"I… heard about your story. I'm sorry that such a thing had to happen to you." Lily lowered her tone as she said it, and I just waved my hand.

"It's fine. It happened seven years ago, and I was like… Nine. I didn't remember most of it." I lied, and it seems like even Lily has learned the ability to see through my lies after knowing me so much.

"Is that so…? Then, I won't talk about it anymore. Though, I am curious. If you're not going to be a prince anymore, then… what do you want to become?" Lily asked what I thought of my future, and I tried to think of an answer.

"I guess… I'm not sure. I don't really know what I want to be. For now, I'm just trying to get on my own path of journey. Away from all the responsibilities for being a prince." I told Lily how I feel, and she let out a long sigh after hearing that.

"I wish I could be like that…" Lily said so disappointedly, which made me confused.

"Why not? Surely you're allowed to decide what you want by your parents. Your sister was the one who's going to be the empress, right?"

"That's exactly it. My parents aren't the ones who are in control of my life. It was my sister. Something tells me that between you and Prince Rejulus, you are probably the most commanding one…" Lily stared at me with a really lifeless gaze, and I knew immediately what her problem was.

"Your sister… is she--"

"Yeah. My sister is a damn bully."

"My condolences." I joked while bowing my head a little, and Lily angrily slapped my shoulder.

It's true that my relationship with Reju was quite easy-going. Since we were never related by blood to begin with, we had to form something between us without the idea of being related by blood. And since we were forced to grow up together for seven years, I'd say we are pretty much brothers.

That's probably not a big problem for me since Reju was unique in his own way. For Lily, though… who knows what kind of things she endured because of her elder sister.

Beforelong, our walk had finally made it to the academy's area. We spotted so many carriages and people surrounding the road that leads to the front gate, and it seems like everyone is also waiting for the front gate to be opened.

"Looks like we're not late, after all." I commented after seeing the amount of people, and I noticed Lily is searching for someone. 

"Looking for someone?"

"Yeah… A friend I met during the banquets. She was quite timid and silent, but I can tell she is pretty strong." Lily said while describing this new friend she met, and I became wondering what kind of friend that Lily is interested in.

"Oh. Aren't you going to meet your brother?" Lily asked while looking around, and I just shook my head.

"No, there's no need to. That guy will strangle me the moment we see each other."

"Oh? Is that why he is coming at us so angrily?" Lily said while pointing her finger in a direction, and I followed where she was looking towards the front gate of the academy.

Far away from where we are now, a really fancy carriage can be found parked just outside the front gate of the academy. From the amount of golden ornaments and red color, it's clear to everyone who truly owns that carriage.

But, the person who owns the carriage… is currently walking over here wearing a truly angered expression. Seeing his face, I immediately panicked.

"Oh, shit." I mumbled, and Lily turned her confused gaze between me and the approaching tiger.

Meanwhile, the tiger:

"NaaaaAATHAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!!" The raw scream of a man can be heard by everyone as he walked down the street, and I really wanted to just get out of here.

"H-Hey, man! Long time no see!!" I greeted him with a cheerful tone, but he only gets scarier and scarier as he gets closer.

Beforelong, he finally arrived in front of me. The charismatic and handsome crown prince immediately grabbed ahold of the collars of my robe and suit all together with his massive hands, and he pulled my face closer to his.

"Why… did you go off on your own!?!? You piece of--"

"Okay, wait! I can explain!!" I tried stopping him by using any form of reasoning, but it seems like Reju is just not listening.

"You told me that you won't be attending this year! The next thing I knew, you ran away from home!" He complained loudly for everyone to hear, and I had to turn my face away because his spit was in my face.

"I didn't mean to leave unnoticed! It's because it might take too long if I waited for you to get ready!"

"It only took me eight hours before leaving to chase after you!! What do you mean it will take too long!?!?"

"Well, the trip to get here might take days…" I said as I have found myself to be running out of excuses to go with, and Reju is only getting more and more explosive.

"You ******* idiot, piece of ****!! It only take two days to get here, you ************!!!"

"OKAY STOP SWEARING!!!!" I yelled as I turned my eyes around, and I noticed that every single person outside the academy was keeping their eyes on us.

Ah… there goes our image…

"And what!? You think you're better because you left earlier? Because I'm just going to be a weight to you?" Reju seemed to have calmed down a little bit, but his tone is still really pissed.

"I never thought of you like that. I can promise you that one." I replied seriously, and Reju has known me long enough to know when I'm serious and when I'm joking around.

"Then, why did you leave earlier?"

