8 | Academy Life

Eli opens her eyes to be welcome by the warmth of the morning sun. She groans as she slowly opens her eyes once more to see a silhouette of a tall lady sitting in the corner of the bed looking at the sun rising behind the mountain ranges from afar.

Eli slowly sat up to see it was just Elyse admiring the beautiful scenery early in the morning.

"Is it your first time seeing a sunrise?" Eli asked. Elyse woke up from her daydreaming and shifted her gaze from the sunrise to Eli.

Elyse smiled, "no. I just missed my family." Eli couldn't help but stare at the graceful Elyse answering her question. As if the sun highlighting her beautiful features, she can almost see rose petals dancing around her.

Her rose scent coming from her made even the scenery more magical and beautiful.

Elyse felt a little pressured by her stare.

"U-uh? Eli?" Eli was right when she felt something odd about Elyse's presence and aura. Her necklace says it all - she's the descendant of Aniya. And her parents were killed by that. Every Aniya's descendant must survive in order to not get killed. Eli couldn't understand why they were killing innocent lives for the sake of the mistake just for one single person.

But no one survived. Every year, every descendant of alphas is born and every two years each family inherited the memory of their ancestors. In the past, there was no report that Aniya's descendants survived.

Because of the cold war, they were having even before the descendants were born, the previous master of the empire entered the scene and made an order to stop killing each family's descendants of Aniya. After that order, The Aniya Family became noble and lived luxuriously.

But because of her disappearance, everything went back to how it was before the order is announced.

Miraculously Elyse survived but at what cost? Her family's death.

Eli gritted her teeth. She felt guilty for what they have been doing for ages. After what happened, no one helped the Aniya family. Elyse's grandparents must have been there too.

"Say, Elyse." Eli broke out of the long silence and it made Elyse feel comfortable again.

"Y-yes?"

Eli gazes up to stare at her chocolate brown hazel eyes.

"I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but what happened to your grandparents?" She finally asked after hesitating for a minute.

Elyse scratches the back of her neck and said with a sad smile, "ah. They died because of illness. You know, they're old." Eli felt a sigh of relief. Hearing from Elyse that the new master of the empire didn't kill her grandparents made her feel a little happy.

"I'm sorry." She spoke.

Elyse glanced at the vast wall clock hanging on the wall and pointed it out. "It's already 6 am, let's get you ready." Eli noticed that Elyse was already dressed up for her first day of school.

Eli laughs. "Are you that excited?" Elyse blushed as she realized what she did. It's true, she woke up early because she couldn't sleep well. Because she was too excited to take lessons from her dream academy, she decided to dress herself up and waited for Eli to wake up.

Eli puts her arm to hers and smiles brightly. "Let's both do our best for today!"

She put both of her hands into the air while one of her arms still hanging in Elyse's arms.

"To seduce the old man!" She shouted.

"Hey! I'm going to fall!" Eli giggles and entered the bathroom to wash up.

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The birds now start chirping when the sun is already out. As they both walk through the long hallway going to their respective classroom, the hallway seems to be still quiet.

"It's already 7 am, where are the other students?" Elyse asked out of curiosity. Eli just hummed her tune while walking like a child. Jumping and dancing. Elyse couldn't help but feel embarrassed about what she's been doing.

"Oh! The class starts at 8 am." Elyse's face turns pale and is frozen to her spot. Lifeless - she said to Eli, "you should've told me that earlier."

Eli just laughs.

Elyse glanced through the garden where they both went last night and the scenery changed. The garden last night was filled with moon and white roses with green trees and vines surrounding the veranda. But now, the garden was filled with colorful roses and different kinds of rare flowers. There's also a huge tree standing beside the veranda. Well, the veranda didn't change much because there are still vines attached to it. But there were roses scattered all around the vines.

"Huh? The garden changed." Elyse whispered but was enough to let Eli hear.

"Oh, it's actually a garden for the previous master of the empire." She shifted her gaze to Eli.

"This garden was made by the new master. She said she wanted to build this garden for her. To remember her." Curious about what will happen next, Eli looked at her with a bright smile.

"Now! Let's hurry before someone snatch your seat!" She swiftly took her arms and they both started running toward their classroom.

The school bell starts ringing and the other students entered the classroom. Elyse sat on the corner left behind the other students. She prefers to be left alone with noble and high-ranking students.

