PART 1: THE GOLDEN DAGGER CHAPTER 1: THE SECRET PRINCESS

To this academy, I am just a commoner student.

To my father, I am the hidden princess of the kingdom.

But to the most annoying boy in class, I am just target.

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The heavy iron gates of the Grand Academy groaned open. I gripped the straps of my worn leather bag,

Pulling my hood low to hide my face as I stepped into the cobblestone courtyard.

Before I could even reach the main hall, a sharp voice cut through the morning mist.

"Hey. Commoner."

I froze. Standing on the marble steps above me was the academy's most arrogant noble lord. He leaned against a pillar, his silver- embroidered cloak catching the morning light.

"Why aren't you at your desk yet?" he sneered, looking down at me. "Don't tell me you're late again. The headmaster is already receiving the morning roster."

I forced a polite, flat smile, keeping my hands hidden in my cloak. "I am walking through the gates right now, My Lord. There is no need to monitor my schedule."

"I am not monitoring you," he snapped, crossing his arms tightly. " Your empty chair is simply an eyesore to the front row. And fix your cloak. Your collar is twisted. You look like a Massey peasant."

"I am a peasant to this school," I murmured under my breath, walking past him without looking back.

"Leave me alone."

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I hurried through the crowded stone corridors, rushing toward the heavy wooden doors of the lecture hall. As soon as I slipped inside, a warm hand gently caught my sleeve.

"Morning !" a bright voice whispered.

It was my closest classmate. He smiled warmly, holding up a small glass bottle wrapped in cloth. "I saved you a seat in the back row, far away from his desk. I even snagged two sweet berry milks from the dining hall. Hurry up and sit down before they lose their chill."

A wave of pure relief was he'd over me. "Oh, thank goodness. You are an actual angle."

I slid into the wooden bench beside him, instantly hiding the glass bottle beneath my parchment sheets. " Keep the milk hidden. If that bully see's it, he will find a way to tip the inkwell over it just to irritate me."

My friend let out a soft laugh, pulling out his quill. " Haha, got it covered. He won't see a thing."

Just as I settled into my seat, the front doors of the lecture hall swang open. The arrogant noble marched in, his eyes immediately scanning the room until they looked onto me in the back row. He scowled, gripping his silver ink flask tightly as he took his seat at the front.

The professor began the lecture, but l couldn't focus. I felt the noble's gaze burning into the back of my neck from several rows down. Every time he shifted in his seat, the sharp clink of his sliver flask echoed, a silent promise to the chaos he intended to sow.

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