"What's gotten you so tired Alex?"
"Urgh… It's nothing, Father." He slumped onto the table, his eyes were slightly burning, his eyelids drooping slowly as he tried to find a comfortable position in his chair.
It was the next day and the only other person in the study with Alexis was his father, Elijah. Both Lucius and Darcel were supposed to be here but Elijah wanted to only talk to Alexis, which he can only assume was about his elemental magic. He assumed that they could only be talking with Felix…
'I can't believe I kept tossing over what happened yesterday all night. Even when I knew there was something important the next day!'
Elijah hadn't started the lesson even though he was in front of the board ready to teach, "That doesn't seem like nothing to me. Should we postpone this till later? It is unfortunate if we can't do it today. After all, it concerns you and your magic." Elijah smiled with a hint of indifference in his voice.
It was important for Alexis to take the lesson earlier than when he was supposed to, since his magic isn't common. "It's best you learn about this before going back for the final term. If we do the lesson now, you'll have two years to understand and control it before entering high society."
"Only two more years… I don't think I'll be prepared to join the nobility just yet." Alexis mumbled softly, high society? 'It feels like I don't belong there regardless…'
He pondered on that for a bit, but suddenly something else invaded his train of thought. 'I need to stop thinking about what they did!'
"I've been meaning to ask you but why don't I have a fiance(e) yet? I know some of my friends have been engaged since they were younger. So why am I not the same? Considering our social ranking, it's a surprise there hasn't been any marriage proposal knocking on our door. Even Vio and Ciel are formally engaged with each other."
"Oh? Do you want to be engaged?" He raised his eyebrows, curious about his son's inquiry.
"I don't see the problem as to why not."
Elijah hummed, pretending to give his answer a thought, "Well, I have two answers for you. Unfortunately, I can only give you one. As for the second reason, you'll have to find out for yourself."
"Is it something you really can't tell me? But even so, I can't seem to think of anything that would prevent you from doing so."
"If you really want to know, ask Lucius and Darcel." They're the real reason why you're not engaged. Elijah had already given them a head start in trying to cultivate their feelings with his son. If they couldn't handle being honest with him, then it was their problem. After all, this matter directly impacted them as well as their future. What a headache he could already foresee, Lucius and Darcel deciding not to tell Alexis while continuing to skirt around him and shooing away any other potential partners.
"But Father, why would Lucius and Darcel have anything to do with my engagement?..."
"..."
Elijah inwardly sigh, "Then let me tell you that our family, the Alphenhide, have always married for love. It is a tradition that our ancestors have chosen to implement this into their lives and it is up to us to continue it, as much as it goes against social norms."
"..."
"How cliché? Hmm, I'll have to agree with you on that but at the end of the day, this tradition impacts you the most because really, are your parents going to get married with your partner? No. So in a way, this tradition is a blessing in disguise."
"But I never said about how cliché it was…"
"I highly doubt that. You show everything on your face. It's very easy to read you and given that I am a person who has been part of high society for decades, I don't exactly need to read you to know what you're thinking."
"That's rude Father!" He protested, trying to defend himself. There's no way his thoughts show up on his face. "Not fair… I don't want to get read by people."
"There's nothing wrong with being honest." Elijah moved away from the blackboard, walking towards Alexis, "Personally, I hope you can continue with your honesty." He naturally ruffed his hair, his son was naturally more naïve and innocent and a little sheltered compared to his peers. But in a society where every word was a knife that was sugar coated, his behaviour was a breath of fresh air. Someone who is unwaveringly honest with their emotions, well it wasn't like Elijah couldn't understand why his son had his two friends falling for him.
"Do you think being honest is a bad thing?"
Alexis shook his head in response, he would rather be honest about how he felt than to keep lying about them. He would rather face it head on than to keep running around in a circle with it. And that's why he needed to figure out his feelings for them, he needed to understand them, he would rather keep everything the same if it meant he didn't lose them.
Elijah hummed, neither agreeing or disagreeing, "Then do you believe that you should always be honest about everything?"
"It… it would be good if you could be honest with everything but…" Alexis paused mid sentence, "But if you were trying to protect the other person, then I would tell a white lie. I would plan to tell them the truth eventually."
"Then what if they never plan to tell you the truth?"
"I mean, everyone has a reason why they couldn't tell the truth to begin with, right? I doubt that they would purposely want to hurt the people they care about."
"Then what if that was you? Alex, you have to remember that not everyone sees the world positively like you do. It's much crueller than you think."
"But even if the world was cruel, there's a story to everyone's actions and behaviours. And even if it went against what we believed, we could at least understand them…"
Truly, his son was not yet exposed to the ugliness that both the people and world could offer.
"Don't be a fool Alex. Even if you want to understand everyone, don't delude yourself into thinking that every action made has a story. For some, it is second nature to them - done without a single hesitation."
"But why are you asking this Father? How is this even related to today's lesson?"
"Hmm, it is, I promise. I'm going to tell you a story about me and your mum. How we feel in love with each other in a society like ours." A society that seemed to flourish with vibrant colours only for it to be stained with the most ruthless colours underneath it all.