Entrance Exams (1)
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'It's been a while since I've been home.'
The sounds of fingers tapping rhythmically against the wood under the window was the only sound that could be heard inside of the carriage.
With a light sigh I looked out of the window at the scenery. The large garden with perfectly trimmed hedges and a large fountain, a statue shaped like a woman holding a sword, and servants walking to and from doing various different tasks.
A large black steel gate that guarded the entire territory and guards on each side of the gate, a sight that I had seen so much that even being away for 3 years wouldn't be enough time to bring back the awe of the sight.
"Boring, so boring."
I sighed again, looking at the scene one more time before turning and closing my eyes.
Resting my head against the seat, I couldn't help but think about the one person I had been excited to see.
'Father…'
I shook my head, digging my fingers into my hands and calming my heart by taking multiple breaths, I reminded myself.
'No.. he's probably not even going to greet you. Just announce your presence and leave for the academy. Do not waste time.'
My breathing slowed and I bit my lip.
'Do not allow your heart to hope.'
My heart felt heavy, I felt hopeless and depressed, my father was always busy and my mother and brothers were not here, I only found purpose in doing things that would prove helpful, useful, to my father.
Getting into the Academy was my first gift from my father in several years. He allowed me to go as his form of grace and love, whatever remained of it.
I have no intention of being late and even less of an intention of failing to get in.
I closed my eyes and the sounds of my heart beating and my breath were enough to calm my racing thoughts to the point that I nearly fell asleep until the carriage finally stopped.
The driver opened the door and I got out of the carriage.
What greeted me were two lines of servants and maids, who all greeted me with respectful bows and I silently acknowledged them as I walked towards the castle doors.
"Where is father, and Dole?"
I asked the head maid and she spoke after bowing once more, not meeting my gaze.
"Young master, your father the Lord is in his office having a meeting with a guest.",
My eyebrow arched at her words and I inquired with a bored expression but curious tone.
"Yes young master, you don't know because you have been away for several months but recently, Lucent brought home a young boy around your age after going on a late night mission.
The boy woke up today after being asleep for nearly a month. He's been chatting with the Lord for a few hours now."
Hearing the maid speak about lucent bringing some outsider home made me pinch the bridge of my nose.
"That man, I don't understand why father allows him to run wild like an unruly beast."
Sighing in annoyance I flicked my wrist lazily, the head maid took note of the gesture and backed away carefully and stood back in place.
Moments later, Dole finally came outside and before long he appeared in front of me. Bowing politely, he greeted me.
"You're home young master, welcome."
Nodding, I looked over to dole and sighed lightly, this time a small warm smile threatened to creep into my face.
Dole had raised me since a young age, he had served in the family for several decades, and seeing him still in good health as he stood beside me caused me to feel at ease.
"Yes, you seem to be in good health. Are you sure you don't wish to retire yet, old man? Do you not have the desire to settle down before you die?"
Despite my tone and the words I spoke the butler only chuckled and shook his head.
"Young master, surely you jest. I'm still in good health. Besides, I've already told you that I will not get married, much less die before you've gotten your first friend and lover."
Hearing the old man chuckle beside me while teasing me made a vein bulge slightly, it throbbed against my neck but I took a deep breath and remained silent, but after waiting for over 5 minutes I sighed and went back into the carriage.
"Young master.."
Both Dole and the head maid looked at me with sorrowful expression but I clicked my tongue and waved them away.
"Shut it, don't you dare look at me with such pitiful expressions. Tell father that I'm off to the academy, I'll write home when I pass the exams."
I settled into the seat and didn't look at the two servants, they hesitated for a moment before nodding and then turning away.
"We know you will do well, young master."
Dole spoke assuringly as he walked away and I turned my head away looking out the window beside me, not looking at anything particular.
Resting my chin in my hand as I leaned against the door, I didn't notice my father's presence until he opened the carriage door and frightened me.
"F-fath—"
But before I got to speak a greeting, he entered the carriage and in his arms he held a small boy, tossing him roughly into the seat beside me.
Father sat across from me with a sharp and intense gaze. The one that I have grown all too accustomed to.
"This boy, he will be your guard and servant."
My shoulders jolted at his words.
'Not a greeting, not even a single concern about my wellbeing and yet the very first thing you say to me after not seeing me for months is some bullshit?'
I felt my blood boiling inside but I bit my lip, my gaze stayed on the ground as my hands balled into tight fists on my lap.
I could do nothing but nod at his words, after I did that he stayed for a few seconds longer and then left.
The air which had just seemed suffocating was now lighter, my shoulders were less tense and I could breathe, my heart was pounding in my chest.
I couldn't help but click my tongue in annoyance at my behaviour.
Turning my gaze beside me to the boy that had been left in the carriage I felt even more annoyed.