"Since I'm a commoner, I must know my place."

She thought it was okay to think like that. But imagining herself trying to be a ghost inside the classroom because she's a commoner made her feel hurt.

"Okay class, take your seats." The window beside her was open which made her hair flutter and her rose scent surrounded the air inside the classroom when the wind blew her hair. And also, her paper.

She blushes. Embraced by the sudden wind. The classroom fell into a long silence looking at Elyse. Indeed, she's a beauty. Her eyes, chocolate brown tainted with hazel color. Her brown hair, rosy cheeks, and lips.

As if she's the living Aniya in the present. It made the other students fall in love with her the first sight.

But, staring at the necklace she's wearing they remember her bloodline. A low-birth entering the Academy and that's not all Elyse is Aniya's descendant. They felt disgusted.

Elyse can read the room easily and it made her feel hurt to know that her classmates' first impression of her failed.

Eli saw what happened and decided just to observe her. Afterall, she's Aniya's descendant. And Aniya is a wise and strong woman despite being a villainess.

The class ended pretty well. Elyse's expectations of the academy exceeded as to what she imagined it to be. The lesson is hard but the teacher was kind enough to explain every little detail to make it even easier.

She didn't know that entering school was fun. All she ever did back in her room is to read books and teach herself.

She stopped her train of thoughts when she was reminded of her home. The warmth and embrace of her mother, the laughter of her little brother, and the kind smile of her father - home. She missed home.

"Oh? I didn't know you were pretty smart to understand each lesson, Aniya's Descendant." A group of three girls suddenly approached her. Eli was there from afar, observing her.

"Huh. I guess being a descendant of that bitch Aniya gave you a little advantage to knowledge." She gripped her fists.

"There's no proof I'm her descendant." She whispered.

"Huh? What was that? 'I'm sorry?" The girls laugh and the three of them looked at each other.

"Look, 'descendant of Aniya' she may be a goddess but she's still a bitch! She made our family experience something horrible! It made our life even more miserable!" The girl with curly red hair said with hatred filled in her voice.

She must be Lovely's descendant because of the crest she's wearing. But looking at her, she doesn't have the memory that was passed down from their ancestor. It's understandable to be mad at Aniya. But she is not Aniya.

The curly red hair girl suddenly grabbed her arm and called her. "Oi." She then put her face towards Elyse's ears and whispered, "you better know your place you piece of trash." Then the three girls walk out laughing on their own.

The other students saw the bullying but they didn't help her. First day and she's hated it. There's nothing more horrible than death to be her descendant. She realizes.

Eli was aching to help her. But due to 'someone's stare' she cannot move even an inch from her seat and would pretend that she didn't see or hear her.

"I'll apologize to you later, Elyse. Or maybe I'll treat you to something good." She said to herself almost crying out of guilty.

'Damn that old man!' she cursed.

Lunchtime and Eli decided to enter the rooftop to eat. She was surprised to see Elyse sitting on a bench while eating her lunch alone. She felt lucky just by having Elyse alone.

"Oho! It's Elyse!" She waved her hand and Elyse turned around and smiled.

"Eli!" They both hugged each other.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you earlier! Here, eats my lunch!" She handed out her lunch to Elyse but Elyse kindly refused.

"I-I have already lunch so -"

"Okay! I'll buy you a drink!" She said with her eyes sparkling with determination.

"Are you listening to me?"

They both ate their lunch while sitting on the bench looking at the vast and beautiful empire from afar.

"I was wondering, who is this old man you're talking about?" Elyse finally asked the question she's been wanting to ask.

"Oh. He's really not an old man, I just treat him like an old man." She ate her kimchi alongside a green chili paste. Elyse looked pale. 'That might be too spicy...'

"Then who is he?"

"Oh, he's our student president. A handsome one of that." Eli said with her eyes teasing.

'What's with her?' Elyse thought while staring at Eli with a distrustful gaze.

"Can you tell me what kind of person he is?" She nodded.

"Yes! He's very popular with ladies. He had that mesmerizing ocean blue eyes and shining blond hair. He's also kind and gentle to others while at the same time he's cold and stern." She spoke like she was daydreaming.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" Elyse whispered while Eli was still busy in her own daydreaming.

'Well, that kind of sounds interesting. To hear that The Student President has ocean eyes. It reminds me of someone.' Elyse said to herself while looking at the clear blue sky.