Lucian held his high as he walked briskly down the hall. He passed students who would stop and cast him an envious look before heading on their way. Some would even stop all together and fawningly call out to him, hoping to catch his attention for just a fleeting moment.
But Lucian paid no mind to them. His eyes were focused on the room at the end of the hallway, tucked away in a small dirty corner, out of the way from other students prying eyes. Of course even with the room being tucked away, it didn't hide the fact that if one were to head in that direction that they were obviously hurt in some way, shape or form.
An obvious and easy sign of weakness.
Lucian despised it.
He knew that countless students were watching him as he made his way towards the infirmary. The cruel and vicious stares were not one he was used to seeing, so he held his head up high and slowed his pace. Making it look as if there was nothing wrong with him and, he hoped, that they would think he was going to check on someone.
Before turning the hallway he purposely turned around to shoot the few remaining students his usual smile, immediately making them blush and run away.
He wasted no time in slamming the door shut behind him, practically stumbling towards the empty bed in front of him. He tore open his shirt and looked down at the large gash in his stomach.
He clicked his tongue.
"Damn it!" He knew that Nox had abilities, but not once had he ever used such abilities on others before. He always stayed behind, lurking in the shadows where he should have stayed for the rest of his life and yet…here he was. Out in the open, conversing with the one person their father had specifically instructed them to get close to.
Remembering the smile on Aether's face as he walked with Nox, Lucian snarled.
"To think that bastard had made a move already."
"A Move?" A male voice came from the other bed. Pulling back the curtain a student with dark green hair and brown eyes smiled at Lucian, a curios glint in his eyes.
Lucian sneered. A hand already reaching to his side.
"Ah! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your injury." The student got off the bed and walked over to a cabinet. Opening up he shuffled a few things before bringing out a few bandages and some medicine. With a giant smile he said, "Here, you need to tend to the wound, not just openly glare at it."
Lucian frowned. His eyes narrowed as the student came closer.
The student kept smiling as he took a seat opposite of Lucian and gently began to wipe off the blood. "You don't need to keep staring at me like that. I promise I won't hurt you." He dabbed the blood as if making a point, "See?"
Lucian reluctantly allowed the student to help tend to his wound. After all, if the student tried to do something it would be easy to take care of him.
"Wow. This sure is a deep wound. How did this happen? Were you fighting a demonic creature? Another student?" The student went on talking, not noticing the killing intent from above. He shook his head, "Nah, that's not possible. You're the strongest in the school, no one could even dream of injuring you like this."
Lucian paused at the others words. The student, as annoying as he was, had a point. Everyone in the kingdom knew that Lucian was the strongest, even those damn pests that tried to support his other brothers. That's why they always had to stoop to low and dirty tricks to trip him up, but Nox? Nox had never been able to get the best of him in any way shape or form. He didn't even have a backing and yet he was able to defeat him. It didn't make sense.
"So…you just gonna brood in silence or are you going to talk to me?" The student looked up at him with a soft smile.
Lucian scowled at the others' words and turned away. His mind focused on what had transpired beforehand.
The young student laughed, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. Its just…my mother used to always tell me that it's better to get things off your chest than to keep it to yourself." The student looked down, his eyes warm and his smile soft, "I just thought it would help for you to talk about it."
Lucian rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time someone tried to wiggle their way into his business. Nobles and commoners alike would convince their children to warm their way into his crowd, to become someone that he could 'Count on'. But truly, they just wanted to know his weakness. Countless students had the same idea, but not one had ever succeeded. They always ended up in an unfortunate accident.
Although, it was the first for someone to bluntly state their purpose. Most often the other students would go about it in a more round-a-bout way. Spitting nothing but fake praises while gazing at him with their greedy eyes. This was new and far more appealing.
Lucian gazed down at the student, watching idly as the student diligently wrapped his wound. The student's lips were parted and his tongue slightly hung out to the side. His eyes narrowed as he focused intently on cleaning the wound. Despite how much Lucian wanted to find the burning greed in the others' eyes, he couldn't find it.
Snarling, he looked away as he spoke, "It was nothing that I couldn't handle." Closing his eyes he mumbled with great difficulty, "I just underestimated my enemy."
"Underestimated your enemy?" The student gazed up at him. His head tilted as he pursed his lips, "Who did you underestimate?"
Lucian's eyes twitched, "Nox." He mumbled grumpily, not daring to look the other in the eye.
Losing to his brother not only hurt his pride, but it was also not something he wanted people to know about. He could imagine it now, students daring to attack him all because he was beaten by his brother. A brother that was supposed to be weaker than him.
It would only be time before the nobles would hear of his failure and question his readiness for the throne.
He couldn't have that.
