8 Chapter 8: Academy

Neo woke up when he heard a resounding knock reverberate through his bedroom. After a few seconds, the door opened wide and he could hear footsteps clicking on the wooden floor.

Rainier strolls into the Young Master's room with ease and spotted the ridiculous mound on top of the bed.

Under a cocoon of blankets and luxurious fur laid an unmoving youth that deeply wished to remain where he was for another hour or two.

"Young Master?"

After a beat or two, the dome begins to move, little by little, like a baby chick trying to peck its way out of its eggshell.

Having been forced to watch this entire process for two days straight, Rainier waited patiently for the boy inside to finally come out.

A nest of black hair began to peek from beneath the blankets. When the arms started to come out, Rainier struck first.

With quick reflexes, the servant caught his Young Master by his armpits and lifted him fully out of the bed.

He made the boy sit on the side of the bed and made sure he was at least somewhat conscious.

Neo blinked blearily, squinting his eyes as he watched Rainier open his window wide. The servant smiled brightly, a little too brightly for Neo's morning mood.

"Good morning, Young Master. Pardon for the early intrusion, but you have school today."

A light pause, and then a little nod from the pale youth.

"En."

Lethargically, Neo allowed Rainier full authority to help him wash up and change, not minding in the least that the servant has taken it upon himself to tame his bed hair. Even with the hair cut, the mop was still as unruly as he remembered it to be.

Neo admits that he had gotten rather lazy these past few days after readjusting himself to this life again. Without anything to do, he lounged in bed until noon and spent the short weekend leisurely in the western garden or inside his bedroom.

For the rest of the household, this may seem suspicious, but Neo didn't mind. He wasn't causing any trouble for anyone and no one has so far accused him of being a scummy troublemaker.

He has no affections for that particular moniker and hearing it still makes him flinch.

Besides living the life of a salted fish, he hadn't interacted with Aurelion since that day inside the pavilion, only seeing him during dinner with the rest of the family.

Rainier looked satisfied with his work. This Young Master of his is suitably dressed in his school uniform and he has managed to defeat that wild hair and pull it into a small ponytail with the help of a red ribbon.

Neo gives a baleful glare at this cheerful servant of his, knowing full well that beneath the blindfold, his eyes are filled with amusement, and put on his shoes obediently.

The man pulls out his pocket watch and checks the time. The question of how he even managed to read the watch face is a mystery in itself and Neo isn't sure if he wants to know.

"It seems like we will arrive just in time for breakfast. Come, Young Master. It is time to go."

Speaking of Rainier, this servant of his has been acting more and audacious these past two days. In Neo's memories, the man has always been quiet and meek, never revealing what kind of person he was behind that blindfold of his. Now that Neo has made him his only companion since he came back to this lifetime, the awkward tension between the two of them is starting to--not exactly disappear, but becoming more… dormant.

Rainier ushered Neo out the hall and quickly brought them to the dining hall.

Without any hesitation, the youth stepped inside.

Gareth turned to the door and was immediately surprised by the appearance of his oldest son. And here he thought he was going to skip breakfast again.

"You're here."

Neo greets him.

"Good morning."

He walks towards the seat beside Guinevere and sits down. This places him somewhat across from Aurelion, who is seated opposite of Guinevere. Both his siblings were surprised, and they turned to share a glance with one another.

The quiet Neo doesn't notice the eye-conversation between his two younger siblings and immediately settles in to eat.

A plate of food consisting of toast, eggs, and bacon was placed in front of him, From behind, Rainier comes forward and pours him coffee.

Neo eats with the rest of the family in silence, and by the time the meal was concluded, he had drunken two cups of coffee and eaten four pieces of toast, three eggs, and six slices of bacon.

From across the table, both Gareth and Aurelion watched as Nazareth somehow managed to consume all of this within the half-hour meal.

Neo wiped his mouth and requested one of the servants for a glass of water.

After tossing that down his stomach, he sees that Aurelion and their father were looking at him with an expression of bewilderment.

A question mark seemingly appeared on the youth's face.

"It is time for the three of you to leave, or you will be late."

Vespera's frost-like words reminded everyone.

Guinivere, the person who is more unaware than Neo, obediently stood up. She nods at their father and mother and left the dining hall.

Seeing her leaving figure, Aurelion and Neo followed suit after also bidding their parents goodbye.

Three Odum children waited outside for the carriage to pull up. The servants working at the front ground stared curiously at this never-before-seen sight.

Neo felt the stares and knew why.

