"Luke! what's with your appearance? Did you get into a fight again?!" 

The young boy who was barely able to walk gave his sister a look of annoyance. 

"It's none of your business"

Loraine, his sister who's a year older than him is a third year student and known as a genius amongst genius within the academy. 

From outsider's perspective, she appears to be an angel but to Luke, she was a true devil. 

Which is why Luke couldn't understand the weird face Loraine was currently making.

"Who did this to you? I won't let you go until you answer!" 

Her brother with a torn and bloody clothes looked like a soldier who returned from the war. Now that his body was revealed, Loraine noticed how thin her brother was. 

'He usually fights a lot but it's never this bad' 

Not to mention, his mother passed away just yesterday. 

Unable to beat her gaze, Luke raised his voice as he spoke.

"The Marquis did it okay? Can you please stop acting like a good older sister and let me off just for today?" 

"..."

"I'm very tired right now. Please" 

She could hear the fatigue in his tone. 

"You mean.. it was father who beat you up?" 

"Yes"

"Because you're about to be expelled?" 

"Yeah" 

It seems like the news of his possible expulsion already spread. 

"Okay, go and rest. I'll call a servant for you"

"Loraine" 

Just when she was about to leave, Luke called her. 

"What?" 

"I really didn't want to say this but.. Don't dig your nose into my business. It's not like we're even siblings" 

The cold words pierced her heart but also snapped her back. 

'Right, why am I even caring about him? I should be happy. He finally got what he deserved' 

She has actively sabotaged him for the past years so he was more like an enemy. It was probably because she saw him in a bad condition for the first time in a while that her heart wavered a little.

'Let's just ignore him in the future. As usual' 

.

.

'The Lord went too far'

The old butler thought bitterly as he watched Luke get his wound treated. 

"Ack.. God, can't you be more gentle?"

"Sorry, young master"

The doctor cleaned his wound more carefully. Luke was beaten black and blue. He even had several broken ribs that was healed by drinking an entire bottle of expensive healing potion. 

"The bruises will be healed within a few weeks so I think it'd better for you to let it heal naturally rather than using more potions"

Luke agreed to the doctor's words.

Potions are usually used in healing internal injuries. If he keeps using healing potion for every little thing, it'll eventually lose it's effectiveness. 

However his thoughts changed when he looked himself in the mirror next morning. 

There was no broken bone yet his entire body was covered in dark bruises. 

'Fortunately my face was spared. That's good'

All the bruises were covered by his uniform. After making himself finally look like a decent human being, Luke proceeded to go to the academy. 

"Young master, the chef prepared your favorite food today as a lunch. Please do not forget your promise with the Marquis" 

He silently glared at the head butler Kevin then snatched the lunchbox away and walked off to the carriage. 

'What promise? That was clearly a threat!'

"Young master Luke, I'm the Vice captian of the Black knights' order, Vincent Hills. Marquis Alaistar assigned me to escort you"

As if to prove his point, Luke met an escort knight as soon as he stepped out of the mansion. 

"Haa.. Seriously.."

Seeing the infamous vice-captian of the Marquis' knights made him completely speechless. 

'I can't believe father assigned me such an important watchdog'

Graduating from the academy must be really important, Luke thought. 

"Here, take this"

He threw the lunchbox at the knight.

"If you're going to follow me, you might as well make yourself useful"

Because of the pain and the smuggy face of the knight, he got into the carriage in a bad mood. 

Attending classes, taking notes and getting along with professors was something he could never imagine himself doing yet here he was, waking up early and wearing the stuffy uniform properly like a real student. 

He even changed his black leather gloves into a white one and wore a tie just to look a little decent.

'Shit, I can't take it'

But within a minute or so, he loosened the tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. Only then was he finally able to breath.

Not long after, they arrived at the academy.

"Is that Marquis Alaistar's carriage?"

"That person is from the black knights' order. Look at the uniform!" 

The academy was as noisy as usual. 

The students who saw the infamous black knights' uniform naturally thought the person inside the carriage would either be Loraine or Louis. 

But the person who showed up surprised them. 

"I-is that Luke?"

For the first time, they saw Luke wearing his uniform and carrying a bag. He even snatched back his lunchbox before he entered through the gates. 

"Sir Vice-captain, are you going to follow me all the way inside?"

"The Marquis requested me to take you to Mr. Blackburn's office first"

"Tch"

Luke find Vincent's fox like smile and cheeky attitude annoying. 

Maybe it's because he didn't look like he detests him or fears him in any way. 

'Well, he'll soon beg father to stop escorting me like everyone else'

Just the mere thought of getting rid of him brought a smile to his face. 

"Mr. Blackburn. It's me, Luke" 

"Come in" 

The middle aged man took quite a while to reply. As soon as Luke opened the door, a woman brushed past him like a passing wind. She looked as if she was crying. 

