Chapter 18: CHAPTER 18: THE TWINS’ FIRST DAY

"Everyone! Quiet down. We have two new transfer students who will be joining our class. Make sure that you are polite."

The two boys hesitantly enter the room and stand in the front of the class.

"My name is Alex," one whispers.

"My name is Xander," the other mutters.

"We are dark elves from Iron Woods Village on the edge of Eshea. Nice to meet you," the two simultaneously finish.

The class rumbles with murmurs from everyone trying to understand the situation. Different races attend the school, but dark elves are the rarest ones since they don't like coming into the city. I catch the eyes of the two boys and wave at them, giving a sweet smile. Alex and Xander wave back energetically.

"Alright you two. You can sit in the empty desks behind Miss Viola. I heard from Sir Delic that you three are quite close, so please don't make too much noise whispering to each other," Mrs. Giselle jokes, gesturing to the back of the class.

Alex and Xander cautiously make their way to the back of the classroom desperately trying not to bump into the other students. Finding the two desks in the back, the twins quietly fight over the 'honor' of who is going to sit behind me. These two are just too annoying yet so amusing to watch. Just this morning, they were bewildered by the fact that I told them that they would be joining me at school. Well, this morning in general was just kind of hectic.

"What did you say, my Lady?" Alex asks while scrubbing my arm.

"I want you two to join me at school," I promptly respond, handing my other arm over to Alex for him to scrub.

"But why should we join you? We don't have any qualifying credentials to attend school. We were homeschooled back in the village," Xander states as he finds my school uniform in my closet.

I lean forward so that my back is more exposed for Alex to scrub. "I have announced my position as leader just two days ago and we all remember how that went down. For my safety, I want you two to be by my side at school."

"What about Delic? Why not have him watch over you at school?" Alex questions setting the soap down to rinse off my back.

"Delic is a teacher and the guidance counselor at my school. He can't stay by my side even if I wanted him to. He's only there to be my eyes and ears in the faculty room."

Xander suddenly falls on his back rolling in laughter. "Did you just say that Delic is a teacher?! With a face like his, I bet the girls aren't even listening to his classes."

"Are you implying that Delic is handsome?" I taunt peeking over at Xander. "Do you perhaps like men with princely features?"

"I do not!" Xander defends jumping up from the floor. "I like women! Women! You hear!"

"That's quite a defensive response. Don't you think, Alex?" I jab, turning around so that Alex can scrub my chest.

"Quite defensive indeed, my Lady," Alex joins in, snickering at his brother's discombobulation.

"Look here, you two! I do not like men. I like women like Viola. Strong yet sweet with a hint of hidden weakness. Women! Got it?"

Alex stomps around venting his anger when a soft squeak comes from behind him.

"Did I just hear that you have feelings for Lady Viola?" Delic interrogates as he looms over Xander.

"No-I-I didn't say that I have feelings for Lady Viola. Why-why would I? She is my master, after all. It wo-would be wrong for a servant to-to have feelings f-for his master... right?" Xander shrinks when he notices how close and how cold Delic is to him. "Please don't kill me!" Xander pleas, running past Delic out into my room.

"We were just messing with him, Delic. Don't be too harsh on him," I defend as Delic walks over to me and Alex by the tub.

Delic, still chilled from his recent anger. glares at Alex. "Do you also perhaps have feelings for Lady Viola?" Delic seethes, having one hand on the poor boy's shoulder.

"And what if I do? What are you going to do about it?" Alex sharply responds.

Stunned by the sudden fierce look in Alex's eyes, Delic darts around and heads to the door. "Master will be upset with me if I monopolize her," Delic states with his back still facing us. "However, that doesn't mean that I will let another man get close to her without a fight. You better prepare yourself if you plan on getting any closer to her."

Without another wasted moment, Delic exits the room, shutting the door behind him. The bathroom fell silent. I dare not to disturb the still water. I just submissively let Alex wash my hair frightened that I would make the awkward silence even worse by asking what he meant by his response to Delic.

"How are you going to get us enrolled into your school, Master?" Xander asks as he throws himself into the front seat.

Delic opens the door for me, and I dip into the car to sit down. "Not to boast, but I am the new Student Council President. I believe the school will allow me to enroll my personal aides as their students, especially since I made myself public. They will understand my reasoning."

Walking past Delic, Alex makes his way over to the car and ever so slightly brushes against Delic's shoulder. The two glare at each other with open aggression.

Xander takes notice of the invisible fight going on between the two and leans over to me. "What happened between Alex and Delic?” he whispers. “Did they get into a fight?"

"Well, something like that," I respond looking out the window.

Delic and Alex get inside the car, and Delic takes off for the school.

