The hallways of Aurelia Academy pulsed with cruel laughter.
Elian kept walking, each step heavier than the last.
His uniform was soaked from the water attack earlier.
He could feel his wet shirt clinging to his skin, cold and uncomfortable.
Students bumped into him "accidentally," sending his books flying across the polished floors.
Not a single hand reached out to help.
Not a single voice offered kindness.
This was his kingdom now — a kingdom of knives and betrayal.
And he wore a broken crown.
---
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the day.
Elian hurried out of the classroom before anyone else, hoping to avoid another confrontation.
His dorm was at the farthest end of the boy's wing — small, cramped, and barely furnished compared to the luxurious suites of the elite students.
As he approached, he noticed something strange.
The door was ajar.
A chill crept down his spine.
---
He pushed it open carefully.
The room was wrecked.
His mattress was slashed open, foam spilling like guts.
Ink had been poured all over his few clothes.
His small bookshelf — a collection of battered secondhand novels he had cherished — was overturned.
Pages torn.
Words erased.
On the wall, scrawled in red spray paint, was a single word:
"TRASH."
---
Elian stood frozen.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Did nothing.
The devastation wrapped around him like a noose.
His heart clenched.
Tears pricked at his eyes — not from the damage, but from the message.
The confirmation.
He wasn't just invisible here.
He was hated.
Despised.
Less than nothing.
---
A soft knock behind him made him whirl around.
A girl stood there, biting her lip nervously.
She was about his age, maybe fifteen or sixteen.
Petite, with long dark hair tied into two messy buns, and big brown eyes framed by thick glasses.
She wore the same uniform, but her skirt was slightly wrinkled, her shoes scuffed — signs that she didn't quite fit in either.
Her name tag read: Maya Chen.
---
"I... I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I saw them. They... they broke in."
Elian stared at her.
No one had spoken to him today — except to mock him.
Not a single person had cared enough to say anything.
But here she was.
---
Maya wrung her hands together, looking miserable.
"I... I tried to stop them," she whispered. "But they're too powerful. If I said anything louder, they would've..." She trailed off.
Elian closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself.
When he opened them, he forced a small, broken smile.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Maya blinked.
Then her cheeks flushed pink.
She hesitated, then stepped forward and offered him something.
A small keychain.
It was cheap, plastic, and shaped like a smiling cat.
"Here," she said, shoving it into his hand awkwardly. "It's... dumb, but my mom says lucky charms work."
Before he could respond, she turned and fled down the hall, her shoes squeaking slightly on the tiles.
---
Elian looked down at the keychain in his hand.
It was ridiculous.
Childish.
But somehow, it made the crushing loneliness a little lighter.
He tucked it carefully into his pocket.
Maybe he wasn't completely alone after all.
---
That night, as Elian tried to patch his mattress with duct tape and wipe the graffiti off the walls, he made a decision.
He would not break.
He would not beg.
He would endure.
And he would rise — not with anger, not with revenge.
But with patience.
With silent strength.
Like a star, unseen during the day, but destined to blaze brighter than the sun.
---
Meanwhile, in the gleaming halls of the girls' dormitory, another storm was brewing.
Liliana Frost sat before a massive vanity mirror, brushing her silver hair.
Around her, the Golden Roses gossiped and giggled, passing around lip gloss and diamond-studded phones.
But Liliana wasn't listening.
Her mind kept drifting to that boy.
To Elian.
To the broken look in his eyes.
Something inside her — something she thought she had buried long ago — twisted painfully.
But she crushed it ruthlessly.
He's nothing, she told herself.
He means nothing.
After all, in Aurelia Academy, mercy was a weakness.
And weakness got you killed.
---
Far from the Academy, in a towering skyscraper overlooking the city, a man watched a live feed of Elian's trashed dorm room.
He tapped his finger against the glass thoughtfully.
"Good," he murmured to no one.
"Let him learn."
"Let him suffer."
"Only through ashes... will my heir be born."
---