Ch 26: Hall
Eleena Halvorn stood in the girls’ line for first-year students in the auditorium hall, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.
The hall was enormous, easily spacious enough to accommodate at least five to ten thousand people comfortably. The ceiling soared above in a great white dome, and the plain white walls were unadorned except for light lamps that hung at regular intervals.
In front of her line was a high, raised platform where professors stood in formal suits, their faces revealed that they were waiting patiently for the morning prayer to start. Yet the vice headmistress, who just yesterday had led the inauguration of the new batch and the morning prayer, was nowhere to be seen in the hall, even though it was already past 10 a.m.—a highly unusual occurrence as far as Eleena could tell from the look of the professors.
Eleena glanced at the clock hanging on the right side of the wall. It was 10:15 a.m.; the vice headmistress was fifteen minutes late, while yesterday she had arrived before the clock had even struck ten.
Something was amiss, and Lucien—her ex-fiancé, who had been absent yesterday—had only returned to the academy today, that too accompanied by a girl.
What is going on here?
Eleena screamed inside her mind. First, the academy that prided itself on punctuality was now running late because of its own vice headmistress, who had just yesterday given a half-hour speech about ethics, and now she herself was late.
Meanwhile, Lucien, who was a professor at the academy, had been absent yesterday without any particular reason, as far as the academy was concerned. They did not mention the reason for his absence in class.
Even though Lucien had already arrived in the academy this morning, he was still not present in the hall.
Eleena felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Amber Eldoryn, the princess of the Eldoryn Empire, and her friend.
Amber’s white hair flowed freely down her back, her skin was a glowing, luminous white, and her black eyes and jaw looked as if they had been carved by the gods themselves. She was one of the most beautiful girls Eleena had ever seen, and she wore the same academy uniform as Eleena, but currently her usually radiant smiling face was replaced by a worried expression.
“What is going on? You have been so anxious since this morning,” Amber asked, her voice laced with concern. Despite being a princess, she had never shown any arrogance or aloofness toward Eleena, and she was one of the few friends Eleena could rely on without hesitation.
“Nothing, I am just being impatient since the morning prayer hasn’t begun yet,” Eleena answered half-correctly, trying to hide the fact that she had been unable to focus since she laid eyes on the golden haired girl who walked beside Lucien..
“I don’t think so. If you are worried about Gerard, you can tell me,” Amber pressed, crossing her arms over her chest, she was still not satisfied with Eleena’s answer.
“I’m fine, really. It’s just that the vice headmistress is late, even after her long lecture about morals and ethics yesterday,” Eleena lied again, not wanting to admit that she was tense because Lucien had not been present in the hall despite having already arrived in the academy.
Amber nodded reluctantly. Eleena turned ahead to face forward, craning her neck to peer around the front door on the left side near the raised platform, hoping to catch a glimpse of the vice headmistress’s arrival.
No, There is not even a single soul passing through the door; it is empty as fuck. What’s taking them so long? She thought bitterly, seeing no sign of the vice headmistress and neither of Lucien, who she had expected to come by now.
Even though Eleena tried to distract herself with thoughts about the vice headmistress, she found herself conjuring theory after theory about the girl who walked beside Lucien. Eleena’s engagement with Lucien had long since ended; she should not care about him or what he did with his life. She had created a mantra that she would never get tangled up in Lucien’s affairs ever again, but after laying eyes on that beautiful, golden-haired girl, Eleena found she could not hold onto the mantra any longer that had once allowed her to move on.
Ugh, my mind is a mess. I have to remember that he is not the same person he used to be.
Eleena already had enough to deal with—there was Gerard, who followed her like a dog and tried to make her fall in love with him constantly. Also, she wanted to pass the academy with flying colors. Adding Lucien and that golden-haired girl to her list would only make things even more worse and elevate her worries further more.
Despite how her day had been ruined so far, at least one thing had gone exactly as she had hoped it would. When she entered the auditorium hall, she immediately made her way to the girls’ row among the many rows of the students that filled the hall and took shelter behind Princess Amber, knowing that Gerard, who had followed her all the way from the dormitory, would not dare cross the invisible boundary to approach the girls’ line as well would avoid Amber. Eleena knew Amber hated Gerard to the core and would not tolerate his blatant attempt to coerce Eleena, and, to some extent, Gerard was wary of the princess. Whether he knew Amber hated him or not was something Eleena did not know.
Eleena looked around, shoving her thoughts aside about Gerard. The sound of the students’ chatter grew louder with each passing minute; everyone was either engaged in conversation or gossip, while the teachers on the platform exchanged anxious glances, clearly worried that something might have happened to the vice headmistress.
How could the woman who had made every student tremble with just a release of her tenth of a power yesterday possibly be harmed in this secure place within the Empire, unless she had enemies—and she probably had many, seeing how daring the vice headmistress had looked yesterday.
“Eleena, do you know why Lucien was absent yesterday?” Amber’s question pulled Eleena from her endless spiral of thoughts.
Eleena turned back and forced a smile on her face. “No, I don’t know. But I saw him when I was entering the academy this morning. He should be resuming classes today.” She spoke only what she knew; since their engagement had ended, she had rarely spoken with Lucien and did not know much about his current life. There was no such thing as being friends after being promised to each other as their future spouses.
“Did you really see him today? I didn’t see him anywhere, though. Are you sure? Because if he was present, shouldn’t he be standing with the other professors on the platform?” Amber asked, skepticism clear in her voice. She seemed not to trust Eleena’s words.
Eleena felt a sting at not being trusted, especially since Lucien was supposed to be the person of discipline, and his absence from the auditorium hall would raise suspicion among anyone who knew about his behaviors. “I don’t know why he’s late, but I have see-” Before Eleena could finish explaining that she had indeed seen him, the hall fell silent, and only the sound of footsteps echoed across the floor.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Eleena immediately turned her head when she saw Amber’s incredulous expression. In the next moment, she saw the reason: the vice headmistress entered the hall through the left door at the front of the hall. Behind her, Lucien walked in, his face as impassive as ever. He wore a black suit that matched his slicked-back, pitch-black hair, his hands tucked inside his pockets. Beside him walked a golden-haired girl now dressed in the academy uniform, which she had not been wearing when Eleena first saw her just half an hour earlier.
The girl looked beautiful in her uniform, but her coat and white shirt were slightly loose, as though the uniform had not been tailored for her, unlike Eleena’s own perfectly fitted uniform. Holding her breath, Eleena watched as the girl that had walked with head lowered reached for Lucien’s coat. He stopped in his tracks, face still impassive, and raised a finger toward the line where Eleena stood, among many rows of students he chose the row she was standing in, meaning the girl was in the same class as her. And, as he pointed his finger, he said something in a voice so quiet that Eleena could not make out the words.
The girl nodded her head slightly and, under everyone’s gaze, joined the line at the end. Her steps were slow and meek; she seemed excited like a child, her face puffed with joy, yet she kept her head lowered, she seemed to be feeling shy due to everyone looking at her..
How could everyone not stare at her? The girl had not been present yesterday, as far as Eleena knew and from the way everyone was staring at the girl, they also seemed to not remember seeing the girl before. And here she was, walking beside the academy’s notorious warmonger, a man who could kill without remorse, and she had even dared to touch his coat—something he would have punished anyone else for doing, had they dared to lay a hand on him or halt his stride. But, Lucien did not do anything and from the way his impassive face did not even twitch or react, he did not seem to think much of her grabbing his coat which left Eleena with a feeling that she could not quite put into words.
Who are you? And, why don’t you fear Lucien? Eleena felt incredulous seeing the girl and wanted to run up to her immediately to ask her origin.
***
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