Chapter 21

In their shared dormitory, Milo flopped dramatically onto Adrelo’s bed, arms spread wide, letting out an exaggerated groan.

“Why are you whining again?”

Adrelo asked as he entered the room, raising an eyebrow.

Milo shot up, clinging to Adrelo’s arm.

“Hey! What are you whining about? Hey! Let go of me!”

“You’re so mean!” Milo wailed, fake tears streaming down his face as he sniffled loudly.

“Tell me! Who have you been seeing lately? Waaaah, you don’t even care about me anymore!”

He punctuated his theatrics by wiping his invisible tears on Adrelo’s sleeve.

“Wha—? No one!” Adrelo protested, yanking his arm away. His ears reddened slightly.

“Now let go of me, you duckling!”

Milo straightened up with a mock-serious expression, his dramatic antics fading into a sharp glare.

“Brother,” he said menacingly, his tone low and accusing,

“who have you been seeing lately? I feel like you’re going out with someone, seeing how late you’ve been coming back to the dormitory.”

“What the—don’t make it sound like that!”

Adrelo snapped, his face heating up further.

Milo smirked, leaning closer.

“Then why are you always back so late, hmm? So, you were meeting up with someone! Hehe.”

Adrelo groaned, his patience wearing thin as Milo teased him relentlessly. After several minutes of Milo’s prodding, Adrelo finally had enough. With a well-placed nudge, he pushed Milo off his bed and onto the floor.

“Ouch!” Milo yelped, clutching his side as he dramatically rolled onto his back.

“That hurts! You’re such a meanie, young master Adrelo!”

Adrelo crossed his arms, glaring down at him.

“Humph! If you don’t stop your whining, I’m telling you, I’ll snap you into two and bring back the infamous Adrelo right this instant.”

Milo immediately sat up, raising his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop!” he said quickly. But his curiosity didn’t wane.

“But seriously, where are you disappearing off to after classes? I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Do you know how much my feet sting after searching all over campus for you?”

Adrelo rolled his eyes.

“I was just in a certain room, doing some stuff.”

“‘Stuff,’ huh?” Milo repeated, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

“And by ‘stuff,’ you mean…?”

“Sleeping,” Adrelo said flatly.

“I’m not a fool,” Milo shot back, crossing his arms.

Adrelo ignored him, busying himself with tidying his desk.

...

Milo’s gaze narrowed as he leaned against the bedframe, studying Adrelo closely.

“Hmm… come to think of it, I overheard a certain first-year student looking for you earlier.”

Adrelo stiffened but kept his face neutral, side-eyeing Milo as if to warn him not to go any further.

Milo gasped theatrically, clutching his chest.

“No… no way! You—you replaced me with the Hummingbird of the Fernhart family?!” He flung himself onto the bed with mock devastation.

“Waaah, that hurts, man!”

“Shut up,” Adrelo muttered, rubbing his temples.

“Wait, so you and him have been hanging out lately?” Milo sat up again, his curiosity renewed.

“Dude, really? Do you even know who that guy is? That’s the famous Hummingbird of the Academy!” He began rattling off facts with growing excitement.

“I’ve heard so many rumors about him—how beautiful his voice is, how his face is practically sculpted by the gods. And get this, in his first month here, he’s already won over the music professors and gained a whole crowd of fans, especially among the first years!”

Adrelo’s face twitched slightly at Milo’s rambling, but he said nothing.

Milo leaned closer, lowering his voice dramatically.

“But I also heard that his brother is super protective of him. Like, crazy protective. You’d better watch your back if you’re hanging out with him.”

Adrelo remained quiet, pretending to be absorbed in arranging his books, but a faint, reluctant smile tugged at his lips as he listened to Milo gush about Elias. He couldn’t argue with anything Milo said—Elias really was remarkable.

Milo noticed the quiet smile and gasped again.

“Wait. Don’t tell me… are you smiling right now?”

“No, I’m not,” Adrelo replied instantly, his tone defensive.

“You are! You totally are!” Milo crowed, pointing a finger at him.

“Go to bed, you duckling,”

Adrelo muttered, grabbing a pillow and chucking it at Milo’s face.

The room filled with laughter and Milo’s exaggerated protests as the teasing continued late into the night.

****

The next morning.

Adrelo and Milo walked into their classroom together, settling into their usual seats. Milo, however, was unusually quiet. He was staring unabashedly at the green-haired boy seated a few rows ahead—Lucien Fernhart, the brother of Elias.

Adrelo followed Milo’s gaze and immediately sighed. He smacked the back of Milo’s head without warning.

“Ow!” Milo yelped, clutching his head.

“What was that for?!”

“Stop staring at him like that,” Adrelo said, rolling his eyes.

“You’re making it weird.”

Milo pouted dramatically.

“I wasn’t staring. I was observing.”

“Observing what? How not to embarrass yourself in public?”

“Excuse you, young master Adrelo,” Milo said, straightening his posture mockingly.

“I was just appreciating his… unique hair color! You don’t see green every day, you know.”

Adrelo raised an eyebrow.

“That’s your excuse? You’re one bad pick-up line away from being kicked out of the classroom.”

Milo grinned, unfazed.

“Come on, admit it. He’s got that mysterious, brooding older-brother vibe, doesn’t he? Like, the kind you read about in novels”

Adrelo smirked but shook his head.

“You’re hopeless.”

Milo leaned closer, lowering his voice dramatically.

“But seriously, that’s Elias’s brother, right? Does he know you’ve been hanging out with his sibling? Maybe he’s silently judging you for corrupting the pure and innocent Hummingbird.”

Adrelo scoffed, but his ears turned faintly pink.

“Shut up, Milo.”

