Unexpectedly, I slept soundly. Even though I hadn't set an alarm in the morning, my body was used to waking up early for classes, so I woke up at exactly the ti I thought I would. And as I ate my breakfast, I thought.
Since the day I ca to this world, I have indeed always seen the bright side of it. No, rather, I have forced myself to see the bright side. I have always avoided the other scary side because I thought that if I saw it, it would diminish my enjoynt of this world.
I already know the place I'm going to show the prince today because of the ga, but seeing it with my own eyes... I'm not sure how it will affect . I'd rather not go there at all, but it's ti.
I can't keep running away like I used to.
As soon as I finished my breakfast, I changed my clothes and surfed social dia until it was ti. Sith and I laughed and spent ti looking at things we found weird.
I was actually preparing myself... because I couldn't be hesitant around the prince.
So, after a while, the ti finally ca when I was told that I was going to et him. And with that, I went out.
It was a normal day, except that there were fewer students outside than usual.
Well, after all, there are classes going on now. So, it's normal. Most of the people outside are upperclassn who have already finished the first grade, which is a preparation. Their classes run differently from ours.
Ah... I forgot to ask permission.
I quickly picked up my watch and dialed a number. The response ca quickly.
"Aiden?"
"Good morning, lany. I have sothing important for today. I need to leave the academy for just one day. Can you arrange a pass so I don't run into security when I go through the gate?"
lany sighed, sounding very busy.
"I thought it was sothing important when you called directly... Okay, but text for stuff like this, I'm a busy person."
"Okay."
The call ended as she sighed, then I turned away with a slight smile on my face.
It feels really good to have connections, I can get permission to go out of school at the touch of a button.
As I continued to move forward with these thoughts, I ntally paused.
Hmm... Thinking about it, I suddenly feel like a snobby kid from a rich family. I have money, I have good connections... I can do most of the things I want with just one phone call... and so on.
Oh... I guess instead of feeling like that, I'm actually slowly turning into that kind of a person... Shit, I didn't realize that.
"Aiden?"
When I turned in the direction of the voice that had pulled out of my thoughts, I saw the blond-haired boy with a strange, slightly uneasy expression on his face.
Ah... I didn't even realize I was at the east door.
"Yeah."
Lucas slightly averted his eyes when I approached him. Or rather, he couldn't look at . He had rings under his eyes that were hard to see.
"I'm sorry, Aiden, I can be a little distracted. I just... slept a little."
"You're nervous, or rather scared... right?"
"Yes."
All I could do was sigh at Lucas's honesty.
It's strange to think that soone like that could behave like that with soone four years his junior, soone he'd t for the first ti... soone who not only belonged to the noblest family in the kingdom but was also the crown prince.
"I'm not going to tell you to lift your spirits. You wanted to see the state of your people, and I'm going to show you what you really need to see. So, no promises. Just follow ."
I turned slowly toward the east door, but Lucas spoke again.
"By the way... Don't you have classes? And can you just walk out of the academy like that?"
"I have permission, no problem."
So, there was nothing more Lucas could say. lany must have done it quickly because the gate guards let through as soon as they checked my ID. As for Lucas, he already had a permit. Since he was leaving tonight anyway, he already had it.
Once we were through the gate without any problems and I was heading toward the magnetic train station, Lucas must not have liked the silence because he spoke once again.
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to Wiathen. It's the best place to see what I want to show you."
"I still don't understand what you want to show ..."
"You'll understand when we arrive."
Lucas beca even more uneasy, but I didn't really care at this point. We boarded one of the magnetic trains to Wiathen, finished the journey almost without speaking, and arrived in the city.
The city was more crowded than usual. People were everywhere, busy, on their way to work or just hanging out.
The city was alive, as it always is, and as it is reflected on the screens.
"Follow ."
Lucas obediently walked behind . We passed through streets and avenues. We saw luxury houses, buildings, cars, and much more. These were the symbols of the Cevilian Kingdom. Technological sophistication and prosperity...
We changed neighborhoods, and the height of the buildings gradually decreased as we kept walking for a long ti. In the sa way, cars were slowly replaced by older and older models. Likewise, the height of the ground slowly began to decrease. It was as if we were going down slowly but steadily.
People were no longer wearing the latest fashions.
We had walked almost to the other end of the city. No... we were already past it, representatively. However, Lucas started to slow down a little. It wasn't that he was tired or anything, he just started to look around more carefully.
"This is the poorer part of the city... Is this where you wanted to bring ?"
"Sort of, but no."
Lucas's eyebrows raised curiously. With a sigh, I pointed further down the path we were walking.
"We keep walking."
Lucas nodded nervously, his eyes still scanning his surroundings.
So, we walked for so long that we forgot how long we had been walking. At the sa ti, yes, the buildings were getting older and older; they were getting worse and worse.
And not only that but also other things...
"Cough!"
A woman who was walking past us coughed, then suddenly collapsed on the ground.
"Ma'am!"
Lucas quickly bent down to help her, reaching out his hand, but the response he got was very different from what he had expected.
"Get away from !"
The woman scread in anger, in hatred, pushing his hand away. Her eyes suddenly turned to Lucas. They were literally burning with fire, with hatred.
Without saying anything, the woman stood up and continued walking, ignoring us.
"Fucking nobles..."
As she was leaving, she didn't forget to hum sothing we could hear. And that made Lucas's eyes widen.
"That's..."
"This is just the beginning, Lucas. This is nothing compared to what you'll see today."
Lucas opened his mouth, but just then a passing boy bumped into him.
"Ah! H- hey, watch ou-"
Without letting him finish, I grabbed the boy by the arm, lifted him into the air, and looked coldly into his eyes, not caring if he was in pain or not.
Lucas went crazy with that.
"Aiden! What the hell are you doing!"
"Give it back."
The boy clicked his tongue, and the hand he'd been holding behind his back until now ca out. He held it out to Lucas.
In his palm was sothing shiny, a ring.
All of Lucas's anger suddenly turned to surprise. He raised his right hand and looked at the dinsional inventory ring that was no longer on his finger. He didn't know what to say, he just stiffened and I sighed. As soon as I put the boy down, I snatched the ring from his hand and gave him a gentle push to make him go away.
The boy ran away without even looking back. From a distance, he looked no more than nine years old.
"Ah..."
Lucas stood where he was, pensive and wide-eyed.
I turned around, started walking along the road again, and spoke.
"Co on, let's keep going. You didn't see anything… yet."
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