Free Web NovelChapter 138: Chapter 138
Henri spent the rest of the weekend tied down with estate matters, granted, it meant that he got to avoid certain people but there was a price to pay for that.
By the time the first day of classes rolled by, he was ready to stab Dio with the broad sword in his dorm room and set all of his papers on fire. He did manage to get the files into a somewhat organized manner and gave Dio a brief teaching on what to do.
After breakfast, the three headed for the new classroom building. They were still in the same class, it was just in a different building this time.
As soon as they entered the new classroom, Louis was immediately swarmed by their classmates who were present. ’It would seem like some things would never change.’
A lot of things didn’t change actually, their classroom was no different from the last one. High-glided ceilings and bright airy windows, and an empty teacher’s desk at the front of the classroom. It made Henri wonder who their new class professor would be, he doubted it would be Professor Hoskins again.
Henri was seated behind Louis as always but this time, Dio sat beside Louis and as Louis attended to the group of Alphas that had gathered around his table talking about how they spent their holidays, Dio came over to his desk.
Henri looked up expectantly, wondering what Dio wanted to say to him that he couldn’t just call it out to him from where he was.
"Is it just me or are there more students in our class?" He whispered conspiratorially, his eyes never leaving Louis.
Henri tracked his gaze, "Are you just saying that because they have Louis’ attention?" He asked bluntly.
"No, no... look at that Alpha, ever seen him before?" Dio asked, tilting his head in the direction of an Alpha that stood on the fringes of the crowd gathered around Louis.
Henri frowned, Dio was right, he knew his own classmates after spending a year with them and that was definitely a new face. "Maybe he was moved here from another class."
"He wasn’t," A new voice joined their conversation, making Henri look in that direction.
Jann looked thoughtful although he had literally crashed into their conversation, "He’s a new transfer, apparently the academy has had the highest number of transfer students this year."
Henri was surprised by this piece of information, "Really? I suppose that’s good news?" He added, unsure of how exactly to react to that.
"Pretty sure they’re all here because you’re attending the academy," Dio said.
Jann nodded solemnly, his dark hair flopping. "My new roommate is even from a distant country, it’s definitely not a coincidence." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Henri frowned, sure it was a big deal for royalty to attend a public college but he was certainly not the only royalty doing that. ’Why was such a big fuss being made when it was his turn?’
The class going quiet pulled him out of his thoughts and made him look up instinctively, Dio and Jann by his side returning to their respective seats. Jann still retained his seat at the back of the class, it seemed to be his preference.
The new entries were none other than Claude and Alexander.
Henri felt his heart sink, and just when he had been applauding himself for doing a good job of avoiding them. They couldn’t possibly both be in his class, wasn’t that too much of a coincidence?
He dropped his gaze to the top of the desk and sighed, it would seem that the college grounds were too small a space to evade them both. They also had considerable influence, Henri wouldn’t be surprised if they had gone out of their way to make sure that they ended up in his class.
He had successfully avoided thinking about Claude throughout the weekend - well, backbreaking paperwork did most of the distracting but... Now that he was forced to confront the Alpha, he planned to act like nothing was wrong, they were nothing more than strangers to each other after all.
Murmured conversations that slowly grew louder replaced the silence, and Henri didn’t need to look up to know that they were both heading in his direction. Well, it would explain why the desks on either side of him were suspiciously empty.
He only looked up when Louis swerved around, disapproval in his eyes as he suspiciously eyed both Alphas seated on either side of him. Henri sighed, the tension was making his skin crawl. Was this how every one of his classes was going to be? Unbearable?
Fortunately, the class professor stepped in shortly after that, cutting off any further conversation as everyone returned to their desks to settle in. Their new class professor was nothing like their last one, for one thing, he was very young, much like he just finished college himself.
His soft brown hair was left slightly long and his eyes were wise but gentle. He looked slender in the all-black ensemble that the professors and staff of the academy wore. "I’m your new class professor Antoine Martin but you can just refer to me as Antoine." His voice was much like his eyes, gentle but carrying the steel that only experience could give.
The class seemed more inclined to respect the new class professor than they were with Sir Hoskins much to Louis’ relief, he wasn’t interested in taking on the job of their class professor again.
"I was informed that you already have a class representative." Antoine raised an arched brow as he scanned the quiet classroom.
Louis rose to his feet, "That would be me, Sir Martin." He said respectfully.
Antoine winced slightly at this, "Just Antoine is fine." He corrected quickly. "Is the rest of the class content with having..." He trailed off, gesturing for the class representative to offer a name.
"Louis Dufort." He answered smoothly.
"Alright, Is the rest of the class content with having Louis continue in his capacity as the class representative?" Antoine asked magnanimously, his gentle voice carrying to every student present in the class.
Cheers went up at his question, generous clapping getting involved as well.
Antoine beamed at this, "I’ll take that as a yes." He agreed, gesturing for Louis to take his seat. "We’ll leave it that way then." He decided, walking to his table. "I’m a new professor at the academy so I’ll have to rely on your assistance, Louis." He said calmly, fixing a look on the responsible-looking class representative.
Louis ducked his head at this, feeling self-conscious from the attention. "Ah... no problem.
Dio looked from their new class professor to his blushing boyfriend, displeased with this reaction.
From the back, Jann raised his hand up just as Antoine settled behind his desk. This earned chuckles from the rest of the class, he didn’t back down however, slouched in his seat as he sent a questioning look to the rest of the class. "What?"
Antoine seemed to be amused by this, "I see you have a question. Introduce yourself beforehand, please."
Jann didn’t bother getting to his feet, and Antoine didn’t seem bothered by it. "My name’s Jann," He drawled, placing a hand on his desk. "What subject do you teach?" He asked curiously.
Antoine seemed to look away, pulling out the registry so he could mark their attendance sheets. "History..." He said quietly, keeping his eyes on the large bound book in front of him. "I’ll call your names now..."
Henri studied their new class professor, he couldn’t help but remember what Jann had said about the new influx of transfer students, it would seem like professors weren’t left out. It didn’t look like this professor would cause him any trouble, the most interaction they had was when Antoine stumbled over his name.
He was still painfully aware of Claude who was seated on his right but fortunately, he said nothing to him, and so Henri did the same as well. Alexander however didn’t seem to care, turning to fully face Henri as soon as their class professor was gone.
"What a pleasant coincidence, Your Highness." He said placidly, sea-blue eyes filled with satisfaction.
Henri looked up at him, "A coincidence indeed." He muttered, sounding unconvinced.
If Alexander noticed this, he didn’t mention it. "I didn’t get the chance to ask earlier but could you show me around the college grounds, Henri?"
Henri flinched imperceptibly at this - so it was ’Henri’ now - there was something in the way that Alexander said his name that unsettled him. He looked to Louis to help him get out of this situation but his friend had been immediately swarmed by their classmates as soon as their class professor was gone.
Most of them had come to gossip about their new class professor, it would seem like Antoine had caught the attention and approval of the entirety of the class.
"I’ll show you around." Claude butted into the conversation, making Henri and Alexander look at him at the same time. So Henri didn’t notice how Alexander’s eyes quickly switched from a placidly calm sea blue to a stormy shade.
"If I remember correctly, you’re a transfer student much like I am." Alexander forced himself to say politely, a far cry from what he actually wanted to say.
Claude just shrugged, looking like he had no intention of taking his words back. "Unlike you who waited around for someone to show you around, I did some exploring on my own." He said, the taunting evident in his tone and words.
