1 [cupidity] i

WITH THE CLACKS OF her heeled boots against the cobblestone, Lucilia nodded towards her servant as she walked past the gates. The servant gave her a stiff salute before departing, his silver hair glistening below the sunlight. Drefan whined lowly under his breath, finding the servant's presence comforting in comparison to Lucilia's haughty and dismissive aura.

Lucilia frowned in the small dragon's direction, before flicking her wrist. Her luggage floated behind her as she walked towards the dormitory, ruby eyes scanning her surroundings in a small sense of curiosity. At the moment, she could only do simple spells like levitation, but she knew she had a lot more potential than many of the people around her. It was just that if she went any further, her magic would backfire on her.

With a light sigh, she found her room number (which was specifically stated in the acceptance letter the school sent her the week before: Room 001) and entered. She quickly unpacked all her luggage, before sorting her textbooks into the provided bookshelves. After neatly organizing all her belongings, she bathed herself. Drefan made himself comfortable in her pillows, asleep by the time she exited her bath.

It was only around 7:00 PM when Lucilia heard a bell chime from a large dome at the center of the courtyard. Stretching, she put on her uniform, finding that it was above average in quality with its soft fabric and unicorn hair threading that gave it a minty scent. Of course, she was only used to the best of the best, so this was quite the compliment.

It consisted of a white button down dress shirt, a red blazer with white lining, a dark red tie tucked neatly under the blazer and a red skirt with white lining at the edge. She kept her hair up with a small red bow, completing the look.

As she walked past the door, Drefan was shocked awake because of the distance she put between them. Irritated, the charcoal dragon flapped his wings and begrudgingly followed her as she made her way to the dome. As Lucilia was walking through the entrance of the dome, she caught sight of a tall figure amongst the crowd. Some students formed a small circle around him, praising his looks and fancy clothes.

A bit irritated that he was the only one getting all the attention, Lucilia coughed lightly, catching the attention of some straying eyes. She was a beautiful girl, with no blemish or flaw on her face, so some people already couldn't help but notice her. Though, it was only when they noticed a small black dragon flying behind her did they realize who she really was.

Only one family line bred a line of pureblooded charcoal dragons: The Llouvrés. The story went like this: the head Llouvré, still young and reckless, was given a mission to claim a breed of dragons as everlasting familiars in order to prove himself a powerful magician in the eyes of the original King. To complete the mission, he went off to search for and claim the Forest Dragons, a species he was quite fond of.

The Grandfather Charcoal Dragon was said to be lurking in the forests for food when he noticed how powerful the head Llouvré was. Hiding in the shadows, the grandfather fooled the head into believing he was a Forest Dragon, causing the head to use the capture spell on him. The head was initially upset about the trick but soon found that the charcoal dragons were clever in deception and incredibly loyal, eventually becoming very satisfied with the breed.

Upon seeing a charcoal dragon in real life, the students quickly understood Lucilia was a Llouvré and that she was not to be bothered.

The girl herself became at peace once the attention fell at her. With a smile, she walked to the front of the stage so that she was directly looking up at the podium. Nobody moved to stop her even when she deliberately pushed them out of her way, intimidated by both her and the dragon following her. Finally, she settled herself at the very front row, having a perfect view of the stage.

As the time ticked, Lucilia was getting increasingly annoyed and bored. Where was the principal? She scowled openly, looking at the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "What's a pretty lady like you frowning so heavily for?" a sultry voice spoke up behind her. Lucilia turned around in shock, a bit alarmed that a random person was complimenting her and, at the same time, very pleased that a random person was complimenting her.

The boy seemed no older than her, with velvety red eyes contrasting her ruby ones and blonde hair that fell at his shoulders, tied into a little ponytail. He was positively dashing and seemed to be quite the charmer. Pink blotched Lucilia's cheeks, feeling herself already attracted to the boy. "To whom do I owe the pleasure?" she giggled into her palm.

