Chapter 15. Ghost Hunting

Daphnne had skillfully tied a flower crown, made out of daisies, hydrangeas, dandelions, and more. "Ta-Da!" She showcased her prized possession to the young teenage boy beside her.

"How does it look?"

Lucilline praised her, "It looks good! How did you make it?"

Daphnne felt quite proud. In the past, when she'd created these flower crowns and showed them to her childhood friend, Azalea showed no reaction. He merely nodded and looked away. When Daphnne gave one to him as a birthday gift, Azalea would just disassemble it. This only discouraged the heroine.

Now seeing Lucilline praising her, Daphnne felt quite satisfied!

"It's actually simple." Daphnne showed off. "You merely tie the stems of the flowers together in a dead knot, so it can't untie."

Lucilline showed an understanding expression.

"Here!" Daphnne placed the flower crown on Lucilline's head. "You wear it!"

She examined her new friend's appearance. Suddenly, she bursted in laughter. Lucilline was originally a gorgeous boy with delicate facial features. Now that a flower crown was added onto him, he appeared like he was the legendary Mother Nature.

"Why are you laughing..." Lucilline arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that I look ugly... no way... I'm usually so handsome..."

Daphnne shook her head. "That isn't it."

She explained, "Back in the orphanage, I would make these flower crowns for Azalea. However, that little righteous brat would always disassemble my hard work! He placed them all in vases... It felt like he wasn't taking my hard work seriously. That's why I was so happy that you look good in these flower crowns..."

Hearing that, Lucilline looked up at his head.

He then carefully took the crown off his head, "Daphnne, do you like flowers?"

Daphnne was confused. "Of course I do!"

"Then," Lucilline smiled, revealing his expanse of white teeth. "Since you like flowers, don't you want to cherish their every being? They look beautiful and pretty, but can be harmed easily. Azalea probably didn't want you to hurt these flowers, so he disassembled the crowns to water the flowers easier."

Daphnne couldn't fathom how her new friend managed to look beautiful in every angle. She listened carefully to his every word.

Lucilline disassembled the flower crown, giving each of the flowers back separately to Daphnne. "Don't blame Azalea for doing that in the past... Okay?"

Daphnne was stunned. She then smiled back, "Of course."

Even though she differed from Azalea a lot, she could now understand his actions. They were always so righteous and heroic. Her childhood friend didn't even dare to harm flowers... This put a smile on Daphnne's face.

For some reason, she felt like she gained a deeper understanding of Azalea.

"Oh, right, Lucilline." Daphnne remembered something. "Why are we avoiding Az now?"

Lucilline looked at her as if it was obvious. "He was going to get the both of you and him to ignore me. How could I stand that? I needed to get revenge, so now, I'm going to get you to avoid him with me."

Daphnne, "..." Why does this sound like some petty revenge... planned out by middle-schoolers?

"Don't worry." Lucilline reassured her. "We'll only avoid him for a day or two. You know, teach him a lesson."

Daphnne nodded. "I got it."

If Azalea were there, he would've been astonished at how fast the tables turned on him.

At the moment, Lucilline and Daphnne had snuck behind the back of the school. They sat on the cool grass, feeling the wind pass by their backs and soothing their skin. There was a large expanse of flowers, just waiting to be plucked.

Daphnne felt a great urge to pluck them, but then reminded herself that it'd be better to just admire them from afar.

She sighed, hugging her knees up to her chest.

"Hey." Suddenly, Lucilline nudged her. "Did you know that someone was watching us the entire time?"

Daphnne stiffened. "HUH!?!"

At the same time, a young man's figure stumbled. Their heads whirling around, the heroine and villain had turned to look at the new person.

The additional person was a young man, wearing the same uniform as them.

He had chestnut brown hair, long enough to reach his knees. However, he'd tied the locks up in a braid, letting it fall down a shoulder. This young man had a handsome face, high-arched nose, and hazelnut brown eyes, which shone a pretty colour upon fixating his gaze on the two main characters. His figure was lean yet muscular, with toned muscles underneath his clothing.

"I see you've discovered me." The young man tried to cover up his shame of being spotted.

He wore a bright smile, "My name is Percival Delta. Nice to meet both of you."

Upon hearing that name, both Lucilline and Daphnne had sat straighter. The surname "Delta" was one of the three Grand Dukes families; Rubius, Delta, and Leinhart.

This nobleman was on the same level of nobility as Lucilline!

"Lucilline Rubius, nice to meet you." Lucilline nodded, but didn't stand up.

Daphnne stood up instead, "I'm Daphnne, nice to meet you."

Percival didn't care if the new transfer student was a commoner or not. He treated her the same as any other women of nobility. "Oh, you don't need to stand. My status isn't that special or anything." Percival had a bright expression, as if not even the coldest rainstorms could dampen his mood.

Percival Delta was a member of the Duke Delta household. He was the only son. While Azalea, Daphnne, and Lucilline were all at the age of 15, Percival was one year older than them.

Thus, they weren't in the same classes. This meant that Percival was their senior.

"Hm... so, how come you're lurking around here?" Lucilline asked.

Upon hearing this question, Percival's body had unnaturally stiffened. He rigidly turned to look at Lucilline, who seemed calmer than ever. The happy mood seemed to vanish.

"You might not believe this..." Percival sighed. "But... I was in the bathroom today and experienced something horrible..."

When Lucilline heard this, he became the one to stiffen.

