My name belongs to me only

Six years later: Preparing for the Academy

“Have you finally learned your lesson for being late to my class?”, Seth had a rather annoying yet teasing, kind of voice, that annoyed people to their core, especially to Jake and from the looks of it, Daniel has also started to hate listening to Seth voice, as his lecturing and voice were equally annoying to him, as his eyes were facing and glaring into the training ground, while avoiding to look Seth in the eye.

“Danny, are you trying to ignore me?”, Seth had used his dominant hand, raise up Daniel’s chin and staring into his blue eyes, if looks could kill, Daniel would have been sentenced to death for killing the crown prince of the Éclair Kingdom.

“Stop glaring at me, Danny.”

“I can finally understand, why second Cousin Jake, loves to not attend meetings, when you are attending them, as well.”, Daniel blurted out, realizing his words and covered his mouth, from disrespecting his teacher.

“I didn’t mean- “, he was cut off by Seth, as he started to throw a tantrum and refused to believe the words of his student.

“How dare you lie to me, about Jake avoiding me? I was his best friend before Erica.”, his reaction and response from Daniel, was a blank face, as his thoughts were the opposite of his expression, ‘He is completely delusional.’

Daniel had tuned out most of Seth’s words and checked the time on his watch, ‘it’s six thirty, there is only thirty minutes remaining for sword practice.’, his irritated expression turned sour quickly, as he noticed the amount of time wasted, on Seth’s pointless lecture.

“This is why, you should never be late, even to a battle, you might be able to save more than just one life.”, Seth had a bittersweet tone, directed to his student, as his expression was no longer had a cocky grin, presented on it.

“Now, now, we have only twenty eight minutes for class, so I suggest we run at least two laps, around the training ground before we focus on your sword strikes.”, His cocky tone was still there but tamed, but Daniel didn’t question him, as he followed his instructions. Sweat dripped down from forehead and face, as he had finished his swings in the hot sun, as the sun was finally out and it was the beginning of the day for some people, who didn’t wake up as early as the young Prince.

Lucia was struggling to return to her dream, as the sun light was directed to her face, causing a lot of grunts, to leave her mouth, as she tried her best to not wake up, but was woken up by the sound of Felix, her second older brother, who was annoyed by the amount of time, wasted on waking her up.

Lucia’s first reaction to Felix, was throwing her fluffy pillow at him, while he merely caught it and looked back at her, as she brought her hands forward and trying to persuade him in giving her back her pillow, only for her to fail miserably and be greeted by the sound of Chloe, from the back of her room door.

“Rise and shine, little one”, her optimistic voice, was heard all the way from the door, Lucia hid herself in her blankets, hoping for her family to go back to their rooms and for her to continue her sleep, but Chloe and Felix had other plans for her, removing the blanket from her face, Chloe said giggling “It’s time for school.”

“But why must I go to school today? Can’t I not go to school tomorrow or even better next week or possibly never?”, she asked gleaming in excitement, already knowing Chloe’s answer would be.

“Lucy, the answer is no.”, she downright rejected her words, but it didn’t change the look or mood of Lucia.

“I know, I just wanted to try my luck.”, she got down from her bed and wore her shoes, as Chloe and Felix mustered “Good morning”, before leaving her room and throwing her pillow back to her.

Lucia walked up to her dressing room, directly opposite to the position of her bed, the first thing, she noticed about her looks, were how messy her hair was and wasn’t quite happy to deal with it, before attending school, she didn’t waste a minute, as she grabbed the scissors close to her brush and cut her waist length hair to her shoulder, satisfied with her new look, she grabbed a red hair band to tie her hair into a ponytail, before heading to her bathroom to bath herself, in warm water, which wouldn’t hurt her skin.

Lucia had worn the normal school uniform, a short-sleeved shirt, and a light gray vest with a sky-blue ribbon, wearing a dark blue skirt and knee length black socks and brown boots, she was ready for school, but not before changing her red hair band to blue, as it was mandatory for all female students to follow. She grabbed her notebooks and bags, and not forgetting to bring her watch with her, she left her room closed, to prevent any maid or servants to wander into her room, without permission or reasonable excuse to do such, as she walked down the stairs, as she, Jake and Felix’s room were upstairs, while Chloe’s room was downstairs.

She was greeted by her two elder brothers, who seemed to like her new look, but didn’t show it unlike their mother, who was squealing and simply fangirling over her new look. “Oh, my Urani, you look exactly like your mother.”, she unintentionally said to Lucia, as her smile was forced, just to hide the bitter feeling, bubbling inside of her, but she quickly changed the topic, as Chloe was reading her.

“Where is Dad?”

“Oh, he is at the mines right now.”, she still answered chirpily, as ever, while grabbing a slice of bread and a bunch of bananas and leaving the children alone in the dining room. Jake, Felix and Lucia, were left alone, dealing with a suffocating atmosphere, Lucia stood up and grabbed the nearest red apple, already cut into equal slices and stuffing them in her bag with the chicken salad, gotten from the head chef, as she passed the kitchen.

She was about to leave, after filling her mouth with almonds, but she felt two hands on her shoulder, turning her head in a ninety degree angle, as she witnessed her two elder brothers, who were as smug as ever.

“Did you even think about saying goodbye to your dear brothers before leaving for the academy?”, Jake said teasingly, while Felix grinned in front of their little sister.

“He is right, little sister.”, he had indicated in the same tone, his elder brother had spoken in recently, Lucia sighed in response to her brothers and gave them a hug, as she muttered “Goodbye” to her brothers, who greatly appreciated it, as she ran up to the door, passing Layla, who was arranging the carriage, taking her to school, hugging her and entering the carriage, as the house neighed, as it started to move the carriage and Lucia inside along with it. She stared at the Alaric mansion, as she left the estate for school, hoping she wasn’t the first person to reach school.