Chapter 14: The Bento
Three days.
Three full days had passed since Seraphina had shown up at Kael’s house with enough furniture to remodel half the neighborhood.
And since then...
They hadn’t seen her again.
"That’s weird."
Luna walked beside Kael through the academy hallways, carrying several books against her chest.
"What is?"
"That Miss Seraphina disappeared."
"She didn’t disappear."
"She did to me."
"Luna, she literally studies here."
"But I haven’t seen her."
"Because you study in a different building."
"Details."
Kael let out a sigh.
As they walked through the main courtyard, he overheard several students talking near a fountain.
"I heard she came back this morning."
"The Glacial Princess?"
"Yeah."
"Did she finish the mission?"
"Looks like it."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
Mission.
Another student chimed in.
"They say the Student Guild sent her on a special mission."
"Was it that hard?"
"From what I heard, they needed someone capable of freezing an entire lake of monsters."
"...Ah."
"Yeah, exactly that kind of mission."
Kael kept walking.
Now it made sense.
Seraphina was the strongest student in the entire academy.
She was probably entrusted with things the rest couldn’t even attempt.
Not that strange.
Luna, however, had a different opinion.
"You should be worried."
"Why?"
"Because your future wife was away for several days."
Kael gave her a little tap on the head.
"Ow."
"Don’t say nonsense."
"But—"
"No."
"But—"
"No."
"Big brother."
"No."
"You’d make an adorable couple."
"Luna."
"Yes."
"People are listening."
She looked around.
Several people were indeed listening.
"Oh."
"If rumors start, they could damage her reputation."
"True."
"Besides, she doesn’t even think about those things."
"Mhm."
"Why did you answer like Seraphina?"
"Mhm."
"..."
"Mhm."
"I’m going to abandon you."
"You can’t."
"Damn it."
Behind them walked the Little Fat King.
Annoyed.
Very annoyed.
Because no one was carrying him.
"Meow."
"No."
"Meow."
"You’ve walked five minutes."
"Meow."
"I’m not carrying you."
"Meow."
"You weigh more than Luna."
"Hey!"
"It’s true."
"It’s still rude."
The cat watched them with absolute contempt.
As if surrounded by incompetents.
"Meow."
"I don’t care."
"Meow."
"No."
"Meow."
"No."
"Meow."
"No."
The cat kept walking.
But now clearly offended.
.
.
.
Classes started.
And ended.
And started again.
Like any normal day.
Kael was honestly grateful for that.
Because after the past few weeks...
a quiet day was something rare.
During the break between classes, he was walking through one of the central courtyards when he saw her.
Seraphina.
Blue hair.
Impeccable uniform.
Serious expression.
Surrounded by an absurd number of students.
"Miss Seraphina!"
"How was the mission?"
"Is it true you defeated a Frost Hydra?"
"Is it true you froze an entire lake?"
"Would you sign this?"
"Could you look at my summon?"
Kael watched the scene for a few seconds.
Then looked down at the cat.
The cat was also watching.
"You know?"
"Meow."
"If all of them knew how she gets when she sees you."
"Meow."
"They’d stop calling her the Glacial Princess."
"Meow."
"Probably Cat Queen."
The cat seemed to approve of that theory.
Seraphina passed relatively close.
And for an instant...
her eyes met Kael’s.
She saw him.
Clearly.
Then kept walking.
As if nothing.
Kael just shrugged.
"I guess she’s busy."
"Meow."
.
.
.
A few hours later, break time came.
And Luna appeared like a human bullet.
"Big brother!"
"Hey."
"Let’s go to the rooftop."
"Why?"
"Because I’ve always wanted to eat there."
"And you’re just now saying it?"
"They never let me go up before."
"That explains a lot."
They climbed the stairs.
The day was nice.
The wind was fresh.
And for the first time in a long while, it seemed like nothing was going to explode.
As they walked across the upper courtyard...
Kael saw Seraphina again.
In the distance.
Surrounded by students once more.
"It must be exhausting."
"What?"
"Being famous."
Luna looked.
"Ah."
"I’d die."
"Me too."
Seraphina lifted her gaze slightly.
