My eyes flicker while I adjust to the brightness of the room as a result of the beams of light that pierce through the window pane into the room.

I pull myself out of bed very reluctantly before throwing on a plain white shirt and a pair of dark blue denim jeans. I grab my handgun and stuff it into one of the inner pockets of my black leather jacket.

School.

Over the years, that word seems to have only grown to sound more foreign. It has been a while since I was forced to drop out. No, it was not because we could not afford education. Rather, with affluence came jealousy and a whole lot of backstabbing. Believe it or not, my family used to be on the wealthier end in Arcton. 

In fact, we even had the choice to move to Acreria but I did not want to. I had built my entire life in Arcton and it was where I wanted to be in my future as well.

However, she wanted to leave Arcton.

If only we had gone with her preference instead. Maybe then tragedies could have been avoided and perhaps, our family would still be a whole.

I traipse out of my room and head towards the only unholy sector of the palace. In fact, I myself would call it the unholiest place in the world.

That is right, we are talking about Casimir's room. Now thinking about it, maybe it is not the place but rather the person that is unholy.

My eyelids are heavy and it feels like I am on the brink of knocking out. After my conversation with Casimir last night, I could not stop wondering if he was right regarding my morals as a human. As a result, I barely had any proper rest.

Usually, sleeping is something that I am able to do effortlessly. In fact, when I was seven, I once believed that some humans are meant to hibernate all winter. I also thought that I was one of those humans because of how much I loved to sleep and ended up telling my parents to wake me up in April. Who knew that the day I had woken up was actually the same day I had begun to hibernate?

Turns out, humans do not hibernate. Unfortunately. Sleeping is like being dead without the commitment and basically an escape from reality that I very much need.

The second I am at the doorstep of Casimir's room, I knock on his door gently.

"Your highness, it's time for school."

Silence.

I knock again but this time with a little more force.

"Hey Casimir, are you awake?"

Silence again.

At this point, I start to become impatient thinking that he is intentionally ignoring me because of last night. I hastily swing open the door, only to see Casimir laying in his bed. He squints his eyes and furrows his eyebrows in annoyance.

"God, it's you again," Casimir grumbles in exasperation as he pulls the blanket over his head.

"My bad, I thought you were already awake. We have to head to school." I apologise for rudely barging into his room.

I have to admit. It was a rash reaction of mine. I could not shake off the uneasy feeling that is starting to suffocate me. I still feel extremely disturbed by his accusation from last night. Was I wrong in my decision?

Perhaps.

If I were in his position, I'd be mad at me too.

"You can leave first, I'm probably skipping the first period," Casimir mumbles, pulling down his blanket as he tosses and turns to the opposite side of the bed, away from me. He then waves a hand as if indicating that I am dismissed.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm your bodyguard and I can't leave unless you do too. So please get ready for school so we can leave on time." I ask politely as I draw open the curtains.

Casimir's eyes shut close and he complains. "What on earth is wrong with you? Unlike you, I don't have insomnia."

"It's time for school," I repeat myself matter-of-factly.

"Fine." He groans in annoyance and tosses his blanket at me before getting out of bed. The blanket lands on my head and covers my face. Trying my best to ignore his infantile behaviour, I yank the blanket off my head, throwing it back onto his bed.

"Do you plan to watch me change? The blanket wasn't covering your face for no reason." Casimir questions, clearly amused and he fiddles with the hem of his shirt as if he is about to take it off.

I cringe internally.

Gross.

Don't get me wrong. Yes, he is unbelievably good-looking and definitely well-built but anything to do with Casimir simply irks me. I will not deny it, I am probably just biased against him.

"Why would I? It's not as if you fell from heaven, did you?" I counter as I head towards the door.

"Well, if you put it that way then I certainly did." He smirks smugly.

"So did Satan. Let me guess, you fell face first, didn't you? That would explain a lot." I scoff and open the door before turning back to inform him. "Get dressed and come out whenever you're ready. I'll be waiting for you outside."

I close the door behind me and lean against the wall opposite to his room. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Casimir steps out of his room in a Castleton green hoodie and an oversized white shirt underneath it, matched with a pair of creamy white trousers. He has his black backpack hanging on one of his shoulders while he swings his car keys around his index finger.

"I'll be driving." He states coolly and proceeds to lead the way out of the palace, to the parking lot.

He swings open the door to the driver seat of his crimson red convertible.

I must have had a look of doubt plastered on my face as he lets out a helpless sigh. "I'm not going to sell you off to some paedophile so get in the car before I leave without you."

"Yeah right, no. I'll drive instead." I decline his offer, as I approach the door to the driver's seat.

However, before I am able to get to it, Casimir hops into the car and plops himself down on the driver seat and pats the seat beside him.

"Come on, get in. I know perhaps it's your job to drive me around that but just for today, let me be the one driving. After all, it is my car. After that, you can be the one to drive me around anywhere." Casimir insists unyieldingly and I give in before getting into the passenger seat hesitantly.

