We've been reading in silence for an hour. I was getting sleepy, which is normal. I end up taking naps often because I can't sleep at night.

"Can I ask you something now?" she spoke up hesitantly.

"You can ask, but I make no promises of answering," I nodded. I couldn't say no.

She was looking at me so hopefully with such puppy eyes. I didn't say no.

I always say no. Whenever someone asks me anything, I always say no. And her puppy eyes aren't that great. So why didn't I say no?

"Yesterday in the cafeteria when everything... happened," she cleared her throat awkwardly, uncertain if it was something I wanted to talk about. "And when you punched Finn, he called you um..."

"A son of a bitch," I finished the sentence for her, raising my brows. "What about it?"

"And you replied and asked if he was calling the queen a bitch. Why would you say that?"

I sighed and then turned my body a little so she was listening to every word and knew that she had my attention. Which she looks very glad to have. "Ilea is a kingdom. Like an old one. So, we also have a royal family here, which I'm sure you know nothing about," I scoffed.

She glared at me.

I lifted a brow in response. "Well, do you?"

"No," she admitted sheepishly.

"That's what I thought. The queen's name is Gemma. And the king's name is Aaron Nikolai."

"So?" she shrugged.

"Jesus," I chuckled. "Aaron Nikolai. Callum Nikolai. Ring a bell?"

Her eyes widened in realization. "You're the prince of Ilea?!"

"Mm-hmm," I nodded.

"Mm-hmm? You're a whole prince and you answer that with 'mm-hmm?'" she frowned.

"What should I answer with instead?"

"Anything but mm-hmm," she scoffed. "Why are you here?"

I blinked in confusion.

"I mean at Arcane High."

"Even the prince has to graduate, Clara," I replied, lying through the skin of my teeth. I'm here because if I stayed in the palace without learning to control my powers, I would have killed someone by accident.

Arcane is very good at teaching everyone control. Obviously, it was ten times harder for me because sometimes I would try to control the fire and I would end up blowing the lights out. The more powers you have, the harder it is. But your first two years in Arcane, that is your freshman and sophomore year, you learn control. There's a class for that. And if you still can't do it, then you keep taking that class along with other subjects. And of course, the ones who take history are able to learn control faster because they learn more about their power.

"So... you live in a palace?"

"Yeah. But we're not such an old kingdom, morally."

She frowned in confusion.

"Most kingdoms like ours still have a dictatorship. We don't. The council board is made up of people who represent each category."

"Of the hierarchy?"

I nodded.

"There's a rich man and rich woman. There is a middle-class man and a middle-class woman. A... poor man and a poor woman. And an older man and older woman to represent senior citizens. These people are normal people with normal jobs. They just get extra financial support from the royal family when they need it. And nobody on the board knows each other. They all represent their category and we listen to everyone's opinions before making a decision for Ilea," I explained.

"That's so smart. And what was the last topic of discussion?" She's interested. She's genuinely interested.

"You want to know how a council board works?"

"I want to know more about where you come from and how things work around there," she replied. She's genuinely interested... in me.

"It was education. Private schools have many more resources than public schools. So after discussing, everybody agreed that sending not-so-rich kids to a rich school isn't the right thing. Parents can't afford it and society has its own opinions anyway. So, we're funding the public schools with the same resources that private schools get. So the kids are taught the same things."

"That's very cool, Callum. That your family works to better people's lives," she nodded with a small smile.

"I have nothing to do with it," I admitted.

"Yeah, but you will someday, won't you? When you get into the whole royal family thing?"

I nodded.

"So, what private school did you go to?" she questioned.

"The schools are pretty small here. And they're meant for the neighborhood's children. So, I went to the private school near me," I lied. I've been at Arcane since the beginning. They don't normally take younger children, but my family pretty much left me here. The kids who can't handle their powers, like me, end up being locked in their own houses until they're old enough to join Arcane.

And Arcane High doesn't have a fee that needs to be paid. It's for free. That's why we have so many people here. And some people choose not to graduate. They choose to spend another year here to better their powers and get ready to go back to the world.

"And what were you like as a kid?" she asked, getting more comfortable on her side of the bed. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it over her, lying on her side so she was still looking at me as I spoke.

"I was um... the devil," I chuckled, using my mother's words. "I caused a lot of trouble."

"Are you closer to your mom or your dad?"

"My mom."

"Aw, you're a mummy's boy," she sang.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head as a small laugh escaped. "I really am, actually. She didn't want me coming to Arcane. Not as a boarding student."

"Why did you? Can't you go home?"

I shook my head, "It's not practical." Because I can't always control myself there. And there's no one to help me for the restless nights.

"But you look like you enjoy Arcane, you know."

"This place is chaos," I deadpanned.

"Yeah," she agreed. "But I think you like the chaos."

"Why would anyone like chaos?" I turned to look at her.

"Because you can hide in it," she said softly. "Everyone has secrets, they're easy to hide amidst the chaos."

"And what are you hiding, Clara Desmond?"

She blinked slowly and I realized that she was sleepy. She will doze off any minute. "That I'm terrified," she whispered and then closed her eyes. They didn't open after that. And she was dead asleep.

I grabbed the book and opened it to the page I was on earlier.

What is she so terrified of?

☆*･ﾟ✫ ✫*･ﾟ☆ ✫*･ﾟ☆ ✫*･ﾟ☆

When did I fall asleep?

Oh, he's still here.

Is he sleeping?

Those aren't my thoughts, they're hers. And I can hear them because they're waking me up. Well, I was already drifting in and out of sleep. I didn't open my eyes, I just lay there and listened to the thoughts running in her head for a while.

Is he really sleeping?

I could feel the air from her hand waving in front of my face. My lip twitched to smile but I held it back.

He's sleeping.

Is she going to do anything else?

I don't remember thinking he was this pretty. What? Maybe I'm realizing it up close.

Pretty? Did she just think I'm pretty?

His eyelashes are so long, what the hell?

What is wrong with her?

Oh my god, he's gorgeous.

Gorgeous? I opened my eyes and looked her way.

She got startled and scooted away. "Jesus, why do you wake up like that? You just open your eyes like a corpse coming back to life?" she asked, her hand flying to her chest.

"I fell asleep?" I mumbled.

"Yeah," she answered. "I did too."

I turned to her window. The sun was setting. "It's dusk out?" I asked myself.

"Dusk?" she snorted. "Who says that? Yeah, it's dusk out," she said teasingly.

"I have to get back to my room. I have work to do," I cleared my throat and then sat up, pulling my shoes on. I stood up and grabbed my bag, leaving the book I was reading on her desk, glancing at the cover.

"Do you want it?" she questioned.

"What?"

"The book," she nodded, glancing at the copy I placed on her desk.

"It's yours."

"You seem to like it, considering that you've read nearly half of it in one sitting," she smiled, getting out of bed and walking over. She picked up the copy and held it out for me to take. "Who would have thought that you would like reading an office romance?" she laughed.

I rolled my eyes and reached to take the book but she pulled it away, holding her arm behind her back.

"Say please," she grinned.

"No," I shook my head, moving to leave.

She grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and pulled me back. "Here."

I took the book from her.

"Tell me how you like it."

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