At the Royal Academy,

"Will you hurry up!?" The red-headed boy yelled at his friend who was dawdling around instead of hastening his steps.

Howard glanced at his friend who was glaring at him with impatience evident in his eyes which only made him roll his blue eyes.

"We still have one last class, Taylor. So stop jumping around." He scowled at his friend who could not contain his excitement.

Taylor Tanner, the younger son of Duke Tanner narrowed his eyes to leer at this young boy who seemed uninterested in what day today was.

'We get a chance to go back home after a month but look at his face! Not an ounce of joy or excitement!' He sneered and shook his head.

This young boy only had his mind set on excelling in his swordsmanship and did not bother about the other aspects of academy life.

While the other boys were having fun, Taylor had to accompany his sword junkie friend in his practices.

Now they finally have a chance to let loose and relax for the next three days but this friend had the same old bland expression on his face.

"You are no fun, Howard." He grumbled in a low voice while walking by his side.

They had one last class before they could go back home and Howard was more interested in attending the class rather than spending his time packing their bags to leave the Academy.

Disheartened, he could only follow his friend while coaxing his gloomy heart.

'At least we can spend the next three days at home and have fun before returning to the Academy for the next month's classes.' He sighed and knew that all he could do was compromise with the present situation.

Unlike his elder brother and Howard, Taylor was least bothered about acing his classes.

All he wanted from life was to live a carefree and relaxed lifestyle with not much stress and barely any hard work.

This was his goal for the future and he was glad that things were already looking to be in his favor.

'I'll take a nap in class, that way I'll be fresh for the journey back home.' He decided and followed his friend as they walked towards their next classroom.

Howard glanced over his shoulders and rolled his eyes at the boy who was following his lead with his shoulders slumped in defeat.

'I should keep the assessment a secret from him.' He nodded after coming to this conclusion as he looked away.

If Taylor knew that Yvonne, the little angel in his eyes would be taking part in a test conducted by his friend then he would do everything in his power to stay back and cheer for her.

'I do not want him anywhere near that imp!' He scowled when he thought of how Taylor would keep talking about how pretty that little girl was.

While Howard would be blabbering about his sword training, Taylor would be reminiscing about how adorable that little sister of his was.

He had enough of that nonsense and all he wanted was peace for the next few days.

Hence, he kept it a secret from his friend about the assessment he would be taking the moment he reached home.

Thinking of this, he was reminded of those determined amethyst eyes which had looked at him and promised that she would work hard to gain his approval.

'I will be the judge of that.' He sneered, not believing that she would have struggled to learn well from the Captain of the Red Scorpion Knights.

This brought another thought to his mind which made his head spin.

'I should apologize to Captain Reel that he had to look after that evil brat for an entire month.' He sighed as he walked ahead.

He had been in constant touch with his mother after receiving a reply to the first letter he had sent, informing them about the Captain's strict training methods.

In the reply he had received from his mother, he was told that both they and the little girl were well aware of how the Captain trained his recruits.

Yvonne had not expressed her rejection of the Captain's character and insisted on continuing her classes with the man.

After reading that letter, Howard decided to give up on trying to change their mind.

'Let her learn her lesson the hard way.' He scoffed and did not further discuss this matter.

Every week his mother would write to him, telling him of how much she missed him and he would reply that he had missed them as well.

Raylene would often inform him that his little sister was working hard in all of her classes but he was finding it hard to believe those words.

Therefore, he decided to just confirm her words when he got back home after the class today.

Thus, Howard and Taylor entered the classroom which was still noisy as the professor had yet to enter the room.

Finding a seat for themselves, Howard pulled his books out while Taylor laid on the table to get some shut-eye.

'Lazy!' The heir of the St. Claire's family scowled at his friend and began writing in his books as they awaited the professor's arrival.

___

'Finally, I get to sleep in for a couple of days!' A young boy cheered as he stepped outside his classroom.

"Have a pleasant vacation, Prince Fritzen!" A boy coming from the opposite direction bowed as he greeted the Prince before walking away.

Prince Fritzen Rosenhyde smiled at the boy as he continued moving along.

His blonde hair danced as the warm morning breeze swept across them.

The last class of the day had ended which meant that everyone was free to leave the Academy premises.

The young boys who hadn't seen their families for an entire month were excited to rush back home soon.

Prince Fritzen on the other hand was allowed to return home each day so there wasn't much enthusiasm visible on his face.

The young prince was on his way to his dormitory where he would rest during the break time between each class.

He had left a few important papers necessary for his home assignments in his dorm room and needed to fetch them before he could leave for the Royal Palace.

As he continued to move towards the dormitories, he met many young boys who greeted him as they passed him by.

Here he was just like them, a student who had a higher status but none of the privileges.

The Dean of the Royal Academy treated every student alike and no one was granted special privileges or partial treatment while in the Academy.

With this impartial attitude towards every student, no matter what family you belonged to, you would be expelled if you couldn't keep up with the teachings.

The lower your grades, the higher your chances of being kicked out of the Academy as they would not accept any slackers to graduate from their Royal Academy.

This was to show that even if you have a higher status in the noble society if you did not have the capabilities then you would only be trampled by the others who had better skills and prospects.

Not even him, the Prince of the Rosenhyde Kingdom was an exception to this rule.