PLACING THE CHERRY on top of the cream, the lady smiles in satisfaction. She looks up to the class, and saw all of them finishing the same time she did. She clasps her hands, and smiles as she says, "How wonderful, all of you finished the desserts in time!"
Although the lady had a positive reaction, all nine of her students found themselves wobbling, and landing on their knees in exhaustion. They didn't even have enough energy to bother thinking about their dignities as noble ladies and lords.
"Holy… I never thought I'd be completely drained after finishing five cakes in two hours," said a female student.
"Likewise… I thought I had quite a stamina too, but Professor is a monster," a male student was in agreement to her words.
"And she's still smiling despite that, I don't think she's tired at all," a female student stated as she pulled herself up to stand again. Their professor chuckled at their words.
"Oh please, I'm pretty tired myself. We baked five cakes in two hours after all," she states, wearing a small cheerful smile, making them doubt her words. She's definitely playing with us, they all thought. Although despite that thought, she, without a doubt, fueled their fire to blaze.
That itself is the purpose of the first day class… to agitate the students to learn, and to make them realize that the Golden Crown Academy is a place that needs consistent growth. The academy has no need for stagnant and insincere students, because what they want are the ones who are thriving for success, and a good future.
Even if it means pulling down those who are at the top, as long as you attain satisfaction and growth… everything will be fine. That's how it is here in the academy.
'That's how it's always been… right Linnea?' The Culinary Department's first year professor, Ash Merlin, thought. Memories of what happened nine years ago replayed back in her head like it was yesterday. How Linnea ate all the food Ash served her every night as if it was nothing… as if she never knew that Ash had an ulterior motive.
"Professor…?" a male student calls for her, and she was brought back to reality. She smiles at her student, and asks, "Yes? Is there something wrong?"
"…umm, who's going to eat all these cakes?"
"Oh, right! I forgot to mention," she realizes, then soon takes papers from a desk. "The first years' welcome ceremony will be happening at Friday night, and we, the Culinary Department, will naturally take care of the food. These cakes will be presented at the dining hall tonight at dinner, and everyone will have a taste. Whichever has the most votes, wins, and we will bake the cake according to its recipe. Of course, your seniors will give their critique as well, and their opinions will weigh more than the votes," Ash explains as she hands out posters for the event.
Her students froze in their place as they stare at Ash in disbelief.
What the…? How are we suppose to prepare ourselves mentally now?
"THE FIRST YEARS' welcome ceremony?" Hades asks as he stared at the poster hand by Yahto from earlier. 'The academy sure sticks with tradition a whole lot', he thought to himself. He can recall Pearl and Leo talking about it while they were travelling, and he found out that this has been a tradition since his father, Marquis Azul's time here in the academy.
"Oh, it's a one night ball to welcome the new students, and of course, our batch's Council, and the top achievers of the entrance examination will be introduced there as well," Rufus mentions. Hades fell silent for a moment.
"… it's mandatory then?" he asks, he sounded as if it was pain to doll up and attend such an event, and stay up until they're knocked out of their senses. Rufus narrowed his eyes at Hades.
"Of course! What do you expect? It's a ceremony just for us!" exclaimed Rufus, catching the attention of some of their classmates. They're currently inside their own classroom, wasting their vacant time for this afternoon. Their first day has reached its conclusion. It was tiring but fun, they definitely had lots of fun…
… humiliating their own department seniors.
And yes, the event this morning went utterly well for them. They simply showed their prowess, and skills as if there wasn't even a competition. Although, it's not as if it went smoothly, they actually had a hard time dealing with their upper year seniors. Goes to show that their seniors still have something that they completely lack: experience.
Hades sighs at Rufus' words, and simply placed down the poster, "I didn't know I would need to attend a damned ball this early of the year. Had I known, and I would've saved money to buy myself some decent suit," he mumbles to himself. Silver arched a brow at his words.
"That's what you're worried about? A suit?" he asks the lad, and Hades immediately felt stares at him. Then Hades realized how much of a useless worry it was… when he's a spoiled brat even here in the academy. He sighs again for a reason they don't know, thus they were perplexed.
'I feel like I've been too relaxed lately, I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing', he thought to himself. It was true. He slacked off in physical training for more than a day, and did not feel bad about it. Is it because of how the academy deeply reminded him of that place? He feels at peace here, and it just makes him want to relax. It also makes his heads float to the clouds.
"If you're still worrying about something else, such as being bad at dancing, then worry not," Jarrett joins in, and Hades glances to him. Is he going to teach him how to dance or what? "All you need to do is show up while they introduce you, and you can disappear without another word after," he adds. However Hollis then pushes his face away.
"Or, he can politely decline the women's dance invitation. Hades is well-mannered enough to do that, since he's one loyal man, no?" she teased the youngest, but Hades simply smirks.
"I guess I am loyal. I'm a knight, after all," Hades answers, and the others rolled their eyes in disbelief. 'There he goes again, denying his feelings for the imperial princess', they thought. They knew he was lying because they've witnessed how he looks at Her Highness at the end of their event. All twelve of them can tell much that he's in the middle of a first love, and is also currently in denial.
Yes, she was one of the students in the crowd watching them, and at the end, she approached them, most specifically her twin brother. Hades could only stare at her with a small smile, as if he felt refreshed seeing her (?). They had a thought at that moment, as he did nothing but watch her from afar: 'our youngest is so inexperienced.'
"Enough of that, another rumor about Hades has been going around again," Tevin interjected, as if he had just remembered the gossip he received earlier this noon. Although, this time he looked utterly annoyed. "They said Hades was some sort of murderer who got out of the dungeon, thus it was why he was so strong, and more experienced than the seniors," he stated, and the mood turned gloomy in a split second.
"Hah?" William arched a brow, and reacted quiet harshly.
"Who would spread such disgracing gossip?" Griffith asks, grave and upset.
"Definitely some petty seniors who got kicked in the ass this morning," Jarrett stated as he rolled his eyes, and ended up being elbowed on the gut by Hollis because of his disgusting choice of words.
"For gods' sake, Hades wouldn't care about rumors. I can tell how happy he is to know that female students will be avoiding him at the ceremony this Friday," Hollis says, as she glanced back at Hades, the others copied the same motion, and saw Hades smiling from ear to ear. 'Ah, he's certainly unbothered and happy about it', they thought, which somehow calmed their anger.
"Gods, I got angry for no reason. Is dinner ready at this time?"
"No, we haven't even been dismissed yet."
"And Yahto's missing."
"… did you just call Professor by his name only?"
"So?"
While they chatter their remaining time away, Hades looks down on the poster again. Below the was a name of a woman she's deeply familiar with.
'She's a professor here, thus of course, she'll be present. I'll have a reason to attend now at least', Hades thought to himself as he found himself smiling once again.