Monica didn't say anything, going back to fiddling with her half-eaten pancake with a silver fork. Camilla's narrowed eyes were still on Monica, but I slipped my hand onto her right leg and patted it gently.
She looked my way, her eyes questioning me, but I gave her a wide smile, hoping she'd drop the insult. With a huff, she picked her plate up.
"I'm going to go see what I need to study for my exam seeing as I'm the only shadow fae here. Rosadette? You'll be good, right?"
"Yup! I'll be fine. I'll try to start studying," I assured her.
"Good." She smiled and looked at the others. "If you guys know any tips to help Rosadette out, I'd greatly appreciate your kind service. She's good at group study."
"I love group study." Ella clapped her hands. "I'm sure we can help out!"
"Cool." Camilla seemed unbothered by Ella's friendliness. So far, she was being rather cold around them versus me, but maybe that was the persona she always projected, and I didn't notice it much.
"Bye, Camilla." I gave her a slight wave before finishing off my glass of water.
"See ya, Rosadette," she replied with a back wave as she headed out.
She normally didn't use my full name like she had today, but it could be one of those days. Or due to the new environment.
Giving the girls a sweet smile, I finished off my plate and sighed in relief.
"So, Rosadette. We didn't really formally introduce ourselves," Ella piped up as she gestured to her friends.
"Ah, yes." I used the napkin to wipe my mouth and sat a little taller.
"Rosadette. Nice to meet all of you."
"I'm Ella. Monica is on my right, Emily to my left, and Bella on my far left. We're all from different courts but are the best of friends." She talked like one of those preppy school girls you'd hear in dramas.
Imagine the most annoying chick on campus.
I had to keep my remarks to myself since she was being super nice to me when we'd just met.
"Hey," the three of them greeted, their tones rather monotone in comparison to Ella's joyous one. Ella grinned happily before clapping her hands.
"Now that we're done with breakfast, we should get right into studying. I heard the test is in front of all the first years."
"In front of all the first years?" I questioned. "Meaning we're on some type of stage or something?" I inquired.
"Yup." Emily, who had green hair and black eyes nodded. "You're in a massive auditorium, almost like a battle stadium with tall platforms. You're questioned in front of the king and queen with your partner, and the crowd judges you based on your performance. Sometimes you get just a knowledge test. Other times it’s a physical test. Very few entry-level tests have both."
"Wow." I cringed at the idea and sat a little taller. "I'm going to have to study hard."
"Do you know your partner?" Ella asked.
"Um...no. Not yet," I replied.
"It should be in the invitation you got." Bella rose from her seat, flicking her brown locks and blinking her orange eyes. "I'm going to go get my study stuff from upstairs."
"Me too!" Emily cheered. "Ella. I'll get your study bag."
"You're a darling," Ella praised. "Thank you."
"No prob." The two of them smiled at both of us before heading to the stairs.
"Hmph. You don't stand a chance," Monica muttered, her eyes directly on me. "Unless you're partnered with the prince himself."
"Ah, he's attending this year, right?!" Ella squealed dreamingly. "My mother is trying to schedule a meeting with him. Obviously, I'll still have to work hard on impressing the queen. She may be accepting a student this year."
"The queen is actually going to accept someone?" Monica seemed impressed. "I'd give that a shot. That would be bonus points if you got chosen."
"Monica." Ella gave her a side-eye. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"
She let out a breath and rolled her eyes. "Broke up. We're not compatible and good guys are boring. Everyone needs a Xavier to spice their life up. Not Mr. Goody Two Shoes. You were interested in him, right? You can be the one to mend his heart."
Ella laughed casually, but I felt like there was a hidden meaning to the sound. Like mockery?
"You know my standards have gone up over the last year. My mother has connections and I was privileged enough to be trained by the best in etiquette, magic, and presentation." She pulled back from her chair and rose up. "I've been studying for this very day. Eight months of physical training and a full year with my head in thousands of books. I know everything about the entire curriculum for this year, and I'm already preparing for next year. I'm like a walking Fae Rose encyclopedia."
"An entire year," I whispered nervously, trying my best not to feel completely defeated. There was no way I'd have enough time to learn enough about this coming entrance test.
"Rosadette? Why the long face?" Ella questioned me with a small pout on her perfectly pink lips.
"Ah..." I gave her a shy grin. "I just feel kinda defeated. I just arrived here or, well...learned what I am. There's no way I'm going to be able to gain enough knowledge in time for this exam."
She clapped her hands and proudly placed her hand on her chest.
"Do not worry about such little things. As fae, we should help one another so we can rise up and achieve greatness together. I'd happily help you study and teach you everything you need to know."
"R-Really?" I was lost for word at her kindness. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed. "It's not your fault you're only finding out about your fae roots now. Do not concern yourself. I'll gladly help you. We can start today once the girls come down with my study materials. I suggest you get something to write in for notes. There are lots of things to go over."
"Ella. Thank you so much!" I rose up and bowed my head to her.
"It's nothing. I'm merely doing my job as a friend. That's what we are now." Her wide grin displayed her perfect, white teeth. "Let me be one of the many to welcome you here to this kingdom. You'll fit right in."
