Chapter 34 - This Group Is Hopeless

When everyone was finally at each of their own seats, while Teacher Zen was just casually standing in front near the teacher's desk with both of his hands on his coat's pocket, silence reigns among our group.

Our group... is probably the oddest one out of all the groups this class has. The most intimidating one also, considering how our group consists of royalties and high-ranking nobles.

Percival Roques is from a Marquis Family, wherein his father, Marquis Raven Roques, is considered as one of the best Mage there is in the Lansera Kingdom. A Mage that's good enough to even be given the position of Vice-Head, the second-highest position in the Tower of Magic.

It's the very reason why Percival works so hard at Magic. Since he's the child of the famous and powerful Mage, Raven Roques, many people also expect him to be some sort of genius. He was pressured already at a very young age, thus, he worked incredibly hard both in Magic until no one his age can even compete with him.

– Until Anastasia came.

While Anastasia is not from a much higher noble ranking family, it still couldn't be ignored, especially since the House of Clovis is probably one of the richest in the Lansera Kingdom thanks to their mine.

While the other groups have already started talking with each other, we haven't even spoken anything since earlier with the exception of Anakin talking to me for a brief moment.

In the end, It was Percival who broke the silence first, "Greetings to all of you." since he's sitting in front, he has to make an effort in turning his head and his body to look at us.

"I guess we're groupmates now? I can safely ȧssume that we all know each other already, right? I suggest we don't act too formal around each other." then he gave an almost blinding smile before pausing and looking at the two princes.

"You don't mind, right, Your Highnesses?" He asks, still smiling – almost annoyingly.

"... Status doesn't matter in Royal Academy. Do call me just by my name, and I agree, let's not be formal." Deor said with almost no expression, the cold tone of his voice almost sounded like he's saying something along the line of 'it's a pain'.

His response was followed by Anakin, "That's right, do listen to my dear brother." Deor seemed slightly affected by this as he looked at Anakin, unknown to any whether he's glaring or not since his expression just remained cold. Their relationship even in the game... is complicated. It's not like they're always out for each other's throat but they also don't get along that well.

Although Deor is older by a year, they don't really see the other as a little or older brother. Anyway, since they have agreed with talking with each other more comfortably, then I might as well comply.

"Although they must have their reasons... I do agree with lady Eula a little. All of us here are part of the ranking." Percival said, intervening with Anakin and Deor's staring contest. I couldn't help but nod, but I didn't bother to speak since I don't see the need to. Although it's already obvious, I'll mention this again... I am not a social person, and I certainly do not have the best social skills.

I also don't feel the necessity to speak or say something unless I see the need to.

And I must say, this group of ours is probably... hopeless. We are all indeed part of the ranking, but I doubt we will get along well that fast because it surely doesn't seem that it will go that way. Deor is cold, I'm neutral, Anakin is playful, Franco is silent, Percival is... a narcissist, and – I glance at Anastasia.

I can't figure out the heroine of this world at all. She's still like the Anastasia in-game, but at the same time, it's different.

"Alright, listen up all of you!" I blinked when Teacher Zen called out all of our attention, "Since it's almost 9 now, I've decided that there was no need for me to be here. Anyway, do forget all the unimportant stuff I said earlier and only remember the important ones." He paused, fixing his eyeglasses before continuing.

"If you do have some complaint, just bring those to me, not to the Headmaster, or else I'll be having a much less salary. It'll also probably be more troublesome. You're free to do whatever you want now. Then, goodbye." Then he was gone.

It was silence for a few moments, but the bustling and chattering sounds of the students soon returned.

And right after Teacher Zen left, Prince Anakin immediately spoke, as if to throw more oil in a burning and scorching fire, "To celebrate the formation of our group, shall we go and head together to the cafeteria?" The tension was high, too high that I feel like it could just suffocate someone.

I looked closely at Anakin's expression only to see the corner of his lips rise a little. He's doing this on purpose.

"I supposed we could do that," Percival said, giving us his usual smile – perhaps I can call it a business smile. Out of the 5 of us, only Anakin and Percival looked enthusiastic and joyful about the formation of the group. As for Deor... he looks as cold as ever. Franco have his serious expression as usual, while Anastasia was just being neutral.

