Windsor Academy's dining hall looked more like a royal banquet hall than a school cafeteria. High ceilings, chandeliers, polished wooden floors, and long rows of white-tableclothed tables separated by invisible social barriers.
There were rules.
Unspoken, unwritten, but real.
The rugby team sat near the left windows. The music and drama kids claimed the sunken lounge area. Tech club and finance boys clustered near the far corner, surrounded by laptops and energy drinks.
And in the center—like lions at rest—the legacy heirs sat.
That's where Leon's table was.
Felix was already holding court, dramatically retelling the story of how he once flirted with a girl who turned out to be the dean's daughter.
"She was either into me or into torturing me," he said, biting into a cinnamon roll. "Either way, I felt something real."
Rafael rolled his eyes. "You feel something real every time a girl smiles."
"And yet," Felix said with a wink, "it's working."
Adrian didn't look up from his tablet. "You have zero unread messages."
Leon chuckled despite himself. It was easy to slip into this rhythm—this strange, chaotic brotherhood.
⸻
Then he saw her.
Evelyn.
She walked into the hall quietly, tray in hand. No friends. No fuss.
She wore a pale blue cardigan, hair tied loosely, and that same distant look in her eyes like she was here physically, but somewhere else entirely.
She glanced at the full tables and headed to an empty one near the back.
Leon stood up before he even realized he was moving.
"Whoa." Felix blinked. "Did His Highness just stand without announcing it first?"
Leon ignored him and crossed the room.
Each step felt loud.
Not because of noise, but because of what it meant.
He stopped at her table.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked.
She looked up. Her eyes searched his for a second longer than necessary, as if trying to place him.
Then she nodded. "Go ahead."
⸻
They ate mostly in silence.
Evelyn barely touched her salad. Leon found himself stirring soup that had gone cold.
"You transferred in last semester?" he asked finally.
She nodded. "Mid-term. From Oriel Academy."
"Art major?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. You asked Felix."
Leon smiled. "Busted."
She softened. "It's okay. He asked for my Instagram before he asked my name."
Leon winced. "Sounds like him."
A small pause.
"You don't talk like the others," she said.
"I'm not like the others," he replied, without thinking.
She tilted her head slightly, like she was reading between the lines of his voice.
"Good," she said.
⸻
Back at the legacy table, Felix grinned like he had just won the lottery.
"Leon Windsor," he said, slow and loud, "just abandoned his throne… for a girl."
"About time," Rafael said with a smirk.
Adrian didn't say anything. But for the first time all day, he looked mildly impressed.
Felix raised his glass.
"To breaking the rules," he declared.
"And maybe, just maybe… falling stupidly, tragically, wonderfully in love."
Leon glanced back toward Evelyn.
And for the first time since his return to this life,
he smiled like a seventeen-year-old boy again.