Reaching his seat, Prince Victus de Camilier sits down.

Victus glances towards his childhood friend Geraldt Florine and asked a quiet question.

"So, thoughts?"

"He's hiding something," said the older boy, also in whispers.

"I know."

Mirria Sentoria who is next to them looks up in surprise, before asking in alarm.

"Really? I hadn't noticed..."

The two boys look at their red-haired friend, their expressions like they had expected this, but is still disappointed.

"Sigh. You need to work on this stuff more, Mia. The world of nobility is much more dangerous than you think. We can't always help you with this." The Prince said while shaking his head. Mirria is too bad at reading people.

Mirria frowns. "If they cross me, then I'll just have to defeat them."

"You can't always use your fist, Mirria," said Geraldt, looking defeated. They seem to have had this conversation many times before. He then turns to Victus.

"Do you think he's working for 'him'?"

Victus crosses his arms, his eyes thoughtful.

"I don't think my brother's influence has reached as far as the frontier, but I can't be for sure."

A small voice speaks up, interrupting the conversation.

"I... I don't think he's a bad person."

The three nobles look towards the person that has just spoken. Genis Green, the commoner, is looking down while touching his index fingers together. He seems a little intimidated by the others still, even when they had been friends for a little over a year now.

The Prince's face soften.

"He might not be a bad person, true. But nobles are experts at masking their true selves, so being cautious around ones you don't know is a good idea to keep in mind."

"Well, I think he's lying about his blessing at least. I refuse to believe that the blessing that just gives him free booze for 30 minutes is ranked A," Mirria said with conviction.

"The Headmaster admits him into this class, so it must be true that it's A rank. You can't lie in front of him, remember? But he might be hiding another aspect of it." Geraldt said, closing his eyes and rubbing his chin.

"Can... can we ask the Headmaster to tell us," Genis said timidly.

"The Headmaster will most likely say that we should ask him ourselves. He seems to be friendly with the guy, too. Just how deep does his relationship with the Headmaster reach? There are still too many mysteries surrounding him." Victus said, looking towards the man in question.

The others also follow his gaze.

Alean Steelight.

A mysterious person, who suddenly got a Stigma at the age of 16.

He has been the talk of the school for a whole day yesterday. Rumors and conspiracies surround him in a veil of mystery. Victus and the gang (well, except for Genis) had never even heard about him before the rumors got to them.

What is true and what is fake?

One must know that in the Academy that teaches mostly noble students, even an insignificant rumor might hold some part of a deep secret. Nobles send their children to this school, not for only educational purposes, but to also train them for the high society that they will inevitably be part of.

Subterfuge and esspionage. Information gathering. Deception and Manipulation. Making connections.

These are all part of the lesson that students must learn to even have a chance to lead their houses in the future.

Victus glances towards Alean once again, finding him with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in concentration.

'What are you hiding, Steelight.'

===

I gasp and spring up from my bed, cold sweat soaking my back.

After taking a few deep breaths, I feel my pounding heart calm down a little. It was that damn nightmare again.

Groaning while getting out of bed, I walk towards my bathroom. Putting my head under the sink and activating the enchantment, cold and refreshing water splashes down the back of my head and then onto my face.

The water washes away the last remnant of my sleep, pushing the rest of the nightmare out of my mind.

I'm still alive. I'm still here.

I exit the bathroom and look towards the window next to the writing desk. It's still dark outside, but the faintest hint of the morning is beginning to appear. No more sleep then.

When I exited the classroom yesterday, I could still feel the emotions running wild within me. It didn't get better, it got worst instead.

The more I was in those thoughts, the more I was drowning in them. I had to turn my Soul Sight off quickly because the sensations were too overwhelming for my already-addled mind.

When I reached my dorm, I could only roll around on the bed and try not to cry.

I felt miserable.

Eventually, I tried to just sleep it off. But what greeted me were those terrible nightmares.

I saw my friends and family abandon me. They kept saying that I'm useless and worthless. That I'm nothing but trash. That I was meant to fail.

I saw them dying in terrible ways for all sorts of reasons. From assassins to poison to accidents.

I even saw... that I was the reason one time. I had killed them. There was blood on my hands. The people I loved scattered in pieces around me. My eyes were dyed in madness and desperation, my lips curled in a satisfied smile.

Remembering about it, I can't help but run back into the bathroom and empty my stomach in the toilet bowl. Sour and bitter liquid is the only thing that is expelled.

I was so caught up in my emotions that I didn't eat for the rest of the day.

My stomach begins to groan loudly, reminding me of that fact.

I sigh. What a horrible way to start the day.

===

I'm eating my breakfast in a daze when suddenly, a hand is waved in front of my face.

I look up to see Yermen looking at me, concern in his eyes.

"Hello. Are you finally awake? I have been calling your name 5 times already."

"Huh. Uh... yeah. I'm awake."

Yermen squints his eyes at me. I can't help but turn away in embarrassment.

He takes a quick look around before standing up and grabbing my arm, pulling me away from the table.

"Alright, that's enough. You're going to tell me what happened yesterday and you're telling me now."

"But! But! My sandwich!"

"Just bring it along, idiot!"

I can only helplessly grab my sandwich in a rush before being dragged away by a furious Yermen.

===

We're standing in a rather secluded place.

It is the same place that I dragged him away to in the past.

It's on the corner of the training field that's bordering the Dark Woods. There's a small wooden shack that contains old and damaged pieces of training equipment next to us. Most students avoid this place because there's a rumor about a ghost haunting the shack.

Yermen turns towards me, his eyes burning with fury.

"I need to know what happened, now."

So I told him about all that happened yesterday. The people I met. The things we did in the classroom. Why I didn't come to have any lunch or dinner. And why do I look like I hadn't slept last night. I only said that I was having a nightmare.

Yermen frowns even harder after hearing about me having nightmares again.

"Tell me more about your nightmares."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Umm, do I have to? I would rather not talk about it."

"I need to know what's bothering you so I can help. So please, can you tell me about it?" I notice his voice is much softer.

"But... it's really bad. No, it was horrible. I... I don't want to think about it."

"If you keep running from it, then you can't get better. Please, trust me. You promised, right? That you won't hurt yourself anymore. Right now, you're hurting yourself again. Do you want to go back on your promise?"

"NO!" I yelled as loud as I can. I don't want to break my promise.

"Then you need to tell me. I'll always be there for you, remember? You said it yourself."

"But I... I..." I feel tears threatening to flow from my eyes.

Why is he doing this? He's making me talk about those horrible things. What if he's disgusted with me. What if he's afraid that I might hurt him. I don't want to hurt him. I don't...

"Shhh. It's okay. Whatever it was, I promise I won't run away." His eyes are looking at me warmly. His hands are placed on my shoulders reassuringly. Because he's shorter than me by quite a bit, he has to stand on tiptoes to reach my shoulders.

It would be very funny if not for what he's telling me to do.

"You... promise you won't leave?"

"I promise."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what."

Hot tears are flowing out of my eyes. My nose is all stuffy and my hands are trembling. What did I ever do to deserve a friend like him?

Unable to help myself, I hug him tightly.

"Thank you... thank you..."

He freezes up slightly, before reaching out and pats my back.