"If they saw the monster in me, would they still like me..." Lu Mingfei, Cassell's S-Rank freshman and the extraordinary dragon slayer who had slain three evil dragons, sat by the window with her knees hugged to her chest, sleepless all night.
She had been chosen as this year's Academy Star, and the entire academy was mad about her. Boys and girls alike dreamed of being chosen as her partner and dancing with this peerless beauty at the academy's end-of-term ball.
"Knock, knock, knock."
"Who is it?" she asked, her voice carrying through the door like wind chimes.
"Me. Open the door." The voice outside was like ice, its command imperious.
"Y-Your Highness, what brings you..." Lu Mingfei clutched her nightgown in a fluster and hurried to open the door, finding Romanov standing outside with an ornate food carrier.
"You look haggard again. It hurts me to see you like this." Prince Lucia came inside and set the food carrier on the table.
"I usually... don't really eat breakfast..."
Lu Mingfei lowered her lashes. I eat so little because this heart holds too much sorrow that no one else knows. Those dragons that died by my sword, those old friends I can never return to... With such a weight upon me, how could I swallow a meal?
"No." Romanov lifted her into his arms and set her on a chair. He opened the food carrier, knelt on one knee before her, and brought a spoonful of porridge to her lips. "Your health comes first. Eating little is acceptable. Eating nothing is not."
Just then, the communication crystal on the windowsill suddenly glowed red. Lu Mingfei instinctively reached to answer it, but Romanov raised his hand and caught hers.
"Eat your porridge. It won't taste good cold," he said evenly.
*Who