Nom—! Nom—!
-"Wow, just look at him."
-"Isn't he supposed to be a royal? A descendant of a ruling family?"
-"I know right? Where are his manners? Even commoners know how to act more elegantly than him."
-"Guys, he's disowned. He's not an elite anymore. He can act however he likes."
-"He still has 'Morningstar' in his name, you know, the wolves of the west. He should at least try to live up to that reputation."
Oh god, do these side characters ever shut up?! Let me eat in peace!
Hmm? You want to know what's going on?
I'll tell you what's going on.
Yesterday, when I got home at around 3 am, I instantly fell on my bed and slept like a fucking horse.
I woke up straight at 6 pm after that because I felt extremely thirsty. Yes, I had forgotten to drink or even eat before sleeping.
So I drank water, ate instant noodles, and came back to the training gym to practice again.
I finally went back home at 11 pm, exhausted from all the training. I went to bed and only woke up when it was time for the academy.
To sum it all up, it's Monday now and I haven't had a proper meal since Saturday evening aside from that one packet of instant noodles.
You have no idea how hungry I am.
That's why, as soon as the lunch break arrived, I bolted down to the cafeteria and ordered half the items on the menu!
When my food finally came, I scarfed it down like I hadn't eaten in days. I wasn't worried about manners or how messy I looked, I just needed to satisfy my hunger.
Some people, with nothing better to do, began gossiping when they saw me stuffing my face like a caveman.
Do they think I can't hear them? Well, I can! I'm just not reacting or making a fuss by replying to them because I'm hungry!
"Dude, Lucas, you okay?"
While I was busy pushing food down my mouth, a worried voice resounded from my right.
Without stopping my hands and mouth, I turned my head to look at who it was.
Of course, it was Kent.
He held a tray of food in his hands and gazed down at me with a worried expression.
"Kho shent, ish hu. (Oh Kent, it's you.)"
"Dude, either eat or talk."
Kent casually placed the tray on the table and sat down across from me as if we had been friends for a long time.
"The way you're eating makes you look like a slob. How long have you been starving for?"
"Shaturdey." I replied, biting down on a slice of garlic bread that I was saving for the last.
"Saturday?" Kent exclaimed in shock. "Since you left the cafe after meeting me?"
"Yush," I nodded.
"Bro! Did you do nothing but practice?"
"Haaaa," after finishing my meal and gratifying my hunger with a satisfying moan, I downed a full bottle of water.
Only when I was done I finally replied to Kent's questions.
"Ahh, yeah, I kind of lost myself in practice."
"Dude, practicing is good and all but don't overdo it."
"Yeah yeah, I won't."
I wasn't lying. I really got lost in training.
When was the last instance where I became so engrossed in an activity that I lost track of time?
The last time I could remember getting so lost in doing something was back when I was just a kid and I had started playing chess.
Oh god, I used to love chess back then.
I was around 8 or 9 I think. My father gifted me a chessboard for my birthday and taught me to play.
At first, I found the game to be quite dull, but as he patiently walked me through each move, something inside me clicked.
I became utterly absorbed in the game, losing track of time as I strategized and planned my next move.
After that, at some point, that 64 squared black and white board became a way for me to escape my bland reality.
I joined the school's chess club, participated in inter-branch tournaments and started thinking about going pro.
However, I quickly found out I wasn't cut out for it. I started choking against players. Not because they were good at the game or I was bad, but because I started feeling bored.
Like every other thing, chess started to lose my interest too. It became… monotonous.
I tried reading tactics books, applied new strategies, solved complicated puzzles, and challenged high-ranked players, but nothing helped.
By the time I was 13, I had lost any sense of connection I had to the game. Playing it wasn't exciting anymore.
That was the first and last hobby I enjoyed before I started reading fantasy novels.
Ahh~ novels. I got lost in the pages, in the stories, in the worlds, but even that wasn't enough to keep me entertained for long.
After a while, the endings of the stories became obvious, the excitement faded, and all the authors became nothing but a disappointment.
"Hey, Lucas, are you listening?"
