"Ryan."
That was all he said before taking his seat. The room went still—everyone who knew him by his real name stared, including Ariana. Why would he change his name? For nobility, a public declaration like that meant only one thing: complete disownment of family and bloodline.
"Hey, Isa, what do you—?" Ariana reached for her friend beside her, but stopped mid-sentence. Eloisa's face had gone completely white.
"Isa!" She shook her leg hard. Eloisa jerked back to awareness, gasping for air.
"What's wrong?" Ariana's concern deepened. She couldn't deny it anymore—something was seriously wrong with her friend.
"I've just... been feeling weird lately." Eloisa took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself.
'That amulet. Why does he still have it?' Her eyes fixed on the pendant that had slipped from his shirt while he slept.
"Weird how? Does it have something to do with... him?" Ariana asked carefully.
"I just need some fresh air. It's nothing, really." Eloisa stood abruptly, excused herself, and headed for the door.
"Pardon my prying, but what exactly went on between them?" Rizel couldn't contain her curiosity any longer, watching Eloisa leave.
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that. It's sensitive." Ariana's gaze shifted to the young man who had settled into his seat with infuriating nonchalance. Her anger flared.
She was definitely going to make him feel what she'd felt back then. And she knew exactly how to do it.
Let's see how you react to this. She smiled wickedly before turning back to the teacher.
But Rizel remained fixated on this mysterious young man. With each passing second, she felt it growing—this abnormal want, no, need to know what he was and what secrets he carried.
It was controllable now, but she couldn't tell what would become of her in the coming days. I have to find out everything I can about him before the drawbacks intensify. She began hatching a plan. If she didn't find a way to reduce or completely eliminate this growing curiosity, things were bound to get ugly for someone.
And that person wasn't going to be her.
.
.
.
.
"Um... why are you seated here?" Lorelle—or rather, Ryan—asked, studying the young man with green hair and green eyes who had introduced himself as 'Silver.'
"Because I want to?" Silver raised an eyebrow, not getting where this was going.
Ryan regarded him for a moment, then leaned back in his chair. "You said you are a Pariceon, right?"
"Why?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"I don't remember them having a son my age," Lorelle replied with the same courtesy of narrowed eyes.
"Are you... racist?" Silver frowned.
"What?... Why would you even ask that?" Ryan was genuinely confused.
"I don't know. Your questions seem to be headed in that direction."
"But racist how? You are human... right?" Ryan asked, now wary. He couldn't remember such a character from the game.
"Of course I'm human. What else would I be? A shape-shifting Gyrod working as a spy for the vampires? Definitely not." Silver laughed.
'Alright, who the fuck is this?'
[Hmm... he's strange.]
'He's not human?'
[He is. But something doesn't feel right about him.]
'....,'
Ryan stared at him for a while, then completely ignored him.
"Lucas Macendial," called a voice. Ryan's head snapped toward a young man seated with a shy-looking girl. She had lustrous purple hair held in place with a matching flower, and the same colored eyes.
[Let me guess, the protagonist and the main heroine?]
"Close."
[Huh?]
"The main protagonist and the major antagonist of the third volume."