The people who stayed with Anna during the mercenary attacks and saw her take out the entire enemy squad were put on a strict gag order. The authorities didn't want Anna and her squad's capabilities to be publicized since that would increase the already great amount of attention on Anna, who was the leader of a covert operations squad.
Anna got into her homeroom and saw Will was already in his seat. Emily wasn't there, she was usually at the student council in the morning since she was the secretary. Anna waved at Will and sat down in her own seat, which was across the room from him. Will waved back at Anna.
Their friendship wasn't at all a secret in the school, but most people didn't see them being anything more than friends since they assumed Anna, who was the daughter of one of the highest-ranking aristocratic families, would never get together with a commoner.
While that was true to some degree, it wasn't because Will was a commoner. Anna just simply wasn't interested in him.
The other students chatted away in the classroom. Usually, no one dared to approach Anna more than a simple greeting, but occasionally, some brave student would come and try to start a conversation, like today.
"Good morning, Anna." A girl dragging a boy beside her said to Anna.
"Good morning, Ava, Luke," Anna said with a smile. She could tell that the girl was somewhat genuine.
It wasn't because Anna was so intimidating that nobody approached her. It was because whoever tried to befriend her would be the center of rumors, like how Will is constantly in the state of.
"You were so pretty yesterday during the party. It was my first time seeing you in a dress." Ava said.
Hearing about Anna in a dress, everybody turned their heads at Ava. Some stared with jealousy, some stared while fantasizing.
Only high-ranking nobles who were really close to the Hastings family were invited to Anna's party. Ava's father was a senior master sergeant of the Air Force who was also a major sponsor of Hastings Firearms. The boy beside her was not present at Anna's party.
"T-Thanks." Anna wasn't really sure what to say.
"Come on, Luke, say something. Weren't you all bothered that you didn't get to see Anna in a dress?" Ava nudged at the boy beside her, whose face was now dyed red.
"W-What? N-No, you weren't supposed to…" Luke's voice drifted off.
Anna didn't really mind the boys who had crushes on her. She found them quite flattering. However, she could feel Will's discontent from the other side of the room.
"Aww, you guys are embarrassing me." Anna smiled.
"Alright everyone, please get back to your seats." Their homeroom teacher, Mr.Davis called.
At his request, Ava and Luke left and went back to their seats.
Mr.Davis was in his mid-twenties, a very young age compared to the other faculty staff. However, his superior knowledge and efficient teaching styles made him more than qualified. He was rather good-looking and had this cool vibe, which made him pretty popular among the girls.
After everybody had settled down, Mr.Davis continued.
"Today, I have a few announcements to make. First of all, we have a transfer student."
"What?"
"Now?"
"Really?"
The students voiced their surprise. Indeed, they were in their last year of the military academy before they could be enlisted or deployed, someone joining so late was not common.
Mr.Davis waited for the commotion to die down and waved at the door. At his signal, Leah walked into the classroom.
That only fanned everyone's surprise even more.
"Whoa. She is cute."
"Not as much as Anna, though."
"Obviously."
The last two were whispering, but since they were not that far away from her, Anna heard it. Again, she didn't really mind people talking about her, but that could get bothersome at times.
After the chattering stopped, Leah spoke up.
"It's nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Leah Bell. I am Ms.Hastings's personal maid. I hope we can get along." She said with an expressionless face.
The chattering began again.
Anna glanced over at Will, who knew about Leah's transfer beforehand. There was a smile on his face.
"Leah, since you are supposed to be Anna's maid, you can go and sit next to her." Mr.Davis said while pointing at an empty seat beside Anna.
Leah walked over to Anna, gave her a slight nod, and sat down next to her.
"Now, let's move onto the second announcement. The board has organized a field trip next week for the top 500 students in the academy. During the trip, the students will board the GMRS Citadel for a month along with the Navy personnel. You will travel to the Derunce borders and observe and partake in everyday life on board an aircraft carrier."
