"What do you think? Thomas, Loid."
To Alfred's question, his two friends both had different reactions.
"About what?"
The dark-green-haired youth asked.
"You know what he's asking Loid."
The third one, the green-eyed man who seemed to have a calm character, replied to Loid, exasperated.
"About the other classes? There is nothing to worry about, I guess?"
Loid answered ambiguously.
He didn't seem to care about the race and competition between the four classes.
"Sigh…Alfred, I think we should keep an eye on your sister first."
"Hm."
Alfred nodded.
He knew his sister very well. She was without a doubt the strongest girl in their promotion.
"Next, would be Layla, your soon-to-be fiancee."
Thomas couldn't help but tease his childhood friend a little.
"Layla huh."
Thomas nodded without a change in his expression.
Nothing official was announced but an agreement between Duke Tarmias and the King seemed to have been found.
"Then Elona Falkrona, Lyra Kertalir."
Alfred nodded again. He knew they weren't opponents to underestimate.
"Finally, the girl who's rumored to have inherited Raphiel's bloodline."
"The commoner?"
Loid finally intervened, remembering.
"Yeah, Milleia Sophren. She was found by a teacher in a godforsaken town. Fortunately, we found her before any enemies or other academies."
"She is not aware of her bloodline."
Alfred stated.
"Yes. Only a few people know that, including us. If it's discovered, it could endanger her life."
"She is a commoner, she mustn't be that strong."
Loid snorted.
"Loid, I just said she inherited the bloodline of an Archangel guarding Eden."
Thomas glared at Loid.
"Calm down both of you. Thomas, what about the men?"
Alfred stopped their quarrel and asked about the boys, since Thomas finished with all the girls to watch out.
"Right. The most dangerous man for us must be John."
"Layla's brother? That guy creeps me out. The last time, I just barely touched Layla, he gave me that death glare."
Loid clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed, remembering.
"He's always like that, it's nothing new."
Alfred said.
How many times, John threatened him as well, concerning his sister? He was the man Alfred feared the most in their academy because of his strength and unpredictability.
"Eric Scarlett, David Seaven, Simon Falkrona, you already know them."
"Yeah, tell me about the two commoners."
"These two are Jayden Rayena and Tyler Sawyer. They both had a strong blessing or Legacy if you prefer."
"Tch."
Loid wasn't pleased by what he was hearing. Even more when he heard Tyler's name.
"I see. That's all?"
"Of course, that's all. I can beat all of them if you want, anyway."
Loid palmed his clenched fist with an arrogant smile.
"You are too arrogant. One day it will bite your back."
Alfred shook his head.
"Guys, are we going to ignore Edward's case?"
Thomas was dumbfounded that until now none of his two friends had spoken about him. Edward's change after a month of disappearance was clearly the news of the day.
"What's with that punk? He just lost weight."
Loid snorted.
"Don't speak about that weakling to me."
Even Alfred didn't seem to care about Edward.
"Guys, he's still a Falkrona and something is different about him-"
Just when Thomas wanted to argue with his friends, a commotion started.
The crowd that was looking at them was now looking behind them.
"Look! It's her!"
"Damn, she's too hot!"
"Shut up! She's the Prince's fiancee! Do you want to die?!"
"Not yet, man. I have time to sedu-"
"It's good that you have dreams but give up or kill yourself."
The crowd parted in two, revealing a stunning girl.
She had black slightly wavy hair tied neatly behind her. Her dark-red glowing eyes had only in their vision the golden-haired prince.
An amused smile was plastered on her red lips.
All the men around her gulped when they saw her figure. She was only sixteen but was exuding plenty of sex appeal.
"Your Highness, Alfred."
Arriving before Alfred, she pinched the hem of her skirt and greeted perfectly the prince of her dreams. Her etiquette was flawless, as expected from the daughter of a Duke. The only thing unique to her was the fact that she was wearing the uniform which was said to be for the 'commoners'. It was only for her prince that she was wearing that uniform. The blazer, the tight white blouse and the skirt cut above her knees showing her perfect white legs were enhancing all her assets well...
She was the only high-ranking noble lady wearing that 'flashy' uniform in the entire academy. Well, with her status, no one would dare to ask her anything. In the academy, there was her overprotective and overpowered brother in case something went wrong after all...
Yes.
She was Layla Adriana Tarmias, the daughter of Duke Tarmias.
"Layla, what are you doing here? You are in the Pegasus class."
Alfred sighed.
He should have seen it coming.
"What am I doing?"
Layla put her fingers on her lips as if thinking before smiling.
"I am here to greet my future husband, of course."
She smiled mischievously, still her finger on her lips.
She was clearly flirting.
Even Loid and Thomas, like Alfred, had a hard time controlling their beating hearts.
