Time fast forward with little to nothing serious happening until it was finally the day for the entrance ceremony for all new students.

The school uniform for all new students has already been given out. It looks kind of like a formal attire though, a light blue long-sleeve shirt with a dark navy blue long-sleeved jacket and trousers for the boys. Then for the girls, it was a long-sleeved light blue shirt, then a sleeveless dark navy blue jacket and skirt. A bow tie was also given out together with the uniforms.

Andrew was all dressed up with his hair perfectly tied up, he was nothing short of handsome at this moment. Even Marian was all dressed up looking smart and extremely pretty, if glasses had been added to her dressing, it would have been picture-perfect.

They both entered the same carriage heading to the school, Andrew was supposed to give the opening speech today, so his clothes were well tidied and tucked in.

In no time, they arrived at the school, unlike the day of the examination, Andrew came early and a confident smile was plastered on his face looking like nothing in this world could frighten him as he disembarked from the carriage. He walks hand in hand with Marian towards the hall preserved for the ceremony. On entering, some faces turned behind to look at him, since most people didn’t know who he was, they just removed him from view, some girls looked quite infatuated with Andrew’s appearance, he looked stunningly handsome, quite more than those sons of nobles. Some even thought that he was the son of some noble in the kingdom or at least a rich merchant and thought of getting close to him. But the sons and daughters of the dukes and other high-ranking nobles already made some inner investigation of whom took the lead position in the examination and although most were still not sure, some were fairly sure about who it was.

There was someone who Andrew knew whose eyes were trained on him for a while among the crowd. It was the adopted son of the king, Alex. At some times, he gave off a friendly vibe and at others a fiendish vibe, depending on the way you look at him though. After looking at Andrew for a while, he sneers and stops paying attention to him. Andrew notices his stare but doesn’t pay any heed to it. He just walks down and finds somewhere to sit.

Their wait didn’t last long though as soon the leading representatives enters the hall all at the same time. The clamour going on immediately ceased. There were just five representatives present at this moment. The four executives and one senior teacher. Three of the executives were men, with one being a woman who seems friendly and nice with an amiable smile as if welcoming to everyone. She seems to be about forty-something-odd years and a few strands of white hairs were present in her tied ponytail hair, she seems to be average in beauty. But any old student wouldn’t take her as someone who was amiable as she also happens to hold on to one fairly crazy position in the school, which happens to be the head of the disciplinary department.

From Andrew’s observation, she seems to be in the double increase realm. Same with the other two old men, one of whom was in charge of anything related to teaching, he gave a scholarly vibe and the other of whom was in charge of research. They had teachers under them who also carried out their duties but on no condition does one trespass on the other’s duties. The head of the school wasn’t still present at this moment, probably this event wasn’t too important for him to show up for or he was busy with something else.

The executive who had initially invigilated Andrew during his exams was the one who opened the ceremony. He also happens to be the vice headmaster and usually took care of any issues that crop up in the school. He also administers all affairs. So technically he was in charge of the school. The head of the school was usually not around and very few students has seen him. Not even up to ten percent of the students if adding up both those who have graduated and who were present during his tenure of presiding over the school. Only the executives can meet him and that was during their sessional meetings which occur either at the end, beginning or in between each session. The head of the school is known to call for meetings at random in the school and the executives have already gotten used to it, so it was nothing new to them. It won’t even be shocking if he summoned them in the middle of this ceremony.

The executives were the people who the students could see and maybe interact with, probably. The executives and the senior teacher quickly said their piece in order to welcome the students and state the rules to them. It was sometimes boring and sometimes interesting, but none of the students dared to sleep.

The rules include the fact that although they have gotten into the school, they could still be withdrawn if their results become lacklustre in the future, the school does not tolerate laziness, you could stay in the school or come from home, no disturbance was allowed, behaviours and actions found wanting would be punished severely and so on.

They were currently eight hundred and fifty-six, and the killer of the duke’s son hasn’t still been found out to date. It seems like all evidence was being swept up underneath the grass. And the duke seems to start giving up on his search too since it was not bringing any results and although he didn’t fear the king, he understood that he shouldn’t overdo some things, or else there would be some severe repercussions which would take a long time to recover from as it would deal great damage to his foundation.

