11 Chapter 11

The prestigious Alpha Academy, the pride of Reinhold was due to resume on the very first weekend of the year. It was made so that the students would have the rest of the weekend to settle in before studies resumed properly in the new week.

So right at dawn on a cold Friday morning, Marina came charging into her only child's room, a slew of servants in tow. Henri had to be punctual on his first day of school, Alpha Academy had strict rules that they would not easily bend, even for royalty.

"Henri! Dearest! Wake up, it's time for school!" She called in a sing-song voice, throwing open the curtains.

Henri groaned and pulled up the blankets to protect his eyes from the first rays of light. He was certain that his mother had been waiting impatiently for this moment ever since it was decided that he would be attending the academy.

He grudgingly got up. "I can't understand why you are more enthusiastic than I am, mother." He complained, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning to you too Henri!" She smiled brightly, helping him off the bed so that the servants could take him off to his bathroom to get cleaned up.

It was merely to save time as she was well aware of how long it took Henri to get dressed by himself, and he always looked sloppy no matter how much effort he put in. Marina found it adorable but she would never mention it to her proud son.

She got out a pair of his uniform, he had been given several pairs and could request for more anytime he wished to. The uniform was made up of a high-necked garnet-colored dress shirt, with a similar colored cravat. While the waistcoat, outer coat, breeches, and boots were all a regal black.

Henri was quickly dressed by the small army of maids that his mother had brought along with her, an intricate gold crown placed on his styled hair.

"You'll have breakfast in the dining room today." Marina led him out of his room when he was all dressed. "I especially cooked your breakfast myself." She boasted, pleased with how well things were progressing.

"Good morning, father." Henri greeted glumly when he bumped into his father in the dining room.

Eli chuckled. "I see that you're having a good time."

"Take her off my hands will you?" He half-pleaded with his father when his mother ran off somewhere.

"No can do, son." Eli quickly backed off. "She insisted on being the one to take you to the academy, I couldn't change her mind even if I tried."

At that moment, Marina came back in with a swarm of photographers, detailing exactly how she wanted the pictures to be taken.

Henri put up with his mother's enthusiasm knowing that she was going through all the trouble just for his sake. It was much quieter on the carriage ride to the Academy, it wasn't much of a distance away from the castle so they would make good time.

Henri had gotten a carriage all to himself because his mother wanted to make sure that all of his luggage had been properly packed and nothing was missing. The silence made his thoughts loud. It was odd for him to be nervous, there was nothing to be nervous about, it was just a public school.

The academy itself was a sprawling cluster of buildings behind high cast iron gates, cold brick walls hemming it in. The large road in front of the school was filled with carriages of all kinds, the moment the trio of royal carriages pulled up, a ripple of shocked gasps went through the crowd.

Henri was seated in the middle carriage, his mother in the rear. The first carriage consisted of servants and guards, it was a little excessive in Henri's opinion. The academy provided carriages at the gates which meant that parents and their children parted at the gates.

After the initial shock of the sudden appearance of the three carriages bearing the royal symbol, the crowd of people were immediately thrown into an uproar. Media personnel hurried over, uncaring of everyone else at the big fish to fry.

One of the people abandoned was Cecil Ludlow, he was also a new student at the academy and although he was one of the first people to resume, he came back out just to get himself on the paper.

He had lofty dreams of rising to the top of the academy with his charm and brilliance and he had been doing exceptionally well, journalists lining up to have a word with him because he said all of the right things.

He wasn't of noble blood which meant that it was a big deal for him to have such popularity on his very first day of school as there were lots of nobles attending the academy, both as new students and returning ones.

He was just as surprised as everyone else when the royal carriages rode up, stopping at the entrance to the academy no less. It was expected that the media would drop everything else to cover the possible appearance of royalty.

Cecil drifted closer to get a better look, watching with curiousity as the first carriage opened up to reveal a large number of servants who hurried out with a rolled up carpet and headed for the last carriage.

The carpet was laid out vertically to connect the third and the second carriage which was a bit odd.

Well, firstly, the appearance of a member of the royal family was very odd. The King and Queen supported the academy but never made the effort to show up on opening day, and there were so many carriages too. Did the entire royal family come? Was the elusive Omega Prince with them as well??

These were thoughts that were running through the mind of everyone present. So much that they held their breaths when the third carriage's door was opened.

Marina let herself be helped down the side of the lavish carriage that she had been riding in. Her crown winked in the morning sun, her soft blue dress flowing like the ripples on the smooth surface of a lake.

Cheers immediately started up as soon as she made an appearance, camera shutters and flashes going off rapidly.

Marina smiled serenely, waving to the crowd as she walked regally on the carpet laid out for her. She was headed to her son's carriage, barely stopping herself from smiling giddily, she had an image to uphold after all.

Inside of his carriage, Henri sat stiffly, it felt like the seat's cushion was made up of pins and needles. He could hear the ruckus outside but the curtains were drawn close so he couldn't see it. His carriage was finally opened and the first thing he saw was his mother beaming up at him.

"You didn't have to come all the way to my carriage to help me, mother." Henri lightly scolded, relieved that his mother was here with him, although he was never going to tell her that.

"It's fine, dearest." Marina stepped back to let Henri come down, which he did with ease.

The noise in the crowd reached an all-time high, the cameras going off like crazy. Not only were most of the citizens in the crowd seeing their beloved Prince for the first time but he was also dressed in the uniform of the prestigious Alpha Academy, which could only mean one thing.