Fortunately or not, Alfred was now used to Layla.
"Layla, you should leave before you are late."
He answered like a professional clerk handling a rowdy woman.
Layla's smile didn't waver at her beloved's words, rather she was even more motivated.
"Layla?"
Just when she was going to continue, a new voice rang.
Layla turned around and saw a brown-haired youth coming out of the crowd, her expression turned immediately awkward upon recognizing the man.
"Oh? Isn't that Ronald?"
"What are you doing here, Layla?"
Ronald asked, with a broad smile on his face.
"Could it be you came for me?"
He asked with a grin.
"Pfft! Aahaaha!"
"..."
His smile vanished when Loid burst out into a laugh. He was holding his stomach and cackling hard.
"Loid, do you want to die?"
Ronald's hazel eyes glared at Loid.
"Sorry man, I-I mean, you really thought Layla came for you? Aahaaha! There's no way she'd come for you!"
Loid continued to laugh…
Ronald clenched his teeth and was ready to pounce on Loid.
"Wait, calm down both of you. We are in the same class, we shouldn't fight against each other."
Thomas tried to calm them.
Thomas, Alfred, Loid and Ronald were all in the same [Dragon class] but there was no harmony at all between Ronald and the other three. Alfred, because, well, he was the one whom his crush, Layla, was chasing after. Then was Loid Stormdila. Ronald couldn't bear a guy like him. Thomas had never done anything to him but he didn't like him because he was with Alfred and Loid.
The icing on the cake was that all three of them ended up together in the same class as him. He, who wanted to be in the same class as Layla, finished in the class of his sworn enemy.
"We might be in the same class, Thomas, but you don't have any right to order me around. The same is for you Alfred. Your status as Prince is nothing to me."
Ronald said without any fear.
Well, his father was the chancellor, someone very close to the King. His status was on the same level as the Dukes. Moreover, his elder sister, Louisa Trueheart, was the President of the Student Council of the academy. She held great authority in the academy. Ronald disliked asking anything from his sister, but if the situation required it, he wouldn't hesitate to use all his weapons in his hands.
"Ronald. I don't care about you, but you are in my class now. I will not accept anyone hindering our class' success. I am aware of my status, but have I ever used it until now?"
Alfred's words were said in a calm tone.
He was the royal prince.
Such 'disrespect' wouldn't hurt his pride or whatever, otherwise, he would never be worthy of the heir of the Celesta Kingdom's throne.
The atmosphere became tense in the Dragon Class after Alfred's words. The men wanted a fight while the girls were blushing at his fight between two handsome men for a girl, Layla.
Layla couldn't help but smile at this tension. If Ronald's feelings for her could rise jealousy of Alfred, then she was willing to use Ronald…
"Ronald, I was just greeting the Prince of our Kingdom, come on."
Layla put both her hands on her hips and sulked.
"I-I know, just be careful with those guys."
Ronald became agitated about Layla's unique appeal.
"Don't you think it's enough, Layla?"
Another voice echoed.
She was also a great and famous figure in the first year's promotion. She was also in the Dragon Class. Until now, she had just watched but she couldn't remain still when Layla was doing something that could clearly destroy their class.
"Oh~ Clara? It's been a while."
Layla turned around with a happy smile.
The flaxen-haired girl smiled back arrogantly at Layla. She was one of the few girls that could talk back to Layla since she was also the daughter of a Duke.
"Not really Layla. We met a week ago. Did you already forget?"
"Oh my, I can't believe I lost memories of that day."
Layla covered her mouth exaggeratedly.
"You must suffer a terrible sickness, dear Layla, do you want me to call for the best healer in the Kingdom?"
Carla tilted her head in 'wonder.
No one dared to interrupt the clash between the daughters of two dukes. None of Carla and Layla had the higher ground on the other.
"Man, look at Ronald. Ain't he too pathetic when it comes to Layla?"
Loid preferred provoking Ronald…and it had an effect.
"Loid, b*tch. Do you think I will not hurt you because your father is a Monarch?"
Mana started to leak from Ronald's body.
"Hey-"
"Excuse me…"
Just when Alfred was ready to intervene, someone behind Ronald pushed him slightly to get out of the crowd. It was a handsome black-haired and blue-eyed man. With him was a blue-haired girl whose beauty contended with Layla and Clara.
Ronald's expression darkened seeing the hand of a random person on his shoulder.
[!] LOID STORMDILA's PROFILE and REF ILLUSTRATION have been added in the [PRETENDER] auxiliary chapter!
[!] THOMAS GREENVERN's PROFILE and REF ILLUSTRATION have been added in the [PRETENDER] auxiliary chapter!
[!] RONALD TRUEHEART's PROFILE and REF ILLUSTRATION have been added in the [PRETENDER] auxiliary chapter!