"Miss, which of these gowns would you like to wear? " Marie asked after opening Angelina's spacious closet.

"That one." Angelina answered while pointing at a beautiful dark emerald green gown.

"Why not the red one miss? His grace gifted it to you three days ago. Miss will definitely look beautiful!" Marie touched the red gown she was speaking of. But Angelina disagreed.

It has only been a few days since the day of Oscar's funeral. It would be unwise for her to wear any bright colored clothes like red.

Angelina explained to Marie. Marie understood and obediently brought the dark emerald green gown to Angelina.

A knock came from the door.

Serina, who was originally standing by the side, opened the door.

It was the head maid.

A smile slowly formed on Angelina's face. She glanced at the head maid and said, "come in."

"Good morning youngest lady..." The head maid hesitantly walked inside while holding a stack of papers and books.

Angelina smirked as she stretched out her hand.

"Here are the maps of the mansion layout and the names of all the servants m'lady." The head maid handed the papers and book to Angelina.

Angelina flipped through the papers and pages of the books for a moment, before turning to the head maid and nodding in approval. "Very good. You've done well. You can leave now."

"....." The head maid gritted her teeth and bowed. She was just about to turn around and leave when Angelina stopped her.

"Wait." Angelina smiled, picked up a gold brooch on the vanity table, and reached out her hand to the head maid. "Have this. It fits you."

The head maid, her hands shaking slightly, took the gold brooch and smiled. "Thank... Thank you, your grace."

The head maid left happily.

**************

The academy entrance examination is hosted in the coliseum located behind the school. Many people were already there. Some had already taken their seats.

Angelina was taking in the view of the coliseum when she felt someone roughly knock her shoulders. She turned back and saw Alex.

"You better behave!" He scoffed.

"I think you should be saying that to someone else." Angelina sneered.

"Who?" Alex was confused.

"You. You need to make sure your big mouth can stop barking." Angelina glared at him.

"You!" Alex wanted to stop her, but Angelina had already left.

Angelina really couldn't bother to waste her time with Alex. She had much more important matters to deal with.

Eric signed up for the examination and was accepted. Angelina took advantage of the duke's desire to gain her favor and was able to persuade him to let Eric participate in the entrance examination.

At this moment Eric is most likely with other participants somewhere... Angelina suddenly felt worried. She took a glimpse of the participants earlier and most seemed to not be trustable.

She was worried Eric would be picked on. After all, he doesn't have much of a muscular build. After being taken care of by her, he no longer looked skinny and haggardly. But, physically, he looked much weaker than that of others.

He also has quite the rude and cold personality when facing a stranger. He would probably offend someone...

Angelina sighed.

Right now all she could do was trust that Eric would be able to handle himself.

*************

Laughter could be heard in the distance as Eric sat on a wooden bench all by himself. A group of people near him were showing off their skills and gloating.

He originally ignored these people but after hearing other's praises, he grew curious. He looked over and saw that a boy, who looked to be around a year older than him, was performing a spell that could make water float and turn into different shapes.

Others around the boy couldn't help but spout flattery words.

' It's as if they haven't seen magic before.... ' Eric mocked in his heart. He found it stupid. Those around the boy obviously had to also be magic users, and yet they seemed so bewildered and amazed at such a simple spell...

"Wow Chester!"

"I couldn't even do that..."

"It's so pretty... Chester, can you teach me that some time?"

"I'm so envious of you Chester..."

"Yeah yeah... I know. It's quite easy..." Chester laughed arrogantly. He was about to perform another spell when he heard...

"Pfft..." Eric couldn't stop himself. It was too funny. He found it so ridiculous....

"Hey you! What are you laughing about, huh?!" Chester and his friends walked over to Eric, they were clearly annoyed.

"Laughing at your incompetence." Eric replied coldly.

"You!" Chester really wanted to punch this annoying and irritable boy...

"Hey, look at those clothes... Is he some aristocrat's kid or something?" One of the friends pointed out.

The other participants, seeing that Eric looks to be quite rich and in the care of a noble, felt jealous and angry. They all are poor. They all worked hard to strengthen their skills... Why is this kid so lucky?!

"He looks more like a pet. He doesn't carry the aura of a noble at all!"

"Hmph! I bet this kid just cheated his way in here with the power of some old noble lady!" One laughed.

When Eric heard one of the participants say 'old lady' he felt mad for some reason. His eyes sharpened and he had the urge to speak up. But he knew he shouldn't. Angelina wouldn't want him to cause trouble...

