T)

"Oi!! Be quick Mari!!", Caiden shouted as Mari was taking too much time while buying a gem for his next experiment. He has been experimenting if mana could be stored in a specific type of gem.

He has seen the Archmage for it quite a lot. He has been aiming for his title and I'm pretty sure the Archmage will take him as his disciple once he graduates.

"How many times do I need to tell you to not call me that?" He said as he clenched his fist and glared at Caiden, making his way towards us, catching people's attention.

"Stop making a scene both of you. Let's quickly go to the bar before anyone notices us." I said and pulled on my hood. Seriously they act like 5 years old sometimes. They've been like that since they were kids always fighting until I intervene. I was quite naturally mature for my age.

We were sneaking out and I know I'm going to get an earful about it but I might as well do what I want while I'm still the Crown Prince. There's still 6 and a half month left before I will be announced as the Emperor and then things like this will be over. I can't sneak out as Emperor or avoid lessons or slack off. It will be a lot of responsibility on me so I might as well enjoy the time left.

I was discussing this with Mari yesterday and he said I should try things I always wanted to do. Caiden suggested we go drinking at a local bar and I said yes.

We sneaked out directly from the Academy telling the guards that we needed some material for Mari's experiment.

We just have a few hours for ourselves before returning back to the Palace.

We just explored and kept on roaming till we found a local bar. We ordered two glasses of beer. Mari was not drinking since he'll need to answer father later as to where we were. Mari was a smart talker, he could always get his point and win in a debate no matter how juvenile his point maybe. As kids, he always talked his way to get me and Caiden out of trouble.

"Awww! Why are you such a thick head, Mariii? Losen up!" Caiden said, trying to poke Mari's cheek but because he already drank half of his glass, he poked him in the eye instead which made Mari slap his hand away before glaring at him.

"Don't call me that!" He argued.

"Why? It's your name...... Half of your name.", Caiden mumbled, clearly drunk.

"Fuck whoever named me." Mari cursed under his breath.

"Such vulgarities..... But really...who named him? Such a stupid name." I mumbled and Mari just snorted.

"Why? I like his name. It suits him...... Wait... Wasn't it the Emperor who named Mari?" Caiden said then his eyes widened as he realised that.

"Wow. Mari!! You insulted the Emperor now you're going to get arrested for blasphemy!" I yelled and started laughing till the realisation struck me, "Oh! Emperor's my father..... How dare you insult my father?!"

"You both are drunk." Mari said sighing

"No shit." I mumbled and gulped down the entire glass in one go and started to feel a bit light-headed. My mind started to wander on its own and went to those stupid pink hair again.

Adailia did absolutely anything to get my attention. She went from playing 'hard to get' to 'being clingy as hell'. At some point of time, she even got together with some other kid in the Academy to make me 'jealous'. And when she knew I wasn't getting jealous, she threw the guy away like a ball of used tissue, not giving a damn about his feelings. This cycle went for a while, clingy, playing hard to get, then dating some other guy to make me jealous and so on.

But right now she is just.....

"Adailia is acting weird." I mumbled and frowned.

Both of them looked at me with sudden interest.

"Wasn't she always weird though?" Caiden stated.

"Yes but... first she was 'psychotic weird' but now she is just 'weird weird'." I told them.

"Don't move your hands like that." Mari said, it's rude for royals to do hand gestures. I faced a lot of problem with this habit of mine as a kid but eventually learnt to not do hand gestures. Yet, I didn't even notice I did that. Suddenly I remembered how Adailia moved her hands while talking. My frown deepened at the memory. Why am I thinking about her now?

"Speaking of Adailia, she had detention today, in the Mage's detention room," Mari told us.

I snickered, "Wow, that's a surprise! Never thought Adailia would be the one getting detention."

She is Adailia. Of course, she'll get a detention in the first three days of the semester.

"But isn't she in the knight faction? Why would she get a detention in the Mage's detention room?" Caiden asked

"Actually, it was Seanna who was supposed to get detention for using magic outside the school grounds but Adailia switched with her." Mari explained.

Caiden's jaw dropped while I frowned thoughtfully.

"Didn't you say Adailia bullied Seanna?" I asked looking at Caiden. I asked him about Seanna after the ball and he told me that she was bullied by Adailia. But that doesn't seem to be the case if she defended her. Maybe she is changing for the better.

"I mean... I just heard rumours. Lady Adailia and I only have two classes together." Caiden said. Maybe the rumours were wrong. Maybe she was bullied by Olivia rather than Adailia. Maybe people got confused since both of them are bitches.

"Lucky you. I'm stuck with her throughout the day." I grumbled.

"But she is not even interested in you anymore." Caiden said. My eyes widened in surprise.

"What does that mean?" Asked Mari.

"She told me that she is no longer interested in Raashid." He said.

"When?!" I asked genuinely shocked and happy. She is not interested in me anymore!! Thank goodness!!

"During the ball." He replied, groggily.

"But why would she tell you that?" Asked Mari.

"I don't know."

"She is interested in you."I said.

"What? No!"

"Scared already? You have no idea what she'll do when she finds you with another girl." I tried to scare him.

"Hey! Can I join you guys? I don't like to drink alone." A man suddenly appeared behind us speaking in commoner's language.

Before Mari could reject him Caiden opened his mouth and said, "Of course!"

We both shot him a dirty look. It's enough risk that we are in here. If someone recognizes us, we're doomed.

Caiden and Mari both knew commoner's language since they were brought up in the orphanage for the first five years. They had trouble learning the noble's language but I taught them and they taught me. There are a variety of dialects in the empire and nobles were taught other important languages in the Royal Academy from the beginning. However, commoner's language was not taught in the Royal Academy since nobles rarely interacted with the commoners and even if they did, the commoner was supposed to speak in the language which the noble spoke and not the other way around. But since I'm the Crown Prince it's compulsory for me to learn all the languages.

The man took a seat beside me as I adjusted my hood. Then he started conversing with Caiden about dragons. Soon I joined in and Mari was the last one to join.

We talked and talked and gulped and gulped and it was midnight till we got back home.

Father scolded and lectured me, Mari and Caiden till 2 am. I was punished to do every single assignment I did during the year all over again and show it to him till the end of next week. Caiden's sword was taken away from him till next week and he was supposed to finish an essay on 'Drinking is Bad for health' that should at least have 16500 words in it. While Mari's study is locked for a week and he is supposed to practice sparring at least 7 hours during a school day and 12 hours during a holiday for the next week.

And even after that, I did not regret what I did. I had the time of my life, made a new friend and will again sneak out next week for the same.

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The weekend came and I started working on my assignments which I got as punishment. Caiden and Mari were busy with their own punishments. I quickly went to the library and started studying. I only had two days off since there is supposed to be a test for survival as a competition on the third day.

Soon a familiar voice came in and I saw Adailia talking to the Librarian.

Even though it was Adailia, I found some slight changes in her which made her seem like a different person. Her clothes were a lot plainer and her hair was not styled and instead left loose.

She borrowed a few books and left soon.

I continued doing my work after that with an uneasy realisation stuck at the back of my mind.

She didn't even notice me......she must really not like me anymore....