chapter 11:Anna

Anna smiled lightly when she noticed Ethan's admiring gaze. It pleased her to see that Ethan appreciated Lucas's presence and Anna's strength. After all, it felt good to attract his attention; after all, he was a prince and could be a perfect toy for Anna.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Your Majesties," Anna said.

"I just wanted to watch a show here. It's quite interesting to see how one can manipulate a child and turn them into a slave in just a few minutes. You're as clever as the rumors say, but also as beautiful," Ethan said.

Anna didn't like Ethan's comment, but at the same time, she enjoyed finally receiving some praise from someone. She couldn't satisfy her parents because she had a perfect brother. Before coming to the academy, she was constantly compared to her brother ruthlessly. However, what her parents didn't know was that her brother wasn't as perfect as they thought, but only Anna knew this truth and could never tell them.

"Thank you, Your Majesties. Is there anything I can do for you, or do I need to leave? I'm quite busy, unfortunately," Anna said. Ethan noticed a hint of condescension in Anna's voice.

"You can stay, of course, but something tells me we'll clash often, Lady Anna," Ethan said.

"Greeting Your Majesties is quite a pleasure for me," Anna said, bowing slightly, and they left. Emily approached Ethan and said, "What was that about? Why did you act like that? Anna is a very nice girl."

"I just wanted to get to know her, and I got what I wanted," Ethan said. Aphrodite asked confusedly, "What did you want?" Ethan replied, "If that girl becomes my subordinate, becoming king will be as easy as snapping my fingers, so I want her." Emily told Ethan, "Do whatever you want, but don't hurt her. Remember, every person has a heart," and left because it was already late. Aphrodite was a little jealous of Anna, but she knew there would always be more than one woman around someone like Ethan. Moreover, Ethan wanted to become king.

Although there were a few kings in this world without a harem, most kings had one; in fact, kings without a harem were joked about as having "problems in the lower department." This was such a world, and Aphrodite wanted to stay by Ethan's side no matter what.

They went to their rooms, and a few days later, classes officially began. Of course, someone with a royal ring wasn't required to attend classes, but Ethan decided to. The classes were quite interesting; after all, Ethan had specialized in dark magic, so he put on his school uniform and left.

Ethan used to hate school in his previous life because he never got along with his peers. Maybe he matured early because he suffered too much in life. But the kids here were supposed to be mature compared to their peers since this was the most important academy in the kingdom. At least that's what Ethan thought.

When he entered the classroom, everyone fell silent and looked at him. He scanned the back rows and found a vacant seat next to a girl. The girl seemed surprised at first, but then she realized there were no other empty seats, so he sat there. Soon, the teacher entered, and the class began.

A few hours later, when classes ended, Ethan went outside to spend some time with Aphrodite. Academy life was even more boring than he had imagined; he had even seen many things Mary had taught in class before, so he started skipping classes.

A few days later, to at least make his time not entirely wasted, he decided to go to the library. When he arrived at the library, he saw a girl he knew at a table. It was Anna. There was a chessboard on the table, and Anna was playing with the pieces, lost in thought; she hadn't even noticed Ethan's arrival. Ethan thought to himself, "Finally, something fun," and sat across from Anna.

"Would you like to play? The winner can ask the loser anything they want. What do you say? Shall we play?" Ethan asked. Anna was surprised to see Ethan here, but she accepted his offer; after all, she could test how smart he really was.

"You can start the first move, Your Majesty," Anna said, and the match began. Ethan made a simple opening, but soon, both of them started making complex moves. They were chatting between moves. At first, Anna had planned to use Ethan as a pawn to get rid of her brother, but now she realized she couldn't manipulate Ethan like a puppet. The match lasted about an hour and ended with Ethan's victory. Anna was very surprised because she had never lost in chess before, but Ethan was living his second life. He had spent a lot of free time in his previous life, so he had mastered chess and musical instruments.

Accepting her defeat, Anna looked at Ethan and said, "What do you want to ask?" Ethan's answer would surprise Anna.

"I want to know the secret about your brother," Ethan said. Ethan's mind-reading ability didn't always work; the reason was that he could only understand if something emotional passed through a person's mind, at least that was Ethan's theory. He had been using this ability constantly during the match.

"How do you know this? How can you know this?" Anna asked, surprised. After all, there were many types of abilities in this world.

"I told you to be quiet; we're in the library. I'll tell you how I know this, but first, I want you to answer my question," Ethan said. Anna was trying to think of how to lie to get out of this situation.

"Also, don't think about lying because I can detect it, just like I did now," Ethan said. Anna was surprised at how he could tell. "Do you have the ability to read minds?" she asked. After all, there were many types of abilities in this world.

"I told you to answer my question first," Ethan said. Anna accepted her situation; after all, Ethan was a prince, and she couldn't defy him, but she still found it difficult to talk about it. "If you want, we can go somewhere else," Ethan said.

"That would be good," Anna said, and they went to Ethan's room. When Anna entered Ethan's room, she was quite tense; after all, this was traumatic for her, and she needed to talk about it. Ethan gave her some delicious milk chocolate because Anna was still a child, and it seemed to relax her as she drank it.

A few minutes later, Anna began to speak.

The photo of Anna is in the comments--