Milo snickered.

“Oh, I’m so telling him you’re scared of him. I bet he’d love to know.”

Adrelo groaned. “Just focus on class, you duckling.”

After class, Adrelo spotted Gareth leaning against the wall near the hallway, arms crossed, his scowl deeper than usual.

“Gareth!”

Adrelo called out cheerfully, walking over.

The stocky boy turned his head slightly but didn’t bother replying.

“How’s life treating you, roommate?”

Adrelo asked, unfazed by Gareth’s pointed glare.

“Fine,” Gareth muttered, clearly uninterested.

Adrelo leaned against the wall beside him, arms crossed to mimic Gareth’s stance.

“You know, for someone who spends so much time scowling, you’d think you’d run out of face muscles by now.”

Gareth shot him a warning look.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing much,” Adrelo said casually, inspecting his nails.

“Just wondering how you’ve been since you started ignoring me like I don’t exist. Is it because I’m too charming for you to handle?”

Gareth gritted his teeth.

“Leave me alone, Dierre.”

Adrelo grinned.

“Aw, come on, don’t be like that. I miss the good old days when you’d chase me down for sneaking snacks into the dorm.”

“That wasn’t ‘sneaking,’” Gareth growled.

“You set the stove on fire.”

“And who saved the day? You’re welcome, by the way,” Adrelo said smugly.

Gareth’s eye twitched.

“You almost got us expelled.”

“Almost. Key word there,” Adrelo teased, stepping in front of him.

“Admit it, Gareth. You missed babysitting me.”

The glare Gareth gave him could’ve rivaled a death spell.

“This isn’t the same Adrelo I’ve known for two years. What’s gotten into you?”

Adrelo shrugged, smirking.

“Maybe I’ve just realized how fun it is to see you snap. You’re like a grumpy teddy bear.”

Gareth’s jaw tightened, and his fists clenched at his sides.

“Don’t test me, Dierre.”

“Oh, but I love a good challenge,” Adrelo said, chuckling.

Arcanis Colosseum

Their bickering continued as they made their way to the academy’s gymnasium, known as the Arcanis Colosseum. The sprawling space was designed for students to practice magic, hold sparring matches, and train for combat scenarios.

As soon as they arrived, Gareth broke away from Adrelo and headed toward a group of athletic-looking students gathered near the practice dummies.

“Wait, you’re ditching me already?”

Adrelo called after him, feigning hurt.

Gareth ignored him, joining the group, who greeted him with nods and quick handshakes.

Adrelo stayed back, leaning against the entrance. He observed the scene with mild curiosity.

The students were practicing spells in between casual chatter, their movements precise and disciplined. Some of them seemed to be testing their strength with melee weapons enchanted with magical runes.

“Interesting crowd,”

Adrelo muttered to himself, his gaze flickering back to Gareth.

Despite his scowl and grumpy demeanor, Gareth seemed completely at ease among the group. His laugh, though rare, was surprisingly hearty as one of the students cracked a joke.

Adrelo smirked.

“Who knew the grump could be so popular?”

Crossing his arms, he decided to stay and observe for a while longer, the teasing plans for later already forming in his mind.

****

Adrelo walked through the school hallway, his footsteps echoing softly in the quiet space. He didn’t bother sparing a glance at the other students lingering nearby, even as he caught snippets of murmured conversations that trailed in his wake.

“Did you hear? The first prince and the second prince are leaving tomorrow,” one student whispered to another.

“Yeah, they’re heading to Nordheimska Valorant Academy for the traditional visit. It’s part of the lead-up for the Eirwinter Trials, right?”

“Exactly. Four months from now, we’ll see which academy comes out on top. The northern academy’s students are always so impressive!”

Adrelo raised an eyebrow at the mention of Nordheimska Valorant Academy, the prestigious northern school known for producing battle-hardened mages. The Eirwinter Trials, if he recalled correctly, was a grueling inter-academy tournament showcasing the strongest students from the various magical schools.

He sighed. “Great,” he muttered under his breath.

The casual reminder of the first prince—Azekeian Luxein Geovri Breneille, the golden boy destined for the throne and the female lead’s ideal partner—made his chest tighten slightly. Not out of jealousy, of course. It was just the knowledge that, soon after the prince’s return from this traditional visit, the female lead’s story would truly begin.

“The clock’s ticking,”

Adrelo murmured to himself, glancing briefly at the floor as he walked. He didn’t have anything against the first prince personally, but the idea of being around him—or, worse, somehow getting entangled in the inevitable love story—made his skin crawl.

His thoughts shifted to the second prince, Luxecio Azekian Geovri Breneille, the so-called gentle prince. Unlike his older brother, Luxecio rarely basked in the spotlight, opting instead for quiet diplomacy and charm. If anyone could soften the tension in a room, it was him.

Adrelo hummed thoughtfully.

“Well, at least he’s not as terrifying as the third prince…”

Then, his mind wandered to Dennielle Azekian Luxein Geovri Breneille, the infamous fourth prince.

A shiver ran down his spine at the mere thought of him. It wasn’t even that Dennielle had done anything to him recently—it was just his aura. Those piercing eyes that seemed to read straight into your soul... The memory alone made Adrelo grimace.

“Honestly,” he muttered humorously, stuffing his hands into his pockets,

“why couldn’t the third prince go to this northern academy visit, too? If all three of them were gone, I’d finally have some peace of mind.”

The thought of Dennielle returning his gaze, even for a moment, made him shiver again. No, thank you.

Adrelo shook his head, trying to push those unsettling thoughts aside. Instead, he focused on reaching his destination—or maybe just wandering aimlessly until he could distract himself with something less nerve-wracking than thoughts of royal brothers.