The ring !

"Someone important is coming here.?" Alexander, who was walking with lazy steps and holding a cup of tea, looked at Isaac suspiciously.

Isaac walked beside him with a can of iced coffee in his hand, which he usually starts his mornings with, and he nodded his head in confirmation, "He's the Crown Prince."

What could possibly bring such an important person here?…Alexander's mind wasn't fully awake, so he didn't bother to think about it too much.

Isaac noticed his confusion and began to give a brief explanation, "Everyone knows that the chosen ones are distributed between the Imperial Academy and the Versai Academy, the Crown Prince decided to join Versai.

Do you know why?"

"Why would I want to know something like that?" Alexander had nothing to do with these political arrangements, so it was beyond his interest.

"They say he's obsessed with Selena Arabin." Isaac let out a deceptive smile.

Alexander's hand, which was moving the cup towards his mouth, froze.

Selena Arabin?

 That was a well-known name

She was the one chosen by Aphrodite

Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty and fertility

So he could imagine how beautiful that girl was chosen by this entity that put appearance above all else

"Now that's getting a little exciting." Alexander's expression changed to a playful one

"Isn't it?" Isaac was satisfied with the reaction he got, "There's a banquet coming up soon. And you can say that the Crown Prince and Selena are the guests of honor."

"Let me guess, you're invited to that party." Alexander glanced sideways at Isaac

Isaac chuckled instead of answering with words

Although Alexander maintained his smile, he was wondering what this man's intentions were

Isaac didn't seem like the type to care about chasing beauty

Alexander was able to pick up on the expressions on the person in front of him no matter how hard that person tried to hide them

So he was able to catch fools like Elliot and Rustin who were fascinated by girls

But Isaac always kept his straight expression when Charlotte was around

Charlotte was one of the most beautiful girls Alexander had seen since he came into this world. Her beauty was comparable to Ner after she was granted the power of a saint

He naturally wouldn't be too affected by this

 young men of Isaac's age would definitely show attraction towards the opposite sex. However, Isaac kept his distance from all the girls despite his popularity among the girls of this academy.

That made him confused about Isaac's sudden interest in Selena

Did Selena brainwash Isaac with her beauty?

The more he thought about it, the more curious he became

Isaac sipped the rest of his iced coffee and expertly threw it into a trash can a few meters away. 

Alexander's steps stopped and he turned to the side with a raised eyebrow, "What is Vincent doing there?" 

Vincent was standing twenty meters away from them with a shovel in his hands, his clothes were stained with mud and traces of dirt in his hair. 

"Let's go and see." Isaac put his hands in his pockets and moved towards Isaac. 

Alexander followed him without objection, remembering his previous conversation with Vincent. 

From that conversation he remembered that Vincent had told him something about the gardening club. 

"You look miserable." Isaac waved at Vincent. 

Vincent stopped digging, his head covered in sweat and dust, "Boss..." 

"You should have seen him wearing that strange mask." Alexander came out from behind Isaac with a smile

"You mean the Robin Hood mask?..." Isaac understood right away what Alexander was talking about, "That sounds like something Vincent does, he likes to join in the fun."

"Are you part of the gardening club?" Alexander asked casually as he counted the holes Vincent dug

"No..." Vincent wiped the sweat from his forehead with a cloth that was on a nearby bench, "I'm in the Help Club."

"Help Club? What is that?" This was the first time Alexander had heard of a club with that name

"I understand your confusion..." Isaac rubbed his forehead bitterly, "I also didn't understand what this club was at first."

Vincent raised his finger with his other hand behind his back and began to explain, "I take requests to help others."

"Let me clarify one thing..." Alexander arched his eyebrows thinking that no idiot would do this for free, "You're not doing this for free, are you?"

 "Of course I do it for free." Vincent let out a bright smile filled with selflessness

"…" It seems that Vincent is foolish enough to do this

Alexander turned his head towards Isaac, "Don't the clubs receive any financial support from the academy?"

He thought that the money Vincent received from the academy would surely be enough compensation for his efforts

Isaac shook his head, "It's just a token support, club members often shoulder the financial burden themselves."

"Let me guess, community service." Alexander looked at the two of them with a blank stare

"Let's just forget about that now…" Vincent threw the cloth aside, "I just noticed something important."