“Now, it’s time for the first honour student to say one or two words to you all”, the senior lecturer says and he ushers Andrew up toward the pulpit. This was the moment that everybody in the auditorium knew the identity of Andrew as the person who took the top result in the entrance exams. All eyes were on him as he walks step by step to the stand, he seem full of confidence like he got that score based on his merit and there was nothing behind it at all.

On getting to the pulpit, he flashes a smile at the audience, especially looking at Alex who frowns at him. He clears his throat before starting his speech. “We all did our best to get into this prestigious school, shed sweats and stayed full nights just to read. Some struggled to get the funds just for the entrance exams and some didn’t. I don’t know about you all, but the fact that I came in first doesn’t mean that I would take it easy on myself. There are still other parts of me that I am not still pleased with. I can still go at it harder and with more dedication. I am always going to come up with my best regardless of the situation. I am going to make sure that I am always remembered for a long time even after leaving this school. My name shall be the talk for future generations who plan to enter this school, I am giving it all not for myself alone but for those who believed in me. For my family and friends. And also for you all. If you have any problem with anything, you can come to me and if I also have, I would come to you and I do hope that you can put me through as I would do to you. We should all work hard to increase and maintain the prestige of our school, and we should not let this opportunity given by them go to waste at any point. Remove pride from each other’s hearts and let us take care of each other”. His voice got louder during the middle part of his little speech, but it become lower towards the end. It seems like he was motivating them to go to war.

After saying such a speech, the whole auditorium becomes quiet for a while then, as if it was planned, a resounding and thunderous standing ovation which lasted for a while came in. All the students were touched, or that was what was shown by their claps. Some did indeed have other motives or followed the crowd. Marian’s eyes were all sparkly, she enjoyed every word spoken by this foster brother of hers.

Andrew quietly comes down from the pulpit, amidst stares of everyone. He seems welcoming to everyone and wasn’t all that proud although he came out with such a bright result. He knew the truth though, so he wasn’t bothered about all the stares levelled at him. Even the teachers and executives were impressed by his little speech. Little do they know what kind of monster was allowed by accident into this school. That is a talk for the future though, the future shouldn’t be rushed.

The ceremony quickly ends and the students start dispersing bit by bit. Most of the students came around to greet Andrew, to which he gave out a warm feeling towards them. He replied to every greeting like he was one amiable person. Some even volunteered for reading groups to be formed, to which he gave some perfunctory replies without really accepting anyone of them.

Marian was beside him all through the ordeal never leaving his side, some of the male students even tried making one or two hits on her but all of which was to no avail as she didn’t even give a single face to any of them. Soon the tides of students lessen to a very nice sum, the session is going to kick off next week after all which was just in three days, hence all preparations were needed to be made, all payments also.

It was at this moment though that Alex walks up to Andrew, seems like he has been waiting for Andrew to be through with his banters with the crowd before approaching him. On noticing him approaching, Andrew’s eyes form slits before turning back to normal and his smile plastered on his face as if it was an old friend who was walking down towards him. Even Marian was shocked about the fact that the prince was walking down to them. Their status was vastly different, maybe he wanted to be friends with them she thought. Her thinking was still shallow after all, one day she might fully grow up though.

“You can continue with this useless facade for a while. But it won’t last long I assure you”, Alex says immediately as he gets close to Andrew. After saying such words, he starts walking away, it was at that same moment that Andrew replies, “Ohh, so the person in second place still has something to say. I thought I was the only one meant to be doing the advising and not the other way around. Guess being below others does affect someone’s brain. What to say though? Since he didn’t come to me for help, I guess I should just let him be. Asking someone above you for help isn’t a bad thing after all, it serves to set you on the right track. Maybe he doesn’t get that though”. Every word Andrew said, although might seem annoying, Alex walks away calmly without any change in his expression.

It seems like those words didn’t do anything to his confidence or he didn’t hear any word said to him at all. “She didn’t come huh?”, he asks. To which Marian just giggles. She understood perfectly that he was talking about Eve. She thinks that Andrew has finally found love. But Eve has her preparation to do and was busy today.

“Let’s go home then”, he says while moving out of the school, while Marian walks behind him.