Ch 30: Late
Lucien would have liked to reprimand Amber and Eleena for being late, but since he himself had arrived late and the class had only ten minutes left before the next session would begin, owing to the delayed start of morning prayer and his own extended detour through the hallways to calm his nerves, he could not justify it.
"Come inside. Do not be late next time. I do not tolerate impunctuality," Lucien said. When he turned to face the students, he saw their eyes twitching, their faces twisted into scowls, and their mouths poised to shout, "What do you mean you do not tolerate impunctuality? You yourself are late."
Amber and Eleena hurried to their desks, quickly taking their seats beside each other in the second row near the window.
Now that everything was clear, Lucien nodded in affirmation, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the classroom door slid open again with a shriek even sharper than before, the sound grating against his ears.
"Who the hell is it this time?" Lucien shouted angrily as he turned toward the door to see a boy with yellow hair tied in a small ponytail, black eyes, and a handsome face slick with sweat. The boy's body was bent, his hands pressed to his knees as he huffed for breath, barely managing to stand upright. He was none other than Patrick Zendejas, the rival of the Hero Mark in the story and the son of the southern duke.
"S-sorry for being late," Patrick mumbled, pushing himself upright with the support of the door as his right hand gripped the frame.
Lucien, irritated at being disturbed not once but twice, decided he would rather wait a few more minutes to see if any other significant characters turned up late. After all, in this kind of fantasy story, important characters always arrived late to the classroom, whether because they overslept or collided with another key figure, sparking a verbal altercation. Of course, those quarrels were just the clichéd beginning of something even more predictable. In the future, they would likely form a strong bond, and if they happened to be of opposite genders, perhaps even fall in love.
This time, Lucien did not immediately allow entry. Instead, he slipped off his black coat and draped it carefully over the back of his chair to avoid any creases. Then he unbuttoned his sleeves one by one and rolled them up to his elbows, removed the tie from his neck, and unbuttoned the top of his white shirt, letting his skin breathe as irritation built, making his neck and chest feel suffocated. Lucien had the urge to go over and slap Patrick across the cheek for daring to disturb him.
He turned his eyes toward everyone in the class, all of them holding their breath. "If any of you dare to arrive even a second late to class from tomorrow onward, I will not allow you to attend my classes for a week," he shouted, his icy voice echoing across the room and making everyone squirm in their seats.
Lucien then turned to Patrick. "Enter and shut the door behind you," he growled.
Patrick looked as if he might faint as he bowed his head repeatedly to Lucien, closed the door behind him, locked it from the inside, and made his way to the last row, sitting beside the window.
"So, where was I?" Lucien said, reaching his right hand to his forehead as he remembered he had not even managed to say a word because of these little worms disturbing him. "Oh, I remember. I was about to announce that we have a new student, Melissa Waters, joining our class, but some worms dared to interrupt me before I could say anything."
Silence. Absolute silence.
There was not even the sound of breathing, as everyone held their breath and all eyes turned to Princess Amber, who sat frozen in her seat. Lucien had dared to call not just the princess, but also the son of the southern duke and the daughter of the marquis, worms, and he had done so openly and without fear. The princess was above everyone, even though the academy claimed to treat all students equally and tried to create an environment of fairness. Calling a princess a worm was not something that could be allowed under any circumstances.
Lucien did not care about their reactions or thoughts, nor did he bother to look at the faces of the princess or the others he had called worms. To him, they were so weak he could crush them underfoot if he so desired.
"Everyone, welcome Melissa Waters, our new student," he said, making everyone turn their heads forward. In the same voice that still held a trace of anger, he added, "If anyone has questions about her admission, you can ask the vice headmistress, since she was the one who approved her entry to the class."
Lucien then turned to Melissa, who seemed shocked by how he had addressed everyone as if they were ants. He motioned for her to take her seat and had to nudge her shoulder to rouse her from whatever thoughts had claimed her attention.
When Melissa finally snapped out of her thoughts, she ran to sit in the second-to-last row by the window, the seat reserved for main characters, and, curiously, none of the minor characters had taken a window seat.
Were minor characters programmed never to take window seats, as if those spots were reserved for the main and rowdy characters? Lucien did not know, and he did not think about this world as a story. As far as he could tell, this was a real world, one he had lived in as Lucien. If not for the memories of his previous life, he would never have known about the main characters or the tropes of fictional worlds at all.
"Connor, bring me the bracelets," Lucien ordered his attendant, who had already slipped into the corner of the room like an invisible shadow.
Connor immediately hurried to him, moving as quickly as he could to avoid making Lucien any angrier, since Lucien's voice carried clear anger and irritation that he did not bother to hide. Yet, aside from a slight narrowing of his eyes and a twitch of his lips, Lucien's face remained impassive.
Connor produced a large box from his ring, placed it in front of Lucien's desk, and then retreated back to the corner of the room.
***
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