*****

Percival had entered the males washroom. He sighed, turning to a mirror. He examined his handsome facial features, his sharp cheekbones, his fair and unblemished skin...

As the only son of Duke Delta, Percival always needed to make sure he looked the best as possible.

He took ahold of a strand of his chestnut brown hair, which seemed to radiate gold from the ceiling lights. Then, Percival pinched the corner of his eyes, which were fixed looking at his own reflection. He gave a smile, which shined so brightly like the sun.

Feeling confident, Percival's mood had brightened some more.

All of a sudden, he heard a commotion from outside.

This made him panic.

What if someone catches the eldest son of Duke Delta flexing himself in front of the mirror? He tensed up, and hurriedly fled. Without thinking, Percival entered a stall, then closed the door. A small crack by the side of the door allowed him to see what was going on.

Percival shuddered.

The sound of anguished cries had echoed inside of the bathroom. Through the crack of the door, Percival saw three youngsters, being thrown up against the wall. Their backs had crashed against the sink, and Percival winced for them.

Abruptly, the eldest son's eyes had widened.

He found his heart skip a beat, as he caught the sight of a beautiful young man. He had pale and fair unblemished skin, as if he was carved out from white jade. This young man's figure was slender, with a pair of long legs and a skinny waist.

His hair was tied into a ponytail, laid across his shoulder. Though his hair was messily tied, Percival found it kind of... cute.

This beautiful young man had slammed the three youngsters against the sink. He questioned them with a scary glance, "Do you know your faults?"

The three youngsters had almost melted at the spot.

"Yes!" They blurted out simultaneously.

"Good." The beautiful young man began to crack his knuckles. "Then, you guys know what's about to happen, right?"

Percival held his breath behind the stall.

Then-

He was dumbfounded.

This beautiful young man, who looked like he could be completely blown over by the wind... had mercilessly pummelled the three youngsters into oblivion.

Percival thought to himself, I definitely can't get involved with this guy! What if I get on his wrong side? Who knows if he'll punch me in the future!

But then, his world was turned upside down again.

Percival watched speechlessly, as the beautiful young man had helped the three youngsters up from the ground. He had handed them a handkerchief, worriedly wiping some blood off of their cheeks.

"Did I go overboard?"

The three youngsters shook their head. "No, Master Lucilline! You can hit us harder!"

Percival, "..." It seems like there really are masochists in this world.

"You guys now know not to mess with my friends, okay?" The beautiful young man named "Lucilline" had said. "I don't know who you guys are, but it isn't nice to hurt my friends, right?"

Percival, "..." Says the person who just punched some teeth out.

The three youngsters nodded dumbly. "Whatever you say, Master Lucilline!"

"Why are you guys calling me Master?" Lucilline groaned. "I don't even know you guys, but you're acting like I'm the leader of your cult or something-"

*****

Percival ended his brief flashback. He decided to keep this "one-in-a-lifetime" experience to himself. However, Daphnne was curious.

"Did you see something scary in the washroom?" She asked.

Percival took a peek at Lucilline.

The latter also knew that Percival had been in the bathroom at that time. Lucilline bit his bottom lip, and a hundred of options had flown through his brain like "BRRRHHHH". He knew that his words impact Daphnne a lot. She would likely listen to whatever he says... so whatever he says matter...

Then, he wore a gentle smile and asked, "Yes? Did you see something scary?"

Percival, "..." You're not even going to try and help me?

He wiped away the stupor across his face, and coughed. It wouldn't hurt to make up a few stories to scare them... "Actually, when I was in the bathroom, I heard a lot of screams coming from next door. There was the sound of babies wailing, and knocking on the walls."

Daphnne was enamoured in this story. She held her breath. "And then?"

Percival continued. "At first, I thought that it was an illusion. But the more I try and listen for it, the louder it became. There were children crying, and the sound of screams. Sometimes, I thought that I heard chains clacking, with people clawing and knocking on the walls."

Lucilline arched an eyebrow. He knew that this was fake boloney, but he never knew that Percival could come up with such a descriptive scenario.

"You heard all of that from the next door?" Daphnne gushed.

Percival nodded. "Yes. Don't you know what room is next to the boys' washroom?"

Daphnne had a sudden realization. The room next to the boys' washroom was: The Experiments Lab. She suddenly had chills.

She imagined a bunch of babies being locked up in the laboratory, with chains locked around their limbs. The children want to escape... but couldn't. They would then punch and knock on the walls, wishing for someone to hear and save them. Their screams would echo in the laboratory, and who knows what kind of gruesome experiments were going on inside...

"That's indeed horrible!" Daphnne spat. She suddenly felt like S Academy was a school in disguise, when in reality, they were a secret organization-

Percival knew what she was thinking. "I checked out the laboratory afterwards. However, there was nobody inside." He quickly added another lie.

Daphnne was confused. "...then, what was all of that...?"

Percival gave his best bright smile. "A ghost, perhaps?"

This had shocked Daphnne. The heroine never thought that there was the possibility of... a ghost lurking in S Academy!?!

"Ghost..." Lucilline pondered over this.

His gaze at Percival clearly said, Are you trying to scare people?

"Hey hey hey..." Daphnne almost stumbled over her words. "Why don't we... go check out the laboratory for any ghosts... tonight?" She couldn't withhold her curiosity.

Lucilline looked at her. "Ghost hunting?"

This time, it was Percival who panicked. Wait... everything he said was just a mere lie...!

"Yes, then let's do that." Lucilline was eager to expose Percival. "Let's go ghost hunting tonight."