Chương 26: Double Surprise

"Does this have something to do with the person you asked me to look for?" Kaito asked, forcing himself into the whirlpool of pictures flooding Ace's mind.

Ace gave him a light nod as a reply, pulling himself sharply from his seat and headed straight to his wardrobe.

He picked out his uniform which was now dry cleaned properly and freshly ironed. He let out a muffled scoff as he pulled his uniform on. Kaito was doing so much for him already even without asking.

First he had helped with his grandmother's cremation as well as buying her an expensive spot in the district II's columbarium. Only royal soldiers had the privilege to be buried or have their ashes kept within the walls of district I aside the royals themselves.

When he was done wearing his uniform, he headed back to the table and grabbed the envelope and its spilled out content. As he made a swift turn towards the door, Kaito was already standing in the way, a defiant look clearly written in his stance.

"You're not trying to stop me, are you?"

A silent moment drifted by between them until Kaito waved his phone in the air, just enough for Ace to catch what it read.

"I booked a ride for us!"

"You're going with me?"

"To the academy, yes. We finals have been summoned," He paused, his phone slipping back into his pockets while his left hand went straight into his hair as he shook his head in displeasure. "I guess there's trouble."

Ace returned an indifferent look, seemingly not fazed at the mention of 'trouble'. All that mattered to him now was finding Anya and since a clue about her whereabouts had surfaced, it was time to kick out of bed and bring his sister back.

"Ace," Kaito called sharply, his tone drifting away from his forever cheerful demeanor. "The academy is not a playground you can toy around with."

Ace lifted his face at Kaito, his attention fully hinged on the masked mage before him. "What do you mean?"

"Just a piece of advice, be cautious of everyone around you."

Ace gave it a moment to settle in as he found those words a bit weird— coming from Kaito. Of course, he wouldn't let his guard down around anyone, but it seemed there was more to just being cautious.

"Not everyone is to be trusted."

"And you too?" Ace asked with a scoff.

"Yes, me too." Kaito replied. "Now that you have received an invite from the governor's daughter, her brother will definitely come into the picture soon to stop you."

"Eh? Her brother? Who's that?"

With a slight nod of his head, Kaito said; "Nobody knows."

* * *

The sole of his shoes trolled over the glistering marble floor surface as he walked towards the library, brushing shoulders gently with some students and for the first time, the girls were left in a trance as they watched him walk past him.

Some took out their phones to give live updates about the new boy that had joined the academy whom they had failed to notice the first time he came.

"...can't believe someone like him is a student here…"

"...Is that the route to the library?..."

"...uWu…on my way!!!"

"... he's so out of this world!..."

"...Tell him to slow down, pleaseee!..."

Loads of comments flooded in on the phone of a girl who was filming live, her reaction time and overall view count for that live stream surpassing her all time views and sending her account straight to the number one trending academy celebrity in real time.

Her fan value exploded as lots of gifts swarmed in.

{Yes, daddy!- has just sent you; Fireflies worth 500 tokens!}

{x-Pixie-monk has just sent you; Dragon bells worth 7000 tokens!}

{I'm a simp- has just sent you; infinity castles worth 1,000,000 tokens!}

Squeezing their arms together and pinching their thighs a million times to slap themselves back to reality as Ace swept past them. Their faces turned pink and some naughty heads amongst them could feel a slight constriction between their thighs as they let out joyful moans, hoping to get his attention.

The boys were also charmed as they watched the uncommon commoner

They all began to gather like ants to marvel and gossip as he walked through the hallway while the others whom he had walked past formed an army behind, watching him walk further away from them gloriously.

"So much attention for a new kid." A boy in the crowd grunted, his face fully baked with evil contempt and as well— jealousy.

* * *

Ace finally arrived at the library, he stood behind the door to take a brief breath in. What was he to expect behind the door? Who will the governor's daughter be? A new face? Someone he knows already? And how much does she know about Anya? …why will her brother be in his running shoes because of this invite?

All the answers to this were behind the door and without further hesitation, he pushed the door open, its giant creak molesting his ears as they dragged heavily on the marble floor.

The moment he walked himself in, the door shut close by itself, causing him to flinch a little as he was surprised the heavy doors could force itself shut. He brushed the feeling off and began hunting.

It was time to undress the identity of whoever has summoned him afterall— the governor's daughter.

Walking through the unending shelf alleys in search of her, Ace grew more eager to find out what was waiting for him. He wondered why she had decided to stay far away from common sight until a thought crossed his mind.

'What if I'm late or today is not the day she wanted to meet?'

"Am I too late?" He muttered to himself, still combing through the shelves carefully.

Afterall, Kaito never mentioned the day he had received the letter. Finally, he noticed a figure standing by the giant windows, watching the entire academy from that position like a boss watching his pawns in a game of chess.

Her back was graciously turned against him, her precious hair was cascaded down her back like a fountain of goodness; the aura that exuded out of her stance marveled royalty, brilliance and beauty.

Ace continued towards her, with each step he booked closer to her, the anticipation of who she was growing fast and his heart skipped a few beats when she turned around to face him.

His face glistened, so did hers as if they had found the wrong person at the right place, forcing the living books in the library to wonder;

'Who should have sent the letter and who had received it?'

"It's quite surprising to see you've lost weight within three days… unless you've been pulling some strings of deceit." She finally said, breaking the sudden silence, her tone refined and smooth.

With a bone chilling tone, Ace replied, "Who would have thought the governor's daughter was you,—"