^^ Hal

It's been two weeks since school started and it's all been pretty exciting!

I'm just the daughter of a knight so I'm practically a commoner, but it's still amazing I'm attending the same school as those as high up as being a prince.

Of course for many lower people like myself we're all pretty impressed with Helen Hale who comes from a fallen noble family stripped of all her noble titles, working as an imperial maid, suddenly rank in the top five for the whole school.

There are some still unimpressed with her though, usually among the high ranking nobility who look down on her because of her background.

Still it certainly gives hope to many of us that with hard work, we'll also be able to find success. One day she might even be advisor to the king or one of the king's magicians if she keeps it up!

It's a pretty exciting day today as well! Later tonight will be a ball for White Tiger Night, an Autumn Festival to celebrate the harvest. It's called White Tiger Night because it's said that there was a long famine caused by a long drought. The gods were fighting whether to intervene and help the people or not because it was the goddess of rain, Rya, who was angry at the people for not offering enough sacrifices.

Finally, the king of the gods, Hal, had enough and decided to go against the other gods who thought it wasn't their place to intervene to help humans for what they thought was something small or were scared of Rya.

At the time Hal was not king of the gods, and so he didn't have as much power. Because of this he had to keep it a secret he helped the people. He stole food from the realm of the gods and had his two white tigers, Astra and Luna, deliver the food to the people since he couldn't go himself or the other gods would know. The people were able to get through the famine due to the bountiful food Hal gave them.

Now for this holiday many pray to Hal for what they wish for and will prepare offerings of meat to Astra and Luna. It's common to have feasts on White Tiger Night and large festivals take place where people often where masks to represent the deceit that Hal did. The nobility replicates this with masquerade balls.

Masquerade balls on White Tiger Night are known to sometimes cause scandal because nobles tend to act up with the anonymity of it all. Not only that but also because the people in the story had to eat food of the gods not quite fit for humans, it caused them to be intoxicated off of it, so a little craziness is somewhat encouraged for this holiday.

There will be a masquerade ball tonight which I'm definitely excited for!

I just have to get through classes today then I can prepare for ball!

I walk down the hall and spot my friend, Mabel.

"Mabel! Are you going to history?" I call out.

"Yes, I just finished with mathematics. I can walk with you there," she replies. We walk down the hallway together which is getting more and more packed as people get to their next class.

I can hardly move in here we're so packed together. Suddenly, the group of people split for some reason. I'm about to walk forward, when Mabel pulls me to the side.

"Careful! The Perfects are coming down the hallway!" says Mabel.

I look up and see she's right. I can't believe I'm seeing the Perfects right now!

They're named the Perfects for obvious reasons. Because there's not one area they don't lack whether it's background or looks or skill, they have it all!

In the middle of the pack is Prince Jackson and Theodore. Jackson is smiling and waving at people. He seems so friendly like he'd definitely make a great king! His brother, Theodore, is too busy reading a book to notice. But wait he looked up and smiled at everyone!

To the left of them is Eve, the Princess of Darkness. She's every bit as perfect as everyone says she is. And at least those who don't think so would be too afraid to say it. She looks extra icy today though, not even smiling as she goes down the hall.

Trailing behind her are Nyx and Finn. I've never seen her without these two before.

Finn seems nice and he's currently messily eating a cupcake. I don't know why such a cutesy boy hangs around Eve but he seems to like when she dotes on him.

Next to him though is as far opposite of a cutesy boy as you can get. Nyx certainly isn't ugly, and he's actually incredibly handsome, if you can get over the fact he's so scary. He glares down the hallway with a seemingly murderous intent. I swear the room gets two degrees hotter every time he steps into it.

The crown prince tries to reach out for Eve's hand, but she deftly dodges it and sends him a sharp look. Nyx and Finn send the prince a look that even sends a chill down my spine.

I don't really get what's going on behind that but I'm sure pretty much everyone knows she's the strongest candidate to be crown princess! Although she scares me a bit, she'd undoubtedly make a great queen.

Plus it would help with the tensions between the Callistos and the Imperial Family. The Callistos really have too much power currently and it's causing a rift of loyalties between them and the Imperial Family. Something definitely must be done about it.

I'm sure the announcement is coming soon. It's probably held up just because she hasn't decided between the first and the second prince. Oh how I wish I could be in her shoes!

Ugh, just kill me now. Today is seriously the worst.

Not only is it a holiday for Hal, but it's also the first time Helen is supposed to meet the the princes at the masquerade ball.

Which means today is another hellish event in this dumb storyline.

For the past two weeks these princes keep "escorting" (read: stalking) me to all my classes. If they were anything lower than a prince they'd be six feet under right now.

Just as I'm about to get down this hallway, another headache appears before me.

"Sister! You're looking radiant as ever," my brother, Luther, says as he comes down the hall.

Ah yes, ever since coming to this cursed school I've also had to deal with this guy.

Part of me is thankful he helped keep me alive when I was younger, but this guy seriously has the worst personality and he definitely doesn't help me look less of a villain.

"Let's keep walking, or you'll clog the hallway up like a piece of human cholesterol," I say.

"Haha, very droll," he replies turning around and walking with us, "By the way, Prince Jackson, I was just wondering if you'll be coming to the ball tonight. Or you know, sometimes I hear you'd rather go to festivals out with the common people. Perhaps you'll be going there tonight?"

Oh wow he actually seems pretty tame today.

Still, let's speed this up before he can say something else. I pick up the pace as I go down the hallway.

"I think connecting with the people will make me understand them better," says Jackson.

"Yes, very admirable. Personally, I can't imagine what it would be like. I'd be too afraid their habits would rub off on me," Luther explains.

And it's getting worse.

At this point I'm just shy of speed walking.

This however proves to be a mistake though and the crowd is having trouble parting fast enough.

In all Luther's babbling he's not paying attention, and so he bumps into some poor girl.

The girl falls onto the ground, all her textbooks dropping out of her hands and scattering onto the ground.

A hush falls over the crowd, and the girl tries to scramble to collect her textbooks. She looks up, and my stomach drops to the ground.

The girl is Helen Hale.

Sh*t.

This could be really bad if people think the Callistos bully Helen. After all, that's what kills Eve initially!

"You should seriously watch where you're going. You wrinkled my shirt with your clumsiness, and judging by the look of you, it's probably worth more than you'd make in ten years," says Luther, "Oh wait, I recognize you! Helen Hale, right? Aren't you the daughter of traitors? How'd you even get into this school?"

Wonderful, already off to a great start. Time to shut this down.

"Luther, don't tell me you've become so cheap as to care about one shirt? Moreover the king decided to let her free since she wasn't involved, stripped her of her title, and let her restart her life by coming here. Are you suggesting you disagree with the king's decision?" I ask.

"Sister -" he starts, shocked I stopped him.

"And anyway, I already told you to stop clogging the hallway. I'm not going to be late to class because of you silliness," I say cutting him off.

I continue to walk down the hall, the rest of the group following behind me.

Who knew getting to class would be so intense?

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