Willow was waiting for Lucilline at the school building's gates.

When she saw the figure of her Young Master, a bright smile fleeted across her face. Willow greeted Lucilline with a curtsy, "Young Master, shall we head back to the residence?"

Instead, she was given a wet sweater and leather bag. The soaked contents were unbearably cold, as if they'd been thrown inside an iceberg then taken out again. Willow tried to resist the current of shudders that wavered in her heart. She wondered how could her Young Master not possibly show a single expression of dissatisfaction on his face...

However, there were no wavelengths on Lucilline's face. He treated the clothes as if they were merely dirty laundry... as if they weren't as cold as the arctic.

"...what happened at school, Young Master?" Willow was dumbfounded.

Lucilline arched an eyebrow. "Took a swim in the water fountain."

Willow, "..." Did you take the leather bag for a swim as well?

Lucilline understood what thoughts were brewing in her mind, so he corrected her, "It was an accident."

Willow fell silent, which meant she understood. The young nobleman and maidservant walked down the street together, side by side. Their heels clicked and clacked at the pavement ground. The pair of two continued their way back to the Rubius manor, but before they were even close to arriving, Lucilline came to a sudden stop.

"...Young Master?" Willow questioned. She came to a stop as well.

She stole a glance at what her Young Master was looking at...

Lucilline was facing the glass window of a jewelry store, which displayed a beautiful necklace. A large gem of  gold was strung in the centre of the necklace. The necklace was beautiful... so beautiful that it must be in Duke Rubius' jewelry collection!

"You want to gift this to Duke Rubius?" Willow asked.

Lucilline hesitated. For a moment there, Willow felt like she saw her Young Master struggling with his inner self. A flash of sadness was visible in his golden eyes... but it disappeared in the next second.

"It's fine. I just thought that it looked nice." He said that, but didn't take his eyes off the necklace. Lucilline pressed a palm to the glass window. He stared dreamily at the golden necklace. His gaze was so soft that if time would stop right there, the entire world would be rotated around him. He would be the centre of the world's attention. Willow wished that she could just forever live in this moment.

"THIEF!!!" Suddenly, an abrupt cry had ruined the entire scenario.

A woman dressed in an emerald green summer dress had clutched her chest, chasing after a man covered in back clothing. The man had stolen the woman's leather wallet, which was stuffed with many silver coins. His eyes were bloodshot from nerves as he ran. He bypassed several other panicking people.

Once the woman cried out for help, people found themselves watching the chase from the sidelines. Unfortunately, the woman was too slow. She couldn't catch up to the thief, and panted heavily.

Lucilline arched an eyebrow at the scene.

He couldn't afford to look at how tragic the woman was anymore. However, he also didn't have the energy and passion to actually help. Therefore, he just stood there and watched the commotion riling up.

All of a sudden, another cry came out of the blue. "Get out of the way!"

Lucilline was surprised when he saw a familiar figure.

Locks of white hair bounced up and down, and a pair of amethyst purple eyes shone in the crowd. Azalea ran at an extremely fast pace, his figure racing past several other noble men and women. He quickly caught up to the thief, extending out a hand, then knocked the thief down onto the ground.

Gasps piped up on the street. The noble men and women hurriedly stepped away from where Azalea and the thief were situated at.

Lucilline stepped backwards as well.

His eyes were fixed at how Azalea locked the thief's wrists behind their back, then pinned them down to the ground. Once the thief couldn't move anymore, Azalea grabbed the wallet out from their grip.

Later on, the thief was escorted away by the patrol guards.

Azalea walked to the victim. Surprisingly, there was another lady beside her. Daphnne, the heroine straightened her dress as she greeted Azalea with a cheerful look, "Az! You were amazing!" She jumped and down from excitement. "You saved this lady's money! You're such a hero, Az!"

Being stuffed with many compliments, Azalea didn't flush. He just waved heroically, "It's nothing."

He spaced out and spoke, "It's all for the sake of justice—"

—In this unkempt world of sins.

His amethyst eyes wandered past several onlookers. Suddenly, he noticed an oh-so-familiar figure. The familiar young man had a braid of silky raven black hair, stretching to a length beyond the forearms. He wore a face of indifference, even when being looked at by Azalea.

All of a sudden, Azalea remembered this young man.

This was the young man he'd accused of earlier during class!

Out of nowhere, heat rushed to his brain. It was like he'd attained the power of a heavenly being, as he ran with abnormal speed at the young man.

Lucilline was shocked when Azalea popped up before his eyes... within just a second.

Azalea clasped his gloved hands in his own, holding them and unwilling to let go. "You!"

Lucilline was speechless. It wasn't until the grip on his gloved hands tighten did he begin to struggle. His maidservant, Willow sensed his unease and stepped forwards.

She spat, "Sir, it isn't good to touch Young Master without permission."

Not letting Azalea say a single word, Willow easily pried his "paws" off of Lucilline's gloved hands. Still feeling unease, Willow patted some non-existent dirt off of the gloves. "There you go, Young Master." She mercilessly added on. "You're as peerless as ever."

Lucilline arched an eyebrow at her words. He then looked back at Azalea, who just realized his rudeness.

"I apologize for the impudence. I was reckless back then and overstepped my boundaries." Azalea bowed. "You may not recognize me, but I am the new transfer student in your class."

Lucilline widened his eyes and blurted, "You're the one who stood in class for six hours straight?"

Unknowingly, blood rushed to Azalea's cheeks.

Lucilline noticed his embarrassment and coughed, "It's fine. We sat in the front row, but you're not that tall when compared to our classmates. You don't need to worry about blocking their sight. Their studies won't be affected because of this small incident."