'What's going on?' 

Luke simply decided to mind his own business and took a sit on his usual spot, which was the sofa besides the coffee table. 

In an awkward atmosphere, the principal cleared his throat. 

"Ahem.. So yesterday Marquis Alaistar contacted me. He said you've come back to your senses and will study hard from now on" 

"That's true" 

"Since you've fallen behind on lots of classes, you need someone to help you catch up. I'll assign students from your year to help you" 

The rich boy responded arrogantly.

"Why bother? I'll just hire tutors" 

"Do you think tutors will be able to teach you the curriculum of the academy?" 

Luke shut his mouth at that. 

The answer is obviously no since the academy curriculum changes every year and is at a very high level. 

"Actually, I already asked 3 students to help you. After school, meet them at the library on the second floor" 

"Got it" 

Samuel still couldn't get used to Luke's cooperative attitude. It was unknown how the Marquis managed to change his son this much within just one night. 

'Couldn't he have done that earlier?' 

He merely kept those thoughts to himself and continued talking. 

"You mustn't get into a fight. Just one fight and it's over for you. Also if you offend the professors, they'll give you a negative point. More that 15 negative points and you're expelled" 

"How many negative points can one professor give me?" 

"Two" 

"That's pretty much the same as expelling me" 

Almost every professor hates the troublemaking delinquent who uses his status as a shield for every little thing and downgrades the academy's image, which is him.

"Don't be so down. The professors will need a valid reason for that. Anyway, it's almost time for the classes to start. You should get going if you don't want to collect a point on your first day of trying" 

The young boy tiredly brushed his blonde hair backwards and stood up from his seat. 

"Fine. Hopefully I won't have to meet you again" 

"Good luck" 

He took few steps then paused before the door. 

"Mr. Blackburn?" 

"What is it?" 

"By any chance.. do you know my class schedule?" 

"...."

Both Samuel and Vincent's expression darkened. 

****

It was a normal day in the magic class. 

Everyone took their seats and prepared for the lesson eagerly. Some where busy doing their homeworks while others were chatting with their friend. 

Among them, Rosemary and Kyle were seated far back, isolated from everyone. 

There's only two person who speaks to them in the entire second year students. And that's Sebastian Miller, a fellow magician who's ranked first in the magic class and Lisa Hart, the second in swordsmanship class.

Sebastian is also from a commoner origin and is sponsered by the Magic Tower due to his talent so he was easy to get along. Lisa on the other hand is a Duke's second daughter, who has been desperately trying to win against Kyle for the past semester in swordsmanship class. 

"Ian! Over here!" 

Soon enough, Sebastian arrived in class followed by Lisa. Seeing her walking towards the 'commoner' table as usual many nobles have her a criticizing glare. 

"Lisa, is it okay to sit with us? The look they're giving is a little.." 

"Who cares about them? I'm only here to have a look at my rival. Is there something wrong with that?" 

As a high ranking noble, she didn't need to be afraid of other's opinion. She turned her head, her pierce gaze focusing on a certain black haired male.

"You, come to the training ground this afternoon. Let's have a duel" 

The blonde haired girl smirked, eager to show off the move she trained so hard.

"I can't" 

"What?" 

The unexpected rejection caught her off guard. It was because this sword maniac never refuses a duel.

"The principal asked me to mentor someone from today on. So I'll be busy" 

"Mentor? To who?" 

"Oh, he also asked me to mentor someone too. Was it that person?" Sebastian added on curiously. 

Kyle's expression turned grim at that. 

"Yeah. It was that person" 

"Who is it? Who are you talking about?" 

"I.. Actually, I think I know who that person is"

Seeing Rosemary also nod along, Lisa exclaimed in frustration. 

"Hey, just tell me who is it! Or else-" 

"There he is" 

Sebastian gestured towards the door. 

Seeing the person who just made his grand entrance, a dead silence fell. Everyone was unable to utter a word. 

"N-no way... You two are teaching Luke Alaistar?!" 

Kyle nodded. 

It couldn't be helped. The principal asked for a favor with such a desperate face and even promised that he can stop mentoring if Luke doesn't behave. 

Meanwhile, Luke, feeling all the weird stares on him eventually snapped back.

"What're you looking at?!" 

Everyone looked away. 

"Vincent, you can also disappear. Your very existence is causing disturbance in my life" 

He also snapped at his knight who was following him like a dog. The knight politely bowed.

"Very well, young master. Then good luck" 

'Why is everyone wishing me luck?' 

All he has to do is attend lessons, take notes and not pick a fight. It can't be that hard. 

Luke decided to walk to the farest away seat possible. Unfortunately the seat he wanted was already occupied by others, he sat right in front of them. 

It was still a good spot regardless. 

On the other hand, the four students behind him were completely puzzled. 

'Why did he decide to sit here?'