chapter 12. The Imperial Academy

[chapter 12. The Imperial Academy]

Selena hated humans.

Her eyes were dull and tired. The girl was exhausted. Another sleepless night had passed, and no amount of money in her bank account could provide her with sufficient sleep.

It was nothing but a beautiful macabre of her life.

A luxury she could not afford, given that it was beyond her morbid mind's reach. A tired yawn slipped away from her lips.

According to what she knew, it was her first day of college. Ugh.

She wore a white blouse, a royal blue skirt, and a matching blazer. She wore black boots and white knee-high socks with her hair tied in a ponytail with blue lace. A strange feeling bubbled up inside her; the uniform made her feel uncomfortable; she had never worn anything like this before, and that made her feel uneasy in her skin.

Only the best part was that it covered her arms and had a high neck. It was just the right amount of skin coverage for her.

Irritation bubbled up within her. It was her first visit to a place full of condescending people who pretended to be superior to everyone else in a decade. Selena despised the idea of attending college and being surrounded by individuals her age.

She wanted to avoid teenage drama when everyone was high on hormones.

She was, after all, a good girl.

"Please look after your sister in college, okay?" Liliana cooed to her baby. The boy with the glasses did not respond. Samuel's fist clenched as he felt a burst of annoyance inside him. Selena this, Selena that. All except his sister. He'd had enough of everyone in the house gushing over Selena. It made him feel sick.

They acknowledged her and gazed at her as if she were an angel.

She was nothing more than a thief who stole everything from him.

He couldn't understand why such a scumbag drew so much attention. She had done nothing to deserve it. Selena received the most attention despite being the youngest child. He loathed it.

He despised how everyone in the house seemed to have abandoned him. It made his eyes burn with hatred as he glared at the passive girl as if Selena had taken his place. Everyone adored Selena except for him.

The fourteen-year-old boy nodded. No matter how much he despised his so-called sister, he could never disrespect his mother.

Theodore Mariano walked into the room with his secretary. His gaze avoided making eye contact with his daughter as if mortified he had exposed his vulnerable side to her the night before. "Garold will drive both of you. I do not expect any complaints from the college," he cleared his throat, looking away from his wife.

"Especially you, Selena," his eyes shifted in response to his daughter and wife's fixed stares. It was as if they both basked in joy seeing him squirm and feel awkward. They stared at him.

Sadists. Mother and daughter were both sadists. He concurred.

"What about Selena?" Samuel questioned, oblivious to his tense father.

"Your sister has a history of sucker punching teachers," Theodore explained, watching his son's jaw drop in horror as he looked at the unbothered girl beside him. Samuel took a step back from her. Theodore's lip twitched.

Wilson insisted, "Young Miss did NOT punch the teacher." Theodore and Samuel threw him a look.

"It's just that her hand accidentally greeted her teacher's face," the secretary replied with utmost righteousness.

Theodore exhaled a sigh. His secretary was already devoted to Selena. First Garold, and now Wilson, all of his ardent advisors were allying with her.

But Theodore liked it because his daughter was gaining loyal aides who would gladly give up their lives for her. There was nothing he could do but be happy; his daughter needed loyalty and trust in a world filled with lies.

"Enjoy your first day of college," Liliana said, holding Selena's hand, knowing that hugging her daughter would make her cringe. It made her wonder why her daughter was so sensitive to physical touch. Her stomach dropped, and her face turned pale as a result. Her hand trembled as she released her daughter's hand.

There is a fine line between despising physical touch and hating it with all their might. And Liliana was terrified of the latter. It made the mother in her uneasy.

Samuel's rage grew but subsided when his mother gently patted his head. "Please don't skip lunch just to read and study more." As he nodded, her words warmed his heart.

"Yes, my mother."

--

Garold turned to confront his young lady but then bit his tongue. He gnawed his nails. He smelled blood and weed in her hair that day, but it was impossible. Perhaps it was a trick of his mind.

Even so, she wore a leather jacket with a different chain.

That can't be right. He bit his fingernail.

Garold shook his head and furrowed his brows at her. The girl spent the entire day at the spa. He was certain of it. Selena could not have escaped by fooling Team A; they were four trained trackers who watched their every move and were only a phone call away.

If she had left, they would have informed him.

He chauffeured them to the Imperial Academy.

Stop thinking about it, Garold, he told himself. He came to a complete stop and turned to face her.

He came to a complete stop and turned to face her.

Garold, stop thinking about it, he told himself. He came to a complete stop. "They do not permit personnel guards at the Academy. I will wait the entire time near the college. If anything goes wrong, Miss, I am just a phone call away," he said, explaining the college rules and smiling politely.

