80 Good People
Before Elizabeth could stop him, Carlos had already stormed into the classroom.
In truth, he was not in the best mood from the start. And everything they said just drove his fury to the limit.
Perhaps he wouldn't have been so mad if they hadn't brought Fei into the discussion. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it would be people talking badly about Fei when they didn't even know anything about her.
Those people. Their conversation was so disgusting, and it kind of reminded him of something unpleasant.
This morning, Eyrie had accompanied her younger brother to school, apologizing all the way along the road. But even then, the woman had urged him to stay away from Fei, talked about how dangerous she was, and all of Fei's weaknesses – right to Fei's face!
Carlos was disgusted and wanted to forget what had happened upon arriving at school. The boy thought that he should be happier when he was with his friends, but instead, he felt even more stifled.
He confided his worries and thoughts to his new friends, but all he got in return was a few despondent nods echoes of agreement.
But even then, he had faith in his friends; he had trusted them. The boy thought, I must be too childish.
In their minds, my worries are so simple, and my troubles are not worth mentioning. Or, no, actually, this is probably how friends were supposed to behave.
At least they listened to me. That was what he thought.
It had never occurred to Carlos that his 'friends' didn't even think of him as a friend.
That he was just a piece of trash in their eyes. A trash unworthy of his meritorious father. A shame to his family. A tool to get closer to General Rochester.
What did I do to receive such treatment?
Is this the consequence of being stupid?
Carlos was sure that if his last name wasn't Rochester, if he wasn't born into this family, he would've been seen as a perfectly normal child.
He wasn't THAT stupid. He wasn't ACTUALLY trash, right?
It was all because of these people's unrealistic expectations for the heir of the Rochester family.
Was it a sin to be born into an influential family?
But it was also a sin to be born as a commoner.
Just look at these people that hailed from the wealthy, and their attitudes towards Elizabeth, whose father was a rising businessman.
Just because she was of lowly birth, people expect her to be a whore, one that would do anything to achieve a higher status and more money.
And even when these people spoke badly of her, Elizabeth couldn't fight back. Because her status gave her no right to.
In Country A, the wealthy did not have much power if all they had was money. But from what Carlos learned through rumors, Elizabeth's family only had money. They had apparently bribed the school's higherups with an enormous sum to send the girl to such a prestigious school.
And this rumor alone drew a lot of disdain.
In the past, Carlos thought that Cassian, his cool new friend, had fallen in love with Elizabeth and wanted to marry the girl. But now, he had come to a realization.
Cassian wasn't in love at all. He wasn't even sincere in liking the girl. The boy had only wanted a new toy to play with, a toy that was slightly out of his reach.
And it was one of those instances where a child would like a toy due to its freshness, but after the novelty faded, they would throw it to the side.
It became even more apparent as Carlos looked at the smirking dark-haired boy sitting in the classroom, who was surrounded by his gang and his pretty girls that threw themselves at him.
And these people even dared to lust after my best friend!
The young master of the Rochester family seethed in anger.
"SHUT UP!"
He simply couldn't bear it any longer.
A hush fell over the classroom, and everyone, including the teacher who was overseeing the class, looked over at the adolescent boy.
Carlos opened his mouth, but looking at the group of students – who clearly knew that it was them that he had shouted at—that had frozen, he closed it again.
The boy felt an unprecedented level of disgust rising within him, a level so high that he didn't wish to be in the same room as these people for a second longer.
Striding over to his desk, he threw the snacks he had brought to Cassian, who was still in a state of nonchalance.
The boy with his jet black hair brushed the packages of food off from himself, leading to them sprawling across the floor, with his caramel eyes never leaving the son of General Rochester.
Then, Carlos spun around and left. Without another word.
The boy had come to another realization in that split second that he opened mouth.
He realized that even if he criticized them, even if he yelled at them, told them their behavior was wrong, they would never listen. They would never even care. It didn't matter if he was General Rochester's son.
He was merely trash in their eyes.
And who would take a piece of trash's words seriously?
Even his 'beloved' older sister, Eyrie, had not listened to him, despite him being her 'beloved' younger brother.
Numerous times, Carlos had told her that he was uncomfortable about her dissing Fei, but she never listened, and for the past few days, she had been following him around, trying to convince him to dismiss Fei.
Was human nature like this? Carlos was in doubt.
No. No, there are still good people out there.
I will be one of them, and Fei will be another.
Stepping out of the classroom, the young master grabbed Elizabeth's arm and ran as fast as he could, heading towards the school gardens.
He paid no attention to the teacher's frantic calls behind him as the pair drew further away.
