"UWAH… WHAT A crowd. They seriously expected to pass the exam?" Rufus arched a brow as he let out a rude question. He was gawking at the front gates of the academy, knights were holding up a total of seven huge banners. In those banners are written names of those who passed in each department, while the biggest one between all six is the banner for the top scorers in both the written and practical examination.
"Some of them are probably journalists that came to check the selected students. To them the names in those banners are true geniuses, diamonds in rough, and a the golden generation of The Golden Crown Academy." Hades agreed to Livia's statement, but somehow grinned.
"Must be nice knowing your name's there, no?" He teased, and Livia nodded, maintaining a small smile. Well, who wouldn't feel special? There are journalists that are going to write your name in papers that the whole empire could read.
After a moment, when the crowd was slightly dispersing and decreasing, they walked closer to get a good look of the banners. They stood at a good distance were they could read the names properly. The trio couldn't hide their shock.
"Holy— there are only thirteen of us who passed?!" Rufus couldn't hide his shock as he stared at the Knight Department's banner.
"At least you reached double digits, the Art and Culinary Department only had nine. It's definitely worse for the Business, Medicine, and Science and Engineering Department." Livia stated, and she wasn't wrong. There were only eight people who passed in Business, while there are only seven each for the other two.
"Not only that, everyone who passed in each departments carry big names." Hades stated. 'This is better than I thought', he thought and he couldn't contain his smile. It was originally a part of his plan, to stand out in the academy as the commoner student who passed in the year where the academy's passing rate had decreased.
What could be more attention seeking than that? The more nobles have their eyes on him, the better it will be for his plans. The more attention he gets, the more careful people will be when dealing with him. And yes, he intended to stand out since the beginning, as a 'commoner'.
"Oh, the second imperial princess beat you in the top spot of overall rankings, Hades." Hades glanced at the biggest banner indifferently, and didn't hide his disappointment seeing his name below another.
Ecru Grimes… the name of the second imperial princess was above his. Normally, that would've annoyed him, but it couldn't be helped. "I heard she's a genius, so I don't really mind." Hades stated, and Livia was staring at him.
'Hmmm… that's why he was so confident', she thought. She's actually surprised, speechless even. What on earth is he? How in the world did he bested almost all of the other examinees who had better education than him?
'Is this a genius I'm looking at?' Livia couldn't help but reach to that conclusion. She doesn't suspect Hades' true identity even a little, since Rufus himself doesn't doubt him.
"Alright, let's head inside and get our badges." Rufus takes Livia's hand to pull her, and pushed Hades forward. "Come on, get moving."
They walked by the gate and the knight guards immediately let them pass, recognizing their faces. They recognized Hades' white hair too, it was the only trait that Professor Yahto informed them about the mysterious commoner who passed the exam. And just as they entered the main building, someone guided them to another hall.
Inside that hall… are all the other fifty students who passed the examination. Eyes turned to them, being the last ones to have arrived and all that. Everyone was sitting near, but randomly. "Oh great, the last three are finally here. Take a seat, and we'll start the meeting." They heard a familiar voice, it was Professor Yahto.
He was with two other professors, Professor Greyson and Professor Russet.
The three nodded, and walked to the closest vacant seats next to them. Hades' gaze landed on a familiar face of an imperial prince, and when their eyes met, they nodded at each other in acknowledgement. And eventually, his eyes met another pair of golden eyes. It was unavoidable as she was staring at him as well.
The golden irises that proved she's of royal, and the crimson locks that makes her far more superior. She was the most favored child of the Emperor, and the Second Imperial Princess. Ecru Grimes.
'She's prettier than from what I've heard… they were right about how words can't describe her beauty.' Hades has seen beautiful ladies in his whole eighteen years of existence, he's even lived with them, but the woman he's looking at now… he can't help but admit, that this princess is the most beautiful woman he's laid his eyes on.
Although after a short moment, their eye contact breaks with both of them turning away at the same time. By instinct and intuition, they know that involving themselves with the other will not bring them any good.
After sitting down, they focused up front, and Yahto soon starts. "First of all, I would like to congratulate you for passing the entrance examination, the 1586th batch. In this meeting, we will elect representative from each class/departments, and the representative of the whole year. We will also talk about important academy rules and etiquette. Unfortunately, the other three professors won't be able to join us because of their busy schedules at this time."
"Once again, I am Professor Yahto Hunterson of the Knight Department." Yahto gestures his hand over to the man on his right, "This is Professor Greyson Vogel of the Medicine Department." And then gestures to the man on his left. "And this is Professor Russet Calvery of the Arts Department. Including the other three, we will be the homeroom teachers of each class."
"During this important meeting, please refrain from getting distracted or talking to your seatmate. Professor Grey, would you please?" Yahto turns to Greyson, and steps back. Greyson takes the center spot and all attention were all on him.
"As said, we will be electing class representative and the first year representative. We will start with the first year representative, any nominations?" He asks the whole batch, and somehow all eyes turned to the ones with imperial blood, most specifically, to the youngest princess. It was an obvious outcome, as she had the highest rank and the one who had the best results.
"Huh?" The princess gave a confused reaction, but smiles hopelessly after a moment.
Greyson chuckles at that. "Well, I should've known the obvious. Do you have any other nominations? Or are all in favor of Her Highness Ecru Grimes as the first year representative?" He asks.
"Aye!" Every other students in the hall, including Silver, agreed. One would have to be brave enough to stand up against a Grimes, thus no one was opposed to it. Even the professors didn't say anything about it. Being chosen by the lot, Ecru rose from her seat and walked to the front with effortless grace.
Everyone clapped as she bows in courtesy and thanks. "Would you like to say a few a words to your batch mates?" Greyson asks, and she nods in answer. He stepped back and gave her space in the center. Right at that moment, she wore a simple confident smile.
"Thank you for having trust in my leadership. I won't promise anything, but I'll make things happen for the sake of our upcoming years together." Her voice rang like a bell. It was uniquely deep and matured for a woman of eighteen years, almost unforgettable. Hades watched her closely.
It's not that he was enticed by her beauty… he simply felt this strange kinship with her, it was unlike what he felt with Rufus and Livia. With Ecru, it felt like he was looking at a mirror. He found himself grinning.
'That's why I feel alert', he thought. After all, no one is more dangerous than the enemy who's a person similar to you.
After a moment, Ecru took over the nominations for the representatives of each class. It ran smoothly as everyone agree on one student even before the voting takes place. However, it wasn't the same for the Knight Department. Why? Well…
"Uhhh, there are a total of thirteen students in your class, right… Brother?" Ecru asks her older brother who is currently standing next to her, and Silver nodded. Ecru sighs at that. "Then please tell me why are all thirteen running for the position of class representative?"
Yes, all twelve men and one woman were standing in front, claiming to have 'nominated themselves' as the class representative for their department. Well, there's nothing wrong about how confident they are on their skills for leadership, and there's also nothing wrong about wanting to be the dominant leader among these competitive muscle heads, but who's going to vote for who?
"Is no one willing to step down?" Ecru asks again, and all of them shook their heads. Just then, they heard the loud laugh of the eldest professor, Yahto. He walks to the center, not holding back his laugh at this ridiculous situation.
"Okay, okay. I'll handle this matter, Your Highness. There's no need for you to deal with these bunch directly, since they are beyond control." He says and faced his thirteen new disciples. He smiled at them, too sinister.
"If you're so desperate for dominance, why don't we do this the old fashion way?"