one and two together? Asher must obviously be acting the way he is because his personality is similar to Kio's!
The brown-haired boy could still remember the one time he had gone against Kio. He ridiculed Kio for being strong only because of his talent and his family's influence. He stressed that Kio himself never worked hard to achieve his current strength. He had been ruthlessly beaten black and blue and had to be taken to a hospital. That day, Kio had said to him with a colder voice than usual: "Scram. You bother me." After that day, he had recurring nightmares of the demon Kio had hidden within himself. His deepest fear was having to witness and experience that side of him all over again. And now that he was up against Asher, Kio's younger brother, the brown-haired boy couldn't help but remember that day.
Asher, not realizing the brown-haired boy's misunderstanding about himself, glared at him. His facial expression then relaxed into a gentle smile as he extended his arms towards the bowing boy to caress the hair that was left untouched by the food.
"There, there. You know, I only like cute and obedient little pets, like my cat,"
The boy raised his head. His eyes met Pithos' ruby eyes and had immediately thought that they resembled an endless puddle of blood. He paled even more while lowering his gaze once again. Seeing the strongest of the group so scared, his other two friends couldn't help but also bow down in forgiveness to not receive Asher's anger, making Asher smile even wider.
"You three will become obedient little cats from now on, okay? If I hear you say one more word about my maid, I will leave you up for adoption. Who knows what kind of person will adopt you next? Do you understand?"
The three of them nodded.
"You'll need names, but I'll worry about that later. Now, scram and learn your place," he hissed, his gentle smile contorting into a scowl. The three boys promptly nodded and ran away. Asher couldn't help but feel satisfied while handing over to the kitchen staff his plate. Once he left, the cafeteria exploded.
"Did you see that? What just happened?"
"I don't know, but the trio was defeated rather easily. It's a shame, really."
"Can you lower it down? What if he hears you and does the same to us?"
After that statement, the chatter in the cafeteria naturally died down as the students processed whatever just happened. The carriage, the bullying, and the confrontation were all things that nobody expected to happen. Because obviously, even if Asher had come to school on a worn-out carriage, no one would dare bully him because of his social standing. While his family might not fully accept him, he is still the son of the Pierce family; a family that is far beyond theirs.
Asher's heart kept beating rapidly as he left the cafeteria. He placed his hand on his chest and Pithos, who was perched on his shoulder, let out a small snicker.
"Really? You like obedient cats?"
Seeing as there was no one else in the hallways, Pithos felt that it was safe enough to talk out loud. Hearing what Pithos had to say made Asher laugh shakily. Really, he had never confronted anyone in such a manner. Not in this life nor in the other. What motivated him to do so was the way they spoke about Zara and that he felt safe enough to stand up against them because Pithos is by his side.
Asher sighed while shaking his hands and breathing deeply, trying to release all of the stress that had built up during the course of the day. While walking, he ended up finding Zara who had been walking towards the direction of the cafeteria. Zara asked him why he wasn't waiting for her inside and he relayed to her what had just happened.
"Young Master Asher!" Zara exclaimed as her violet eyes shone with unshed tears. She not only felt happy because he had protected her but also proud of him because of the actions he took. He had decided to stand up against them even while knowing that they were older, physically stronger, and that he wasn't great at publicly expressing himself.
Asher waved his hand in embarrassment before noticing Archer's disappearance. "Where did Archer go?"
"He is to serve his master, Young Master Asher. I will stay by your side this school year, so do not worry about him."
Zara had thought that Asher was smiling sadly because he missed Archer when Asher was only smiling in relief. He couldn't stand how clean Archer wanted everything. He pointed out every single mistake in his clothing, his general appearance, and his actions. While he did learn a few things, Asher was glad that he could have a break from Archer's incessant pestering. Pithos also knew about this and twitched as he tried not to laugh, making Asher pout and pick him up to place him back in his embrace.
"Ah, Zara," Asher started while petting Pithos. "Take me to Kio."
In just a few minutes, Asher was standing in front of a door. He stepped forwards and extended his hand to open it, but a guard quickly stopped him.
"I'm sorry, but this room is only allowed to older students. If you don't have an invitation from said students then you can't come in."
Asher frowned slightly. Kio hadn't told him anything about needing an invitation if he wanted to see him. His expression turning polite, Asher said: "I don't have an invitation, but my brother personally told me to come find him whenever possible. His name is Kio Pierce."
The guard froze before narrowing his eyes towards Asher. He took in his slightly disheveled appearance and frowned. "Please refrain from lying. I've had cases from students lying about being another person just to enter this room or to meet another student. I will kindly ask you to leave."