In the past, Guinivere and Aurelion were the only ones who took a carriage together. Nazareth had always left early in the morning and often missed breakfast because he didn't want to ride with his younger siblings.

Obviously, said-younger siblings noticed this change in their older brother and felt mildly uncomfortable with his presence. Aurelion, in particular, had already begun calculating the probability of whether or not he can protect their younger sister from whatever impact might be resulted if a skirmish breaks out.

However, these fears were not necessary.

Neo had already sensed the discomfort he's bringing to his younger siblings. The modern world has made him much more intuitive of other's emotions, and he can clearly tell that Aurelion's fears, although unfounded, are still understood. For this reason, he will step back and give them room to breathe.

"Rainier?"

"Yes, Young Master?" The servant appears from behind the door, his timing ever so perfect.

"Can you prepare another carriage for me?"

The servant complies.

"As you wish, Young Master."

After a few more minutes of tense silence, two carriages pull up to the front of the mansion.

As Aurelion and Guinivere board the one at the front, Neo takes the one in the back.

Rainier helps his Young Master into the carriage and closes the door. Neo looks out the window.

"I'll see you when I come back."

"Of course, Young Master."

They departed.

Inside the carriage, Neo reviewed what he remembers about the Noble Academy. Not only was this the place he died in, but many schemes and evil plots had been dispatched here by him.

The Noble Academy was opened as an education facility for children of noble birth. Every once and a while, in an attempt to cater to the common people, the school allows one or two common-born children to attend on a scholarship--if they show immense potential, that is. The academy is divided into two sectors, the Junior High and the Senior High, each sector consisting of three grade levels. Children spend six years at the academy, starting in the Junior Level at the age of eleven and moving to the Senior Level by fifteen. The students are expected to graduate at seventeen, after their third year at the Senior High.

Ah, he was so close to graduating, too.

"Young Master Nazareth, we have arrived."

The carriage driver called out to him.

Neo snapped away from his daze and quickly thanked the driver.

With the promise to pick him up after school, he stepped out.

Beyond the pearly gates of Noble Academy stood the white and blue structure that was so familiar, yet not. The school took up acres and acres of land, with the best facilities and teachers available, and was known to be covered by red and pink flower trees.

Aurelion stepped off the carriage first and helped Guinivere out. His sister quickly left to join her friends, Anna and Mary, leaving him to instruct the driver to pick them up later.

After he had done this, Aurelion prepared to head towards the gate when he saw his older brother standing outside his own carriage. At a closer look, Aurelion was able to see a strong emotion in the other boy's eyes and couldn't quite understand why this is. From Rainier's report, Nazareth has been quiet. He spends his days relaxing in the western garden or in his bedroom, drinking tea and reading his book. What was more confusing is the fact that he doesn't look like he's planning anything or trying to catch him off-guard.

Is he taking a break? Or biding his time? All these questions swirled together in his mind.

Before Aurelion could stop himself, he spoke.

"Are you not going in?"

Immediately, Nazareth turned his gaze to him, making him regret ever speaking.

But then, Aurelion watched as the corner of his brother's lips suddenly lifted slightly into a small smile.

"Yeah." He says, quietly. "I will." The way he said those words. as if he was handling something fragile and made of glass, made Aurelion unable to comprehend this strange behavior.

In return, he snorted coldly.

"Whatever. You better hurry, or you'll be late for class."

Having said this, Aurelion turned away from his brother and headed past the gate.

Neo stands there for a moment longer, his lips curling into a bigger smile as he watches his brother walking ahead of him. He sighs, the release of breath sounding almost fond to his own ears. He can't be too cowardly. After all, he still needs to repent.

Clenching his hand into a fist, he took a deep breath and followed Aurelion.

The moment he entered the gate, he felt the gazes on him--a mixture of disdain and resentment--from all the students and teachers.

Ah, he forgot about that.

In the past, he had ignored those looks in favor of trying to ruin his brother. Whenever he caused trouble against his younger brother, he garnered a lot of ill-will from the rest of the school, especially when Aurelion manages to foil his plans. Besides that, he didn't pay much attention to his own reputation either, when all his focus was on ruining Aurelion's.

And then when it came to the point where he offended the wrong people… well, that's a story for another day.

"Hey, Naza, wait up!"

A hand was placed on his shoulder, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

Neo turned around and saw a boy with strawberry brown hair and lavender eyes looming over him. Firstly, damn his height. And secondly,

"Tybalt."

He couldn't help but crack a smile. "How are you?"