Jeez... There really isn't a quiet moment with these two. Mrs. Giselle dismisses homeroom giving the students some free time before the next class. This is when chaos decided to pay a visit.

An army consisting of my classmates hurls their way over to surround Alex, Xander, and my desks. A barrage of questions just stabbing their way through the sea of interrogators. Alex and Xander quickly stand up and block my desk.

"I would appreciate it if you all did not gang up on Lady Viola," Alex starts as he gently pushes a few of the students from my desk.

"Don't y'all have a more organized approach in asking questions?" asks Xander.

I rise from my desk and set a hand on Alex's and Xander's shoulders. "Everyone has questions they would like to ask the three of us. Let's all be civilized and do this in a more efficient manner. Okay?"

The crowd quiets down and heads back to their seats. I make my way over to the front of the class with the twins in tow.

"Alright, everyone. We are going to do this just like how we did it last time. Understand?"

The class happily nods, and we proceed with the commenting and questioning.

"I saw your announcement Saturday, Viola! You were so cool. Did you get nervous at all before going live?"

"I will admit that I was extremely nervous. A high school girl entering a predominantly man's world is not an easy feat whatsoever. I practically fainted when the cameras turned off," I joke, releasing a small laugh.

"How did the three of you meet?"

"It was a cool summer's night," Alex starts off.

"My brother and I were hiding in our fifth alleyway of the day when Master happened to walk by us," continues Xander.

"I was about to keep walking too, but something in me told me that I couldn't leave you two there," I add lightly elbow jabbing Xander.

"Lady Viola took us in that night and later offered us, a pair of homeless twins, a position as her personal aides," states Alex, smiling down at me.

He didn't mention why I offered them that position. I guess they don't want others to know about what happened to their village. That's a safe option to be honest. Who knows which kid in here could accidentally slip and say something to their outside friends and family that would harm them or alert the group of mages.

"Well, we didn't accept the offer immediately. Dark elves are proud of their strength, and we won't serve anyone who is weaker than us, so I challenged Master to a sparring match. It's embarrassing to say that I was defeated by such a small girl, though," Xander says, scratching the back of his head.

"Wow! Our President must be really strong to beat someone as built as you are!"

"I wouldn't say that," I bashfully respond, smiling like a dork.

"It must be nice living with each other. What do you guys do as Viola's personal aids?"

"Ah- well- you see- um...." Alex and Xander stammer trying to find a safe way to explain without appearing creepy.

You are reading story The Winter Vessel at novel35.com

"They tend to my personal matters as the name of the position describes. They are my closest guards," I reply, saving the two blushing morons behind me.

"That explains why you used your presidential powers to get them enrolled here."

That voice. It can't be. Why would she decide to come bother me now?

I look over to see Abigail standing in the doorway with her followers behind her.

"It wasn't just my presidential powers," I counter. "The school board members understood my reasoning on why I needed them enrolled in the school. Even without my presidential powers, the school wouldn't be able to deny a city leader's request."

Abigail parades over to the desk that I'm standing behind, but Alex and Xander push me behind them.

"I will not allow someone to approach the Lady with that tone," Alex declares, staring down at the pompous child in front of him.

"Move out of my way. You're just a servant. You're only around to follow orders," Abigail states, shooing him.

“The only orders we follow are from our Master,” Xander growls with clenched fists.

I slide my way in front of Alex despite his covert efforts to keep me back. "I absolutely will not tolerate anyone who speaks to my aides that way. Apologize."

The girl scoffs and flips her hair, folding her arms afterwards. "I'm not apologizing to a mere servant boy. He needs to get off his high horse if he thinks that getting into this prestigious school will make him better than everyone. Let me remind you that you are in the lower wealth class. You're only here because you can just barely pay the minimum donation amount to the school."

Why can't I have a peaceful morning after such a long weekend?

I step forward and press a finger into Abigail's chest. "I'm being polite since it is their first day of school. But I will not let you speak lowly of me or them. My family will come first before any meaningless title. So why don't you just take your entitled fat ass and your little suck up posse over there and waddle back on over to your classroom like a good girl."

"And why should I listen to you? Just because you announced your 'position' to the city? Everyone here knows that money talks. Your power means nothing if you don't have money to get people to follow you. I bet you paid those two to become your so-called personal aides. As if that sappy story of finding them in an alleyway was remotely true."

Before I could bark another word, Xander shoves Abigail to the floor.

"I have had enough with your bullshit. I don't care what you say about me, but nobody is going to insult Viola like that in front of me. I'm holding back because my master has not given me the word to pummel you into dirt. My master isn't as shallow as you. She would never pay for loyalty unlike tweedledee and tweedledum behind you. How about you tell us how much you're paying them to follow you around because I am pretty sure that no one would willingly follow a narcissistic gumball-shaped twat like you."

