Some of the students were standing outside by multiple shades of green massive building. While they were waiting for the dining room doors to open, they were looking at the land. Now that it was pitch dark, everything was glowing and sparkling as well. Everything was looking more enchanting and beautiful in the dark due to the glowness. Glowing tiny insects were strolling in the air to make the atmosphere more enchanting. The glowness was also bringing brightness into this land, especially on the other islands the students could see from where they were standing.

  Lithanya, Yaithra and Marie-Anna appeared by the group but they kept their distance. Some of the students did recognise Lithanya because they were from Tellus.

  “Lithanya Manrayar!”, a woman yelled.

  Lithanya caught the woman coming to her. “Rosalina Emillia Silverstone. Long time no see.”

  Rosalina appeared. “I heard that you and your family visited my father not long ago. I’m surprised that you didn’t come and see me.”

  “Because you were with your brother, celebrating the news of a new member coming into your family.”, she mentioned.

  “Why do you always say ‘new member’ instead of saying expecting a child?”

  Lithanya didn’t answer immediately. “Uhmmm…”, she tried to get her words. “That’s how I say it.”, she tried to defend herself.

  Rosalina tapped Lithanya’s shoulder. “Come on, you can be more loving than that.”

  Lithanya changed the subject. “So, what are you doing here?”

  “I’m also attending the academy.”

  She looked confused. “I thought only the eldest heir of the royal family must attend.”, Yaithra mentioned.

  “None of my siblings want to take the throne. I’m the only option in the family and my siblings put me under the bus.”, Rosalina said with some frustration.

  “Reminds me of some people.”, Lithanya glanced at Yaithra.

  Yaithra looked away with a small mischievous smile. “You’re the perfect person for the throne and as an empress.”, she tried to defend herself.

  Lithanya rolled her eyes then looked back at Rosalina. Marie-Anna was looking around until she saw a group of people coming inside the dining room premises.

  “Here comes the emperor’s son.”, she whispered.

  Lithanya, Yaithra and Rosalina looked at the entrance. Slowly, more people were looking in the same direction and saw a big group coming in their direction. They immediately recognised that the group was from the upper class worlds, the lower class people immediately came together to protect each other in case the upper class messed with them.

  “Which was the emperor’s son?”, Yaithra asked Marie-Anna.

  “The one dressed in dark blue tunic.”, she whispered.

  Lithanya instantly looked at the tall man who was walking in the middle of the group. He and his group stopped in front of Lithanya with an indifferent expression. His small bright golden eyes were checking on her from head to toe. Then his main focus went to her cold face.

  “Princess Lithanya, we finally meet again after many years.”, he said with a slight raised brow.

  “Indeed, Huang Yichen.”, Lithanya said.

  Rosalina was stunned that Lithanya knew who he was. “Do you know him?”

  “Yes, our parents used to be friends with his family many years ago.”, Yaithra whispered.

  Lithanya was surprised to see how much Yichen had changed physically over the years they hadn’t seen each other. His body was extremely muscular that she could see his chest muscles underneath his expensive dark blue tunic. His handsome facial features had now matured, looking almost identical to his father’s features.

  Yichen was just as surprised to see how different Lithanya was looking. He didn’t expect her to have a cold personality. He had to admit his ego was hitting him because of Lithanya being slightly shorter than him but he always knew that about her height. But the one thing that struck him the most was her really long curly snow-white hair.

  “The future empress of Mortalis and Eldoria. Mn? It’ll be interesting to see how a woman will rule in a male dominating position.”, he had a deep voice.

  “Everything will be the same, just a different gender ruling.”, she answered.

  He was impressed with the answer. “Are you not scared about the death threats you’ve been receiving from Nymphaedra and Eldoria?”

  “Nymphaedra and Eldoria have been sending our family death threats ever since we chose sides. This is nothing new to us.”

  “And, aren’t you scared to be in the same academy as me? Won’t all of this cause so much conflict between us?”, he asked.

  Rosalina grabbed Lithanya’s arm. “Don’t listen to him. He is just trying to provoke you.”, she whispered.

  The people behind Yichen laughed softly. “Let me remind you that we can hear what you’re saying even if you’re talking in the softest tone.”, a man said behind Yichen.

  Lithanya didn’t forget that the upper class people had powers. She continued to remain calm. “I’m only here to get the education I need as an investigator in order to become an empress.”

