Contrary to most of the other representative students, Nathan Modernson and Jennifer Lumendra had always seemed to stand out from the rest. Coincidentally, they both treated academy rules—and even the law in general—as meaningless rows and columns of words constructed purely to shackle their freedom.
However, while Nathan believed in such because he simply did not, and did not need to, care, Jennifer broke the rules simply for the sake of breaking them. It was as if she were testing the tolerance limit for the academy staff, seeing how much trouble she could get into without significant punishment.
Flushing her homework inside the toilet, she hummed to the satisfying sound the spiralling water oozed. There were at least 20 more excuses she could come up with before all the ideas ran out, meaning she could dodge a whole term's worth of homework even if she didn't come up with any more.
Just like Nathan, she enjoyed sensing the evening wind that gently brushed against her skin. The only difference was that the contented smile usually on Nathan's face was absent. Her eyes were filled with an endless hollow of coldness. Jennifer had no hobbies; the environment she grew up in did not give her any freedom of choice anyway. During her free time, the same story, the bloody scene, would replay over and over inside her head, so vivid that it felt more like a realistic memory than a schemed future.
"I will kill them all…" Jennifer whispered quietly to herself, a phrase that repeated in her mind an uncountable number of times.
The sound of the knocking door in her mind became louder and louder, more and more realistic.
Until Jennifer finally realised her imagination had clouded her senses in the real world. It wasn't a rare occurrence; she would usually need to be interrupted to remember that the events inside her brain were nothing but an artificial possibility.
That didn't excuse her anger from rising anyway, however. Who would knock on someone's door so ungracefully and violently? Had the academy been invaded?
As she opened the door of her room, she saw Nathan's mischievous face smiling at her, clearly with a vile intention.
"Good evening, my…"
Jennifer slammed her door shut.
Nathan's voice rose up outside again. "Jennifer! Open the door, I have something very important to discuss with you!" The sound barely squeezed through the thick, heavy wall.
From her previous encounters with Nathan, Jennifer had stopped necessarily hating him for his discourtesy, but that didn't mean she trusted him or treated him as a friend in any way. And from her perspective, the same went for Nathan to her.
She opened the door again after a short moment of silence, her face cold and emotionless as ever.
Nathan's frowning face lit up again the moment he saw her reappearance. "Me and the other representative students are going on an adventure. Do you want to come?"
"Elaborate," Jennifer replied coldly.
"We are raiding a group of higher-grade students," Nathan put a finger on his lips and quietly stated. His smile only seemed more evil. "Come on, only three years of our life get spent in this academy—let's do some things that make it worthy."
"Go get your brain checked out."
Jennifer attempted to slam her door shut again, but this time, Nathan blocked it with his hand.
Not going to lie, she was surprised at Nathan's absolute calmness when the door landed heavily on his skinny hand. Also, realising that the reaction was rather unrealistic, Nathan yelled out quietly yet sarcastically.
"You guys do whatever you want. I still have homework to do," she explained—this time gentler—probably because of Nathan's impressive endurance toward pain.
"All right, no more jokes," Nathan wiped away the exaggerated emotion on his face and stated seriously, almost like a warning. "No matter how much you want to deny it, success is usually not achieved alone. If you think your identity is too sacred to join us, by all means, mark yourself aside."
Without even a slight moment of hesitation, Nathan turned around and walked away. Leaving only questions behind.
Jennifer clenched her fists. Even after Nathan's persuasion, she still believed that she could achieve anything by herself. However, being isolated by every other representative student would still be too much of a risk to take. She couldn't fathom Nathan's true intentions just yet.
Was he possibly attempting to bring everyone together on the same rope? This was potentially possible in every other year, but between William Schwarz and Leo Blanc, there was absolutely no future where they could be friends.
"I'll come," she stated in resignation, but Nathan continued to walk forward.
"I said I will come!" Jennifer shouted furiously. "Where and when?"
With his back facing her, a smirk emerged on Nathan's face.
"Just follow me. Still gotta ask the others."
Jennifer froze once again, her nails sinking deep inside her palm. Didn't he just say everyone else was coming with him? Yet when she reflected on the entire conversation, Nathan had never openly admitted that everyone was coming. But through Nathan's wordplays, she was somehow leashed to the favoured psychological direction.
"What." Nathan nudged his head toward the outside. "You can't take back your words. Don't worry, though, I'm sure none of the others would reject my offer."
Nathan was completely truthful in his words. Not because he knew the personalities of the representative students down to the bone. There was, however, an undeniable fact that they all came from wealthy, restricting families that abducted their free will and exhibited childish savagery. None of the aristocratic teenagers would turn down an interesting adventure, especially when someone like Nathan Modernson was there to hold everything down if something did go wrong.