A small slender frame, delicate looking with shoulder length white hair like freshly fallen snow, pale skin that looked like it belonged to that of a glass doll instead of a human, a sheer black blindfold wrapped perfectly around his head revealing his narrow slightly sharp ears.
The boy was dressed in a black and white suit with a black ribbon tie and white gloves, on the side of his neck just barely visible from beneath his shirt collar was something that looked like a tattoo.
The boy also gave off a very faint trace of aura but it was so faint that even wild beasts kin had more aura than him.
"Tsk, are you telling me.. this weak boy is supposed to be my guard?"
I felt an intense feeling of annoyance creeping up as I looked at the boy.
After a few moments of silence though I scratched the back of my head in annoyance.
'And what's with this veil over his eyes? Is he hiding something?
Don't tell me father not only dumped a body guard on me that's significantly weaker than me, but he's also blind… he wouldn't do that, right?'
My leg shook and my fingers quickened their rhythm as I tapped the wood while thinking about it for several minutes.
Eventually, the curiosity got the best of me and before I knew it, I found myself hovering over the boy who lay unconscious and unaware near me.
My hand hovered over his face briefly and I felt another pang of annoyance but not because of how weak he was this time, it was because he was handsome. Annoyingly so.
'How could someone be so handsome despite having their face covered? Also, why is he so pretty as a man?'
The boy looked gorgeous. Despite half of his face being covered by a blindfold one could tell just how beautiful the boy was beneath the blindfold.
He was even more beautiful than most women that I had seen throughout my entire life, it felt uncomfortable.
'Tuh, he may be beautiful but in the end he's still not as attractive as me.'
I nodded satisfied after assuring myself that he had to be at least this level to be associated with me.
Still, my fingers were slowly approaching his blindfold as if wanting to uncover the rest of his face to make sure.
"Fine, I'll only take a quick peek, I'm sure he won't even notice."
But before I got to undo his blindfold, he suddenly woke up without me knowing and jolted awake with a panicked gasp.
Thunk
Our foreheads hit because of his sudden movement and the both of us winced in pain.
Holding my head I felt tears well up immediately on the sides of my eyes and I grit my teeth in annoyance and pointed a finger accusingly at him.
"You fool, why would you jolt awake so suddenly?! Have you gone mad?!"
The boy, instead of responding apologetically, his shoulders trembled as if he would cry.
Feeling a bit guilty I nearly apologized until the boy cut me off.
"Why should I apologize to you, what kind of perverted freak are you?!"
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I admit, I wasn't thinking straight. I got way too cocky and ended up getting some kind of horrible drug or poison or whatever the fuck– something got put into my body and I ended up losing consciousness and I'm pretty sure I damn near died.
After that, I managed to wake up but the very first thing that greeted me wasn't a ceiling or even the face of the crazy bastard that did this to me, instead it was the silver eyes of some random freak hovering so close over me that I could feel their breath on my lips.
So, of course I who had just barely woken up would jolt awake, accidentally colliding with that said stranger and hitting them.
However, instead of apologizing or even I don't fucking know, crying out in pain like a normal person, this weirdo immediately goes straight to quite literally pointing the finger at me and yelling at me.
So, pissed off, frightened, and confused as I was, I immediately yelled back with my own insults.
They weren't particularly bad, honestly they were pretty tame compared to what I was thinking in my head but the words slipped out regardless because of my mistake, I shouldn't have lost my cool.
It was only after I yelled that I realised my mistake. The boy in front of me had short messy red hair and a handsome and strong appearance, sharp silver eyes and bore a scar on his face that seemed to go to his neckline and started at the corner of his jawline slightly below his right ear.
One good look at the boy and I could immediately tell…
'I'm so fucked.'
The boy in front of me was momentarily stunned by my words but before I even got the chance to backtrack my words after yelling at him.
I felt the air in the carriage thin and the pressure in the room became so heavy and intense that my weakened form which didn't even properly recover from having just been attacked, immediately crumbled onto the floor of the carriage.
Geuhkk– , Thud
I couldn't even look up, I tried to move my head and before it even got an inch off the ground I felt a heavy, hard shoe hit the back of my head as my face got pressed to the floor.
"Hey… do you want to die?"
The boy said, from the thick venomous tone in his voice and the pressure alone I could tell that he wasn't just making empty threats. He was seriously about to kill me.
My skull felt as though it was about to be crushed as he put more weight into the foot on my head and I cried out in pain.
Tap, tap
— "I'm sorry young master but we've just arrived at the academy."
Apparently the carriage had come to a halt since it had passed through into the academy, neither of us had noticed but thankfully the young master brat stopped and clicked his tongue.
I mentally thanked the driver for coming in clutch and inadvertently saving my life.
The young brat stood and dusted his suit off before stepping on my back and leaving the carriage.
I felt a vein throbbing in my head but I forced myself to breathe and calm down instead.
