A genius or a variable?

Ean observed the thoughtful expression on Xavier's face for a second, slid her arm into her bag and put it on, reached into her pocket, pulled out a sweet and stuck it into Xavier's mouth with the wrapper on it.

Xavier reacted almost immediately, but the candy was already in his mouth, and Ean, on her feet.

She walked past Xavier and put her hand on Alexander's shoulder, probably to calm him down, and it was unexpectedly working till she spoke up, "Relax, I don't mean you any harm. I was just curious. The elusive first prince of Aerorua somehow found his way on Arin island and managed to get enrolled into a school, without dying, losing a limb or going missing! Isn't that surprising and worth being curious about!"

Ean was acting like a real menace right now, well to anyone who didn't know her. Those who did know, knew those who were around her, and would have realized she was just acting like Crystal.

Yes, she was curious. But she also wanted more information, and what better place to get it from than the source itself! Plus, Ean had realized she was too inflexible and had already made a mistake at the beginning.

At first she did not recognize Alexander, after all he was just like her. An unknown person who was well-known by society. The only difference was the situations which made them unknown.

Hers was… pretty much unknown, while his had practically been made into movies!

The number of times she herself had seen him could be counted on one hand, while she had never seen him I'm person.

What gave clues to his identity, was his surname which remained the same, Anderson. And his unusual sage green eyes, which were unique to the Royal family of Aerorua. And then she had just made a lucky guess, because he was the only family member, she was not familiar with, not like she was directly involved with them, or knew everyone personally. She just knew… enough.

Secondly she had exposed him indecisively, and asked if he knew her. Which not only showed that she knew who he was, but she was someone he should know, and in the process, revealed something about herself.

There was a welcomed silence among the three students, who were deeply immersed in their thoughts.

And yet, it was Alexander himself, who feared speaking the most that spoke first.

By then Alexander had calmed down, and he signalled to Xavier to wait, and tried to talk to Ean himself.

"I am indeed from Aerorua and I'm also its prince… but would you do me a favor and not spread that information?", Alexander suddenly realized how pathetic he was, the day wasn't even over, and someone had already figured him out.

Someone Xavier did not know, but actually knew them so well…

'Wait… it seems she doesn't know who Xavier is… In that case, I have to stop her from figuring his identity out!', Upon stumbling on that realization, Alexander had decided to stand up to protect Xavier, who was just moments away from leaving him to the wolves.

Ean observed him, before stretching her hand out for a handshake. One which Alexander received hesitantly.

"It is nice to meet you in person, your highness. I've heard a lot about you and uh… ", Ean suddenly stopped halfway. She wasn't good at flattery, and was even worse at flattering what had no flattery to be received.

Xavier who was behind Alexander, suddenly looked away and hid the mirth in his eyes, at least someone understood how he felt.

While Alexander chuckled awkwardly, he understood the situation and Ean's difficulty.

But he was not interested in making things difficult for her, thus he spoke first, "By the way, could you call me Alexander not "Your highness"? Believe me when I say, it sounds weird and-"

"Sure! I just didn't know what kind of person you were, and didn't want to hit the wrong button. What if I called you by your name and you brought an army to wage war against me!", Ean said in a loud voice full of sarcasm, but her inner thoughts were:

'I thought you'd never ask, make me call you your highness one more time, and that's just you asking for it!'

Xavier on the other hand, couldn't suppress a smile from forming on his face.

'What army was Alexander supposed to bring over?! And to which country?! Does she have any idea what kind of place Arin Island is…', his thoughts gradually slowed down and he started to space out.

Before, if Alexander had been awkward, and managed to brush past the awkwardness, now he was thoroughly embarrassed, and completely speechless.

Maybe Ean realized what she was saying, and knew it wasn't ideal. Or she just wanted to ask as many questions as she could before she left, but she spoke up first and cleared up the awkwardness in the air.

"Weren't you given the position of Director in Aerorua? What are you doing all the way here in a cheap school like this?", Ean asked with blinking eyes.

'She knows about that too?!', Alexander's eyes nearly widened from shock and he turned around to look at Xavier who had stopped reacting to their conversation.

He had a thoughtful expression on his face, the nonchalance around him had also diminished to a certain degree, but his distracted gaze was fixed on the both of them as they conversed. Alexander turned back to face Ean, and felt a bead of sweat trickle from his forehead, but luckily for him, it was hidden by his long hair.

One thing he had learned was to never wear your heart on your sleeve, when dealing with a potential enemy… or anyone else. Unfortunately for him, he had already made the mistake of doing that so many times, when dealing with her. Realizing this couldn't change anything, but it didn't mean he would allow himself to continue being read.

He had recently been assigned as the Vice director of one of his family's companies. On the surface, that was a great boost from his previous position, and is in every way beneficial to him. But hidden away from the eyes of the public, it was just another hopeless competition between he and Leslie, that sadistic bastard!

Who could do better as a vice director? The first prince or the youngest prince? The only reason why he was even promoted, no inducted, was to compete with Leslie and make him shine.

Leslie was promoted from assisting director to Vice director, while he was just given the post. He definitely had the bigger share of the pie, the important question was, could he keep it? And if he lost it, what did he have to lose?

Alexander had a lot to lose!

His reputation was going to be repainted as the incompetent first son, his supporters would also begin to doubt his competence and their choice as well, and Xavier, whose backing was the most important of the three, and the only thing keeping him in the race.

He didn't even understand why Xavier was going all out for him, all for an unrelated piece of information, which was so precious to Alexander that he was unwilling to share it with Xavier, even at the cost of losing his one and only edge over Leslie. Fortunately for him though, Xavier did not seem to care about it too much, and investigated things himself.

Thus, immediately he assumed post, he picked up the project that had the most to do with Arin Island, and ran over to Arin Island.

Alexander had been planning on coming to Arin Island for a long time, so he could have a vacation, some space to breathe, and a little more life experiences. But his grandfather, had more in mind for him, and had surprised him with his induction as Vice director.

In retrospect, his true aim was schooling; he just happened to pick Arin Island because it was the simplest place for him to exist in, and easiest place for him to work in.

The project in question, was the famed bridge project, and he was here to bid for it. But when he arrived on the island, the bidding had already taken place.

So he and Xavier were planning to collaborate on the project, so Alexander could at least have something to present back home.

But a few days ago, after his scholarship application was confirmed successful, he found out Leslie had gone ahead to pick up a project that had to do with Draruth, and actually won the bid.

Apparently the news hadn't spread yet, and many people thought Alexander would win this unorthodox competition. But only Alexander knew he had lost long ago, the moment he picked Arin island, the island that was situated between the other three and was the second most Xenophobic, he had no chances of going back, much less reaching out to his allies in Aerorua.

Why? Because he was the only one, who officially and legally had irrevocable access to Arin Island, excluding natives of the island and other powerful or important embassies.

And Leslie had somehow gotten his visa to Draruth _a place with extremely strict government, advanced civilization and intense Xenophobia_ approved, and was even planning to collaborate on a project with them.

The good part about all these, was the rate at which information spread. It was slow, so very slow. And only those who actually paid genuine attention, or had their sources, had any access to these information.

Their current positions were kept secret from the rest of the world. And only those directly involved, were aware of it.

Now the question is, how did Ean, a strange girl who wasn't even sure of who he was, and had never met him in person, know about this little competition?

Alexander was definitely smarter than he looked, there was a reason Xavier kept him around, and unfortunately for him, that wasn't it.

Thus the only thing he could do in this situation, was to play dumb until she shows solid proof, in case she was trying to feel him out.