This time, Asher frowned deeply. Was this man blind? Why was Asher suffering so much today? Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Asher thought about not having to meet Archer as often as before and smiled. He could always count on Archer to make him feel better.
"Kio! Asher is here to see you!" Asher exclaimed loudly while putting his hands around his mouth as a microphone, an action unbefitting of a noble. Thinking that Archer wouldn't be here to correct his behavior made Asher giggle giddily.
The guard thought that Asher was only here to create trouble, so he tightly grasped his arm while Asher was in the middle of his giggling. Pithos fell to the ground with a loud meow and shook in anger while Zara's eyes widened as she took out a dagger from underneath her skirt and appeared behind him in the blink of an eye. She said: "Guards are easily replaced, don't you think?"
Facing Zara, the guard couldn't help but clench the hand that was holding Asher's harder, causing Asher to groan lightly. Hearing this, Zara's dagger neared closer towards his neck as her eyes shone in a dangerous light. Fortunately for the guard, Pithos couldn't change into his panther form to beat him up, or else he wouldn't have been given mercy.
Finally, the door to the room had opened. For the guard, Zara, and Asher, Kio looked like an angel descending from heaven to help them out. The guard wanted Kio to say that he had never met that student before and lecture said student because of his inappropriate conduct. Asher wanted Kio to clear the misunderstanding and make the officer remove his hand because it was beginning to hurt him. Unlike the guard and Asher, Zara wanted something much more dark and sinister, preferably punishment for the officer who was hurting her young master.
Kio's eyes landed on the guard's hand that was tightly grasping Asher's arm. "What is going on here?"
"Young Master Kio! This student was claiming to be your brother and I tried to send him away. I apologize for disturbing you."
Inside the room were a few other people that Asher recognized. The blond-haired boy who was the second prince and the three boys who Asher had deemed as his pets. The other people there weren't people that Asher knew of.
Kio's eyes turned dim after hearing the guard's words. The atmosphere around them began turning colder by the second. Noticing this, the second prince began walking towards them and the officer finally let go of Asher's arm. This caused Zara to let the officer go, but she was still staring at him with glaring eyes.
Seeing Asher rubbing his sore arm made Kio even angrier. His surroundings were slowly turning colder as ice began to grow around them. The air around them turned colder as well and began displaying a white appearance. Even the second prince, who was good friends with a Kio, wouldn't dare to approach him in such a state. Asher, on the other hand, was a special case.
"You need to calm down, Kio, or I'll end up getting hurt," said Asher while walking towards him and grabbing his clenched hand. Kio subconsciously loosened the hold of his hands to not hurt Asher. This was an action only noticed by the people closest to them: Zara, Silas, Pithos, and Asher himself.
Still, Kio's magic hadn't calmed down at all. It was slowly escalating and growing worse, but strangely, Asher was unaffected by the magic. It was as if the coldness itself was avoiding him to not hurt him. Having figured this out, Asher couldn't help but laugh, his cheeks growing into a rosy color.
"Kio can control himself enough to protect me, but can't control himself enough to stop using his magic. How weird."
The guard's eyes widened alongside a few others. Who was this kid to have enough balls to confront the ice-cold mountain known as Kio? Was he wishing for his death?
Kio's eyes softened alongside his magic. He raised his hand and patted Asher as if he was some sort of problematic puppy. "How troublesome."
Kio looked at the guard and narrowed his eyes. "Asher has the privilege to come here whenever he wants. The cat can come in as well."
The guard nodded absentmindedly before stealing a couple of glances towards Zara who had long hidden her dagger. She bowed towards Kio and smiled.
"Young Master Kio, I will leave Young Master Asher in your care."
Kio nodded and Zara walked away feeling refreshed. The officer must've been given a good punch in the face after seeing that Asher was indeed Kio's brother. "Tsk, stupid-ass guard..."
Kio led Asher and Pithos into the room before closing the door behind them. He found them a nice couch to sit on and brought a few snacks. He had also served Asher some orange juice. The sight was enough to make other girls jealous and to make Silas, the second prince, feel foolish and confused. How come he had never seen such a side to his friend?
Silas' eyes stared at Asher before glancing towards the cat. His eyes widened as he noticed that it was the same cat that Kio had briefly communicated with using his eyes. Silas smiled gently towards Asher and asked: "You must be Kio's brother, right?"
Asher looked towards Silas and hesitantly nodded. There was something oddly disturbing about his smile that he couldn't put his finger on. Feeling uncomfortable, Asher leaned closer towards Kio for protection while sipping his orange juice. Kio noticed Asher's behavior and glared towards Silas.
"Stop being yourself."
"Excuse me?"
Kio shrugged. "If not, leave. You're disturbing us."
"Hah?"