The Inauspicious Route to my Happy Ending

"Thank you."

"No problem." Adrien packed up his things, ready for his next class. "I'll see you later," came the automatic departing phrase. Adrien realized the blunder he had made and left the library quickly. That was way too familiar of a way to talk to a noble lady that I don't know or am not related to.

Talking casually to another noble that one had just met was a show of disrespect. Talking casually to a noble who was a young, unmarried lady was a show of interest. And Adrien had just casually bid farewell to a young lady who was the daughter of a Duke, which meant his words could be taken as a sign of interest or disrespect.

The good thing was that both of them were at the Academy, and the conversation and setting would just make it seem that Adrien wanted to grow closer to Lady Aefre, which could be taken as a sign of interest and not disrespect.

Adrien groaned inwardly, really hating how complicated nobles tried to make everything.

He made it to his next lecture, Introduction to Economics. It was a class typically taken by heirs, and the children of merchants.

Just like with Dr. Lee's class, everyone was given an assessment quiz and was told that they could leave early once they were done.

Adrien flipped over the quiz paper and read the questions, instantly regretting not reading those books with a clearer focus. It was suffice to say that he did not leave this class as quickly as he had the last one.

I only managed because of that book Prince Mikyle referred to me, Adrien sighed inwardly.

He made his way to the next class when it was time for it. This class covered History, so the assessment quiz was rather easy for Adrien since he had done all that reading while trying to learn about this new world that he found himself in.

He finished the quiz in under five minutes. He noticed that this time, he wasn't the only who one had finished early. Two more students had stood up to hand their papers in before he had even left the room; Lady Aefre Ceciles and Lord James Wulfric.

"Lord Adrien," Lady Aefre called out softly when they were in the hallway. "I'm meeting my sister at the cafeteria, would you like to join us?"

Adrien hesitated, his earlier fears resurfacing.

The Young Lord of Wulfric released a sigh, his greenish-yellow eyes focusing on Lady Aefre with a narrowed glare. "He'll get the wrong idea if you put it like that."

Lady Aefre turned pink. "I didn't mean it like that." She turned a pleading look onto Adrien, her blue eyes watering. "I merely wish to get to know you. I have no other intentions."

Lord James' lips curved up into a smile, his eyes looking gentle as he stole a glance at the visibly flustered Lady Aefre. "Aefre is my fiancée, so she truly means it that she just wants to get to know you."

Oh! Adrien felt himself relaxing. "That's fine. I don't have any other classes for a while."

Lady Aefre visibly perked up, her cherry-colored lips curving into a beautiful smile. "Thank you!"

Lord James laughed, shaking his head at Lady Aefre in amusement. "Shall we go?" He held out his arm for her to take. Lady Aefre took it, her entire body radiating with a happy glow.

Adrien followed behind them, feeling slightly perplexed at the way Lady Aefre was acting. She had seemed like a very mature and composed girl, but it turned out that she was easily excitable, just like a real child.

As he was following them, he had a sudden thought hit him. It was known that both Duke Ceciles and Marquess Wulfric had their own manors in the capital, so why were these Young Lords and Ladies dining in the cafeteria?

"May I ask why the three of you are dining in the cafeteria instead of your manors, or is that rude of me to ask?"

Lady Aefre answered his question, the friendly smile that she wore never slipping from her cheerful countenance. "It's fine. My sister still has a class later on, so we thought we would join her in enjoying the Academy's fine food. The chefs they hire here are good enough to be hired by the Royal Palace so the cuisine is exquisite," she answered simply.

The food they have here is really good. It's better than what I had at the Count's.

The three of them reached the cafeteria, which was mostly empty except for a few students. Lady Aisley was sitting down at a table, watching as a maid placed several plates of food in front of her.

Adrien knew what Lady Aisley looked like from the book, so it wasn't hard to pick her out in the crowd.

"Re!" Lady Aisley waved her hand gently, beaming a welcoming smile when she spotted them. Her aqua-colored eyes fell onto Adrien just then, widening with visible shock as she took in his appearance.

* * * *

Adrien found himself back in his room, ready to retire for the night. He had found out from Lady Aisley the reason behind all the assessments.

Because noble children were often exposed to rigorous studying under the tutelage of private tutors, the Professors at Tris Academy held assessment quizzes to help identify those who already fully understood the class' subject. If the student showcased that they truly understood the subject, then they would be allowed the chance to move up a level for that class.

Not everyone had the chance to move up a level. The Academy had an average of twenty percent of its students moving up one level each year, so, not a whole lot, but still quite a few. It was more than what he had seen in his previous world where there was only a possibility of one or two students a year moving up a grade level.

Adrien was looking forward to that. If he could move up a level or two, then he wouldn't be required to any more of them later on.

Because History was fundamental, it was covered a great deal in private lessons, which meant that Tris Academy only offered two levels. On the other hand, math and science-based classes covered three levels each. Economics was also another that had three levels.

Adrien sat down at the writing desk, feeling elated. He pulled out his diary, itching to write down everything he had discovered that day.

'It's me again. I have so much to tell you two even though it hasn't been that long since I last wrote. Remember that voice I mentioned from the bookstore, well, I ran into him again. It turns out that he is the second prince. The one I mentioned before, the one that socially hung himself. Yeah, his voice isn't the only thing that's attractive about him. I blame Seo-ah and her fondness for good-looking faces, because it has apparently rubbed off on me.'

Adrien leaned back in his seat to view his diary entry. Honestly, I feel like these get sloppier and more jumbled the more I write.

With a sigh, he finished what he wanted to say, which had been the biggest frustration of the day so far.

'Anyway, I ran into him in the Academy's library, and you'd never guess what he said! He compared me to a kitten! A kitten! I really wish you were here Seo-yeon, I could really use your advice because I have the feeling that I'm going to need it. I'll explain more about that later, once I'm actually certain about it myself.

He raised his head to look out the window, watching as the sun faded from view. After he had time to calm down after his run-in with Prince Mikyle, he started having the sneaking suspicion that the guy had been flirting with him.

"Ugh!" Adrien groaned out loud, plopping his head down onto the desk. This was why he wanted Seo-yeon there with him. She was the best person to give advice that he knew.