Meeting Aurora

"Miss Vivian, I am not a saint. Just like any other person, we are biased toward our loved ones. 

But some people take it a step further. 

They just care about themselves and become a menace to everyone else. These types of people are what I meant."

Vivian's gaze turned complicated for a moment as one of his words resonated with her, but she quickly shook it out of her mind.

"That is a good answer, Rafael. I appreciate your honesty. Now, the last question: have you ever heard the myth of Solomon?"

"Solomon? I have heard of it. It's said he was a wise king and enslaved 72 demons under his control."

"Solomon used them for his own desire. Do you think it's right or wrong?"

Rafael was caught off guard by the strange question. 

He didn't understand what the headmistress wanted to find out from his answer. But after some thought, he couldn't really decide.

A lot of people will quickly answer wrong since demons are related to something bad, while others will answer it's right since, based on the myth, Solomon used them to do many good acts.

But for Rafael, the question was tricky. 

"That depends on many conditions, Miss Vivian. 

I doubt the demons just stood still, obeying all his orders. There should be some cost to using them.

So I cannot answer without knowing the real situation."

"Good, you are thinking of the invisible factors that a lot of people often choose to ignore. And that, Rafael, is a quality I want from you in this school." 

Vivian smiled and then raised her hand. "I officially welcome you as our new student. We will meet again when the new semester starts."

Rafael felt excited. He stood up, shook her hand, and quickly left the room.

Alone in the room, Vivian took out her phone. She looked at a photo of a patient lying on the bed, unable to move. 

"Doing everything for our loved ones. I quite empathize with you, Rafael, but sorry, I too just do what is needed for my loved one. I hope you survive though."

She then started typing a message to give a report to someone.

Rafael didn't waste time and quickly left the school. His footsteps were light now. Despite everything that had happened, he felt like he was on cloud nine.

Now everything was settled, and he was officially a student. He sent a text message to give his sister the good news.

'Sis, I succeeded. I am officially their student now.'

Ding!

'What are you talking about? You are already a student there. 

By the way, I sent you some money. Use it to treat yourself to a meal and buy the school necessities.'

'Thanks, sis,' Rafael replied. 

He didn't reject it since he knew Reina would get angry if he did that.

'I will just do as usual, then save half and use the rest so she doesn't suspect anything,' Rafael thought.

[You just received $1,000.]

Seeing the message, Rafael smiled.

He knew how much his sister's wage was. She had just sent almost half of her signing bonus. This didn't count the meal she bought yesterday and the bills.

'One day, I will make sure you don't need to work anymore, sis,' he thought to himself, steeling his determination.

Rafael then decided to go to a nearby mall. He ate some cheap fast food. 

Technically, this still counted as treating himself to a meal. After eating, he planned to buy some shoes and a watch.

He want to get at least a decent one, but not too expensive.

'I will need to prepare to face the school bullies. Ben said they care much about appearance. I will just buy one that doesn't show I am poor.'

He then started thinking about how to face them. Rafael knew he would need to use his fists. Words are useless against bullies like them.

While he was deep in thought, suddenly, someone sat in front of him. Rafael frowned. 

He wanted to berate whoever the person was to choose another table. But looking at the woman, he froze.

The woman smiled as she took down her black glasses, showing her heterochromia eyes. 

"Hi, we meet again."

"I…." Rafael was speechless. 

He had just forgotten about the morning event, and now the main actress was here in front of him.

Seeing him stutter, the woman let out a soft chuckle. 

"You give me so many surprises today. 

Usually, people will recognize me with a look, but you just don't care."

Looking at the woman's appearance, he realized she wore a hat, mask, and black glasses. Her clothes also wrapped all her body figures. 

It was still stylish, but it showed no skin.

"Should I know you?"

"No, you should not, and I prefer it that way. My name is Aurora."

"Alright, can I say something first?"

"Sure."

"First, I am sorry about what happened this morning. Are those two alright? I hope they are alive."

"Well, the first one you hit has a concussion in his brain, but he is more or less alright. The problem is the other one; you broke two of his ribs."

Rafael smiled helplessly. He knew it was his fault, so he didn't try to shift the blame. Although deep inside, he kind of blamed them. Why wasn't there any TV crew blocking the path to the screening area?

"I am glad they are alright."

Aurora felt more interested in his response. "You don't need to be so uptight with me. You know I am not that far in age from you; I am just three years older."

'How could three years not be far? Well, not like I mind you are beautiful. I bet you look like 20 even if you reach 40,' he thought.

But Rafael knew better than to mention this. He had learned from real-life experience what it meant to talk about a woman's age to their face. "Okay, if you say so, Aurora. So what are you doing here then?"