They've entered an exclusive restaurant situated opposite the school's back entrance. Cresencia remembered passing through an expansive lounge where ordinary students eat, transparent entertainment rooms, a large book center, and a series of private dining rooms.
A beautiful woman assisted them to the room that Peter had booked on the way. Cresencia then noticed how polite and careful Peter is with his choice of words. And his straightforward character impressed her more.
"Here's the menu, you can choose whatever you like on the list--" Peter happily offered
"Thanks, um-- I'd like to order meal set number 8. I prefer iced tea on the drinks and two slices of cold egg pies," Cresencia gently told the waitress while Peter chose for his part.
It did not take long before the food arrived. When Cresencia was sure that no one would disturb them, she slowly took off her mask. And it put Peter into a daze.
"Oh Aphrodite, goddess of love, please bless me!" then Peter bowed before her.
"Snap out of it, Peter, I'm not the goddess of love-- if there's no accident, I should be the guardian of death" her face looked serious, but Peter thought she was joking about it, so he laughed.
"Not bad, those people who died accompanied by you would also be pleased and grateful to see such an angelic face before they rest in peace," he murmured as he took a bite of the pasta before him.
"I'm no angel Peter" she honestly reminded
"Oh, kitty, don't show me your tigress claws, or else-- I might want to keep you to myself and shut you in my wardrobe forever," he sighed.
He was partly debating about being lucky to befriend Qin's eldest lady or finding trouble when other people discover the beauty.
"Tell me more about the school."
"Hmm, the four great families ruled the school since then; Han, Jin, Tang, and Ming. They have always set more rules each year and dominated the rankings."
"What kind of rankings?"
"There's what we call status rankings in the school with twenty-seven seats, belonging to the top four are the three kings and a flower. The number one seat is owned constantly by Adam Ming, Ming's rightful heir.
The second seat belongs to his so-called 'princess' Alicia Jin, Jin's second daughter and the most promising face of her generation.
Derick Han occupies the third one, cousin of the current crown prince and the second son of Han's current patriarch, while the last seat belongs to Xerxes Tang, the minister's nephew.
The fifth seat is mine, while next to me are the association director's children, they co-author the sixth and seventh; Astrid Ng and Edmund Ng III.
The eighth seat belonged to the number one person in the science class who was very mysterious, Eutiquio Piel, but they say he came from an impoverished family. Then nothing further from his past was unearthed.
The ninth seat up to the twenty-seventh seat never mattered to me because those places are unstable and are likely changing after the monthly tournaments."
"On what basis was the status quo depending on?" she's curious, and she wanted to know the ins and outs of Imperial High's system to avoid it.
"Based on four categories; Intelligence, Talent, Achievements and Wealth, to sum it all the person seating on the top should have everything and is impenetrable."
"But we're only humans. It shouldn't matter too much," she commented
"You're right, but I'll be expecting a good show for the coming days, and since you're nowhere, change will be inevitable."
"You can help me avoid it, and I don't want to be on the ranking list."
"Wow! You are the Qin family's eldest miss, the one rumored to be hiding in low-profile over the years, and it amazes me that you hate the crowd too. I'll try my best, but I can't promise anything. It would be best if you talked to the principal about passing the eligibility of participating in the ranking list--"
Peter's phone suddenly rang.
"Excuse me for a while, my mom's calling--"
"No problem, go ahead" she finished her food and slowly devoured the egg pies.
"Mom--"
"Someone told me that you've brought a lady over. Care to tell me when you're going to introduce your girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend? Mom, no-- not! We're just friends. I love you mom, I'll explain later..." then he ended the call, feeling embarrassed.
"Tell me about it."
"I'm sorry, my mom's sudden speculation makes me feel embarrassed. She thought you are my girl since I brought you here."
"Is the shop owned by your family?"
"Half of it, yes, but I don't usually take care of the business affairs within our family," he answered truthfully.
"Let me guess. You haven't brought any girl here before?"
"No, not really, I mean, there are gatherings, and I bring our classmates over or close friends, but there's always someone with us, so it should be the first to bring a girl alone today."
Cresencia chuckled as she saw his red ears and tinted cheeks.
"That's okay. Should we get back to class now?"
"Yeah, right, oh wait, let me check the forum for a while. I should be able to add you to our section's group chat and the other groups that you needed to enter."
"Thank you," she responded without letting him know that she has already paid for their meal. Sincere people are hard to find, and it's even harder for her to find a friend.
"As always, topped by the achievements of the four seats," he scrolled and saw more posts.
"Oh, someone's pretending to be you-- do you know this person? I think she's a new artist in the entertainment industry who suddenly transferred at the same time as you" he handed the phone to her, and Cresencia checked the person's face.
"People who want to cover for me are very dedicated, that's good!" she smiled indifferently, and her eyes twinkled.
"Why do you say that? Don't you care about your image?"
"I care about it a lot, but I never cared about other people's perception. Her stunt on pretending to be me will save me much effort because she'll be the one catching attention and troubles for me and might even cover me from political threats-- it's a life-saving grace. I should be thankful for that."
"Damn! I wish I had known that I could arrange things in this way. Else I'll have a normal life."
"Come on, let's go back-- there are fun shows to watch ahead."