3 'Surprising Encounters': He who should not have died.

Azrael could not even begin to describe how he was feeling at this moment. It felt as if a hundred different emotions compiled themselves inside his body, and was threatening to scoop out his innards just to mock him. 

That didn't make any sense but that was how Azrael felt. 

It didn't help that he knew he most likely looked foolish right now, even when he couldn't see his own face. 

Eirian's expression, on the other hand, was clear as day. His bright yellow eyes glowered down at him, his scowl hardened even more the moment his name escaped from Azrael's lips. 

'I feel like he wants to murder me.' Azrael thought, mentally hitting himself for making the mistake of saying Eirian's name. 

One might think it wasn't a big deal. Eirian was infamous across the Celestrian empire for obvious reasons. He was also the heir to Wycliffe kingdom, meaning he was a crown prince. It was impossible not to know who he was.

So, with those factors in mind, it shouldn't have been a cause of concern that Azrael said his name. Right?

Wrong!

No one, besides his father, King Thorian, and some professors who were required to address Eirian properly, called him by his first name.

It was because most people were aware of the positive meanings of Eirian's name, and it seemed as though everyone had already come upon an agreement that he did not deserve such a name. 

Students would address him as 'Your highness' mockingly, some would call him 'The cursed prince' or 'Evil spawn'

Caelum, in front of others, would call him 'Prince Wycliffe' but he was the one who triggered such terrible nicknames for the protagonist.

'Love him or hate him, Caelum is a well-written villain. He was basically the walking definition of a white-lotus.' 

Back to Azrael's main predicament, he was a hundred percent sure that Eirian was in his third year of studying in the academy, and by this time, he had never heard another student say his name.

Now, imagine his surprise now that someone did, and with much familiarity. 

Honestly, Azrael had no idea what he should say. He'd already apologized for bumping into Eirian which ultimately led to accidentally saying his name, and Azrael was not dense.

He could feel Eirian's hostility just by looking at him.

It kind of scared Azrael, whether he admitted it or not, he could somehow understand why most students were afraid of him. Azrael felt small and weak under his gaze, and despite Eirian not having awakened his magic yet.

His mana level alone was enough to put fear into people. 

Azrael already noticed this when he met Adham, but he could feel other people's magic or mana, it was hard to explain, but he was aware that it was a thing in the novel where weaker magic users could feel the vast difference of mana compared to someone who is much stronger.

'Meaning...Azrael was weaker than Adham who was considered a low level student.' He sighs involuntarily, his eyes widening when he realized that he almost forgot that the protagonist, his favorite character, was still in front of him and was still glaring. 

Again, Azrael really didn't know what to say but by some miracle, it seems Eirian had grown tired of the younger prince staring at him, and decided to speak.

"You are not supposed to be here."

'Huh?' This confuses Azrael because why wasn't he supposed to be there? As far as he knew, any part of the Celestial Summit is accessible to them, minus the other prince's private quarters, of course. 

Celestial Summit is the name of the floor they were on. As princes, they are located at the very top floor of Luminara Academy's dormitory. 

It is only accessible to, of course, the princes, their student servants, the academy staff, or those who are invited and granted temporary access to the floor. 

The floors below them belong to the upper and middle nobility, and below them are the lower nobility and the scholars. 

The ground floor contains the common areas, while there is also an underground floor where the student servants sleep. 

"Are you just gonna keep staring at me? Speak." Eirian finally snaps as Azrael did not answer him yet again. 

Azrael jumps a bit in surprise as he lowered his eyes in embarrassment, covering his face. "P-Pardon me. I didn't mean to stare." He apologizes which earned him a 'Tsk' from Eirian. 

"I don't care. Answer my question, who are you and why are you here? If anyone sent you here to bother me, do not even dare."

"Huh?"

This made Azrael look up and even more confused than he already was. He wanted to ask Eirian what exactly he meant but he spoke again. 

"Do not play dumb with me. There is no reason a girl would be standing in front of my door, and accidentally bump into me. Princesses are not allowed in this academy, even more so inside our dormitories."

Oh.

Oh.

Azrael's eyes widened slightly when Eirian referred to him as a princess. Everything made sense now. 

'Eirian has never seen or met Azrael for various reasons. So, he probably didn't know what he or...Well, I looked like.' Azrael internally sighed in relief, he was glad that it was just a misunderstanding. Now, he just had to clear it up.

"Prince Eirian, I--"

"And there you go again. Can you stop that?"

"Excuse me?" 

Eirian runs a hand through his hair frustratedly as he places a hand on his hip. "What is the deal they made with you, princess? To act like I broke the rules and brought a girl here? Or are they finally planning to go lower and pretend that I kidnapped an innocent princess?"

"No, no, it's not anything like that, not at all!" 

"Then what is it. Hm? They even got you to say my name and address me as if you knew me." Eirian scoffs a bit. "I do not want to harm a princess, but I also do not wish to be troubled. So, leave. Now."

Azrael felt bad. He knew he wasn't doing anything wrong and everything was a misunderstanding on Eirian's part but this was a product of years of abuse and bullying, not just by Caelum but from other princes as well. 

