When he surfaced from the dive into his mind, he was standing in front of the door of Lecture 1B of the palace academy. A quick look at the position of the sun revealed that he had slept through three hours of lessons already. Without hesitation, Res entered the palace’s giant lecture hall. The door’s ear-piercing creaking echoed through the enormous chamber. A white-haired woman whirled around from the blackboard. She focused her attention on the intruder that dared to disturb her class for the umptieth time. He supposed that he was the only one coming late out of 569 pupils.

Still, Ms. Harlow should have realized by now that he won’t change, and calling him out was a nuisance for both of them. As a statistics professor, she should have run the numbers by now. “What do you have to say in your defense?”, the shrill voice of Ms. Harlow demanded.

Res continued with his usual bored gate and ignored her screeching.

She banged her tiny fist against the blackboard: “Answer me!”

It wasn’t like he wanted to disrespect Ms. Harlow, but arguing with her would be too strenuous. Besides, Res knew that he had broken no rules and a teacher could only expel a student for a lack of talent. “Right about now, the questioning should start. 3, 2 ,1 …”

“Fine, if you don’t want to answer me then you can answer my questions. For what x is this equation true: 54/x = x-3?” (Maybe try solving it without guessing, too).

Usually, Res would take out some paper and imitate calculating. Today he was feeling lazy and answered right away: “9 and -6. I could go on, but I am afraid that would hinder the lesson more than it already does.”

Ms. Harlow sputtered in indignation for several moments but finally relented. “Yes, you are right, we should resume the lesson.”

Everyone in the class was looking at Res either as if he was an elite palace guard or their most hated enemy. He buried his face into his hands in frustration. “Shit, I miscalculated. Now that I stand out, I won’t be able to relax as much anymore. I bet there will be someone who will want to talk to me.” When he didn’t find an effortless way out, he rested his head on the table. “Never mind, it’s time for a brief nap.”

Ms. Harlow balled her fists in anger but continued her previous explanation. To Res’s great displeasure, an excited voice interrupted his earned rest: “Wooa, that was so awesome. You showed her who is the one in charge.”

Res didn’t bother opening his eyes as he already knew who was talking to him. Answering would only spur that one on in his rambling. Next to him sat Vincent van Lawdall, a young man about his age with combed black hair and dressed in the finest robes. Ever since Res had arrived at the palace, Vincent had been tormenting Res with his talk about being best friends. He even told anyone they should call him Vin because a shorter name like Res sounded ‘elegant’. After some time, Res had found out that listening to the babbling, had improved his level of relaxation.

So, he listened as Vincent whispered about trivial things that happened in the court. One sentence made him surface from his relaxation. “Have you heard that the royal prince will even attend? I have heard that he has exceptional talent.”

“Hmmm.”

“Today will be one of the greatest initiation ceremonies of all … ”

“Today is the initiation ceremony?” Res immediately chided himself for losing his focus. When he realized everyone was staring at him, he dropped down onto his chair again. “When and where is the initiation ceremony, I forgot.”

Vincent stared at him as if he told him the Boogeyman was real. “Don’t joke around. That is the most important day of your entire life. Who would forget the date of their initiation ceremony? As I before said, I bet you had a sleepless night.”

“Just tell me.”

“Ok, ok. The ceremony is at the 18th gong.” Res sighed in relief as he realized he could still enjoy his afternoon in the park. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a rich gong being struck ten times. In an instant, all the students turned from listening to loud chattering. Ms. Harlow tried to shout something about ‘Homework’, but gave up.

Vincent caught him by the arm and said: “By the way, we should go to the royal park today. I already talked to some of my sparring buddies. Let’s have a picnic or something.”

Before Res could object, a clear and melodious voice resounded through the room. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. Would you allow me to join you?” The voice belonged to Antoinette van Mayford, who had sparked a house war over her beauty. Her perfect blonde hair flowed down her head like a spring river and her blue eyes held not only beauty. At least that was how his poet-loving classmates described her.

Hundreds of challenging male gazes bored into Res. For some unknown reason, that girl had taken a liking to him: “I am probably the only one in this class turning her down and I will continue to do so.” Under the beauty and mature façade lay a child that used her social connections like money. She lived after the philosophy ‘consequences be dammed’. That attitude disgusted him.

“Sorry, we will do fine without y… ”

Vincent clamped down his hand on his mouth and smiled nervously at Antoinette: “He meant to say: We will do fine without beer … Yes, that is what he meant to say - Beer. We know that you don’t like the taste of beer.”

Antoinette nodded and a confident smile appeared on her face: “After school in the royal garden.”

Vincent’s smile grew wider and wider and he nodded vigorously. Res tried to pry away Vincent’s fingers, but in comparison to his lanky frame, they were solid like steel. Through Vincent’s hands, he tried to shout: “I will not be coming.”, “I hate you.” and “Stop acting like you like me”, but Vincent’s grip was like steel as he turned Res away from the girls.

Despite his closed-off attitude, he and Vincent had grown closer in the last months. That notion passed when Vincent hissed at him: “How could you deny Antoinette. She isn’t a normal girl. As the daughter of a high lord and a member of the royal family, she has considerable power in the court. Are you crazy?”

Res crossed his arms: “I don’t want to send the wrong signals.”

Their discussion was interrupted by the furious trampling of feet and an enraged shout: “How dare you lay your filthy gaze on my future wife? And now you even go on a date with her?” In front of Res, stood the muscular form of Maxwell van Monttine. Maxwell was muscular and handsome which made him especially popular with the ladies.

Behind Res, Antoinette gave a lady-like humph of clear dissatisfaction: “I am no one’s property.”

Maxwell’s head flashed red at the rebuke and he added: “Of course my dear Antoinette. I would never presume. Still, I can’t let you two go on a date.”

Maxwell struck a dramatic pose with his index finger pointed at Res. “I challenge you to a duel!”

***

The entire room fell into hushed silence and Antoinette felt her hands tingle in excitement. Her mind was a stark contrast to her calm demeanor. “Yes, fight for me. Earn my favor.”

Antoinette couldn’t suppress her smile when she saw Res trying to wriggle out of the situation. ”I will have you submit to me. I will have you confess your love for me in front of the entire court.”

What Antoinette didn’t expect was for Res to extend his hand in a gesture of friendship. His voice resounded loud and clear: “I am not your equal. You are Antoinette’s future husband and I will not hinder your future relationship. I hereby invite you, no everyone, to the picnic in the royal park after classes.”

Loud cheers and laughter broke out in the entire class. To her great displeasure, a crowd of pupils even engulfed Res, thanking him for the invitation. Most of them never had the chance to talk to the untouchable beauty, Antoinette.

Even Maxwell put a hand around Res’s shoulders in an obvious expression of companionship. Antoinette’s facade crumbled, and she shouted out her frustration. Everyone looked at her in utter confusion as she turned around and rushed off to the next class.

“I have been outplayed … again. Now I have to endure the meaningless babble of hundreds of fools. I just wanted to seduce Res a little and make him say the three words: ‘I love you’. I will enjoy the moment when he will submit.”