All of a sudden, Anakin turned his head to look at me, "How about you, Aksia? Are you up for it?" I felt the need to put a ducktape in someone's mouth as I felt 5 people's attention on me.

In the end, I chose to shrug, "Whatever it is that the others want." I'm neutral as well.

At this, Anakin seemed to click his tongue before muttering something under his breath as if we're not here.

He then looked at Anastasia, although she wasn't reading or holding a book anymore, she's still as silent as ever, "Anastasia. Wait, I can call you that now, right? We just agreed to talk comfortably with each other after all." Then Anakin smiled. This... is probably their first conversation with each other.

"What do you say? Should we go and head over to the cafeteria?" He asks. Now, the question is, how will Anastasia respond? In the game, their supposedly first official 'meeting' or event was only after the heroine's meeting with Percival, wherein Anastasia encountered Anakin on the Training Center. Anakin's first impression of the heroine was of course... 'what an interesting girl'.

And Anastasia's first impression of him is simply 'a troublesome person'.

"... I'm fine with anything." Anastasia said, voice cold, and she didn't even bother to look at Anakin. She just remained looking in front. This is kind of similar to how they originally first interacted, but the difference is that Anastasia didn't try to be polite at all.

The smile on Anakin's face seems to freeze, but he also immediately recovered, "So two among us are leaving it for the others to decide and two also want to go. Then..." He looked at Franco and Deor, "What about you two?" I also glance at Deor for a brief moment because of slight curiosity.

There was no need to hear Franco's answer since knowing him, it's quite obvious that he will go along with whatever Deor says.

"... I'm fine with anything." there was a brief of silence before Deor answered and Anakin frowned, "You are all boring."

Then he smiled again, "Well, now that's decided. We'll definitely go to the cafeteria. Come on." he stood up, and we did end up following him to the cafeteria. Anakin's walking at the very front as if leading, Deor was behind him and besides him is Franco. Percival is in front of me while Anastasia is right behind me.

And when we did arrive at the cafeteria, all eyes and attention are immediately on us and it remained even as we finally sit.

"We're getting a bit of attention..." Percival said, stating the obvious. Base on his choice of words, one would ȧssume he doesn't like this situation that much but I can clearly see the corner of his lips rising a little since I'm sitting opposite of him.

The table we are in is rectangular, Anakin is seated on my left while Anastasia's is on my right. On the opposite side are Deor, Percival, and Franco who are seated exactly in that order.

Sitting together like this, another question floated in my mind. We... really did end up going to the cafeteria together. Does this mean that even in the original plot of Magical Romance, they, except Aksia, also went to the cafeteria? After all, nothing about the briefing of grouping was shown at all in the otome game's chapters.

Or maybe this happened because of my existence here. Perhaps meeting with Anakin at my debutante, rejecting the engagement with the Crown Prince and such had an effect.

Base on my interactions with Anakin earlier, it's quite obvious that he seems rather interested in getting a reaction out of people, and my experience here and meeting with him from before definitely encourage him more to do that so, thus, he went on proposing that we go to the cafeteria to 'celebrate' the group's formation.

Thinking like this, I was brought back to reality when Anakin spoke, "Then... should we go and get our food now?"

He paused before glancing at Deor, "I mean, we don't have anyone here in RA so we can't only serve ourselves." His tone of voice was as if he's saying 'isn't that right, brother?'. Anakin... is obviously provoking Deor.

Then for the very first time since being with him, Franco spoke, his voice deep and serious,

"Shall I get it for us, Your Highness?" I couldn't help but look at him.

Well, I guess... he is as I expected him to be. Serious, and loyal to his duty – too loyal that when he fell in love with Anastasia, he didn't know which one to prioritize. Besides the King's order, Franco also has some sort of a close relationship with Deor.

"No need. As said, status doesn't matter in the Academy." Deor plainly said, and there was still no change in his expression.

"Hmm..." Percival hummed, as if thinking before speaking, "Me, Franco, and Anakin should all just go and get the food for us then. The rest can just wait here." He said, and Anakin immediately voiced out his disagreement. I also paused at this.

"Wait, why me?! Shouldn't we all just go together?"

"There should be people left at our table so that others wouldn't ȧssume no one sits there because it's empty." Percival answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"That doesn't answer my question though?"