Right when I was lost in my thoughts, a slightly annoyed voice shook me awake.
"Huh? What?" I asked, wiping my mouth with a handkerchief.
"I said, that girl I was with, Lilly. I got to meet her older sister. Her name is Rose."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes, and you know what?"
"Yeah?"
"I made a move on her."
"You what?!"
"I made a move on Rose. But she kept telling me that she had a boyfriend. I guess it's her way of telling me that she's still not married hah! What do you think?"
I think you're stupid!
I was at a loss for words. I knew this guy had trouble picking social cues, but dude! Take a hint!
"Kent, take a hint."
"Yeah?"
"I said, take a hint."
"Yeah, that's my name. Kent Takeahint."
…Fuck me.
Baaam—!
Just as I was about to explain to Kent what the phrase 'I have a boyfriend' meant, a loud baam sound resounded throughout the whole cafeteria.
Instinctively both me and Kent and literally everyone else in the cafeteria turned our heads toward the source of the disturbance.
We saw a huge, imposing tan skinned boy who had bumped into a boy with jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. It was Alberto, and he had collided with Nero.
The tray of food Nero was holding slipped from his grasp, spilling its contents onto him and staining his school dress.
"Ahh, it's that guy!" Kent exclaimed, recognizing Alberto. "You know, the guy who baselessly accused William."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember," I said, nodding my head.
"Oh, of course you do. You were eating popcorn while standing in the front row, hahaha!"
"What? You saw that?"
"Dude, the whole training field saw that! Hahaha!"
Arghh, embarrassing.
Anyway, I shifted my focus back to Nero and Alberto. I knew what would happen but I still wanted to watch the scene play out.
"Are you blind? Can't you see a person twice your size walking toward you, you twat?" putting on his signature annoying smirk, Alberto scoffed.
"Alberto, I was standing here. You were the one who bumped into me. What are you talking about?" with a look of confusion plastered on his face, Nero asked.
"Oh wow, is everyone in your class a liar? You clearly walked and crashed into me! Ask anyone in my class."
As soon as Alberto said that, as if waiting for the cue, several people from his class started nodding their heads and exclaiming
-"Yeah, you bumped into him!"
-"Class 1-A-1 are a bunch of liars! Hahaha!"
-"Wow, they really have no shame."
In response to the taunts and ridicule from class 1-C-1, our class also didn't remain silent.
-"What? What do you mean by liars?! You guys are the ones lying!"
-"Why do they always come searching for a fight?"
-"What is wrong with them? I saw Nero was just standing there!"
"You guys are lucky your class has so many pretty girls!"
The one who said that last sentence was Kent from in front of me. So naturally, I gave him a disgusted look.
"What?" noticing the look on my face, Kent shrugged. "You gotta agree. Their class has so many hot chicks."
Well, he wasn't wrong.
Actually, now that he has mentioned it, I have yet to come across an ugly person in this world.
Is everyone in this world beautiful?
Wait, does that mean I'm nothing special either?
Gasp!
No, no. My charm stat is definitely high so I can rest assured about that. I'm definitely handsome.
…Yeah, I am.
"Okay, everyone, calm down!" loudly yelling and ensuring his voice could reach every ear present here, Nero raised his hands to get everyone's attention. "We don't want to start a fight inside the academy. It will only affect us and our merit points."
As soon as Nero brought that point up, everyone who was earlier making a fuss quieted down.
After nodding adequately, Nero put on a wide bright smile and turned to face Alberto.
"And you, although I stand by what I said if you still think I had bumped into you intentionally, which would be crazy considering the food I was carrying spilled on me and not you so I gained nothing out of it, then I'm sorry."
Without bothering to wait for a response to his apology, Nero picked up his food tray from the ground and walked past Alberto to reorder his lunch.
However, before he could take more than a few steps, a cruel smile crept up on Alberto's face.
"Apology accepted… whoreson," he said.
Although he only murmured it under his breath, his voice seemed to have echoed in Nero's ears, causing him to stop in his tracks.