Sighing, Azrael just calmly looks back up at him which now surprises Eirian. 'He probably expected me to run away crying or insult him then just leave.'

"You are misunderstanding things, Prince...Wycliffe." Azrael had to stop himself from calling him by his name. 

Eirian furrows his eyebrows, crossing his arms against his chest. "Oh really?" He asked, doubt evident from his voice. "What exactly am I misunderstanding?"

"First of all, I am not a princess. I am also not female."

"Huh?" 

Azrael could see Eirian's facial expression go from angry to extremely baffled, he seemed to want to interject, but Azrael spoke before he could. 

"My name is Azrael Celestria. I live next door to you." 

"Celestria? No, that's impossible. The emperor only has..."

"Two sons. He has two sons. The other one is me."

"That's...but the second prince...he..."Eirian stammered, stepping back a bit as his eyes looked at him up and down, it was then that it dawned on him that Azrael was wearing clothes that adorned the imperial family's insignia. 

It was something he failed to notice because he was busy being cautious, which Azrael completely understands. 

Azrael smiles softly, the mild fear he felt towards Eirian dissipated. "I hope this clears any misunderstandings. I really didn't mean any harm..."

Thud.

"Eh?" Azrael hears a familiar sound of something falling on the floor, when he looks down he sees Eirian on his knees with his head down, making Azrael panic a bit. "P-Prince Wycliffe...What...are you doing? Please get up."

'This happened with Adham earlier too.'

"I cannot. I've offended the second imperial prince. I deeply apologize." Eirian said with a tone that Azrael could only describe as ashamed. 

"No! No. You did no such thing. I was mostly at fault for not clearing things out earlier on and this is also my first time going out of my room for something other than attending my classes." Azrael bent down a bit to touch Eirian's shoulder and convince him to get up. 

Eirian, however, looks up as Azrael was about to touch him and immediately gets up before he could then clear his throat. "Alright..." Was the only thing he replied, seemingly embarrassed and still quite cautious. 

Azrael tilted his head a bit but he didn't question it further because at least now the misunderstanding was cleared. 

So, Azrael went right down to business. Though it was too early and he still hasn't figured everything out, this was a good chance to try to get on Eirian's good side and befriend him. It didn't seem like Eirian was hostile towards him anymore. 

"So..." Azrael starts rather awkwardly. "Since we've cleared the misunderstanding, I just wanted to introduce myself formally." He stretches out his hand towards Eirian with the intention of shaking hands with him. 

"I am Azrael Celestria. The second imperial prince of, well, Celestria. It's nice to meet you!"

Eirian stares down at his hand, visibly contemplating whether or not to grab it. Azrael patiently awaits his next action with a smile on his face. Though, nothing could have prepared him for what Eirian says and does next.

"This is...a joke, right?" 

"Pardon?"

"With all due respect, your highness. But you don't have to pretend to be friendly with me. The imperial crown prince doesn't bother, so you don't have to bother as well." 

"But I..."

"Now, will you excuse me, I shall return to my room now." Without wasting any more time, Eirian bows and then walks away, not even letting Azrael finish speaking. 

"...really wanted to get along with you." 

He was alone. 

'What just happened?' Azrael thinks to himself as he lowered his hand down and stared at the place that Eirian was standing just a few seconds ago with a sad sigh. "I feel like I just offended him without realizing it." He was feeling slightly dejected. 

'He really doesn't trust anyone. I understand, I do...but being rejected by my favorite character stings a bit.' 

But again, he couldn't blame Eirian. His whole life story was basically trauma, trauma, and more trauma. 

Whenever anything good happened in his life, it'd be ruined almost immediately. Despite the fact that Azrael wasn't some princess sent to get him in trouble, he was still Valerian's brother in Eirian's eyes. 

An imperial prince. 

Someone who could potentially be close with Caelum, and if Azrael wasn't close with Caelum, Eirian most definitely thinks he could easily be manipulated to jump on the hate train. 

It has happened so many times in the novel and in Eirian's life. 

'I shouldn't be so down. He didn't react that way because he dislikes me. I just need to earn his trust.' 

Yeah.

Azrael used both of his hands to lightly slap his face as he smiled in determination. "I can do this. This isn't just to keep him alive, it's also for the empire. I can't feel disheartened now."

This is only a small part of what he needed to do in order to change everyone's fate. There will be many more challenging obstacles for him, and he needs to mentally prepare himself.

'I'll try again tomorrow. '

For now, he had to think of a way to get through another obstacle and that was figuring out what the original Azrael's magical abilities are and having to attend his classes tomorrow with zero knowledge on how he should act. 

But he should be fine, right? 

...Right.

"Hold on." Azrael furrows his eyebrows as he took a few strands of his hair, twirling it around his index finger as he thought about something. "If Eirian didn't recognize me as a prince...Why did he automatically assume I was a princess?"

As far as he knew, princesses wore dresses and gowns, to which Azrael wasn't even wearing. Even if Azrael looked very feminine, Eirian could've assumed she was just some commoner or perhaps noble. 

'Weird...'