The Academy (2)

A faint sound of a bell rang. The disrupted class went silent altogether. The sharp steps of the teacher reverberated through the cold marble floor. A grim man with his thin, blading hair neatly combed to the side walked inside the lustreless and eerie room. His rectangular glasses were placed on his tall and crooked nose bridge. 

"Good morning, class." His nasal shilling voice had every student stand and greeted back, "Good morning, Sir Albert." 

The girl who stood a few benches away from Luiza had a particular expression of fear; it was subtle, like the way she gasped softly, the way her hands clutched her skirt, and so on. As she observed the girl, their eyes met for a brief second, but she looked away. 

"You may sit down and turn to page 113." 

The class resumed, and they were on the "Magic and Natural Resources" topic. The teacher continued to teach, and since it wasn't a topic that she had learned about, she paid attention to it.

There were one or two materials that she failed to understand. Rather, it was her contrasting thought to his words, "Magic, although superior, would one day be independent of natural resources." 

She turned her head from left to right. The students—none of them dared to say a single word. Mustering up her courage, she raised her arm slightly. "Excuse-" All the students darted their eyes towards her. 

"Hum?" Sir Albert glared at her, insignificantly turned a blind eye to her, and continued to teach. At the very end of the class, the teacher took out the attendance book and started to call out everyone's name. 

"Florence," he called out, and a vague "present" was heard. 

"Nicolas" 

'Present' 

"Zola" 

'Present' 

The attendance was over, and he was about to pack his books and head outside when the short, ginger-haired girl stood from her seat and intervened. 

"Sir, what about the new girl who joined?" 

"Um?" He pressed his glasses with his middle finger and directly met eyes with Luiza. With a sinister smirk, he said, "Oh, well. New girl! Come with me to my office. Now!" in a disdainful manner. 

Um? She confusedly stood from her seat. Slight agitation and indignation formed within her as she followed Sir Albert. She could feel the acrimony from him. They descended the stairs and, at the second story, turned to the left, where the teacher's office was located. 

He walked inside, and she trailed behind him. 

"Who told you, you barge in?" 

"She was at a loss for words. Did he not ask her to follow him? 

"Stand out, and after ten minutes, knock on the door. Only then will I let you inside," he sneered. 

She could feel her jaw clench. But despite that, she lowered her head and stood outside. She could hear the teacher snickering and laughing with the other teachers as he thoroughly seemed to have humiliated a student from Eunoia. 

Despite their desperate taunts, she said nothing and continued to stand still. Once the ten minutes were over, Luiza knocked on the door with her index finger. "May I come in?" 

"You may" 

I slightly bowed and entered the room. About three male teachers were the only one's present. It was a dark room with two candles and a lamp burning; the large window at the end of the room did not let much light inside. 

As they ogled with their filthy eyes, she felt her hands slightly quiver. It was nearly as if her past had come to haunt her. 

"I implore you to add my name to the class attendance," she requested. Her gaze hung low while she tried to calm her heartbeat. 

"Well," the man reached out his hands and placed them over her palms. "Since you are from the capital of Eunoia and the daughter of a merchant, give us five gold coins, and we can consider adding your name." 

Uh? The color drained out of her face. Give coins? Should she? As she stared into his eyes, she felt speechless. Since when did the Academy of Magic become so disgustingly corrupted? But still, she had to stay for the next four months. 

She withdrew her hands from his dirty ones instantly. As she continued to glare at the filthy man in the mask of a teacher, she took out a few gold coins from her pocket. "Take those, and now write my name," she sneered. A pit of annoyance built upon her 

The greed in their eyes was evident. As the man took the coins, he said, "It's only three gold coins, but since you are a merchant's daughter, we shall consider." He wrote her name on the attendance sheet: "And remember, do not let anyone else know. Else, I'll make sure your life is a living hell here." He threatened her. 

She nodded and turned around. She could hear their whispers. 

"She is an easy one. You should have asked for more." 

"Oh well, but she's a merchant's daughter. A poor one." 

"Well, since she is such an obedient lady, we can always ask for more." 

She gently closed the door behind her, and as soon as she reached out, she let out the breath that she had held. She had not resorted to violence! That was a feat. 

When she interrupted the next teacher to get inside the classroom, students started mumbling. 

"Oh, perhaps the teachers messed with her? She seems sweaty." 

"Oh, they are devils; of course they will." 

Despite the mutters, she paid no heed and, with grace, walked to her bench and tried learning, but the constant reminder that she had killed several people lingered in her mind. Her flinching reaction to those vile teachers was a reminder that she had yet to move on. 

As she drowned in the past, the bell rang, and everyone ran outside to have lunch while she continued to look out the window. The gentle snow fell on the tree's dreary branches, yet the tree was not shaken at all. 

"You!" She heard an echo of a familiar voice, so she turned her gaze towards the source. It was the same ginger girl from before. 

"What is your name?" She came closer to Luiza's desk. Her petite body faced Luiza while her hands were both behind her. 

"Me?" She softly asked, "Well, I am Luiza Moonstone, and what about you?" 

"I am Nellie," she replied. 

"Anyhow, are you not going to have lunch?" she asked. Behind her hands was a lunch box wrapped in cloth.

"I did not bring anything, though." 

Luiza's lips sat in a pout. Nellie gazed away as her ears started to redden. She strode forward and joined Luiza's desk with the one next to it. 

"Well, let's share mine then. My mother made the portions too big for me anyway." She turned sideways, blood rushing to her nape. 

The sight of the cute Nellie made her giggle. "Thank you," she whispered, and they shared the meal. It was beef fried rice, which was kept very warm, with a few slices of bread on the side. 

Even with her shy bites, she thoroughly enjoyed the meal. 

"Thank you very much. It was very delicious!" she meekly said.

"Oh, it's alright. I just can't stand anyone being lonely. That's all!" She said that and quickly went to her bench. 

Luiza let out an audible laugh. Nellie's cute stomps were adorable!

After all, in all her life, she hated being pitied. Pity was a simple form of sympathy; it was empty and vague and did no justice to the sufferer. But she liked Nellie; she did not just give a few sweet words but bravely stood up for what she believed. 

Perhaps the new school was not as bad as she thought.