  He wasn’t convinced. “I highly doubt that’s going to work because it’s really difficult to avoid us considering that everyone knows our background history.”, he mentioned.

  One man came closer to Lithanya with some fear. “Your majesty, don’t listen to him. You know how these people work. They’ll always provoke us.”, he whispered.

  A woman came out of the dining building. She was dressed in the same uniform as Marie-Anna but the woman was wearing a dirty apron.

  “Dinner is ready. The lower class will sit on the left, the upper class will sit on the right.”, the woman instructed.

  Everyone grabbed Lithanya’s arms and made her walk to the dining building and to avoid associating with the upper class people. Yichen and his companions were watching the group walk away while waiting patiently.

  Everyone was sitting in the forest style dining room and were waiting patiently for the other students. Dinner was only going to start in half an hour which was plenty of time for the other students. While the students were waiting, they were getting to know each other.

  Two more women appeared next to Lithanya and Yaithra. “You must be the Manrayar sisters.”, they sat next to them.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I’m Rebecca Isabella Thomas. And this is my best friend, Annabelle Cythina Winterberg.”, Rebecca said with a bright smile.

  “Nice to meet you.”, the sisters responded back.

  “Nice job in remaining calm when Yichen was trying to provoke you. If I were you, I would’ve punched him.”, Annabelle said.

  “Then you would’ve been put into the secret dungeon in Eldoria.”, Yaithra teased her.

  “Which kingdom are you from?”, Rosalina asked.

  “Azerthos.”, Rebecca answered.

  Butlers came out of the doors right at the front where the upper class students were. The butlers told the lower class people that they didn’t need to be formal anymore because they weren’t in Tellus or Mortalis. So, they were allowed to talk to each other. The butlers placed the baskets in the centre of the green and white granite marbled tables. In the baskets were different types of breads, mainly enriched breads. Next to the baskets were handmade butter shaped as small eagles.

  “You can start eating.”, the butlers announced.

  Everyone started taking the bread with manners. The lower class people looked at the upper class people, they were just as well-mannered as the lower class people. This was the first time the lower class people were tasting enriched bread and they already loved it.

  Annabelle came closer to Rosalina. “I’ve heard that the emperor’s son will be attending. Why isn’t he here? He was here not long ago.”, Annabelle asked.

  “Because his father is the headmaster, he and his friends can sit in his father's fancy dining room. He just came to provoke our future empress.”

  “Do each year of students have their own dining room?”, Yaithra asked.

  “Yes. There are twelve dining room buildings all together.”, Rebecca answered.

  Lithanya didn’t like talking while eating because she was enjoying her bread. Butlers came out of the kitchen with food that was beautifully plated. Most of the students started dishing out their meals while the other students were finishing off their bread.

  _____________

  After that lovely dinner, everyone went back to their rooms. They were all tired after taking walks around the academy and getting their items earlier. Yaithra just came out of the bathroom and was heading to her wardrobe. As soon as she opened the doors, her jaw dropped slightly when she saw thousands of dresses, jewelleries, make-up and shoes that were played in different sections. Yaithra was stunned at the amount of clothes in this wardrobe compared to her wardrobe in Vacanta. For some odd reason she was more excited to use these new than her old puffy dresses. Wearing fancy tunics, jewelleries and shoes was required in Nymphaedra, Eldoria and Celestina. Yaithra was really excited to use new clothes without being uncomfortable.

  There was a door connected to Lithanya’s room. She and Yaithra could come to each other’s room any time. But that wasn’t going to happen most of the time because they loved their own personal space. Lithanya walked into the room while adjusting her black long laced silky dress. This was her first time wearing something that had thin sleeves which made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to wearing dresses that showed so much of her skin. Her tattoo that was written in a language was sitting on her right side on her collarbone.

  “Yaithra, I’m going for a walk. Do you want to come?”, she asked.

  Yaithra came out of the room, dressed in a peacock coloured laced silky nightgown. “How do I look?”, she asked with a bright smile.

  Lithanya looked up but froze. She could see parts that she didn’t want to see. “Uhmmm…you look great.”

  “I’m not going to use it. I was just trying it out and I know these are the type of nightgowns you use with your partner.”, she walked back to the wardrobe.

  “Do you want to come for a walk with me?”, Lithanya asked.

  “No, I need so much rest after that long walk from here to the dining room.”, she said in the wardrobe.

