The morning sun burned bright against the cold marble walls of Aurelia Academy.
Elian stood in front of his closet, staring blankly at the racks of neatly pressed uniforms.
All custom-made.
Each tailored to fit his slender frame perfectly.
He felt like a doll being dressed up for a cruel game.
He picked the simplest uniform — a black blazer, a crisp white shirt, gray tailored trousers, and black polished shoes.
He didn't want to stand out.
He just wanted to survive.
---
As he walked toward the main building, students parted to watch him.
Their eyes were sharp.
Hungry.
Mocking.
It was like walking into a lion's den.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
---
He entered the grand auditorium where the New Student Orientation was being held.
The room glittered with chandeliers the size of small cars.
Students lounged in velvet chairs like young royals.
The girls in shimmering accessories.
The boys in watches worth more than entire buildings.
And Elian — in his plain uniform — looked like a smudge on a perfect painting.
Whispers started the moment he stepped in.
"Who's that?"
"New trash?"
"Another charity case?"
The words sliced into him, sharper than any blade.
He kept his head down.
He clenched his fists inside his pockets.
But he didn't say a word.
---
A sharp, cruel laugh rang out.
Elian looked up instinctively.
A tall boy with silver-dyed hair and a wicked grin was approaching him.
He wore his blazer carelessly open, a chain around his neck gleaming under the lights.
Troy Lancaster.
Seventeen years old.
Heir to the Lancaster Oil Conglomerate.
And Aurelia's most notorious troublemaker.
---
"Hey, fresh meat," Troy sneered, stopping a few feet away. "Lost, are we?"
Laughter erupted around them.
Elian said nothing.
He lowered his gaze again.
Troy wasn't satisfied.
He reached out and flicked the lapel of Elian's blazer.
"You deaf, too?" he taunted.
Another wave of giggles.
Among them, Elian caught sight of a group of girls leaning against the wall — the so-called Golden Roses.
The top beauties of the school.
Aria.
Selene.
Vivian.
And behind them, half-hidden but more beautiful than any, was Liliana Frost — the girl whose family name he shared but whose heart he didn't.
Liliana's blue eyes flickered briefly to Elian... and then she looked away, as if he were nothing.
Something inside Elian cracked.
---
Troy stepped closer, grinning.
"You know the rules, newbie," he said.
"You want to survive here, you kneel."
A stunned silence fell.
Even the girls' smiles faltered.
Elian felt the blood drain from his face.
His hands trembled.
Kneel?
Here? In front of everyone?
The humiliation was suffocating.
---
Troy shoved him lightly.
"Come on, peasant," he jeered. "Beg for your place."
Elian stumbled back a step.
A thousand eyes watched him.
Judging.
Laughing.
Waiting.
---
For a moment, he considered fighting back.
Throwing a punch.
Screaming.
Anything.
But then he remembered Celestine's cold words.
They're watching you. Always.
You can't afford mistakes.
---
Slowly, with every ounce of his pride shattering inside him, Elian sank to his knees.
Gasps rippled through the hall.
Then cheers.
Troy laughed so hard he almost fell over.
He reached down, patted Elian's head mockingly like a dog.
"Good boy," he said.
"You might just survive after all."
---
Elian knelt there, head bowed, face burning.
Tears stung the backs of his eyes.
But he refused to let them fall.
Not here.
Not now.
He burned every face into his memory.
Every cruel laugh.
Every cold stare.
He would remember.
He would remember all of them.
---
After what felt like an eternity, the school's headmaster finally arrived, and the ceremony began.
Troy lost interest and sauntered away.
Elian stood slowly, brushing the dust from his trousers.
Inside, he felt like a ghost.
Dead.
Broken.
But somewhere deeper, in the part of him that hadn't yet been crushed, a spark flickered.
A promise.
One day... all of you will regret this.
---
The headmaster droned on about school values, excellence, and honor.
The words meant nothing to Elian.
Honor?
There was none here.
Only masks.
Only wolves dressed in silk and diamonds.
---
After the ceremony, everyone filed out.
Elian headed to his first class, keeping his head down.
But the whispers followed him.
Like ghosts.
---
By lunchtime, someone had already thrown water into his locker.
His textbooks were soggy.
His notes destroyed.
His name was scratched out on the class roster and replaced with slurs.
He ate alone in the farthest corner of the cafeteria, picking at stale bread while the rich kids feasted on lobster, steak, and imported chocolates.
---
Still, he said nothing.
He made no complaint.
He endured.
Because he knew...
This was just the beginning.
And someday, when they least expected it...
The boy they spat on today would become the man they could never reach.
The man they would bow before.
---
Far above him, behind tinted glass, Celestine watched the scene unfold on her tablet.
She smirked.
"Good," she murmured.
"Let him suffer."
"Let him grow."
---
Far across the city, in a silent office filled with screens and gold, a shadowy figure watched too.
A man no one had seen for decades.
His lips curled into a faint smile.
"My heir," he whispered.
"You will walk through hell."
"But you will rise."
---