"This fool really thinks he's better than you Chester!" They all laughed.

Eric continued to stay silent and control himself from lashing out on them.

"So who is it, huh? Which noble do you belong to?" Chester went up to Eric's face and continued to taunt him.

Eric's urge for punching this irritating face continued to grow. He wanted to tell all these people that they were wrong, but all he said was, "it's none of your business. Trying to use that brainless head of your's to guess my lady's identity is already a disrespect!."

"This kid!"

"Chester, are you going to let him say that to you?!"

Hearing his friends clearly support him, Chester felt even more confident. He, without even thinking twice, kicked Eric in the stomach.

Eric fell immediately and groaned due to the pain. But he wasn't angered because Chester kicked him. He was infuriated for another reason.

He looked down to the spot where he was kicked and saw a dirty shoe mark. This was the clothing Angelina had personally bought and chosen for him... But now it's ruined! This gift was actually dirtied by this fool!

Eric gritted his teeth and tried to get up but was immediately kicked down again, and again, and again...

"Listen here you bastard! You think your better because you have some ugly lady as your backer?! You're just a toy! Once I ruin that face of yours, you'll be thrown out sooner or later!" Chester was merely spouting nonsense and yet it pierced through Eric's heart like arrows.

Eric didn't know why Chester's words hit him so hard. He didn't know why it hurt so much...

The rogue who stained his clothes obviously has never met Angelina before... So why should Eric put his words to importance? Those words couldn't possibly be true... But what if ?

Eric suddenly felt a sense of panic and dread rush into his heart.

Chester was just about to kick him once more when he and others heard people approaching. He stopped right away and straightened his posture. If one ignored the coughing Eric on the ground, one would think nothing happened.

The people approaching were actually one of the teachers of the academy, guards, and Angelina.

The male teacher spoke a few more words to Angelina before bowing respectfully then leaving.

Seeing the intimidating looking guards behind Angelina, Chester and his friends knew right away that she was an important figure.

They stood stiffly on the side as they watched the silver haired girl walk towards Eric.

Angelina frowned when she saw the weak looking Eric. She knew it. Angelina regretted that she didn't send a few guards to protect Eric. But she didn't want him to pull too much attention before the examination...

Angelina stole a glance of the nervous looking young boys. ' It was definitely them... '

She signalled for the guards to take the other participants farther away. Once they did, Angelina knelt down and looked at Eric.

She sighed.

"Sorry..." Eric thought she was mad and apologized immediately.

"No no. It's not your fault. Where does it hurt?" Angelina shook her head.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." Eric answered with his head looking down.

Angelina knew he could heal himself. She didn't know why she asked.

"Do you need anything? A glass of water?" Angelina stared at the boy in front of her and felt bad.

"No. I... I'm sorry." Eric apologized again.

"I told you it's not your fault." Angelina muttered softly.

"I ruined your gift. It's dirty now... I'm sorry." Eric continued to apologize. He didn't even dare to look at her.

"Ruin what?" Angelina's eyes landed on the stained clothing. "What... No, it's alright. It's just clothes. If you like this one so much I can buy you another one of the same design."

"Lady Angelina. Did... Did you really decide to help me because of my face...?" Eric asked. He tried to smile, but it looked sadder than if he was crying.

"What?! Who told you that?! Of course not!" Angelina was shocked. Where did he get that idea?

"Will you abandon me?" Eric proceeded to ask. His expression was extremely pityful.

"No! Why do you think that?" Angelina's brows furrowed.

"Well..." Eric didn't know what to say. But before he could think much further, he was pulled into a warm embrace.

"Throw these thoughts out of your head. Do you think you don't have value? I'm not like Evelina who'll just throw you away like that. You're an important person to me. You need to know that." Angelina spoke reassuring words while gently patting his back.

"... Ok" Eric's ears were painted red in an instant.

After a second, to Eric's disappointment, Angelina pulled away and patted his shoulder.

"Now, the entrance examination will begin soon. Believe in yourself. I know you'll be able to pass smoothly. Don't disappoint me." Angelina smiled comfortingly.

"Yes, my lady. I won't disappoint you!" Eric's smile brightened.

***********

As soon as Angelina returned to her seat, her face flushed as red a monkey's butt. What was she thinking?! How could she say such words?! She felt so ashamed...

After a moment of rethinking her words, Angelina heard cheers as the people saw the principle of the academy emerge.

The middle aged principal made a speech before announcing the start of the entrance examination.