"Thank you so much," I replied and looked at Monica, who had a deep frown. My attention only made her roll her eyes yet again in exaggeration before she got up.
"I'm going to study on my own terms," she declared. "See ya, Ella."
She didn't even look my way, let alone bid me farewell as she headed to the stairs.
"Does she hate me?" I questioned Ella.
"Ah. Monica is still dealing with her break up." She leaned in as if she had some juicy gossip to spill, and I ended up leaning closer by default. "She used to date another prince."
"Wait, really? Like a prince like Xavier?"
Ella nodded before she crossed her arms and shook her head. "A pity, really. He's hot, well established, and powerful. Think of him as Xavier 2.0, but totally kind and respectful. You can tell with her personality that she's the polar opposite of someone at that level of nice, so they didn't work out. Sucks, but maybe he'll finally get the queen he deserves."
"Isn't Monica your best friend?" I inquired.
"She is." Ella lifted her shoulders up and down. "She's rather hopeless but good to keep around. She's become a loner recently. She only hangs around us when she feels like it. Poor thing. She'll hopefully get over her heartbreak. Until then, we just support her when we can."
Walking around the table, she reached my side and offered her hand. "It's going to be amazing to have you as a part of our dorm, and I know we'll be the best of friends. I have connections to most of the students in year one, so if you have any issues, please tell me. I'll have them handled immediately."
"Thank you, Ella, for your kindness." I appreciated her act of generosity. I placed my hand in hers and received a reassuring squeeze.
"Anytime, Rosadette. Go upstairs and get your materials," she encouraged.
"Yes," I replied and rushed to the stairs.
Reaching the fourth floor, I was back in my room and getting a fresh new notebook Camilla had left for me and a pen.
Noticing
my invitation, I quickly reached for it and pulled out the expensive parchment paper in gold to scan the introduction and important dates.
"A week before the test..." I trailed off when I noticed my partner's name in big bold letters.
Prince Xavier Rose.
"Great..." I mumbled.
There was no way I was going to let him down. I was desperate to prove to him I was here to stay.
Today's the start of a new beginning, and with my new friends, I'm going to ace this entrance exam.
Entrance Challenge For A Weakling
~XAVIER~
* * *
"Did you not sleep?"
I'm sure if my mother was around, she'd scold me for the bitterness in my almost emotionless voice. It could have very well sounded like I was annoyed, but I was losing my patience with how sluggish this woman was being on the day of our entrance exam.
Out of all the people in the land, I was partnered with Rosadette. I heard from the maids that Rosadette had been studying immensely all this week.
I wasn't one to talk, but I was curious to see how serious she was taking this academy admission thing and to hear that she was studying diligently actually impressed me.
However, it didn't dawn me that she'd stay up the entire night the day before the exam just to study. The entrance exam would be of basic fae knowledge, something you could get out of a local introductions book from the library.
She could have been a slower learner, but her lack of sleep wouldn't benefit anyone if she passed right out.
"I...wanted to finish reviewing," she mumbled. Her eyelids must have felt like weights because she could barely keep them open. "I just need a minute or two."
"Or five."
I looked back at the door to see Camilla with a cup of what smelt like caramel coffee. She walked into the room, in her full uniform compared to Rosadette, who must have been in her clothes from yesterday.
She reached where I stood as Rosadette rubbed at her eyes.
"Camilla. I'm dying."
"You're not on your period so relax," Camilla huffed. "I got you special fae coffee, dosed up with some energy to spark you awake. You'll probably crash hard later, but at least the test will be over with."
"I love you." Rosadette looked miserable as she accepted the cup of light brown liquid with a bit of foam on the top.
How women easily threw around the whole period comment always blew me away. The word alone made me shiver half the time, which I'm sure was immature for a male my age.
I couldn't grasp bleeding down there for no reason. Well, I'm sure there was a reason and the whole arrival of it was to prove the woman would not bear a child, but I'm sure there could have been other means.
The day the fae figured out a way to stop it would probably never come because they respected Mother Nature and the way their bodies were created.
Just a reminder of why I was thankful for being a male and not a female.
Watching Rosadette sip on her coffee, I took in how her clothes fit her perfectly, which meant my observation was accurate enough.
I was worried when I'd requested her clothes that they would run a tad big, but the benefit of magic was it could solve tiny issues like these which on the lower realms would be catastrophic for a single seamstress.
Or team, with the number of clothes I'd ordered.
I must have been possessed with kindness to go so far as to order her lingerie in every color on the color chart, but her predicament moved me. I hoped she'd prove worth the time and money spent, which was a tad cold when I'd felt like doing good for her.
One of the many things I struggled with when it came to acting kind. One minute, I felt good with the deed committed, and the next, I was screwing it up with my judgment and thinking process.
At least I'd kept my thoughts to myself this time around.
I looked to the bed, noticing the sheets of paper with tons of notes in neat handwriting. Walking over to retrieve one of them, I scanned how much information filled the lined page and the details.
I arched an eyebrow, unsure what she'd be studying.