She noticed how he alluded to her as Miss rather than Selena because Samuel was present. They molded the young boy after the cold Mariano males who are too stiff and like to adhere to rules. She rolled her eyes inwardly.

Selena's eyes turned calculated as she turned to face the blue-haired man. "Of course," she said, a businesslike smile.

He smiled and opened the door for both of the young Marianos.

Upon exiting the car, Samuel inhaled a blue tube that caught her attention.

A salbutamol inhaler hummed in her head. Selena's brow furrowed in surprise at the new information; she had no idea that little Mariano had asthma.

The boy got out of the car without even looking at his sister. "I guess I'll have to find the administration office myself," she grumbled. As she walked through the Romanian-styled building, her black boot thumped confidently against the floor.

She ate the architecture, and her inner artist thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

The Academy was breathtaking.

From the high ceilings to the intricate chandeliers, everyone was dressed to the nines, boys in blue and black blazers and girls in dark royal blue pleated skirts. Each has a brooch with the Imperial Academy logo proudly displayed on its left chest.

She appeared to have entered the 17th century.

"Damn," she muttered as she took in the Academy's royalty. She chuckled dryly to herself, "High society is something else."

It would be great if the money could be used for orphanages where kids don't even get three meals a day.

After a five-minute walk, she arrived at the administrative office.

"Ah, Miss Mariano," the woman said, a professional smile on her face. She raised her glasses and softened her voice. Selena's eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth. "I'm assuming you already know who I am." It was an invasion of her privacy, but in a place like this- it was considered a courtesy.

"Here is your college ID. We sent the data and your schedule to your mail address," the lady did not indeed bat an eye at her question. "Oh, and this," she said, giving her the blue brooch with a sparkling blue stone.

"Welcome to the Imperial Academy."

----

[when Selena left the Crescent Club]

"B-boss, all-l of them, all-l of them were d-dead," the trembling man cried.

"What do you mean, speak properly?" hissed Alec. The man was an embarrassment to their organization. His brown eyes pierced the quivering man, who knelt to look into his sharp eyes. With a loud thump, his knees landed on the cold floor. Fabio cringed at the sound as the left-hand man sipped the cognac.

"S-sorry," the man stammered out.

"Um," he mumbled. He tried to relax and took a deep breath at that point. His palm was sweating and he had the urge to puke. "Boss," he said, his gaze fixed on the large imperious man. "The Club. He killed everyone last night. All forty-eight of them," he said in a dreary voice.

"And our resources believe it was... Liam," the single articulation perplexed everybody within the room.

Rafael Sullivan's eyes hardened, and the veins on his arms popped as he clenched his fist.

Liam.

One word stunned everybody to their core.

"You mean THE Liam?" Alec prodded, his face pale as he watched the man nod his head in agreement. Impossible. His eyes wavered. It meant trouble. No, worse. It meant death.

Countless deaths.

He was a slaughtering machine on the move. Whispers ejected from the room, quickly becoming raucous clamors. Individuals began reviling and yelling at one another. How is that possible? How could they have been so irresponsible as to let that killing machine into their domain?

"Enough." The deep snarl of the vicious man silenced the entire room.

They all turned their attention to the Big Boss. They all turned their attention to the Big Boss. The power he wielded. One word from him and everybody closed their fucking mouths in a room full of thunders.

"He is here for THAT," Alec looked at his boss, watching the cruel man's eyes darken and jaw clench. The organization was incompetent to allow Liam and let his bloody hands on that.

Alec's knees buckled, watching the seething anger evident on his boss's face.

"Stop all our other activities. We need to get our hands on that before anyone," he commanded.

"Yes, Big Boss."

There was going to be a bloodbath.

----

"Master," the guard bowed.

He waited for the Master's response while the man was lost in Beethoven's forlorn tune.

"What about the stone?" pondered the elegant man as he leaned back on the sofa.

"In their hands, a graceful maker polishes stone." The guard replied, "They will soon pass it to the stone dwelling to continue improving. Stone appears to be embracing the new surroundings," he added.

The man hummed, his smile wide with delight and his eyes sparkling. "Oh, little stone," he chuckled. The pleasure he would glean from wrecking the stone. Slowly and painstakingly, like watching a blooming flower wither and die. His heart felt as if dipped in honey.

"Master," another guard barged into the room, flinching at his Master's gaze. "I apologize for barging in," he said, kneeling.

"Liam has made his presence known."

The man sat up straight on the couch. The smile slipped his lips. His eyes darkened as he turned serious.

"For the time being, stop focusing on the stone. Set all of our forces in Country A to kill Liam," the man said, his eyes supplanted with brutality.

"I need that man dead. No matter the cost."

"Yes, Master."

~~~~

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