After all, it is widely known that the prince is a skilled evasive driver. If anything does happen, he should be perfectly capable of handling the steering wheel. Moreover, Queen Athena had already asked a chamberlain to inform me the day I accepted the job offer that it is perfectly fine for Casimir to be the one driving from time to time since it is a hobby of his.

We remain quiet throughout the entire car ride. Silence had swallowed us whole. There is undeniably still some tension between the two of us but it is understandable. Despite acting normal, last night's conversation strained our work relationship to a certain extent.

Fortunately, Acadia high was nearer than I expected. Soon enough, we reach the school a couple of minutes before the bell rings. Though the few extra minutes did not mean much to me, to Casimir, it is almost as if it is his red carpet moment.

Cliques of girls scurry over to approach Casimir and I simply step aside to find my locker. Standing by it, I witness a human mob encircle the incredibly popular prince. In a short span of time, I manage to memorise the steps of flirting demonstrated by the seductive teen girls surrounding Casimir.

First, twirl a strand of your hair around your finger seductively. Refrain from using the thumb because that would be kind of weird. It is strongly recommended to use your index finger because it looks the most natural as compared to any other finger.

Also, I bet you tried doing it with your thumb even when I told you not to. 

Well, guess what? You probably thought you looked stupid doing it because yes, it looks dumb.

Next, let out the most adorable giggle you can possibly force out of your lungs at the prince's 'why did the chicken cross the road' joke. You don't find it funny? Well, too bad. Sometimes the guy we end up liking just lacks a sense of humour and when that happens, you master the art of fake laughing. You definitely do not want to mess up here because it is a competition of who has the cutest laugh.

Lastly, try your best to earn some bonus points by 'accidentally' bumping into the prince or brushing against his arm and avoid getting trampled over by the other girls.

Sounds like harassment?

Yes, I think so too. Sad to say, the blockhead is actually fancied by plenty of girls.

"Am I actually seeing a girl who can withstand the urge to be near Caz?" A familiar voice comments and I look up to see the one and only, Dominic Adair. The ends of his lips tug up and it is unfair how effortless it is for him to smile so charmingly.

"It's good to see you again too, Dom." I ignore his remark and respond coldly before walking towards Casimir.

Truthfully, I would prefer to head straight to class instead but obviously, I am not allowed to do so because outside of class, I had to always be around Casimir.

Dominic tails behind me, trying to get my attention.

"Where're you going? It's been ages since I last saw you duckling."

Not with the nickname again.

I sigh and stop in my tracks. "It has only been one night and god, please stop with the nickname. It makes zero sense."

"One night felt like a year. Shows how much I've missed you duckling." Dominic flirts and I roll my eyes in defeat.

Before our conversation could carry on any further, Casimir glances over at us and excuses himself from the horde of girls crowding around him and heads towards us.

"Stop flirting with her, Dom. She's my bodyguard." Casimir says with a void tone.

Dominic raises an eyebrow in confusion and questions. 

"But you don't want her, right?"

Casimir widens his eyes in disbelief at Dominic's question. "Do you even have to ask? I'd rather be a loner for the rest of my life than spend another second with this girl."

I despise how they are talking as if I am not even there with them. 

Moreover, since it is my first day at school here, no one has ever seen or heard of me. That resulted in the bunch of envious stares and murderous glares I was receiving from the other girls.

"I call dibs on her," Dominic announces out loud to the entire school. He then turns to face me while grinning complacently.

If I was given a dollar each time I rolled my eyes because of the duo before me, I would already be a billionaire by now.

"I can guarantee you that I won't have the time to fall in love with you, Dom. Please pester someone else instead." I sigh in exasperation as I readjust my jacket by tugging the edge of it.

"Don't worry sweetheart, you can have plenty of time to fall in love with whoever and whenever, once you resign from your job," Casimir suggests cheekily.

I raise an eyebrow, amused.

"So when will you shoot yourself?" I question smugly and disconcertment smears across their faces.

The bell rings and the dean comes urging everyone in the halls to head to their respective classrooms before I am able to clarify that I was kidding. However, they probably knew that it was a joke right?

I was very glad that the bell had rung. At least, that was before I learned that Dominic was also having Literature class with me. Fortunately, Casimir had Chemistry instead so I only had to deal with one out of the two nincompoops.

Yes, that's right.

They are both nincompoops. It is a more sophisticated way to call someone an idiot. At the same time, someone called a nincompoop sounds a lot dumber too. I suppose you can say that I am killing two birds with one stone.

With stubbornness as unyielding as his, Dominic insists to escort me to class. 

What can I say?

Tragic.

The only thing I am actually grateful for is that Acadia high has some of the top-notch security in Acreria since it is the school that his royal highness is attending. Therefore, there isn't a need for me to attend the same classes that Casimir did.

Nevertheless, thank you God for sending not just one, but two devils to the surface of Earth.

Needless to say, it is unfair how they are both so illegally handsome.