Atticus stared at the retreating figure of Zoey as she walked away. He had been so enraptured by her beauty that he hadn't even noticed the flowery lingering scent she left behind as she moved.
With a chime, the elevator doors began to close slowly, obscuring Atticus's view of the enchanting scene.
Absentmindedly, he continued to gaze ahead, fixating on the thin line where the elevator doors met, as if willing them to reopen so he could prolong the moment.
However, reality intervened with the sudden sound of an AI voice:
Please select a floor.
The voice seemed to bring Atticus out of his reverie, and with a reluctant gesture, he hit the ground floor button.
The elevator acknowledged with a chime and immediately started descending. Atticus hadn't even thought about selecting a floor when Kael shoved him into the elevator with Zoey.
Without knowing it, he had followed Zoey to the highest floor where the teleportation rooms were located.
The elevator stopped at one floor, where Atticus saw Kael simply standing with his characteristic expressionless face.
Kael nodded at Atticus and walked into the elevator. Turning his gaze to the elevator terminal, he nodded quietly when he saw that the ground floor was already pressed.
Atticus kept staring at the boy with his gaze slightly narrowed, but Kael's expression never once changed.
One would even think that Atticus was the one acting weird in this scene, as though Kael hadn't done anything wrong.
'This guy is acting like nothing happened,' Atticus thought to himself, shaking his head slightly, his once serious expression morphing into a slight smile.
Atticus chuckled.
"Thanks," he said, turning to face his front.
Kael didn't offer any response for a few seconds, the elevator descending in silence. Just when it seemed like he wouldn't say anything, Kael spoke,
"Did you ask her out?"
Atticus turned to see Kael staring at him inquisitively. Although his expression still remained neutral, Atticus could tell from his eyes that he cared a great deal about his answer.
Atticus turned to face his front again, and the elevator reached the bottom floor at that instant, the door parting open with a chime.
"Yeah, I did," Atticus responded and started walking out of the elevator.
"Did she accept?" Kael asked as he walked out of the elevator, catching up with Atticus.
But Atticus didn't offer any response; he just kept walking forward, his expression neutral.
Seeing Atticus not saying anything, Kael also went silent after that. Both of them walked through a crowd of first-year students who kept staring at both of them while muttering under their breaths.
But just like any other day, they completely ignored them as they walked outside the building.
"Won't you go greet him today?" a black-haired young youth turned to a silver-haired youth and asked.
The silver-haired youth had a deep frown on his face as he gazed at the retreating figures of Atticus and Kael.
"Why are they still together?" Zilas thought irritably.
Since the first time he had gone to introduce himself to Atticus, Zilas had been waiting for a moment where Atticus would be alone to approach him again.
But during these past few days, Atticus and Kael had always been together.
The last thing he wanted was the meeting getting cut short like the last time because Atticus was with Kael.
"He looks busy," Zilas smiled and gave a pathetic excuse, taking away his gaze from the duo.
...
"What the hell are you talking about? Drop it? Drop it!?" A red-haired boy screamed in anger at a similarly red-haired young girl.
The both of them were in a quiet corner behind a large building. The area was completely devoid of people with only the figures of the boy and girl present.
The structure of the buildings where the leaders of all the years were taught was built in such a way that there were numerous different secluded corners around.
No one knew why it was built this way. Many even suggested that the academy was subtly encouraging bullying.
And because of the structure of each building, there were many secluded spots.
This particular area was amongst the plenty of areas where students hardly ever passed, and this was obviously why they were both here.
Lila sighed deeply, "Dell, just listen to me. You can't win; just drop the matter for now," Lila, for the umpteenth time, tried to talk sense to Dell.
Dell was seething. 'How dare she!'
"You know how that loss affected me, Lila! You know this, and yet you're still asking me to drop it!? If it was you, would you!?" Dell screamed in rage.
He knew Lila too well; they had grown up together, after all.
Although it seemed like she was harmless and didn't care much about everything, Dell knew firsthand how wrong this perception of her was.
Lila was vengeful, incredibly so. And the one thing that made her worst was the fact that she actually had a good head on her shoulders. Even he was completely wary of her.
"Dell, just lis-" Lila's speech was abruptly cut short as Dell continued speaking.
"Is this your attempt at belittling me and ruining my reputation so you'll be able to become the heir?" Dell locked his angry gaze at Lila's as he accused.
Lila's gaze narrowed. "What are you sayi-" just as she was about to speak, Dell interrupted once more.
"Oh, don't deny it, Lila! You think I don't know what you and those stupid elders are planning? You would betray your own brother!?"
Lila's words froze. She had been expecting a lot of reactions from Dell, but the last thing she expected was him actually turning all the blame on her like this.
Lila closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then she opened them, locking her eyes with Dell.
"Do what you want. Sorry for wasting your time," she said and without waiting for a response, she started walking away.
"Tsk, stupid bitch," Dell muttered irritably under his breath. With a cold look at Lila's retreating figure, he turned and started walking in the opposite direction.