"William King," he replied airily, as if his identity was something he really couldn't care less about. "Hm? The son of Duke King?" Lucilia never would've thought that the old duke had such a handsome son. "Why yes. And you?" the topic shifted to her. Students strained their ears to hear her answer, wanting their suspicions to be confirmed with their very own ears.

"Lucilia Llouvré, a pleasure to meet you." she curtsied, revealing a hint of pride over her family line. "Pleasure's all mine." William smiled charmingly, his blue eyes flashing with an emotion she couldn't quite catch. It was at this moment that the grandfather clock chimed loudly. William frowned, looking over the crowd to the tall boy who everyone was previously, and still, praising. Now that Lucilia had a clearer view of him, she realized who it was.

"Prince Alister...!" her breath was taken away, an overwhelming feeling overtaking her chest. William frowned briefly at her reaction, before fixing his expression and giving her a departing kiss on the hand. Lucilia barely paid any attention to that, frozen in shock by her discovery. Why was the prince attending a magic academy?! Quickly adjusting her red bow and patting down her clothes, she bashfully looked in his direction after making sure she was looking her best.

Alister was very handsome indeed, with black hair and elegantly parted bangs, as well as striking sapphire blue eyes. Perched on his shoulder was a light dragon with pure white scales and bright red eyes, looking quite refined compared to Drefan. With this thought in mind, Lucilia quickly gave Drefan a glare, causing the dragon to cower in fear behind a flustered student. After feeling satisfied, Lucilia finally averted her eyes to the stage and went back to mentally complaining about the principal's lack of presence.

After five minutes had passed following the grandfather clock's chime, the principal appeared in front of the podium with a poof. He was a handsome man with bright eyes and jovial attitude, though it was very likely he was using magic or potions to keep a young look. Lucilia quickly grew annoyed by his obnoxiously loud voice and subconsciously blocked him out. During the middle of his speech about the school and how they were a family and blah blah blah, the entrance to the dome was thrown wide open with a loud bang.

Everyone stared at the sudden newcomer, some with expressions of amusement and others with annoyance. Lucilia quietly observed her, feeling that something was off about the newcomer. She was a girl with messy teal hair that fell at just her shoulders, barely maintained by the blue headband holding it down. Her eyes were hazelnut colored, shining brightly even with the clear embarrassment she was revealing for her sudden intrusion. What irritated Lucilia, though, was not her intrusion or disorderly hair but, instead, her clothes!

She was wearing a white polo shirt and an unsightly striped skirt. Why, Lucilia would've never thought anyone would be so foolish to go the academy with such clothes! Before she could mentally berate the girl anymore, the teal-haired girl started spitting out apologies.

"I-I didn't mean to use so much power, I swear! I was going to push it lightly but-but before I touched them, the doors just swung open! It was just a mistake, a silly mistake! Please don't punish me, it's only my first day!" she bowed over and over again, though Lucilia could not make heads or tails as what she was apologizing for. The girl bowed one more time before running to stand near the crowd. As she was running, she tripped over her feet and fell into the arms of Prince Alister, who smoothly caught her.

Suddenly, all Lucilia could see was red.

Envy clouded her better sense of judgment as bitter hate entered her system. "The nerve..!" she seethed, face getting hot from all the anger. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her palm to the point her hand grew numb from the pain. Prince Alister gave the girl a charming smile, but she only pushed herself off from his embrace. "Sorry about that, thanks for catching me." she sheepishly grinned, rubbing her arm.

Prince Alister nodded, "It wasn't a bother at all." he bowed and kissed her hand. "Ooookaaaay." the girl awkwardly drawled out, nervously inching back. Clearly not expecting this reaction, the prince raised an amused eyebrow. "Ahem." the principal cleared his throat in an attempt to remind them where they were. Lucilia could barely focus anymore, her mind jumbled of thoughts about Prince Alister's flirtatious advance and the newcomer.

All Lucilia suddenly wanted was for the girl to be gone.