"Were you with Annan yesterday?"
As Annan arrived, he caught the accusation drifting out of the classroom. I'm the King of the North. Countless Ratfolk have died to my spells, and yet here I am, caught up in a squabble between students...
"Silence won't work on me, Su Ni Ply. I thought the Stablehand Family really did just want to groom horses. I never imagined you'd be so shameless..."
"I only asked him to meet my father."
Su Ni's voice rose beneath words that bordered on humiliation.
"What business does a horse groom have with the King of the North? Don't tell me your father cares about politics?" Sienna's words grew sharper.
"It's none of your business. Sienna, you're only Annan's classmate."
Was that Ai Alice's voice?
An odd sensation stirred in Annan's mind. He slowed down and kept listening as the girls fought over him...
"Su Ni isn't a member of the Sisterhood. You have no right to speak to her like that."
Sienna fell silent for a moment at Ai Alice's intervention, but the girls beside her gave her confidence. "And who are you to lecture me? Annan's friend, or the daughter of an Epic Mage?"
"A classmate."
Ai Alice's voice remained even. "I just don't want to watch you bully another classmate."
An unfamiliar girl shrieked, "You're arguing with the president for Su Ni's sake?"
"Please, stop arguing..."
As the commotion in the classroom grew, hurried footsteps approached from behind.
"Your Highness... Why are you—"
"Shh..."
Annan motioned for Ludkin to be quiet, but the classroom had already fallen silent. The girls' argument had stopped.
"I was worried they might start arguing."
Annan stepped into the classroom as he spoke. Sienna stood with her arms crossed in front of Su Ni's desk, her followers beside her. Ai