Not to mention the fact that everyone was positioned in polarised teams anyway. Nathan knew how much influence this could have on somebody's decision. If the opposing team agreed to a decision, none would dare to hold back and stay out of the situation entirely.
Jennifer watched as Nathan knocked on every representative student's door and witnessed his persuasion toward them. He would sometimes pretend to be courteous and serious, sometimes inclusive and manipulative, and sometimes even fiery and indignant.
But she had to admit, she was practically the only one who required Nathan to warn her about the consequences of inaction. The only one who hesitated was, surprisingly, David Edmonds, who Jennifer thought would be the least likely to reject his offer. She also noticed that Nathan's eyes had always been fixed on the clock every moment he passed one, though she failed to interpret the significance behind it.
"All right, gang, final destination—Leo Blanc," Nathan announced confidently to the group as he nodded toward the clock. It was a few minutes away from 7:30 in the evening. "One last check. You guys all brought your wands, correct?"
"So what ARE we even doing?" William Schwarz shook his head, clearly upset about the confusion and the secret Nathan was hiding. However, even for someone like him, there was an undeniable sense of excitement easily detectable from his face.
"I'll explain everything once we fetch Leo. But long story short, we are going on a crusade to defeat the tyrant who suppressed poor, innocent students in the academy." Nathan seemed rushed as he walked, and the pace of the group gradually increased.
However, his words alone practically explained everything. Most of the students behind him nodded in revelation and satisfaction. The smiles on their faces grew even larger. Of course, that was not because they all shared a mutual value for liberation and justice—it was simply because they all knew the identity of the so-called tyrant in his story.
The dormitory was fairly spread out to maximise the private space for students, but it didn't take too long before they reached Leo's territory. Nathan signalled everyone to keep silent as he peeped around the corner. Jennifer faintly caught a reassuring smile on his face.
Everyone else, out of curiosity, followed Nathan and peeked their heads out. There was already someone standing before Leo's door, a slim lady with hair so white that the uniform she wore seemed to lose its elegance and purity. A member of the Blanc family, for sure—that was everyone's first thought.
Amy Blanc, heir of the Blanc Clan's prominent family.
And their second thought was uncoincidentally reciprocal: don't mess with her.
Except for, of course, one unique person out of the group.
Nathan Modernson walked straight up with wide and exaggerated steps. Amy Blanc turned her head over but was clearly unaware of the fact that she was his prey.
At this precise moment, Leo Blanc opened the door with an unusually worried look on his face. Leo wasn't known for being positive and bright, but it was the first time that his face had been paled to such a shade.
Before Leo could look around to detect the others' presence, Amy Blanc's palm had already landed directly on his face.
"Do I look like I'm not busy enough? How dare you, branch family bastard, make me wait by the door?" she yelled loudly and with authority. A flash of silent hatred and irritation passed through Leo's features, but he kept it to himself.
Just when Amy Blanc was going to continue her rant, a forceful push shoved her aside.
"Don't grow two eyes on your face and never use them. Get out of my way before I dig them out," Nathan stated with disdain in his voice. There wasn't a single sense of respect or fear. Time seemed to have stopped under the tension between the three students' atmosphere. No one expected Nathan to act with such foolishness. Even if his relationship with the First Seat was close, that didn't excuse him from openly declaring war on the Blanc family.
Leo Blanc looked at Nathan in astonishment and confusion, which almost suddenly turned into a distorted expression of agony and resignation. Nathan had surely avenged his anger temporarily, and it was certain that even for someone like Amy Blanc, Nathan was an immovable mountain of authority. However, after everything was settled and done, the only person who would be tortured would still be him.
Amy watched as Nathan wrapped his arm around Leo's shoulders and whispered something into his ear. She was frozen on the ground like a statue; never once had she been treated like that in her entire life. It was bizarre to the point that she couldn't even manage to get herself angry like she usually would. Even someone like Jonathan Schwarz, who was openly hostile toward her, never said something so disrespectful and cruel. She was also confused at his friendly attitude toward Leo. If he was part of the Rune Arts Federation, why was he so close to Leo anyway? Leo had told her before that their relationship was relatively stable, and there was a faint possibility that Nathan would side with the Blanc family instead. That was the only time Amy complimented Leo's behaviour.
"Join me, Leo. Let's witness this greatness together." Nathan smirked while checking Amy's response with the corner of his eye.
Only then did Leo—and possibly the other representative students—realise.
This boy was always by their side, and his friendliness toward them might have been genuine. However, Nathan was never allied with the Blanc family, nor the Schwarz family.
He was just a friend of both Leo and William, and it wasn't anything more complicated than that. Only then did they realise: individuals, and the banner they stood beneath, never had to sit on the same side of the scale.
Somehow, that changed everything, and everyone.