A clean, wrinkle-free shirt layered with a blouse, a tie and another slim-fit jacket draped loosely over his shoulders, held together by a jewel.

He combed his hair back, eyes fixated on the mirror as he watched his hands loop the ribbon around onyx strands, perfectly cut.

The Academy awaited him.

Located a short carriage ride from the small town of Perro, it was a low-key and hidden area that one couldn't visit so easily, if not an admitted student or professor.

A special school, in which only particular students could attend through invitation, granted by unknown requirements. He'd been invited—though his attendance was a matter of whether the royal family allowed him or not. 

And with a particularly malicious intent, they'd given him a mission to complete.

The dragon's trust.

He stared at his reflection for moments more, tracing a hand on the gaunt cheeks that painted a pitiful picture in the broken glass, before looking down at his fingers that had been neatly wrapped with bandages, covered in black gloves.

"You will pay for your crimes." He whispered to himself, to the history that was undone, now nothing more than a nightmare that haunted him at night. "I will make sure of it."

"Hurry up, dog!" snapped Reed, once again bursting through the door without warning, a scowl digging into his lips as he frowned. "Father is impatient as it is, and you know better than to disappoint him as you always do. Perhaps he will revoke your permission to the school."

Kaden turned and nodded, a false smile painting his lips that had been chewed on from stress. "I apologize."

He followed the servants outside, eying two of the carriages. Separate ones of course, when Reed wouldn't dare remain in the same area as somebody as lowly as him. Really, it worked in his benefit.

One of the drivers, a new and unfortunate youth that would later be severely punished, would end up taking the wrong road while Reed was in the carriage, leaving them lost in the forests.

However, both carriages would arrive late and be embarrassed, unable to make any claims to their rooms. It was rather unfitting of nobility to arrive a day later than scheduled, but it had happened.

Reed had been absolutely livid, and Kaden bore his wrath.

The youth that would go down the wrong road nodded at him with an excited smile, bowing his hat with a cheeky hitch in his voice. "Good morning, sir."

Kaden turned to Reed. "I will take his carriage."

The man narrowed his gaze. "Are you assuming you had a say in the matter to begin with?"

"Of course not," said Kaden slowly, tilting his head as a sarcastic tug of his mouth appeared. "I assumed you would rather take the carriage driven by a more experienced driver, considering your difficult personality."

"Difficult?"

"I meant special."

Reed's heeled boots clattered against the pathway as he paused beside Kaden, lowering his voice to a threatening hiss. "Do watch yourself, little brother. You think cheekiness will allow you to rebel? You forget where you stand."

Kaden lowered his chin. "I haven't forgotten for a moment."

If he remembered the devastation of hell he lived in, how could he forget who exactly he wanted to drag down with him?

He kept his head facing the ground as the sound of the carriage door opening sounded, and waited only when the wheels had left a far enough distance that they were nothing more than a muffled rumble against the earth.

The youth looked taken aback for a moment, before his stare settled into simmering curiosity, and a hint of glee.

"Hey, sir, are you planning on getting on?" wondered the man, likely to be the same age as him with messy and slightly long, curly chestnut hair, and bright cerulean eyes.

Kaden raised an eyebrow. "How else would I arrive?" Then, he turned away from the doors and kicked his legs over the front seat, beside the man. He settled back comfortably, gazing ahead. "Aren't you going?"

An amused grin answered him. "Right, you nobles get stranger by the day." He raised the reigns and the carriage lurched forward.

When the man decided that Kaden wouldn't fire him if he spoke out of turn after making some casual conversation, his words grew cheekier and more impolite.

"Right, the name's Niklas, by the way."

"Kaden." introduced the other.

"I'll confess, I had been fairly certain that your older brother would choose my carriage—I purposely picked the one with comfier seats, and all."

"Did you want him to?" Kaden closed his eyes, allowing the rush of movement to lap over his face, tickled by the sun's warmth.

Sounds blurred in the distance. Birds sung, bushes rustled. He couldn't be punished for closing his eyes, or for enjoying the ride, even if they wanted to.

Niklas chuckled, leisurely leaning back. "I may have possibly had the intention of you know, turning the wheels down the wrong path...?"

It had been intentional.

Kaden widened his eyes in surprise, spinning to frown at the foolishness. "He would've had you beaten for it."

"No way, he couldn't. It's not so easy to punish a student of the Academy, regardless of your position. We're special and whatever."

"He would've." insisted Kaden harshly, though surprised at the fact that this young man was also to be attending the Academy.

That wasn't important, however.

Making light of what Reed was capable of, not because of the power he held but rather, the lack or morals that possessed him, would be a grave choice.

In the first life, the young driver was undoubtedly punished. Likely, the abuse on him or perhaps murder, had been covered up and buried under the Chauvet's growing schemes.

Niklas flinched, slowing down the carriage as his brows knitted together. "You know, Kaden, I've heard a lot of rumours even though I just started working. And also, looking at the way he treated—"

"Learn what to say, and what not to say, Niklas." interrupted the humorless man, as he tilted his head to face the other. There was no tease or lightheartedness anymore, just a warning that seemed to haunt the pale green eyes. "Or you will be sorry for the consequences."

"...alright. I won't pry further until I get to know you more—"

"That will not be happening—"

"Oh, but it will." laughed the youth as if the previous conversation hadn't occurred. "We'll be classmates, Kaden. There's not much avoiding me, even if you decide to."

"If you are looking for status—"

Niklas shook his head, sighing as the carriage came to a stop before tall steel gates. "I'm attending the Academy based off my own talents, and I'm pretty aware of what it means to survive in there without money or power. I don't need to leech off your status."

"Regardless," Kaden swallowed before he smiled the same everyday facade, the mask pressed permanently to his face for so long he wasn't sure what was underneath anymore. "I have no desire of befriending those beneath me."

"Do you honestly mean that?"

"I do."

Niklas sighed, something he seemed to do often in Kaden's terrible presence, and gestured to the cobblestone path that was carefully decorated by blooming flowers, making a trail through the gates.

"We're here, Kaden. I have to pull the carriage around, but if you need to go somewhere, call for me. It's my job, whether you like it or not."

A blink, and then the man—eighteen years—moved to jump off, swinging his long legs over casually.

He glanced back at Niklas, unsure of what to say, his mouth foolishly opening and closing. Finally, he decided, there were no need for pleasantries when he couldn't bring Niklas into the darkness he was leaping into.

Turning without looking back, he started onto the path, alone.