Is her thought process off?
With a shrug, I put the paper back in its spot, deciding to not care about the bits of information I'd scanned.
"How's studying been?" Camilla asked.
Returning my gaze to Rosadette, I noticed she was halfway through her cup of coffee but looked better than before. At least she could keep her eyes open this time around.
"Dreadful, but I worked really hard. I studied all the books Ella gave me and made notes and everything. I wanted to go to the main library and see if I was missing anything, but I didn't want to offend Ella either. She worked really hard to teach me everything she knows. She's been studying for a solid year for this day."
"A year." Camilla had an odd expression on her face. "Silly when she’s a born fae. The test shouldn't be extremely hard. In your case, I understand, but you really went overboard, Rose,"
"I know," she admitted and gave a tired grin. "I just don't want to fail, you know? This is a big deal. It's not like those poor classes I took and got made fun of by those mean kids for lacking knowledge of the content and all that."
Camilla sighed and gave a kind smile to her best friend.
"As long as you're giving it your all, that’s what matters."
"Yes," Rosadette said quietly. "Still...fighting."
It would be inhuman for me to not feel an ounce of pity for her. She looked dreadfully exhausted and deep down, I wanted to do something to help her.
My pride wouldn't let me do that with Camilla around, but at least the test wouldn't be very long. Our session was in the fifth corridor of Fae Rose, and I wondered what her reaction would be with the vast audience.
Many were attending because of my official entry, but the word of a human entering Fae Rose Academy had spread like a mass of fireflies and I'm sure her peers were dying to know what she would be like.
The pressure would be on, and I didn't believe she'd be able to handle the heat.
"Let me gather your uniform. We have to go soon," Camilla offered.
"Thank you," Rosadette responded and drank more coffee. Camilla glanced over to me, studying me for a few seconds before she headed for the closet.
Whether or not that woman despised me was beyond me. I didn't blame her, seeing as it looked like she was a protective friend, but I'd been deemed worthy of calling her Camilla instead of Chamomile, apparently.
That was progress.
I respected her for a number of reasons, the most important being the power she hid so effortlessly. She had a cold, calm demeanor around herself when she wasn't around Rosadette, but her power had shown a few times this week when she was "fitting in” with the shadow fae and was the quiet talk of the campus.
She was apparently a worthy candidate for the dark prince, from what the hushed gossip had been revealing amongst the professors and students.
I slightly wished I'd been partnered up with her, but in my very special case, beggars couldn't be choosers.
Deep down, we needed Rosadette, or at least, I did. If she was truly destined to be who my parents hoped for, unity between us would spark amazing change.
"Ella taught you the entire time?"
"Yes." She looked up at me, her purple eyes finally getting their blazing flare back. "Thank you."
Her soft whisper had me blinking back at her.
"For the birthday gift." She held the mug closer to her, the steam rising as she closed her eyes. "I've never received anything of that extent ever. The clothes were really needed to make feel less alien here."
Her eyes opened and pure happiness swarmed those purple orbs while those hints of silver gleamed like hidden jewels.
"I tried really hard to hopefully not bring you down. Ella gave me all the resources, which was really nice of her. I'm going to have to figure out how to repay her, but I'm really happy people are so nice here."
Is she naive?
"Not everyone is nice here," I bluntly declared. She lifted her head to look at me, noticing my cold expression. "People love to pretend when they think you'd be a good asset to have around. Don't trust so easily."
"But...they’re your people."
"And I don't trust them," I boldly replied. "Fae have two sides, and you'd be surprised how many cruel ones hide behind smiles."
"Well-" She looked conflicted, but I cut her off. "You're not going to last if you don't smarten up."
"I...studied," she noted.
"I don't mean on content, Rosadette." She'd be run down if she believed everyone so easily. "Your human ignorance is showing, and it'll get you mocked if you believe everyone is your friend because they smile to your face."
Turning around, I put my hands in my pockets.
"You may be considered a human for some time until you can prove yourself otherwise, but it doesn't mean you're not competition. Do you know how many people want to be the designated partner with me, the prince?"
"I'm not sure." Her tiny voice made me sigh.
"It's good you studied and don't want to bring me down, because I won't tolerate any of that. I'm here to ace these next four years, and that starts with this entrance exam. It may not mean much, but it's the foundation that proves where you stand. If I'm stuck with you, I better not be brought down for any reason that isn't due to my slacking."
"We're only partners for the test," she mumbled.
"We're partners until the king and queen say otherwise. Until then, which I hope is soon, don't bring me down."
I was being a harsh asshole again, but I wanted her to realize where we stood. We needed someone strong to one day rule, and if she was going to be my apparent soulmate, she'd better learn fast where my expectations lay on the scale of seriousness.
"Understood," was all she said.
"Are you done making my best friend feel like shit, or should I kick you in the balls to prove my disapproval of your rude warnings?"
"I'll be waiting outside," I declared and was out the door.
Today wasn't the day to play with the feisty knight.
The door was closing before I heard her quiet whisper, "So much for thanking him."
Fae Rose Academy: Year One (For The Purely Divine Book 1) Page 12