'Not only am I too weak but if I did anything to that brat then I'd die a horrible death soon after… it's not worth it, just breathe.'
Sighing, I slowly got up, my head throbbed and my body swayed weakly but I managed to stand and dust myself off.
I got out of the carriage and walked behind the young master whose name I still didn't know, and followed him in through the gates. The academy was ridiculously huge and a glorious sight to behold.
It was the type of prestigious academy that you'd only hear about in fantasy novels or something.
Smooth perfectly polished stone paths, lots of perfectly trimmed hedges and flowers, benches and multiple buildings, likely the girls and boys dormitories or something.
A huge main building that's the size of a huge museum or a small castle, and tons of students from various backgrounds.
I still haven't figured out what novel I'm inside of, or if I'm even inside of a novel or if I just got reincarnated.
'All I know is that this school is full of classic noble snobs and commoners trying to become something.
I also know that somewhere in this huge crowd of side characters, extras and NPCs that wouldn't even qualify as background fillers, there's at least one or two main characters.'
What do I plan to do with that information?
Absolutely nothing.
What? Did you expect me to have some kind of elaborate plan of what I want to do or not do, who I'm going to avoid, where I'm going to go and what I plan to do afterwards to avoid the characters and the dangers associated with them?
Are you an idiot?
Listen, not only did I randomly reincarnate into another world, but I reincarnated into a random world of which I have no information regarding.
I have no family, I'm weak, and immediately after magically spawning into this world I was nearly killed multiple times.
The very last thing I've had time to do is come up with some elaborate scheme.
Also, even if I did waste my time resolving to avoid the main characters somehow and live a happy life somewhere, I've read more than enough novels, manhwa, manga and so on.
I already know that whenever a main character gets in my position and tries to avoid the main characters, that only makes them appear around them even more frequently as if to taunt them.
So basically, I'm not planning shit. That's my plan, just living and surviving is my goal. That already seems like a task that's extremely hard on its own.
I'm not smart, I'm not strong, I'm not even wealthy either. The only things I have that I'm pretty sure not many other people have are my looks and my system. That's it.
So whatever you're thinking about me being lame or whatever, to that I simply say fuck you and if you can do better then maybe you should be the next one reincarnated in some random setting and see if you can survive—
"What are you doing?"
Looking up in front of me, I saw that the young master was looking at me with an expression that half displayed concern and half disgust.
It was only then that I realised that I had been shaking my head and having a one sided defensive conversation in my head. I must have looked like a weirdo but you know what, who cares honestly.
They wouldn't kill me simply because I'm crazy....right?
I shook my head and spoke clearly with a nonchalant tone, quickening my pace to catch up since I had lagged behind.
"I got lost in thought, apologies young master."
The boy looked at me with a shocked expression silently for a few moments before eventually nodding and looking ahead.
"Don't make a habit of spacing out. For whatever reason, you're now my bodyguard and you should be alert at all times."
'Well, he isn't wrong.'
I nodded and walked beside him, lagging slightly behind to give us space. Before long, we were walking into an auditorium. It was huge and full of fellow examinees like us.
"Unlike most schools, the exam starts off with the written portion first and then moves onto the physical part after."
The young master spoke matter of factly in a hushed tone as we stood in a spot not too close to the stage but not too far from it either. I figured he stood in the spot because he must be a loner and paid it no mind.
"Since you're blind I think you'll likely be questioned instead."
Nodding, I spoke without looking towards the young master. Not just because I was more focused on looking at all of the students and especially the seniors and teachers who walked in looking like super models, but also because I decided that if I'm going to pretend to be blind I might as well act the part even just slightly so that people don't get so suspicious.
"Yes… but why are you telling me this young master?"
"Because, if you don't at least do a barely decent job, you won't be able to get into the academy. I couldn't care less what happens to you afterwards, but since it's Father's orders you need to at least get in."
'Ahh, that makes sense. I almost thought that he was some kind of tsundere brat.'
Nodding, I let out a soft chuckle and averted my attention back towards the stage at the front.
As soon as I did, I noticed a gorgeous woman with a curvaceous body, long blonde hair, and bright green cat-shaped eyes with long eyelashes.
She wore a beautiful Tight-fitted white lace crew-neck velvet dress.
It clung to her form sinfully and revealed her long beautiful legs, she wore a real pearl necklace and though her shoulders were visible because of the dress having removed that part, her arms were covered by long lace sleeves, you could see her long white gloves slightly visible through the sleeves and to top it off her hand came up to grab the microphone bringing it up to her slightly glossy smooth pink lips.
It goes without saying but she didn't have to demand attention, because from the moment she walked into the room, she had everyone's attention focused intensely on her and her alone.
With a satisfied expression, she finally spoke.
"Welcome to The Olympic Academy, we will be beginning the first portion of the entrance exams now."