"What is…?" Isaac looked around in confusion to find out what Vincent was talking about

Vincent took bold steps forward and grabbed Alexander's left hand and raised it high, "I'm talking about this."

"What are you doing?" Alexander resisted the urge to slap this idiot

"This!" Isaac's eyes widened as if he had seen something unbelievable

"..." Even you, Isaac?

Alexander began to suspect that there was a disease that had passed from Vincent to Isaac

" The ring..." Isaac and Vincent shouted at the same time

" The ring? " Alexander raised his head towards the hand that Vincent raised, focusing on the tracking device that was designed in the shape of a silver ring

But he still did not understand what was going on here

" Who is she..." Vincent brought his face closer to Alexander and asked forcefully

" I don't know what you're talking about." Alexander took a step back from this madman

But Isaac intercepted him from behind to close any way of retreat, " This ring wasn't on your finger yesterday, tell us who the girl was that you exchanged rings with."

 Exchanging rings?... Alexander blinked to comprehend this

Suddenly his eyes widened as a sudden realization hit him

"You got it wrong, I didn't exchange rings with any girl."

He completely forgot that he put this ring on his ring finger

Anyone who saw the ring on this particular finger would have some thoughts that couldn't be ignored

In this world, the presence of this ring on the fourth finger of the left hand was evidence that the person was either engaged or had a lover.

At first, he put the ring on this finger just for fun, and he was planning to put it on another finger later

He didn't expect that this ring would shrink and remain stuck on his finger, unable to take it off

"There's nothing to be ashamed of." Isaac smiled understandingly

"That's right." Vincent patted Alexander on the shoulder, "We'll be happy if you're happy."

 Alexander sighed when he saw that trying to justify it to them was useless and he continued, "I had a childhood friend." 

Isaac and Vincent adjusted their postures when they realized that they were about to hear an interesting story. 

Alexander moved with tired steps and threw himself on a nearby bench. 

He lowered his head in exhaustion, "We were always together, playing, studying, and eating." 

"Your stomach must have been a problem for your family." Vincent made a rude comment. 

Isaac covered his mouth trying to suppress his smile and pretended to cough. 

Alexander ignored the mockery and continued his story with apparent sadness, "Our families even agreed that we would get married in the future." 

Vincent and Isaac looked at each other

The flow of events up to this part seemed good, but Alexander's tone and expression made it clear that the ending was not as good as expected.

Alexander was silent for twenty seconds thinking about the spices he should add.

It was boring to tell the same story over and over again, especially since he had previously said something similar to Rustin.

"She was like a phoenix flying in the sky, while I kept looking at her from the ground among the crowds."

 Although he didn't say it directly, Isaac and Vincent knew what he was talking about.

That girl seemed to have a high talent while he had a low or average talent at best.

They both knew that just love wouldn't be enough to make the relationship work.

If you wanted to be with your love, you had to be able to stand by her.

That's why it was necessary to have the strength and ability to stand by your partner.

It was tough and classist, but that's how the world works and none of them could change that.

"In the end, a young talent from another city proposed to her, and she didn't refuse."

Alexander stopped at this part as if he had reached the hardest part, then continued after letting out several sad gasps, "The end..."

The two remained standing in silence, and Alexander sat in front of them with a miserable face.

In the end, Isaac tried to break the silence, "Is that why you moved here?"

  Isaac felt a bit embarrassed and guilty for opening up this old wound.

"A lot of things happened later, especially between me and my family." Alexander leaned back on the seat and raised his head towards the sky.

Vincent looked at the ring on Alexander's finger with some sadness, "Is this ring what remains of your previous relationship with her?"

Isaac also turned his eyes towards the ring with emotion and sentimentality.

How valuable this ring is because of the memories it represents.

But these memories must have turned into a burden after everything that happened.

"This...?" Alexander raised his hand, showing the ring in surprise, "This ring has nothing to do with what happened. I got it as a gift from my uncle."

"..." Then what's the point of telling this story?

"Why do I feel like I wasted a minute of my life?" Vincent sighed and shook his head.

"I know what you're talking about. Actually, I wasted my feelings too." Isaac agreed without hesitation.