Percival, Franco, and Deor... choosing Franco is not that much of a big deal since the knight was already willing from the very beginning, but for Percival to choose Anakin, he must be confident that the Second Prince can't and won't do anything to get back at him here in the Royal Academy.

"Come on, you're the one who suggested this, right? And we're groupmates, classmates, and friends now." And seeing that fake innocence, it seems like Percival is also enjoying his time poking some fun at the 2 Prince since earlier. He's even using their own words to tease them. I'm not sure for what reason, but I guess it's quite amusing to watch.

"But can we really carry food for 6 people?"

"We can just use levitation Magic."

"Not everyone can easily use that kind of Magic..."

And after asking us what food we want, they're gone, their bickering getting further and further away until we don't hear them anymore with Franco silently following the two from behind. There was no need to give any copper, silver, gold, or payment since the food here in the cafeteria is free for all the students at RA.

... And now, obviously, I'm left alone with both Deor and Anastasia. If our personality and aura could somehow be personified into a weather or something, there will definitely already be a storm inside this cafeteria. This was the reason why I'm quite hesitant for Percival, Franco, and Anakin – because it's obvious that the three of us will be left alone together.

But like this... it also suddenly feels like there was peace and silence again. I feel like a lot has happened in just a span of few hours, almost like my energy has been drained.

I guess this is normal for me since socializing is not really my thing. I don't hate it, there are also times where I really enjoy spending time with people... especially with my family from my world before. Talking with people and trying to keep up with them just easily drains my energy most of the time, but I guess that's what being an introvert means.

But as I said, being an introvert doesn't also necessarily mean that I hate socializing.

I glance at Deor then at Anastasia. The atmosphere wasn't tense, but it's definitely kind of freezing. I don't really see the need or have the dėsɨrė to try and strike a conversation between the three of us, but I somehow couldn't help but feel like I have to do something.

Just then, something caught my eyes. I blinked, looking in Deor's direction, or to be more specific, on the necklace he's wearing. If I'm not wrong... that's definitely the key item in the Anastasia and Deor's event, their first 'meeting' or more like encounter in the RA garden. A beautifully designed padlock necklace, one that was given to Deor by his... deceased mother, the former Queen.

I probably never had the chance to mention this before, but currently... Lansera Kingdom doesn't have a Queen.

Thinking about the event, I spoke, "That's a beautiful necklace, Your Highness." He quickly looked at me with cold eyes, and I can already guess that he's being on guard and suspicious right now. After all, that necklace is extremely important to him.

However, if I want to change something, then I must take action, even if I have to make Deor remember the memories he doesn't want to recall at all. I don't have time to care much about others feelings since right now. My personality is just like this... It's often just 0 or 100. If not 0 then 50. Other than that, nothing. One moment I would hesitate, but when I realized what must be done, and such, then I'll stop caring about anything.

Seeing that Deor has no intention to answer me, I spoke again, a small smile gracing my lips, "... It must be incredibly important. If so, do take care of it."

I'll gather more of his suspicion this way, but that doesn't matter. With this, I've already set the direction of the plot slightly even just a little. Deor won't be meeting Anastasia in the harden later, but I will.

My purpose has already been achieved.

And just like that, the silence continued. When Percival and the others finally came back with our food, the noise returned, but it was just Percival and Anakin bickering as usual with the latter trying to strike a conversation with others now and then which failed.

Whether Anakin is just joking around or not, the 6 of us getting along will almost be impossible, our personalities just crashed too much with each other. Even if we do get along, then it'll be because of some miracle, some serious circumstances, or a very long time.

I've also been checking all of the capture targets reactions and interaction with Anastasia, and nothing stood out so far other than Percival glancing at Anastasia at times, but that's probably because he's curious about the person who's just one point behind him. It seems that he doesn't like her yet which is good. He also isn't showing that much of a guard or alert when it comes to rivalry... yet.

There's really not that much between all of them, but I can't be too calm, since it's not like I have the ability to read or know what exactly Anakin and the others and thinking.

– And just like that, after finishing our meals, and once Anakin was finally satisfied by the time we spent in the cafeteria, we finally returned to the class 1-A classroom.