Azalea, "..." He wasn't that tall!?! Say that again to his height of 186 cm!

"Could I get this fellow student's name?" Azalea covered up his emotions and asked.

Lucilline was slightly surprised. Someone actually saw him in person but didn't know his name? He nodded, "I am Lucilline Rubius. So it seems like you didn't get to know my name at the start. What a coincidence, I don't know yours either."

Azalea, "..." Don't pretend like you didn't sleep during my introduction!

He gritted his teeth, then introduced himself. "I am Azalea. Currently, I... am rid of a surname."

Lucilline was slightly surprised. This Azalea... he had no status!

Then, a small smile crept onto his lips. "I see, Azalea. Were you named after the flower? What a special name. I've always liked plants and flower names."

Azalea felt a strange sensation dominating over his chest. His heart thumped loudly twice.

Meanwhile, Willow piped up, "Young Master, do you like my name? I was named after a tree."

Lucilline chuckled, "What do you think a tree is when compared to flowers? You're named after something so big and sturdy..." He straightened his back, "It is actually quite suitable for you."

Azalea almost fell over upon hearing the last sentence.

What about that maidservant was big and sturdy?

"Az!" Suddenly, he heard his nickname being called. Turning back, he was met with the sight of a running Daphnne. The heroine stood by his side, then looked at Lucilline. "Who is this young man—" All of a sudden, her eyes widened in pure shock.

Lucilline never expected for his gloved hands to be grabbed twice in a day.

Daphnne enveloped his gloved hands in her exposed ones, warming the cold surface. "You!" She blurted out the same word that the male lead had said at the beginning.

At that point, Willow had dark lines all across her face. "Young lady, it is rude to touch Young Master..."

Daphnne quickly took her hands away. She flashed a quick smile, "I apologize for my impudence just now. I was just... emotional." She stepped back one step before bowing, "I am unsure if you remember me, but I am here to apologize for this morning's incident."

Willow was confused. She stole a glance at Lucilline, asking, "I don't remember you being acquainted with her?"

Lucilline glanced at his maidservant and shook his head. "Of course you don't know. We met purely by accident this morning at school." A small smile uncovered on his lips. "She was excited and brought me over to take a swim by the water fountain."

Willow, "..." Oh, so it was her who washed your school bag and sweater for you. I must thank her for doing your laundry in my stead.

Meanwhile, Azalea was able to piece all the clues together.

So it seems... it was Daphnne, his childhood friend who soaked Lucilline in the water fountain? And apparently, it was purely an accident!?!

Daphnne continued bowing. "I apologize for the incident. I really am sorry." She got up from her 90 degrees bow, "My name is Daphnne. I also attend S Academy, and hope we can become acquainted. This incident about the water fountain..." She hesitated, "It was really my bad."

"It's fine." Lucilline shrugged nonchalantly. "I also wasn't looking where I was going."

Then, he settled his eyes on Azalea. He compared the two transfer students together, thinking that they do look quite compatible with one another. Even their dialogues are the same.

"Hmm..." Lucilline hummed. "I have accepted your apologies, but I can't really say I've forgiven you both yet."

Daphnne and Azalea appeared like they had received a huge shock. "Then—"

"In order for me to forgive you guys," Lucilline smirked. "How about you guys treat me to a meal?"

*****

"Here are your dishes." A waitress had collectively set some plates of food on their table. She walked away after saying, "Enjoy your meal!"

Meanwhile, Azalea and Daphnne stared star-struck at the dishes.

They could hear the sound of their wallets breaking... Two... three... four... FOUR dishes of food! Both main characters had never treated so much food before... Besides, it isn't normal for a nobleman to order four dishes, right? Shouldn't they order a salad or whatnot?

"...Lucilline, why did you order so much food?" Azalea croaked.

Lucilline looked up at him. It was a long time since he actually heard someone calling out his first name. He smiled. "Did you think that I ordered so many dishes and won't let you guys eat a single piece? No way! Dig in, you guys."

Azalea found the corner of his lips twitching. He wasn't worrying about being starved! He was worried that his wallet couldn't hang on anymore!

Daphnne shared the same thoughts as him. She nervously glanced at the dishes on the table, then hesitated. Finally, she mustered up courage to grab a plate. Since we're paying for this... we might as well eat some...

Eating a spoonful of the food, her eyes immediately brightened. "This is delicious!"

"Of course it is!" Lucilline laughed. "After all, I have the best eye for picking food."

Azalea's eyes twitched constantly. He decided that he should stop hesitating, so he took a dish as well. Eating it, the wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out.

Lucilline pushed a dish towards Willow. "Eat up."

The maidservant was slightly surprised. What kind of scheme was her Young Master pulling this time?

After they all ate their fill, Lucilline stood up. Standing alongside with him, Willow followed his footsteps. Lucilline waved lazily, "You two rest there as long as you please. I'll be going now. Today's meal was great, I suppose I'll forgive you guys. See you both tomorrow at school!"

They then left the restaurant.

Azalea was glad that they were forgiven, but... wasn't the price of being forgiven a bit... over the top? He imagined just how many coins he'd have to give up just to pay this meal...

Meanwhile, Daphnne was optimistic. "Come on, Az. Don't be so scrawny and discouraging. If we split the bill between us, we both only need to pay half as much."

Azalea, "..." But in the end, it's still a lot of money.

He sighed, then got up with Daphnne. They walked towards the counter, then asked for the price of their meal. The waitress was surprised. "Were you the ones sitting at Table 11?"

The two main characters nodded to her question.

"Then," the waitress smiled, "That means you don't have to pay. Your acquaintance, the beautiful young man with the maid behind him... he already paid for the meal."

Hearing that, Azalea and Daphnne were stunned.