And saw him again.
Kael gave a small nod.
A simple greeting.
Normal.
Like anyone would do.
She watched him.
Then kept walking.
Kael continued on his way too.
"See?"
"What?"
"A completely normal interaction."
"Mhm."
"Don’t start."
.
.
.
Then they heard something.
First murmurs.
Then whispers.
Then voices.
Lots of voices.
"Huh?"
"What’s going on?"
"Where is she going?"
"Is she coming this way?"
"No."
"Yes?"
"YES!"
Kael turned around.
Confused.
And saw something strange.
The whole crowd around Seraphina was moving.
Because Seraphina was moving.
And she was walking straight toward them.
Nearby students started fixing their hair.
Others stood up straight.
One even tried to pose.
"She’s coming toward me."
"No, toward me."
"It’s definitely toward me."
"I’ve never felt so alive."
"Big brother."
"Yeah."
"I think something’s happening."
"I noticed."
Seraphina kept advancing.
Without stopping.
Without speaking.
Without looking at anyone.
Until finally...
she stopped in front of Kael.
Silence.
Absolute.
The entire academy seemed to have frozen.
Kael blinked.
She took something out.
A box.
Carefully decorated.
A bento.
And placed it in his hands.
"I made it this morning."
Kael: "..."
Luna: "..."
Students: "..."
The cat: "Meow."
Kael took a few seconds to process it.
"Huh?"
"It’s food."
"Yeah, I see it’s food."
"Mhm."
"Thanks."
She nodded.
Then looked at the cat.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
And then simply left.
Just like that.
No explanation.
No context.
Nothing.
Silence.
Even more silence.
Kael slowly looked down at the bento.
Then at Luna.
Then at the hundreds of frozen students around him.
And then...
The world exploded.
"WHAAAAAT!?"
"SHE BROUGHT HIM FOOD!?"
"PERSONALLY!?"
"MADE BY HER!?"
"I’M SEEING THINGS!?"
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!"
"THAT’S NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!!"
"NOT EVEN WITH THE BIG TEN!!"
"NOT EVEN WITH THE TEACHERS!!"
"NOT EVEN WITH THE DIRECTOR!!"
Kael felt a chill.
"Oh no."
"Big brother."
"Oh no."
"Big brother."
"OH NO."
"Yeah."
"The rumors are going to be horrible."
"Yeah."
"I’m going to die."
"Probably."
Behind them, someone was already writing things down.
"I need to report this."
"DON’T REPORT ANYTHING!!"
"Too late!"
"DAMN IT!!"
Meanwhile...
Seraphina had already disappeared into the crowd.
As if nothing had happened.
.
.
.
Far from the main courtyard.
On a huge branch near the academy’s outer wall.
A young man watched the entire scene.
Black hair.
Golden eyes.
An amused smile.
And an open book in his hands.
"Wow."
He slowly closed the book.
"So that’s Kael Veyron."
He had been watching him for days.
Listening to rumors.
Stories.
Exaggerations.
Lies.
And an absurd number of ridiculous theories.
But seeing him in person...
was much more interesting.
Especially because he seemed completely incapable of understanding the chaos he caused.
The young man smiled.
"I like you."
He jumped from the branch.
Landing softly on the ground.
And began walking toward the academy.
"I think it’ll be fun to meet you."
For the first time.
Aurelion Voss had decided to intervene.
And when someone like him took an interest in something...
trouble usually followed.
A lot of trouble.
.
.
.
Kael and Luna eating on the rooftop, having their lunch.
Luna tries to take a bite of what Seraphina gave Kael, and he gives her a little tap on the hand to stop her while he keeps eating.
The Little Fat Kin— Ow.
Meow...
Sorry, the Cat of Absolute Contempt eats the bento that Kael had prepared for himself for lunch.
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Exss’s Note: Sorry for taking so long to update, guys, but I’ve been busy with my other novels. I’ll be back to updating with at least one Chapter a day soon, so please support me with power stones and reviews, as I’ve applied for a contract for this novel and hopefully it will be accepted. P.S. Sorry, I used all caps again for the screaming, haha.
