The Inauspicious Route to my Happy Ending

Adrien woke up early the next day. He quickly showered and changed into clean clothes, glad that this school didn't require one to wear a uniform. He always hated novels that had uniforms for their schools.

He looked at the solid wood wall clock, deciding that he had plenty of time he made his way down to the dorm's canteen to grab some breakfast.

The dorm had more people moved in than what there had been the morning of the previous day. Though Adrien was surprised to find out that half of the students that were attending the Academy lived off campus, he was more surprised over the fact that many of the nobles lived in the Capital.

After he finished eating, Adrien left the dorm. Following his memory of the map, he made his way to the West side of the Academy, heading to the concert hall. Adrien was heading there because the Headmaster was holding an opening speech for the new and returning students at eight. Other students were walking along the pathways, heading in the same direction.

Adrien had experienced it firsthand when he was in town the day before, but the extravagantly dressed people around him today really hit home in making him realize once again that he was in another world.

The concert hall came into view, and there were many students making their way in through the large, black, wooden doors that were propped open. Inside the concert hall, high vaulted ceilings and a large glass chandelier greeted them. Adrien looked down and realized that the hall's entrance doors had led them onto the second floor. The stage was placed in the center with three floors of seats circling it.

Going further in, Adrien was able to see that most of the students were gathering on the first floor and only on the east side, which was the side they came in from. He then saw barricades placed at the entrances leading to the North, West, and South side, blocking students from sitting in those seats.

As Adrien made his way down to the first floor, he felt eyes on him. Looking forward, he didn't see anyone looking at him. Turning around to gaze up to the third floor, he saw a familiar visage, one that he had read about.

Sitting up on the floor in seats that were clearly for the high-end nobles, was Lianna Silva, a stunningly beautiful girl with long purple hair that hung down in gentle waves. Her amaranth jewel-like eyes were focused on the man beside her, a man that Adrien recognized instantly, Crown Prince Nathaniel.

Nathaniel Velron was exquisitely dressed in fine clothes. His long red hair was tied with a gold-threaded ribbon and it hung over one shoulder. His facial features were sharp with aristocratic air and his golden eyes sparkled with a soft light as he conversed with Lianna.

But the eyes he had felt staring at him did not come from these two. No, those eyes belonged to the third person sitting beside them.

Sitting on the other side of the Crown Prince was a man with hair that was as blinding as a freshly minted gold coin. His facial features were sharp like the Crown Prince's, but Adrien could tell even from this distance that the man's eyelashes were long and thick and that his eyes were just slightly curved up, much like a cat's. And speaking of those eyes, his irises were a deep and intense red that could put any jewel to shame. And those beautiful eyes were trained on him.

To borrow Seo-ah's words, 'this guy is freaking hot,' flashed through his mind. That was the first time Adrien ever agreed with that particular saying. But who is that red-eyed guy? Could he be the second prince? It was possible since he looked a lot like the description the author used for the king. But why would the second prince stare at me? Did he know the Original Adrien even though I don't have any memories of him? And how is that the face of an unnamed background character who doesn't even appear in the book?

Adrien quickly looking away, his heart pounding as if it wanted to break free from his chest. This world extremely unfair. There were just too many attractive people in this world. . .and Adrien was unfortunately stuck as a male noble who was to inherit a title from his maternal grandfather, which meant that he will probably be forced to marry a female noble. . .or not marry at all. Though it wasn't like Adrien was strictly attracted to guys; he had dated a girl before.

He scurried down the aisles without a backward glance. Once he found a free seat, he sat down in it, trying his best not to hang his head. He was finding that with each passing day in this new world just how much his sisters had rubbed off on him. And this made him feel like an exotic animal on display at the zoo, even though no one was technically looking at him or pointing fingers at him.

* * * *

"Greetings, your Highnesses," Lianna greeted the two princes before taking a seat beside Nathaniel.

Mikyle returned his future sister-in-law's greeting. He then turned his focus onto those arriving into the concert hall. His seat up on the third floor gave him the perfect vantage point.

Both familiar and unfamiliar faces filed into the large area, quickly filling up the once-vacant seats. The crowd thinned for a bit and during this time, a boy with a light shade of blonde hair with icy tones in it and lake-colored highlights walked in. Mikyle found his eyes subconsciously drawn to him, finding him vaguely familiar.

The boy stopped and looked around before casting a glance behind him. His feline-shaped eyes looked up into the third row, and his lake-colored eyes scanned over them. Those blue eyes widened and turned an even lighter shade of blue when they landed on Lianna.

Mikyle felt his eyes narrowed subconsciously. It seemed as if another poor fellow fell for the beautiful Lianna.

The boy's eyes continued their roaming until they finally landed on Mikyle. Those delicate eyes widened subtly and turned a darker shade of blue, reminiscent of the ocean on a stormy day.

Mikyle finally recognized the boy as the one who had ran into him the day before.

Now that Mikyle could fully see the boy's face, he openly studied it, finding the features soft, far softer than most boys' around their age. They were so soft they were almost feminine in quality.

This wasn't some disgraced noble's daughter pretending to be a boy, was it? Hmm, why does this 'boy' look a lot like a lost rabbit?

A peculiar scene happened just then. The boy's pale skin turned a noticeable shade of pink. His eyes fluttered shut a few times before he whirled around, quickly darting down the aisles.

"What are looking at, brother?" Nathaniel fondly asked him, his golden eyes scanning the crowd.

Lianna also cast her gaze down onto those on the first floor. "Don't tell you found a first-year to pick on?" Her gaze flickered to Mikyle with an accusatory look.

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of villain who likes tormenting people," Mikyle said with a teasing tone of voice. Although, he had to admit that he did like pulling pranks; like the time he proclaimed his sexual orientation in front of a crowded ballroom to embarrass the exasperating Queen of Shigaron who kept coming onto him, or the time he picked the lock to Caleb Brown's room and laid out the boy's scandalous photos of all the women he was courting at the same time where anyone passing by could see them.