"I had something I wanted to do before I left for Ellen. I can't tell you what that is just yet, but know that it is important." I said again with the same tone, and Reju finally understood.

"At least say something if you're going to leave earlier. Mom was worried badly." Reju finally let go of my collar, and I was able to breathe normally.

"Well, that's unlikely. She was the only person I bid farewell to."

"So, you did plan on leaving unnoticed!?"

"I need an allowance!! I had to go see her!!" I tried reasoning again with a much livelier tone, and Reju knew immediately that I was joking around.

"You piece of **** ********-----"

"Okay, chill! I was joking!"

Reju turned his gaze away from me, telling me that he is really annoyed. Seeing that he has turned silenced like this made me relaxed because now he won't be going off a tantrum like before.

Reju then noticed the presence of a lady right next to me, and he immediately recognized her appearance.

"Oh, my apologies, Lady Lilyanna Valkaria." Reju immediately switched his tone and bowed slightly at the princess next to me, and Lily was quite startled seeing him switching gears this quickly. "I wasn't expecting to find you here… next to my selfish younger brother."

"I'm not selfish--" I tried disputing, but Lily immediately lifted her left hand to stop me from talking.

"It was a wonderful scene to watch, your highness. At the end of the day, someone needed to put his highness, the second prince, in his place." Lily said jokingly while also with a serious tone to Reju, and Reju heard the signal loud and clear.

"I agree. I apologize for the ugly actions and words I've displayed just now."

"It's completely fine, your highness! Anyone is bound to say curse words at him at one point considering his personality." Lily said in support of Reju's actions, and I can tell the two are doing this on purpose to humiliate me.

"Didn't realize you two are jokesters." I said to the two of them, and they both turned their annoyed stares at me.

"Shut up, will you?" Princess Lilyanna Valkaria a.k.a. Lily the waitress angrily said to me with a very intense stare. 

"Because of you that everyone is staring at us."

"Nathan. You and I will face father together once we are done with all this." Reju said coldly to me, and I knew immediately that he plans on dragging me to hell.

Looks like my life in the academy is not going to be as smooth of a sail as I imagined…

"And why are you wearing that robe!?" Reju angrily asked while pointing at my body. "Didn't father buy us a full set of armors to wear for the exam??"

Oh. Yeah... he did.

But, the problem about the armor that father bought for us… was that it was so perfect, they made both of them with the exact same design. If I were to wear them, I'd be wearing the same suit of armor as the one Reju is currently wearing. I'd rather be naked than wear the same clothes as this guy as if I was his twin brother.

Don't get me wrong. The armor looks gorgeous. Looking at Reju now, his armor is originally red, but with so many golden plates covering his body, the armor might as well be yellow gold. It's a very expensive set of armor that even a kingdom like Fiordall will have trouble paying for, and I decided not to wear it for this specific occasion.

Plus. I liked not wearing armor better. It just made moving around much more difficult.

"It… didn't suit me." I lied, but thankfully, Reju bought it.

"Yeah. You're way too short, after all."

"You really want to start this height debate? Look at you wearing heels." I said while pointing at his foot, and everyone can see the size of Reju's metal boots.

"They're expensively useful, even if it means my body height has increased by a mere five centimeters."

"That is a lot. I don't know how little you think five centimeters is, but that is a lot." I said while folding my arms, and Reju just snorted.

We then went on about what kind of suit best suited me, and Lily even joined in on the roasting party. Because, you know, my taste in clothes is just so perfect that I need two royals to tell me what I need to wear.

What's wrong with wearing simple clothes!? It's not like anyone is going to kill me during the exam!

I guess wearing a suit for banquets is a bit wrong… but the robe is perfectly fine!

After chatting for another five minutes, a loud sound of bell ringing was heard coming from the gate. Everyone turned their gazes to where the bell was ringing, and we all noticed that the gate was slowly opening inwards.

The gate to the elemental academy is now open. The time for the entrance exam has arrived.

"Let's go. I wish you good luck." Reju said before leaving me and Lily behind, and everyone else was also starting to walk to the gate.

"Are you nervous?" I turned to Lily and noticed that she looked a little silent. But to my surprise, she giggled right after I asked.

"Are you kidding? After all the attention you dragged onto me alongside yourself? Thanks to you, my ability to feel nervous or shameful is just no more." Lily slapped me in the shoulder before walking ahead, and I had to rub my shoulder. "Come on! Let's pass the tests with as big of a score as we can get!"

Hearing her invitation, I only grinned at her.

"Nah~."