In the span of a single second, every single person was staring at me in complete silence. I could feel their gazes analyzing me over and over again.
"Are you really Yike Vale?" The head of the student council asked as she turned around, still confused.
"Yes, and you are?" I whispered back.
Her eyes widened. "You don't know my name?"
She couldn't believe it as she shook her head. She looked like she had many questions for me. However, she managed to control herself as she indicated for me to stand next to the three other students.
I found myself standing next to Alex Loge, who was already looking at me with plenty of anger.
As the head of the student council began speaking once more, Beatrice Loge couldn't help but ask me a question.
"Where do you come from? How come I've never seen you before?"
Just like her brother, she seemed hostile. I could understand since I had "stolen" their spot in a sense.
I didn't plan on answering her questions as I simply turned toward her and flashed a smile, angering her even further. The less they knew, the better.
"It is now time to announce the first ranked student. Please welcome to the stage, the Princess of the Royal Family, Hannah Hedge!"
In this very instant, the attention I had received a few moments ago seemed pathetic as cheers erupted all over. People shouted, screamed as if their lives depended on it. There was only one word that came to mind when looking at those people.
"H-Hannah! Please look at me!"
"Marry me! I swear I'll do everything you want."
"I'll give you all the money I have, just teach me!"
They were utterly pathetic.
Unlike all those people here, it was the first time I would be meeting the Royal Princess. I had vaguely heard of her in the past, but we had never crossed paths. I had no idea how talented she was. However, if she was ranked first... she had to be good.
Light footsteps found their way to my ears as I slowly turned my head to the left where the Royal Princess approached from. The look in her golden eyes was dull, emotionless. However, they weren't only dull... they were lifeless, as if nothing in life was important.
I shut my eyes as she approached and began focusing on her mana flow. I wanted to know just how strong she was. However, in an instant, I could no longer feel anything coming from her.
'Did she notice?' I frowned. 'Even the best assassins couldn't notice when I would try to gauge their strength, but... she did?'
When I opened my eyes again, her lifeless eyes had changed as she stared at me with a slight tilt of her head.
"Have we met before?"
"D-Did she just speak to him?!"
"They know each other?!"
I clicked my tongue hearing the crowd. Because of what she had just said, all kinds of misunderstandings would appear. I could say with absolute certainty that I had never met her before in my life.
"No, we haven't," I replied.
She shook her head. "Hm... no, we definitely met before. I'm sure of it."
I sighed and gave her another glance. If she was saying that, there had to be a reason. I tried my best to remember when I could have ever met her. But staring at her face, nothing came to me.
"We definitely haven't."
She slowly nodded her head and finally turned toward the crowd.
However, because of that small interaction, the three other top students were staring at me as if they wanted to burn me alive.
"So... you really have no idea who I am?" The head of the student council asked me backstage, unable to believe it.
"I'm sorry. I don't know much about the Royal Academy. I'll try my best to learn more about it."
"Just remember my name... Alix." She uttered, looking practically embarrassed to introduce herself.
"You said you don't know much about the Royal Academy. Then, how are you here? You didn't apply yourself?" Alex Loge asked.
Their gazes screamed of curiosity. But I wasn't planning on giving any kind of answer. As always, the less they knew, the better. After all, there was a chance one of them might be connected with the camp.
Though, before I had to come up with an excuse, the headmistress finally appeared with a wide grin, directly staring at me.
"So, how was the entrance ceremony? Did everyone like it?"
Everyone answered positively. I was the only one who didn't say anything, clearly uninterested in this whole thing.
"What about you, Yike?" She said with the same grin as earlier.
I sighed and gave a shrug.
She burst out laughing. "You're not excited about being the second ranked first-year? Don't you know all the perks of being part of the top 5?"
"I don't know. But I'm sure I will like them."
Once more, I could feel the shock in the room.
"Y-You don't know about the benefits?" Alix asked, losing her mind. "W-Where did you find him, headmistress?"
She just smiled at her question, still staring in my direction. "Follow me, I'll guide you all toward your personal quarters."
"Y-You're personally guiding us?"
Again... all of them were shocked.
It was clear that none of this was normal.
'Is she doing this because of me? But why? Have I done something to upset her?' I thought to myself, confused.
While the headmistress was guiding us to our quarters, the other top students tried to make conversation with me. Most of them seemed to think that I had a special connection with the headmistress because of how she treated me.
They wanted to gain my favor and they weren't even trying to hide it.
"I'm not sure if your family is wealthy, but if you want we could support you while inside the academy," Beatrice said with a smile.
Their attitudes had completely changed from earlier and it was already starting to annoy me.
There was only one person here who didn't completely annoy me.
The Royal Princess, Hannah.