  “Okay.”, she walked back into her room.

  Lithanya came out of her bedroom, closed the door and locked it. Then she walked down the empty but loud passage because of the other students making noises in their rooms.

  It was super quiet in the academy but there were students walking around. Students were allowed to walk around until eleven o’clock. Lithanya came out of the bridge and was strolling around the academy. One thing she was missing right now was the music and villagers dancing around the big fire. While she was walking, she could see a tavern out of the premises and it was open. She could also hear loud noises coming from the building.

  Hundreds of people had circled around the empty space, screaming with their jars in the air. Some of them had coins in their hands. Lithanya came inside the building and stood by the back to watch what was happening.

  In the empty circle, two men came out of the crowd without wearing their shirts. Lithanya got a shock when she saw someone she didn’t expect to see in the circle. Yichen was in the circle, looking at the man, his opponent, with a small smirk. While his opponent was showing angry gestures, proving that he was tougher than Yichen. The bell rang in the air, indicating that the match had started.

  The man tried to punch Haoran but Yichen ducked from the hectic punch. Then he kicked the man on his back then made the man face Haoran and punched him. The crowd started clapping with full joy while watching Haoran beating up his opponent badly.

  The man fell flat on the crowd and was unable to get up. Yichen looked around the crowd while breathing heavily and his body was drenched with sweat. Suddenly, his attention went to Lithanya who he didn’t expect to see. Lithanya stared at him with no expression but disbelief in her heart. The man saw that Yichen was distracted so he decided to use the opportunity to attack Yichen The man got up and ran to Haoran with a fist. Yichen turned around with a kick slamming on the man’s face. Everyone flinched really hard because they didn’t see that kick coming. The man fell flat on the floor, unconscious.

  Everyone started clapping for joy and were handing money to those people who lost their bet. Some of Yichen’s friends came to him and congratulated him for his victory. He was also looking at Lithanya who was more interested in looking at the tavern. One thing she wasn’t expecting the academy to have was a tavern. The crowd slowly started breaking now that the fight was over. Now Yichen’s main focus went to Lithanya who was staring at him. Lithanya covered her chest with her cloak because she didn’t want to expose her skin.

  “I’m surprised to see you here, your majesty.”, he was wiping the sweat off his body.

  “Since there was so much noise here, I was interested in what was happening.”, she answered honestly.

  He raised a brow while nodding. “I can tell that you enjoyed my fight because you couldn’t take your eyes off my techniques.”

  He definitely read her mind. She couldn’t wait to get her powers to stop him and other upper class people from reading her mind. “Please stop reading my mind.”

  “Then where’s the fun in that?”, he asked, then threw the towel at the owner to catch. “Especially since it has been many years since I read your mind.”

  She gave him a bit of an irritated look. “Good night.”, she walked to the doors.

  “It’s only nine o’clock, still too early.”, he mentioned.

  “The first day in a new place is always tiring.”, she came out of the room.

  Yichen took his black buttoned shirt and was putting it on while watching Lithanya stroll back to the dorm. Lithanya was walking by herself until she turned around and caught Yichen walking behind her. She was hoping that he wasn’t following and heading to his room.

  “Lithanya, you can’t avoid me. It’s going to be really difficult.”, he mentioned.

  “I’m not avoiding you. But also, I don’t want to associate with the upper class people.”, she said.

  “In other words, you’re avoiding us.”, he slotted his hands in his tight black pants.

  She stopped and turned to him. “I just don’t want to cause conflicts because of our history.”

  He walked closer to her. “I did tell you earlier that it’s going to be hard to avoid us. All you should’ve done was take our sides and we wouldn’t be in that situation.”, he mentioned. “Aren’t you scared to be an empress? Many people aren’t happy that a woman will soon be in power.”

  “Too bad, they must deal with new change.”, she spat.

  He nodded. “If I were you, I’ll be focusing on getting married and start a family.”

  She remained calm but she was irritated on the inside. “I’m not interested in starting a family at all.”, she didn’t pull any punches.

  “You should start a family to avoid receiving death threats from my worlds. And you’ll live a better life than being an empress. Anyway, it’s getting late. I’ll see you on Monday. Good night, Lithanya.”, he said then walked to his dorm.

  Lithanya shook her head with irritation and also sighed with disbelief. She turned to the dorms and watched him walking further away from her. After two minutes, she headed to her own dorms.