The students were excited. In Gladakia, the Navy was the strongest division in the military, and aircraft carriers were the most powerful and valuable resource in the Navy. Gladakia had 20 carriers at the time, and the GMRS Citadel was by far the largest among them. It was a great opportunity for the students.
"The naval practices on the carrier will be taught during the trip. You will also get to pilot aircraft, so for the next week, we will be reviewing aviation knowledge."
Now the students were no longer cheering. Since the piloting of aircraft was one of the most skill-requiring tasks in the military, the aviation unit was the most difficult every year. Anna didn't mind. She actually piloted a large variety of aircraft before. Her summer job for the last two years was test flying prototype aircraft for Hamilton-Douglas Heavy Industries. She knew her way around the cockpit.
"Now, as for the last announcement. Today, your afternoon classes will be canceled. Instead, you will take part in airsoft combat training with Class 6-B."
The girls in the class were suddenly roused. Anna recalled that 6-B was the class Chris was in. The other girls were probably excited at seeing Chris in action, and Anna didn't feel very good looking at them fangirling over Chris.
So this is what Will feels like, Anna thought to herself.
She had never even heard of Chris before the mercenary incident. She couldn't care less about the rumors and gossip going on around her class. But now she realized how popular Chris actually was, probably more so than herself.
After a lecture on piloting basics, the morning bell rang and the class was dismissed. As soon as the class was over, a bunch of students gathered around Leah and started talking to her. She just shook them all off with a "excuse me, I have work to do" and walked to Anna.
Seeing that Leah had taken refuge at Anna's desk, the students walked away.
"Leah, where do you want to go eat?" Anna asked.
Because she liked the town so much, she always visited local restaurants during lunch hours rather than eating with her friends.
"Ms.Hastings, I have brought lunch today. Why don't we try eating at the cafeteria?" Leah suggested.
Overhearing their conversation, Will walked over.
"Yeah, Anna, you never eat with Theo and me. We get lonely, too, you know." Will chimed in.
"Sure." Anna didn't see why not.
Surprised at Anna's quick agreement, Leah told Will to lead the way to the cafeteria. On the way, they met Theo.
"Hey, guys."
At the sight of Theo, Anna ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"Hey, Theo!"
As more and more stares came from the hallway, Anna let go of Theo. Anna was now a little more self-conscious of her actions after what had happened with Logan.
"So… where are you guys headed?" Theo was surprised that Anna let him go without him even telling her to do so.
"Cafeteria!" Anna said zealously.
"Really? Are you finally coming to eat with us?"
"Yeah!"
"Well, let's go then."
Anna and company walked into the cafeteria, where they were greeted with stares. Anna was a fresh face in the cafeteria. While that usually didn't matter, there was almost no one in school who didn't know Anna.
Anna, ignoring the stares, sat down at a table along with her friends. Leah took out two lunch boxes from her bag and handed one to Anna.
"Thanks, Leah." Anna took the lunch boxes. She opened it and started eating.
Will and Theo had never seen Anna eat, so they were a little stunned at the high-class etiquette she showed, which was a little uncharacteristic of her.
"Oh, right! I still have a bunch of meetings I have to attend! I completely forgot about them." Anna shot up from her seat and ran out of the cafeteria, leaving the half-eaten lunch behind.
The three just sat there and watched her run off.
"Oh, hey!" Chris called out to Will and the others. He happened to pass with Charl when Anna ran off in the other direction.
"Hey, Chris." Will waved back at him.
"What was up with Anna?" Chris asked.
"I don't know. She said she had a lot of meetings and then just ran off." Will answered.
"Huh."
"Wait, aren't we supposed to act like we don't know each other?" Theo asked.
"I think we are fine now. Anna should have already met with the student council, so any misunderstanding will be cleared once they make the announcement of the establishment of the disciplinary committee." Chris answered.
"Really? Anna was with me the whole morning. I don't remember her going to a meeting." Leah said.
They all realized the meeting with the student council was probably the one Anna forgot and was currently running to.
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