Silence. An eerie replication of this morning falls upon the classroom. Nobody moves. Not even a fly enters the room. One would think we were a painting if someone saw us from outside the window barricading our classroom.

"How-how dare you push me down! Apologize to me right now, or I'm going to tell my father on you!" demands Abigail.

I bend down where Abigail has fallen and beam a frozen hole in her face with my most demented stare. "First off, Xander will not be apologizing to a sorry sack such as yourself. Secondly, your father will not do a single thing about what happened today. Money may talk, but it's survival of the fittest in the world of leaders. A mere child who enjoys living off of papa's money like you would never understand. Thankfully, your father does understand and is smart enough to not disturb the balance. Lastly, you are going to leave this room and never enter it again as long as I'm here. Or would you like to be encased in a ball of ice struggling to survive under below zero temperatures in just your summer uniform?"

Abigail's followers help her stand up. Afterwards, she brushes off her uniform and turns her back. "This isn't over. You have humiliated me for the last time Viola Winter."

As if she's going to attempt to hurt me. She knows where she stands, but she's not going to admit it. That will mean that she's lowering herself below a student who is in the lower wealth class. Her ego would never let herself do that.

The bell rings for the next class to begin, so the twins and I head back on over to our desks.

Lunch time rolls around, and I guide the boys over to my quiet eating spot. Alex, who was carrying the wrap with our lunches in it, cleans off the bench and sets the food out. We take turns grabbing something from our little lunch buffet before relaxing on the picnic blanket that Xander prepared. We sit in slight stiffness until Xander interrupts.

"What was with that girl earlier?" he questions, hounding down the rice and hotdog on his plate.

"Her name is Abigail Actona. She is the daughter of my highest retainer," I respond, nibbling on the corner of my sandwich.

"What's a retainer?" Alex asks, sipping on some juice.

"A retainer is basically someone who supports a leader of an organization not with money but by overseeing their leader's business in exchange for protection. When a retainer officially retires, the leader that they serve issues him a huge check that is equivalent to how long and how hard they worked."

"So free labor with merits?" concludes Alex.

"Essentially."

"So why does she treat you like that if her father works for you?" Xander continues to question.

"As of right now, her father has not been issued an assignment from me since I haven't started up the family agriculture business. However, her father is still loyal to the Winter name because he has already spent so many years serving my father hoping that I will take him back on since he is already too old to find a new leader to work under. Since her father does not officially work under me yet, Abigail thinks it's okay to treat me badly assuming that there will be no repercussions."

"You're just going to let her bully you like that?" Alex asks gently, wiping the ketchup off the corners of my lips.

'And what if I do?'

What? Why did Alex's voice from this morning swim through my head? I glance up and notice that Alex is close to my face... too close... way too close....

'What are you going to do about it?'

Why am I remembering this? It's not even relevant to what we're talking about. Is it because Alex is staring at my lips while wiping them with a tissue?

"-ady?"

No. Don't be ridiculous. Alex doesn't like me romantically.

"My Lady?"

We just met a few days ago. That's too soon. Yeah! Alex definitely doesn't have romantic feelings for me.

"Viola!"

A rapid shake of my shoulders bolster me out of my train of thought. I hastily observe around and see that Alex has a firm hold on my shoulders looking worried. Xander is on the other side of me waving his hand in front of my face.

"Viola! Are you okay?"

I face the new voice to find Delic running towards me from the sidewalk.

"Your heart was racing. I got worried, so I ran as fast as I could to find you only to see that the twins were frantically shaking you. What happened?"

"I-I have no idea. I guess I just got lost in thought," I laugh off.

"What could you have been thinking about that made your heart race so incredibly fast?" Delic asks, placing a hand on my forehead and neck. "Master, you're sweating. Here." Delic takes out a handkerchief from his chest pocket and dabs my face to remove the sweat.

"It's getting hot out here. Let's take you inside. I don't think it would be a good idea for someone born with ice and snow to get overheated," Alex states picking me up.

This only makes my heart race more due to what I was thinking about earlier, and it seems that Delic has noticed it too. Gosh! Why does Delic have to be interconnected to me???

A glare of jealousy wipes across Delic's face before instantly disappearing like it never happened.

Was he staring at Alex just now? Is this all somehow related to what happened this morning between them?

---

Become a member of my ko-fi page to read ahead!

You can find story with these keywords: The Winter Vessel, Read The Winter Vessel, The Winter Vessel novel, The Winter Vessel book, The Winter Vessel story, The Winter Vessel full, The Winter Vessel Latest Chapter