Despite his mumbling, the student nodded along in understanding before he paused and raised a question, "If I remember correctly, Prince Nox was the weakest of the Princes, right?"
Lucian grit his teeth and nodded.
It was a well known fact throughout the Kingdom that although the Princes were undoubtedly powerful, Prince Nox was the weakest out of the bunch. The reason why was unknown to the public and even to his own brothers. It was supposed to be unknown to him as well, but one small mistake and Lucian learned of the truth.
"So, how did he defeat you? I mean if he is the weakest and you are the strongest, well, it makes no sense." The student mumbled to himself with his eyebrows knitted and his lips pursed, "Unless, perhaps could he have used some underhanded method. I mean the research club is always coming up with some strange shit, maybe Nox went to them for help in order to defeat you. But then again why would he need to defeat you in a fight?"
The student crossed his arms, his face scrunching up more as he began to list his thoughts out loud, "Nox hasn't shown any interest in the throne, so it couldn't be for political reasons. Perhaps you made him mad? Hmm, but then again he doesn't really talk to you much and he always avoids you guys like the plague."
Lucian rolled his eyes at the others ramble, "Stop talking." He rubbed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He too had been thinking about what could have made Nox want to beat him in a fight. He had been convinced that something had changed within Nox, but what he didn't take into consideration was the people around Nox.
His little flowers had been whispering to him. Telling him how Nox had been seen next to Aether on multiple occasions. He thought of it as a joke at first. Thinking that the other was incapable of wooing another, but there they were. Side by side. Just remembering the smile on Aether's face as he stared at Nox made his blood boil.
He clenched his fist as he tried to calm his anger. He caught the gaze of the strange student sitting silently across from him, humming to himself as he waited patiently for him to talk.
Lucian gritted his teeth. He didn't have many people to openly talk to about his…issues. Just thinking about them could warrant suspicion. He knew the consequences of conversing his problems with others. How easy it would be for another to use his weaknesses against him. But perhaps he could make an exception. After all, if the little mouse made a noise then he could easily get rid of him.
He smirked. "I am sure you have heard of the youngest child of the Frenzel family, Aether Frenzel." He did not wait for the other to nod before continuing, "Father has made it clear that I am to catch his attention, but it seems Nox has plans to get in the way."
"Aether?" The student whispered the name, a strange glint flashing in his eyes, but Lucian was too caught up in his troubles to notice.
"As you have probably heard, Aether is extremely intelligent, but otherwise very…weak." Lucian used the word carefully, not wanting to offend Aether even if he was not in the room.
The student nodded his head enthusiastically like a dog waiting for his treat, "U-huh, I heard a little about him. He…he is a bit different isn't he? From the other Frenzel's at least."
Lucian nodded, "Yes he is. Completely different from those cold siblings of hi-" He paused. His mind clinging onto what the other had stated.
Yes, Aether was different. Perhaps that was where he went wrong. "I originally thought that Aether would be like the rest of his family." He mumbled. "But he didn't seem interested in my strength…"
No, now that he thought about it. Aether loved the book, but didn't bat an eye at his fight with Leon.
"Hmm, if he is different than his family, then why don't you take a slightly different approach?" The student jumped in, peering a little too close for comfort.
Lucian pushed him away and nodded along, "Yes, I should do something different. He liked the book, maybe-"
"Stop." The student held up his hand and shook his head. "Please don't say you are going to give him another gift."
Lucian's lip twitched.
"I take it from your silence that you were." The student shook his head, "Wow, you're all the same."
Lucian snarled at that.
"Listen." The student quickly said, "That is where you are making your mistake. You understand?" He paused, waiting for Lucian's expression to change, but when nothing changed he could only go on explaining. "Aether is not like others. He is intelligent and very aware of what others want to attain from him. If you keep giving him gifts, he's going to figure out what you are doing and begin to put distance between the two of you." The student scoffed, "I mean come on, no one in their right mind would willingly accept your advances without knowing the consequences."
Lucian scoffed, but deep inside knew that the other was right. Those that he actively sought either ran while they still could or were so disillusioned that by the time they were aware of what happened, they were already one of his flowers. "Then what would you suggest?"
"Why not solve two problems at once." The student tilted his head, a sly smirk making its way onto his face. Now that was a look Lucian liked seeing.
To say he was intrigued would be an understatement. "Go on."
"Its quite simple really." The student stood up and slowly walked over to the window with his hands crossed behind his back, "You need to make Nox look bad in front of Aether while also making yourself look reliable and intelligent."
Lucian rolled his eyes, "Don't waste my time with useless words. Get on with it."
The student glanced back at him and lightly chided, "Patience. That is what will be needed for this to work."
Lucian gritted his teeth and shut his mouth. He waved his hand, urging him to continue.
"The hunting competition." The student smiled eerily, "We are going to sabotage it."